Intentional Leader with Cal Walters

Last year, I read a lot of books, but one book that made a particularly lasting impact was The Go-Giver.  A special thank you to Graham Cochrane and his podcast for introducing me to this book.  The Go-Giver tells the story of an ambitious young man named Joe who yearns for success. Joe is a true go-getter, though sometimes he feels as if the harder and faster he works, the further away his goals seem to be. And so one day, desperate to land a key sale at the end of a bad quarter, he seeks advice from the enigmatic Pindar, a legendary consultant referred to by his many devotees simply as the Chairman. Pindar takes Joe (and us as the reader) on a journey, where Joe meets 5 “go-givers” and learns the 5 counter-intuitive laws of stratospheric success. I’m honored and excited to bring you an interview with Bob Burg, co-author of The Go-Giver.  Bob is a sought-after speaker at company leadership and sales conferences sharing the platform with today’s business leaders, Olympic athletes, broadcast personalities, and even a former U.S. President. Bob is the author of a number of books on sales, marketing and influence, with total book sales of well over two million copies. The Go-Giver, coauthored with John David Mann, itself has sold over 925,000 copies and has been translated into 28 languages.  It was rated #10 on Inc. Magazine’s list of the Most Motivational Books Ever Written, and it was on HubSpot’s 20 Most Highly Rated Sales Books of All Time.  The American Management Association named Bob one of the 30 Most Influential Leaders, and Richtopia named him one of the Top 200 Most Influential Authors in the World. Go to https://www.calwalters.me/ for show notes!

Today, I am bringing you an interview with former Navy Captain, best-selling author, and a true leadership expert, David Marquet.  Here are a few quotes about David Marquet: “I don’t know of a finer model of this kind of empowering leadership than Captain Marquet." Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People “To say I’m a fan of David Marquet would be an understatement. I’m a fully-fledged groupie. He is the kind of leader who comes around only once in a generation. He is the kind of leader who doesn’t just know how to lead, he knows how to build leaders. His ideas and lessons are invaluable to anyone who wants to build an organization that will outlive them.”  Simon Sinek, author of Start with Why, Leaders Eat Last, and The Infinite Game I can relate to Dr. Covey and Simon’s thoughts on David.  He is a true leadership hero for me, so it was really special to get to do this interview.  A little bit of David’s story for those that are unfamiliar.  He graduated in the top of his class at the US Naval Academy, graduated #1 from his nuclear power school class and the submarine officer basic course.  David has always been a brilliant guy, but over his years in the Navy, he learned that being a great leader is not all about being the smartest guy in the room.  After years of proving his competence, David was awarded his very own command of a nuclear submarine.  He was told he’d be taking over the USS Olympia, so he spent an entire year studying every aspect of the ship, becoming an expert on all the ship's capabilities.  But about two weeks before taking over the Olympia, he was reassigned to take over the Santa Fe.  He knew nothing about the Santa Fe, for its crew had a reputation for being the worst in the fleet.  With only two weeks before taking over, he knew his typical leadership approach of being the smartest person in the room and just giving orders wasn’t going to work.  So aboard a nuclear submarine – a place that few would feel comfortable taking a lot of risk and doing experiments – David tried an entirely different approach to leadership.  Instead of viewing his crew as followers that simply followed his orders, David empowered them to think, to take initiative, and he ultimately developed them into leaders.  He moved from the leader-follower model he had been taught to viewing everyone as a leader.  And the results were truly remarkable.  His leadership turned the ship around.  They went from worst in the Navy to receiving the best evaluation in Navy history. Even after David departed the Santa Fe, it continued to win awards and promoted a disproportionate number of officers and enlisted men to positions of increased responsibility, including 10 subsequent submarine captains.  When Stephen R. Covey visited the ship, he said it was the most empowering organization he’d ever seen and wrote about David’s leadership practices in his book, The 8th Habit. David first shared his leadership principles in the #1 Amazon Bestseller, Turn the Ship Around!  A True Story of Turning Followers into Leaders.  Fortune magazine named it the #1 must-read business book of the year, and USA Today listed it as one of the top 12 business books of all time.  And, on February 4th, David is releasing his new book, Leadership is Language: The Hidden Power of What You Say and What You Don't, which I have had the chance to read and it is truly an incredible book.  Some books given you a nugget of wisdom here and there, but David’s books challenge me in a special way and help me take my leadership approach to a new level.  His books are transformational and paradigm-shifting.  Leadership is Language has been endorsed by Adam Grant, General (ret.) Stanley McCrystal, and Liz Wiseman, author of Multipliers.  You can connect with David Marquet at his website, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.  Find full notes at calwalters.me. 

Have you read the book Daddy Saturday? About a month ago I picked it up and finished it in 48 hours. Not only did the book convict me as a parent, but it also inspired me to do better and equipped me with practical tools to be more engaged with my daughter. After the book impacted me, I reached out to the author, Justin Batt, and asked him to come on my podcast. He generously agreed, and today I’m excited to bring you that interview! As you will see, Justin has a lot of wisdom about parenting and is just an all-around inspiring guy.  He’s a husband (his wife is an entrepreneur and runs a successful bridal boutique in Charleston, SC), a father of 4, and the Founder and Chief Dad Officer (as Justin likes to say) of Daddy Saturday and the Daddy Saturday Foundation, which is a movement all about intentional parenting and engaging your kids (which sounds simple, but it can be tough in a busy world).  Even if you’re not a father, the principles Justin teaches may challenge the way you think about time and help you turn the mundane into more meaningful moments. Daddy Saturday started in Justin’s backyard and is now an international movement.  With an ambitiously awesome goal to impact 10 million fathers in the next 10 years and eliminate fatherlessness, Justin travels internationally and around the US (including speaking at TEDx) inspiring fathers to be more engaged. It’s important to note that when Justin refers to fatherlessness, he isn’t just referring to children without fathers; he is also talking about fathers (like me at times) who are physically present, but mentally or emotionally absent.  Somehow, Justin does all of this when he’s not at work.  In addition to being a highly sought after business advisor and healthcare consultant, he is also the President of Growth and Revenue for Kameleon Partners, LLC, the global leader in Life Sciences Account Management and Electronic Health Records Enablement. Justin also has a retail startup that ranks in the top 10% of U.S. businesses, and he is a partner in the real estate app ZoomOffers. Consistent with the principles he teaches, Justin competes regularly in Spartan obstacle course races and has inspired his kids to join him for the challenge. Check out Justin’s interview on the Spartan Up podcast, hosted by Joe De Sena, the Founder and CEO of Spartan Race. I hope you get a lot out of this interview.  I know I sure did Let me know what you think in the comments below! Also, a special thank you to my good friend Ryan Brence for contributing to the content and questions in this episode.  I sincerely appreciate Ryan’s assistance and couldn’t do this without his encouragement and support.

In life, we face endless options about how to spend our time. With social media and the internet, we have never been so aware of these options, and the barrier has never been lower for people to share their opinions about what we should be focusing on (like this post!). We also live in a world where everything is urgent, needs to be done now, and we ignore the fundamental reality of trade offs — saying yes to something invariably means saying no to something else. With these obstacles, how do we decide what is important and remain focused on the most essential things in life? On this episode, I share what I have discovered on my journey to live a life prioritizing the important over the urgent. It is not always easy, but it is absolutely worth it. Successful people — meaning people whose lives are in line with their deepest values — spend most of their time in Quadrant II. Over time, small deposits in these important, non-urgent tasks of Quadrant II can produce incredible results. But the opposite is also true. Neglecting Quadrant II activities can lead to long term regrets and more urgent matters (e.g., health issues or relationship problems). I hope this episode of the podcast will help you think more about the important things in your life, prune away the non-essential, have the courage to say no, and truly put first things first. For full show notes, visit https://www.calwalters.me/

On this episode, Cal shares an impactful and replicable process he uses to reflect.  This is useful any time of year, but the New Year presents a natural time to reflect.   In less than 1 hour, you can turn experience into insights to grow and make progress in the New Year.  Check it out! On this episode, Cal discusses being inspired by Ray Dalio and Adam Grant to be more teachable.  Below are two resources on this topic: Principles by Ray Dalio Interview of Adam Grant by Tim Ferris 

Today, you will hear an interview I did with one of my best friends, Rajiv Srinivasan.  Rajiv is currently a Global Client Director at LinkedIn, where he manages a worldwide and multifunctional team supporting relationships for 3 of LinkedIn’s top 10 accounts.  Rajiv was on the Dean’s List at West Point and graduated in the Top 5% of his class in 2008. He also earned an MS in Applied Mathematics from Columbia University and will be graduating with his MBA from Wharton this May.  His amazing wife Chelsea is also a Wharton graduate. After graduating from West Point in 2008, Rajiv deployed to Afghanistan as a platoon leader.  In Afghanistan, Rajiv did over 300 combat patrols and was awarded the Bronze Star Medal and received the Combat Action Badge.  Rajiv transitioned out of the military in 2013 and moved out to Silicon Valley.  Rajiv was part of the Founding Team at Morta Security, a cyber security company that was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2013.  After Morta was acquired, Rajiv became a Enterprise & SLED Account Manager at MobileIron. In 2016, Rajiv became a Global Account Manager at VMWare. Rajiv is also an Eagle Scout, avid snow skier (you’ll hear him talk about a scary incident he had in Lake Tahoe), musician (he plays guitar, ukulele, piano, and is a vocalist), he has climbed Mount Kilimanjaro, has completed the NYC Marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon, and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon.  He has been a contributor for the New York Times and TIME on military and veteran issues.  Rajiv is someone that has inspired me ever since we met at West Point in 2005.  In this interview, we discuss his love of books, how he has managed to read 76 books in 2019, his process of doing a digital declutter, and many of Rajiv’s favorite books, including a few surprising recommendations.  I really enjoyed this conversation, just like every conversation I have with Rajiv, and I think you will, too.  Below is a list of books and resources we discuss during this interview: Good Economics for Hard Times by Abhijit V. Banerjee and Esther Duflo Atomic Habits by James Clear (I also recommend subscribing to James Clear’s weekly newsletter here. It is short but packed with great information and no spam.) Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (this is one of Rajiv’s top 3 recommended books!) Educated by Tara Westover Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance The Shortest Way Home by Pete Buttigieg Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow Grant by Ron Chernow (Here is a LinkedIn Article Rajiv created about this book) The House of Morgan by Ron Chernow Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo Give and Take by Adam Grant (This is one of Rajiv’s favorite books and it is currently high on my reading list.) How to Change Your Mind by Michael Pollan (This was a surprising recommendation by Rajiv. I obviously do not use or condone drug use, but Rajiv makes the point that reading this book really helped him understand a group of people he previously did not understand, which simply highlights the beauty and the power of books to give us understanding and empathy for other humans.) Although Rajiv intentionally says “no” to many digital platforms (how do you think he reads so much?), you can connect with Rajiv on LinkedIn here. He has also taken the #PlusOnePledge at LinkedIn. Rajiv also mentioned Gates Notes, which is a reading blog created by Bill Gates, and Goodreads. Rajiv uses these reading resources for inspiration and great book ideas.

On this episode, Cal dives into the exciting new science of positive psychology and gratitude.  Saying we should be more thankful is easy advice to give -- similar to saying we should live in the moment -- but for some reason it is harder to practice on a regular basis.   Cal explores some of the key obstacles to most of us practicing gratitude and offers two practical, yet powerful, ways that we can begin practicing gratitude (and reaping the benefits of it) today.   Join Cal on a 30 day commitment to the daily practice of gratitude!  

How is technology affecting your life?  Do you feel overwhelmed and exhausted by constant connectivity?  Have you ever felt the urge to check your phone when you're with people you love?  Have you felt that gut feeling after spending aimless minutes on your phone that you wish you had used your time more wisely?   If you have felt any of these feelings, you're not alone.   We have a collective problem with technology.   On this episode, Cal shares his own struggle with technology and explores the magnitude and causes of the problem.   More importantly, Cal offers practical solutions for regaining control of our digital tools to make them work for us. Let's collectively take a step back, discovery the beauty of a technology detox, and intentionally manage digital tools to make them tightly aligned with our deeply held values! Two books referenced during this episode: Deep Work by Cal Newport Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

Packed with great stories of overcoming adversity and incredible nuggets of wisdom and inspiration, this episode will not disappoint! Ryan Brence grew up playing big time Texas high school football.  He is the son of a very successful Texas high school football coach in Plano, TX, and he shares lessons he learned watching his dad lead a football team.   Ryan is a husband, father, West Point Graduate, former Army Football player, winner of the Black Lion Award, Army Ranger, and he currently works as a business development manager for TDIndustries in Dallas, TX.  TDIndustries teaches servant leadership and is a Fortune 100 Best Company to Work For: TDIndustries Awards. Ryan shares stories of overcoming adversity in football and Ranger School.  He shares practical ways in which he lives an intentional life, and he shares lessons he learned on servant leadership from his dad and his work at TDIndustries.     Ryan references the following book during the episode:  The Power of Consistency by Weldon Long

On this episode, Cal wraps up his servant leadership series by covering the last three principles of servant leadership -- that servant leaders:  1.  Invest in the personal growth of their team members;  2.  Build a culture of trust; and 3.  Inspire! Cal dives into practical steps of how to apply these principles to your leadership!   Cal references the following items in the podcast:  Simon Sinek TED talk: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmyZMtPVodo The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni: https://www.amazon.com/Advantage-Organizational-Everything-Business-Lencioni-ebook/dp/B006ORWT3Y Bain & Company study on inspirational leadership: https://www.bain.com/insights/how-leaders-inspire-cracking-the-code/