The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Latest Episodes:

240: Todd Henry - Be The Leader That Creative People Need (Herding Tigers) Jan 15, 2018

Show notes

The Learning Leader Show

Todd Henry is the founder of Accidental Creative, a company that helps creative people and teams be prolific, brilliant and healthy. He regularly speaks and consults with companies about how to develop practices that lead to everyday brilliance. He is the author of four books (The Accidental Creative, Louder Than Words, Die Empty, Herding Tigers), speaks internationally on productivity, creativity, leadership and passion for work, and build tools for creative people and teams. In short, he's an arms dealer for the creative revolution. His latest book is called Herding Tigers: Leading talented, creative people requires a different skill set than the one many management books offer. As a consultant to creative companies, Todd Henry knows firsthand what prevents creative leaders from guiding their teams to success, and in Herding Tigers he provides a bold new blueprint to help you be the leader your team needs. Learn to lead by influence instead of control. Discover how to create a stable culture that empowers your team to take bold creative risks. And learn how to fight to protect the time, energy, and resources they need to do their best work.

"Great leaders have great rituals. Great leaders are connected. Great leaders have set questions they ask when they meet someone for the first time."

Show Notes:

Sustained Excellence =
- Great leaders have great rituals
  - Disciplined time to study/reflect
  - Well read
  - Go on walks
- Great leaders are connected to their network
- Great leaders have set questions they ask someone when they meet for the first time
Todd's rituals
- Same breakfast everyday, same coffee mug everyday
- 1 hour of study/read/time to think
- Writes morning pages (3 full pages long hand)
Creating space for yourself
- Predictable space, a buffer - "I have a ritual of taking a long walk in the middle of my day" -- "It helps me get lost in thought"
Set questions to ask when you meet someone
- "What's the most important thing I should know about you?"
- What's inspiring you right now?"
Cover bands don't change the world
- Go out and present YOUR ideas to the market place
- "If you want to have a voice in the market place, you have to have a voice" -- You can't just regurgitate what others say: Take what you learn, synthesize it with your own thoughts and have a voice, a point of view
  - "Your synthesis is what is valuable"
Writing The Accidental Creative was hard and lonely
Leading Creatives - We assume they get it... No, you must be clear that they do. Walk them through your thought process, what you expect, why you expect it
- Jocko's principle -- "You own all of it"
Brian Koppelman (Creator of Billions) - Leading with influence vs being a micro-manager. The director must own the show... They must have a compelling vision, point of view. Koppelman must create the space to give the director of each episode that ownership (he owns it all)
Creative people need two things
- Stability - Protect them, give them the space they need, be clear
- Challenge - Cannot allow boredom
- These two exist is constant tension, push/pull. You have to know how/when/why to turn the dial on each
- "Your entire career, up until you're a manager, you have complete control -- As a manager you must shift from control to influence (it's hard) or the team cannot scale beyond you
Your team must understand the WHY behind what you do -- If not they just inherit tactics but don't know why they do it. It can't scale without knowing the WHY
Need to make certain creative people feel ownership of the work
- Influence is about principle
Why is implementation and execution so hard?
- Leaders struggle with insecurity
  - "Your area of greatest insecurity can inflict the most damage to your organization... It's about ego more than confidence"
Why write Herding Tigers?
- "I wrote the book I wish I had... A lot of people don't have the model of what great leadership is"
Here's what it feels like right now:
- Action
- Pause
- Reflection
- Redirection
- Action

"Cover bands don't change the world. Find your own voice."

Social Media:

Read: Herding Tigers
Follow Todd on Twitter: @toddhenry
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

239: Dan Pink - The Scientific Secrets Of Perfect Timing (When) Jan 08, 2018

Show notes

Episode 239: Dan Pink - The Scientific Secrets Of Perfect Timing (When)

Daniel Pink is the author of six provocative books — including his newest, When: The Scientific Secrets of Perfect Timing, to be published in January 2018. His other books include the long-running New York Times bestseller A Whole New Mind and the #1 New York Times bestsellers Drive and To Sell is Human. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into 37 languages. If you'd like to listen to the first time Dan joined me on The Learning Leader Show, CLICK HERE.

Dan's TED Talk on the science of motivation is one of the 10 most-watched TED Talks of all time, with more than 19 million views. His RSA Animate video about the ideas in his book, Drive, has collected more than 14 million views.(from DanPink.com) (Photo Credit - HOW Design)

The Learning Leader Show

"It's like brick laying. I show up every day and I hit my word (count) goal. Day after day after day. Every day."

Show Notes:

Dan's book writing process:
- "It's like 1930's football... One short play at a time."
- Brick laying, very laborious...
  - Get in office by 8:30 and hit the writing (word count) goal every single day... Day after day after day after day...
  - Write 700 words a day, every da
    - "I show up and hit my number, every single day"
- Combining research with interesting stories -- work in chunks, have research in a Word doc, and the book in a separate doc. Review, go back and forth
- Go through the (printed out) research, highlight, underline, review a lot
- If you do this every day, it adds up
Why write about this topic? The topic of When
- As a writer, you must pick a topic you are VERY interested in... You spend years on the project (research, writing, speeches)
- "I wrote this book because I wanted to read it"
How to know if an idea is worth exploring?
- "You don't... But when you share it with others, does it create curiosity in them? Do they ask follow up questions? If they do, you may be on to something"
The 3 stages of our days
- Peak - Analytical work, smart
- Trough - The afternoon "Bermuda Triangle" -- A bad time to make decisions
- Recovery - A creative time
Why lunch is the most important meal of the day -- This is a time where you need to leave what you're doing, go outside, go with a friend, disconnect from work, don't look at your phone, need to recharge
Breaks are enormously important - Social breaks (with friends) are better than solo breaks
Napping for 20 minutes in the afternoon is very helpful
- Drink a cup of coffee, set you iPhone for an alarm to go off in 23 minutes, lay down with an eye mask. If you fall asleep in 5 minutes, you get an 18 minute nap, and you wake up and the caffeine starts to kick in
Why NBA players who get more "touches" have more success than others... Scientific evidence supports this
The importance of endings... How we end things:
- Energize - More 29, 39, 49 year olds run marathons than any other age. People want to end on a high note
- Encode - Evaluate and record experiences - How something ends is very important. Look at Yelp reviews -- People remember the experience for how a meal ended more than anything else
- Elevate - People prefer rising sequences. Dan's favorite tip: When sharing good news and bad news, always START with the bad news, and end with the good news
We are very intentional about who, what, why... why aren't we intentional about WHEN? We should be...

"We are very intentional about who, what, and why. We aren't intentional about WHEN. We should be."

Social Media:

Read: When - The Scientific Secrets Of Perfect Timing
See why over 396,000 people follow Dan on Twitter: @DanielPink
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

238: Neil Pasricha - Why Action Creates Motivation: 1,000 Awesome Things Jan 01, 2018

Show notes

The Learning Leader Show

Episode 238: Neil Pasricha - Why Action Creates Motivation: 1,000 Awesome Things

Neil Pasricha is the New York Times-bestselling author of The Happiness Equation and The Book of Awesome series, which has been published in ten countries, spent over five years on bestseller lists, and sold over a million copies. Neil is a Harvard MBA, one of the most popular TED speakers of all time, and after ten years heading Leadership Development at Walmart he now serves as Director of The Institute for Global Happiness. He has dedicated the past fifteen years of his life to developing leaders, creating global programs inside the world's largest companies and speaking to hundreds of thousands of people around the globe.

"Most think motivation leads to action... No, motivation doesn't cause action... Action creates motivation."

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- C -- Clarity - Clear, succinct, memorable
- O -- Optimism -- "Find the good in everything"
- P -- Patience -- Delaying decision making until the last possible moment
  - The quality can improve if "we let the tension live"
Empower others - "Parkinson's Law" - Work rises to the time needed to complete it.
"I don't want to fight the customer." -- Thinking about everything from their perspective. Wal-Mart
Being a Harvard Business School graduate
- "Chase the companies that don't come to Harvard to recruit. You'll learn more." -- Why Neil went to Wal-Mart
Neil's 30 second pitch to why someone should hire him for a leadership role when he was very young
"I had to be artificially confident"
- His pitch -- 3 quick questions
  - Do you value internal promotions?
  - What's the #1 program you've seen?
  - Would you be interested in topics of developing leaders at Harvard?
    - Get their email address and follow up
None of the companies were hiring when he was leaving school... Neil had to "create a job" within companies to get hired
Brene Brown - "If you go through life trying to find confirmation you don't belong, you'll find it."
2008 - The world was falling apart, his marriage ended, his best friend committed suicide..
- He started the blog, 1,000 Awesome Things
- Won a webby award for best blog in the world
- Wrote The Book Of Awesome
He moved to NYC... Didn't know anyone, lived alone
He was going through pain while starting the awesome things blog. Focused on three things:
- Make the blog public - hold him accountable
- Use a countdown - From 1,000 to 1 -- Helped him know it was going to end at some point
- Finite - There is light at the end of the tunnel
"Most think motivation leads to action. Not true. Action creates motivation."
The importance of consistency - Neil's idea was not unique, but doing it everyday made him different from most
- "Try to be receptive of other people's ideas" -- Helps you "notice things"
"Your questions are fantastic. I'm not surprised."
Working on deadlines -- Neil wrote for a newspaper for four years. Helped with this skill
"I believe in consistency"
Actionable advice: You have three, 56 hour buckets of your week. They are:
- 56 Hours - Sleep
- 56 Hours - Work/Job
- 56 Hours - What are you spending this time on? You can do whatever you want...
The happiness equation - Work/Life balance fulcrum -- Flywheel
Taking his side hustle and making it his full time job -- "I should have done it sooner."

"If you go through life trying to find confirmation that you don't belong, you'll find it." -- Brene Brown

Social Media:

Read: The Happiness Equation - Want Nothing + Do Everything = Have Anything
Follow Neil on Twitter: @NeilPasricha
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

237: AJ Jacobs - The Power of Irrational Confidence (Life As An Experiment) Dec 25, 2017

Show notes

The Learning Leader Show

Episode 237: AJ Jacobs - The Power of Irrational Confidence (Life As An Experiment)

A.J. Jacobs is an author, journalist, lecturer and human guinea pig. He has written four New York Times bestsellers that combine memoir, science, humor and a dash of self-help. He is also editor at large at Esquire magazine, a commentator on NPR and a columnist for Mental Floss magazine. He is currently helping to build a family tree of the entire world and holding the biggest family reunion ever in 2015.

In addition to his books, Jacobs written for The New York Times, Entertainment Weekly, and New York magazine.

He has appeared on Oprah, The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN, The Dr. Oz Show, Conan and The Colbert Report. He has given several TED talks, including ones about living biblically, creating a one-world family, and living healthily.

"It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting."

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- Self delusion -- Optimism helps you do incredible things. Acting "as if"
  - "It's easier to act your way into a new way of thinking, than think your way into a new way of acting."
- Great curiosity -- "I'm curious about everything... Even things that don't interest me."
Why he read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica
Why the "good ole days" actually sucked -- Studying this made him very grateful for being alive today
The practice of radical honesty and how it got him in trouble -- He was forced to tell the full truth at all times
- Can be good or bad
Gratitude -- Common among the greatest achievers -- be thankful for everything. "When you're grateful for something as small as the elevator door opening, you're much happier."
It's All Relative -- Building a world family true. How we are related. How he is related to President Barack Obama...
- It helps with perspective and tolerance... We're more tolerant of people we are related to
- The Global Family Reunion event
Why his experiments drive his wife crazy -- The year of living biblically -- Why it was so hard to follow the exact words of the Bible
Harvard studies -- If we share DNA, people are more open to help one another
Why we need to get out of the echo chamber
Typical day -- stretch, treadmill desk, write and walk at the same time, walking keeps him alert
- Importance of "walks with wife" -- raises serotonin
Batching activities -- Phone calls
- It's lonely as a writer... AJ needs to speak with other creatives often: "I need to bounce ideas of of others in between the alone time"
- Doing "Skype" lunches. He eats lunch with friends over Skype
Best advice he's heard: From George Clooney -- "When I get up to bat, I don't think Am I going to hit a home run? I think, where will I hit this home run?" -- The importance of irrational confidence. Delusional optimism is helpful.
Stage presence (when speaking) -- Why you "owe it to the audience" to think "you're the baddest dude on the planet" and will deliver for THEM

"When I got up to bat, I didn't think, "Am I going to hit a home run?" I thought, "Where will this home run go?" -- George Clooney on the importance of self confidence

Social Media:

Read: It's All Relative
Follow AJ on Twitter: @ajjacobs
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

236: Brian Scudamore - CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK: How To Scale A Business Dec 18, 2017

Show notes

Episode 236: Brian Scudamore - CEO of 1-800-GOT-JUNK: How To Scale A Business

Brian started his business in Vancouver, Canada at the age of 18, and later went on to franchise 1-800-GOT-JUNK? as a way to expand operations. Today, 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has 1000 trucks on the road throughout some 180 locations in Canada, the United States, and Australia.

Brian has received wide recognition in the media and business community. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? has celebrated appearances on the highly-acclaimed Undercover Boss Canada, Dr. Oz, Dr. Phil, CNN, ABC Nightline, the Today Show, The Hour with George Stroumboulopoulos, and the View. His story has been told in Fortune Magazine, Business Week, New York Times, Huffington Post, and Wall Street Journal, to name a few. 1-800-GOT-JUNK? is currently the starring junk removal attraction on the hit A&E reality show, Hoarders.

Brian has brought his entrepreneurial success story to many conference stages, including the Fortune Small Business Magazine's national conference. A strong believer in personal and professional development, Brian graduated from MIT's four-year Birthing of Giants program, and has subsequently completed several years of MIT's BOG's alumni program, Gathering of Titans. He is also a participant in a nine-year executive education program at Harvard University through YPO Presidents' University. (from 1800gotjunk.com)

The Learning Leader Show

"I don't know if you can live the full potential if it's a side hustle. You need to give maximum effort."

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- Focus - All in, not a side hustle
- Faith - Belief in self, clear vision
- Effort - Discipline
Why we all need an "MBA" -- A "Mentor Board of Advisors"
Fred DeLuca -- Subway founder - He never took his eye off the prize. He struggled and kept going. 32 stores in 12 years.
Are entrepreneurs born or made?
- Brian started a carwash as a kid. He sold candy in his dorm room
Creativity as a Dad -- Always build things with your kids and watch them grow together (ie. a garden)
Why did he start 1-800-GOT-JUNK?
- Needed money for college... Initially called it "The Rubbish Boys"
Brian learned more about running a business from actually doing it than he did in school
The amazing story of Brian's dad "falling out of his chair" when he told me he was leaving school to run the business full time
- "It couldn't be a side hustle." The need for maximum effort to be successful
How Brian views opportunities
- And where he thinks of new ideas to create more businesses
The importance of going on walks
Meeting outdoors in Vancouver -- "Get your muscles moving"
Morning routine -- Get up at 5:55
- Power hour
- Focus on self
- Exercise
- Study French, Italian (other languages)
- Spend moments learning before the kids wake up
Side hustle -- "I don't know if you can live the full potential if it's a side hustle. You need to give it full effort. Imagine the possibility if they quit their job"
Philosophy on sales? Mentor Jack Daly -- "Ask questions and listen"
How he got his first 100 customers
"I have the best job in the world for me"
Brian's hiring process
Why he fired his entire team of 11 at one point -- They didn't have the right attitude
"Everyone must pass the beer and bbq test" -- "You have to want to have a beer and eat bbq with them"
- "I want friendly, ambitious, passionate, optimistic people."
- "Hire for attitude, train for skill"
- Brian is the "culture" interviewer
Cameron Herold -- Best man in his wedding, previous business partner. Brian shares why he had to fire him. "You cannot have 2 "fire, ready, aim" type of people."
The process of making mistakes on his path to hiring the right team
The need for Erik Church as the COO -- He is an executor. They are a great yin and yang
- Take a sheet of paper and write down what you enjoy doing and what you're good at. Also write what you don't like doing and you're bad it. Find the person to fill those gaps. Erik does that for Brian
- How to handle disagreements?
Birthing of giants - MIT -- Annual learning, monthly call
The importance of being a lifelong learner, be curious, ask questions
Book to read, The E-Myth by Michael Gerber

"I hire friendly, ambitious, passionate, optimistic people. Hire for attitude, train for skill."

Social Media:

Brian's website: o2ebrands.com
Follow Brian on Twitter: @BrianScudamore
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

235: Dr. Gay Hendricks - How To Make The Big Leap Dec 11, 2017

Show notes

Episode 235: Dr. Gay Hendricks - How To Make The Big Leap

Gay Hendricks, Ph.D., has been a leader in the fields of relationship transformation and bodymind therapies for more than 45 years. After earning his Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Stanford, Gay served as professor of Counseling Psychology at the University of Colorado for 21 years. He has written more than 40 books, including bestsellers such as Five Wishes, The Big Leap and Conscious Loving (co-authored with his co-author and mate for more than 35 years, Dr. Kathlyn Hendricks), both used as a primary text in universities around the world. In 2003, Gay co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle,which distributes inspirational movies and conscious entertainment to subscribers in 70+ countries.

Gay has offered seminars worldwide and appeared on more than 500 radio and television shows, including OPRAH, CNN, CNBC, 48 HOURS and others. In addition to his work with The Hendricks Institute, Gay is currently continuing his new mystery series that began with The First Rule Of Ten

Episode 235: Dr. Gay Hendricks - How To Make The Big Leap

Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher Radio

The Learning Leader Show

"The money became an effortless byproduct of doing what I love"

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- Openness to learning
- Great listener
- They do not waste time being defensive
The makeup of insecure people who won't learn = Fear. A bug --> You poke it, it curls towards the center. They are scared. We have the same nervous system from many years ago
- Must acknowledge the fears -- "Don't try to out argue them or "out-facts" them"
- "Speak to your shared fears" when scared
- The 4 things we do when scared:
  - Fight
  - Runaway
  - Freeze
  - Space out
- Fear tries to take us out of the moment
His story of going on the Oprah show -- "Being on Oprah was like having 10 shots of espresso"
What is the upper limit problem? A point in success/happiness -- if you go past the point of it, you do something to knock yourself down. Fears keep people locked in certain zones
The 4 Operating Zones
- Zone of incompetence
- Zone of competence
- Zone of excellence
- Zone of Genius
Most love to do? "Living full time in the zone of genius"
Why you should start with "10 minutes of what you most love to do" -- Then continually bump that time up
Making the leap -- Freedom, pressure. Stand up, walk your talk. So rewarding, but can you make money?
- "The money became an effortless byproduct of doing what I love"
Walk quietly and with passion... Auspicious things happen
Life rewards expression of true genius
Early 90's, Gay spent 30% of time in his genius zone, then 50%, then 70%, now 90% of time is spent in his zone of genius
His zone of genius? "Be a model of creativity. Explain complicated things in a simple way."
- Oprah called it "Learning to love yourself"
Creativity - Conscious loving ever after -- How to access more creativity? Every day after 50 is a choice between creativity and stagnation. Move, play, create new ideas. At age 65, Gay started lifting weights. Must keep moving your body
He wrote his first mystery novel at age 65 (Wow!)
He just sold the mystery series to Netflix to turn it into a television series
- It's never too late to start accessing new paths of creativity
- Put your mind on how to create more
Learning Leader = "Commitment to learn from the moment"

"Life rewards expression of true genius."

Social Media:

Read: The Big Leap
Follow Gay on Twitter: @GayHendricks
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

234: Jocko Willink - Why Discipline Equals Freedom Dec 04, 2017

Show notes

The Learning Leader Show

"As the leader, you are responsible for EVERYTHING that happens in your organization."

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- Humility
- Constantly looking to improve
- Learning
- Willing and able to take criticism
Incredible story of a mutiny within the ranks because of a platoon commander's ego
Way Of The Warrior Kid - The message for children
- Be humble
- Don't give up
- Work hard
Ramadi -- The epicenter, insurgency in Iraq
- The confusion/fog of war
A firefight... Between friendly forces: Who's at fault?
Jocko took ownership - "As the leader, I'm responsible for everything that happens on that field. It wasn't your fault, it's mine."
"If you make a mistake, you must own it."
Owning the mistakes created confidence and trust with Jocko's boss
How do you handle a bad boss?
- Make them look good
- Ask for feedback, advice, ask for their approval, build them up
- Isn't that manipulation? "Yes..."
"It's not just what you preach, it's what you tolerate."
Decentralized command -- Empowering junior leaders to make important decisions. Front line leaders must be empowered. Why? Speed
- Being empowered as a quarterback to call an audible -- Why this was an optimal way for us to attack a defense and ultimately win games. The coaches needed to trust and empower me to do this
Are leaders born or made?
Characteristics of great leaders?
- They take complex things and simplify them
- They are articulate
- They are loud (seems strange, but it's true for military leaders and a quarterback)
How much can you learn? You must detach emotion, and be decisive.
Why wake up at 4:30 am? "It is time for me to own, it's before everyone else is awake"
Favorite part of work? - Podcasting and working with companies
How has Jocko created this lifestyle? -- Many years of consistent, sustained work
- "Discipline Equals Freedom."
His discipline for many years has helped him create a lifestyle that he loves

"It's not just what you preach. It's what you tolerate."

Social Media:

Read: Extreme Ownership
See why over 150,000 people follow Jocko on Twitter: @jockowillink
Connect with me on LinkedIn
Join our Facebook Group: The Learning Leader Community
To Follow Me on Twitter: @RyanHawk12

233: Gretchen Rubin - How To Be Happy Nov 27, 2017

Show notes

Episode 233: Gretchen Rubin - How To Be Happy

Gretchen Rubin is the author of several books, including the blockbuster New York Times bestsellers, Better Than Before, The Happiness Project and Happier at Home. She has an enormous readership, both in print and online, and her books have sold almost three million copies worldwide, in more than thirty languages. Fast Company named Gretchen Rubin to its list of Most Creative People in Business, and she's a member of Oprah's SuperSoul 100.

She's been interviewed by Oprah, eaten dinner with Daniel Kahneman, and walked arm-in-arm with the Dalai Lama.

Gretchen Rubin started her career in law and was clerking for Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor when she realized she wanted to be a writer. She lives in New York City with her husband and two daughters.

The Learning Leader Show

"What do I want from my life? I want to be happy. How can I be happier?"

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- They are self aware
- They are happy and healthy and figured themselves out
Better Than Before -- How to create great habits
"I can't have a little. I either have none or a lot." -- Needed to abstain from things like that (sugar)
Think -- "What do I want from my life?" "I want to be happy..." She then went to the library to study. Did a deep dive on happiness
- What are the keys to happiness?
- Every month (for a year), she created a theme for the month: 3-5 concrete resolutions she could measure to make herself happier
Aim higher -- "Enjoying the fun of failure" -- Starting a blog. Initially worrying that nobody would read it. "It's okay to fail."
How can you buy happiness?
How to be grateful for what you have... Both experiences and possessions
Bill Gates takes "think weeks" -- Why we all should do this
Warren Buffett can buy anything he wants... But he cannot buy time
Gretchen describes her typical day
The Four Tendencies (Personality Profiles) -- How you respond to expectations
- Upholders - Respond readily to both outer expectations and inner expecations
- Questioners - Question all expectations; they meet an expectation only if they believe it's justified, so in effect they respond only to inner expectations
- Obligers - Respond readily to outer expectations but struggle to meet inner expectations
- Rebels - Resist all expectations, outer and inner alike
A live role play between Gretchen and me describing which tendency we inhibit and why we are different
Questioner vs Upholder - An upholder wants to always follow the rules (Gretchen)... A questioner (me) thinks differently
Gretchen's advice - Get clarity on who you are, your personality profile, and how you respond to expectations
- Questioner - Why are you doing this? Know who, what when, why?
- Obliger - Go beyond. Let's both commit. Find outer accountability. Take action
- Rebel - Freedom, choice. "I want my voice heard."Influence change

Social Media:

Read: The Four Tendencies
See why over 135,000 people follow Gretchen on Twitter: @gretchenrubin
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

232: It's Time To Go ALL IN (With Doug Meyer & Greg Meredith) Nov 20, 2017

Show notes

Episode 232: It's Time To Go ALL IN (With Doug Meyer & Greg Meredith)

"Here's the issue:If you're going to pursue a low odds game, the reality is that at some point the odds will go to zero if you don't commit fully. You're never going to get across that chasm if you're going to keep yourself tethered to one side but that doesn't mean taking an unfounded leap into the wild beyond." Jim Collins gave me that advice on Episode #216 here On The Learning Leader Show. I've fired a lot of bullets over the past three years building this show and this platform while working a full time job at a big international corporation. The purpose of this episode is to announce that I have left my full time job to pursue my passion... My love: This show, this platform, this work, on a full time basis. It's time for me to go All In.

The featured leaders tonight are two of my business partners (and friends), Doug Meyer and Greg Meredith. Doug Meyer is one of the founding partners of Brixey & Meyer. 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. Greg Meredith runs Brixey & Meyer's Business Advisory Services team, which helps clients with strategic planning, project management, sales strategy, business process and system optimization and more. I am bringing The Learning Leader brand to Brixey & Meyer full time to run the Leadership Advisory Services team. In addition to the podcast, I'll be focused on helping clients be more effective leaders, managers, and coaches. This is done through: consulting projects, 1 on 1 coaching, leadership circles (Mastermind groups), creating written content (book and articles online), and much more. I could not be more excited to get started!

"Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now." - Naval Ravikant

Show Notes:

3:06 - My career, what I've done, why I haven't named the companies I've worked for, who has supported this, who hasn't.
5:05 - Why I'm making this move to do it full time, the first lunch I had with Doug, the impact that lunch had on me, how long this has been in the works, advice that was given to me... The phone call I made to my wife Miranda after that meeting informing her of what I wanted to do...
6:40 - The exercise that Doug and I did -- "Write down everything you love to do... And write down the things people have paid for. Let's build the business based on that information." -- The dream job scenario
8:03 Doug sharing why Brixey & Meyer is different from other firms and why... - The values: Having fun, providing value, passionate, driver of change, accountability, responsibility to the people of the firm
10:01 Doug sharing how The Learning Leader Show has positively impacted his life
11:48 - Greg describing The Business Advisory Practice he leads at Brixey & Meyer
12:07 - How Brixey & Meyer evolves and adapts -- Taking it to another level
13:02 - Why I decided to leave my job as VP of Sales at a large international company
14:09 - Finding a way to love what you do everyday
14:44 - "Following your genuine intellectual curiosity is a better foundation for a career than following whatever is making money right now." - Naval Ravikant
16:24 - The scary part about making this change -- Side hustle to full time job creates a lot of pressure
16:56 - The incredible support from all of the people at Brixey & Meyer
17:47 - Why I'm motivated by people who believe in me... And my desire to prove them right
18:52 - "You're work is going to fill a large part of your life... And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs
19:34 - The biggest challenge for Doug (managing my expectations)
20:25 - Doug describing that this was an opportunistic hire... Not something they were looking for, but why it was a no brainer when the opportunity arose
21:52 - The day to day actions - Helping leaders be more effective. Keynote speeches, leadership circles (Mastermind groups), Consulting projects, producing podcasts, creating content (books, online courses/articles), and much more
25:18 - Doug and Greg describing their current leadership circles and why they've been so effective (and will continue to be)
27:53 - The power in the peer to peer learning model that is created from Leadership Circles
29:22 - Rapid fire questions (for Ryan):
- Dream guest? Elon Musk
- Favorite thing to do with my daughters? Coach their sports teams
- Learn more from success or failure? I remember my failures more, but I try to learn from both success and failure
- Most impactful book in the last 12 months? The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
- Favorite episode? #078 With Kat Cole
33:13 - Rapid fire questions (for Doug):
- Favorite episode of The Learning Leader Show? #200 With Keith Hawk & AJ Hawk
- Smartest person in the Meyer family? daughter, Jocelyn Meyer
- Are you a Visionary or Integrator? Tough question. People think of him more as an integrator
- Best Advice: From Bill Matthews - "I was frustrated with team members." And Bill said, "Doug, it's not them, it's you."
36:37 - How will you define success? "Success is fun. I want this to be fun. We are going to add value and be agile."
38:38 - The phone call I made to Doug when he thought I was turning him down...
39:06 Why 99 out of 100 people would not have left the corporate job to do this? Doug's thoughts... And why I did.
40:35 - Defining your personal hedgehog
41:46 - The unique qualities I will bring to this role -- What's different from books or articles
45:54 - How I define the makeup of a great leader... The qualities they possess
48:43 - "The path to fulfillment in life, to emotional satisfaction, is to find what really excites you and channel your all into it." - Rich Roll
49:01 - Doug describing his beliefs: Energy, Passion, Fun
49:26 - Why Doug wanted me to be part of his business -- Natural curiosity, thought provoking questions, attitude, helping others
51:06 - What's most important -- To find your WHO
51:47 - The story Doug shared that created an emotional and powerful moment... And convinced me to say, "Yes, I am doing this, I want to work with a guy with this much integrity, honesty, and love."
55:28 - Doug's excitement to unleash the potential for what we can do
56:45 - Acknowledging how instrumental Greg has been in the growth of The Learning Leader brand over the last three years. His honest feedback and mentor-ship has been monumental
58:28 - One of my favorite artists, Tom Petty said "It's time to move on, it's time to get going. What lies ahead I have no way of knowing... But under my feet, baby, grass is growing, it's time to move on, it's time to get going."

"You're work is going to fill a large part of your life... And the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs

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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

231: Michael Bungay Stanier - Say Less, Ask More, & Change The Way You Lead Forever Nov 13, 2017

Show notes

Episode 231: Michael Bungay Stanier - Say Less, Ask More, & Change The Way You Lead Forever

Michael is the Senior Partner at Box of Crayons, a company that helps organizations do less good work and more great work. He's the author of several books, including The Coaching Habit and Do More Great Work. Michael has written for or been featured in numerous publications including Business Insider, Fast Company, Forbes, The Globe & Mail and The Huffington Post. Michael left Australia 25 years ago to be a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University. He was the first Canadian Coach of the Year. At Box of Crayons, Michael and his team of facilitators teach 10-minute coaching so busy managers build stronger teams and get better results. Clients come from all sectors and include Box, the United Nations, Gartner, the University Health Network and USAA. A sought-after speaker, Michael regularly speaks to businesses and organizations and has delivered keynotes at Leadership, HR and Learning & Development, conferences around the world.

The Learning Leader Show

"If you can't coach in 10 minutes or less then you don't have the time to coach at all"

Show Notes:

Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence:
- "They probably haven't sustained it. It's really hard."
- Role Models -- They succeed AND they fail. "You can't hit it out of the park every time"
- Some times you do it all right and you still fail
- Resilience and persistence are commonalities among people who have success
Michael's list of failures "is long"
The incredible story of how Michael was initially rejected as a Rhodes Scholar... And then how he persevered to earn it (the story about how he differentiated himself from the others is fantastic)
- "Purple suit, long hair" -- "Everyone else had a blue suit, white shirt, red tie"
Where did he develop so much courage?
- From his parents -- They gave him unconditional support to be different and unique
He's a bit of a rebel who also follows the rules sometimes
- Ask yourself "Do I want to be playing this game?"
Box of Crayons -- A training company on how to coach in 10 minutes
- The mistake of saying "yes" to everyone who asked for his help when he started the company
Jim Collins -- "Fire bullets and then cannonballs" -- Low risk experiments
The 3 ways coaching shows up in corporations
- Executive coaching -- People at the top of the Org Chart
- Training internal people to be the corporate training team
- Train all managers/leaders to be more coach like -- This is what Michael and his team does
"If you can't coach in 10 minutes or less then you don't have the time to coach at all"
Transforming to be more "coach like"
The 7 important questions to ask:
- What's on your mind?
- And what else?
- What's the real challenge here for you?
- What do you want?
- How can I help?
- If you're saying yes to this, what are you saying no to?
- What was most useful to you?
Why most 1 on 1's are terrible
The first and last questions are vital (must bookend the meeting well) -- "Start fast and end strong"
The Learning moments -- Help them learn. They learn when there is a moment to reflect on what just happened
Be careful when "the advice monster" kicks in... "Can you stay curious a little longer?" -- As the coach, you need to. You must solve the correct problem and focus on the person you are coaching
- If you just give advice, very little brain activity happens. If you ask questions, it grows the brain activity...
Coaching for performance vs. Coaching for development -- There is a big difference
The best question in the world is... "And what else?" -- It helps them go a level deeper. Keep asking it, keep going deeper
"Be lazy, be curious, be often" -- Michael's motto towards coaching. Listen, ask questions, help them learn
"Be more coach like"
"Help them learn rather than teaching them" -- We do this by asking great questions
Learning Leader = "A great coach is a great teacher. A learning leader is the essence of what it means to be a great leader." You help people learn by constantly learning more yourself