Uncategorized – Megachances

532: Michelle "Mace" Curran – Handling Perfectionism, Overcoming Imposter Syndrome, & Becoming A Thunderbird Pilot

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:53:51 +0000

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Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

Notes: Michelle “Mace” Curran has led an impressive career as a Fighter Pilot during her 13 years in the United States Air Force. From 2019-2021, she flew as the only female pilot for the Air Force Thunderbirds and performed for millions across the country and internationally. Before joining the Thunderbirds, Michelle was a combat-proven fighter pilot completing missions across Europe, Asia, and the Middle East.

What inspired Michelle to join the Air Force? “I had a grandpa who was a lieutenant in the Navy. I went through his World War II trunk and tried on uniforms and looked at postcards. He got to travel all over the world. I grew up in a small town and I wanted to travel. I’ve always been drawn to flying. I hadn’t done a lot of flying aside from commercially, but I loved it, so the Air Force seemed like a natural fit. I was also honestly looking for a scholarship for college, so the three things kind of came together.” “C3” Comm – That’s clear, concise, and correct communication. How that plays a role as a pilot and how we can use that as leaders outside of the airplane. For the solo opposing passes, each pilot is traveling at 500mph, that’s 1000mph of closure toward each other. The timing that makes sure the aircraft safely pass each other at the center point directly in front of the crowd is all done through radio calls. Every call must communicate clearly, concisely, and correctly. There are a lot of benefits to having a beginner’s mindset. What does Michelle say to young girls? “You have to exceed people’s expectations. People are going to set expectations for you based on where you grew up, the family you came from, your gender — there are all different factors that go into that. Constantly do your best, strive for perfection, exceed those expectations, and really don’t shortchange yourself. Don’t set boundaries that don’t really exist, that you just place there for yourself. You’ll be surprised at all of the things you can do if you just keep pushing.” “We wield a lot of power with our words.” Let’s plant a seed of inspiration. As leaders, our words carry a lot of weight. Let’s use that to help other people strive for more and potentially accomplish more than they ever thought they were capable of. What an awesome use of our power. The Debrief – It’s the sacred environment of flying. Your rank doesn’t matter. It’s all about focusing on what happened and how we can get better. I think our companies would be better if we had consistent debriefs after a big moment to ensure we are learning from our mistakes and getting better… The person you are today is likely much different than the one you were ten years ago. The person you will be ten years from now will probably be just as different compared to who you are now. Michelle initially didn’t feel capable as a fighter pilot. But she kept showing up. It’s important that we have the courage to keep going even when we don’t feel ready. Being a female fighter pilot, Mace was in a male-dominated career… She was often the only woman in my unit and roughly 3% of fighter pilots in the Air Force are female even thirty years after combat airframes were opened to women, Leaders and followers – A young flight lead could be in command of a general whose role is to be the wingman… Mace has written a children’s book that just came out called Upside Down Dreams. It is a story written for girls with big dreams looking for a real-world heroine.

543: Eric Musselman – Running Great Team Meetings, Developing Your People, Building a Championship Program (Head Men's Basketball Coach at The University of Arkansas)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:32:25 +0000

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes

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Eric Musselman is the head men’s basketball coach at the University of Arkansas. Prior to his time at Arkansas, he was a head coach in the NBA with the Golden State Warriors and the Sacramento Kings. He’s also spent time as the national coach for the Dominican Republic National Team and The Venezuela National Team.

Learn from others. Muss shared many examples of times he’s gone to other practices to watch and learn. He prefers to watch how and NFL runs practice and he’s modeled his practices after NFL teams. And sends his coaches to do the same. This is something we should do in corporate America. Connect with leaders at other companies and visit them. Watch their meetings, their 1 on 1s, and embed yourself in their culture for a few days. When Muss got fired as the coach of the Golden State Warriors, he was offered office space (from Mike Lombardi) at the Oakland Raiders facility. While there, he learned the ins and outs of running a professional program and has modeled a lot of his system from that experience. Leadership “Must-Haves” to be on his staff: Loyalty Will to win Specialty area of expertise Meetings: PREPARE a lot. Grab their attention. Keep them on their toes with surprises. All of these things can be done in business meetings… BUT it takes time and effort to do it well. Muss’s life philosophy is to be a constant learner AND a great communicator. He takes pages of notes with him to the gym every morning and reads, takes notes, and highlights the entire time. Then he synthesizes what he’s learned and shares it with his team. We all can do this. Again, it takes intentional effort, but it’s worth it. At the beginning of each practice, he does a “classroom” session with his team. He teaches a life lesson or a lesson on basketball. Family Coaching Legacy – Musselman’s father Bill was also an NBA head coach and they were the first father-son combination to become head coaches in the NBA. His sons work with him at Arkansas. “Muss is a magician with how he communicates with referees.” He works to build a genuine relationship with them. His coaching staff has metrics they produce that help him engineer how playing time and combinations of players on the floor can produce a win. His practices are legendary. Like a well-oiled machine. Everyone has a role. And they are open to the public. If a player isn’t in a drill, he better be on the sideline dribbling or practicing his game in some way. Always improving, always working. Muss has a reputation for being the college coach who can get you to the NBA. He is extremely well-connected in the NBA. If a kid wants to enter the draft, Muss will do his homework to see where he thinks he’ll get drafted, and then sit down with the kid and his parents to give him feedback. He revolutionized the use of the transfer portal and is extremely organized when a new prospect pops up. On his blog, Musselman wrote about the importance of matching an offense to the “team’s makeup.” Depending on the roster, a half-court offense might make more sense. In other cases, a team may be better suited for an “open offense.” According to Musselman, the idea is to allow players to “play to their strengths.”

545: Will Guidara – The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect (Unreasonable Hospitality)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:30:30 +0000

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

“Intention means every decision, from the most obviously significant to the seemingly mundane, matters.” “My dad says “The best way to learn is to teach.” He taught me to study for tests as if I were going in to deliver a presentation. At EMP, I made teaching part of our culture.” “Public speaking is a leadership skill.” Excellence is about small details — A couple of examples of that were lighting and music. “Maybe people don’t notice every single individual detail, but in aggregate, they’re powerful. In any great business, most of the details you closely attend to are ones that only a tiny, tiny percentage of people will notice.” “Some of the best advice I ever got about starting in a new organization is; Don’t cannonball. Ease into the pool.” Magic: “Too many people approach creative brainstorming by taking what’s practical into consideration way too early in the process. Start with what you want to achieve, instead of limiting yourself to what’s realistic or sustainable.” “Sometimes magic is just someone spending more time on something than anyone else might reasonably expect.” – Penn and Teller “Often, the perfect moment to give someone more responsibility is before they’re ready.” The daily 30-minute meeting: “A daily 30-minute meeting is where a collection of individuals becomes a team.” Find hidden treasures: Will’s dad had his own platoon in Vietnam. It wasn’t a great platoon. On it was a guy nicknamed Kentucky, Kentucky was lazy and wasn’t in great shape. He wasn’t that smart, but he was skilled directionally and had a great feel for being in the woods. “A leader’s responsibility is to identify the strengths of the people on their team, no matter how buried those strengths might be.” “Business like life is all about how you make people feel. It’s that simple and that hard.” – Danny Meyer “In restaurants, our reason for being is to make people feel, seen, it’s to make them feel welcome, it’s to give them a sense of belonging. The food, the service, the design, they are simply ingredients in the recipe of human connection” “The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson. I still give The One Minute Manager to every person I promote. It’s an amazing resource, in particular on how to give feedback. My biggest takeaways were: Criticize the behavior, not the person. Praise in public; criticize in private. Praise with emotion, criticize without emotion.” “What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?” “What criticism offers you, then, is an invitation to have your perspective challenged—or at least to grow by truly considering it. You might stick with a choice you’ve been criticized for or end up somewhere completely different. The endgame isn’t the point as much as the process: you grow when you engage with another perspective and decide to decide again.” “The aggregation of marginal gains,” or a small improvement in a lot of areas. In his words: “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 percent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”

548: Nick Maggiulli – The Power of Compounding, Creating a Writing Practice, Building Your Career, & Proven Ways To Build Wealth

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:28:26 +0000

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

What’s the Matthew Effect? The Matthew effect explains how two people can start in nearly the same place and end up worlds apart. In these kinds of systems, initial conditions matter. And as time goes on, they matter more and more. Instead of saving a fixed percentage of your income, save more when you earn more and less when you make less. The best way to save more is to earn more, not cut expenses to the point of being miserable. The real question money forces us to answer is what’s important to us in life. You should save what you can, when you can. Relying on a fixed, prescribed savings rate is nonsense. The Dolly Varden trout, an Alaskan fish species, puzzled biologists for decades. Despite only having a brief window of plentiful food each year — when salmon laid eggs in their waters — the fish continued to thrive year-round. How did they do it? Eventually, scientists discovered that the fish shrink and grow their digestive organs depending on food availability. When the salmon show up, they speed up their metabolism so they can take in more calories. Then, when the other fish leave, they slow down digestion. This way, they get by with much less food throughout the remainder of the year. Great Things Take Time – Focusing on the long term is more important than ever. The story of the “Dashrath Manjhi Breakthrough” – He carved a path through a mountain. He moved a little bit of rock each day for 20 years. Nick committed to writing one blog per week in 2017. And it changed his life. He learned that storytelling is what captures a reader’s attention. And the way to develop good stories is to read a lot, from a wide variety of sources. We all can do this. One decision can change everything. NASA decided that Voyager 2 would slingshot around planets has made it the farthest man-made object from Earth. And it’s still producing information for us. The Constant Reminder – How the Right Decisions and Compounding Can Lead to Huge Results. How have the decisions made by NASA 40 years ago had a profound effect on the Voyager missions and success to this day? Once a successful process is implemented, the results can be surprising. The point is to show you that making the right choices and letting things run their course can lead to incredible results. This is what makes consistent actions and the power of compounding so amazing. “When I think about creating a new habit in my life, I like to imagine all of the future benefits from that habit discounted back to the moment when the habit is formed.”

550: Dan Patrick – The Art of Interviewing, Leaving ESPN, Working With Dave Matthews & Adam Sandler, Asking Better Questions, & Taking Care of Your Team

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:26:41 +0000

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

What makes a great interview? They tell stories It feels like your eavesdropping on their conversation (he takes you inside) He disarms them with humor Ask shorter questions… Take care of your people… Dan has had the Dannettes with him for many years. He listens to his teammates, Makes them part of his show, and truly cares for him. In return, they are there for him every day. It seems obvious, but it’s not. Dan is evidence that this approach works… Dan has been influenced by Howard Stern’s interviewing style of always being curious… And he makes his staff part of the show. “I love being a voice in your head. You’re in your car, driving, and I love being that voice in your head.” Interviewing… Manage the tension. “Shorter questions get better answers.” Dan met Adam Sandler at Madison Square Garden and agreed that he would be cast in his next movie… He has since been cast in many more. Dan shares the story of meeting Dave Matthews, spilling his beer on him, and then later singing karaoke with him. Dan is the author of The Occasionally Accurate Annals of Football: The NFL’s Greatest Players, Plays, Scandals, and Screw-Ups (Plus Stuff We Totally Made Up) Leaving ESPN – Dan admitted he was hurt when good friend, Sports Illustrated writer Rick Reilly (who would move to ESPN) wrote, “Patrick was making one of the top 5 biggest career mistakes in entertainment history,” ranking right under Shelley Long‘s leaving Cheers and Katie Couric‘s leaving NBC’s Today show for the CBS Evening News. Life/Career advice: Be humble, be hungry, have humility, and be ready to go when your opportunity presents itself. The old adage rings true, “You don’t have to get ready if you stay ready.” Always be ready for your opportunity. Retirement Tour – Dan Patrick announces he plans to continue the Dan Patrick Show for the next four-and-a-half years with the intention of retiring at the end of 2027.

555: Shane Parrish – Raising Your Standards, The Difference Between Nice & Kind Feedback, The Inner vs. Outer Scoreboard, & Turning Ordinary Moments Into Extraordinary Results (Clear Thinking)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:24:37 +0000

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Twitter/IG: @RyanHawk12 https://twitter.com/RyanHawk12

The power of believing in someone. Mr. Duncan, Shane’s high school English teacher was the first person to tell him that he believed in him. He changed the trajectory of Shane’s life. We, as leaders, can do that for others. Let’s proactively look for opportunities to tell the people we’re leading that we believe in them. The difference between Nice and Kind feedback. Too often, the people we ask for feedback are nice but not kind. Kind people will tell you things a nice person will not. A kind person will tell you that you have spinach on your teeth. A nice person won’t because it’s uncomfortable. A kind person will tell us what holds us back, even when it’s uncomfortable. A nice person avoids giving us critical feedback because they’re worried about hurting our feelings. Champions: “Champions don’t create the standards of excellence. The standards of excellence create champions.” “Expecting high performance is a prerequisite to its achievement among those who work with you. Your high standards and optimistic anticipations will not guarantee a favorable outcome, but their absence will assuredly create the opposite.” The USS Benfold — was one of the worst-performing warships in the US Navy in 1996. The destiny of the USS Benfold changed the day Michael Abrashoff was named commander. Shane was 13 years old. Shane was standing with a group of his friends after school and they were teasing one of his classmates and he was watching. Teachers intervened and it ended quickly. He didn’t realize that your dad was parked nearby and was watching. You have to stand up for people who don’t have a voice. Warren Buffett: “The big question about how people behave is whether they’ve got an Inner Scorecard or an Outer Scorecard. It helps if you can be satisfied with an Inner Scorecard.” Brent Beshore: “My favorite part of the book was the section on habits, rules, and safeguards (page 101). A principle that Shane and I discussed in January changed my life and was expounded on in the book. Shane said, “It’s impossible to work out very often if you have to decide every day whether or not you’ll do it. That’s why I just do something active every day, no matter what.” Solutions/Ego: “Solutions appear when you stop bargaining and start accepting the reality of the situation. That’s because focusing on the next move, rather than how you got here in the first place, opens you up to a lot of possibilities. When you put outcome over ego, you get better results.” “Small plans don’t inspire, but consistently small actions create incredible results.” Knowing Your Defaults: The emotion default – We tend to respond to feelings rather than reasons and facts The ego default – We tend to react to anything that threatens our sense of self-worth or our position in a group hierarchy The social default – We tend to conform to the norms of our larger social group. The Inertia default – We’re habit-forming and comfort-seeking. We tend to resist change, and to prefer ideas, processes, and environments that are familiar. Ancient Greek word — Phronesis— the wisdom of knowing how to order your life to achieve the best results. Life/Career advice: “I’d give the same advice to someone who’s trying to find someone to marry. Go on lots of dates. Experiment. Do stuff. Get out in the world. You can only connect the dots looking backward.” If you want to develop good judgment, start by asking two questions: What do I want in life? And is what I want actually worth wanting?

559: Marshall Goldsmith – The Power of Executive Coaching, How To Give & Receive Feedback, & Attributes of The Best Leaders (What Got You Here Won't Get You There)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:22:21 +0000

Order The Score That Matters NOW. CLICK HERE. In The Score That Matters, Ryan Hawk and Brook Cupps show that the internal score is what matters most—it reveals whether we are living in alignment with our purpose and values. Offering both descriptive and prescriptive advice and anecdotes, The Score That Matters will help you unlock true fulfillment and happiness by discovering your purpose, identifying your values, creating critical behaviors, and living them faithfully every day in all aspects of your life.

Notes from my conversation with Marshall Goldsmith:

Attributes of the best leaders he’s worked with: They are courageous, they have humility, and they are disciplined. Do we all need a coach? “I don’t know, but if we’re honest with ourselves, we all need help. And a coach can be someone to help…” Happiness and achievement are independent variables. I felt we kept going around in circles because I’m a prescriptive thinker and like actionable takeaways. And I feel like Marshall was helping me understand it’s more of a mindset. With a PhD from UCLA, Marshall is a pioneer of 360-degree feedback as a leadership development tool. His early efforts in providing feedback and then following-up with executives to measure changes in behavior were precursors to what eventually evolved as the field of executive coaching. “Fate is the hand of cards we’ve been dealt. The choice is how we play the hand.” “Getting mad at people for being who they are makes as much sense as getting mad at a chair for being a chair.” “Successful people become great leaders when they learn to shift the focus from themselves to others.” “People who believe they can succeed see opportunities where others see threats.” “If we do not create and control our environment, our environment creates and controls us.” “A leader who cannot shoulder the blame is not someone we will follow blindly into battle. We instinctively question that individual’s character, dependability, and loyalty to us. And so we hold back on our loyalty to him or her.” “Peter Drucker, who said, “Our mission in life should be to make a positive difference, not to prove how smart or right we are.” “People will do something—including changing their behavior—only if it can be demonstrated that doing so is in their own best interests as defined by their own values.”

560: Dr. Barry Posner – Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Encourage Others to Act (The Leadership Challenge)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:20:20 +0000

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Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Dr. Barry Posner, author of The Leadership Challenge and The Truth About Leadership

The 4 characteristics of leaders whom we would most choose to follow: Honest (trustworthy, they do what they say they’re going to do) Competent (Smart, and constantly learning) Inspiring – Energetic, enthusiastic. Inspire means to breathe life in to… Forward-looking – They have a sense of the future. They share a compelling vision People all have values, but not everyone knows what they are. To know what our values are, we must be thoughtful and intentional about them and do the reflective work to understand what we value most. What is Kouzes and Posner’s leadership theory? Their research, which they conducted over almost 20 years, suggested that leadership is not a position, but a collection of practices and behaviors. These practices serve as guidance for leaders to accomplish their achievements or “to get extraordinary things done. The Leadership Challenge – Leaders drive results and achieve goals. To face the obstacles of today and tomorrow, we need leaders at a high level. The Leadership Challenge gives everyone the tools and practices to Model the Way, Inspire a Shared Vision, Challenge the Process, Enable Others to Act, and Encourage the Hearts of those around them. “In the middle of responding to an audience question one of us was saying, “I don’t know what you call something that’s been the same for twenty-five years, but…,” and Ken Blanchard interrupted, exclaiming, ‘I’d call it the truth.'” The Truth About Leadership The first truth is that You Make a Difference. The second truth is that Credibility Is the Foundation of Leadership. If people don’t believe in you, they won’t willingly follow you. The third truth is that Values Drive Commitment. People want to know what you stand for and believe in. The fourth truth is that Focusing on the Future Sets Leaders Apart. The capacity to imagine and articulate exciting future possibilities is a defining competence of leaders. You have to take the long-term perspective. You Can’t Do It Alone is the fifth truth. Leadership is a team sport…What strengthens and sustains the relationship between leader and constituent is that leaders are obsessed with what is best for others, not what is best for themselves. Trust Rules is the sixth truth. Trust is the social glue that holds individuals and groups together. And the level of trust others have in you will determine the amount of influence you have. You have to earn your constituents’ trust before they’ll be willing to trust you. That means you have to give trust before you can get trust. The seventh truth is that Challenge Is the Crucible for Greatness. Great achievements don’t happen when you keep things the same. Change invariably involves a challenge, and challenge tests you. Truth number eight reminds you that You Either Lead by Example or You Don’t Lead at All. Leaders have to keep their promises and become role models for the values and actions they espouse. Truth number nine is that The Best Leaders Are the Best Learners. Leaders are constant improvement fanatics, and learning is the master skill of leadership. The tenth truth is that Leadership Is an Affair of the Heart. It could also be the first truth. Leaders are in love with their constituents, their customers and clients, and the mission that they are serving. Leaders make others feel important and are gracious in showing their appreciation. Love is the motivation that energizes leaders to give so much for others. You just won’t work hard enough to become great if you aren’t doing what you love. Credo = Beliefs (credibility) Leadership is a team sport. You can’t do it alone. We are all community-made. The best leaders are the best learners. Challenge is the crucible for greatness. Life/Career advice: Remain curious Ask questions Volunteer

561: Bob Sutton – How Smart Leaders Make The Right Things Easier and The Wrong Things Harder (The Friction Project)

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:18:58 +0000

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Commonalities of leaders who sustain excellence: Curiosity (ask lots of questions) Willingness to try something new Compassion – Assume you don’t know others’ struggles Bob worked with Ed Catmull (Pixar) He was one of the best at combining curiosity, willingness to try new things, and having compassion for people Good Boss vs. Bad Boss Good bosses ask lots of questions and then make the call (John Hennessey, Stanford President) The Jumbo Grocery Stores in Holland created “slow lanes” for those who wanted to talk… They didn’t want efficiency or speed, they wanted a conversation. It’s a good reminder that sometimes we should slow down and enjoy our surroundings and the people we’re with… Curiosity and Compassion are skills we can build. Take the experiment where they counted the number of questions versus statements and your talking time. Surround yourself with people who will give you direct feedback about your level of curiosity and compassion… When conversing with someone else, how often are you asking questions versus talking about yourself? Think about that… It’s not always right to be efficient… Bob shared the Jerry Seinfeld story… The network was considering bringing in McKinsey to help Jerry become more efficient when making his show. He asked, “Are they funny?” They said, no that’s not what they do. And he said, “Then I don’t need them.” It’s not always supposed to be efficient. Sometimes, the hard way is the right way… To get the best result, it usually is. Some things Bob believes (we should all post an essay about what we believe): Indifference is as important as passion. The best leaders know what it feels like to work for them. They overcome the urge to focus attention on powerful superiors rather than their followers The best leaders think and act as trustees of their employees’ and customers’ time. They are “friction fixers” who hold themselves and others responsible for making the right things easier and the wrong things harder. That might mean, for example, reducing friction by eliminating and revamping meetings. “Am I a success or a failure?” is not useful. It is better to ask “What am I learning.” Noam Bardin (from Waze) Laszlo Bock – For hiring, “If you need to interview someone more than 4 times, then you must get written approval.” This helped speed up the process. One of the roles of the leader is to be the editor-in-chief. Great leaders are great communicators. You must become a good writer and speaker if you want to lead. Life/Career advice: Seek variation each day A chief of staff job could lead to big things (if you work for the right person) Be kind

567: William Ury – Negotiating The World's Toughest Disputes, Getting To Yes, Hiking Mountains With Jim Collins, And Thriving In An Age of Conflict

Administrator — Tue, 20 Aug 2024 11:16:01 +0000

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William Ury is the co-author of Getting to Yes, the world’s all-time bestselling book on negotiation with more than 15 million copies sold, and co-founder of Harvard’s Program on Negotiation. Bill has devoted his life to helping people, organizations, and nations transform conflicts around the world, having served as a negotiator in many of the toughest disputes of our times, taught negotiation to tens of thousands, and consulted for dozens of Fortune 500 companies, the White House, the State Department, and the Pentagon. Based in the mountains of Colorado where he loves to hike, Bill is an internationally sought-after speaker and has two popular TEDx talks with millions of viewers.

Notes:

Your life’s work: “If you had to boil your life’s work down to just one sentence you could leave behind, what would it say?” This is a great question for us to ask ourselves to gain clarity on our purpose and what we were put here to do. What is your life’s work? On one of Bill’s hikes with Jim Collins in Boulder, Colorado, he asked, “When did you first discover your interest in and instinct for what became your life’s work?” Be trustworthy AND trust willing. Become known as a person who trusts others first without making people earn it. Yes, you’ll get burned every once in a while, but I’ve found it’s worth it. Leading with trust seems to attract the type of people you want to be around. On a freezing night in January 1977, the phone rang at 10:00 pm. Bill was living in a little rented room in the attic of an old wooden house in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He was 23, writing term papers, and studying hard for graduate school exams in social anthropology. Bill picked up the phone… “I was particularly struck by Bill’s rare ability to bring calm and optimism to seemingly intractable conflicts and by his blend of intellectual clarity and practical wisdom.” – Jim Collins Go to hardest places: Instead of sharpening his intellect and insights by doing research sitting in a plush faculty office at some Ivy League institute, Bill decided to “go to the hardest places first,” throwing himself into political negotiations in the Middle East. “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒏𝒆𝒈𝒐𝒕𝒊𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒅𝒆𝒆𝒑𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝒅𝒊𝒇𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒔, 𝑰 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒗𝒆, 𝒕𝒐 𝒈𝒐 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒚, 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒖𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝒂 𝒈𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒈𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒐𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒓𝒅 𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓, 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒂𝒕 𝒐𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒓𝒕, 𝑰 𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝑩𝑩𝟑.” “The only book to write is the one you cannot not write.” What are the 3 victories on the path to possible? The story of the wise old woman and the camels… The story of Vasili Arkhipov and Sub B-59 (the pause, calm, reactive to proactive). Bring your spirit of play. That’s one of the things about Bill that I couldn’t help but notice from the second we connected. He was smiling, laughing, and enjoying himself the entire time. He was having fun. What’s the point of doing all of this if we don’t have some fun along the way?