Episodes
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Will Gadd on Risk and Reward
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Wednesday Aug 31, 2022
Will Gadd is a professional mountain sports athlete, speaker, guide, writer and TV guy. He shares the lessons he’s learned leading teams into high-risk environments through presentations on risk, resiliency, chaos and leadership.
Will had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I’ve made an effort throughout my career to do dangerous things, rewarding things, and important things as best I can, while recognizing the goal is always to come back [alive]” (7:15).
“How do you move forward and how do you thrive with that damage?” (8:30).
“I’ve always set out to do cool things… what could I do today that would be cool?” (8:45)
“That is the coolest thing in life: becoming the best version of yourself, whatever it is” (12:10).
“That’s who I admire in life: people who are trying to be who they are” (14:45).
“One of the most important things I’ve learned in my life is that everybody has something that blows their hair back… that fires them up” (16:50).
“The people that make the world go around are the ‘normal people’” (18:00).
“It’s almost like we’re programmed not to be happy or satisfied as human beings” (22:50).
“I don’t really want to be happy; I want to do things that make me feel alive” (23:15).
“If I can do the things that have massive amounts of meaning to me, then I function better in normal life” (29:05).
“I’ve never walked into a competition with the idea that I’m going to beat anybody, but I do walk in there with the idea that I’m going to do my best and I’m going to throw down and I’m going to get everything as well integrated as I can to perform well” (37:30).
“How do the best do it? If I really want to get better at this, how can I pull from that?” (41:30).
“Can you be better today? Can you be better next week? Can you improve? Can you go to your training even though you don’t really feel like it? Can you make life decisions that get you to where you want to go?” (43:00).
“Being better leads to happiness” (43:20).
“We all need optimism to do things… [but] you need some pessimism, some realism in your life to keep things working” (52:20)
“To tell stories you’ve got to have your heart, mind, and action involved” (58:40).
“The future is way more interesting than the past” (1:09:15).
Additionally, make sure to follow Will on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok, and also to check out his website!
Thank you so much to Lesley for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
Lesley Poole on Seeds of Optimism
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
Wednesday Aug 24, 2022
Lesley Poole serves as the chief executive officer for The SEED Foundation (www.seedfoundation.com). She is responsible for the overall health and vitality of SEED’s network of public, college-preparatory boarding schools and SEED’s mission-critical college success programming.
Lesley has been serving the students and families of the SEED community since 1998. She was one of the founding faculty at The SEED School of Washington, D.C., and held several positions during her tenure. At The SEED Foundation, Lesley’s expertise in government relations and philanthropy has been instrumental in securing the public-private partnerships necessary in Annapolis, MD; Tallahassee, FL; and Los Angeles, CA, to make The SEED School of Maryland, The SEED School of Miami, and The SEED School of Los Angeles possible.
Lesley began her career in education as a mathematics instructor and later served as the service area director for the school division of San Francisco Educational Services (SFED). She holds a bachelor's degree from Patten College in organizational management.
Lesley is a member of the spring 2017 cohort of Pahara-Aspen Fellows, which seeks to strengthen and sustain diverse, high-potential leaders who are reimagining public education. She is also a fellow with Seeding Disruption, a fellowship that brings together a diverse group of Washington, D.C.’s, senior leaders to generate, seed, and catalyze disruptive practices for the purpose of dismantling systems of racial inequity. Lesley serves on the board of Educare, an early childhood education school and community center in Washington, D.C.’s, Ward 7, as well as Excellence Christian School, located in Upper Marlboro, Maryland.
Lesley had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“My optimism fuels my leadership and how I see the world” (6:50).
“What started in 1998 is I grew a family which has also created a network for young people” (8:35).
“Don’t get on every bandwagon, but the ones you get on ride them to the end” (10:50).
“[Optimism] can be modeled… [and] if someone is motivated, it can be learned” (11:30).
“If I had to list my core values, optimism, over the course of 25 years, has increasingly become in the top 5” (12:20).
“I am fiercely loyal. If you are my friend, you are my friend” (13:05).
“I don’t know if my loyalty gets in the way, but it certainly comes with a cost” (14:30).
“I’ve built in myself a sense of comfort with not knowing how to accomplish something” (15:30).
“We need to double down on opportunity to learn” (18:30).
“If we create a space for being comfortable with not knowing, then we also create this intentional opportunity to innovate” (18:45).
“Part of how we foster a spark [at SEED] is we find opportunities” (21:55).
“We believe in community” (26:25).
“The boarding experience is an opportunity of discovering” (30:15).
“We all have to live in various worlds” (31:00).
“We all have an innate need to be proud and to belong” (42:30).
“A community not being resource rich doesn’t say anything about the people [who belong to it]” (43:10).
“We all experience some burnout” (52:50).
“Every day, at some point in the day, I sit with at least 15-30 minutes of quiet” (53:00).
“I spend a lot of time asking myself how I’m doing” (54:00).
“What I’m trying to do is create an environment of transformational leaders who really own the vision of SEED and we are all intentionally moving in the same direction” (57:00).
Additionally, please visit SEED at www.seedfoundation.com!
Thank you so much to Lesley for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Fran Fraschilla on Learning Through Basketball
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Wednesday Aug 17, 2022
Fran Fraschilla has been an ESPN college basketball analyst, the director of USA Basketball’s 3-on-3 National Team, and the head coach at St. John’s, along with other schools. Fran had lots of success in his coaching career, which he started from a very young age. Even though he’s often heard from listeners on TV, at his core he is a coach. Fran is somebody who’s become an expert when it comes to basketball, but he’s really someone who loves to learn. He thinks deeply about leadership, culture, and mindset.
Fran had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I made a lifestyle decision to be a father full-time” (6:15).
“I’m around basketball every single day of the year” (6:30).
“There hasn’t been a day in my life since I was 13 that basketball hasn’t consumed some part of the day” (6:40).
“If you play 5-on-5 basketball, you’re going to be a better player by playing 3-on-3 in the summer” (10:55).
“Self-awareness if one of the keys to life; knowing who you are, knowing what your strengths and weaknesses are, knowing what your values are” (12:10).
“As I look back at my life and career, I don’t think I would’ve changed very much” (13:50).
“I was a really good coach” (14:45).
“One of the things I’ve learned even as I’ve transitioned to broadcasting was to have that growth mindset of continually learning the game” (15:00).
“I’m in the playground of life” (15:20).
“I’ve used basketball as a way to build relationships and to mentor” (15:40).
“Coaching at a high level is like being a CEO of a company” (15:50).
“5 of the 10 best coaches I’ve been around in my life are people no one’s ever heard of” (29:15).
“I made the decision that my family and my kids were more important than my career” (29:35).
“We have learned a lot from the international game” (41:10).
“A teacher learns best when they teach” (41:35).
“Anything you do has to continue to evolve, and you can never have the mindset that you know it all” (45:30).
“I don’t care what team you coach, what company you run, if your employees don’t feel they have ownership, they’re not going to be great employees” (46:40).
“This is what life is all about: reaching your potential” (52:40).
“You’ve got to be able to manage up as well as manage down” (1:00:05).
“I’m learning things today about basketball that I wish I knew 20, 30 years ago” (1:06:45).
“I have a joy for life, I have a joy for basketball” (1:12:50).
“Have a joy for what you do” (1:13:00).
“Basketball has been my way of connecting with people” (1:13:15).
Additionally, make sure to follow Fran on Twitter @franfraschilla!
Thank you so much to Fran for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Tuesday Aug 09, 2022
Val Ackerman on Leading Leagues
Tuesday Aug 09, 2022
Tuesday Aug 09, 2022
Val Ackerman was named the fifth Commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference on June 26, 2013. She previously served as an attorney and executive at the National Basketball Association, was the founding President of the Women’s National Basketball Association, and is a past President of USA Basketball, which oversees the U.S. men’s and women’s Olympic basketball program. She also served for two terms as the U.S. representative to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA). She has been inducted as a contributor into both the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame (2021) and the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame (2011) and has received the Billie Jean King Leadership Award from the Women’s Sports Foundation (2016).
Val is a 1981 graduate of the University of Virginia, where she graduated with high honors with a B.A. in political and social thought and was a three-time captain and Academic All-American on the women’s basketball team. She received her law degree from UCLA in 1985.
Val had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“Sports aren’t like a monolithic block” (6:40).
“When we started the WNBA there was always a sense of cause. It was like rolling a rock up a hill” (13:15).
“What made my transition to the NBA such a great match for me was because I was a ‘basketball person’” (18:35).
“I worked very hard with my personal relationships in the league” (18:10).
“In any line of work, [the quality of your personal relationships] makes or breaks you” (18:15).
“Preparation and attention to details were hallmarks [for working with David Stern]” (21:10).
“David Stern had this adage that ‘micromanagement is underrated’” (21:15).
“I took the best of both of them” (23:30).
“I try to be practical but visionary” (23:40).
“I’m a much more mature, developed leader than I was when I took the job at the NBA” (24:40).
“I did all these other things that, in their way, fortified my leadership skills” (26:20).
“My pregnancy and maternity in the early years was one of the most challenging periods of my life” (27:40).
“When I got pregnant, I was a unicorn in the office… I was working for people whose wives didn’t work… They didn’t expect me to come back” (28:00).
“When I came back from maternity leave, I really had something to prove at the league” (28:30).
“It takes a village if you want to be a working parent” (29:10).
“It was part-time, but I made it part-time-plus. I threw myself into USA Basketball” (33:35).
“I could have an interlude in my life where I could be more present with my daughters” (34:45).
“My career has been totally unplanned… I don’t know what my next chapter is” (44:00).
“I’m serious, I’m competitive, I want to do well… but at the same time I’m a compassionate person, I care deeply about the relationships that I have with the many people in my life” (49:30).
“If you’re going to be successful in your field and fulfill the demands that are made on you as a leader, you have to have that expectation that you’re going to make sacrifices” (51:20).
“I think it’s important to clear your head regularly. There’s so much going on and you can’t be on all the time” (52:50).
“Sports is one of the great ways of bringing people together in our world… The power of sports is very real” (56:30).
Additionally, make sure to follow the Big East Conference on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram!
Thank you so much to Val for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Jessica Lahey on Addiction and Failure
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Wednesday Aug 03, 2022
Jess Lahey is the author of the NYT bestselling The Gift of Failure and The Addiction Inoculation. Her writing can be found at The Atlantic, the New York Times, and the Washington Post. She co-hosts the award-winning #AmWriting podcast and works as a prevention coach at Sana at Stowe, a medical detox and recovery in Stowe, VT.
Jess had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“One of the best things my parents ever did for me was [let me read whatever book I wanted]” (6:00).
“My idea of heaven is a story well told that teaches me some things” (6:25).
“I went for jobs I wasn’t qualified for and then learned how to do them on the go” (7:25).
“The best part about being a writer is I can write about anything I want and I have to become an expert in that thing before I have any standing, any sort of authority, to write about it” (7:35).
“I was a teacher for 20 years, and from my perspective my job was to not only teach the material to other people, but to anticipate their possible questions” (8:20).
“The way we encourage curiosity without making our kids so curious to try things that may be dangerous for them is to also provide lots of information about it” (11:30).
“Many of the ways we gather information changed during the pandemic” (20:20).
“You can opt to just not have [drinking alcohol] be a part of your life, not because you have a problem with it, but because it doesn’t make you feel great. I love that” (22:15).
“Getting to the place where you know you need help is like a 100-piece puzzle; you can’t have that 100th piece drop into place unless pieces 1-99 were there” (25:15).
“I’m happy to be a resource for whoever wants to use me as a resource” (30:00).
“Being there when someone is ready to talk is the best thing that I can do for anyone” (30:45).
“I love learning on the fly, I love learning under pressure, I like a deadline, I like putting myself in the position of impressing people by how fast I can pick things up” (35:05).
“[Through my book] now I get to give other people the benefit of what I learned from [my experiences with alcohol and addiction] and what I learned with years of research” (36:45).
“I was born to teach and I was born to write, but they’re the same thing to me” (37:35).
“Here’s this complicated thing that’s really interesting, let me do all the research for you and translate it for you. That’s my dream job, that’s heaven to me” (39:35).
“We tend to teach the way we were taught” (42:35).
“Teaching for me is partially about being on a stage and crafting thoughts and information in a way that helps people to arrive at conclusions themselves” (42:50).
“I am a difficult person to have on your staff because… I have no problem saying ‘No, that doesn’t work, why are we doing it that way’” (45:45).
“For me, the more public I am, the easier it is for me to stay sober” (50:00).
“You have to name it to tame it when it comes to emotions” (51:10).
“Gaining competence through doing things that are new/sometimes a little risky, that’s one of the biggest adrenaline hits and dopamine hits that kids can access. That’s one of the best ways to get that dopamine hit when a lot of kids turn to drugs and alcohol” (58:55).
“[I] love to live in the gray area” (1:00:30).
“One of the things I’m most proud of in my life is a big failure” (1:04:40).
“It was this moment of facing that fear of not being good at something, to allow myself the freedom to learn how to do it and learn how to do it right so well that the next time I attempted to do something similar I was able to learn from my mistakes” (1:07:55).
“Go for the moment [your kids] will let you have with them” (1:13:50).
Additionally, make sure to follow Jess on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram! You can also use this link to find and purchase Jessica’s books!
Thank you so much to Jess for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Michelle Segar on The Joy Choice
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Wednesday Jul 27, 2022
Dr. Michelle Segar is an award-winning lifestyle coach and sustainable behavioral change researcher at the University of Michigan. For nearly three decades, she has pioneered methods to create sustainable healthy behavior change that are being used to boost patient health, employee well-being, and gym membership retention. She’s an advisor to leading global organizations and frequently interviewed in major media outlets like The New York Times, NPR, and The Wall Street Journal.
Michelle had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“When you’re in a culture where food is valued and you’re allowed to eat it, there isn’t a need to rebel and overeat because it’s part of the culture and how you take care of yourself and how you enjoy life” (9:00).
“When you tell people they can’t eat something, all they want to do is eat it” (9:20).
“The art of living is knowing how to appreciate living in the moment, but also having a respect that your choices are going to have long term implications too (10:30).
“The more we help people notice how they feel from their food choices and when they can escape those rebellion-like ‘should’s’ that are embedded in their belief system, more people will find a more natural way to eat things that are better for them” (16:45).
“If you’re [eating unhealthily] every once in a while, it’s not a big deal. But we’ve been trained, we’ve been brainwashed, to think that it’s a big deal” (19:05).
“When you help people feel their cravings, they actually are more successful quitting long term” (22:00).
“Our unconscious belief system impedes us from really embracing a mindfulness approach” (25:00).
“Our motivations and decisions are greatly impacted by the people around us, the choices around us” (25:45).
“Weight loss poisons people’s motivation” (28:50).
“We want to be thinking in terms of what are the tradeoffs we need to make with regards to eating, exercise, and sleep” (37:30).
“We need to give ourselves grace” (41:00).
“We have to figure out what we want to do and what we like. Following an eating or exercise plan is no different” (42:10).
“We can’t follow someone else’s formula. We have to know what our own formula is” (44:25).
“I don’t keep potato chips in the house because I know I would never stop eating them” (49:15).
“We’ve been indoctrinated with dogmas and ‘should’s’ that human nature and research shows that we want to rebel against” (1:01:15).
“When you rebel, you’re still being controlled” (1:01:45).
“The joy choice, the perfect imperfect option that lets us do something instead of nothing” (1:05:10).
“We feel joy when the moment in time reflects who we are at our core” (1:06:00).
“When we take better care of ourselves… we have the energy and the wherewithal to be kind” (1:11:15).
Additionally, make sure to find everything you need to know about Michelle at michellesegar.com and to follow her on Twitter @MichelleSegar and on LinkedIn!
Thank you so much to Michelle for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Coach Mike Neighbors on The Search For Truth
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Wednesday Jul 20, 2022
Mike Neighbors is the Head Women's Basketball Coach at the University of Arkansas. He is a father of four (Abby 26, Alec 20, Bowen 2, Barrett 9 months), a husband to Jayci, and a coach to 277 former players. For the last 29 years he has been paid as a Coach, but if you ask his lifelong friends and family, they will tell you he has been doing it since he was 9. So, he has really been a Coach for the last 43 years.
Whether it was a neighborhood backyard game of tennis ball or the Final Four in 2016, he has approached every game as an opportunity to compete, learn, and grow. He has remained a learn-it-all/share-it-all ever since a life changing heart attack at 29. Before then, he was a know-it-all/hoard-it-all.
He hopes those in our orbit learn for the experiences we share.
Mike had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“Had [I not had that heart attack at 29], I was probably heading down the wrong path… I think I was lucky” (6:45).
“Those processes that I learned to survive [when I was younger] have helped me to survive in this very competitive world of college athletics” (16:15).
“Get out of their way when they don’t need you” (18:00).
“That’s one of my favorite parts about coaching. They don’t need you for the celebration, they need you when we lose” (18:40).
“Only when they need me are you going to notice me” (23:50).
“Without the heart attack, without those experiences, I probably would’ve been using ‘I’ a lot more than ‘we’” (24:05).
“You don’t have to be relatable with somebody to be inspired by them” (41:10).
“I wanted to believe as many true things as I possibly could” (48:30).
“’It depends’… I say that all the time” (50:20).
“You need to be compelled to be great at what you’re doing” (1:00:50).
“We create better basketball players when they find that there are other things that basketball is going to create for them” (1:02:10).
“I worry about being wrong” (1:06:40).
“Until you’ve done 40 hours of research on something, I don’t want to have a conversation with you about it” (1:09:00).
“[I envision myself coaching] forever” (1:16:45).
“I probably wouldn’t take a job where all it was was win at all costs” (1:21:35).
Additionally, make sure to follow Mike on Twitter @coachneighbors and to check out his website coachneighbors.com!
Thank you so much to Mike for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Vernon Davis on Creativity and Discipline
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Wednesday Jul 13, 2022
Vernon Davis is a ridiculously accomplished player on the football field. He’s a 2-time pro-bowler who played 14 seasons in the National Football League. He was also a 2nd Team All-Pro in 2013, led the NFL in receiving touchdowns in 2009, he was an All-American in college, and he won a Super Bowl with the Denver Broncos. However, this conversation is about everything else that Vernon is involved with. He’s an entrepreneur, he’s an artist, he was on Dancing with the Stars, he’s a real estate investor, and he’s a dad. Whatever he does, he wants to be great at that thing. At his core, he believes he’s an artist. Interestingly enough, he blends artistry and creativity with discipline, helping him to be successful both on and off the football field.
Vernon had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“Without your health, you have nothing” (5:00).
“Life is all about how we react to certain things” (6:40).
“I started seeing a therapist from the moment I got drafted” (7:35).
“Whatever it is that’s on your heart, your mind, you need to be able to talk about it and get it off your chest. It’ll take you much further than you think” (8:20).
“We’re all human beings and we all have something we need to get better at each and every day” (9:00).
“There’s nothing like having a vision board. If you’re waking up and seeing this vision board every single day, you’re going to go after those things you want” (9:50).
“I’ll take at least 5 minutes every day to focus on the things I really want in my life” (10:10).
“I’m an artist” (12:50).
“I did the same thing every day for 14 years… I painted this picture in my mind because I’m an artist” (16:25).
“I know exactly what I’m going to do before I do it” (16:45).
“I was never a football player. I was an artist, a creative individual, who happened to be good at football” (17:40).
“The only person that believes in you is you” (21:10).
“If you’re putting in the work, it’s going to pay off, it’s going to show up” (25:05).
“When preparation meets opportunity, it’s going to show up” (25:35).
“I wanted to change the dynamic of the world I was born into” (27:15).
“Hope for the best and prepare for the worst, but always hope and live for the moment” (27:35).
“The same thing that draws me to acting is what drew me to football” (27:50).
“I’m not going to stop working for anything. I know what it is that I’m after and I know exactly how it’s going to play out because I’ve dreamed about it and visualized it” (28:15).
“You control the narrative. It’s all on you” (29:05).
“Everyone has been through moments where they fail, and they’ve gotten back up and succeeded” (29:45).
“There’s a risk in everything that we do” (42:00).
“I’m never going to say to my son you can’t do that” (42:10).
“You can take the things that other people look at as a [challenge]… and instead feel grateful for them because it made me an extraordinary man” (44:15)
“Give your kids what they need, not what they want” (46:15).
“I knew for a fact I would get things done because I’ve always been the type of person who gets things done” (50:45).
“I knew I had to change the direction of my path” (53:10).
Additionally, make sure to check out JaxJox, a great, interactive workout platform, as well as to follow Vernon on social media @VernonDavis85!
Thank you so much to Vernon for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Jay Van Bavel on The Power of Us
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Wednesday Jun 29, 2022
Jay Van Bavel is an Associate Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at New York University. Prior to joining NYU, Jay completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and a post-doctoral fellowship at the Ohio State University. From neurons to social networks, Jay’s research examines how collective concerns of identities, moral values, and political beliefs shape the mind, brain, and behavior. His work addresses issues of group identity, social motivation, cooperation, moral judgment, decision making, and social media. He’s a researcher at his core who’s highly curious, looking up the newest and best ways to gather great science and great data and great information. He’s published over 100 academic publications and co-authors a mentoring column. His work has appeared in academic papers in the US Supreme Court and the Senate. His research has been featured in a TedTalk, a TedEd, and a TedX. He’s consulted with the White House, United Nations, European Union, and the World Health Organization on issues related to his research.
Jay had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“We have an enormous amount of resilience, more than we would have expected” (11:20).
“90% of success is just showing up. You show up and you do your best even if it’s not your best day” (12:45).
“We’re highly attuned to the social norms of any group we’re in” (15:00).
“People want to feel like the identities they have are positive and distinct from other groups” (16:45).
“We want to signal to ourselves and others that we’re part of valued identities” (18:15).
“If people reduce their social media use by 1 hour a day, they’re much happier” (20:35).
“Most every human has a need for affiliation” (24:15).
“We can identify with groups of people we’ve never even met” (25:00).
“People misrepresent themselves on social media” (28:40).
“People are tuned to whatever type of value generates engagement on different [social media] platforms” (29:15).
“The more you identify with a group, the more you want to start to embody the norms of the group” (31:55).
“If you’re in a group, you should be carefully thinking about what the norms are” (33:30).
“You can nudge and influence other people by changing your own behavior” (33:35).
“The most powerful form of identity that makes people feel fulfilled but also inclusive is what’s called the dual-identity model: When you feel part of something bigger than yourself, but you are still able to sustain and feel that your other identities are valued” (36:50).
“We’re wired to be group-ish” (39:40).
“The groups we belong to don’t necessarily need to discriminate” (40:35).
“One of the key predictors of cooperation is that you both benefit if it’s good” (45:45).
“I frame my criticisms as questions” (47:30).
“Organizations who add talent but don’t think about how groups will gel often times aren’t any more successful” (50:45).
“Even though polarization has gotten really bad, people still vastly overestimate it” (56:30).
“40-50% of our political ideologies is biological” (1:04:30).
“We all contain multitudes of identities” (1:10:00).
“Whatever situation we’re in activates an identity, and with it comes a way of seeing the world” (1:10:25).
Additionally, make sure to check out powerofus.online for more information on Jay’s book, and you can also find more info on Jay at JayVanBevel.com! Also, you can follow Jay on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and if you’d like to reach out to Jay his email is jay.vanbevel@nyu.edu.
Thank you so much to Jay for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Jay had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“We have an enormous amount of resilience, more than we would have expected” (11:20).
“90% of success is just showing up. You show up and you do your best even if it’s not your best day” (12:45).
“We’re highly attuned to the social norms of any group we’re in” (15:00).
“People want to feel like the identities they have are positive and distinct from other groups” (16:45).
“We want to signal to ourselves and others that we’re part of valued identities” (18:15).
“If people reduce their social media use by 1 hour a day, they’re much happier” (20:35).
“Most every human has a need for affiliation” (24:15).
“We can identify with groups of people we’ve never even met” (25:00).
“People misrepresent themselves on social media” (28:40).
“People are tuned to whatever type of value generates engagement on different [social media] platforms” (29:15).
“The more you identify with a group, the more you want to start to embody the norms of the group” (31:55).
“If you’re in a group, you should be carefully thinking about what the norms are” (33:30).
“You can nudge and influence other people by changing your own behavior” (33:35).
“The most powerful form of identity that makes people feel fulfilled but also inclusive is what’s called the dual-identity model: When you feel part of something bigger than yourself, but you are still able to sustain and feel that your other identities are valued” (36:50).
“We’re wired to be group-ish” (39:40).
“The groups we belong to don’t necessarily need to discriminate” (40:35).
“One of the key predictors of cooperation is that you both benefit if it’s good” (45:45).
“I frame my criticisms as questions” (47:30).
“Organizations who add talent but don’t think about how groups will gel often times aren’t any more successful” (50:45).
“Even though polarization has gotten really bad, people still vastly overestimate it” (56:30).
“40-50% of our political ideologies is biological” (1:04:30).
“We all contain multitudes of identities” (1:10:00).
“Whatever situation we’re in activates an identity, and with it comes a way of seeing the world” (1:10:25).
Additionally, make sure to check out powerofus.online for more information on Jay’s book, and you can also find more info on Jay at JayVanBevel.com!
Thank you so much to Jay for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Sam Walker on The Impact of Great Captains
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Wednesday Jun 22, 2022
Sam Walker is the author of The Captain Class, a profile of the captains of the 17 greatest dynasties in sports history. He is a columnist, keynote speaker and teambuilding consultant for corporations, military units, nonprofits and professional and Olympic sports teams. Over two decades at The Wall Street Journal, Walker served as sports columnist, sports editor, deputy page-one editor and leadership columnist. He attended the University of Michigan. He lives in New York with his wife and two children.
Sam had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I’ve been blessed and cursed at the same time by being easily bored” (4:55).
“When you walk in a door that you’ve never been through before, you see that people are dealing with a lot of the same things, the same issues, the same stresses” (8:35).
“The book is really about what are the real qualities of effective leadership” (15:30).
“The big threat to great leadership and sustained excellence is rarely a lack of ability, it’s burnout” (16:20).
“I need to be effective as a leader, but I also need to be efficient” (17:45).
“You need to understand your superpower and your kryptonite” (18:45).
“[Great leadership] is behavior. It’s what you do. It’s not anything you’re born with. It’s making the right choices in the right contexts” (20:40).
“These captains don’t over celebrate. They’re almost more relieved when they win because they feel like that’s how things are supposed to go” (24:05).
“Everyone talks about Michael Jordan being a leader except Michael Jordan” (25:30).
“I don’t think the instincts of being a great captain and the instincts of being a great coach are really the same” (28:20).
“No one has studied more dynasties than me. That’s what I do. I seek out these dynasties because I want to understand long term successes” (29:40).
“There are three things which I have always called the contagious behaviors of the boss or leader: relentless effort, toughness, and emotional control” (32:35).
“The things that I notice about these great leaders is that they’re not obvious leaders” (34:10).
“Leadership is about what you do not who you are” (34:25).
“These captains had very good relationships with people” (37:15).
“There’s no two dynasties that have had exactly the same culture” (43:45).
“Be the best version of who you are, not of who you want to be” (45:25).
“What is your unique culture?” (48:30).
“Leadership is about this intense one-on-one communication where you talk as much as you listen” (54:15).
“The act of being heard makes people feel safer” (55:25).
“All of these great dynasties had a superstar who was rarely the captain” (59:15).
“There’s three phases of a dynasty: the building phase, the committing phase, and the maintaining phase. These three phases are completely different” (1:09:00).
Additionally, make sure to check out Sam’s website and to follow him on Twitter and LinkedIn!
Thank you so much to Sam for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
D’Qwell Jackson on Executing on a Vision
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
Wednesday Jun 15, 2022
D’Qwell Jackson was a superstar at the University of Maryland. He had an amazing and illustrious career, winning all kinds of awards. He really out-kicked expectations that were placed on him when he arrived in College Park, Maryland. He did such a good job there that he ended up being a second-round pick in the NFL Draft. He went on to have a 10+ year career in the NFL starting at linebacker. This conversation is going to be about a lot more than just executing as a football player. D’Qwell is open and honest about some of the challenges he faced over his NFL career around his identity, his mindset, his belief in himself, and overcoming adversity and injuries.
D’Qwell had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“Trevor [Moawad] was a godsend for me” (5:45).
“I’m a planner. When I wake up in the morning, I need to know exactly what I’m doing every moment, every hour, of the day” (9:00).
“We mapped out everything. Monday through Sunday everything was planned” (10:40).
“If you want to be great, there are no choices. Period.” (12:45).
“Those two decisions I made in my life of meeting Trevor and going to Sierra Leone really changed the way I looked at and evaluated my life. I started making better choices after those moments” (15:00).
“I was very self-motivated. It didn’t take much. It was just a matter of mapping out a plan of how to do it” (17:30).
“If there was an opportunity to be my best self or to be the best at something, internally I couldn’t let that opportunity pass me by” (19:05).
“I didn’t want to miss an opportunity” (19:45).
“I knew I had the skills to get a full scholarship and to go to college. That was my only thought” (20:00).
“At one point in life, I needed football for my identity” (24:25).
“I’m more than just football. I can use my talents to really branch out” (24:40).
“As a professional athlete, the sooner you can realize you’re living in 2 different worlds, 2 different realities, the better off you’ll be” (28:45).
“People deal with trauma differently” (33:05).
“Every day needs to be better than the previous day” (36:25).
“It took some things not going exactly as planned in order for me to come out on the better end of things” (37:15).
“Never get too high, never get too low” (38:35).
“You go right to the solution. You don’t dwell on what’s happened” (40:00).
“Everyone deals with mental stress whether they realize it or not” (40:55).
“I wanted to be the best linebacker I could possibly be” (42:05).
“If you don’t have people you trust at every level, it’s not going to work” (44:15).
“If you make people believe like they’re a part of the system, then we’re going to get so much more in return” (51:40).
“I’m comfortable in my own skin” (54:45).
“Football helped me come out of my shell” (59:55).
Additionally, I would encourage you to check out the Athletes Unplugged podcast hosted by D’Qwell. Each episode unearths great behind-the-scene stories while showcasing each guest as their authentic selves, not just their profession. You can find @AthletesUnplugged on platforms such as YouTube, Google podcast, Podbay, Spotify & Apple. You can also find D’Qwell on Instagram @dqwelljackson and you can find Athletes Unplugged on Instagram @Athletesunplugged.
Thank you so much to D’Qwell for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Buzz Williams on Constant Curiosity
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
Wednesday Jun 08, 2022
All along the way Buzz has had tremendous success on the basketball coBuzz Williams is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Texas A&M University. Buzz has had quite an experience in his coaching journey. He was a head coach from a very young age. I first learned about him as the head coach at Marquette, then he went over to Virginia Tech, where I first met him in person, and now he’s at Texas A&M. What’s caught my attention and what really blew me away when I met him is his presence. He is somebody who really cares about culture, leadership, character building, life skills, you name it. And, he’s a competitor. Make no mistake, he’s an emotional guy that cares deeply about winning, but he also cares about learning and growing. He’s one of the most curious people I’ve been around, and we actually connected after he read my book and he reached out and gave me some amazing compliments, which really blew me away. Buzz is someone who is constantly learning, constantly looking to grow, and then trying to pour all of himself into his student athletes, his family, his community, and the people he has great relationships with. He’s a heart-centric guy who wears his emotions on his sleeves. He’s thoughtful, he’s intelligent, he’s creative, and he likes to do things a little bit differently. This conversation is unique, it’s different, and I think that’s a testament to Buzz and what he brings to not just the basketball community, but to our society as a whole.
Buzz had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I want to be famous in my home” (5:45).
“The lives in your home are the ones you have to be held accountable to in a higher regard” (6:20).
“I want our players to see what being a good husband and father is” (9:10).
“I want all of the children to learn all of the facets that come with being a spouse” (9:55).
“I want there to be a route and a rhythm to everything that we do” (15:30).
“I’ve tried to become more purposeful in controlling the offseason” (16:25).
“Leaders become stale and non-existent when they don’t know how to feed themselves” (18:15).
“What do I need to know? What do I not know? Who can help me figure it out?” (19:00).
“We all talk about time management. I don’t think you manage time, I think you manage energy, which is where you are giving your time to” (21:10).
“The best way to figure out where you’re going is to, as best as possible, think of yourself in that next version. What is it that you’re wanting to do and how is it you’re wanting to do it?” (25:10).
“I’m always cautious to never step on anyone’s dream” (26:30).
“You can’t be anything that you want to be. You can be what you earn the right to be” (28:55).
“They print money, but they don’t print time and they don’t print opportunity” (29:30).
“I spend a lot of time at work and I spend a lot of time at home” (31:25).
“You don’t get to your full potential when you’re worrying about the wrong things” (33:25).
“I don’t know if I was ever able to exhaust the best I could be because I was giving energy and emotion to things that, in truth, are just part of the job” (35:10).
“I don’t want what I do to solely be my identity” (36:00).
“I would rather begin to view myself as the steward, [not the coach]” (37:45).
“This is not my program; I’ve just been appointed as the steward of this program for now” (38:10).
“Wisdom is more precious than rubies” (40:00).
“We have become connoisseurs of information” (40:10).
“There is a never-ending supply of knowledge and I want to have a learner’s spirit in everything that I do” (40:30).
“There’s knowledge around us in every possible way. Our job as leaders is how can I take knowledge from a different world and translate it to the world I live in and make the world I live in better” (41:10).
“Wisdom is a completely different category than knowledge. I’m constantly trying to accrue knowledge, but I want to get to the lowest common denominator of that knowledge and see if there’s wisdom that can be applied” (41:30).
“Wisdom is a separator” (41:45).
“Wisdom can be accrued through experience, but wisdom can also be accrued through someone else’s experience” (42:45).
“The smartest people in the world ask the best questions” (48:35).
“What’s running through your mind will always come out in your walk” (49:05).
“I want to be curious about everything” (49:30).
“Always be aware of patterns. Patterns can be good, and patterns can be bad” (52:00).
“I never say no to an opportunity to learn as long as it doesn’t put me in a negative position to neglect my priorities” (53:00).
“The perception of who I am and the reality of who I am, they’re as far as the east is from the west” (53:20).
“I’m super sensitive to the patterns of those around me because I am curious” (54:40).
“You can control your thoughts, your actions, your attitude, your reactions. Most of the rest of it is out of your control” (55:10).
“The best way to acknowledge someone’s curiosity is their willingness to listen and their willingness to ask good questions” (58:15).
“I want to listen more than I want to talk” (58:40).
“True love has no agenda” (1:00:55).
“What our world needs is more truth telling” (1:03:35).
“I’m cautious to give advice until I have such a relationship with that person that the transparency in the conversation goes both ways” (1:04:00).
“I’m not very good at being. But I think some of your best, most creative ideas come when you are bored. I need to continue to find ways to allow myself to be bored without feeling guilty” (1:09:25).
“If I’m not stronger [in the weight room] than every player on my team, I’m going to retire” (1:11:40).
“Just because I don’t know what I’m going to do, that doesn’t mean I should continue doing what I’m doing” (1:13:45).
“Build trustful relationships for 10 years from now, but learn to connect the dots between now and then. Trustful means you never ask them for anything” (1:17:10).
“I never ask our players for anything other than their best” (1:18:50).
“Is the relationship transactional or is the relationship transformative?” (1:19:15).
“I would never even consider hiring you if I didn’t trust you” (1:22:30).
“The best way to learn is when you have ownership” (1:27:10).
“We want our staff to be an example to our team of what it means to be a team” (1:27:45).
“I write two handwritten thank you notes every day to make sure my heart stays in the right place relative to the spirit I want to carry in my life” (1:29:40).
“I write my kids every day that they go to school” (1:31:15).
“For every mile of road, there’s two miles of ditch. Stay out of the ditch” (1:35:15).
Additionally, make sure to check out Buzz’s website!
Thank you so much to Buzz for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Johanna Faries on Intentional Identity
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Wednesday Jun 01, 2022
Johanna Faries is currently the General Manager of Call of Duty. She is highly involved, especially with their Esport league, where she is head of the league. She was also the commissioner of Call of Duty Esports before transitioning to this role. Prior to that, she worked at the National Football League where she was Vice President, she was involved in business development and marketing strategy and fan development, and she was on a pathway to continue to rise up that corporate “ladder.” She’s also a musician. When she graduated from Harvard, she moved to California and started writing songs and making music. I think what makes Johanna really unique is that she’s got multiple sides to her. She is a complex person. She’s highly driven, she’s highly ambitious, but she also has a lightness to her that is really likable and is really refreshing. She’s clearly very smart and very bright, but she’s also someone who seems to be trying to be grounded.
Johanna had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I’ve always been thinking about spirituality, thinking about relationships with larger forces than ourselves… why are we here type questions” (7:15).
“I often have felt burdened by my obsession with theology and the spiritual path” (9:10).
“I balance those questions, that are often never-ending and open-ended questions, with very tactical work day-to-day as a business executive” (10:00).
“I’m fascinated by all of us because I think we’re all wrestling with the same question” (10:45).
“It is a very scary part of the process to actually stop and reflect and really think about how fulfilled your soul might be” (13:15).
“If I could spend 30 minutes a day interviewing people like you’re interviewing me and ask them ‘Where are you in the faith journey?’, no matter what the response is, I find it fascinating” (13:30).
“It’s where I’m at now, I don’t know where I’m going to be at 3 years from now” (15:10).
“It’s not just this time of great resignation or the great pandemic, it’s also this moment of great permission to pause collectively and reflect” (18:00).
“What does great leadership look like going forward? What level of empathy needs to come through each and every day to enable people to do their best work?” (19:05).
“I am so goal-oriented as a leader, I’m so big-picture, so vision-setter, I sometimes lose sight of the intricacies of the people doing the detailed work actually enabling you to summit in the first place” (22:00).
“I have really learned how important it is to stop and check in with all of those parts of somebody on my team. It matters. It matters to building trust, it matters to seeing them as more than just getting to the top of Mount Everest” (23:40).
“I’ve learned how to not under-express my tendencies around introversion because my version of being an introvert means that solitude is my happy space” (26:30).
“I exert high extroverted energy in my roles as a business leader, but I also need these moments of solitude to really recharge” (26:50).
“I have to really think about how I’m going to spend my time for maximum impact” (29:15).
“Every day cannot be so rote that the predictability undermines creativity” (30:00).
“Every great leader thinks about time, energy, focus, and the triangulation of those things” (31:05).
“I feel very blessed in this moment in time because these passions have all intersected and interwoven in ways that feel very balanced” (31:45).
“Creativity and art have this power that goes beyond language, nationality, our indoctrinations, and our individual choices” (35:45).
“I’m a both/and kind of a gal” (41:40).
“There’s nothing more powerful than great storytelling to move people” (50:40).
“Everything is timing. What isn’t timing?” (52:30).
“What an amazing time because of the convergence that’s happening” (57:30).
“We’re connecting dots all the time” (1:06:40).
“We’ve created a societal normality around perfectionism” (1:10:35).
“We are inundated with the self-talk and the external factors that are pouring into us to feel insecure, to feel imperfect, to feel not enough” (1:11:00).
“I’m not secure because life isn’t secure and it’s always changing” (1:12:45).
“It changed my life in so many ways for the better to get curious about industries that I knew very little about” (1:14:25).
Additionally, make sure to check out Johanna on LinkedIn!
Thank you so much to Johanna for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Thursday May 26, 2022
Coach Scott Drew on The Road to Joy
Thursday May 26, 2022
Thursday May 26, 2022
Scott Drew is the Head Men’s Basketball Coach at Baylor University. Coach Drew began his career at Baylor in 2003 when he took over a program that was decimated by tragedy, player departures, a depleted roster, and NCAA restrictions. He was slow and methodical in the process in which he went about to turn the program around. He really tried to recruit a solid foundation of talent in high school players, and also really focused on who would align and fit with what they were trying to do at Baylor. Fast-forward to almost 20 years later, and Baylor has become a contender almost annually. They won a national championship, they are constantly at the top of the rankings, and in their conference, the Big 12, they are a perennial contender. He has built a program at Baylor that was on the verge of not even existing because of some of the hardships, the challenges, and the messiness that encapsulated the program he inherited.
This conversation is wide-ranging. We talk a lot about faith; Coach Drew talks about faith in almost every conversation he has with people, and you’re going to hear that spew out of him. He also talks a lot about leadership. He talks a lot about character and what he’s looking for in his program. He also talks a ton about culture during our conversation. We’re going to talk a little bit about his upbringing and his family in this conversation, we’re also going to really focus in on why he’s so positive and how he sees the world. At his core, he is an optimist, he doesn’t hold back or mince words to describe himself as a Christian, and he’s also a coach. This is someone who really does care about developing people and creating a culture that is championship-level on multiple fronts.
Coach Drew had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“It’s not a “got to” job it’s a ‘get to’ job” (6:30).
“Appreciate when people give us opportunities to serve, [be] grateful for those opportunities, and [be] thankful when people treat you right” (6:50).
“How you view life sometimes determines how long you live. There’s no reason to put stress on the things that are negative when it’s really just how you look at them, how you perceive them” (7:15).
“If you’re not striving to get better, then you’re probably getting worse” (8:20).
“One way’s not the only way” (9:00).
“If you’ve only got a short time here, let’s make it enjoyable and make it pleasing for as many other people as possible” (9:55).
“We never just get the most talented players, we get who fits our culture, fits us the best” (12:55).
“I spend more time with our assistant coaches and staff than I do my own family” (13:05).
“I want to surround myself with the iron-sharpens-iron people who make me better” (13:30).
“I love brining excitement and joy and hype into the game” (17:30).
“We’re all human, which means we’d rather be praised than criticized” (20:05).
“You’d always rather see a lesson than hear it” (22:25).
“I pride myself on trying to be a servant leader” (22:45).
“Like everybody, you want to feel like you made a difference” (23:15).
“It takes a team to win, and at the end of the game they don’t say one person won” (28:00).
“If they’re being a great teammate, they’re being coachable. If they’re being a great teammate, they’re acknowledging their teammates, they’re lifting them up, they’re building them up… they’re giving love” (28:20).
“We use ‘we’ a lot, we don’t use ‘I’ very much” (29:15).
“Our job as coaches is to have a pulse of the chemistry and who would fit in” (29:35).
“We’ve always tried to take character over talent, but over time you’re able to get both” (34:15).
“Nobody can measure the heart” (39:00).
“Head coaches are only as good as their staff, so I always try to hire people that are smarter than me” (42:45).
“I wouldn’t be where I am without my dad” (44:00).
“To win a championship you have to have great chemistry” (49:10).
“Coaches can be great leaders, but if no one’s following it doesn’t matter” (50:05).
“Life is short. We’re going to be positive, we’re going to be cheerleaders, and we’re going to give everything we have, and if it’s not good enough we should go to bed knowing we tried our best” (52:30).
Additionally, make sure to check out Coach Drew on Twitter @BUDREW and to purchase the book The Road to Joy anywhere you prefer to buy books!
Thank you so much to Coach Drew for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Bruce Levenson (AKA My Dad) on Leveraging Optimism
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Today’s episode, episode #277, is a little bit different. I have interviewed 276 different people, and over that span I’ve often contemplated and though, “You know who I would love to have on here? My dad.” He’s one of the most interesting people I’ve ever been around, and I’ve had a front row seat to witness, to him questions, to observe, to notice. I was hesitant to have my dad on as a guest because I like to ask questions that other people don’t necessarily ask. And certainly, I’ve had friends on the podcast, people I care deeply about, but I knew with my dad it would be extremely personal. I wanted to ask him questions that I don’t always get to ask him. Even though there’s space for us in our relationship to ask questions, we don’t always sit for an hour and a half and learn with each other. We don’t always sit and ask what’s really on our mind and share in a vulnerable way, and we have a very healthy relationship. There was some fear for me in bringing my dad into this community, bringing my dad into my world, even though I’ve always been part of his. I’ve referenced my dad a ton in conversations with others. My dad is now 72 years old. I didn’t want to wait any longer to ask him some questions I was really curious about and to share him. He’s one of the most wonderful people I’ve ever been around. He’s one of the most intentional performers I’ve ever been around. And so, I felt inspired, obligated, and excited to go deeper with him and to be willing to share a side to him that others don’t know. We uncovered and talked about some things that we hadn’t ever talked about. Most of us don’t ask the questions that we want to ask to the people that are closest to us. For me, that was pretty jaw-dropping that there were parts of this conversation that we hadn’t discussed in detail previously. For you, as you’re listening to this conversation, I hope you take that away more than anything else. I hope this conversation inspires you. I hope it challenges you to sit down with the people that you love and just be really curious and listen without judgment.
My dad, Bruce Levenson, became more well-known when he bought into the Atlanta Hawks and the Atlanta Thrashers. Before that, he was extremely successful in the business world. He co-founded a company called United Communications Group. They acquired a lot of companies along the way, including a company called Tech Target which ended up going public and is still a publicly traded company. There was a company called Gas Buddy they acquired at one point as well. My dad and his co-founder Ed are journalists. That’s their trade, that’s what they came into the business world doing. So, they really believed in creating exceptional content. They were a business-too-business newsletter, and they would sell their content to other companies. My dad also went to law school at night as he was working extremely hard. My dad does not mind working hard, he actually enjoys it. Philanthropically, he has been extremely active for as long as I can remember. He and my mom formed the Do Good Institute at the University of Maryland, which aims to educate and train the next generation of non-profit leaders and people in the social sector who are changing our world in really amazing ways.
Hope you enjoy this unique episode.
Here are some impactful quotes from my dad from the episode:
“When you stop growing, you start dying. I have no interest in dying” (16:15).
“I’d rather bet for myself than against myself” (16:45).“I’ll keep walking fast for as long as I can” (16:50).
“Always finding time for family, time to do things other than working, was always a priority” (18:10).
“I don’t ever remember coming home tired from work. I loved work” (22:15).
“I love to build in so many different ways… and part of the love of that is being part of a team” (23:15).
“I still take on too much” (25:15).
“I added an element of intelligent impatience” (31:50).
“I would hope they would describe me as someone who is stimulating to be at the table with” (33:30).
“The partnerships that did work all had one thing in common: there was this courtship where mutual respect and trust was built, we didn’t jump into it” (36:00).
“When you’re walking fast, sometimes you walk right past that communication” (38:50).
“For me, it was always about being my own boss” (44:00).
“Anybody who says money doesn’t buy you happiness isn’t spending their money wisely” (44:30).
“Don’t do it alone. I really believe in the power of partnerships” (45:15).
“I want to set an example for my community” (46:05).
“There’s room for error if you’re overcommunicating and being overly assertive” (50:00).
“I care that if someone meets me in passing and googles me, they may read something about me that makes them think less of me” (55:00).
“There were a lot of similarities between the sports business and my business” (1:06:30).
“The glass is always 80% full for me” (1:11:45).
“I’m not superman. I don’t have answers for everything. Depression is something very real and very debilitating, you have to work really hard to work your way out of it” (1:15:55).
“It’s hard for me to call it a failure because I tried my hardest and controlled what I could control” (1:24:05).
“I’m the luckiest guy in the world” (1:28:10).
Thank you so much to my dad for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Julien Smith on Building Breather and Practice
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Wednesday May 11, 2022
Julien Smith is the Co-Founder and CEO at Practice. Previously, he was also the Co-Founder of a company called Breather. Additionally, he was a New York Times Bestselling Author of 3 books. He is somebody who’s been a speaker and a writer. Creative would be the word I use to best sum up Julien.
Julien had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“One of the ways to have the biggest impact on the world is to work with a team of people that will care about a common purpose” (7:15).
“How much of a mercenary are you vs a missionary?” (8:15).
“I was a hard employee… I wanted a level of autonomy that I never earned” (11:35).
“I felt that I had a value in myself that I saw that was very difficult for me to show other people. I had to step completely out of the system” (13:00).
“People make everything happen. When it’s not people, it’s culture” (23:00).
“I’m more deliberate about people now than I ever was” (23:15).
“To be deliberate with the people that you work with has got to be the most valuable thing that you can possibly do at a startup, especially at the early stage” (24:15).
“The number one thing that I care about today is making sure the team is amazing and making sure the team is all aligned together” (26:00).
“I’ve been working to empower solo people for as long as I can think” (30:15).
“The challenge is to scale beyond your own thing” (41:15).
“There’s hundreds of coaches out there, but no one knows how to find them other than by referral” (43:10).
“I like the intimacy of the relationship in coaching” (44:00).
“CEOs have almost no opportunity to be their honest self, they’re always on. To be able to give them an opportunity to not be on… and to allow them to authentically be themselves is incredibly rewarding” (44:30).
“Coaching lets me step out of my own company, which is really rewarding” (44:50).
“No matter who you are or how you get it, you do need a connection to something greater than yourself” (50:45).
“As much as possible, I try to connect to things that are bigger than myself to remember that there’s a lot of stuff out there in the world” (51:10).
“I feel that you’ve got to know what you’re getting into” (54:25).
“To me, what venture really means is access to money and access to a really strong density of talent” (55:20).
“Venture brings together incredibly smart and talented people” (55:50).
“My identity was absolutely attached to being the CEO and Co-Founder of Breather, and to a degree it’s attached to Practice, but less so than the people who have done nothing before that at all” (58:00).
“Let’s build a business that will support the next 1,000, 10,000, or 100,000 people like this” (59:15).
“I really believe that in 5-10 years we can be one of the most successful companies in the world. To do that right, from the very beginning, you have to have that intent” (1:00:45).
“One of the things that you’ve got to do when you get into venture-backed businesses, you have to know that you can build something for a customer that you love, and you have to know that you can do it for 10 years” (1:01:15).
Additionally, make sure to check out Julien on Twitter. You can also purchase any of Julien’s books (The Flinch, Trust Agents, the Impact Equation; Companies: Practice, Breather) anywhere where you normally buy books! If you want to learn more about Practice, feel free to give the website a look. I would also encourage you to check out the website for Peter Shallard, known as the Shrink for Entrepreneurs.
Thank you so much to Julien for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Joanne McCallie on Mental Health and Coaching Basketball
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Wednesday May 04, 2022
Joanne McCallie is a legendary basketball coach. She was named the ACC Coach of the Year twice (2010, 2012), and the Big Ten Coach of the Year once (2005). Additionally, she was a 3x America East Coach of the Year (1995, 1996, 1999). She has a basketball resume that is incredible, including in 2005 winning the AP Coach of the Year. She won 646 games and only lost 255 games in her coaching career. Joanne decided to retire from basketball, and she has been an advocate, and really been courageous in sharing her story around mental health and being bipolar. We get into a deep, enriching conversation, and it’s a conversation I truly feel we have to have. The reality is that mental health, suicide, depression, anxiety, they don’t discriminate. It can hit any of us; it can hit all of us. I love how open Joanne is about sharing her story, and also how could she have so much success while dealing with some of these challenges.
Joanne had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“If you take the pain and the hurt and think of it as this blanket around a person, they can’t see through that blanket” (8:35).
“If you hear the question ‘How could they [attempt to commit suicide],’ the answer is ‘With enough pain and enough suffering and the inability to see through the blanket, it happens’” (8:50).
“In our society today, almost 1 out of every 2 people are struggling with some element on the [mental health] continuum” (11:05).
“[My disorder] is just a part of me. There are many parts of me” (11:20).
“Whatever you’re going through, whether it’s a diagnosis or not, this too shall pass, and it is not all of you” (12:00).
“There’s lots of places where we can lose our identities relative to sport, or anything else for that matter” (13:50).
“Productivity makes for happiness” (22:00).
“If anyone is feeling nonproductive and non-loved, then that can really affect your feelings about life” (22:20).
“I’ve made the transfer into my new life, but more importantly, the grief that I’d been holding and the anxiety of those losses, I’m getting over it. It’s finally turning” (24:05).
“Never go alone with pain” (25:30).
“Grieving is a process, and you can’t get around it” (25:45).
“Grief is personal, but the smallest things can connote progress” (26:30).
“I complement everybody for carving their path” (27:50).
“I think the transfer portal is a nightmare, I think it’s going to ruin the game if it’s not handled more properly” (29:10).
“[Mental health professionals] need to be elevated in our society” (35:45).
“What I wish I had was a radio show where people could call in anonymously and I could answer questions [about mental health]. Those are kinds of things I think we need” (40:35).
“Mental health awareness is so incredibly difficult, that I’m in a tough spot. Because I don’t want to self-promote” (44:30).
“I feel I should be at every campus” (49:40).
“How could I ever go back to coaching?” (50:10).
“Mental health should be celebrated. Mental health impairment should be respected. It does not discriminate” (52:45).
“This whole mental health thing is going to go on for a long time” (56:15).
“I swim 5-6 times a week, the pool is a great escape for me” (59:50).
“There’s so much we don’t know about people, and that’s why we can’t make judgments on them” (1:03:40).
“Faith is in your own journey. There’s no judgment on anything that you believe as you work through it” (1:06:05).
“Aspiring, dreaming, being courageous, and peace [are the opposite of fear]” (1:07:25).
Additionally, make sure to check out Joanne’s book Secret Warrior and her website!
Thank you so much to Coach P for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Joe Ferraro and Brian Levenson Host vs. Guest--Whose Responsibility is it Anyway?
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Wednesday Apr 27, 2022
Typically, I don’t like to have guests back on the podcast for a 2nd time. But today is a little different. Joe and I decided to create a podcast that is interesting, unique, and something that I got a ton of excitement out of. We get into the weeds of if being a guest on a podcast is different than being a host on a podcast, which led to further conversations about being a host vs. being a guest in life, since there are so many facets of society in which we play host and in which we play guest.
As a little bit about Joe if you don’t remember from our past conversation, Joe Ferraro is currently entering his 23rd year as an educator, teaching 12th grade English. Joe also teaches public speaking and creative writing. In addition to his work in the classroom, he is the founder of damngoodconversations.com. Damn Good Conversations is a company whose mission it is to teach you repeatable ways to have the best conversations in your life and work. His flagship service is a weekly personal growth podcast, which is called “One Percent Better.”
If this episode resonates with you, let me know. And if it doesn’t, I would love to hear your thoughts on why you felt that way as well.
Joe and I had a number of insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I usually use the word workshop. Because if you feel like you’re listening to a keynote, regardless of if you’re 1 person or 1 of 30, the idea is that you’re going to sit there and you’re going to listen the entire time. That’s not how I do [talks]. I do experiences” (8:20).
“I don’t want to talk at people, I want to talk with people” (8:40).
“Whenever you’re having a planned meaningful conversation or a meeting, agendas are so valuable” (10:35).
“I don’t want host and guest to bleed over into status roles” (14:10).
“Everything in this podcast arena, with a microphone, is all the same to me because this is where I want to be” (16:50).
“My preparation as a host far exceeds my preparation as a guest” (20:30).
“I very rarely go into a conversation without, baseline, 5-10 questions” (22:20).
“I could be more intentional as a guest” (22:30).
“Anytime someone is paying me to help them figure some stuff out, I need to honor that. That is a big deal. When you put stuff out on a microphone into the real world, that is a big deal” (23:00).
“If you are only going to be the one asking questions and you’re never going to share yourself and be vulnerable in any conversation, I’m not so sure that that is leading, I’m not so sure that that is how you build a great relationship. It’s a one-way street and I think great conversations are two ways” (25:20).
“Great leaders listen. Great leaders ask great questions. That is true. And, great leaders offer great insight and need to be able to share with conviction what they believe” (27:00).
“A couple episodes ago, I threw out this idea of a reverse mentor. Which is someone who’s less experienced, usually younger, but certainly and vitally less experienced than me, who I intentionally sought out to learn from” (29:00).
“I’m against shooting the breeze and seeing where things go. Once the relationship has been established where there’s mutual respect and expertise on at least one side, if not both, now I’m diving in with two feet” (30:10).
“Reverse mentor: someone with less experience who can give me fresh eyes” (30:15).
“We both believe there are different forms of preparation, but it has to exist” (32:00).
“Your attention and your focus are incredible commodities” (33:15).
“Being a good host does not guarantee you will be a good guest, and being a good guest does not guarantee you will be a good host” (36:30).
“When I watch a panel and someone knows how to do it, I sit back in awe, because it’s so hard to ask questions that are interesting and unique and can unlock someone’s potential and how they think” (41:45).
“Would you rather be interviewed by Tim Ferris, or would you rather interview Tim Ferris?” (42:40)
“Saying nothing is different than saying something and bringing a different shine to it” (48:00).
“Those who are interesting are interested” (49:05).
“We are constantly playing host and guest with people we’re talking with, there just may not be a blinking light or a microphone” (49:40).
“I think it’s okay to treat different opportunities differently” (50:50).
“’Not everybody thinks that way’ is a really powerful framing mechanism” (51:50).
You can check out the website for Damn Good Conversations here. Also, I highly recommend following Joe on Twitter @FerraroOnAir.
Thank you so much to Joe for coming back on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Carole Robin on Connectedness
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Wednesday Apr 20, 2022
Carole Robin, Ph.D. who taught the legendary Interpersonal Dynamics course (affectionately known by students as “Touchy Feely”) at the Stanford Graduate School of Business was the Dorothy J. King Lecturer in Leadership, Director of the Arbuckle Leadership Fellows Program, and Director of the Stanford Interpersonal Dynamics Programs for High Performing Executives (Executive Program) before co-founding Leaders in Tech, which brings the principles and process of “Touchy Feely” to executives in Silicon Valley. Prior to coming to Stanford, she had careers in sales and marketing management and was a partner in two consulting firms. She is the co-author of the highly acclaimed and award-winning book, Connect: Building Exceptional Relationships with Family, Friends and Colleagues which contains the lessons of "Touchy Feely" that thousands of students have consistently described for decades as life changing and worth the price of their MBA. She lives in San Francisco, California, with her husband of 36 years.
Carole had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“We’re all works in progress” (14:00)
“Every opportunity with another human being is an opportunity to learn” (14:15).
“I don’t think I can be a good teacher if I’m not constantly a good student” (15:15).
“The more I learn as a student, the more motivated I am to teach” (15:30).
“Too much education is loaded with baggage around teachers being the ones who know and students being the ones who don’t” (15:55).
“Asking someone to give you feedback has the potential to make them feel vulnerable” (20:55).
“I was, and am, unafraid to lean into the discomfort” (25:00).
“A fundamental premise of learning and growth is that you don’t learn anything unless you step outside your comfort zone” (25:20).
“I’m going to show the world that it doesn’t matter that I’m a girl” (32:30).
“Our tendency when we feel pinched is to say nothing” (43:00).
“Substitute the pronoun ‘it’ for ‘I,’ ‘you,’ or ‘we’” (43:40).
“There’s so much trouble in business when it comes to using emotions effectively” (47:25).
“There’s an important place in business for feelings, as long as we learn to express them in ways that are productive, and we learn to use them in the same way that we use thoughts” (47:45).
“Thoughts and feelings are like treble and bass in music” (48:00).
“What is needed for two people to relate and to connect with one another?” (54:15).
“We’re all works in progress. Sometimes learning something once isn’t enough… that’s where we often need someone else” (1:01:00).
Additionally, make sure to check out Carole on LinkedIn! Moreover, if you want more information about Leaders in Tech, click here, and if you want more information about Carol’s book, click here.
Thank you so much to Carole for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wil Reynolds on Having Enough while Constantly Growing
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
Wednesday Apr 13, 2022
As Seer Interactive’s Founder and Vice President of Innovation, Wil Reynolds develops strategies and innovations to help clients build traffic and make money. His methods have shaped the search industry worldwide, and he regularly speaks for marketing conferences worldwide.
Wil had a number of amazing insights during our conversation. Some of them include:
“I’m sick of hanging out with people who want to tell me how successful I am” (7:35).
“Nobody that’s good got better when other people said, ‘you’re good’” (7:40).
“Nobody [inspires me]. Everybody’s got some stuff going on with them” (11:45).
“Mostly I just look for people who walk the walk. That’s it” (12:05).
“I tend to value humility” (14:20).
“I like to keep things simple, so I just want to raise a kind kid” (20:30).
“My number one goal is to raise a kid who sees things in the world, sees things that are wrong, and says ‘I can be a part of solving them’” (20:35).
“When I see a kid being really kind to another kid, I instantly go too ‘What are their parents modeling? Am I modeling those kinds of behaviors’” (25:00).
“We’re now hiring a Community Impact manager specifically to make sure we improve [our number of volunteer hours]” (29:30).
“I got all this by not wanting it, by just trying to be better than I was yesterday” (30:00).
“Be unafraid to suck at something new” (30:30).
“The ROI on culture is at an all-time low because people don’t want to admit to themselves that it’s about the money” (41:55).
“If you take no feedback, you don’t learn, you don’t grow. But then you also have to learn to put that feedback in context at the time and the person and ask should I really listen to all this stuff equally?” (42:40).
“Everything is about how you feel when you put your head on the pillow at night and the decisions that you’ve made that day” (44:50).
“If I don’t have boundaries, I may try to be too available to too many people and not be available to the people who support me” (46:45).
“Watching somebody grow, watching somebody get an opportunity, watching your company be a platform for somebody to get that next best job, it’s like teaching” (51:15).
“I love losing because it’s humbling” (52:50).
“I like minimizing excuses for myself” (54:50).
“I don’t care what anybody does as long as they’re true to themselves” (59:10).
“Be true to you and be brave enough to say, ‘This is what I value.’” (59:20).
Additionally, make sure to check out the Seer Interactive website and Wil’s blog, and to follow Wil on Twitter!
Thank you so much to Wil for coming on the podcast!
I wrote a book called “Shift Your Mind” that was released in October of 2020, and you can order it on Amazon and Barnes and Noble. Additionally, I have launched a company called Strong Skills, and I encourage you to check out our new website https://www.strongskills.co/. If you liked this episode and/or any others, please follow me on Twitter: @brianlevenson or Instagram: @Intentional_Performers.
Thanks for listening.