Go to www.LearningLeader.com for the full show notes of The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk.

Eric Jorgenson is the CEO of Scribe Media, the largest Professional Publisher. He’s also the author of The Almanack of Naval Ravikant: A Guide to Wealth and Happiness and The Anthology of Balaji. His books have sold over 1 million copies and have been translated into 40 languages.

Notes:

• The obsessive genius. Eric likes to invest in founders who have been obsessively trying to solve a problem for years. They are myopically focused on that one thing. They have a depth of expertise in the area where they focus. Eric has developed the skill to get good at recognizing that genius in others and that’s helped him make good investing decisions.
  • He is an investor in dozens of (borderline crazy) deep-tech startups through Rolling Fun. They fund obsessive geniuses building utopian technologies.
• Eric’s first 90+ days as the CEO of Scribe: He spent as much time as possible learning from the current members of the team. Leading with curiosity, asking questions, listening, and leading with trust. Being both trustworthy and willing. You don’t have to earn my trust, you have it.
  • "Flawless on the Fundamentals" - The one phrase Scribe is focused on.
• Your content diet: It's more important than a healthy/wellness/food diet. "If you're taking in bad information, you're becoming a moron." You want high-signal sources of information.
• An audience of 1 - "I wrote that book for myself."
• Bezos - Great compression of ideas and communicating them to the team. Focused on one thing.
• Why write a book with Scribe instead of a traditional publisher... You want 100% ownership of your IP
• We talked in depth about Naval Ravikant and his viral Twitter thread titled, “How to get rich without getting lucky” – Here are some of the tweets from that thread:
  • Seek wealth, not money or status. Wealth is having assets that earn while you sleep. Money is how we transfer time and wealth. Status is your place in the social hierarchy.
  • Understand that ethical wealth creation is possible. If you secretly despise wealth, it will elude you.
  • Ignore people playing status games. They gain status by attacking people playing wealth-creation games.
  • Pick an industry where you can play long-term games with long-term people.
  • Pick business partners with high intelligence, energy, and, above all, integrity.
  • Don't partner with cynics and pessimists. Their beliefs are self-fulfilling.
  • Learn to sell. Learn to build. If you can do both, you will be unstoppable.
  • Specific knowledge is found by pursuing your genuine curiosity and passion rather than whatever is hot right now.
• Insane and Pragmatic – Great founders are insane and pragmatic. Yes, both.
• Leverage – How do you build a mountain of levers? (Levers are force multipliers. This is how some people can accomplish 10x, 100x, or 1,000,000x what others can. Leverage can multiply outcomes from your effort, your skill, and your judgment.) “You can make it big without accountability. You can make it big without specific knowledge. But if you don’t have leverage, you’re never going to make real wealth. Leverage is the most important component of the principles I’ve discussed.” - Naval
• Transformation Through Writing: Writing a book can be a transformative process that deeply embeds certain mental models and knowledge.
• Interview Process: Engaging with a skilled interviewer can help clarify ideas, which is particularly valuable for busy executives who wish to author books but lack the time to write them themselves.
• Impact of Books: Books can play unique roles in positioning leaders and sharing knowledge, which is an invaluable tool for personal branding and legacy.
• Learning from Experts: Eric believes that his talent lies in recognizing and synthesizing the genius of others, which he shares through his books and investments.
• Professional Growth: Through interacting with talented individuals and absorbing high-quality content, Eric has developed a nuanced understanding of what drives excellence.

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3Yrxfj8

Notes

• Luck is not real – “Luck is something we conjure in our minds to grapple with the consequences of whatever life may throw our way. Luck is a physiological concept. It’s determined by how we view a situation. Academic studies show that you can become luckier simply by telling yourself that you are lucky.” Pessimists sound smart, but optimists change the world. Believe in yourself. Have agency. Strive to make something happen.
  • "Luck is the flip side of risk. They are mirrored cousins, driven by the same thing: You are one person in a 7 billion player game, and the accidental impact of other people’s actions can be more consequential than your own." - Morgan Housel
• Surround yourself with compounders and fire your boring friends– Being around other ambitious people who are willing to push you will make you better. Strike the balance between being loyal to longtime friends, and doing anything for them, but spending the bulk of your time around people who will push your edges and make you think bigger.
  • Fire your Boring Friends - “If you are optimizing for living an extraordinary” life, you have to fire all the boring friends and find people living extraordinary lives.”
• You don’t get what you don’t ask for. I love the story of Anthony meeting his future wife, Polina, for coffee and asking for the next date for that same night. The answer is NO if you don’t ask. It’s worth the potential rejection because the upside is so great. In this case, they got married and have two children. The people who sustain excellence are not afraid to make the ask.
• Get on the plane -- When in doubt, go see them in person.
• "Experience is a liability when it comes to setting expectations." Sometimes, ignorance is bliss. Not knowing that something is supposed to be hard can be useful.
• Respect other people's time - “When I was playing football in college one of our coaches used to say, “5 minutes early is on time and on time is late.” By respecting other people's time they will realize you are a serious person.
• Childhood is not a crutch — Don't have a victim mindset to use childhood as a crutch for poor behavior. “It’s easy to use your childhood as a crutch instead of seeing it as a chisel.” - Cameron Hanes
• Simplicity signals mastery — Tim Urban is the master at this. As a writer and/or teacher, your writing should make the reader feel smarter, not dumber. Using big complicated words and sentences shows that you don’t know what you’re talking about.
• The world seems to separate itself into two groups - the people who never stop learning and everyone else.
• Document Good Ideas – Ideas run the world. “I created a system that works well for me. I broke everything down into four areas where I could find a good idea. Books, social media, conversations, and audio/video content.
• Advice: "Seek risk. What is the riskiest thing you can do? The greatest returns are on the other side of risk. Run towards the risk."

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/48nSff1

Dr. Meg Meeker has spent more than thirty years practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine and counseling teens and parents. Dr. Meeker is a popular speaker and bestselling author of several books, including the national bestseller, STRONG FATHERS, STRONG DAUGHTERS; THE 10 HABITS OF HAPPY MOTHERS; and BOYS SHOULD BE BOYS.

Notes:

• One of the best things fathers can do is raise their daughters’ expectations of life. That will directly affect how your daughter talks, how she dresses, how well she does in school, and even what sports or musical instruments she chooses to play. You can help her set goals, help her define a higher purpose for her life, and as a result, her self-esteem will skyrocket. And it will bring you closer, because she’ll recognize you as a leader and an ally, helping her to chart a better course.
• Don’t post anything about your kids on social media. It makes them think they are your trophy to show off. And be mindful of how you talk about them to others. Do you only focus on their accomplishments? They are listening to what you say about them…
• Be the man you want her to marry – See it, do it, teach it. What are the 5 strongest character qualities you want your children to have? How are you showing that to them every day? You are setting the standard. They are watching carefully. You will create what is quote, “normal,” in their life. Are you living with integrity, working hard, not speaking poorly behind others backs? You are showing them how they should behave. If you were watching yourself from outside your body, would you like what you see? We have to live it every day.
• Your daughter sees you (her dad) as her hero. The smartest, strongest, best person in the world.
• Kids want their dad's approval. "I want attention just for being me, not for performing a sport." "You don't just love them. You love their company."
• Always do good work, but don't boast about it.
• "He believed in me." -- The power of the belief that Meg's dad had in her.
• Teach her Humility - Genuine humility is the starting point for every other virtue. But teaching it is tricky. Your daughter needs to feel unique and important in your eyes. Humility doesn’t make sense unless it’s modeled. To fulfill her potential, your daughter needs to understand who she is, where she comes from, and where she’s going. Humility is seeing ourselves honestly… Self-centeredness is a problem if we base our entire lives around our kids wants and desires.
• Clarify your morals (without apology) – If you want her to live by a code or set of values, you must first live by them. If you don’t want her to lie, then you should never lie. If you don’t want her to use cuss/swear words, then you should not use them. If you don’t want to her to drink, then don’t normalize it in your house. She wants to see conviction and leadership in her father.
• Teach your kids to serve in a soup kitchen. Be in service of others. Gain perspective by seeing how others who are less fortunate than you live.
• Embrace them when they fail.
• The dad plants the default in the minds of their children. What do you want that default behavior to be?
• How to approach your daughter's boyfriends?
  • Shake their hands
  • Be curious, ask questions
  • Invite them over for dinner

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3NszPAg

Jack Carr is a former Navy SEAL who for 20 years led special operations teams as a Team Leader, Platoon Commander, Troop Commander, and Task Unit Commander. Jack is also the #1 New York Times Best Selling author of 8 books and his debut novel, The Terminal List, was adapted into the #1 Amazon Prime Video series starring Chris Pratt.

Notes

• When Jack was little, he hoped to grow up and do two things. Be a Navy SEAL and become an author.
• Jack's grandfather died at war. "It's in my blood."
  • "You have to prove that you can add value to your tribe."
• "Great warriors run to the sound of the guns to be with their fellow service members."
• Commonality of the best SEAL Leaders:
  • Trust, up and down the chain of command
  • High character
  • Good decision-maker: The decisions you’ve made in the past are your currency.
  • Do things you don’t have to do. Run with the squad, put rounds down range. You don’t have to be the best at it, but you should be very good at all of the things the people you’re leading are doing.
• Reading novels: "When I was young, I was reading for the magic in those pages."
• PUT IN THE WORK… Jack has been putting in the work since he was little. He read books for the magic in those pages. All of that reading has helped inform him of what great storytelling looks like. And then he PUT IN THE WORK. If you want to be a published author, you need to WRITE. It’s that simple. Do the work, and get the manuscript done. And then take the next step. A lot of people want to be published authors. Not everyone wants to write. Like Ronnie Coleman said, “A lot of people want to be a bodybuilder, but nobody wants to lift these heavy weights every day.”
• Mentor, Brad Thor: “Brad told me that the only difference between a published and unpublished author is that the published author doesn’t quit.”
• Writers Block – One thing I’ll share from Steven Pressfield is that he said “Hey, you never hear of a trucker getting trucker’s block”. Writer’s block does not exist - you just have to go do it.
• Books to recommend: ONCE AN EAGLE by Anton Myrer.
  • It is advice that a wise Sam Damon shares: “You can’t help what you were born and you may not have much to say about where you die, but you can and you should try to pass the days in between as a good man.” In the end that really says it all.
• Advice:
  • Never miss an opportunity to make someone’s day… Make that your default setting. Work to add value to others' lives. Make their day. Help them. Make introductions, LISTEN to them, offer ideas to help solve their issues

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

My books:

Welcome to Management - https://amzn.to/3XWyZAH

The Pursuit of Excellence - https://amzn.to/4eX9vtP

The Score That Matters - https://amzn.to/3zPub7Z

Seth Godin is the author of 21 international bestsellers that have changed the way people think about work and art. They have been translated into 38 languages. His breakthrough books include Purple Cow, Tribes, The Dip, Linchpin, and his latest book is called This is Strategy. He writes one of the most popular daily blogs in the world and has given 5 TED talks. He is the founder of the altMBA, and the former VP of Direct Marketing at Yahoo!

Notes:

• "If you want word of mouth, you have to create something remarkable, and that means it’s worthy of remark."
• The elegant path is the most useful way forward. “My neighbor is a barefoot runner. He glides without apparent effort.” Elegance is simplicity, efficiency, and effectiveness.
• Dorothy and Her Crew. How did Dorothy persuade the Lion, Tin Man, and Scarecrow to join her on the trip to see the Wizard? Did she make a case about how much she missed home? No. She created the conditions where the others could get what they wanted by joining her.
• Seeing Strategy Clearly. Strategy is a flexible plan that guides us as we seek to create a change. It helps us make decisions over time while working within a system.
• Low-Hanging Fruit Isn’t. It’s all been picked. The easy, direct, obvious paths are unlikely to get you the results you’re working so hard to obtain. In fact, these paths are probably a trap.
• Seth, at one point, got 800 rejection letters. Have to keep going...
• "I wouldn't call Steve Ballmer a good leader."
• An example of Seth making a difference... He went to Kenya and talked with 60 people who started a book club based on his book Linchpin. "They decided to be leaders."
• Make decisions in the moment:
  • Examine the issue
  • Get feedback
  • Look for patterns
• "Taste is knowing what the market wants before it knows it."
• Rick Rubin
  • Reality distortion field
  • Johnny Cash
  • "What do you think?"
• "Objections are your friends."
• What are the commonalities among leaders with whom Seth has worked and who have sustained excellence? They are all different, but the one thing they have in common is they all have chosen to be leaders. And that means that they are here to make a change happen.
• Management doesn’t just exist. It was invented. When you race to the bottom, You see people as resources, not as people.
• Questions That Lead To Strategies. 84 questions. They’ll force you to think through your strategy. By answering them, you’ll be better prepared to make a difference… And make a ruckus. Some of them: Who is this project for? What is my timeline? What systems would need to change for my project to succeed? Where will I cause tension? What resistance should I anticipate? Where is the empathy? What asset would transform my project? What can I learn from comparable projects? Is the change I’m making contagious? Can I make it easier for others to decide? How can I design for network effects? What are common objections I expect to encounter?

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

My books:

Welcome to Management - https://amzn.to/3XWyZAH

The Pursuit of Excellence - https://amzn.to/4eX9vtP

The Score That Matters - https://amzn.to/3zPub7Z

My guest: After years of serving as a high school government and law teacher, Sharon McMahon took her passion for education to Instagram, where more than a million people rely on her for nonpartisan, fact-based information as “America's Government Teacher.” In a time where flashy headlines and false information often take the spotlight, Sharon is a reliable source for truth and logic. Sharon is the author of: The Small and The Mighty – Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, From the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement.

Notes:

• What did Teddy Roosevelt, Abraham Lincoln, and FDR have in common? The ability to articulate a vision that others wanted to follow. They were great communicators. If you want to lead people, it helps to become a fantastic storyteller. It helps to be able to stand up in front of a group of people and share the vision in an entertaining and informative way. And then execute on that vision.
• Be a doer. “The best Americans are not the critics, they are the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up, not who they put down.” I’ve never observed anyone, regardless of field, achieve lasting prominence while voicing rancor or focusing much on the failings of others. Create and share, support others, and enjoy. Givers and creators always prevail. - Andrew Huberman
• Door-to-door sales helps you deal with rejection. It's good for you.
• When you see a new person at the gym, celebrate them. Help them get acclimated.
• The Hello Girls -- AT&T -- Pioneer of telephones. They were doing their jobs wearing gasmasks with bombs exploding around them.
• Echo Chambers – As a leader, what you don’t know, can hurt you. Do not surround yourself with “yes men” or “yes women.” You need a diversity of viewpoints. You should feel uncomfortable on a regular basis. You should told you’re wrong from the people you surround yourself with. If you’re not, then you’re living in an echo chamber. Also, pay attention to a broad spectrum of media. If you only watch one news channel or read one newspaper, you will probably end up in an echo chamber. Then develop friendships with people who think differently than you. They’re not wrong because they think the way they do. Instead of judging them, why not be curious and learn more about their viewpoint.
• Gouverneur Morris – One of Alexander Hamilton’s best friends and one of our founding fathers. He contributed as much or more to the early republic than Ben Franklin or John Adams. He conceived America’s great statement of purpose, the one still recited by schoolchildren. He’s the author of the Preamble of the new United States Constitution.
• “The best Americans are not the critics, they are the doers. They are the people who went for broke when everyone else yelled to turn back. They are those who know that one becomes great because of who they lift up, not who they put down.” I have learned that no one reaches their final moments of mortal existence and whispers to their loved ones, “I wish I had gotten in some more sick burns in the comments section on Facebook.”
• Advice:
  • "Be the "can-do" person. Have the best attitude in the room. Be amazing at whatever you choose to do. Be the person that others love to work with."

Read our book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3XxHi7p

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

Michael Easter’s investigations have taken him to meet with monks in ancient monasteries in Bhutan, lost tribes in the jungles of Bolivia, US Special Forces soldiers in undisclosed locations, gene scientists in Iceland, CEOs in Fortune-500 boardrooms, and more. He’s a professor at UNLV and he’s the best-selling author of The Comfort Crisis and Scarcity Brain.

• “The modern world is designed for short-term survival and pleasure. It is not set up to help us thrive in the long term.” “Have fun, don’t die, read books, and do strange things.”
• Be a 2 percenter. 98% of people do the easy thing. We are programmed to do the easy thing.
• The world was uncomfortable a while ago...
• It makes sense to do the easy thing. You get the short-term reward for it.
• Handle adversity, adapt, do the slightly harder thing
• Some ideas: do walking meetings, work in silence, embrace hunger, don't cut corners, pick up the trash, call people on the phone. Ruck the airport. Don't sit down, walk. Read while exercising. Workout outside. Sprint. Lift weights. The ability to move a limb quickly is what helps old people not fall. Need to be powerful and springy to move quickly (and not fall).
• Diet - One ingredient foods. Tribe in Bolivia with the healthiest hearts in the world. Be outside, eat one ingredient foods.
• Scarcity brain - We all suck at moderation. We overconsume... Casinos, slot machines. Quick, repeatable, predictable. The speed makes it powerful.
• Silicon Valley learned this from casinos and it's how they build their apps.
• The smartphone withdrawal effect. Worse in short term. Better in the long term.
• Break bad habits - Slow down. Respond, don't react. Wait 72 hours to buy the thing in your online cart.
• Junk food is super easy to eat fast. It was designed that way. Your body doesn't know it's full because of the speed.
• What did Michael learn from a tribe in a Bolivian jungle?
  
  • They seemed very happy. What did they do? They ate single-ingredient food. They spent a lot of time outside. And they spent a lot of time together. What can we learn from that? Eat healthy, go outside, and spend time with people you love.
• “A lot of problems are not our fault, but they are our problems to solve.” Remember, we are wired to choose the escalator, fast food or to cut the corner. We need to be intentional in taking the stairs, slowing down, and responding instead of reacting.
• How the scarcity loop works: It has three parts: opportunity, unpredictable rewards, and quick repeatability. Becoming aware of it can help you fall into it less often.
• Michael has been sober for 9 years. His drinking addiction stemmed from having a boring life (job he didn't like). Needed to explore the edges. Booze did that for him.
• Iraq - Sandstorm. We don't read books here. We don't have that luxury. We have too many problems to deal with.
  • In America, we live in a country where we can read books.

Read more about our team at: https://learningleader.com/team/

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Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

• “Have I ever mentioned how much I f’n love these Phase 2 calls?!? Free cocaine. Straight outta the Dope Factory.” – Geron Stokes
• "Another thing that I found is an intense interest of the subject is indispensable if you are really going to excel. I could force myself to be fairly good in a lot of things, but I couldn’t be really good in anything where I didn’t have an intense interest." – Charlie Munger
• Our Team Values & Behaviors:
  • Curious: practice invested listening
  • Honest: give direct feedback
  • Intentional: provide purposeful action
• What is our edge as a TEAM? Our purpose, our values, and our behaviors. We are ACTIVELY doing it.
  • Raw and Simple: We cut through the noise and address the fundamental issues leaders face. Our straightforward approach helps teams confront what they’re not doing and empowers them to take actionable steps toward improvement.
  • In The Arena: We don’t just talk about leadership principles—we live them. Every member of our team actively practices the strategies we coach, ensuring real-world insights and practical solutions.
  • Take Risks: We’re unafraid to push boundaries and challenge conventional thinking. We help leaders take bold actions, even if it means stepping out of their comfort zones or facing tough consequences.
• Love being on a team that "makes the water rise." We all are better for being together on the same team.
• Gratitude – You can’t roll up your sleeves and clench your fists at the same time. Living with gratitude is about recognizing and appreciating what you have. This will change the lens in which you view the world. Geron (overheard from Coach Mike Gundy): “I can’t believe they pay us to do this.” It is so much fun working with this team and the reward is that we get to keep doing it. So grateful.
• The makeup of a great team… They are tough, they have fun together, they care about each other, and they have that gritty humility about them. “Humble enough to listen, gritty enough to apply."
• Our prep calls – The calls before the calls. We learn so much from our preparation together. It's an open forum to share ideas, disagree, talk through stories, and figure out how to make people better. Some of my favorite times.
• How to work with the employee who just won’t fully buy-in. Be curious, not judgemental. Ask questions. LISTEN. Care. As Sherri said, “Nobody wants to sleepwalk through life.” We need to figure out what makes them come alive and help them bring that to the team.