The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode 161: Hank Fortener - "The 5 Chapters Of Your Life" Hank Fortener saw the transformational power of adoption when his parents gave forever homes to eight kids from eight different countries and fostered 36 children while he was a boy. Because of this, Hank created Adopt Together. AdoptTogether.org is the world's first crowd funding site for adoption. In the first 4 years, AdoptTogether.org has helped over 2,000 families raise over $8.5M to cover adoption expenses and bring their children home. Hank also speaks on the topics of leadership and teaming. He has spoken to companies such as: Sony Entertainment, Cardinal Health, Cornerstone On Demand, and a host of others. He has a podcast titled, "Typically Hazardous." Hank lives in Los Angeles with his wife Sueann and two daughters Cora and Charlotte. Hank also loves two dollar bills, great ideas, and good coffee. He currently is on tour with Nick Jonas and Demi Lovato. Had had the privilege of speaking at TEDx on "How To Use The Internet To Solve World Pro

Episode 160: Liz Wiseman - Why Lack Of Experience Is Your Advantage Liz Wiseman teaches leadership to executives and emerging leaders around the world. She is the President of The Wiseman Group, a leadership research and development firm headquartered in Silicon Valley. Some of her recent clients include: Apple, Disney, eBay/PayPal, Facebook, GAP, Google, Microsoft, Nike, Roche, Salesforce.com, and Twitter. Liz has been listed on the Thinkers50 ranking and named as one of the top 10 leadership thinkers in the world and recipient of the 2016 ATD Champion of Talent Award. She is the author of three best-selling books: Rookie Smarts: Why Learning Beats Knowing in the New Game of Work, Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter and The Multiplier Effect: Tapping the Genius Inside Our Schools. She has conducted significant research in the field of leadership and collective intelligence and writes for Harvard Business Review and Fortune and her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Fast Compan

Episode 159: Henry Ward & Josh Merrill - CEO of eShares: How To Hire, Manage, & Lead Henry Ward is the CEO of eShares. Josh Merrill leads product and Marketing at eShares Hiring Principles: Hiring means we failed to execute and need help Startup employee effectiveness follows a power law False Positives are okay, False Negatives are not Culture is defined by who we hire Hiring Heuristics: Hire for Strength vs Lack of Weakness Hire for Trajectory vs Experience Hire Doers vs Tellers Hire Learners vs Experts Hire Different vs Similar Always pass on ego Episode 159: Henry Ward & Josh Merrill - CEO of eShares: How To Hire, Manage, & Lead Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “The success of a company is the sum of the people in it." In This Episode, You Will Learn: Patience, long term thinking, and understanding that your success will be determined by the people you surround yourself with will lead to sustained excellence Product focused and understanding "The Artist's Di

Episode 158: Amy Jo Martin - How To Build Engagement, Trust, & Serotonin Amy Jo Martin, author of New York Times best-seller Renegades Write the Rules, founded Digital Royalty in 2009 to help corporations, celebrities and sports entities humanize their brands online through social communication channels. Amy Jo has worked closely with world-renowned brands such as Hilton Worldwide, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Shaquille O’Neal to successfully humanize their presence. Her motto: humans connect with humans, not logos. Amy Jo herself has a social media following of more than a 1.1 million people and was named the third most powerful woman on Twitter by Forbes. Amy Jo believes the future of technology is the future of humanity. She conducts clinical research studies and travels the world to speak about this topic and many other topics. She recently spoke an audience of 10,000 people. In 2012 Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, and Baron Davis, NBA player, invested in Amy Jo and her company. After a successful sev

Episode 157: Chris Zook - The Founders Mentality: A Bias For Action & Front Line Obsession Chris Zook is a partner in Bain & Company's Boston office. He was co-head of the Global Strategy practice for 20 years. During his more than 25 years at Bain, Chris has specialized in helping companies find new sources of profitable growth. A best-selling author, Chris published his fifth book,The Founder's Mentality in 2016. Based on a decade-long study of companies in more than 40 countries, The Founder's Mentality shows how leaders can overcome the predictable crises of growth and set their companies on a path of sustainable growth. Chris has been a featured broadcast guest, including NPR, CNBC, Fox News and Bloomberg TV. He has been a keynote speaker at a wide range of international and business forums including the World Economic Forum, the World Knowledge Forum, the Forbes' CEO Conference, the BusinessWeek CEO Conference, the Economist Summit and Endeavour’s entrepreneur summits. In the last five years, he

Episode 156: Greg Wittstock – The CEO Must Guide The Culture Greg Wittstock has been dabbling in water gardens since the age of 12. He began with a concrete creation and evolved to the naturally balanced, #1 contractor-installed ecosystem ponds that Aquascape is well known for. After graduating from Ohio State University with a degree in Interpersonal Communications, Greg founded Aquascape Inc., which experienced incredible growth during its early years. The company appeared on Inc Magazine's coveted list of 500 Fastest-Growing, Privately-Held Companies in North America from 1999-2002. Greg later appeared on the cover of Inc Magazine, along with a feature article about his leadership and entrepreneurial spirit.   Episode 156: Greg Wittstock – The CEO Must Guide The Culture Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “The first job of the CEO is to guide the culture" In This Episode, You Will Learn: Most excited about: The 25th anniversary of his company, Aquascape Growing a business from

Episode 155: Russ Roberts - A Guide To Human Nature & Happiness Russell Roberts is the John and Jean De Nault Research Fellow at Stanford University’s Hoover Institution. Roberts hosts the weekly podcast EconTalk–hour-long conversations with authors, economists, and business leaders. Past guests include Milton Friedman, Nassim Taleb, Christopher Hitchens, Marc Andreessen, Joseph Stiglitz, and John Bogle. EconTalk was named podcast of the year in the 2008 Weblog Awards. Over 425 episodes are available at EconTalk.org and on iTunes at no charge. His two rap videos on the ideas of John Maynard Keynes and F.A. Hayek, created with filmmaker John Papola, have had more than seven million views on YouTube, been subtitled in eleven languages, and are used in high school and college classrooms around the world. His latest book is How Adam Smith Can Change Your Life: An Unexpected Guide to Human Nature and Happiness. It takes the lessons from Adam Smith’s little-known masterpiece, The Theory of Moral Sentiments and

Episode 154: Lewis Howes - How To Acknowledge Greatness Lewis Howes is an online marketing expert, sought after business coach, author, podcaster, USA Men’s National Team Handball Player, and Lifestyle Entrepreneur. In 3 years, Howes went from sleeping on his sister’s couch to running a seven figure online education business. A former pro football player, and two sport All American, Howes experienced a career ending wrist injury that forever changed the trajectory of his business career. He has spoken to thousands at conferences, educated entrepreneurs and professionals around the world on how to make a living doing what they love. Howes has developed multiple educational online courses for entrepreneurs and business owners.  His latest book, "The School of Greatness" is a New York Times Best-Seller. The Learning Leader Show “Do I have permission to make this the best interview you've ever done?" In This Episode, You Will Learn: Being passionate and obsessed with your craft combined with a commitment to bein

Episode 153: Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot: How To Make Them Come To You (Bio in first person from Amazon.com) My day job is as co-founder and CEO of HubSpot, an inbound marketing company started in 2006. Most business market their products by "interrupting" their potential customers with advertisements, cold calls, email blasts, etc. We humans have gotten sick of being interrupted by marketers and have gotten better-and-better at blocking them out with new technology such as caller ID, spam protection, TIVO, etc. HubSpot helps businesses transform they way they market from interrupting potential customers to helping them "get found" by them in the natural course of the way they work today in Google, in blogs, and in social media sites. In other words, we help companies transform from "outbound marketing" to "inbound marketing." Despite only starting the company a few years ago, we have over 1700 paying customers who on average increase their leadflow by 6x within 6 months of buying our product. In addition

Episode 152: Dave Dameshek: NFL Network Star, Comedy Writer, Working With Jimmy Kimmel Dave Dameshek is a TV writer and TV/Podcast personality. Dameshek is currently a football analyst and writer for NFL.com, appearing on NFL Fantasy Live and hosting the Dave Dameshek Football Program. He also regularly appears on the NFL Network. His past: The Adam Carolla Show debuted in January 2006, recorded in Los Angeles and airing in syndication on stations across the western United States. Dameshek was a regular cast member on the show from the beginning, serving as the show's official sports reporter. He received his first big break in 2001 when he was hired as a writer on Comedy Central'sThe Man Show, hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and Adam Carolla. In 2002, he began writing for Kimmel's new late-night talk show on ABC, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, where he made several appearances in addition to his main responsibility of working on the show's nightly monologue. Episode 152: Dave Dameshek: NFL Network Star, Comedy Writer, Working W

Episode 151: Kris "Tanto" Paronto - 13 Hours: A Secret Soldier Of Benghazi Kris Paronto - “Tanto” as he is affectionately known in security contracting circles - is a former Army Ranger from 2nd Battalion 75th Ranger Regiment and private security contractor who has deployed throughout South America, Central America, the Middle East and North Africa. He also worked with the US Government’s Global Response Staff conducting low profile security in high threat environments throughout the world. Mr. Paronto was part of the CIA annex security team that responded to the terrorist attack on the US Special Mission in Benghazi, Libya, September 11th, 2012, helping to save over 20 lives while fighting off terrorists from the CIA Annex for over 13 hours. Mr. Paronto’s story is told in the book “13 Hours” written by Mitchell Zuckoff and his five surviving annex security team members. Michael Bay directed the movie (based on the book) titled "13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi" Episode 151: Kris "Tanto" Paronto - 13

Episode 150: Forbes Contributor Omaid Homayun Interviews Me - Learning From Failure, Creating A Hit Podcast, Sustaining Excellence A few months ago I received a great email from Omaid Homayun. He shared how The Learning Leader Show has helped him grow as a leader. He mentioned that he had his own podcast (To The Top) and he was also a writer for Forbes.  After a few conversations, Omaid decided that he wanted to write a story on how my show as created and has sustained excellence. This episode is the recording of the official interview we did for what became this Forbes article. I'm sharing this conversation specifically because I appreciate the approach Omaid brought to this interview. He came to it with a curious mind (as Lin Wood would say). He also was able to get me to share information about myself that I've never discussed publicly. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I hope you do too. Thank YOU all again for being great supporters of The Learning Leader Show. Episode 150: Forbes Contributor Omaid Homayun Interv

Episode 149: Marcus Sheridan - The Sales Lion: "They Ask, We Answer" Marcus Sheridan has coached multiple businesses of all types from around the globe in an effort to help them achieve world-class communication in all its forms, online and offline. Specifically, he has become known for: Content Marketing, HubSpot Training, Keynote Speeches. In 2015 alone, award-winning speaker Marcus Sheridan has traveled the globe, giving multiple sales, marketing, and leadership keynotes in a total of 8 different countries and 24 states. Sheridan, along with team member George Thomas, can be counted on to teach, inspire, and move audiences of all sizes to action while embracing today’s digital consumer and new way of doing business. Episode 149: Marcus Sheridan - The Sales Lion: "They Ask, We Answer" Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “I teach companies how to become the most trusted source in their industry." In This Episode, You Will Learn: Having an obsession with continuing to learn will h

Episode 148: Jason Wachob - CEO of MindBodyGreen: How To Build A Life, Not A Resume JASON WACHOB is the Founder and CEO of mindbodygreen, the leading independent media brand dedicated to wellness. His site (mindbodygreen.com) receives 10 million unique page views per month! He has been featured in The New York Times, Entrepreneur, Fast Company, and Vogue. Jason has a BA in history from Columbia University, where he played varsity basketball for four years. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife, and loves German Shepherds, Chuck Taylors, and guacamole. Episode 148: Jason Wachob - CEO of MindBodyGreen: How To Build A Life, Not A Resume Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “You Don't Want To Spend Your Life Climbing A Ladder That you Realize Is The Wrong Ladder When You Get To The Top" In This Episode, You Will Learn: Being around passionate people who have a palpable energy will help you sustain excellence "If you're not progressing, you're dead." mindbodygreen is dedicated to helping y

Episode 147: Anders Ericsson - What Malcolm Gladwell Got Wrong About The 10,000 Hour Rule ANDERS ERICSSON, PhD, is Conradi Eminent Scholar and Professor of Psychology at Florida State University.  He studies expert performance in domains, such as music, chess, medicine, and sports, and how expert performers attain their superior performance by acquiring complex cognitive mechanisms through extended deliberate practice.  He has edited “Cambridge Handbook of Expertise and Expert Performance” (2006) and “The Development of Professional Expertise” (2009). In the book Outliers Malcolm Gladwell based his “10,000 hour rule” on Ericsson and colleagues’s research on musicians. His latest book is titled, "PEAK, Secrets From The New Science of Expertise." Have you ever wanted to learn a language or pick up an instrument, only to become too daunted by the task at hand? Expert performance guru Anders Ericsson has made a career studying chess champions, violin virtuosos, star athletes, and memory mavens. Peak condenses thr

Episode 146: Steven Sisler Psychoanalyzes Me - I Am Unorthodox, Mission Oriented, Logical, Competitive, & Complex Steven Sisler is a Behavioral Analyst, speaker and author. Steve's consultation involves personality difference, leadership strategy, cultural differences, and temperament strategy. Working with clients in more than 18 countries, Steve gathers behavioral and attitudinal information on individuals within corporate settings and develops strategies for effective leadership, teamwork, and entrepreneurial success. Steve makes normative judgments and brings thought provoking insights to the three ethical platforms within our society. These are the Community Ethic, The Autonomy Ethic, and The Divinity Ethic, and these platforms all have strong implications when challenged with ideological frameworks outside of those accepted within larger people groups. Steven was diagnosed with Hyper Kinetic Behavior in the second grade. He was beat up by girls and fought his way through nine years of intense bullyi

Episode 145: AJ Hawk - Life In The NFL: Awareness, Consistency, Curiosity A special "swapcast" episode of The Learning Leader Show. This episode with my younger brother AJ is being released on both "The Learning Leader Show," and AJ's video podcast, "The HawkCast."  To view the video of this conversation go to: TheHawkCast.show. This has quickly become one of my favorite episodes. I really enjoy when AJ and I record episodes together.  We've done it in the past and we'll continue doing it in the future.  Episode 145: AJ Hawk - Life In The NFL: Awareness, Consistency, Curiosity Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “It's really easy to work hard when you're feel good. The difference is consistently working hard everyday." In This Episode, You Will Learn: Focusing like Jim Tressel leads to sustained excellence. Keep everything simple... And LISTEN The 3 words to describe AJ Consistent - Always being there for your teammates. Everyday in practice, weightroom, film room, games Aware -

Episode 144: Paul Tough - How To Develop An Intrinsically Motivated Child Paul Tough is the author, most recently, of Helping Children Succeed: What Works and Why. His previous book, How Children Succeed: Grit, Curiosity, and the Hidden Power of Character, was translated into 27 languages and spent more than a year on the New York Times hardcover and paperback best-seller lists. His first book, Whatever It Takes: Geoffrey Canada’s Quest to Change Harlem and America, was published in 2008. Paul is a contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine, where he has written extensively about education, parenting, poverty, and politics. His writing has also appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic, GQ, and Esquire, and on the op-ed page of the New York Times. He has worked as an editor at the New York Times Magazine and Harper’s Magazine and as a reporter and producer for the public-radio program “This American Life.” He was the founding editor of Open Letters, an online magazine. Episode 144: Paul Tough - How To

Episode 143: Chad Estis - SVP For The Dallas Cowboys: Working For Jerry Jones Chad Estis serves as Executive Vice President at Legends Hospitality Management, LLC and served as its President of Legends Sales & Marketing. He is responsible for the sales strategies and client acquisitions for the Legends Division focused on selling premium seating inventory for new and renovated facilities in Major League and Collegiate athletics. He served as the Chief Marketing Officer and an Executive Vice President of Cleveland Cavaliers and Quicken Loans Arena from 2006 to 2007 overseeing all sales, marketing, community relations, communications, web-site and game operations. He served as Head of Sales and Marketing at Cleveland Cavaliers. He served as Vice President of Sales and Business Development for the Cavaliers from 2001 to 2005. Chad was then recruited (heavily) by Jerry Jones and family to lead the sales organization for The Dallas Cowboys.  He served as the lead for Cowboys Stadium Premium Sales project where

Episode 142: Donald Miller - "I Will Make You Everyone's Favorite Leader" Donald Miller is a student of story. He’s the author of New York Times Best Sellers: "Blue Like Jazz," "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years," and "Scary Close." He co-wrote the major motion picture "Blue Like Jazz" which debuted at the SXSW Film Festival and was listed as one of the top four movies to get you through freshman year by USA Today. He has served on The Presidential Task Force for Fatherhood and Healthy Families, a joint effort between government and the private sector to rewrite the story of fatherlessness in America. Donald Miller is a 3 time NY Times best-selling author. He has worked on Presidential campaigns, and now he helps people clearly and concisely tell their stories through live events and at StoryBrand.com  Episode 142: Donald Miller - "I'm Will Make You Everyone's Favorite Leader" Subscribe on iTunes  or Stitcher Radio The Learning Leader Show “We don't want to react to life. We want to impose our will upon lif