The Resilient Parasite

I thought this week was going to be another commencement address to open things up, but I am honestly unable to find the source of this 2018 speech from Arnold Schwarzenegger on "Rules of Success".

Here's the cliff notes as well as a condensed video that digs into them:

1. Have a Vision - You've got to have a vision of what you, not what others, want to do. Know where you are going.
2. Ignore the Naysayers - Always listen to yourself and ignore those trying to sway you away from your vision and goals. Don’t listen to people trying to discourage you.
3. Work Your Butt Off - Whatever you decide to do, work hard at it. Don’t do things half-heartedly. Give it your all. Don’t make excuses. There are no shortcuts in life.
4. Advertise - Let people know about your work.
5. Don’t be Afraid to Fail - Failure is a natural part of life. A failure is someone who falls and never gets back up. A winner falls, gets up, dusts himself off, and keeps moving. Don't be afraid to fail!
6. Help others - Don’t forget to give back. We all struggle sometimes, and we all get a helping hand along the way.

Recommend you grab a notebook, take 10 minutes, and watch. There's tons of valuable insight and wisdom in this one.

If you're interested in my daily ramblings, follow me on Twitter or my posts on this blog.

Forward Thinking

I recently watched a video from Steve Jobs in that he describes his view on how the best teams are built and ultimately become self-managed. He didn't want "seasoned professionals" but instead focused on hiring people that are insanely great at what they did.

Real leadership (instead of just managing people) is being able to articulate a common vision so people can understand it, and align the team on it.

Shameless Plug

Every week, Kelly White (VP of Digital Product Strategy and Partnerships at Disney Parks, Experiences and Products) hosts "Learning to Lead" on Clubhouse.

It's every Saturday morning, 9:30am PST, and i've been joining weekly; it's one of the few Clubhouse events I've found valuable, raw and honest.

Highly recommended that you join! (Shoot me an email or DM me on Twitter if you need an invite to Clubhouse)

Latest Obsession

I can't remember when I discovered the magic of  The DO Book Company (it's been years that I've been following their 'Doers' movement) and their series of books and events have become one of my staples that I always recommend to colleagues and peers when they want to start investing in a different type of leadership. A more humantype of leadership that believes in action and positive change.

I'm currently reading DO Team, which they recently published an excerpt on leading with trust.

Teams make life better, richer, more fun and more productive. Teams lift you up and carry you with them. Teams make good businesses great, and great organizations even better. Invest in your team and the world will be your oyster. From happy, engaged, motivated and empowered people comes magic.

The book, written by Charlie Gladstone, focuses in on making the experience of working with people a positive, happy and motivated one.

I cannot say enough about these books. Buy them all. :)

This weeks "Deep Links"

Here's a few of the articles and videos that resonated with me over the last week:

• Creepy and beautiful: "Lost Italian Village Emerges After Decades Under Water" explores the village of Curon, which was intentionally flooded to make way for a nearby hydroelectric plant. They recently had to drain the lake and the remains of the city emerged - More
• "Sinead O’Connor Remembers Things Differently" looks back at how that incident on Saturday night live (where she ripped up a photo of Pope John Paul II) as the moment her life got back on track. - More
• I don't understand where/why these gender reveal parties have become epic events causing destruction. The latest: "Man charged in gender reveal blast that rocked nearby towns" - apparently you need 80 pounds of explosives to announce your newest arrival - More
• This is neat. "Google’s Project Starline is a 'magic window' for 3D telepresence"; imagine the next video conference being more through a window rather than a headset - More
• "You Become What You Focus On"; I've heard it expressed as "you get out of things what you put into them", Darius Foroux has a wonderful read on the stoic's view on gaining control over what you focus on - More
• Is modern life making us weak? "How Too Much Comfort Is Making You Miserable" looks at how as a people, we have lost appreciation for what we have, and that the "move the goalposts mentality and social comparisons make us miserable."- More
• In case you wanted to know - this is "How to Buy a Ghost Town". Apparently, there are more than 3,800 of these available for sale across the United States - More
• "I hate everybody including you" is a fun read on "the art of saying no" through letters of note that "are tactful and eloquent; others are entirely free of both". Love it! - More
• It doesn't matter if you are a leader or individual contributor - "Why You Should Have Difficult Conversations" is a good read on why they are important - More
• "I Want My Mutually Assured Destruction" looks at how interwoven "messages about nuclear weapons, nuclear war, and the end of humanity" with music videos dominated MTV in 1981. A fascinating look at the end of the Cold War and music television - More
• In "Feedback is a Mirror", Michael Loop explores the nature of feedback: "One of the many benefits of feedback is that it breaks your ongoing inner narrative. It breaks it. It mentally forces you to stop in your tracks and consider the feedback not because you want to but you are incapable of ignoring it. The feedback is that compelling." - More

Fin

From the humor vault, closing out this week with a crazy video from 1981 in which Leonard Nimoy co-stars with a glowing talking rock, introducing the Magnavox Magnavision VH-8000 LaserDisc Player.

Cringe-worthy, but super enjoyable. See ya next time!