Welcome to Mindful Monday!

This week, we focus on character, your WHO, how to get feedback, the best way to acquire customers, and wise words from Bob Sutton. And... CLICK HERE to read our USA Today Best-Selling book, The Score That Matters.

#633: General Stanley McChrystal - On Character

​Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star general. Stan is the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (also known as JSOC). His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. Since he retired from the Army, Stan has written multiple best-selling books including, Team of Teams, and most recently, On Character. We discussed being obsessed, the most crucial discipline, eating one meal a day, white water rafting, and so much more. You can also WATCH our conversation on YouTube.

Be Mindful of Your 'WHO'

In 1976, a young engineer named Steve Wozniak designed a personal computer in his free time. It was just a hobby, something he worked on for fun. At the time, computers were massive machines owned by governments and corporations. The idea that an individual would want one seemed absurd. Wozniak showed his design to his boss at Hewlett-Packard, expecting some encouragement. Instead, HP told him it was a waste of time. They didn’t see the potential, and they certainly didn’t think anyone would buy it. He offered them the rights to his design five different times. They rejected it every time. Most people in his position would have stopped there. When enough smart people tell you something won’t work, it is easy to believe them. But Woz had a friend who saw things differently... CLICK HERE to read more.

How Leaders Can Get Honest, Productive Feedback

Great leaders are great learners. Their never-ending pursuit of information pushes them to constantly improve and sets them apart from the rest. Feedback serves a crucial role in this process, but getting and learning from it isn’t always easy. If you want to get the feedback that is necessary to improve your leadership, there are a few steps you can take. First, build and maintain a psychologically safe environment. Sharing feedback is often interpersonally risky. CLICK HERE to learn more.

What's The Best Way To Acquire Customers?

Growth is not something you delegate to employees as an afterthought once you’ve figured out your product’s feature set. Instead, it’s designed into the product’s feature set. This means the product has to power its own network effects. That's what this essay is about.

Wise Words...

“The hallmark of wisdom is an alchemy of confidence and doubt, and knowing when to up the ante of one versus the other.” - Robert Sutton​

Thank you for reading. Mindful Monday is a reader-supported publication. The best way to support it is to order our book, The Score That Matters. If you've already read it, I'd love for you to CLICK THIS LINK and write a review.

Ryan Hawk Author: The Score That Matters, Welcome to Management, & The Pursuit of Excellence​ Host: The Learning Leader Show​