The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk - 031: Gary Vaynerchuk on Leadership, Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Bill Parcells

Episode Date: June 25, 2015

Episode 031: Gary Vaynerchuk on Leadership, Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Bill Parcells I originally sent a cold email to Gary roughly 6 months ago asking him to be one of the first guests on my podcast, The Learning Leader Show.  He initially responded and said, “No, I won’t do it as I’m not recording any podcasts now, but maybe you can convince me to do it later.”  Well, six months later (after many emails), Gary and I recorded an incredible episode.  I’m extremely proud of this, and I was especially happy to hear the kind words Gary shared about me and the persistence I showed as well as how I handled a couple scheduling issues we’ve had along the way.  Enjoy this episode with the Great Gary Vaynerchuk! Gary Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur, investor, author, public speaker, and an internet personality with millions of follows across multiple social media platforms.  Gary has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, GQ, and Time.  He’s appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien and Ellen. Welcome To Episode 031: Gary Vaynerchuk on Leadership, Self-Awareness, Empathy, and Bill Parcells Subscribe on iTunes or Stitcher Radio. The Learning Leader Show “I want to build the single biggest building in town.” – Gary Vaynerchuk Some Questions I Ask: What is the most common characteristic shared amongst the most successful people you know? What is the #1 trait you look for in a business partner? What is your interviewing process? How do you prioritize your time? How have you developed such a great network of successful people? Do you care if people like you? Are you okay with being polarizing? How do you always maintain so much energy? Who are examples of great learning leaders? In This Episode, You Will Learn: The importance of self-esteem AND self-awareness The characteristics you need to have to work with him Gary’s method for “hiring fast and firing fast” Why he chose to do this specific podcast, The Learning Leader Show The most important values he learned from his Mom and Dad The powerful of being full of gratitude Why Bill Parcells is a better coach than Phil Jackson Gary’s biggest flaw as a person “Your energy level should come from always having a high level of gratitude.” – Gary Vaynerchuk Continue Learning: Go to Gary's website See why over 1.1 million people follow Gary on Twitter: @garyvee Read his book: Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook Read his book: The Thank You Economy Read his book: Crush It!   You may also like these episodes: Episode 003: The Incredibly Interesting Story Of Maurice Clarett And How He Built A 6 Figure Income After Spending 4 Years In Prison Episode 002: How To Take Over And Set Bigger Goals With Chris Brogan Episode 004: How Todd Wagner (and Mark Cuban) Sold Broadcast.com To Yahoo! For $5.7 Billion Episode 010: Shane Snow – How To Accelerate Success Using Smart Cuts Did you enjoy the podcast? This episode was absolutely jam packed with great information on a variety of topics. Gary was incredibly inspirational.  Who do you know that needs to hear this?  Send them to The Learning Leader Show! Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell   From www.garyvaynerchuk.com in his own words: I have been a businessman for as long as anyone close to me can remember. You can be fancy and call it being an "entrepreneur," but at the end of the day, I do business. While most eight year olds were learning how to properly squeeze a lemon, I was managing seven lemonade stands across my neighborhood in Edison, NJ. When I turned twelve, I set my sights on my local mall, where I became something of a legend selling baseball cards on weekends. In high school I joined the family business, a liquor store called Shoppers Discount Liquors that my dad started. It wasn’t long before I became obsessed with collecting wine.   My core thesis has always revolved around one question: Are you marketing like the year you actually live in? That’s it. It’s not about where things are going to be in 5 years, and it’s definitely not about how we’ve always done it. Do what works. Right now.   In 1997 I was selling wine with an email list while most stores were still faxing their customers. Building on that, I quickly came to recognize the importance of e-commerce, and launched WineLibrary.com, one of the very first wine sales sites. As soon as Google Adwords came out, I was the first (and for a long time the only) person to advertise against people searching for “wine.” All of this helped me to grow the store from a $3 million business to a $60 million business, and it was just the beginning.   Within a year of YouTube popping up, I knew it would be an incredibly powerful platform. Armed with a Flipcam and a NY Jets bucket, I started Wine Library TV in 2006 to share my knowledge and passion for wine with a community that desperately needed a fresh voice. It wasn’t long before 100,000 people were watching my videos every day (shout-out to my Vayniacs – love you guys).   In the spring of 2009, my brother AJ and I launched VaynerMedia, a strategic creative agency focusing on social and digital. VaynerMedia has helped Fortune 500 companies like GE, PepsiCo, and Mt Dew execute against their KPI’s, and build their digital brands through micro content and other storytelling techniques. The idea took hold, and what started as a 6-person project 5 years ago has swelled to a 400-strong team spread across the country.   After years of angel investing in companies like Twitter, Tumblr, Uber and BirchBox, I just launched VaynerRSE, a $25 million seed fund that will help invest in and launch the next generation of world-changing technology companies.   When I’m not spending time with my family, who mean everything in the world to me, I speak and share my experiences in business with people around the world. I have also found a passion for storytelling, so definitely check out my latest book, Jab, Jab, Jab, Right Hook. I’m so excited you have taken a few minutes out of your day to drop by. Don’t forget to say hey.     PS: I love to hustle!

I want to build the single biggest building in town. Let's call the world the town. Here's how I plan on doing it by actually going out and building the biggest building. I think a lot of people like me who want to build the biggest building in town go about it by going to all the other buildings around them and tearing them down. I believe that the way I want to do it ultimately gives me the air cover to do what I'm doing, if that makes sense. Are leaders born or are they made? Our host, Ryan Hawk, believes that leaders can be made through determined, focused work on learning the art and science behind the makeup of other successful leaders. Now it's time to inhale knowledge and exhale success.

You're listening to The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk. Welcome to the Learning Leader Show. I am Ryan Hawk, and I am so excited about tonight's featured leader. It's the great Gary Vaynerchuk. You know, this relationship started about six months ago. I originally sent Gary a cold email, which I felt detailed pretty well why I wanted him to be a guest on this podcast. He initially responded and said, no, but maybe you can convince me to do it at some point in the future. Well, here we are.

It's six months later, and we got it done. And we recorded a phenomenal episode that I know you guys are going to love. For those of you that don't know Gary, he is an entrepreneur, an investor, an author, a podcast. public speaker and a wildly successful and popular internet personality. Gary also has invested in some of the greatest younger companies in the world like Twitter, Tumblr, Birxbox, and Uber. In our conversation tonight, we got on a number of interesting topics. One of them was why self-awareness is the number one trait that Gary sees in successful people. Also, how does he prioritize his time? A lot of people listening have very busy lives, much like Gary,

and he discusses exactly how he picks and chooses what he does every single day. I love that part. And then why he was so excited to do this specific podcast, the Learning Leader Show, Gary talks about why he wanted to come on this specific show. He even told his staff this was a must-have meeting, meaning he had to take the time to record for it. I think you guys are really going to enjoy that part. Without further ado, it's Gary Vaynerchuk.

All right, Gary, again, excited to have you here. Really, really excited. But I got a question for you to get this thing kicked off. So you spent time around a lot of people who others would deem as being very successful. And if you had to distill it down to one common characteristic or trait that those successful people all share, what would it be? Self-esteem. Self-esteem. Tell me more about that.

I think that you have to have the audacity to believe that you're going to be great to be great. I just, I don't think people stumble into it. There's a gear, whether it's in athletics or performing or business, that you have to have. And I do think it's an emotional gear. I think you can have the physical or the natural abilities, but there's a mental aspect. And it was so easy for me to answer that question because I think about it a lot. And there's really, there's really two traits that overindex for me. One is self-esteem.

And since you said, give me one trade, I went there. But now I'm cheating and giving you a second one. I think the other one is self-awareness. I think when people really know what they're good at and they've made the decision that it's worthwhile for them to go down that path, because, you know, a lot of people aren't passionate about what they're best at naturally. But when you're lucky enough to be passionate about what you're great at naturally, self-awareness, I think I've been a very successful businessman in a world where maybe I wouldn't be if I wasn't so self-aware of what I'm good at and what I'm not good at. When I transitioned into the tech world, I realized I didn't take coding classes.

I didn't try to build apps. They weren't going to be my strength. I played different games. And I think it was easy. And people asked me all the time, why don't you build an app like Uber and Facebook? And then you could buy the jets. I say, because I'm not talented enough to do that, right? And so I think, I guess ultimately, Ryan, those are two things that really.

really stand out to me, whether it's Zucks or Travis or Tony Shea or Richard Branson or Jack Welsh or all these different people I know, they have enormous self-esteem, aka ego or just depends on how you want to call it. And I think they know themselves. I think they know themselves. And I think that gives them a big advantage. I think a lot of people are not, are lack self-awareness, don't have a good read on themselves. And that gets you into dreaming and non-practicality and hoping land and those are places of complete loss. Yeah, so you have to have an understanding of what you know and what you do well, focus on your strengths and maybe leverage other resources for areas that you're not particularly good at. Right. I exactly. I desperately wanted to play for the New York

Jets in fifth grade, but it was about fifth grade when I realized I had a better chance of buying them than playing for them. Well, I know you're on your way. So that kind of leaves my next question, and you might have already kind of answered this. When you're looking at a business partner or somebody to work with or maybe even somebody to work for you. I know you got a great team. Obviously, all of us listening, probably watch your videos like I do on a daily basis. What is the traits that you're looking for in people either to work with or to work for you? You know, those two things that I just mentioned for sure.

I would say the number one thing I'm trying to sniff out if somebody's working for me is, are they capable of playing nice with the other boys and girls? That is a big deal for me. Empathy. Do you have empathy? Do you not just worry about yourself? Do you see the bigger picture? Are you a chess player?

Is it more than just one move out that you're concerning yourselves with? That is absolutely what I'm most obsessed with. Somebody who works for me or somebody I'm doing business with or investing in. Are you able to see, you know, above the trees? There's just too many people that are impatient and then their behavior creates downside and creates way too much risk because they're not thinking about how that action is going to impact them in 24 months. And I think a lot of my ultimate success is predicated in the fact that I'm playing a long game because life is a long game, right? And so if I was to die tomorrow,

I left a lot of money on the table. But every day that goes by, I'm creating more opportunity and more monies because I've got that long-term behavior. And so I think way too many people are living life like it's a 100-yard dash. but most of us, thank God, are lucky enough to actually be playing a marathon, and I think that's what I'm looking for. So how do you find that? It's so hard. People have become pretty good at going online and learning what to say in an interview.

You know, this is what so-and-so wants to hear. This is what Gary Vaynerchuk wants to hear. So how do you distinguish between the people who are fakers and can put on a good act during whatever interview process? Are there specific questions you asked to get to that? Do you have to drill down constantly over and over? Do you put them in different circumstances? How do you find that?

I actually go the reverse, Ryan. I actually mail it in. I'm just going on my, yeah. I go on my intuition, which is reasonably strong, but I've been humbled and have made a lot of wrong choices in my 20 years of operating. I actually am more obsessed with the sniffing out and getting rid of than concerning myself with getting them into the building. Now, I want to make sure everybody.

hears this very carefully. I have operated two main businesses in my career, Wine Library and VaynerMedia. Both businesses under my watch had enormous growth. You know, Wine Library went from 10 to 120 employees in five years. VaynerMedia has gone from 30 to 500 employees in three years. The game I'm playing with that kind of growth also requires me having to hire fast and at volume. I think 14 people started Monday, right? Yeah. So my behavior maps hyper growth. If you're looking to hire one person a year, you have the luxury of maybe doing more

rigor up front. Yet, I think a lot of people listening to this recognize they've missed on that front, too. I believe it's enough of a crapshoot that you need to be great at sniffing out, containing and then eliminating bad seeds, bad players more than worrying about them coming in. Don't you think it could save time, though, if you got them up front? I think net net you're saving time the other way because I think humans are inefficient. Yeah, you mean like by having an elongated process at the beginning, you're saying I'd rather spend my time working on the business. And also you have experience, so you have a gut instinct that you're now able to trust and that's built over experiences with both good and bad performers.

And I just really truly believe from a net net saving time that it actually is. actually is better to hire fast and fire fast versus higher slow. I just think people, people are kidding themselves. You know how many people hire slowly, but still are only batting 50 percent? Right. Yeah. I mean, it's huge. And I think that's, um, and that's real. And so I, especially if you're growing quickly, it's a no-brainer. If you're growing kind of averagely and just along the way, then it becomes, I think it becomes a very interesting debate. But when you're growing, there's, I actually think there's no debate on this. Yeah. So, Gary, recently, I've obviously read and read everything you write and I've watched what your videos. And you said

1% of the world knows who you are, but 99% of the world does not. And so I think a lot of the people listening obviously probably know you, but if there is a small percentage of the listeners here at the Learning Leader Show who haven't heard of you, I'd love to give you the floor here to give your little intro as to what you're all about and how you've gotten to this point. I'm a former Soviet Union immigrant that grew up in Edison, New Jersey, lemonade stands, baseball cards. My dad, you know, very much my entrepreneurial hero came to this country with no money, work as a stockboy, eventually bought a small liquor store in New Jersey,

built up a nice upper-middle-class life for us from nothing in a very short order. and I got involved in my dad's liquor store. I really kind of saw a different way to market. And so I launched one of the first e-com wine businesses called Wine Library back in 1996, built my dad's business from a three to a $65 million a year wine business. And then YouTube came along. I started doing wine shows on YouTube because I thought YouTube was going to be big.

I was right. I got bigger. I started using Twitter. I got bigger. I was one of the 25 most followed people on Twitter before Ashton Coucher and real celebrities came back in 2007 and 08. and then I got tired of being right about the future and not making enough money based on that skill.

I sure I was selling more wine, but Google, I was right. It sells for $2 billion. And so I say the next time I see something that I think is going to be big, I'm going to invest. That was Twitter, then that was Tumblr, and then that was Facebook. And the first three things I put money into

were those three companies. In 2009, I started Vayner Media, which is before mentioned agency, social digital agency. That is one of the fastest growing agencies in advertising history. I'm very proud of that business. I'm actively running that now.

I do a podcast and video show called Ask Gary Vee that you're referring to, and I enjoy being out there and answering people's questions. And I have a $25 million seed fund called Vayner RSC that is investing in startups to continue that. And I have three New York Times bestselling books. I do a lot of public speaking. I'm just an all and all kind of entrepreneurial hustler. I know you have videos of what the typical day of your life is like, and it's, it's

It's incredible. I'm curious as to, do you have to step back and take moments to where you say, you know, like, am I going to slow down? Or how do you, I guess the thing I'm curious about is how do you prioritize your time? What do you say this is because, I mean, there's so many things that you could be doing. And you obviously have to make decisions on a daily basis as to what's most important. How do you do that? It's a great question. So it's something I struggle with.

I'm very, you know, big eyes. big belief in myself, maybe too much self-esteem at time and think I can do everything. I accomplish a lot of it through sheer will and intensity, you know, 45 different 10-minute meetings a day, 7 a.m. to midnight work schedule. It's hardcore. I don't know if I've done it great yet. I will tell you this. Right now, I've gotten really refined down to Bainer Media and the Fund and the show and public speaking. So the show in public speaking take up very little time. It's really Vayner Media and VaynerRSC.

How I decide what I do in that time is a little bit easier because I'm an operator. I kind of know where I need to be when and how. It's intuitive. It's kind of like a nose for the ball kind of thing. Sometimes I'm in the trenches doing very mundane stuff. Sometimes I'm flying to L.A. for one breakfast meeting that I know will solidify my biggest client's relationship. So I play it by ear and I let the chips fall where they can because I have 20 years of success on my back at this point.

And so that advice might not work for everybody, but it's about self-awareness. I'm not to type A calculate everything, run the math of what's the best ROI of my time. I've got assistance. I've got an, excuse me, I've got unassistent. I've got people around me that are conscious that my time is a very valuable asset. and my brother and some of my senior people will sometimes say, do you really want to do that and try to, they try to keep me in check,

but ultimately my intuition is the driving North Star. I got you. So you mentioned earlier, your work for your dad's business, and you grew that from $3 million to $65 million. And I'm curious about a couple things. Two-part question. One, what's the best takeaways you learned from your dad?

And two, how do you plan or how do you currently teach that to your children? Great question. So the best thing I learned from my dad and I are very different actually, but he taught me word is bond. You know, when I just got to an age where I was allowed to buy wine for the store, he looked me dead in the face. My dad's a scary old Russian dude. Looked me dead in the face and said, if you say you bought it, you bought it, right? No, I don't want to hear anybody say that you reneged, that you are lally gagging. If somebody, you taste a wine, or if you say you're to take 10 cases, if you change your mind as it came out of your mouth, too late,

you'll, you have to drink it. So he really, you know, when you're as good of a marketer and persuasive and charismatic as I was gifted, I don't take any pride in this. It was just natural DNA. You tend to grow up pretty full of shit, right? And so, you know, I had a lot, you know, I don't want to say I had a lot of bullshit,

but I would do anything for the sale. I would do anything that I needed to accomplish what I wanted. My dad at 14, 15, 16, 17 started changing the course of my life by really, really imposing the importance of your word and the honorable thing. And it really mellowed me out, rounded me out, maybe is a better way, not mellow, rounded me out. And it's been the foundation of who I am. Because, Ryan, I'm sure you know, like, as somebody who follows my stuff and you've talked, like, I'm a lot. I'm an intense dude. I'm very, very, very confident, which, aka.

some people can't handle when they first consume me, but being a good dude and being the right kind of guy and being a paradox and not being the cliche full of crap marketing skis thing has really allowed me to ascend to a higher level. And that's what he's taught me. My kids are six and three. So they're still very young. But in a lot of ways, what I take away and what's going to happen is I'm going to impose

for them to be good human beings. that's what matters. And whatever they're, not shortcomings, but maybe where they need to be rounded out, I'll be focusing on trying to help them with that. Will you want them to work with you? I'm not passionate about that. I'll take it. I mean, I really enjoy working with my younger brother who's 11 years younger than me,

and that's been a blessing. And, you know, when you're 11 years older, you have a different relationship. So I definitely feel like I've got, I've scratched that itch of being a mentor to a family member. I'd be thrilled. I mean, I'd be pumped, but I have very little interest in them being intimidated or forced into working with me. And that's something, which is an absolute line and sand for me. I need them to be very comfortable with who they are, do what they want. And I don't want to impose them into, you know, being a business person because their dad was.

Right. So you mentioned a little bit that you are obviously an extremely high energy guy in your, you're not afraid at all to give your opinion at all times. And I think that's a really admirable trait because a lot of people are to just have fear to do that. With that comes some would say a polarizing type of a personality. Anybody who's willing to put their opinion out there on a number of different topics is going to be polarizing. What's your viewpoint? How do you feel about that for the for people who there's obviously a ton of people who love you?

But for the ones who don't love you, what's your, What do you think about that? Well, the truth is I'm affected by it. I really like being liked. I'm stunningly, you know, for all my bravado in my public domain, as an operator, I'm very much more honey versus vinegar. I'm actually stunningly non-confrontational off of stage, off of when a camera's on me. But I'm very confident.

And what lets me get away with it and stay very happy is I know what my intent is. And I know that I stick to my lanes. I know I talk about things that I know, and I have confidence that I've been proven right historically time and time again, and I don't see that going away. I think that's in me. And so, you know, I'll pinging a picture, Ryan, an audience. I want to build the biggest building in town. I want to build the single biggest building in town. Let's call the world the town. Here's how I plan on doing it. By actually going out and building the biggest building. I think, a lot of people like me who want to build the biggest building in town go about it by going to all the other buildings around them and tearing them down. I believe that the way I want to do it ultimately gives me the air cover to do what I'm doing, if that makes sense. Yeah, I mean, it feels like you're out there, and this is part of, I think, building quality networks,

which is something we talk a lot about on this show here. And I'm curious about your thought process and your deliberate actions and strategy on building a quality network that ranges from, you know, all over the world, really. What's your, when you're thinking about your network, what is your thought process going into that and how you develop it? Well, I think, I think, you know, one's network is, it's interesting to think about how everybody defines their network. I think about my network as people that I'm actually doing or potentially can be doing business with. And then I think about it as people that are actually consuming my content and are fans or followers and are clearly potential business contacts, but maybe not of that moment. And then friends and family and acquaintances, it's really interesting.

I think about it in a lot of ways. I think about everything from a lifetime value standpoint. I think of everything as how do I have leverage with the end user, whether it's one-on-one or somebody else. And to me, the best way to do that is to provide value first, right? I always say, whoever asks for something first is in second place, you know? So I love paying forward first, right? I'm outrageously busy.

I have 9,000 fires right now. We've had some scheduling issues, you and I, because of me. I have absolutely no clue how big your audience is. But I promise you, no matter how many people listen to this show, I know intuitively, without a doubt, that the value exchange on my time of doing this versus how many quote unquote new opportunities I arise from it won't play out. But it won't play out for the next year. But it might four years from now, whether it's you, whether it's somebody who's listening right now, everybody knows when value is being provided. I do stuff like this because I want to have that leverage up front.

I know that you can arbitrage me being a guest to build up this thing that you're doing. And that makes me feel good because I'm taking the risk to pay forward because I like your tenacity of trying to make this happen, which I think is a trait to success. So I'm making that bet. And sometimes, Ryan, it works out and sometimes it doesn't. And sometimes it doesn't when it did work out. I've made bets on people and done things for people that then they go on to actually win to the level I've thought. But they don't have that payback trait. and that's okay too. I'm actually not crippled by that. I'm actually very lucky that I have very

little expectation of others in a good way. And so I think about networks very simply. How do I provide value first, then let the chips fall where they may? Yeah, I remember the very first cold email I sent to Gary and I was, you know, obviously asking, I thought I wrote something that was compelling and I remember, I'm sure you don't remember this because you have a million emails every day, but you wrote back. I'm not doing any podcast right now, but maybe you can convince me in the future. And that was all I needed. I'm going to tell you, man. That is all I needed to say that I was never, ever going to stop emailing you or calling

or doing whatever it took until we're doing this show. And you know what else, Ryan? And this is a shout out to you for your audience because you deserve it because this is how life works because you know I'm a straight shooter. I have no interest in saying this other than the truth. I do podcast. I do shows. I do stuff, my life is insanity.

Sometimes things pop up. I'm blown away when somebody's got a very small or up-and-coming thing where they're clearly using me to leverage their growth. And because of, you know, my daughter needs to get picked up or an important emergency caught up or technical difficulty like you had the other day where I couldn't sign into my Skype because they changed my password, I've been blown away by people on the other side when they get a curveball for me

because I'm not canceling outright. I'm rescheduling, where they get a little snarky and a little difficult, and I'm sitting there and saying, dude, chick, do you understand what's actually happening here? And I was really, like, excited about doing this today because I thought, you know, on a third issue for you and I last time, where there shouldn't have been an issue, as basic as my Skype was acting up, the level of grace you handled that with and the patience and the cadence, not only, like, this was an unmovable call today in a world. where something's going on right now that is probably the most legit reason to have canceled this of the two or three times I've had to cancel before. Wow, thank you. I appreciate that.

And I think that's a story, and the reason I want to tell that story is not to blow you up to your audience because they're already listening and they love you. It's to let everybody know that the truth is undefeated. Like, you want to build a real network, everybody's always watching, always, even when it seems nobody's watching ever.

Yeah. And I appreciate that. I realize, you know, things happen. And you know what, Gary, we always, you know, there's a few things that we have full, complete control over. And one of them is our attitude. You know, I can't control that your Skype didn't work. I can't control any of those things. But I can't control how I respond to that thing.

Was I disappointed? Of course, you know, like I'm a huge fan. If anything else, you know, Shane Snow told me the one of the best reasons to have a podcast is because you can reach out to her heroes and interview them and get it on tape. Like, there's nothing cooler than that. Does it help with the audience growth? Of course. But, I mean, but getting to just have this conversation and have it recorded forever is a really cool part.

So if something goes wrong, yeah, I'm upset. But hey, man, like you said, this is the long game. We're going to make this thing happen. We were going to do it just a matter of when. And so I'm not going to get upset or mad at you. I mean, you're going to your brother's wedding. You have Skype issues. You have kids.

You know, we all have those things going on. So I really do appreciate that. And that's why it's just excited to have you. So, you know, I know, I know you're busy. couple more questions. Yeah, I was just about to say, knowing I have six minutes, I would love to answer as much and bring as much value on closing here. So I can go very rapid fire.

Let's bang out a ton of stuff because I'm sure you've been thinking about different things you want to know. Okay. I'm curious. So about your energy level, again, man, how, what are the things specific? I want like actionable takeaways for the audience and for me to always be able to be that inspiring leader for your 500 employees on a daily basis, you're filming videos, you're doing podcast, everything, and it's like you bring it every single day. People really, I think, struggle

with that. I'm curious about, are there actual things to be able to do and have that type of energy and lead? I don't know if this is actionable, but I'm going to tell you why I do it. It's completely driven by gratitude. If you are able to, and I don't know if you got to meditate, if you got to get hypnotized, if this rant that I'm about to give is enough, if you were able to put your mind in a place where you realize in a second you could die or that the person, that my six-year-old daughter could get hit by a car, or my mom could die of a heart attack, if you truly realize that to be true, because it is, and you really contextualize those things versus the pressures of running a business or all the other things that come along with it,

if you're able to truly go there, and I'm there, and I don't know how to get you there, But if you actually spend your time to try to get your brain to really prioritize stuff and to really realize how, I mean, you're a human being. Like that alone, like, you know how pumped I am that I didn't, that I wasn't born an aunt? You know, like, you're a human being. You're, a lot of you who are listening, were born in America, which is an incredible place to be born. A lot of you were born a white male in America, which is straight lottery, like lottery of lotteries. and a lot of us are fortunate where we haven't had massive tragedy around the people we love the most. If you could actually go there, it's stunning how making a million dollars or losing your business completely,

how unbelievably secondary that gets to actually caring about the things you care about the most. That's awesome, man. And Ryan, I'm dead serious. I literally think tragic shit. I literally, like, if I'm really in a corner, like something bad, bad happens, we lose our biggest client and, might even force me to have to let some people go, which knock on what hasn't happened. I tried to hedge against that, but that would be the scariest thing for me. I would close my eyes and recognize that if, you know, that if my wife died with my kids in the car right now,

like, I mean, it's not even comparable. It's not even in the same universe. So I'm driven by the gratitude that I was not born in this country, but I ended up here, that I've had relative health and happiness in my friends and family, and that's what I go on. Yeah, and Gary, this show, you know, obviously it's about leadership. It's about constantly striving to improve, to get better, and to be thinking about that at all times, because I truly believe you either getting better or getting worse on a day-to-day basis, on a minute-to-minute basis. So when you think of that phrase, learning and leadership, and you think of a learning leader, someone who's constantly doing that, how would you, is there a person that pops in your mind or is there a definition? Something you could say when you hear that phrase.

This is going to blow you away as somebody who's more intimate to my stuff. For all my talking, the reason I think I'm a great leader, and I know I am, is because I'm unstoppable at listening. So it's not a person. It's a thing. If you're listening right now and you want to be great, you can say the most inspirational shit of all time. You could lead by example.

But if you're paying attention, listening, both to their actions, to their social media engagements to the things they say to you, I think I'm winning that game because I'm a listener. And I'm a listener packaged in a talker's body, but it's the listening that makes me a leader. Yeah, that's awesome. Are there people or underrated leaders out there? Maybe some guys that you follow, guys or girls that you follow that aren't getting the pub that you think should or who do you go to for advice? because you are leading so many people.

I'm curious about how you are constantly learning from mentors. This is a flaw of mine. It's going to come across either dickish or egotistical. It's, I just can't help it. It's the truth. I am stunningly not paying attention to others. I'm so in my own cocoon. It's serviced me so well to be undereducated that, you know, it seems so counterintuitive,

but it's just a truth. I mean, I don't think I bet. I want to make sure here. I've never read the biography of a business person. Like, yeah, I read the jobs book, but I mean, I feel like I'm the most opposite from him ever on the way we view people and leadership. Who is a leader that you would say you try to, is there one that you would say, I love that guy or I love that girl, I want to be like them or at least emulate some of their characteristics? My mom. Okay.

My mom reverse engineered three children and put them in the best position to succeed. I would say I'm a big fan of Bill Parcells. I think he's proven to me that he's won with different levels of talent. I think a lot of guys like Phil Jackson and other coaches get too much credit because they were surrounded by disproportionate talent. I'm always fascinated by Parcells's like four different teams all sucked, all got better. That to me is a system. That to me is a religion. You know, football is obviously one of the only few passions I have out.

It's really interesting. I don't do that. For every minute that I can be spending trying to be inspired or learning from another leader is a minute that I'm taking away from listening to somebody that I'm supposed to lead. And I feel like I've got that part down. And so that's it. I don't spend a lot of time on that. I don't have a great answer to that question.

No, I got you. It makes sense. And I know we're run up against the clock. So, Gary, seriously, man, I really, really appreciate that. Where can all of, like I said, that the percentage of people who don't know where to go, where should they go to find you? Facebook.com slash Gary, Gary VE on Instagram, and then searching in podcast land for Ask Gary Vee, a show that I'm enjoying to do. And obviously, the more people that watch, the more likely I'll keep doing it. So, Rai, I really appreciate you.

Thanks for having me. Yeah, man. It's awesome. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Gary. Talk to you. Bye-bye. Bye, man.

Bye. plenty more to keep you locked in until next time. Head over to learningleadershow.com for more information and to request your favorite entrepreneur, CEO, world class athlete, or anyone else that inspires you. You can also talk to Ryan directly by reaching out to him on Twitter at Ryan Hawk 12. Thanks again, and we'll see you next time on the Learning Leader Show.