The Ryan Leak Podcast - Make a Difference or Make an Impression

Episode Date: March 9, 2026

Early in my career, I was obsessed with making an impression. The right outfit. The right look. The right perception. But after a couple of hilarious wardrobe mistakes during my first opportunity working with an NBA team, I learned a much more important lesson. In this episode, we talk about the difference between making an impression and making a difference, and why the value you bring to a room matters far more than how you show up dressed for it.

What's going on, my friends? Welcome back to the Ryan League podcast where we love to keep things short and sweet for you every single week. I got an episode for you today that I truly believe is going to add tremendous value to your life. I want to talk to you today about this idea of first impressions are everything. And I question that statement because what it does is, it puts a lot of pressure on all of us to make a good first impression. And then what that leads to is this idea of, I need to walk into certain rooms and impress other people. And early on in my career, I definitely fell for that trap a lot. I remember the very first time I was given an opportunity to work with the executive side, of an NBA team. A woman that works for one of the teams heard me speak at her church

and she said, hey, I believe that you could add value to our leaders. Would you come and meet with the CEO on Monday? And so I certainly did that. And then I began thinking, man, how do I make a good impression? You know, and the first thing you think about is what am I going to wear, right?

You don't want to be overdressed. You definitely don't want to be underdress. and you're just thinking like, man, it's the NBA. Like the product here is basketball, right? And so I'm just thinking to myself, let's play it safe with a nice, clean, crisp button up, some jeans, some nice shoes. Call it a day. I show up to the facility, and everybody is suited and booted. And I went, oh my gosh, I was so mad at myself.

I said, Ryan, how did you miss? Come on, I certainly thought that this would be more of a casual environment, but it certainly was not. No, no, no. These people meant business. And so I meet with a couple of the leaders, and, you know, we chit-chat about possibilities on leadership trainings and modules and so on and so forth. They said, Ryan, come back on Friday with a proposal.

I said, all right, no problem. I am not going to miss twice. My friends, I went back to the house. One, I prepped this proposal for three days straight. I don't even remember sleeping, to be honest. I came back that Friday, suited and booted, locked and loaded and ready to go. And when I walked in that building, it was casual Friday. I said, you got to be kidding me. Are you serious right now? Like, I can't get it together. I left that meeting, which was a fine meeting, we had a great time. I was completely overdressed on Friday. I was completely underdressed on Monday. I then that afternoon had a speaking engagement for a real estate conference, and I showed up in my suit that I was wearing from my MBA meeting. And when I got there, the president said,

you're not wearing a suit to speak, are you? Because if you are, these people won't. listen to a word you have to say. I said, oh, me? No, no, no, no. This was just what I was wearing, you know, today, you know, just from another meeting. I had just come from another meeting and now today I'm, I'm just, I'm going to go, I'm going to go change, you know, and I'm just thinking, Ryan, get it together. And I just, I felt like internally my identity, my confidence, was based on what other people thought of me. If other people thought I was looking the part,

sounding the part, dressing the part. But somewhere along the way, something shifted. And the shift for me was I stopped worrying about making an impression and I started focusing on making a difference. You see, making an impression asked the question, how do I look? But making a difference asked the question, how can I help? Making an impression is about perception, but making a difference, well, that's all about contribution. These days, I like suits.

Yeah, I really like a good. crisp suit. But I also like sweatpants. And I recently have joined the golf community. And the golf gear is insane now. I'm out of control. Y'all, I am absolutely out of control. But I like a good polo now. I like dress shoes. I like Jordans. But here's the deal. Here's what I have discovered over time is that I can add value to people's lives regardless of what I am wearing. The real question, isn't what you wear into a room, the real question is what you bring into a room, your ideas, your encouragement, your perspective, your willingness to listen, your ability to help people move forward. That's what you can really bring in the room.

we should never be more worried about what we're going to wear to a meeting more than what we're going to bring to a meeting because the truth is people might remember your outfit for about five minutes but they will remember how you help them for years to come so the next time that you walk into a meeting a conversation maybe even a family dinner don't just ask yourself how you're going to show up. Ask yourself, what difference are you going to make? What problem can you help solve? Who in that room needs some encouragement? Who needs some clarity? Who need somebody in their corner to believe in them? If you focus on making an impression, well, yes, the attention might land on you. but if you focus on making a difference, the impact lands on everyone else.

And that's the kind of room worth walking into. My friends, thank you so much for taking time out of your day to listen to the Ryan League podcast. If today's episode added value to your life, I would encourage you to share it with a friend. And as always, if you haven't already, please leave a comment. rate this podcast and please don't forget to subscribe. I also send out an encouraging text to people each and every week if you would like to subscribe to those text messages. You can text the word podcast to 469-809-1201 and each and every week you'll start getting text messages for me that have

YouTube links, podcast links that just keep you motivated and inspired. My friends, Can't wait for you to hear next week's episode. Until then, have a phenomenal week.