154. A Hunger to Learn: Ryan Hawk, Author of ‘Welcome to Management’ and ‘The Pursuit of Excellence’ [reads] ‘The Wright Brothers’

Ryan Hawk reading from David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers, and discussing leaving people, places, and things better than you found them. 

Subscribe to the 2 Pages newsletter at https://2pageswithmbs.substack.com.

How do you navigate the big decisions in your life? There’s a maxim by Thomas Jefferson you might have heard: “In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.” It’s one of those quotes that I instinctively and immediately agree with, only for it to become slippery and elusive once I sit with it. The swimming or the standing isn’t hard, it’s knowing what’s style and what’s principle. What do you stay open to, and what do you stay firm about? 

Ryan Hawk is a fellow podcaster; the host of The Learning Leader Show with over 500 episodes in the can and still going strong. He’s a keynote speaker and the author of two books: Welcome to Management: How to Grow from Top Performer to Excellent Leader, and The Pursuit of Excellence: The Uncommon Behaviors of The World’s Most Productive Achievers. 

Ryan reads two pages from ‘The Wright Brothers’ by David McCollough. [reading begins at 17:00]  

Hear us discuss: 

• “Leadership is about leading yourself first before you can lead anybody else.” [4:19]
• Putting in the work to become more non-judgmental. [4:54] 
• Maintaining a healthy view of failure and success. [21:19]
• “You’ve got to get through the bad ideas to get to the good ones.” [36:06]
• How to find your learning edge. [36:51] 
• “My ultimate favorite thing is having a deep, long-form conversation with a person wiser than me.” [39:57] 
• What distracts you from being yourself? [43:23] 
• The value of consistency. [46:48]

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Google Podcasts | Spotify | Stitcher 

Resources:

Ryan Hawk | Website | Twitter | Welcome to Management | The Pursuit of Excellence

David McCullough | The Wright Brothers

Recommended Episodes

#88: The Search for Purpose with Arthur Brooks

#111: Weighing the Price of Ambition with Shellye Archambeau