For: the ambitious person figuring out how to lead, grow, and intentionally build a fulfilling life - one step up at time. From: someone on the journey too. Released every Thursday at 4:30pm CST.
π£ Step 30: Do Something That Humbles You
π£ Step 30: Do Something That Humbles YouLast Saturday I ran the Crescent City Classic 10K in New Orleans. ~20,000 runners, a beautiful race course, and I was out there with a ton of friends. It was a phenomenal experience! And also the worst running performance I've ever had. Ever. (I had multiple 13+ minute miles) Needless to say, it was humbling. I reflected on that experience. That specific experience, but also my entire experience so far with running. It's been fun, but man, it's been equally as humbling. No matter how good I am in all other areas of my life, it does not matter in running. Being a good public speaker doesn't change my conditioning. Being an experienced marketer doesn't change my pace. Being a strong relationship builder doesn't change my running economy. Running humbles me. Do something that humbles you. I've noticed a pattern in some of the world's greatest leaders and those I most admire. They all have hobbies, side passions, or things that they aren't the best at. Things that they care about and put energy into but aren't experts at. Things that humble them. Carpentry. Learning a new language. Gardening. Writing and reading. Running. Volunteering. Cutting the grass. Travel. Painting. Singing. Playing an instrument. I've also noticed a pattern in some of the world's worst leaders and those leaders I don't admire. Ego. Narcissism. Know-it-all. "My way or the highway." And funny enough, I usually don't see those people doing the kinds of things I listed above. Doing something that humbles you grounds you in humanity - in the lived experience. It protects you from two threats to your character and leadership:
Humility in leadership is critical. Humility as a human being is even more critical. Do something that humbles you. Sincerely, the guy who placed 876 of 1,178 in his age group. See you next Thursday, Steppers. We will succeed, Grayson βgraysonstepanek.comβ Song of the Week:
Randomly found this song last week as the audio track for a early 2000s male childhood montage and got hooked. Yes, that's my algorithm - seems pretty apt to me! This band looks pretty new, so I'm excited to see if they follow this up with anything substantial. A great modern rock song with a catchy hook and head-bobbing guitar and drum instrumentation. |
β
Grayson Stepanek
For: the ambitious person figuring out how to lead, grow, and intentionally build a fulfilling life - one step up at time. From: someone on the journey too. Released every Thursday at 4:30pm CST.
π£ Step 39: Who Knows You? At last week's social, I asked some new 705ers why they joined. Both mentioned gaining new business (they work in sales-type positions), but they also mentioned expanding their general network. My first piece of advice pertained to value: what value can you bring to others? That others-focused mentality. Give more than you take (I could talk about that endlessly). My second piece of advice (and the focus of today's newsletter) was reframing networking to this: "It's...
π£ Step 38: Get In Luck's Way Yesterday was my two year anniversary at Goodwill Acadiana, and I was reflecting on my journey so far. I've gotten lucky. To have a Director position at 24 straight out of grad school is wild. To know so many well-respected community leaders, have developed so many skills, and had amazing opportunities both personally and professionally. I'm very grateful. Yeah, I worked hard, but I was also lucky. And those two actually go hand in hand. How so? Let's talk about...
π£ Step 37: Turning Juice into Sauce A wise BestBuy worker once said: "Juice is temporary. Anyone can obtain the juice... but the sauce - the sauce is forever" Shoutout bro. An absolute gem of a video, and he's 1,000% right. Now how you do use this knowledge to your advantage? We're going to replace juice and sauce with some more "universal" terms - hype and loyalty. And we're going to talk personal branding and how you can turn hype into loyalty. Turning juice into sauce. Hype = short-term...