This transcript has been lightly edited by AI
Sean: It's terrific advice. So this is where I'll tell people to pause the podcast, go send that message and come back and send a tweet to both Scott and I and say how it went. We'll see how that goes.
So what inspired you to write a book, be where your feet are?
Scott: You know, Sean, I spend my days these days, I just turned 50 last year and I spend my days thinking about where do I want to make my mark? What is my why all about? Why am I popping out of bed so fast in the morning?
And the answer is pretty clearly, I think that I want to play a role in helping to develop this next generation of great leaders in this business. And to do that, I have a wonderful platform to do it. I leveraged this opportunity with a book because this is a raw unadulterated look behind the curtains.
This is not a pat yourself on the back, but this is, Hey, I got fired. Hey, I lost my job. Hey, my best friend took his home life. Hey, I'm really struggling with my daughter. Hey, I need to do a better job of my wife connecting. Like this is all, this is a journey of life because that line between work and home and home and work is essentially gone now.
And so this is hopefully a toolbox and a toolkit for those listening, to live a more purposeful driven life. And if I can play a role in just one person's life, I'll consider this a success.
Sean: Terrific. One of those things, the toolbox you talk about is the leadership constitution. It's one of the tools you talk about.
What is it? And how did it develop? How did you get to that point of leadership constitution?
Scott: I was in my brother Michael runs a healthcare tech company in Washington, DC. And I was in his office and I saw it behind his desk and I was like, what the heck is this?
And he said, Hey, you have to call my coach, Rich Hill of Gabriel Consulting out of Chicago, Illinois. Which I did, I had them come in. And a leadership constitution is, it answers two core questions. I declare that I am, dot dot dot, and you can count on me to be, dot dot dot. And you have to write yours.
Mine is, you know, I don't have it in front of me, but I can tell you it's, you know, I'm a leader of leaders. I'll give the shirt off my back to a perfect stranger, and anything anytime to a friend. I will push you, nudge you, love you, even when you don't want to be pushed, don't want to be loved, and don't want to be hugged.
I raise the bar to an unreasonable level, and I will work with you, I will dig in with you, and I will take hits for losses and give credit for wins. That's effectively what I'm declaring who I am. I read that every morning. You know what it does? It just reinforces to my core self, of who, my core commitments to myself and to the world, and puts some good kind of subconscious energy into your mind.
And while I'd advocate everybody take the time and write their leadership constitution. If you want to cheat it, write down 15 things you want to be in the world, you know, not who you aspire to be, but who you are at your core and read them out loud. And I know it's uncomfortable reading stuff out loud.
You feel kind of awkward, but I will tell you, man, the way the brain works is you say something and it goes into your subconscious and helps your brain think. And we have, you know, why not Sean? Why not you? Why not me? Like I've seen and read about some of the greats of all time in the world. And I always think to, when I talk to young people, I say, why not you?
You're smart. You'll work hard. You know, the only thing you're missing is a big dream and the discipline to create a plan and go get it. And I think for all of us, it starts with like figuring out who we are, who we are at our best self. And that's what a leadership constitution provides.
Sean: And it gives you that tool to work on leadership like a muscle.
It's not read a book, write it down and I'm good. It's a daily task of living it and understanding it. That's the key piece for you. That's right. Yes. It's that reinforcement, the repetition and reinforcement.
