Welcome to How Leaders Lead, where every week you get to listen in while I interview some of the very

best leaders in the world. I break down the key learning so that by the end of the episode,

you'll have something simple you can apply as you develop into a better leader. That's what

this podcast is all about. Well, my guest today is Eric Wood,

who is a former all-pro NFL center for the Buffalo Bills. Eric was in the prime of his career in

2017 when he was forced to retire due to a neck injury. Now, for a lot of people, that would have been an absolutely crushing blow.

And it obviously was a crushing blow for Eric. But as you'll hear today, Eric has navigated this

big life and career transition not by considering himself a victim, but instead he's chosen to

have an incredible positive mindset.

Now, let's be honest. Sometimes you talk to optimistic people and it's all just puppies and

rainbows, but Eric doesn't ignore the tough stuff. He just has a different perspective on it.

For him, things don't happen to us. They happen for us.

We can develop that kind of mindset, too, by creating positive habits of gratitude,

learning, and generosity. You're going to be so encouraged by this conversation,

especially if you're going through any kind of transition right now. So here's my

conversation with my good friend, and soon to be yours, Eric Wood.

I always like to start out at the beginning. Tell me about your upbringing. Yes, so I grew up in

Cincinnati, Ohio, working class family. My dad was in the moving business. My mom dealt cards at a

casino, and, you know, I was a Catholic school kid, learned a lot of discipline there, a lot of

lessons on hard work, worked through high school, played multiple sports. What was your first job?

Do you remember your first job? My first job was working construction for my uncle. My second one was cutting grass at a cemetery near my high school, which some of the ballplayers at Elder did. What was that like cutting grass at a cemetery? You had to have a lot of thoughts going through your head. For sure. And it was a lot of hard work. I mean, we cut grass and did odd jobs 40 hours a week. But, you know, we had a lot of laughs. We have so many stories. My wife to this day says when we get together with my old buddies, she'll say, not another cemetery story. I've heard these so many times. I'm like, what's your funniest cemetery story? Oh, it's terrible.

But we're putting a casket down into the ground.

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