The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Episode #281: George Raveling - Eight Decades Of Wisdom: From Dr. Martin Luther King To Michael Jordan

Show Notes:

• Commonalities of sustaining excellence:
  • Growth mindset
  • Immense curiosity
  • High level of self awareness -- "It starts within"
  • Great vision
  • Most important = "they execute"
• Relationship lessons learned over eight decades - "Be a giver, not a taker. Try to genuinely help people."
  • Develop trust, respect, and care for others -- "It's all about love.  Don't keep score.  Do the right thing, be kind, but don't keep score or trade favors.  That's not how it works."
• Standing next to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr for the "I Have A Dream" speech
  • Asking Dr. King for the speech after he finished (and getting it... still has it!)
  • Why he won't sell of try to profit from the speech despite it being worth millions
  • The power of "showing up early" and "asking for what you want"
• Why Coach reads so much -- "The slave owners used to hide money in books because they knew slaves would never look in the books because they couldn't read." -- "If someone can control my mind, they can control my body.  I will not let that happen.  Books are my mistress."
• Information = knowledge = wisdom = opportunity = growth = success
• The importance of his upbringing - His dad died when he was 9, his mom was institutionalized when he was 13. He was raised by his grandmother and nuns.
  • "My grandmother taught me to be curious.  She taught me to ask.  She taught me good manners.  She taught me humility. She taught me to help people.  She was the #metoo movement before the #metoo movement"
• How basketball was the "greatest vehicle for transformation in my life."
  • Earned scholarship to Villanova -- When George was first offered a scholarship, he didn't know what that meant.
  • Going from player to coach and why he was suited to be a great coach
  • Becoming the first African American head coach of the Pac 8 (Pac 12)
• The mindset of thinking of yourself as an educator/teacher
• George is a voracious reader and marks up each and every page of the books he likes (I saw first hand and it's amazing)
• The importance for older people to have 4-5 younger mentors in their life.  Ryan Holiday plays this role for Coach.
• The importance of self leadership - "You must take care of yourself before trying to lead others"
• Working at Nike for Phil Knight -- Helping sign Michael Jordan away from Adidas
• Focus on being a great decision maker and seeking out growth opportunities
• Why you don't need a title to be an effective leader
• In order to be promoted, focus on being incredibly great at what you're doing right now
  • "Be so good they can't ignore you."
• The 10 realities of life Coach Raveling values most at age 81
• Pushing Coach to write a book about living a great life -- Tweet him to do this!
• Why joining The Learning Leader Circle is a good idea
• Use the "Get To Know You Document"