615: Brad Thor - The Art & Science of Storytelling, Creating Surprise, Billions, Ray Donavon, & The Willingness (& Ability) To Break The Rules

The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk

Ryan Hawk

Careers, Management, Business

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 30 December 2024

⏱️ 63 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Go to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes and all episodes of The Learning Leader Show

Notes:

Brad Thor best selling author of 22 thrillers...

Excellence as a leader… What has Brad seen from the military leaders he’s studied: Empathy - Understand what it’s like from their perspective. LISTEN - Care for your people. Actually LISTEN to them and be there. Creativity. Innovate, and think of new creative ways to solve problems.
Effective storytelling - Don’t start with the weather. Leave out the parts people skip. Don’t be boring. This same advice is useful for leaders when communicating with your team. Put yourself in their shoes. How can you most effectively share your message without being boring. The more entertaining it is, the more likely they’ll remember it.
- Effective storytellers - Plotters (outlines, Dan Brown), Pantsers (write by the seat of your pants). Brad is a pantser.
- Take the first 4 ideas and throw them out. You need the element of surprise. Create surprise.
- Be comfortable breaking the rules.
- Loves Ray Donavon and Billions for the element of surprise
- "No joy in the writer, no joy in the reader."
- "No surprise in the writer, no surprise in the reader."
Brad has served as a member of the Department of Homeland Security’s Analytic Red Cell Unit.
Excellence as a leader (McChrystal) - Empathy, Listen, Creativity.
PBL - Problem-Based Learning. John Bettis (country singer). How do you recharge your battery? International travel. Immerse yourself in another culture.
Loves politics. Ran for President.
Advice for writers – “Gotta Keep Writing” Mary Higgins Clark did it for 2 hours each morning before her family woke up. Whatever it is we want to be great at, we have to get the reps. Consistency beats intensity.

00:53 The Art of Storytelling

04:13 Elements of Effective Storytelling

08:26 The Importance of Surprise in Storytelling

11:33 Writing Process and Challenges

20:43 Research and Realism in Writing

27:04 Leadership Lessons from Writing

30:59 The Importance of Open-Mindedness

32:01 Pre-Publishing Feedback Process

35:09 Homeland Security and the Red Cell Unit

39:05 Maintaining Creative Energy

42:38 Political Ambitions and Leadership

50:57 Advice for Aspiring Writers

54:36 The Benefits of Reading Fiction for Leaders

56:43 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	The mind's like a parachute. It has to be open to work.
0:03.0	And if people are going to come to you because they want to make you better and they want to offer you advice,
0:08.0	this is where the listening comes in.
0:09.0	I always think it's a good thing for a leader.
0:11.0	Don't assume you know what's motivating the other person.
0:15.0	Keep your mind open, keep your ears open.
0:17.0	And what's amazing is those customers, the ones you depend on, they are the
0:21.7	reason you're in business. The customers will tell you what they want more of, and sometimes
0:25.7	they'll tell you what they want less up. And that's like striking gold. This episode is
0:30.6	brought to you by Insight Global. I love the leadership team and the people at Insight Global.
0:36.8	Insight Global is a staffing and professional services company dedicated to being the light
0:42.3	to the world around them.
0:44.2	If you need to hire one person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through
0:49.1	talent or technical services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle
0:56.8	and grit to deliver.
0:59.1	Hiring can be tough, but hiring the right person can be magic.
1:04.2	Visit Insightglobal.com slash learning leader today to learn more.
1:08.8	That's Insightglobal.com slash learning leader.
1:15.3	Welcome to the Learning Leader show presented by Insight Global. I am your host, Ryan Hawk. Thank you so much for being
1:25.3	here. Text Hawk to 666866 to become part of Mindful Monday.
1:31.2	You, along with tens of thousands of other learning leaders from all over the world, will receive
1:35.4	a carefully curated email for me each Monday morning to help you start your week off.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ryan Hawk, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Ryan Hawk and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.