3 More Questions (Dr. Michael Gervais) with David Novak and Koula Callahan

0:04David Novak:It's Monday morning, everybody, and that means we've got another episode of three more questions coming your way. Welcome to How Leaders Lead. I'm Koula Callahan here with David Novak. We're diving into this edition of three more questions. David, we're debriefing the conversation you had with Dr. Michael Gervais. He's a high performance psychologist and founder of Finding Mastery. And I love this episode because it's so heady and it's so psychological. And I just freaking love it. love this stuff. I love it too. You know, obviously Michael is one of the best in the world at really mastering performance and helping people doing it on the mental side of the equations.

0:41And, you know, one of the things that I think he really likes to do is build people up, make them feel good about what they're capable of doing. And so cool. I'm going to start by saying yesterday I was talking to somebody and he said, you know, who's that lady that does your three more questions. And I said, well, it's cool with Callahan. And he said, well, she is really good. She has such a nice style about her and you guys seem to have a good rapport. And I said, well, the rapport is there, but it is because of her style. And it's also because of her homework and the way she thinks about what questions she ought to ask me.

1:16And so I just thought I'd pass that on and give you a little pat on the back today.

1:22David Novak:Thank you so much, David. I really appreciate that. I'm feeling really pumped up and confident going into today's questions. And you better get ready because we're going to be philosophizing in this edition of three more questions. So I need you to dig deep. I need you to dig deep. All right. All right. I'm not very good at philosophy. Yes, you are. Well, you're about to be if you aren't right now. So let's get going.

1:48David Novak:Question number one. David, you ask every leader who comes on the show with their one piece of advice to leaders is. And Michael's answer to that question really stuck with me because it's pretty different than anyone I've heard before. His advice is this, everything you need is already inside you. Do you agree with that? I really believe there's a lot of truth to what he says there, because if you're a leader, you've got some skills. You've already demonstrated that you've had the capability to take people with you and can get things done. And I think what you have inside of you is the capacity to learn.

2:26And if you can learn, you can grow. And I think that's what everyone needs to realize is that nothing's going to stop you from learning what you need to grow to take your own performance to the next level and take your business to the next level or to perform at a higher level in sport. But the real question is, is are you going to be able to identify what those traits are that you're going to have to get better at? And then are you going to really take the action that it takes to really make progress on the things that need to get done. And when you can do that, you're on your way. So yeah, I think you have what you need inside of you.

3:02The real question is, are you going to apply it?

3:04David Novak:Yeah, that's so good. He also mentions in the episode, and I love this, he says the most high-performing people go from know-it-all to learn-it-all. And so I think that there's also this humility piece of that statement, everything you need is already inside you. If you can shift from I know everything to I can learn everything, that's a significant unlock in terms of performance and what you're able to achieve. Well, one of the highest performing companies in the world right now is Microsoft. And their CEO espouses that philosophy from the rooftops. And I think it's particularly important when you are on top.

3:40I mean, and Microsoft is on top, but they have the mentality that they don't know it all. They got to keep learning it all. And I think that's how you drive strong performance.

3:50David Novak:Question number two. Michael is a performance psychologist for many of the top athletes in the world, and he prioritizes mental skills training as part of helping them become their best. He also urges business leaders to do the same, to incorporate mental skills training into the rhythm of their day-to-day. David, how should leaders go about doing this? Well, I think leaders should think about what it is that they want to project every single day. What is the mindset that they want to demonstrate to their organization? And then they need to put process and discipline around it like they do everything else in business.

4:28You'll do that in terms of looking at a P &L or profit margins. But a lot of times, people don't look at their mental capacity in that same way. Like for me, one of the things that I always wanted to do is to be present. So I had on my desk, I had this little placard that says, be here now. That means no matter what I'm doing, when I'm doing it, make sure I'm focused on what's right in front of me now. I'm not thinking about the past. I'm not thinking about the future. I'm really focused on being present with the person or the task at hand. The other thing that I really believe is important is what kind of mood are you going to bring to work?

5:07That's why I always try to think about where I was on the mood elevator. I tried to lift myself up before I went to work. And the way I did that is I worked out every day and I did gratitudes every day before I went to the office because I realized that, you know, when I walked in that door, I had to walk in with energy. You know, I also wanted to demonstrate accountability as a mindset. So I didn't really have a lot of time for excuses for myself. And I certainly didn't have a lot of time to listen from excuses for somebody else. So I had this sort of get on with it mindset that I hopefully projected that people knew that they really needed to take accountability for whatever they're working on because I did and I expected them to as well.

5:50And I think that's very important because every leader casts a shadow. So you have to have this mindset that you cast a shadow. People are going to do what the leader does. So you need to think about the mindset and the attitudes and the perceptions that you want to drive so that when you're doing that, the rest of the organization will do that well. And, you know, one other mindset that I really try to think about every single day was being a learner, being a, not just an avid learner in trying to learn something, you know, that's always good, but being an active learner, you know, really putting things to use.

6:24And I would always say in every meeting that I'd be in, well, who can we learn from on this topic? I mean, who are you checking out that may know more about this than you do? And I certainly would ask myself that whenever I was taking on a big strategic initiative. I'd say, who can I learn from to get the know-how that I needed to really take the organization where it needed to go? So those just off the top, those are five things. that there's sort of mindset tools or methods that I had, but I thought about it and then I executed it.

6:57David Novak:You're so right about leaders casting the shadow. And I love what you said, David, about the mood elevator. We've talked about that many times on this show, but there was one quote from the episode that I loved that Michael said. Well, there are many quotes, but this one stood out to me. He says, optimism is ground zero of mental toughness. I feel like mood is something that's a little bit nebulous and feels personal. and it's just something that people can walk into the office in a bad mood and not really think that other people pick up on it. But other people pick up on it. And if you can walk into a room or to a meeting or to your office and you are just oozing optimism and positivity, not only does it make a difference in the morale of your team, but it actually encourages other people to take on those challenges with more grit and determination than if you were to walk in and be in a bad mood.

7:47Absolutely. I mean, I've always said this, positive energy lifts people up, negative energy brings people down. You don't really follow people that are negative too far.

7:57David Novak:Question number three. I love the way that Michael explains confidence as a math equation. He says confidence is an assessment of the challenge in front of you and your perception of your internal skills. And I really like that framework for confidence. David, I'm curious, what other methods or frameworks have you found to be helpful in building confidence as a leader? Well, I think, first of all, confidence has to be rooted in confidence. So you got to improve your skills. You got to make sure you have the skills it takes to really get done what needs to get done. And then, you know, one thing that I know that golfers do that I love is they recognize their wins.

8:36You know, so like for every club that they pull out of their bag, if you pull out a driver, for example, they remember the best drive that they ever hit, which shows them that they have the capacity to hit that drive. And all they have to do is do it again. The same could be for a nine iron or a seven iron. And, you know, remember that shot that you hit and that'll give you the confidence that you can hit it again. So so kind of do a catalog of your wins, you know, write them down, write them down, look at them. And those will give you some real confidence going forward. And then I think there's nothing like having a coach to make you confident.

9:12I always felt like great coaches let you know that they believe in you. They build you up. They give you this sense that you've got all this potential. Now, my father used to tell me I had potential, but he also reminded me that potential means that you haven't done it yet. OK, but you know that you got that potential within you to go out and get it done.

9:31David Novak:David, you've also mentioned before how important it is to get results and to have those quick wins. There's nothing more confidence boosting than seeing the work you've done that has led to results. Yeah. Well, that's what I was kind of talking about with the golf analogy is everybody needs to develop their own personal highlight reel. And then if you're working on a project that's really challenging, you know, celebrate the first downs along the way. And that'll give people confidence that you'll ultimately get the touchdown. And, you know, I think that kind of energy always, always works. It's so true, David.

10:07David Novak:If you haven't listened to the full episode with Dr. Michael Trevay, I highly recommend it, as I highly recommend all of our episodes. This one is a little bit different, David. You framed it almost like a coaching session. So if you're looking for a little bit of a boost in the self-esteem and confidence department, definitely give this show a listen. Dr. Michael Gervais is just, he's so brilliant. His story is fascinating, and I think it'll really help you feel better as you take on whatever challenge that faces you next. You know, that's exactly right, Kula. I I call it a coaching session, you know, listen to this podcast and get coached or come up with some ideas that you can use to coach others.

10:50David Novak:Well, David, that does it for our episode of three more questions for today. Thank you so much for tuning in to How Leaders Lead. We're on a mission to make the world a better place by developing better leaders. And if you carve out a little time with us each and every week, we'll help you build the confidence you need to lead well. And coming up next on How Leaders Lead is my conversation with Peter Cuneo, former CEO and vice chairman of Marvel Entertainment.