Jon Gordon Reveals The Mindset Shift That Builds Winning Teams

Is Your Team Truly Committed—Or Just Chasing Goals? What separates teams that succeed from those that just survive? It’s not talent. It’s not resources. It’s commitment. This week, I sit down with my great friend Jon Gordon, and we got real about what it takes to build a team that doesn't just perform, but thrives under pressure. Jon’s new book, The Seven Commitments of a Great Team, is more than theory—it’s the roadmap every leader, entrepreneur, and family builder needs. We talked about why goals aren’t enough. Everybody’s got goals. But not everybody is committed. Jon broke it down beautifully—commitment is about action. It’s about the daily disciplines that align with your vision. Want to make a million dollars this year? That won’t happen without commitments to how you show up, how you serve, and how you lead your team. “Commitment is going to cost you something,” Jon said. “You have to ask yourself—what are you willing to give, and what are you willing to give up?” One of the biggest takeaways? The power of connection and love on a team. That might sound soft, but it’s not. Love is what makes great teams fight for each other. It’s what transforms a locker room, a boardroom, or a household. “You’ll never have commitment without connection,” Jon said—and he’s right. If your team’s not committed to each other, they won’t be committed to the mission. And when adversity hits, that’s when the cracks show. We also touched on something every leader needs to hear: emotional fatigue. Carrying the weight of your business, your team, your family—it gets heavy. If you lose your why, you lose your fire. “The crime isn’t that the passion ran out—it’s that you stayed around after it did,” Jon shared. That line stopped me in my tracks. Leaders, you’ve got to reignite your mission or risk slowly fading out. Key Takeaways: The difference between having goals and living with commitment Why devotion—not discipline—creates lasting change How prayer and purposeful rituals can unlock creative breakthroughs The role of connection and love in high-performance teams How to lead through adversity without losing your energy or edge This one hit home for me on a personal level, and I know it will for you too. Go grab The Seven Commitments of a Great Team. It's a game-changer. MAX OUT. 👉 SUBSCRIBE TO ED'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL NOW 👈 → → → CONNECT WITH ED MYLETT ON SOCIAL MEDIA: ← ← ← ➡️ INSTAGRAM ➡️FACEBOOK ➡️ LINKEDIN ➡️ X ➡️ WEBSITE Get my exclusive Monday Motivation training in GrowthDay, the world’s #1 app for advanced mindset and personal development. Visit https://growthday.com/ed. This show is sponsored by GrowthDay. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Ed Mylett?

  So hey guys, listen, we're all trying to get more productive and the question is, how do you find a way to get an edge? I'm a big believer that if you're getting mentoring or you're in an environment that causes growth, a growth-based environment, that you're much more likely to grow and you're going to grow faster. And that's why I love Growth Day. Growth Day is an app that my friend Brendan Burchard has created that I'm a big fan of. Write this down, growthday.com/ed. So if you want to be more productive, by the way, he's asked me, I post videos in there every single Monday that gets your day off to the right start. He's got about $5,000, $10,000 worth of courses that are in there that come with the app. Also, some of the top influencers in the world are all posting content in there on a regular basis, like having the Avengers of personal development and business in one app. And I'm honored that he asked me to be a part of it as well and contribute on a weekly basis, and I do.

• 0:45Ed Mylett?

  So go over there and get signed up. You're going to get a free, tuition-free voucher to go to an event with Brendan and myself and a bunch of other influencers as well. So you get a free event out of it also. So go to growthday.com/ed. That's growthday.com/ed. I hear so many small business owners say the exact same thing. They just never have enough time in the day. Well, I measure time differently. I've compressed, condensed, heck, I've bent time. My first day is 6:00 a.m. to noon. My second day starts at noon and goes till 6:00 p.m. And my third day, 6:00 p.m. to midnight. I now get 21 days a week. Stack that up over a month, over a year, over five years, and my life's completely different than it would have been otherwise. And if you want to win as an entrepreneur, you have to compress your time too.

• 1:30Ed Mylett?

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• 2:04Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends. Like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com slash superior access to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 2:38Speaker 02

  This is the Ed Mylett Show.

• 2:43Ed Mylett?

  All right, welcome back to the show, everybody. So today is, you know, one of my favorite days of the year because I get to spend this time with all of you and with one of my best friends in the world. He's the author of 30 prolific books and I just got to tell you everywhere I go, people ask me, do you know Jon Gordon? Everywhere I go. And the reason is, is because his influence reaches all over the place. I mean, he's about to do an event with some of the top NFL coaches, major league baseball coaches, college football coaches, TV and radio. He is a leader to leaders is how I would word it. And he's just an incredibly good man. He's somebody that I look up to, somebody that I take advice from. You need to enjoy this conversation because there's a 50 50 chance he's going to turn pro and pickleball here soon and not author any more books.

• 3:28Ed Mylett?

  But before he does that, he's authored another book that I read many months ago that I'm excited to share with all of you and his thoughts about it called The Seven Commitments of a Great Team. Jon Gordon, welcome back to the show.

• 3:39Jon Gordon?

  Ed Mylett, you are not just the interviewer today, you're my great friend as well. I love you, brother.

• 3:44Ed Mylett?

  I love you.

• 3:44Jon Gordon?

  And I got to tell you, everywhere I go, people say, you actually know Ed Mylett? Are you kidding me? But I just want to honor you for a second. I know you weren't expecting this, but not only are you one of the top three speakers in the world. We always joke about that. World class, but, but as an interviewer, the best.

• 4:03Ed Mylett?

  Thank you.

• 4:03Jon Gordon?

  In the world. How many people could say they speak and also interview? I was thinking about you as I was coming over. The best interviews I've ever had are with you.

• 4:12Ed Mylett?

  Oh, thank you.

• 4:12Jon Gordon?

  Everyone I talk to experiences the same thing.

• 4:15Ed Mylett?

  Thank you.

• 4:16Jon Gordon?

  There's a energy you give, there's a way you ask questions. You're just, it's like the natural, you are so great at this. And I just wanna, I just wanna acknowledge.

• 4:24Ed Mylett?

  I love you, brother. By the way, he teased me about being top three, but he really thinks I'm not.

• 4:29Ed Mylett?

  He knows how sensitive I am to that topic. So I want to really get into this. Now, by the way, I want you to all lean in here today. You all are building a team. So today, we're gonna look at it from business mainly and sports, but also you're building a family. And so all of that to me is a form of a team. That's what we do as human beings. And so there's so many things in the book. John's work is unique. And I want to start with something that stood out to me because, you know, this, this notion of commitments as opposed to.

• 4:58Jon Gordon?

  Goals.

• 4:59Ed Mylett?

  Goals. Why does that matter? Why is commitment greater than goals?

• 5:03Jon Gordon?

  Everyone has goals. They have a vision for the year. And you and I are big on visions and having dreams and even having goals. They're important, but will your goals take you to where you want to go? No, your commitments will. When you are committed to your goals and you take action and you commit day in and day out, you actually will realize your goals. If you have goals without commitments, that's a vision without execution, right? You have to take action to realize it. So if you want to be great, you have to be committed to what you're doing. If you want to be a great team, you have to have commitments as a team in order to be great. I asked the team the other day, I was with a professional baseball team. And I said, how many of you have your goals written down? And most of the guys had their goals written down.

• 5:47Jon Gordon?

  I said, how many of you have your commitments written down?

• 5:50Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 5:50Jon Gordon?

  No one had their commitments written down. And then we wrote down their commitments. It's a different conversation.

• 5:56Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 5:56Jon Gordon?

  My commitment is to recovery. My commitment is to eating healthy during the course of the season. So I stay healthy.

• 6:03Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 6:03Jon Gordon?

  My commitment is to actually showing up and preparing more or watching film in order to get better. So there's a commitment that then leads you to being your best.

• 6:13Ed Mylett?

  So is the commitment, I want to dig deeper on that. So. Because I'm gonna steal it from you. So if I have a goal, you're saying the commitment delivers on that goal? Help us break it down like in our own life. Like if someone's building a company right now and the goal is, you know, we're gonna reach a million dollars in sales this year and you're gonna make a hundred thousand dollars a year. Help us work through, what would the commitment part, if you were working with that company, what would, how would you help them delineate and distinguish what the commitment part is?

• 6:37Jon Gordon?

  I would identify what our goals are. So first I would say, actually, what's our vision?

• 6:42Ed Mylett?

  Okay.

• 6:42Jon Gordon?

  What do we want to be? Then I would talk about the why. Why do we want to do that? What is our purpose? We don't get burned out because of what we do, we get burned out because we forget why we do it. So why is essential, vision is essential. And then, okay, what is our goals? What numbers do we want to achieve? What kind of outcomes do we want? So now we have these goals, we have these outcomes. Okay, what are our commitments? Sales, how many calls are we gonna make every single day? Customer service, how will we show up for our customers? How will we serve them, make them feel special? How will we be committed to each other in the course of that year in terms of working together and honoring each other? And being there for each other and sacrificing for each other, supporting each other?

• 7:25Jon Gordon?

  How will we do that as a team? So, so every team has to make these commitments to realize these goals. But you got these numbers and then each department will have the commitments to achieve those numbers.

• 7:37Ed Mylett?

  It's really interesting, those of you that are listening, by the way, the great thing about John, when he comes on and he has a book, he'll just tell you the book because he knows you're gonna go read it anyway. A lot of authors like, I'll give you a little piece, you know, and the reason the interviews are so good with you is because you're so forthcoming with the information. And I'm, you and I were talking before you got here today that I'm on this sort of kick to get my physical body back in shape. So I've got a dramatic weight loss goal that I've got, really wanted to get down to my college weight. And so I've got that goal. But to your point, it's my day to day commitments about when I'm eating, what I'm eating, when I do my cardio, when I do my stretching and lifting. It's the commitments that I'm sort of obsessed with. Now that I think about it, it's kind of been my formula for achievement. I'm like a commitment freak when it comes to getting things done.

• 8:21Jon Gordon?

  You really are. Like you are next level in your commitments and you inspire me to work out. Like every day I work out now. Every day I'm walking, I'm exercising, I'm eating right. Those commitments on a daily basis actually lead to the results that you haven't wanted. Fifty-four, I feel better than ever.

• 8:36Ed Mylett?

  You look great, yeah.

• 8:37Jon Gordon?

  You you look great too, but I would not be looking great if I didn't meet you.

• 8:40Ed Mylett?

  Thank you.

• 8:41Jon Gordon?

  And I did not get committed to my health, to my weight. So I I think commitments and weight and health are probably the best examples of of seeing in action. Because everyone could say, okay, I have this goal of losing weight or this goal of getting fit. And then I know my commitments to eating healthy will will get me there. If I eat that chocolate cake every day, that's not being committed.

• 8:59Ed Mylett?

  Right, exactly. By the way, I know it sounds like we complement each other a lot, you guys, is because we we really have a mutual affection. But like in my case, my faith is what's grown, which is far more important than what I've helped you with with your physical part. My walk with Jesus is really improved and grown. And I attribute a lot of that to knowing you. And one of the reasons is, is I see how committed you are to certain things, like your faith walks and being in scripture and things like that. So these are day-to-day commitments I've now made that have really changed those things, and it's it's modeling you.

• 9:31Jon Gordon?

  Can we talk about prayer for a second?

• 9:32Ed Mylett?

  Please, I'd love to.

• 9:33Jon Gordon?

  Because what you just said is is so profound and so important because I have recently been more committed to prayer. So every morning I'm now walking and I am praying. I'm trying to get couples to pray together because if you pray together, ninety-nine percent stay together. Research is clear on this. So couples who pray together are more likely to stay together and have a better marriage. So if you can commit to prayer in your relationship, in your marriage, you will elevate your relationship. If you can commit to prayer in your own life, you'll actually find more healing, more peace and more power. So I take these walks of prayer now every single day. I go through that prayer acronym of praise, repent, ask, yield, expect, receive. By the time I'm done, I feel better.

• 10:15Jon Gordon?

  If I don't commit to that action on a daily basis, I do not have the feeling, the outcome, and the healing and the power that I'm now living with as a result of that.

• 10:25Ed Mylett?

  Oh, boy. All right, we're gonna go personal on you now. Since we're in this lane, let's go a little layer deeper. You probably wonder, how does a guy who used to own bars end up writing thirty books and sell millions of books? And I would say it particularly in the sports space. But even beyond that leadership faith like is is known as the guy in that space. Right. How does that happen? This guy used to own bars, everybody. Okay. Right. This is not and he wasn't, by the way, a Christian many, many years ago.

• 10:52Jon Gordon?

  Was not.

• 10:52Ed Mylett?

  What are the commitments and practices? So this is a really cool part. I know how it happens. Tell them how this book came to you. How does a guy you ever think about that? Like, how am I going to get? How do I do it again? If you ever give it a speech, you've made a post on where's the next one going to come from? Tell them where basically these books come from, but since we're talking about the seven commitments of a great team. Tell them how this book came to you and how you wrote it, because I think this is very telling commitment wise and habit wise.

• 11:17Jon Gordon?

  Well, I'm 54 years old now. I've been I feel like I've been writing this book my entire life because I've been on teams my entire life. Going back to to college, being a lacrosse player and wanting to be a great lacrosse player. Had to be committed to getting better, committed to pursuing excellence, committed to practicing and elevating my game, my mindset, all of that. But I did not have a great mindset back then. That's the funny thing. My teammates cannot believe what I'm doing.

• 11:44Ed Mylett?

  You're the positive guy.

• 11:45Jon Gordon?

  They're like, you're the positive guy. You were a mental wreck in college. I remember you going, no, why is this happening? Why am I injured again? Like, I was a mental wreck. I really was. And but I but I had this great coach, Coach Moran, and Richie Moran was was the best. He believed in me. He recruited me. He brought me to Cornell and he gave me a shot and I'll never forget him for that. And I'll never forget him believing in me and the way he loved me and beyond college, like after graduating, was still involved in my life. He wasn't just my coach for four years. He was my coach for the rest of my life. And so about a month before he passed away, I gave him a call and we were talking. And he said, remember, John, teammates are forever.

• 12:32Jon Gordon?

  Teammates are forever and I couldn't get that out of my head.

• 12:35Ed Mylett?

  It's in the book.

• 12:36Jon Gordon?

  Yeah, it was for a couple of years. That's the beginning of the book. And I knew I wanted to write about a coach that impacted a player, but also a team that impacted each other, a team that was committed together because of their coach and because of each other. And this book is an embodiment of all the principles, all the ideas, all the lessons I learned as an athlete, but also all the work I've done with teams along the way. So Ed, I walk every day and while I'm walking, I pray. And all my books have come to me during that time. And this book came to me on a walk. I'm walking and praying and boom, I got seven commitments of a great team. I didn't have all the commitments, but I knew that was the title.

• 13:17Jon Gordon?

  And then I started to think about what those commitments were, what truly makes a great team. And I began writing them down. It's gotta be about staying positive. That's one definitely. A great team stays positive together. You have to commit to the vision and mission. I knew that was one. And so as I was writing these down and walking, more and more of the story came to me, the ideas came to me. I wrote this book, Ed, in 16 days. Gosh. Now, people often think, well, 16 days, it can't be a good book. My son said I shouldn't tell people it was 16 days.

• 13:46Ed Mylett?

  That's incredible.

• 13:46Jon Gordon?

  But I actually think it was so magical in writing this because I was walking and praying.

• 13:51Ed Mylett?

  It was a divine download.

• 13:52Jon Gordon?

  It was. It just flowed like no other. It's never taken me that short of a time to write a book, but 16 days I had this book and when I read it, I literally cried as I read the audio book of it because it's so special, so impactful, so meaningful in terms of the story, what happens. People will read it, they're gonna be inspired. They're gonna be encouraged. They may cry a little bit, but they're also gonna realize, wow, I could be a more committed team member and I can get my team committed. Can't wait for people to read it.

• 14:18Ed Mylett?

  Me too. And by the way, you guys, John's writing style is unique just to him. It's why it's so easy to read and takes you on this journey. And I remember the day, I don't know if you know this, but the day you took the walk, that night you called me or texted me and said, I just got my book.

• 14:35Jon Gordon?

  Yep.

• 14:36Ed Mylett?

  And then I just want you all to know that's where the strategy comes from. So we're talking about prayer. We're talking about having rituals. We're talking about his is that what basically is a prayer walk. Imagine that get a download like that in your life. What if it was your next business idea, your next concept, your next thought, your next strategy? So it was awesome, brother.

• 14:51Jon Gordon?

  And I got the next two others from a prayer walk. And I want to thank you also for reading it. You were one of the first to read this book and gave me feedback. Really meant the world to me.

• 15:00Ed Mylett?

  Thank you, brother. You guys all hear that like I that's a long road, by the way. But I want you to understand it for this reason. Like first off, if you'd have froze when he was bartending and I said, hey, you'll be one of the most prolific authors in the world 20 years from now. Everyone would have laughed at you, right? Laughed and thought it was crazy. And then also, you know, many of you have a dream. You know, you're going to have to stabilize your life to some extent before you jump in and pursue that dream. Most people aren't willing to do the grind work to get to the good stuff. They want to be planted in the dream immediately, not do the stuff that's required of you to get into a position. When I started my business, I'll just tell you all this. When I started my business, it didn't go well in the very beginning. And I had to go stock shelves at night. It's Safeway. I was I'd stock shelves all night long, get a couple hours of sleep, put my suit back on and go do business all day long

• 15:45Ed Mylett?

  until I could find a way. But what I wasn't going to do was quit on my dream altogether. If you really want it bad, your obsessions become your possessions and you'll eventually possess them. So, hey, guys, I want to jump in here for a second and talk about change and growth. And you know, by the way, it's no secret how people get ahead in life or how they grow. And also taking a look at the future. If you want to change your future, you got to change the things you're doing. If you continue to do the same things, you're probably going to produce the same results. But if you get into a new environment where you're learning new things and you're around other people that are growth oriented, you're much more likely to do that yourself. And that's why I love Growth Day. Write this down for a second. Growth day.com forward slash ed. My friend Brendon Burchard has created the most incredible personal development and business app that I've ever seen in my life.

• 16:28Ed Mylett?

  Everything from goal setting software to personal accountability, journaling, horses, thousands of dollars worth of courses in there as well. I create content in there on Mondays where I contribute, as do a whole bunch of other influencers, like the Avengers of influencers and business minds in there. It's the Netflix for high achievers or people that want to be high achievers. So go check it out. My friend Brennan has made it very affordable, very easy to get involved. Go to growthday.com forward slash ed. That's growthday.com forward slash ed. This episode is sponsored by Ro. A lot of people assume GLP-1s cost a fortune, and that assumption keeps them from even looking into treatment. Ro helps people find a more affordable path to FDA-approved GLP-1 treatment. Ro wants to help people lose weight. That's why they have more affordable GLP-1 options,

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• 17:58Ed Mylett?

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• 18:43Ed Mylett?

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• 19:00Ed Mylett?

  All right, let's get back to the book a little bit. I want to get back to the book. So the second commitment in the book, he has these seven commitments, right? I'm going to give you a few of them today. One of them is staying positive. And I was like, oh, Jon Gordon, the positive guy. That's pretty basic stuff. But in the real world, okay, once pressure hits, once failure hits, once setbacks hit, it's very easy in a company, in a family, like you and Catherine during that difficult time, start pointing fingers, no, it's your fault. No, it's your fault. No, it's you. Well, if you would just do this, then I could do that. And that happens in a locker room as well, right? Like a guy drops a fly ball, very easy to get negative. Someone misses their assignment, doesn't practice, doesn't show up. In in business, same thing, like, you know, when a problem comes, the normal CEO, the average one,

• 19:44Ed Mylett?

  who's to blame rather than solving the problem? How do you stay positive? That's easy in the good times. That commitment, how does someone stay committed? And I guess if it's a commitment, it's different than we should. When the sheesh hits the fan?

• 19:57Jon Gordon?

  It's important to know that the collective belief and optimism of a team is made up of each person's belief and optimism. So each person says, I'm going to stay positive for myself and for my team. I'm going to feed myself in order to feed others on my team. And then collectively, we make a decision, we make a commitment. This is why this is in the book. A commitment that we will stay positive through challenges, through adversity, through setbacks. Everyone's positive during training camp because you're undefeated. Everyone's positive in the beginning of the year, usually because you're just getting started. But but as we move on and we face adversity, as you said, we face setbacks, we face challenges. How do we respond to the adversity? Do we stay positive through it? Now, here's what I know, being positive won't guarantee you'll succeed.

• 20:41Jon Gordon?

  But being negative will guarantee you won't. And so often, what we believe determines what we create. I went up to speak to the commanders before the playoff series against the playoff game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this year. And I went up there and I talked about the power of belief, brotherhood, and BU. And I said, listen, guys, you believe, and that's where you are right now because of your belief. You're here because of your belief. But every team must rise higher in the belief. As we reach new levels, we get new devils, new challenges. So your belief must rise higher individually and collectively. And that belief of a team, that staying positive through adversity will define the kind of success you have. So every team's going to get tested. How do we respond to the test? That's key.

• 21:26Jon Gordon?

  Every family will be tested. Every marriage will be tested. I think too many people give up when they face the challenge. Too many give up when they face that setback. And because it's hard, they give up. No, we're not supposed to give because it's hard. We're supposed to stay focused and positive and stay encouraged to overcome the discouragement that makes us give up.

• 21:47Ed Mylett?

  The positive thing, I want to stay on it for a sec.

• 21:52Ed Mylett?

  Why I think this matters. Let's set sports aside. Let's just do like personal relationship for a second. Okay, you're building a family. That's hard. When, when, when you're really into that disagreement phase to stay positive, you and I both struggle with that. We, you know that it's not easy for either one of us. But one of the reasons that it's so important, and I want you to talk about this. It's not in the book. I want us to talk about it. Is the damage done when you're not that can become irreversible. So if you're building a company, for example, and it's gone bad and the leader, because I've done it, doesn't stay positive and attacks, accuses, blames. And if you're not careful, you can say something in those moments in the difficult, dark times in your company

• 22:36Ed Mylett?

  or in your marriage or to your children that is unforgettable. And although your relationship may get better, it'll never be the same one it was before you said those things in the negative. Does that make sense?

• 22:50Jon Gordon?

  Oh yeah, big time.

• 22:51Ed Mylett?

  And so let's just unpack that a little bit. I want your thoughts on that because stay positive.

• 22:55Jon Gordon?

  Right.

• 22:56Ed Mylett?

  The ramifications of not at least attempting to trend in that direction can ruin a long-term business relationship. They can alter the direction.

• 23:08Ed Mylett?

  And the destiny of a personal relationship as well, my opinion, if you don't at least have a commitment that we're going to try to stay positive and stay out of the negative.

• 23:16Jon Gordon?

  Yeah, as a relationship, as a family, as a business, I do a lot of work in positive leadership. My mission is to develop positive leaders who make a positive impact in every business, school, team, organization, and community. Now, people think positive leadership is about hunky-dory and being kind all the time and generous. No, positive leaders are demanding. They're just not demeaning. And there'll be moments when we need to be demanding, but we can't be demeaning. There'll be moments when we are frustrated, but we can't allow our frustration to cause us to say things that we wish we didn't say. So often, we do it because we're activating the reptilian part of our brain. And if you know anything about a reptile, it will never love you. It's all about survival. Well, when you're

• 23:59Jon Gordon?

  in survival mode and you're activating the reptile, it actually hijacks the rational part of the brain, called cortical inhibition. So it hijacks it, and you say things you wish you didn't say. You act in ways you normally wouldn't act. And so it's actually the reptile, but it only works once as an excuse, like my reptile ate this positive dog part of the brain is what I call it. And it only works once as an excuse. And the key is to know that, okay, just really be intentional. Know that you have a quarter second at every moment, a quarter second to override the reptile with what I call the positive dog, the loving, rational, kind part of your brain. And you have that quarter second. So we have to just slow down, take a deep breath, and be intentional. And there

• 24:40Jon Gordon?

  have been moments when I wanted to say something, and I didn't. May be a better leader in that moment. There have been times when I said things I wish I didn't say. And you can't take it back as you said. You can only apologize afterwards. And as a leader, there are moments that you do need to ask for forgiveness and apologize. There have been moments with my kids where I said, you know what, I said that, I'm sorry, it was in the heat of the moment, I wish I didn't say that. Can you forgive me? And you're right, they'll never forget you saying that. And there are moments I'll be driving or walking and thinking, God, why did I say that? God, I wish I didn't do that. God, I wish I was a better person then like I am now. We also have to give ourselves grace.

• 25:19Ed Mylett?

  Some grace.

• 25:20Jon Gordon?

  And know that it's not who we were, it's who we're becoming. And along the way, no one is perfect. We all have flaws.

• 25:26Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 25:27Jon Gordon?

  And, and I think if the kids that you have see your flaws, but they know you're working and getting better, that allows them to see that they're not perfect too, and they can get better as well.

• 25:37Ed Mylett?

  By the way, which is commitment four in the book, committing to get better.

• 25:40Jon Gordon?

  Right.

• 25:40Ed Mylett?

  I gave a, a talk a couple of weeks. No, I was actually getting interviewed a few weeks ago. The guy's like, well, you're just a leadership guru and you've built these businesses and podcasts and stuff. And I said, I'm going to be really honest with you. And it was just, I, I, the older I get, the more I'm just brutally honest in front of groups too. And I said, uh, I've become pretty convinced I'm not that great of a leader. And the older I get, the older I get, the more I realize what I don't know. Maybe just a skosh of humility sets into my life, the more I'm, I wasn't a great leader. I was a inspirational leader, but I wasn't a great leader. I could have treated people better. I could have been more patient. I could have been more tactical. I could have spent more time.

• 26:23Ed Mylett?

  There's just so many things and I'm not a great leader, but I do want to get better. And I'm committed to getting better and I've been committed to getting better for quite some time. And so when you first gave me the copy of the book, which was many, many months ago, it was, and I'm like, commitment to getting better. Man, I don't know which one's the most important commitment, but for me, if we can have a commitment in our family or in our company, right, or in our team, I'm going to get better. I'm always trying to get better and I know that's your intent. To me, that opens up a lot of room for grace and a lot of room for growth. So I just want you to talk about that.

• 27:04Jon Gordon?

  I see it all the time. I am not the best leader either. It's ironic. I'm the best at helping leaders become better. Like that's what I'm great at, helping a leader build their team. I believe I've worked with more leaders and helped them build more teams than just about anybody on the planet. So I'm great at that.

• 27:22Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 27:22Jon Gordon?

  But I am not a great leader and I say it all the time, which is, which is ironic to me. I'm not a great leader. I watch these leaders. I work with these leaders and I go, man. They are great. You spend time with Dabo Sweeney, like he is a great leader.

• 27:33Ed Mylett?

  I was just saying that to Zach Johnson a couple of weeks ago. I ran into him. I go, let's talk about Dabo. I don't know if there's a better leader anywhere.

• 27:38Jon Gordon?

  Spend time with Sean McVay, great leader. So Corey Close, great leader. Alan Mulley, who turned around Ford and Boeing, spent time with him, great leader. I'm not that kind of leader, but, but the goal, as you said, is to always get better. And my team the other day actually said to me, John, we know you're working at it. We can tell. Cause you write about positive leadership. This is your mission and we know your struggle. But we can tell you are really working at it and actually putting your own principles into practice. I had to do it during COVID. I lost a hundred percent of my business during COVID in three days. Three day, that was a tough time. Let's talk about commitment, putting this into practice.

• 28:20Jon Gordon?

  And I'm walking around the house going, every text was coming in, canceling one more event after another. I was like, darn it, darn it. Next day I'm like, damn, damn. Next day I'm like, shit. Next day, fuck. I don't know if you can say that on a podcast, but I, you know, the positive guy said that.

• 28:39Ed Mylett?

  Positive guy.

• 28:39Jon Gordon?

  Oh yeah. And my wife goes, it's gonna be okay, John. I said, no, it's not.

• 28:42Ed Mylett?

  It's not.

• 28:43Jon Gordon?

  No, John, it's gonna be okay. I go, no, no, we're done. Like we're losing everything. She goes, aren't you the guy that writes these positive books? Don't you tell everyone how to stay positive? Like, yeah, she goes, you know, follow your own advice. I made a decision in that moment, a commitment, that I was gonna stay positive and get better during that time during COVID. It was a defining moment in my life to get better and to stay positive during that time. Got my team to do the same and we started putting out a lot of positive messages to the world. Talked to a guy the other day, a new client. He said, we had 500 people during that time. They were reeling. They were in deep trouble. They started listening to my messages that I was putting out there. Cause I made that commitment. He said, John, it was huge for us. We stayed positive. We now have 3,500 employees thrive and doing better than ever.

• 29:28Jon Gordon?

  The commitment to stay and posit and get better. So to getting better.

• 29:34Jon Gordon?

  We all have something we need to improve upon. And here's the thing about getting better. Like, we're not always gonna be at a hundred percent. I know that you're not at a hundred percent right now. I'm at a hundred percent. We're always dealing with something. But we can always give a hundred percent of what we have. So even if you're at seventy percent.

• 29:48Ed Mylett?

  Hmm, give a hundred percent of the seventy.

• 29:49Jon Gordon?

  Give a hundred percent of what you have in that moment, that day.

• 29:52Ed Mylett?

  It's very good.

• 29:53Jon Gordon?

  Give your best in order to get better. And then, every day, as a team, ask, what are we doing well? What can we do better? And what are we learning that will make us better? If we ask those three questions every single day as a team, individually and collectively, we will get better as a team. You just gotta ask those questions. And then, as a team, you have to challenge each other. There are times when you have to call your friend up and say, hey, I don't see you being your best. I don't see you getting better. Here's what I noticed. Here's what I believe you can do. And you encourage, but also challenge your teammates, your friends and others in order to get better. We need people who are gonna speak truth in our lives to get better. And great teammates, great teammates speak truth to each other in love

• 30:37Jon Gordon?

  in order to help each other get better.

• 30:39Ed Mylett?

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• 31:24Ed Mylett?

  Download the Quince app for app-exclusive offers or go to quince.com/ed for free shipping on your order and 365-day returns. Now available in Canada and the UK, too. That's Q U I N C E dot com slash ed. So you know, I've been trying to take my health and my morning routine to the next level. And I used to do a whole bunch of different stuff, tons of different supplements. And then I found All-in-One in a drink with IM8. IM8 is the way to simplify your supplement routine, finally, once and for all. Sixteen supplements replaced ninety ingredients across nine major organ systems in one drink. You can have all these supplements for $2.61 a day. I've changed my mornings. The whole IM8 routine has changed my mornings.

• 32:07Ed Mylett?

  I feel great and I bring energy to the entire day. Go to IM8health.com/Ed10 right now, or click the link in the description and use code ED10 for a free welcome kit, five free travel sachets plus 10% off your order. That's code ED10 at IM8health.com/Ed10. Code ED10 at IM8health.com/Ed10. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. It's like you're almost reading where my mind wants to go. I want to talk about love.

• 32:43Jon Gordon?

  Yeah.

• 32:43Ed Mylett?

  It's interesting that you walk into these very masculine locker rooms with a message about love.

• 32:48Jon Gordon?

  Yeah.

• 32:48Ed Mylett?

  Right? And so it was literally probably at the core of what I wanted to get to today. And you just said it. So there's seven commitments of a great team, guys. But this concept overall, his philosophy involving love. So if I say the term love to you, you would say what as it comes to building teams and elevating performance?

• 33:08Jon Gordon?

  Great teams love each other. And because you love each other, you're going to serve and sacrifice for each other. Love is about being sacrificial. That's real love.

• 33:18Ed Mylett?

  Sacrificial.

• 33:19Jon Gordon?

  It's going to cost you something. Commitment's going to cost you something. You're going to have to give your time, your energy, your effort, a piece of you, something maybe you want that the team actually needs. And maybe the need of the team is more important than what you want. So you're going to have to sacrifice time, energy, effort, money, something for your team and for others. So there's going to be a sacrifice. And when you love your team and you love the people that you're living with, that love your family, and you love who you're working with, you're going to give to them. So every day when you're committing to your team, you have to ask yourself, what am I willing to give? And also, what am I willing to give up?

• 33:59Jon Gordon?

  Because sometimes you may have to give up something for your team. It might be, it might be your ego. It might be playing time. It might be a higher salary as Tom Brady did to lower salary for his team.

• 34:11Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 34:12Jon Gordon?

  It might be a position in a company. You want that promotion, but right now your team needs you to be in this role. And so you have to stay in that role, whatever it may be. There's going to be a sacrifice to be a great team member and to be a great team. So I think love is sacrifice. I also hear it all the time. Every time a team wins a championship, what do they say? We loved each other.

• 34:32Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 34:33Jon Gordon?

  We cared about each other. It's always about relationship.

• 34:36Ed Mylett?

  Hmm.

• 34:37Jon Gordon?

  And when you know that there's love, there's also trust. And then there's commitment. Because there's commitment, you're willing to fight for each other. You're willing to go to battle together. You will sacrifice for each other. So a big part of this book is committing to each other. Yeah, you commit to the vision and mission. Yes, you can commit to staying positive, but committing to each other, like you and I had are going to battle. Like I know this, like I would commit to you in a heartbeat and I would fight for you. And the friend you've been for me, I will die for you.

• 35:06Ed Mylett?

  Likewise.

• 35:06Jon Gordon?

  I would, I know that, I know that about you too. That is, to me, that's, that's real commitment. That's real friendship. That's a real bond, that's real trust. And that leads to real high performance.

• 35:17Ed Mylett?

  Yeah, it sure does.

• 35:17Jon Gordon?

  And real success. So, so you show me a team that loves each other. I'll show you a team that's stronger and willing to go into the battle. So it's not soft. Like I always tell teams, love the battle.

• 35:27Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 35:28Jon Gordon?

  Love competing against your competition. Love the moment and commit to the person in front of you.

• 35:36Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 35:36Jon Gordon?

  Commit to your team. Commit to the moment that you're in, in that moment. If you do that, right, you'll rise higher, you'll help your team rise higher. So, so it's all about the love we bring. And the great thing about love is also it casts out fear. So the minute you focus on love, fear dissipates. So if fear is your enemy, which it is, and fear is holding you back, how do you counter fear? How do you overcome fear? It is through love. So the more we focus on love, fear has no power over you.

• 36:03Ed Mylett?

  Gosh, you know how right he is, you guys. By the way, just think about that in your business right now or the team you're building.

• 36:10Ed Mylett?

  Do they really deeply know how much you love them? And do you have commitments like this? Like, don't just casually, you're driving in your car, you're on the treadmill, you're on your walk. Ah, it's good information. Process it through your own life. We go to a new dentist here in town. When you walk into this place, in fact, most of the ladies that are in that office actually came and saw me speak, which, you know, probably helped me be number three in the world, according to you.

• 36:31Jon Gordon?

  No, top three.

• 36:32Ed Mylett?

  Top three.

• 36:33Jon Gordon?

  I'm not saying you're not number one.

• 36:36Ed Mylett?

  But so, but every time I go in this place, this is so strange to say about a dentist's place. You ever walk in a business, you just feel love?

• 36:45Jon Gordon?

  Yeah.

• 36:46Ed Mylett?

  Regardless of what it is, it could be a sandwich shop, a pizza place, it could be a dry cleaners. It's my dentist. These women love each other. There's a, I'm sure it's set by the tone of the leader. The way they care for one another. They're all very different, too. I can tell their backgrounds are different. I actually like going to the dentist.

• 37:05Jon Gordon?

  Which is rare.

• 37:06Ed Mylett?

  It's rare. And it's just, there's a loving environment. They treat you loving, they treat one another loving. It's just, do you have that? You go, well, it doesn't really fit. I'm in the day trading business. Yes, it does. Yes, it does. It does. And if you don't have that, you're missing one of the commitments of a great team. You're missing an element that could cause you to go to the next level. This is not casual. Okay, this, is it Nito Cobain? What's his name?

• 37:27Jon Gordon?

  Nito, Nito Cobain.

• 37:28Ed Mylett?

  Okay. He's a leader that I know that you admire, John Maxwell. And, and he's, he's actually, I had him come speak to our firm before, many, many years ago. So I want to ask you a question. You've mentioned him to me as someone that you really admire as a leader. You've mentioned Dabo Sweeney, who is the coach, football coach at Clemson, everybody, if you're not a sports fan. And he's mentioned Sean McVay. He's mentioned coaches that a lot of you wouldn't know my name. Okay. Sean McVay is the coach of the Rams. I happen to have met all of these people as well. For you, what's the through line with, just take those three. What's the through line? So that if I say that to you, a great leader, what are you thinking? You know what Dabo has that Sean also has that Nito has? What, what is the through line? I can tell you what it is for me after you answer.

• 38:11Jon Gordon?

  Really?

• 38:12Ed Mylett?

  Yes. And it'll be different than yours.

• 38:14Jon Gordon?

  It's who they are. It's it's their character. It's their integrity. It's their their essence. There's an essence about them. And they all believe bigger. They all have a massive vision of what they want to accomplish. They also have confidence in this vision and mission. I mean, Nito Cabane turned around High Point from a little podunk university to a to a national powerhouse and well-respected university. There's not many people in the world that could actually do that. Pretty incredible. Dabo Swinney turned Clemson, which which is a good team, but they weren't huge at the time, into a national powerhouse. No one expected that he could do that. And he did that. Sean Mivay comes in to the Rams and turns around the Rams.

• 38:59Ed Mylett?

  True.

• 38:59Jon Gordon?

  If I had to pick though, like, it would be belief and optimism. Like, they all have this incredible belief and optimism. Obviously, that's my my core message. It's it's ultimately what I strive to be.

• 39:09Ed Mylett?

  Yep.

• 39:10Jon Gordon?

  It's what I love talking about. I see that in them. There's a belief. There's a belief that we can transfer this belief to others. And when we transfer it to others, they accomplish more than they ever thought possible.

• 39:28Ed Mylett?

  Yeah.

• 39:29Jon Gordon?

  And I always think we see in others what we want to see in ourselves, or what we actually know we can be or want to be. And for me, I love being an encourager. I love watching people accomplish more after working with them. I love seeing them rise higher. I know you do as well. So seeing people accomplish more. So so I love leaders who believe in the vision, the dream, and also believe in others to accomplish it.

• 39:51Ed Mylett?

  Yeah. Character is at the root of all leadership, and you know the three of them better than I do. So really closely correlated, this is just a takeaway for everybody. All three of them have unbelievably infectious energy. There's an energy when you're around a great leader that you feel something that you don't when you're around an average one. There's an energy that when you're around Dabo, you feel something. Sean has a very similar energy, by the way, to Dabo's. It's it's it's high, I guess. It's positive. It's intense. Dabo's is slightly different.

• 40:23Jon Gordon?

  Yes.

• 40:23Ed Mylett?

  And even Nino, when he spoke, I mean, he was already a man. He wasn't a young man when he spoke. I'm like, this guy's energy level is enthusiasm is. It's it's contagious. Energy is contagious. And John's probably most famous book until this one is called The Energy Bus. And so I have to tell you that when you're a leader of a team, I think one of the, if there was an eighth or ninth commitment, it would be to high energy. It would be to making people feel something when they're around you and being intentional about this energy, feeling it like, you can't create great energy unless it's actually an outcome of yours. It's actually something you're focused on is pouring energy into people. So that's one of the things I would take from them. It's one of the things, like when I think of friends of mine that I love like you,

• 41:04Ed Mylett?

  like it's just great energy. Like I feel energy from you. I feel like loving and belief and wisdom. That's the energy I feel. You're always making people feel something. And most people are oblivious to that fact. They're more oblivious, they're more about, well, I made this speech or I said this, these are our six tactics, these are our core values. All that's great. What do you make people feel?

• 41:27Jon Gordon?

  Going to speaking, people tell me all the time, when you speak, man, he just made me feel a certain way. I know when I speak, it's the energy that people feel, positive energy. May not even be the best speaker, may not even have said the best thing that day. And yet, when you smile as a speaker, when you are contagious, when there's an essence, when people know you care about them and you're there to serve them and add value to them, they feel your energy. You just, you just woke something up in me in a big way. And it really is in the energy bus. I wrote about energy and enthusiasm. I wrote that book so long ago, I forgot. But it is like essential, like yes, the energy you bring to your team. And I think that's why so many leaders in business and sports and

• 42:11Jon Gordon?

  nonprofits and healthcare have resonated with the energy bus, because they all know we need to bring energy to our organization, to our company, to our customers, to our community. And it's the energy you bring. You are energy. I am energy, right? And every day, what kind of energy are we bringing?

• 42:28Ed Mylett?

  It's when you see a leader in their prime compared to when they're past it. You look at videos of Steve Jobs in his prime, there was an energy of vibration to the guy that was incredible. When you look at your favorite political figure as a president, in their prime, their best moments, they bring a particular energy that you feel. And I think it's one of these invisible things that's got to be a commitment that You make to your point in the book.

• 42:49Jon Gordon?

  But, but, but why do they lose it? That's as you're saying that Ed, I'm thinking like.

• 42:52Ed Mylett?

  What you said earlier in the interview, they forget why.

• 42:54Jon Gordon?

  Yeah. Why do they lose it? Cause John Maxwell, we know at seventy seven, still has the energy.

• 42:58Ed Mylett?

  Because I don't think he's, I think his calling is so high. It's got to do with the kingdom that he's never forgotten why. You said this in the very beginning is one of the first sentences you said is that when you forget why, when you forget why you started and your purpose and your reason. And the longer you're a leader, you're carrying, here's the thing, everybody, this may be one of the most important things you're ever going to hear. A leader's job is to carry the emotional burden of the company, of the business and of the family. If you're the leader of your family and what falls on you, the emotional load, it just does. And usually in a marriage, it falls on one of the two. Doesn't mean a marriage isn't fifty fifty, but the emotional load, you know exactly what I mean. Falls on usually one of you. And I'm sure it's great and fifty fifty and all that.

• 43:37Ed Mylett?

  If you're the leader of a company or a business or a team, it's the emotional burden. It's the emotional load. It never leaves you. Right? If you're a leader of anything, that's the case. And so over time, you get leadership fatigue. If you don't have new whys and a real reason for why you do it, because here's the truth, in life, people hurt you. They let you down. They screw you. They lie to you. This is just a fact. That's the enemy. Trying to get you off of your mission. He's trying to get you doubting, discouraged, delusional. So you'll delay. Those are the D's. You have your D's, right? We've talked about this a million times. And all of this work sort of together is like leaders get fatigue. It's just the emotional burden. And if you don't have a really huge purpose, eventually it just gets heavy.

• 44:23Ed Mylett?

  And it, and by the way, it's subtle. A leader doesn't go from like a level ten unbelievable to a two. They go from a ten, everyone listening knows exactly what I'm saying, to like an eight point two. Most people would never notice you're not the leader you used to be. It's invisible, but you know. You know, you still want it quite as bad as you did when you were younger, quite as bad as when you were broke, quite as bad as before you won the first championship. It's subtle. You don't go from 10 to 1. You go from 10 to 10.3 or 8.3. It's just subtle. But if you're not careful, 8.3 turns into 7.2. And three years later, you're to 6.1. And all of a sudden, you can't even remember that person that was the vibrational leader. And that's why we admire these people, I think.

• 45:04Jon Gordon?

  And I think both of us are saying, which is a great conversation for us to talk about, everyone here, how do we stay that way? How do we keep the fire alive?

• 45:12Ed Mylett?

  What would you say?

• 45:12Jon Gordon?

  The passion, the burning alive. Well, I would say what Drew Walken said to me. The crime is not that the passion has run out. It's that you stayed around after it did. And I would say, guess what? Don't let it run out. I would say, find your why. Find a new mission, a new vision. Everyone needs three things. We need a mission, a team and a scoreboard to keep us going. So, so what is your new mission? You retire, find a new mission. You lost an old mission, find a new mission. I don't care what it is, find a mission that wakes you up every day and excites you. And it's usually not going to be about you. It's usually going to be about an impact that you can make, a legacy you can leave. And that ultimately is what will drive us in the long run.

• 45:56Jon Gordon?

  I wake up every day more fired up than ever. More now than ever, because I have this new mission and vision of developing positive leaders around the world. That's what's getting me going. I would say, find your team. You gotta find a team that's going to encourage you, support you, be there for you, that will hold you accountable, that will give you life. Because think about it, every day you're waking up, when you're working for a company, working for your own business even. And you got a mission and you got this team that you're working with. And you're going to battle every single day. And perhaps you sell the company. Now, you no longer have that team. Or perhaps you retired, no longer have the team. Or maybe you got fired, no longer have a team. You gotta find a team right now that is your squad, that is your crew. You lift each other up. And then you gotta have that scoreboard. What are we chasing? What progress do we want to make?

• 46:42Jon Gordon?

  You're speaking at all these incredible events now with a life search. I love that. And you're telling me, hey, we, uh, we just impacted 800 souls. And just 500 souls the other day, a thousand here. I'm blown away when I hear that. And that number means something to me. And it means something to you. There's a number, even at that level, even when we're talking about souls, we still want to know that we're having progress and impact. So have your scoreboard.

• 47:05Ed Mylett?

  Amen.

• 47:06Jon Gordon?

  And, and that progress that you're measuring along the way. And we're actually going to create our own scoreboard now of how many leaders have we developed?

• 47:14Ed Mylett?

  Love it.

• 47:14Jon Gordon?

  And we're starting that now. And hopefully the next 20, 30 years, we'll be able to measure that and see how many leaders we've developed.

• 47:20Ed Mylett?

  I love that.

• 47:23Speaker 01

  This episode is brought to you by Michelob Ultra. Good times mean competitions between you and your friends, like seeing who can throw some pigskin the farthest or rush the field the fastest. Winner gets an ultra because it's not just a superior light beer. It's also giving fans superior access to their favorite sporting events. Superior is worth playing for. Visit michelobultra.com/superioraccess to enter. Enjoy responsibly. Copyright 2026 Anheuser Busch InBev Michelob Ultra Beer, St. Louis, Missouri.

• 47:52Ed Mylett?

  There's a part of the book that I, I, that you talk about that I won't let the interview end because I just think it's a unique perspective. So a lot of people listen to like, my team's not disciplined.

• 48:03Ed Mylett?

  We're not disciplined. I can't get them disciplined. I can't get them doing what they need to be doing. And you have this correlation in the book between devotion and discipline. This guy's like, just let this sink in right here. Let this settle in. This is real brilliance to me.

• 48:14Jon Gordon?

  This is my favorite concept, I believe, because so many coaches out there, so many leaders like, I want my team to be disciplined. And they're yelling at them, be disciplined. And as parents, we were yelling at our kids, be disciplined. But it's not discipline that actually drives us. It's devotion. When you're devoted to something and you truly love it, discipline is a whole lot easier. No one had to make Tom Brady work on his passing. He was devoted to his craft. And because he was devoted to it, that drove his discipline. So if you're trying to be disciplined without devotion, which many of us do, it's like we're swimming upstream, climbing uphill. It's really hard. It always feels like a challenge and like a grind. But if you're devoted to it, you're still working hard and there will be times that you're grinding,

• 48:57Jon Gordon?

  but, but you feel like you are just having a, a current that you're a part of and you're just riding this current through this devotion, through this power as you're being disciplined in what you do. And so if you truly want to be great, you truly want to be your best. You truly want to be a great team. You gotta be devoted to each other and to what you're accomplishing together. And individually, if you want to be excellent at what you do, there has to be a devotion to it.

• 49:20Ed Mylett?

  Very good. And the last thing about it, I want to go through here just to tie it all together, is the fifth commitment in the book is connected to, I think, how you become devoted. And I'd heard it said this way before, and when you sent me the book, I said, I think this is my favorite part of the book. And now that I've read it twice, I don't know what my favorite part is. There's a lot in it that I really, really like.

• 49:38Jon Gordon?

  You know why I say I wasn't that great of a leader? I don't think I was that good at this, yet as a friend, I'm great at it. Like as I got older, I'm very connected to my friends and, but, so the commitment, by the way, everybody, is the commitment to connect. Just think about all the things in your business or your family. You just kind of do stuff, but are you committed to connecting on a deeper level? In your marriage, with your children, with your team, with your business, like, are you? And then like, if you are, like, what are you doing about it? What's your plan? What's your strategy? Right? So the commitment to connect. As a, as a team, the more connected you are, the more committed you'll be. Cause you'll never have commitment without connection. And so when there's a connection, there's trust.

• 50:23Jon Gordon?

  And there's a bond. There's a relationship. There's love. There's a feeling of oneness, which we talked about previously in our other podcast. So when you have that oneness and connection, you now have power as a team. And, and too often we're, we're not connected. We're going through life disconnected, disconnected families, broken. Relationships, broken marriages, so many teams out there are disengaged and disconnected. And they're in despair. And that's why they're actually suffering and not performing well. So it's simple. I mean, we just have to make the time intentionally to connect. And what I love about this book is I actually gave some really good exercises in the book that you follow this team. Learning how to connect together. And as they do, you see the impact of that connection.

• 51:05Jon Gordon?

  You see the personalities come out as well, which there will always be personalities come out. But as the connection happens, you watch this team become stronger, more united and more powerful together. And that will be the same thing if you take the time to intentionally connect as a leader. Here's, let's make it practical. As a leader, connect with one person that you lead on your team every day in a meaningful way. Just pick one person every day and connect with them five, 10 minute conversation. How you doing? Not about business. How you doing? What are you working on? You know, you're struggling with this? How can I help? And have a nice conversation with that team member and connect with them. Foster connection amongst your team. See, great leaders don't just connect individually and collectively.

• 51:48Jon Gordon?

  They also get their teams to connect. And that's why I wrote this book. It's for a leader to get their team more connected. So as a leader, what are you doing on a daily basis? To foster the connection amongst your team members. And so for us during COVID, for instance, we got together once a week and we did team building exercises. We were intentional about it. You can't just allow it to happen. You will drift towards your culture. You won't create your culture unless you actually do it and connect and make it purposeful and intentional. So every week do a team building exercises. And in the book, I wrote about the five H's, which is my favorite, which is who's your hero? What's a hardship you faced that made you who you are today? What's a highlight that you are proud of? What's hilarious? Make it fun.

• 52:30Jon Gordon?

  And then what do you hope for? As each person goes around and shares their five H's. I guarantee every team that does this at any level will become a stronger, more united, connected team. What happened is vulnerability paves the way for this connection. The walls of pride and ego come crumbling down and now you get to know each other and now you want to fight for each other.

• 52:50Ed Mylett?

  Really good, John, the five H's. To connect. Thank you for doing this today. I love them. Thanks for having me, brother. This is really good. It's fun. Really good. Every time. Isn't it easy when you have a good friend on? It's a cakewalk, everyone. You're welcome, by the way, because this was good, everybody. If it's good enough for the Washington Redskins, the Clemson Tigers, the Colorado Rockies, you name it, the Los Angeles Rams, it's probably good enough for you, right? Go get the seven commitments of a great team by the great Jon Gordon. I highly recommend you do that today. God bless you, everybody. Max out.

• 53:28Ed Mylett?

  This is the Ed and Marlon Show.