263 Master Confidence, Humility, and Leadership with Brad Lomenick

"Brag about the people around you. Make them the heroes of the story." - Brad Lomenick If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes and more at http://lewishowes.com/263 Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

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

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 263 with Brad Lomenick.

• 0:07Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:33Lewis Howes?

  What's up everyone? Welcome to the School of Greatness podcast. I am very excited about today's guest. His name is Brad Lomenick. He's a strategic advisor and leadership consultant specializing in influence and innovation. He is the author of The Catalyst Leader: Eight Essentials for Becoming a Change Agent, and also a brand new book that I'm excited to talk about and dive in today, which is called, Be Humble, Stay Hungry, and Always Hustle: Three Things That I'm Always Living By: Humility, Hunger, and Hustle. So I'm excited to dive in and hear about the strategies that Brad talks about in his book. And he's got 20 key habits for how to really be a better leader and have more influence.

• 1:14Lewis Howes?

  So we're going to talk about some of those. We're also going to talk about the importance of your identity, your calling, and your assignment, and what to not mix up. Because sometimes we get our assignment and our identity mixed up when we end something. When we end an assignment, we have our identity attached to that. So he's going to talk about how to process transition in our lives, how to let go of identity for certain things we used to do, and really how to move forward in an influential way. And he talks about three key ways to be more influential. So I'm very excited for you guys to dive into this. So without further ado, let's go ahead and dive into this episode with the one, the only Brad Lomenick.

• 1:56Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness Podcast. Very excited about our guest today. His name is Brad Lomenick. Brad, how's it going, man?

• 2:04Speaker 01

  It's great, Louis. How are you?

• 2:05Lewis Howes?

  I'm doing great. I'm excited. This is the first time we've connected. I've seen your name out there for a while and I saw your book, kind of the cover and the buzz about it coming out recently. And I was like, it's a great title because it's got the word humble, hungry and hustle in it. And, uh, and I was like, that's what I'm all about. And that was one of the essences of my book was a chapter was called hustle. So for me, I was like, this guy, this guy gets it. And, uh, you know, you're an author, you're, you talk about leadership a lot. And I'm curious, why did you come out with, with this book and what inspired you to do this?

• 2:38Speaker 01

  Well, this book for me is, is my life mantra. You know, when, when people say, how do you define leadership? Uh, I, I go to two things. One, I go to Maxwell's definition, which is leadership is influence. And the second thing is I talk about these three H's, humble, hungry and hustle. And I've been talking about those since I was in college. Uh, you know, everybody who sort of brings that question up, it's always, that's my posture. You know, the three-legged stool of my leadership chair is, is those three words. And, you know, so for, for 20 years, I've been trying to live it out and um, I was, you know, at a place in life in the last couple of years where I had some opportunities to start to, to put some,

• 3:21Speaker 01

  some of my message and my life and career as you have into a book form. And, you know, conversations with the publishers, you know, they always sort of ask you, hey, what's, what's important to you and what stands out? And I brought that one up and they all just sort of stopped and they said, okay, hold on. Like let's re- rewind. And, you know, so H3 is just this posture and this, uh, this sense of, of the three-legged stool of leadership really became the anthem, uh, for the book and the title. And it worked from a cover perspective, you know, how that important that is, but for me, it's really been a life mantra.

• 3:57Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Now humble, can you be confident and humble at the same time?

• 4:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, no question. I, I, I think the people who are the best leaders are both confident and humble. And you know, it's the idea of, of appropriate ambition. You know, it's the idea of healthy ambition. It's that posture that says, I realize that I'm really good at what I do, but I also realize that there's a bigger story going on. And I'm not the center of, of attention. I'm not the, you know, I'm not the center, the, the point of the story happening. And, but you, you never shy away from, from that sense that you're walking into something with complete confidence that you're the best at what you do. And man, that's, it's, it's not easy though. Like I, we, we, we run into leaders all the time who,

• 4:47Speaker 01

  who are incredibly humble, but do nothing.

• 4:50Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 4:51Speaker 01

  Like, you know, I, I, people are like, oh, I just want to be humble, Brad. Like, well, that's great. But if you're not doing anything, if you're just, if you're just sitting around going, it's not about me, then that's just as bad in many ways as somebody who is the other side of that.

• 5:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's interesting. It's like a dance because you know, I'm, I'm, I'm talking about this a lot lately because you know, I had this book come out and people are asking on my book tour, you know, how are you going to stay humble through all the success you get and for the years coming, how are you going to stay humble? And I said, listen, for me, it's a dance because I'm, I know that I need to be confident because confidence is what got me here. And I get to continue to be confident in my vision and my dreams and pursue it with an unwavering passion. Otherwise, I'm not going to be able to create something powerful from just an idea without any evidence of it happening. But I was like, in the results that you're creating and in the journey along the way,

• 5:44Lewis Howes?

  I practice a ritual of humility and gratitude every morning, every night. I'm constantly asking people, what are they grateful for? It's on my voicemail. You know, I say, if you want to leave me a message, tell me what you're grateful for, because I feel like I need to be in that conversation. Otherwise, I could easily get caught up in the success and the results and people, you know, saying great things about me here and there. And be like, yeah, I'm, you know, my stuff doesn't stink or whatever.

• 6:09Speaker 01

  Right.

• 6:09Lewis Howes?

  So I think that's why it's important for us to have like these rituals and habits in place. Wouldn't you agree?

• 6:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you know, I mean, it's really easy to be humble when you have nothing to be proud of.

• 6:19Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 6:20Speaker 01

  You know, like when you haven't accomplished anything, man, people are really humble. Uh, it's the hard part is when you start to

• 6:26Lewis Howes?

  Oh, I like that.

• 6:27Speaker 01

  To stack up, you know, lots of accomplishments and accolades and, you know, that's when it's most important to have a have a system, posture, accountability, uh, self-awareness in place that says, you know what, like I, I realize that that I've worked hard, but still at the end of the day, this is, it's not about me. And, you know, there, there is a huge sense among people in the highest levels of, of power and influence and authority. Um, when, when you're around them, you immediately know whether they are walking in a confident humility or they're walking in an arrogant humility.

• 7:02Lewis Howes?

  I agree. And, you know, it's interesting, someone that I talked to recently, I think you know, uh, Maxwell, John Maxwell.

• 7:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:08Lewis Howes?

  Um, are you friends with him or?

• 7:10Speaker 01

  I am. I worked for John for many years.

• 7:11Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Yeah. You know, I interviewed him on the podcast recently and I was blown away by his humility and, you know, just his, he was so gracious. And I was like, here's a guy and maybe, I don't know, maybe he's different behind closed doors. I don't know. But from my experience of him, he was so gracious, so humble, where he's like sold millions and millions of copies of books, speaks in front of hundreds of thousands of people every year and has this big platform, but he was just like so humble and

• 7:40Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 7:40Lewis Howes?

  grateful. And I was like, wow, this guy could just blow me off and give me whatever answers, but he was so just, I was like, it was like he wanted to, to hang out. And I was like, I'm a nobody compared to you, but you're willing to still connect with me on that level. And I was like, that's amazing.

• 7:54Speaker 01

  And I think that's, and I can, I can testify from working for John and working around John and traveling with John and, you know, John is the real deal.

• 8:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 8:04Speaker 01

  And the thing about John, which you found so true in your conversation, which is true in the way he lives his life is in every environment he walks into, um, he makes other people the center of attention.

• 8:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 8:15Speaker 01

  And man, that if I can live that out as a as a humble leader, because what he's doing is he's walking in with a posture that says, I know I'm a big deal. But I realized that that I that part of my posture of being a humble, confident leader is I have to make others around me a big deal. Because it's really easy for me to walk into any environment and be the center of attention.

• 8:34Lewis Howes?

  Right. And say, look at me, let's let's all talk about me and this and that.

• 8:37Speaker 01

  Exactly. Yeah. And the responsibility is on him in that situation to to to decide, you know what, am I going to make it about me? Or am I going to make it about others? And that's that has to be like, again, the more we the more we steward, the more we the more we accomplish, the more we have to be intentional about this posture of saying, I realize I'm really good at what I do. I am, I can be the center of attention, but I have to force and be intentional about making others really the focus.

• 9:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I like that. So what's a good practice for us being humble and confident at the same time? Is there something that you recommend for people? Is there someone who does it really well that you know their routine? What do you think?

• 9:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I think, you know, one of the things for those who lead teams, for people who are running organizations or have people around them that are part of their staff, is, you know, if if you're a type A, which I am, and I'm sure you are, like, part of our our posture has to be that we let our ego leak about others. And, you know, I've heard people, I've heard people say that that it's really hard for me not to talk about myself. Well, you know what? I get that. Like, I understand because you're accomplishing a lot of things. So part of what you have to be willing to do is just, man, brag about the people around you. Like, make them the heroes of the story. And this is something that we can all do because we're so good at it.

• 10:00Speaker 01

  Most of the time, if we're if we're good at what we do, like, we're really good at talking about ourself, but just turn it on somebody else. And and let your ego leak, like, just let your ego leak constantly. About your staff, about your team, about the people around you. You know, we watch the athletes do this and it actually, it's so endearing when we watch an athlete who reflects the praise.

• 10:21Lewis Howes?

  Yes.

• 10:22Speaker 01

  Uh, and you know, many times they take the criticism, but they reflect the praise. So that, that's one practical thing is if, if you're constantly thinking, man, I want to talk about myself, just turn it on others.

• 10:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Great coaches do that too. You know, it's like, we, it's all about the players, about what they did, or I'm responsible if we messed up.

• 10:40Speaker 01

  Yes, exactly.

• 10:41Lewis Howes?

  You know, I made the bad call. I should have done something else. I take that ownership of my team. My players did great. Okay. So that's the humble part. Now hungry, for me, this is, hungry and hustle kind of come like hand in hand in a sense, because you gotta be hungry to, to want something. In my mind, you've got to be hungry for it. You gotta go after it. And then you've got to put in the work, time in and time out, until you build a momentum and a leverage where the work becomes a different type of work, the hustle.

• 11:08Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 11:09Lewis Howes?

  So talk to me about hunger and how does someone, what is hunger to you? How does someone get hungry if they don't know what they want? They're not, they don't know what they're passionate about. They feel stuck. How do you get hungry? And that you, and then how do you stay hungry?

• 11:23Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, I think at the, at the end of the day, being a hungry leader is you realize that you haven't arrived yet. And that, that once, even once you have arrived, that you're still not there. You know, that I, I love John Wooden's quote from his years of coaching UCLA. He said, he said, it's what you learn after you know it all that really counts. Uh, and even having John Maxwell on, you know, you listen to John talk about his life and he's still going for it. He's 68.

• 11:52Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 11:52Speaker 01

  And the guy is still like, he, he's as passionate and as, as hungry as he's ever been. And you know, many times as leaders, we, we arrive at a certain level and we just coast. And I, so I think the biggest part of being a hungry leader is saying, I'm, I've never arrived. I'm never there yet. I'm constantly getting better. And you know, the idea that leaders are learners, we're constantly improving, you know? And so e- even in the book, the, the idea of, of habits come into play when it comes to this idea of being a hungry leader. Um, and the habits are connected to all three of these, the idea of humble, hungry and hustle. But you know, a habit of innovation is a good example of one of the habits that the, the idea that, you know what?

• 12:35Speaker 01

  Like part of our job as leaders is to constantly be willing to push the envelope. And, and, and try to, try to get better on a consistent basis, you know?

• 12:44Lewis Howes?

  What does that mean as for like an entrepreneur, I'd say someone who's got, you know, a business and they've got their core product or service. That is their bread and butter. They're making six to seven figures a year with the same programs, courses, content. Are you saying that in order to stay hungry, that they should be pushing the envelope and not just say, okay, we're just going to keep doing the same things over and over. But we're going to look for new programs to create new products, new ways of putting it co- content out there. Is that what you mean or is it something else?

• 13:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think that's part of it. I think it's both part of the, the product you create and the service you provide, but also the type of leader you are personally. And you know, again, so many of us as leaders, when we think about our own personal leadership, we, when we have a little bit of success, we start to protect and hoard. We start to like, just, just own everything we have and pull it in as close as possible. And keep it from, from both being messed up potentially as well as keep it from being released out to others. And man, I, I think we have to just have a, an approach as a hungry leader that says, man, I'm going to, every conversation I have, every person I run into, every, every meeting I have is an opportunity for us to get better at what we do.

• 13:59Speaker 01

  And, and me personally as well, you know, so you're, it doesn't mean you change something because you just heard the latest, greatest method. That might've been put in front of you. It's that you're always taking that in and then having some sort of filtering process that says, I'm going to be open. To the opportunity that this might be be something that we can implement into whatever we do.

• 14:21Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 14:22Speaker 01

  And, you know, that's, that's, again, that's a posture that says, I'm hungry, I'm willing to learn. I realize that, that I don't have it all figured out.

• 14:29Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  And it's so easy for us to get to that point when we have some success that, that we start to protect our system that we created. And many times, the system we created is the one that's going to keep us from actually going to the next level.

• 14:42Lewis Howes?

  Right. What about people that don't even know what their level is, what their, their purpose is, their mission is? You talk about, you know, identity, calling and assignment.

• 14:51Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 14:52Lewis Howes?

  What is, you know, how do we discover these things? And what's the formula? What's the process for, you know, I don't know what I want. I'm not sure what, how do we know what my mission is?

• 15:01Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 15:02Lewis Howes?

  What if it changes? What, what's the process?

• 15:04Speaker 01

  Well, that's huge. And, um, you know, that, that comes back to this idea of self-awareness.

• 15:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 15:09Speaker 01

  And, and also calling. And I know you've talked a lot about on this podcast and with other leaders about calling and the side of the sweet spot.

• 15:17Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 15:17Speaker 01

  You know, that intersection where your strengths and passions come together. And I, and I've, I've wrestled with this in my own experience in the last couple of years. I, I started, was part of starting something called Catalyst and we grew it for, you know, fif- the last 15 years. And I recently stepped out of running it, uh, just because I wanted to pursue some other things and I'm still involved, I still help. But, you know, when I stepped away from Catalyst, which was 12 years for me of an identity, I really had to wrestle with, with, with what is it that, that I'm supposed to do with my life? And, and who am I really? Like, if I'm the Catalyst guy, everybody loved Catalyst Brad. Like they, you know, everybody wanted to call me.

• 15:56Lewis Howes?

  Identity around that brand, yeah.

• 15:57Speaker 01

  Exactly. And, and as soon as I stepped away, you know, is my, is my identity gone now?

• 16:02Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Like, does anybody care anymore? And so I had to.

• 16:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I, I felt the same thing with football. You know, I was playing football and that was my life. And then when I got injured, I was like, who am I? You know, what am I doing for the rest of my life now?

• 16:13Speaker 01

  Yeah. And so to, you know, to, when you think about identity, assignment and calling, uh, let me say in the correct way, identity, calling and then assignment. Identity is who you are. It's 30,000 foot level, it should be unchanging. Uh, uh, calling is, is the why in your life. It's the purpose. It's why am I here? And that's where your strengths and passions come together. And then assignment. Is what do I do? So we got to make sure that assignment and identity don't get wrapped up in in the wheel incorrectly together and.

• 16:45Lewis Howes?

  So can you clarify, you know, what yours are, just so we can get an example?

• 16:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, so my identity is I'm Brad Lomenick, you know, I'm I'm a son of Jerry and Penny. I grew up in Oklahoma, you know, I mean, I live in Atlanta, like, those are unchanging things right now. My my calling is that I I have a sense of my life that my purpose is to influence the influencers. And the other people have had that one that's not, it's not only mine, you know, I can't take credit for it, but my, I feel like my role is to gather, equip and inspire leaders. Now, the assignment for me, Lewis, has been, I've had four seasons of assignment. I worked on a guest ranch in Colorado, I was part of a small consulting firm, I worked with John Maxwell for a few years, and then I ran Catalyst. Those are, those have been my four seasons of assignment.

• 17:32Speaker 01

  But if I would have looked at those and felt like those were my identity, then all of a sudden, when I walk away from those, then my identity is, I have an identity crisis versus looking at it and going, no, that assignment was just a chapter of the book.

• 17:44Lewis Howes?

  Wow, I like that approach that that makes, that takes all the pressure off yourself.

• 17:49Speaker 01

  Exactly, and and so calling is in that middle spot, and that's, that's really the, that's the the hinge, that's really the the place where you take your identity and your assignments and you give them clarity.

• 18:00Lewis Howes?

  So I like that.

• 18:02Speaker 01

  I can do a lot of things in life now for the next 20 years that will still fit into my calling of influencing influencers.

• 18:10Lewis Howes?

  So let me see, I'll, I'll, I'll share what I think mine is then, and then you can tell me if I'm on the right track. So people, I think people should go through this identity calling and assignment for themselves, just so they can get clear on it. My identity is, my name's, you know, I'm Lewis Howes, I'm from a, a small town in Ohio, the youngest of four kids, my parents, Diana and Ralph, and.

• 18:33Lewis Howes?

  I uh I've traveled the world and lived in many different places. Would that be an identity?

• 18:39Speaker 01

  Yeah, absolutely.

• 18:40Lewis Howes?

  Is there anything I'm missing there or what I in brief terms, I guess?

• 18:43Speaker 01

  No, that's good. And again, identity is who you are. It's simply answering the question of who you are and uh and it's unchanging. It's things in life that will that will never change about you.

• 18:54Lewis Howes?

  My calling is to inspire a hundred million people and show them how to make a full-time living doing what they love.

• 19:02Speaker 01

  I love it.

• 19:03Lewis Howes?

  Because I I personally believe that that's what's going to heal people and make them the most fulfilled when they're making a full-time income doing what they love. That could be working for somewhere else. That could be working on a team. It could be uh you know, being an entrepreneur. It doesn't have to be making millions. It just means you're making a full-time income to support yourself and other your family, doing what you love. And then my assignment right now is, you know, the School of Greatness and then the mission that I have behind that and the podcast, the book, the programs. Uh and and those things. Would that be right?

• 19:36Speaker 01

  Yeah, that's great. And again, uh for for everybody listening, again, it's this is not rocket science and don't make it so hard. You know, that that's the key is like so many people, they sit around and they they just have they get paralyzed by the, you know, the the sense that they have to make their sound great or they have to make it sound like it should be in the in the pages of a book. You know, it's it's really simple, like who you are, why you're here and what you do, who you are, why you're here, what you do. And and if if you're what you do, then gives expression to why you're here and then your why you're here reflects who you are. Then you you're matching all those up and we we should never walk through life, though, and feel like that that walking away from a season of assignment

• 20:20Speaker 01

  is is a is a, you know, is a killing of our identity. And and this is this is so important for young leaders right now because the average twenty-five-year-old is going to have maybe up to fifteen different assignments in their career. The whole new gig economy, the free agent economy, it's it's upon us, you know, and and where the old days, my dad had one career. Like, he was forty years the same industry, whether he liked it or not. And the twenty-five-year-old today is going to walk through multiple seasons of assignment. And if they don't get their calling right. And they don't understand their true identity, they're going to be schizophrenic as it relates to the assignments they have.

• 20:59Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, that's interesting. It's so simple, but it's uh, it could be the one of those powerful things you do if you know those three things and you don't associate your assignment with your identity.

• 21:10Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 21:10Lewis Howes?

  Because then you'll, you know, I associated my assignment playing football with my identity.

• 21:16Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 21:16Lewis Howes?

  And for two years I was depressed and miserable and missing out and feeling sad for myself.

• 21:21Speaker 01

  Right. And I mean, I've, you, you have lots of friends who are probably still playing and and they're going to walk away at twenty eight, thirty, thirty two and they're gonna, they're gonna look at life and go, oh, my gosh, I have no reason or purpose for existence.

• 21:35Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 21:36Speaker 01

  And it's just not true that that's an assignment for them. Football career is an assignment. It's not, it, it, it reflects their identity and it should reflect their calling, but it should not take the place of their identity.

• 21:47Lewis Howes?

  Right. What do you think is the most important habit that we can have as individuals?

• 21:55Speaker 01

  Yeah, I, I think today, um, two things, and if you'll, if you'll give me the freedom to have two.

• 22:00Lewis Howes?

  Sure.

• 22:01Speaker 01

  One is more internal and one is external. I think the habit of authenticity and of openness of, of self-awareness is crucial. You know, if you're not an authentic leader today, you're going to have a really hard time uh, having people that will, that will want to follow you or that actually will follow you. And you know, this is, this is so true more than ever because of the fact that we live in a world of think. And the more real we are, the more influence we'll have. So that, that would be the first one on the internal side of how you lead. The second would be the external, which is a habit of execution. And I, I, I just believe in, in the, the current landscape of leadership with free agency, with, with

• 22:44Speaker 01

  hierarchies that are flattening, um, with so many more entrepreneurs than we've ever had, with, with small organizations that a habit of execution is crucial. Like you have the old days of you being able to sit in the corner office and drink spritzers and bark out commands, you know, and, and uh, you, you had a command and control style. You were never willing to get your hands dirty. That those days are over. There's still a few corporations and large, you know, industries that exist that that's not true. And but most of the leadership landscape is now built around a very, an environment that says, I'm willing to get my hands dirty.

• 23:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 23:20Speaker 01

  And I'm willing to, to not only get in the game with you and be beside you in the trenches, but we realize that the greatest form of us being able to move things forward is actually getting things done. And it has to, you know, if you read Seth Godin, which I do, and I know you do, like Seth has been barking this for 10 years. And it's so true now that you just have to be a, you have to have a culture that shifts. You have to have a culture that says, we're going to push it across the finish line. We're going to score a touchdown. We're going to make things happen and get things done.

• 23:50Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. And, you know, the third thing you talk about is always hustle. And for some people, they might think, man, I have to always hustle for the rest of my life. That sounds exhausting. What do you mean by, what's hustle mean to you? And, and how do we do it? And how long do we have to do it for?

• 24:04Speaker 01

  Well, hustle is, again, it's a posture and it's, it's something that says you're willing to work your guts out when the time requires that to be so. It's interesting, you know, even some of the habits that are in the hustle bucket in the book, there's a habit of generosity that is, that helps define what hustle is. There's a habit of margin. You know, it's so important that we, that we work hard as well as we play hard, and that we also rest hard. And if you're not setting up margin in your life, as part of your hustle mentality, then you're gonna, one, you're gonna burn out really fast, but two, you're, you're gonna redline so much that you'll probably end up just killing yourself.

• 24:47Speaker 01

  And you, we have to, and the, another part of hustle is, is generosity. Like, what does it look like for you to actually realize that the greatest form of your leadership being successful is for it to add value to other people? You know, so you've got to take a hustle posture, not just, I mean, part of it is to get things done and work your guts out, but it's also that idea that you, you take all the areas of life, and you bring such a level of intensity to those, that you're pushing the ball forward. And it's, it's all the areas that have to be done well, and not just that you're overworking yourself, or you're staying till 10 o'clock at night, and you're working 80 hours.

• 25:29Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 25:29Speaker 01

  That, that's, that's part of it potentially in certain seasons.

• 25:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:34Speaker 01

  But it doesn't mean that you now define yourself by I can outwork anyone.

• 25:38Lewis Howes?

  Right. Eighty hours a week for the rest of my life. Yeah. And John talked about that, too. He's like, you know, I'd said, is there a way to have, you know, balance in life? He's like, it's not possible because we go through seasons, you know? Sometimes you're in the playoffs and you're going to be working nonstop. And then you're going to have an off season to recover and you're not going to be working much at all. You're going to be reflecting and, um, you know, and then there's other times where you're maintaining. So it's just, I think we've got to learn to listen to our body, um, learn to listen to, you know, the people around us, our companies, things like that, and be willing to ebb and flow with as things come and go, right?

• 26:11Speaker 01

  Yeah. And it's also just a willingness that says, I want to be the best in the world at what I do. You know, have a, a standard of excellence is, is part of this idea of hustle as well as hungry. But, you know, that, that my goal is to be the best in the world and I keep, I continue to sort of raise that level of standard. Uh, not because it's all about me, but because I want to create something that's done well.

• 26:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 26:35Speaker 01

  And, you know, this is, this is the, this is the ultimate expression many times of, of how we receive accolades or success. You know, like your book doesn't make the bestseller list just because you worked hard.

• 26:48Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 26:48Speaker 01

  And that's part of it.

• 26:49Lewis Howes?

  It doesn't even, it doesn't even matter if you write a great book.

• 26:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:52Lewis Howes?

  If no one gets to see it, if you don't promote it in front of people, then no one's going to read it.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Yeah. And then, I mean, the other side of that is if it's not good, then, you know, people won't pass it along.

• 27:02Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 27:03Speaker 01

  So it has to be both a posture that says, I'm willing to, you know, to get it done. But I also have to create something that's really done well.

• 27:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. I like that. What's your definition of leadership?

• 27:13Speaker 01

  You know, I, I still live by the premise that leadership is influence. You know, and, and that's Maxwell, that's John Maxwell. You heard it on your conversation with him and, and I would echo that. Um, that it's not about title. It's not about position. It's not about authority. Um, I believe that the leaders who are leading well today are the ones that are out in front, uh, not just, not just in charge. Um, so, but I would leave it at that core of leadership is influence. And that means that we're all leaders because we're all neighbors, we're all fathers and, and mothers. We're all, you know, we're all part of a community. We're all part of an organization. We're coworkers. So we all have influence at some level.

• 27:53Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. For someone listening and they think, you know what? I'd like to be more influential. What are some, in today's age, what do you think are some things, maybe a few things, that people could do to increase their influence?

• 28:06Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, and especially if you're somebody who is, um, is looking at the landscape of your place in life, and let's assume that they're saying, I wanna, I wanna continue to kind of raise the standard as well as climb the ladder.

• 28:20Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:21Speaker 01

  Uh, one, one thing would be that you, you need to start acting, leading, speaking, uh, dressing, having conversations like the position you want next.

• 28:30Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 28:31Speaker 01

  And, and this is, this is so true in football and, and sports, you know, when you're the, when you're the, when you're the second string, uh, when you're the backup, you have to show up to practice every day like you're the starter.

• 28:42Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 28:43Speaker 01

  Cause you never know when you're gonna get put in.

• 28:44Lewis Howes?

  Exactly.

• 28:45Speaker 01

  And, and many of us, many of us, we, we spend so much of our energy thinking about the next thing, or the next promotion, or the next position, or the next opportunity, and we lose sight of the, the current realities. And I would say, man, just kill it in your current. Like, just absolutely be the best in the world at what you do in your current, because that's the greatest opportunity for you to show and express how you will kill it in the next.

• 29:14Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 29:15Speaker 01

  And, and the way you kill it in the now is you take your assignment, you do it well, but you also start to, you start to, to think and, and, and act and talk, um, and show up with the same level of commitment that you would have in that next level. So, if you're a mid-level manager and you say, Brad, I would love to be a VP in my company, you know what? Start watching the VPs that are in your company and start emulating or modeling the things that they're doing, or the, the, the expectations they have on their life, the accountability that they have to live out. And you'll start to see that. Slowly but surely, um, bring a new level of accountability to your own world. Yeah. And, you know, you can't just wait until you step into that next role before you start acting like you're already in it. Hmm, I love it.

• 30:01Speaker 01

  That, that would be one. Um, you know, a second one is, man, we've never lived in a, in an, in an age, Lewis. And this is, that's why I love your podcast. Like, we've never lived in an age where we have excuses anymore of, of, Right. not being learners. And people will, will still show up and they'll say, well, I don't have an MBA. Or, you know, I, I never really got to go and finish college. Um, I, I, I don't have any opportunities to go to conferences. Man, you have so many conferences that are at your disposal. Exactly. Online conferences too, that are free. Absolutely. Like, there's just no excuse anymore. So, you know, find a few things that you really have a passion for,

• 30:43Speaker 01

  and start digging into those and become a student. Become a student. Um, and, and when I say student, I mean, uh, part of your posture as a young, up and coming leader, or even if you're, you know, mid-level or mid-age, is fi- find people who you really admire and reach out to them. Like, there's a lot of people who still will email me or email you that I respond to. Mm-hmm. And the, you know, I, I've never, I, I've always tried as, as far up the ladder as I've gone, and that's not very far. But as far up the ladder I've gone, I've always tried to be willing to reach back down the ladder and pull people up next to me. Hmm. And this is true of great leaders. Like, they are more, they are always willing,

• 31:26Speaker 01

  if time allows and if schedule is, is okay, to help people along their journey. But you've got to reach out to them. Yeah. So, don't, you know, you, you did this. Like, your story is, is such a model of this idea of being willing to, to get in the messy, awkward places and start asking people for advice and can I have a few minutes of your time? Can I ask you a few questions? And most people will say yes.

• 31:51Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 31:52Speaker 01

  They just will. Um, but, but don't ever let that excuse of, of where you sit. Oh, you know, woe is me. Nobody cares. Nobody's willing to talk to me or, or respond to me. That's just not true anymore.

• 32:02Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I love that. Couple of questions left for you, Brad.

• 32:05Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 32:06Lewis Howes?

  And before I ask them, want to make sure that people go check out the book. It's called Be Humble, Stay Hungry, Always Hustle. And it's 20 key habits great leaders have in common. Um, that are throughout the book. There's some great habits. You guys know that I'm a big fan of habits and rituals. So I definitely recommend checking it out. I'll also have it linked up here at the end in the show notes. So I'll tell you guys where to go for that, but you can get it on Amazon. And, um, what's the best site to check out what you're up to, Brad?

• 32:35Speaker 01

  Yeah. Um, people can check out the book site is h3leadership.com.

• 32:39Lewis Howes?

  Okay.

• 32:39Speaker 01

  And then my site is just my name, Brad Lomenick, L O M E N I C K dot com. So those are the two best places. And then all the social media outlets, I'm just my, my full name, at Brad Lomenick.

• 32:49Lewis Howes?

  Okay, cool. We'll have those all linked up here in a moment on the show notes. Um, two final questions. Uh, this is something I ask at the end of every episode, and one is the three truths question. So if, uh, if your book was erased and everything you've ever created was gone, and you had a piece of paper and a pen to write down the three things you know to be true about life, and that would be the message that you give to the world. That's all they would know from you. What would those three truths be?

• 33:17Speaker 01

  Hmm. Man, I love this question. Uh, I, I think, um, the first one would be that family matters. Uh, the second one would be that faith is not only important, but it's the, it's the, the biggest story happening. And that, uh, my story connected to a larger faith story in the sense of, of me as a believer, as somebody who follows God, is the best thing for me to live for. Um, the third would be this, that the people who go with me on the journey, if I don't finish well with them, then my life has not been a success.

• 33:58Speaker 01

  And so, uh, family, faith, and friends. I mean, if, if I had to sort of wrap those three into the three Fs, that would be, that would be it.

• 34:07Lewis Howes?

  There you go. I love it. Before I ask the final question, Brad, I want to take a moment to acknowledge you because I feel like there are not enough people like you out there who are able to create information and serve people on such a high level that makes it simple for us to figure out what our purpose is, our identity, and how to take the seasons of life. So I am very grateful and acknowledge you for how you show up in the world. You are very humble and it comes across and you're such a clear communicator that it serves a lot of people. So thanks for all that you do.

• 34:42Speaker 01

  Well, thanks, man. And, and just, I think the last thing for me to say would be, you know, people ask me now, like at 42, Brad, like, what's the rest of the story? You know, leadership catalyst, like you built something. And my, my story is for 20 years, I feel like I've been building a platform that would create influence. And I think the next 20 years, I'm going to be leveraging that platform for others' gain.

• 35:06Lewis Howes?

  I love it. I love it. Final question. What's your definition of greatness?

• 35:11Speaker 01

  My definition of greatness is that other people around me thrive and flourish.

• 35:16Lewis Howes?

  There you go. Brad Lomenick, thanks so much for coming on and sharing your wisdom with us today. I appreciate it.

• 35:21Speaker 01

  Thanks, Louis. You're awesome, man. Keep up the great work.

• 35:23Lewis Howes?

  Thank you. And there you have it, gang. What a powerful episode with my friend Brad. Thank you, guys, for sticking around. Let me know what you enjoyed the most out of this. Go back to the show notes at lewishouse.com/263 and tweet me at Lewis Howes what you enjoyed the most from this episode today about influence, about leadership, about calling, identity. Again, lewishouse.com/263. We do this every Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and we've got some big things coming up next year. The year is about to wrap. I'm excited. I'm going to go in hibernation mode. Thank you, guys, for sticking around. Make sure to check out Brad as well and his websites. We've got it all linked back at lewishouse.com/263. I

• 36:06Lewis Howes?

  love you, guys. Thank you. And you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.