In this heartwarming episode of '10 Lessons Learned,' the host, Robert, is joined by the legendary Santa Claus. Santa shares five essential life lessons that have shaped him through centuries of spreading joy and hope. He emphasizes the importance of giving over receiving, the magic of kindness, cherishing traditions, maintaining a sense of wonder, and the power of gratitude.  

Through touching stories from his travels, Santa illustrates how these lessons create deeper connections and bring lasting happiness, reminding us that these teachings are valuable all year round, not just during Christmas.  

Episode Notes 

 00:43 Lesson 1: The Joy of Giving 

01:54 Lesson 2: Believe in the Magic of Kindness 

03:18 Lesson 3: Cherish Traditions 

04:56 Lesson 4: Never Lose Your Sense of Wonder 

06:07 Lesson 5: Gratitude is the Greatest Gift 

Huw is a professional speaker, executive mentor and is an expert in transformational change.

He has worked with almost 100 organisations across multitudes of industries including media, banking, NFPs, pharmaceuticals and public service.

After years at a top-tier consulting firm, he led the scaling of several boutique professional service firms including the 5x revenue growth of one startup.

Huw also serves as a practicing non-executive company director and chair.

Episode Notes

04:20 Lesson 1:      Think and Dream Big.

06:19 Lesson 2:      Seek Adversity and Discomfort.

14:40 Lesson 3:      Be Sceptical About Fads and Bad Ideas.

25:12 Lesson 4:      To Be Exceptional, You Must Stand Out and Be Different.

29:15 Lesson 5:      Tolerance of Uncertainty Is a Leadership Superpower.

34:19 Lesson 6:      Embrace Acceptance and Forgiveness.

38:53 Lesson 7:      Make Yourself Useful.

43:30 Lesson 8:      Shape the Experience Others Have of You.

47:05 Lesson 9:      Framing Is a Powerful Lever of Influence.

49:42 Lesson 10:    Life Is a Team Game.

Marty is an accomplished Silicon Valley sales executive and a B2B sales best practices thought leader. He has been a tech industry sales and revenue leader for more than 30 years.

Marty has operated at the forefront of several paradigm-shifting technology transitions where he pioneered and developed models for success in customer engagements. His experience spans a broad range of tech industry segments including semiconductors, systems, software, and services.

Having grown up in Brooklyn, N.Y where he learned at an early age how to be a top tier sales person, he moved to the San Francisco Bay Area to build his professional career in the tech industry.

Marty’s expertise encompasses direct sales team leadership and the effective utilization of channels and partners to grow and scale revenue.  He has honed his skills working for some of the world’s largest companies and by successfully leading sales for several growth and scale-stage businesses.

Previously, Marty was chairman of the Sales Leadership Council and on the board of the VP of Sales Forum in Silicon Valley.  During that period, he directed and led discussions among many top sales executives on overcoming challenges in sales and attaining revenue goals.

Today, he is a well-known figure in the Arizona startup community where he is a recognized subject matter expert on revenue growth. He has his own consulting and advisory firm, LevelUp Growth Partners, and works with many growth stage startups to develop their go-to-market and sales execution plans. Marty is also active at Arizona State University where he has designed and leads several entrepreneurial programs for students, alumni, and faculty participants.   

Episode Notes

05:48 Lesson 1:          Winning and keeping customers is the essential function of a business

06:51 Lesson 2:          Communications excellence is THE key business superpower

08:47 Lesson 3:          Be Curious, Keep Learning.

10:31 Lesson 4:          Embrace Change. “Resistance is Futile”.

13:00 Lesson 5:          Listen to your gut but don’t rely on it solely

15:23 Lesson 6:          Your reputation is essential to your success. Be vigilant to maintain it.

18:53 Lesson 7:          Be trustworthy. Earn people’s trust. Avoid demanding it.

23:00 Lesson 8:          Listen More; Talk Less

27:58 Lesson 9:          Lead by example. Others will act as you do.

31:52 Lesson 10:        Great individual performance in a team effort is the model for excellence

Fabio Teixeira is a seasoned executive leader and experienced and NACD certified Board member with a global perspective, known for his remarkable cross-cultural acumen and unwavering drive. With a distinguished career spanning over 30 years, he has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership skills, honed through diverse industry experiences and a unique background that includes leadership positions in companies such as Chevron, Ensco, and Atlas Copco. As an entrepreneur, Mr. Teixeira owns and operates well-known brands such as Supercuts & Cost Cutters and he serves as a member of the Board of Directors at the March of Dimes and at Ensco Joint Venture.

Throughout his career, Mr. Teixeira has held a series of high-impact executive leadership roles in the Oil & Gas and manufacturing industries and as an entrepreneur. His career has been marked by a track record of achieving substantial growth, fostering collaboration, developing workforce, and driving innovation. During his tenure in the energy industry, Mr. Teixeira previously managed a P&L of $750 million dollars and was the executive leader of two successfully M&A integrations not only completing them on time but exceeding financial synergies of US$ 250 MM which positioned the organization as one of the industry leaders.

Mr. Teixeira served as a Board of Director for the Ensco joint venture in Angola for 4 years. In addition, his negotiation skills combined with cultural fluency and adaptability were instrumental in forging successful commercial agreements with partners, clients and governments, mainly in Africa and Asia.

Currently, as an entrepreneur, Mr. Teixeira is the owner, President & CEO of Gavi Excellence and Viga Excellence, managing a team of 30 successfully franchised locations under Supercuts and Cost Cutters brands with more than 1.5 million of haircuts provided. He is also a Board member with the March of Dimes in the Greater Houston area which is the biggest market for one of the largest nonprofit organizations in the USA, raising more than $5 MM per year.

Mr. Teixeira holds an MBA degree from Thunderbird, School of Global Management, with a focus on finance and strategy. In addition, he holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering and a BA in Business Administration with specialization in International Management from Fundacao Getulio Vargas (FGV) in Brazil.

Episode Notes

07:34 Lesson 1: Trust but Verify

Warren Farrell, PhD, has coached couples and psychologists in couples’ communication for the past 30 years. His Role Mate to Soul Mate book emanates from his popular course of the same title.

Dr. Farrell has been chosen by the Financial Times of London as one of the world’s top 100 thought leaders. His books are published in 19 languages, and include The New York Times bestseller Why Men Are the Way They Are, international bestseller The Myth of Male Power, and 2018's The Boy Crisis..

Dr. Farrell has been interviewed repeatedly by Oprah, Barbara Walters, Tucker Carlson and Jordan Peterson, and also by Peter Jennings, Katie Couric, and Charlie Rose. He has frequently written for and been featured in The New York Times and publications worldwide. Warren has two daughters and lives with his wife in Mill Valley, California, and virtually at warrenfarrell.com.

Episode Notes

08:51 Soulmate Wisdom 1: The secret to feeling loved is to feel understood.

14:18 Soulmate Wisdom 2: Our choice of partner is the most important statement about our choice of values.

18:09 Soulmate Wisdom 3: Every virtue taken to its extreme becomes a vice.

22:48 Soulmate Wisdom 4: Criticism looks different to the criticizer and the criticized

25:28 Soulmate Wisdom 5: Anger is Vulnerability's Mask.

30:10 Soulmate Wisdom 6: Falling in love is biologically natural and sustaining love is biologically unnatural

31:15 Soulmate Wisdom 7: The path to relationship wealth is appreciating your partner as if you're panning for gold

33:29 Soulmate Wisdom 8: The more you love your partner, the more vulnerable you feel.

35:28 Soulmate Wisdom 9: When either of us wins, both of us lose.

36:24 Soulmate Wisdom 10: Never say what you don't want, ask for what you do

38:55 Soulmate Wisdom 11. When criticism appears, wisdom disappears

Mayor Kevin Hartke is passionate about all things Chandler and Arizona. He began his second term in January 2023. Kevin served as Vice Mayor twice, as well as on City Council for nine years. Kevin and his wife, Lynne, have been married for 42 years and have lived in Chandler since 1985. They have four children and four grandchildren. Kevin continues to serve as a Pastor at Trinity Christian Fellowship in Chandler where he has worked since 1985. He has a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and a master’s degree in Theology. Kevin is involved extensively in the state, region and Chandler community. As Mayor, he serves as Vice President on the Arizona League of Cities and Towns Board and on the Executive Board of Maricopa Association of Governments. He also serves as a board member of the Greater Phoenix Economic Council. In Chandler, Kevin volunteers with several organizations: For Our City Chandler, IHELP (local homelessness solution), American Cancer Society; Ex-officio board member with Chandler Chamber of Commerce and Chandler's Sister Cities. Kevin is a literacy advocate reading to students in Chandler since 2007.

Episode Notes

Lesson 1: 05:33 Life is beautiful and full of wonder. Take time daily to appreciate it.

Attila was born and raised in communistic Hungary. At the age of 19, in pursuit of a better life, he moved to Phoenix Arizona in 1987. That was 2 years prior to the Eastern Block falling apart. After learning English, he started his education at Arizona State University and completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in 3 years. Attila continued his education at Thunderbird and received a Master of Business Administration in 12 months. He has worked in several different industries including sport apparel, optical, commercial wash accessories, homeware, consumer goods and medical supplies. He had the opportunity to work on marketing strategies for global brands like Puma® and Dial®. Attila also held both international and national sales positions where he negotiated multimillion dollar supply agreements in the optical, consumer goods, and healthcare industries. He is currently a real estate associate broker position where he guides clients through one of the most important transactions of their lifetime.

Episode notes

06:17 Lesson 1: Treat the doorman of a company with as much respect as you would give to              the president of the company

In this episode of '10 Lessons Learned,' hosts Yi and Jeffrey Wang delve into the theme of humility and its significance, particularly in leadership. They reflect on lessons from various guests, including Megumi Miki, Brad Chan, and Hector Colón, who emphasize the balance between humility and confidence, servant leadership, and the universal importance of humility across cultures. The discussion also touches on how humility fosters gratitude, wisdom, and effective leadership. The hosts conclude by inviting listeners to share their thoughts on the topic.

About Our Hosts

Yi Wang is passionate about applying a risk lens and toolkit to a business challenge, making it meaningful to stakeholders so to make better decisions and achieve their success. Having lived the life of a 1st-generation migrant in Australia, Yi completed a hybrid education in accounting and IT and worked in professional service and many digital-first industries. Yi received countless support and advice generously given by others, so he is a strong believer in mentorship and its power to help young professionals to realise their potential. Outside of his professional life, Yi enjoys playtime with his family, reading and is studying towards professional qualifications in mental health and counselling. Since joining the #10lessonslearned team, Yi has re-energised the team and helped refine a marketing strategy to amplify the outreach of the wisdom we aspire to share.

Jeffery Wang is the founder of Professional Development Forum, an organisation dedicated to help young professionals find fulfilment in the modern Australian workplace for more than 13 years. Since its inception, the forum has hosted multitudes of successful, remarkable, and inspiring leaders. Through this journey, Jeffery developed a passion for empowering culturally diverse talent and unlocking their leadership potential. Jeffery is a passionate advocate of genuine diversity, servant leadership and mentorship and engages actively both as a mentor and mentee. Jeffery has almost 20 years of experience working as a sales and strategy professional in the IT Industry looking after enterprise and government customers. He has lived in Taiwan and New Zealand before migrating to Sydney where he currently lives with his wife and two boys.

Episode Notes

00:00 Introduction and Episode Overview

00:38 Exploring the Concept of Humility

01:49 Cultural Perspectives on Humility

02:52 Humility in Leadership

04:21 Behavioural Traits vs. Value Traits

05:49 Challenges and Misconceptions of Humility

Garry McLinn is an emerging Sales Leader for the leader in Experience Based Learning, Education First.  His career is somewhat non-traditional, having spent 10 years as an opera singer, performing all across North America, specifically Montreal and Boston.  During that time, Garry developed a passion for team-based collaboration, steering him towards a pivot into sales where he grew his career towards leadership as quickly as possible.

Garry joined EF in February of 2019, as an entry level sales consultant in their international travel for students division.  Over a turbulent 5 years, marked by COVID, Garry was able to find a voice for himself to help his professional community navigate the challenges of operating as a travel organization amid a global pandemic.  As the world started to emerge from COVID, Garry was ready for his next step into leadership, but was sidetracked by a new journey – overcoming a diagnosis of High-Grade B-Cell Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  Throughout treatment, Garry cultivated an attitude of unwavering positivity, leaned into his work to the extent his health would allow, and emerged from a 6-month treatment plan victorious in both professional and medical pursuits.

Shortly after his tangle with Cancer, Garry was elevated into a leadership position where he would be the steward of the newest hires within a specific product under the EF Umbrella.  In that time, he managed 28 direct reports at once, graduated them on to sales teams one by one, onboarded a co-manager and built a shared leadership model that has since been replicated in other departments, and fundamentally changed the nature of the new hire’s day-day responsibilities.  After a year of one success after another, Garry was asked to step into the directorship of a regional sales team, a role he occupies today.

Throughout everything, Garry has been a champion of inclusivity, vulnerability, and candor.

Episode notes

Lesson 1: Listen first 04:17

Steve Scanlon is the founder and CEO of Rewire, a coaching and development company that helps companies, teams and individuals better understand how to make effective changes for radical improvement in their businesses and in their personal lives.

He owned and operated three companies by the time he was 30 and has since dedicated over 30,000 hours to one-on-one coaching with business executives and other top performers and has presented hundreds of workshops and keynote sessions to tens of thousands of people across the country. He is certified by the ICF, has a certification in interpersonal neurobiology from the Mindsight Institute, and was a senior fellow at the Institute of Coaching, which is endowed by the Harvard Medical School.

He’s a co-creator and co-host of The Insight Interviews podcast, where he interviews experts and thought leaders about what has contributed to their success, and he’s the author of two books, Reality and Hope: Reflections From a Coach's Chair and Still the Lizard: Transformation Is Closer Than You Think.

Steve is a self-proclaimed neuroscience geek, passionate golfer, family man, and occasional painter.

Episode notes

06:37 Lesson 1: Be the most interested not the most interesting.

13:15 Lesson 2: Don’t believe everything you think.

18:22 Lesson 3: Practice the art of caring without carrying.

23:37 Lesson 4: Notice “Othering”.

30:15 Lesson 5: Grow in Compassion.

32:05 Affiliate Break

32:46 Lesson 6: Know the Season.

35:15 Lesson 7: Listen with Abandon.

38:05 Lesson 8: Practice Silence