Jason Caldwell is the definition of an adventurer. He’s rowed across the Atlantic ocean twice, setting a world record on one run, and the Pacific Ocean setting a world record for the fastest time as well. He's trekked through the oldest desert in the world. Caldwell, CEO and Founder of Latitude 35 Leadership and author of “What IF”, joins host Dan Ryan to talk about his experiences with cross ocean rowing and how that has influenced his view on leadership and hospitality. 

Takeaways: 

• Hospitality isn’t always about the place you are staying or eating. It’s about creating a positive feeling for your guest or those who are around you, making them feel comfortable.
• Ocean rowing requires four people in a 30 ft fiberglass rowboat. On the trip where Jason broke the world record across the Atlantic, two of the four teammates had to leave the race only 600 miles in, with 2,400 miles left to go.
• Jason created a comfortable environment in an uncomfortable rowboat situation by playing to his co-passengers' strengths.
• Having quick, daily meetings with your team helps your team to feel connected to the leader and also feel valued. 
• There is a difference between being a leader and being a captain. A leader works with the team, while a captain is the one to give the orders to a team. 
• When leading a team, you don’t want your co-workers or teammates to dread working for you, you want them to feel grateful to working alongside you.

Quote of the Show:

3:30 “When I think of hospitality, I'm thinking from my experiences at hotels, at restaurants and that stuff. I'm always the person who's being catered to. For me, the definition of hospitality is really ways that I can create a level of comfort, whether that's a physical comfort, mental comfort, or an emotional comfort for people in my world. My people are my teammates and as leaders of these teams that row across oceans and do all these extremely dangerous and endurance driven things and incredibly difficult, I have kind of the burden, but also the opportunity and privilege to find different ways that I can create that comfort.”

Links:

• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jason-caldwell-44121119
• Website: https://lat35.co
• Book Links: https://www.amazon.com/What-IF-Jason-Thomas-Caldwell/dp/1543461123
  • https://www.amazon.com/Navigating-Impossible-Extraordinary-Shatter-Expectations/dp/1523086718
• Instagram: @Jason_t_caldwell

Shout Outs:

1:13 Hospitality Design Summit in Lake Tahoe

23:57 Verne Harnish

24:01 Rockefeller Habits, book by Verne Harnish

30:55 Sonoma State

31:05 Vesper Boat House

31:32 Yale

31:32 Princeton

31:34 Dartmouth

42:41 JFK

52:07 Herman Melvile

52:09 Moby Dick

Ways to Tune In: 

• Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0A2XOJvb6mGqEPYJ5bilPX
• Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/defining-hospitality-podcast/id1573596386
• Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZGVmaW5pbmdob3NwaXRhbGl0eS5saXZlL2ZlZWQueG1s
• Amazon Music: ​​https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/8c904932-90fa-41c3-813e-1cb8f3c42419
• Youtube : https://youtu.be/rXTNNR9-BJE