Uncommon

Phil Ruthven AM is the founder and current director of IBISWorld, an international corporation providing online business information and forecasting - widely known for its breadth of information available. As a Member of the Order of Australia, Phil is respected for his commentary across all forms of media on business and the economy, revered by previous guests such as futurist and demographer Bernard Salt AM.

When I spoke to you in Bernard’s episode, I highlighted the importance of data and statistics in defining the story. Phil, himself, says in this episode that facts often ruin a good story, and so that’s why I felt you should hear from the man who paved the way for people like Bernard.

Too often you and I see people using hearsay and scuttlebutt (as Phil coins it). How many social occasions have you been to, where people start trumpeting phony realities that you know are most definitely wrong?

Phil outlines how you can to take a holistic approach in business or personal life, and how that will particularly hold you in good stead for life. The future of Australia is bright, particularly beneficial to our generation. While we spoke about what is actually coming, and how automation will impact your life, he also highlighted that politics will play a crucial part in that future - and why the current lack of political leadership could be disastrous for the long term.

What I respect about Phil is that he’s always strived to make better decisions, and in the process make you and I smarter in the process (or at least seem smarter). He has a genuine hunger for understanding what is happening in the world, and is always humble when doing so. I’ve never heard Phil speak poorly, or act aggressively to anyone.

It was an incredible opportunity to interview Phil (his last personal audio interview was with the ABC in 2008), so I hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

Michael Jayaranjan ( @michaelcjay ) is a good friend, wandering salesman and self-improvement geek. You may remember MJ from episode 5 (currently our most popular) in which we spoke about making rapid changes in your life, and constantly improving yourself as an individual.

My goal in doing an episode regularly with MJ, is to convince this kooky individual to get on air regularly, while also discussing changes in the field of scientific self-improvement including tools, tricks and gadgets.

MJ has a unique ability to see through the noise when it comes to assessing yourself as an individual, seeing where you fit in your own world (whether it’s a business, community, family, other), and cutting through any crap that people dish up. He’s constantly making me reassess decisions in my life and my own motivations; that’s an incredibly powerful friend to have around.

The last thing anyone needs in their life are friends that allow you to talk crap, lie about the realities in your life and not challenge you - those are fake relationships.

Jim Rohn famously said we’re the average of the five people we spend the most time with, and I think that’s definitely true by hanging out with people like MJ.

This semi-regular show’s format is largely inspired by Tim Ferriss’ & Kevin Rose’s “Random Show”, where we can discuss random topics such as tools, documentaries, podcasts, books, experiences and so forth.

Justin Peckett is an ex-AFL player for the St Kilda Football Club and Partner of Leading Teams, a company that helps improve both leaders and high performing teams.

When it comes to leadership, and high performance, I’ve always looked to the military and sport for setting the standard. You’ve probably experienced the typical workplace leader who has never truly earned your respect or commitment. Instead they lead by enforcing your respect through position or ability to stall your career progression.

Military and sporting clubs are a whole different beast. You won’t just be assigned leadership because you have tenure, you must demonstrate it. So how do military and sporting organisations encourage leadership?

The US Navy Seals are known for having the internal commandment “leadership is ownership”. This has been popularised in the private sector and Silicon Valley in recent years - but what they mean, is that taking ownership for everything in your world is a requirement of being a good leader; complaining about outside forces impacting your life is not an excuse.

They believe in this principal so stringently, that there’s another saying in the Navy Seals; “There are no bad teams, only bad leaders”. Leadership is the highest leverage component of what makes a group of people effective or useless.

You don’t agree?

Consider the same-sex marriage debate in Australia. Whether you agree or disagree on its validity, the fact that our nation's leaders decided to not take ownership and have a free vote is a prime example of bad leadership. Their indecision will no doubt cost the Liberal Party their status as the ruling party, as they’ve shown their lack of a backbone. It will cost our nation another $122M (plus interest), and created a divisive media debate that will further drive both the left and right of politics apart.

All because your leaders were beholden to minority groups, and did not take ownership.

I feel that in the Western world we’ve all become blinded in blaming others or outside factors for our situation, and hence it mirrors the current political situation in the US, U.K. or here in Australia. Perhaps now you understand why I think Justin’s work is so important, and maybe he’ll spur you on to take a little ownership in your own life.

Bernard Salt AM is a demographer, futurist, author, columnist and business advisor. Bernard is easily one of the most highly regarded demographers in Australia, known by most millennials for the misrepresentation of his famed ‘smashed avocado’ satire piece.

Statistics and raw data that are accurately formulated, provide you a holistic view of what is actually happening in your world (whether it's the economy, an industry, community or family). Too often, people are making decisions on career and business by a feeling, and finding data to support that confirmation bias.

How many relatives do you find that deny realities like climate change and cherry-pick statistics, - rather than the entire data set - to identify what is actually happening? There are countless examples like this in your life.

Demographics and forecasting are crucial to making smart decisions, and that’s why I wanted to introduce you to one of the preeminent forecasters with Bernard.

What I like about Bernard, is that he succinctly uses data to narrate a story that integrates realities of the world around us. It’s clear that hearing Bernard speak, or by reading his written work, that sociology and entertainment also frame a crucial aspect of what is happening in our world - to the point where he can describe accurately what our society was like at certain points of time.

My own biases were challenged in this interview. We spoke about the current view of housing, and how migration is transforming how we should navigate the housing market. Those same migratory patterns, Bernards explanation of Australia’s position in Asia, and previous discussions with guests have made me realise that Australia needs to start separating itself from the US and start acting as a neutral power in Asia - it’s our only future.

Nathan Chan is the CEO & Publisher of Foundr Magazine. Nathan is the ultimate poster boy for learning how to bootstrap and grind in the business world, going from no experience, and a passion for marketing, to running a multi-million dollar business in no small feat.

When I first created my LinkedIn account, Nathan added me not too long afterwards, and that was my first introduction to Foundr. I didn’t pay attention at first, and sort of breezed through what he was doing with the magazine. But when I noticed that he was not only alive and kicking, but flourishing across social media two years later, I sat up and had a read of his content.

Nathan’s secret weapon, one that he probably didn’t even realise he had, was that he simply focused on one marketing channel at a time, and perfected it. First it was the App Store, then it was podcasting, soon came Instagram, and in future, what ever channel fits his goals.

What I find valuable about Nathan’s journey, is that he reminds me of myself. I never had amazing grades in high school, but I was incredibly passionate about learning and improving as an individual - something that was allowed to flourish in real life. Nathan had similar frustrations in wanting to be a world class marketer, but no one would give him the opportunity, and so he created his own. It’s always nice finding people similar to yourself, who have the tenacity and effort to give it a go.

What I want you to learn from this talk is not that big names like Arianna Huffington and Richard Branson are the keys to success of your business - but sharp focus and refinement of one project at a time. You, like many entrepreneurs (myself included) are scatter gunning your efforts. Nathan is the exemplar of the point that you don’t require insane amounts of funding for every type of business, you just need hard and smart work, with absolute focus.

Roger Montgomery is a value investor, hedge fund manager and best selling author in Australia. Although this is a shorter episode than normal, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity for a couple of reasons: My admiration for Roger’s innate sense of what it takes to find value in Australian businesses, and my desire to introduce you to the world of value investing being in the back of my mind since starting the podcast.

Rohan Connolly is an award-winning sports journalist with a career spanning multiple media organisations and formats including The Herald Sun, The Age, 1116 SEN, Sporting News, the Marngrook Footy Show and now his own brand - Footyology.

RoCo - as you may affectionately know him - is what makes sports journalism great; the type of journalist that you idolise because they’re such brilliant storytellers. Working alongside legends like Lou Richards no doubt inspired this “young kid”, but I think it’s truly his obsessive nature and love for the history of the game, that allows RoCo to focus on what matters. You may be like me, where you’re sick of journalists that over-dramatise what happens in the football world, the one that focuses on politics, and acts as if sport is the difference between life and death. RoCo is the antithesis to that - he has no underhanded motives, and knows hows to make the seemingly simple, brilliant to read. I believe it’s the reason why he is valued by legends of the game like Leigh Matthews and Mick Malthouse.

Neel Kolhatkar is a comedian, content creator, presenter and actor with a powerful audience built from his humble beginnings on his YouTube channel, that now has over 46M views. Well-known for satirical clips such as “Australia in 2 Minutes”, and “Modern Educayshun”, Neel is an incredibly intelligent comedy creator with an innate ability to pare back culture and society across a whole slew of different mediums.

Neel is the first to admit that virality was what catapulted him into the ether of Australia’s young comedy class, along with the likes of Josh Wade, Elliot Loney & Troy Kinne. But I believe his incredible knowledge of science, society, new media, and politics is what sets him apart. He is a free speech absolutist, who gives significant nods to Louis C.K., and George Carlin, the type of comedian that pushes the boundaries of acceptability.

In my mind, Neel is Australia’s millennial messenger of social truth, and I think society is a whole lot better for people like him, because it allows us to not take life so seriously.

Titus O’Reily is a writer, comedian, podcaster and commentator who specialises in satire, with a focus on sport. Titus is your perfect marriage of the larrikin aussie with Douglas Adams; a self-deprecating sense of humour, peppered with undeniably dry wit.

Late comedian George Carlin is known for ‘sitting at the front row to the freakshow’ of life which is a great representation of Titus’ musings. I feel that you will see that Titus’ particular focus on the AFL, opens up a unique insight to the fabric of Australian society, and our collective obsession which could be described as a religion.

Titus’ persona is so adequately stated in the best piece of merchandise mug I’ve ever seen: ‘Don’t have faith in yourself, have faith in how bad other people are’.

Chris Cincotta is a photographer, and the face behind @melbourneiloveyou on Instagram, and Humans In Melbourne on Facebook.

Chris is what Scott Adams (the creator of Dilbert) would dub as a triple threat. He understands people deeply, loves photography and knows how to communicate to people This was a really heartwarming episode for me, and I think it will make you realise that at the end of the day, humans just want to be made to feel special.

With an emphasis on gratitude, Chris grew his social influence with something that you or I are probably too scared to do - reply to each and every one of his followers’ comments. This innate sense to make everyone feel special is what boosted his engagement dramatically, growing his accounts exponentially. It’s funny, because this is such a simple and useful mindset that you can use in your own business or social media project. In the age of ‘like farms’, and an explosion of content - where anyone can pretend to be anything behind a keyboard - the importance of staying humble and listening to the person next to you is more important than ever.