Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast, we welcome New York Times bestselling author, Jon Acuff. His books that have sold more than one million copies include Soundtracks, Finish, and All It Takes Is A Goal. Jon was named one of the top leadership speakers in the world by Inc Magazine and he has been able to help some of the biggest brands on the planet rethink their approach to potential and performance. From his early days in corporate marketing to speaking on global stages, Jon shares how people can overcome overthinking and finish what matters most. Join us as we talk about the gift of invisibility and walk through the art of the “Dream, Plan, Do, and Review” process from his new book Procrastination Proof.

Episode Transcript

Opening Thoughts

0:00
Well, my wife recently taught me a

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principle. She said, “Are you signing

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the front of the check or the back of

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the check?” And what it means is that

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soundtrack is it helps you understand

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service and servant leadership. So,

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like, when I’m signing the back of the

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check, you better believe I’ll be there

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at 6 a.m. You better believe I’ll do the

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follow-up. You better believe I’ll be

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the one who gets your cell phone

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information. Like, when I’m signing the

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front of the check, it helps me with

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leadership because sometimes contractors

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I hire try to assign work back to me and

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I have to go, “Whoa, whoa, no.” Like,

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I’m signing the front of this check.

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like that’s not the relationship right

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now.

Introducing Jon Acuff

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Today on the Servant Leadership Podcast,

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we welcome New York Times bestselling

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author John A. Cuff. His books that have

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sold more than 1 million copies include

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soundtracks, finish, and all it takes is

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a goal. John was named one of the top

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leadership speakers in the world by Inc.

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magazine and he has been able to help

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some of the biggest brands on the planet

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rethink their approach to potential and

0:00:56
performance. From his early days in

0:00:58
corporate marketing to speaking on

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global stages, John shares how people

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can overcome overthinking and finish

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what matters most. Join us as we talk

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about the gift of invisibility and walk

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through the art of the dream, plan, do,

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and review process from his new book,

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Procrastination Proof.

Welcoming Jon Acuff

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John, thank you for joining us on the

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Servant Leadership Podcast.

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Yeah, thanks for having me. I’m looking

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forward to this, Chris.

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I am 10 out of 10 excited because uh I

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first bumped into you when I heard you

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talk about soundtracks and then I read

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your book and then I think I passed it

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out to more people than want to have

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read it. Uh but I love I’ve loved your

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content ever since then.

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Oh, I appreciate that man.

Jon’s Journey to Writing

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Talk to us. How did you get into

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speaking and writing because the journey

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now learning on the other side is a

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crazy journey.

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Yeah, so I was in corporate marketing.

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So my background is advertising. So, I

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went to school, got a journalism degree

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with a focus on advertising. I was

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working for big brands like Home Depot

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corporate, Staples, Bose, um, and I

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started a blog on the side of kind of my

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day job. And that started to gain some

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traction. I got some momentum out of

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that. And that was a Eureka moment for

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me of, wow, the gatekeepers are gone. I

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can communicate directly with a lot of

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people. Like, to do that 30 years

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earlier, I would have needed a radio

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station. And I didn’t need a radio

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station. I just needed a blog and so I

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started a blog and that’s really what

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started kind of the help people write

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books speak 50 60 times a year that was

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the start of the snowball was that

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experience.

Taking a Bet on Himself

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Wow. And and you took a big bet on

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yourself even I mean even stepping out

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and making that change.

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How did that conversation go with Jenny?

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How did that like how did that actually

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come to be?

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Sure. Well, I mean I it was that

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entrepreneur side of me that wanted to

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start something. I felt like I had three

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great years working for Dave Ramsey.

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He’s got a massive team here where I

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live in Franklin, Tennessee. And I

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learned a ton. It was a fire hose. It

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was like a PhD in entrepreneurship. And

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eventually I wanted to be an

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entrepreneur. I wanted to start my own

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thing. And so, yeah, it was definitely a

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scary bet because you’re leaving a very

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wellestablished, very successful, like

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they pay you well, all the like just

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check boxes, a lot of check boxes. And

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so really the you know the conversation

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with Jenny wasn’t it wasn’t immediate or

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one and done. We we love our favorite

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way to talk is usually to go on a walk.

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So we’ll process something on a walk and

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we’ll kick around an idea on a walk. Um

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and usually come up with an idea and

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then the next morning go like do we

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still believe in that idea? Like do we

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still trust in that idea? So she um she

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has her masters in construction

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management from Georgia Tech and her

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undergrad in photojournalism, which

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nobody has that exact career except her.

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And so she’s a really strategic thinker

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and she decided to stay home with our

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kids when we had kids. And so she’s such

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a big part of every decision I make um

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with her wisdom and she’s got great

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discernment. I think she’s like a lot of

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wives where like she can see something a

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year before it’s going to happen kind of

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thing. And so yeah, it was a lot of

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conversations, a lot I would say a lot

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of walks to kind of figure out what do

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we want to do in the next phase.

Recognition and Hard Work

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I mean, it was clearly the right

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decision. I saw uh on Inc. you got

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listed as one of the most like one of

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the top leadership speakers in the

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world. Uh something that I think is

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interesting is from the outside people

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are probably seeing you on stage reading

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your books and thinking

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he like had one hit after another hit

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after another hit. Yeah. But but on the

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flip side, like the grind you put in

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before anyone knew your name. Hearing

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some of that story was crazy. Talk about

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the grind to even become such a good

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speaker and writer.

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Yeah. Well, I just don’t think you’re

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ever done with that. People say like,

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“When did you know you arrived?” And I

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was like, I think that’s dangerous to

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think that way. You still like to own a

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business takes a a ridiculous amount of

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embarrassing bravery. Like you’re

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regularly doing stuff that you’re like,

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“Oh, this is a little embarrassing.”

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they were like, “Oh, this I don’t I

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don’t really necessarily want to do

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this.” So, I mean, a lot of it was, you

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know, when I first got started, I would

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do any event. I did a lot of free events

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like because I needed the rep. I needed

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the repetition. I needed the experience.

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And then there was a summer camp that

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was like, “Hey, would you speak three or

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four times a week to teenagers at a

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summer beach camp?” And I was like,

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“Yes, I’d love that.” That’s a very

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difficult audience. A teenage audience,

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a teenager will lay down on four chairs

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and fall asleep in your face if you’re

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not interested in the first 30 seconds.

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Adults pretend they’re not sleeping.

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Like if they if they close their eyes

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and end up asleep, they get wide awake

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like, “Oh, I was just praying.” Like

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they feel bad. Kids are like, “I got no

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problem. If you’re terrible, I have no

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problem.” So I just did a lot of that. A

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lot of those reps. And then a lot of

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kind of, you know, I think when you’re

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starting, you have something called the

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gift of invisibility. Like I remember

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feeling like, oh, I get to make a lot of

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my mistakes without anybody watching

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right now. And it can be frustrating

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because you’re like, I wish more people

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were buying my product, use my service,

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whatever. Or I can go, wow, I have the

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gift of invisibility. I’m going to use

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it to my best. So, I just try to lean

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into that particular gift and do the

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next thing and then do the next thing.

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Um, and and then surround yourself with

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smart people. I’ve had the same

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assistant for 11 years now. And so

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having consistent help from smart people

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has certainly been a big part of my

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journey.

Servant Leadership and Humility

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Well, it it’s so interesting because we

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talk a lot about servant leadership on

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the podcast, right? And humility comes

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up a lot in that process. How how do you

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approach things with humility? One of

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the things that I love that we talked

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about before this is

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you even trying to take some of that

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knowledge and share it with others. Talk

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about how you’re now helping others get

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in this space. Yeah. I I just think it’s

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the best job in the world. I tell other

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people like you get to encourage people

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doing something you love often in

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beautiful places. Like you and I met in

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Lagona. Like I there’s even the way that

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word sounds in your mouth is like it

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must be pretty like it is. It’s un like

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when you go to Lagona you’re like this

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can’t people get to live here like all

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year like it’s amazing. And so over the

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years the big thing was I got poured

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into by other leaders. So, when I was

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trying, when I was desperate to even get

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a breakout or when I was desperate to

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get five minutes of stage time, there

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were guys like Brad Lick, um Dan Kathy,

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the CEO of Chick-fil-A, um Andy Stanley,

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like people that that gave me advice and

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poured into me when I was young and just

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getting started out. So now, now that

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I’m 18 years into this journey, I love

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doing the same and saying, “Hey, I think

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I think you can it took me 10 years to

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figure this out. I think you could

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figure it out in 10 minutes.” Like I

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know I paid a very expensive lesson when

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I titled a book the wrong way and it

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didn’t sell because of the title. So now

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when a young writer says to me, “Hey,

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I’ve got some ideas for my title. I have

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a million dollar lessons I’d like you to

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not pay the price for.” Like I would

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love to save you that million-doll

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experience because I’ve already paid it.

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You shouldn’t have to pay that price. So

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that’s what’s fun about those two

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things. Like my favorite two crafts are

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kind of speaking and writing. And they

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go hand inand for a lot of people. They

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certainly do for me. And so if I can

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help other people figure out how to do

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that with excellence, I I nerd out on

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that. I can talk about that all day and

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then I get to watch them kind of really

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blow up.

Learning from Experience

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Wow. One of the things I love is most of

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the stuff that you talk about is from

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past learned experience. A lot of times

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it’s from hardship, right? Or things

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going absolutely terrible. You kind of

0:08:36
taking the time to process it and then

0:08:39
really helping other people. That being

0:08:41
one of them. uh talk about maybe the

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latest book. You’ve got a book here that

0:08:46
by the time people are listening to

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this, it’s probably out right now. Talk

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about it.

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Yeah. So, I’ve got a new book called

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Procrastination Proof, Never Get Stuck

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Again. And I couldn’t have written it on

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book two. So, this is my 11th book. I

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couldn’t have written it book two

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because it wouldn’t have been true. I

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wasn’t I wasn’t unstuck. I like But by

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book 11, I figured out a system that

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helps you do the things you want to do.

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So, like by book 11, I feel very

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comfortable saying, “Hey, you don’t have

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to procrastinate.” Like I I didn’t write

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a single book until I was 34 and I’ve

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written 12 since. And so, like I I think

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you can do the things. Here’s the system

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I use. You’re right. For me, the

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experience is what leads to the content.

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And I hope that it makes it relatable. I

0:09:31
you know even how we like structured the

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book the book is 71 short chapters

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because as I was researching

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procrastination I’d read these 400page

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books by people and think you must not

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struggle with procrastination if you

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wrote a 400page book no procrastinator

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is going to read that like if you have a

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90page note section for your book about

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procrastin you’re not a procrastinator

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like you’re Jane Goodall writing about

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monkeys I’m a monkey writing a book for

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other monkeys so my whole writing

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process is pretty simple

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I find a problem that I have. I work on

0:10:04
a solution. If it works, I research it.

0:10:07
I test it. And then I see, do other

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people have the same problem? So, you

0:10:11
know, I wrote Finish about perfectionism

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because I struggle with perfectionism. I

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wrote soundtracks about overthinking

0:10:16
because I struggle with overthinking. I

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wrote procrastination proof because I

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used to really struggle with

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procrastination and figured out a

0:10:23
solution to it. So, I hope that gives my

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my books a texture or a connectedness

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with the audience because they go, “Oh,

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this yeah, that’s me.” I want you to

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read one of my books and feel like

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you’re reading your diary because I’ve

0:10:36
lived in the same trenches you’re in.

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And that that’s the kind of books I like

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to write. It’s certainly the type of

0:10:41
books I like to read, too.

Dream, Plan, Do, Review

0:10:43
Well, I had the chance to read some of

0:10:45
the early chapters based on some

0:10:46
giveaway stuff you were doing and the

0:10:49
concepts that you bring up. I don’t want

0:10:52
to give away too much but whatever

0:10:53
you’re willing to share kind of the

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dream plan do review. Oh yeah.

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Talk about that process and how you even

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came up with that and what it looks like

0:11:00
for people.

0:11:01
Yeah. Well, I mean the the core concept

0:11:03
of the book is that you need permission.

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Like the solution to procrastination is

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permission. You need permission to do

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the things you know you’re capable of.

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Do the things you know you want to do.

0:11:11
Do the things you need to do. And as

0:11:13
adults, we don’t talk about that word

0:11:15
permission a lot. It was really

0:11:16
important when we were kids. So

0:11:17
permission slip was the most important

0:11:19
piece of paper. Um, but we lost touch

0:11:21
with it. And so the book talks about the

0:11:23
four permissions in that order if you

0:11:26
want to accomplish anything. It’s

0:11:27
permission to dream. So you answer the

0:11:29
question, what do I want to do? No one

0:11:31
changes, Chris, just because. I’ve

0:11:33
worked with a million people on their

0:11:34
goals. I’ve still never met somebody who

0:11:36
said, today I just woke up and decided

0:11:37
to have grit. Today I decided to have

0:11:39
sacrifice. Like you always need some

0:11:42
sort of dream. Nobody willingly leaves

0:11:44
their comfort zone. And why would they?

0:11:45
It’s comfortable. The only reason people

0:11:48
leave their comfort zone is that there’s

0:11:49
something outside of it that’s worth

0:11:50
being uncomfortable for. So, first one,

0:11:52
permission to dream. Second one,

0:11:54
permission to plan. How will you do it?

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What are the steps? What are the costs?

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What are the connections you’ll need?

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What are the relationships? The skills

0:12:01
you have to plan it. The third step,

0:12:03
permission to do. Are you doing it? Have

0:12:05
you moved into action? It’s not enough

0:12:07
to have a great dream or even a great

0:12:08
plan. If you don’t do it, nothing

0:12:10
actually happens. And then the last one

0:12:12
is permission to review. To s to

0:12:14
essentially say, did it work? Did the

0:12:16
steps I’m taking produce the results I

0:12:18
want? If you do those four things

0:12:20
consistently, it’s almost difficult to

0:12:22
not be successful. If you’re

0:12:24
consistently dreaming and planning and

0:12:27
doing and reviewing and just this little

0:12:29
success loop and then it just feeds on

0:12:31
itself because when you review, you

0:12:33
really only have three options. So, it’s

0:12:35
it’s working. So, you go back to do and

0:12:38
you have this really tiny loop. You’re

0:12:39
reviewing and doing, reviewing and

0:12:41
doing. If it’s not working, you go all

0:12:43
the way back to plan. One more step.

0:12:45
Okay, we got to adjust the plan. You

0:12:46
know what? We found out a new

0:12:47
competitor. We have a supply chain

0:12:49
issue. Whatever. You go plan. If it’s

0:12:51
really the wrong dream, you go back to

0:12:53
dream and go, I didn’t want this thing

0:12:55
to begin with. No wonder. And so, when

0:12:58
you lay it out that simply, it gets

0:13:00
really easy to do. How I came up with it

0:13:02
was being in 50 different companies a

0:13:04
year for, you know, years and years and

0:13:06
years and years. It’s it’s built from

0:13:08
real people doing real work and me going

0:13:11
how do I what patterns do I see when I

0:13:14
deal with excellent companies? What are

0:13:16
the patterns I’m noticing when I deal

0:13:18
with excellent teams? What are the

0:13:19
patterns I’m noticing? When I deal with

0:13:20
excellent individuals, what are the

0:13:22
patterns? And over and over and over,

0:13:24
people were doing those four steps again

0:13:26
and again and again. And then I just

0:13:28
figured out how to categorize them in a

0:13:29
way that was sticky. my my job like one

0:13:32
of the things I teach in the in the

0:13:34
public speaking uh day I do is how to

0:13:36
put handles on ideas. I’m a handlemaker.

0:13:39
We have enough ideas. We don’t have

0:13:41
handles on them. So, I’m really good at

0:13:43
helping people become handlemakers so

0:13:45
you can put a handle on an idea and

0:13:47
bring it with you into your life. Like

0:13:49
the reason you said to me before we

0:13:50
started recording, hey, I’ve talked to

0:13:52
so many people about the concept of

0:13:54
soundtracks was that was a handle. it

0:13:56
was just a handle and you were able to

0:13:58
carry it and you were able to bring it

0:13:59
to your marriage and your you know your

0:14:01
business. That’s what I try to do. And

0:14:03
so once I saw the pattern then it just

0:14:05
became a process of what’s the easiest

0:14:07
handle and dream plan do review is a

0:14:09
very easy handle.

Writing for Everyone

0:14:11
Yeah. One of the things that I love

0:14:13
about your writing and I’m sure this is

0:14:15
why it’s done so well is that you write

0:14:18
in a way that is for everybody.

0:14:20
Whoever’s listening can hear it from

0:14:23
their perspective and immediately engage

0:14:24
with it. When when I think about the new

0:14:27
book, uh I’m thinking about it from

0:14:29
running a business standpoint and it

0:14:31
immediately is like dream plan, do

0:14:33
review. Yep. That’s like literally my

0:14:35
everyday like workflow. One of the

0:14:37
things that I’m curious about is let’s

0:14:40
say you’ve got people leading things and

0:14:41
they’re like, “Hey, I’m leading things

0:14:43
and I want to instill this in the mind

0:14:45
of people who work with me and who are

0:14:47
coming alongside and helping grow

0:14:48
whatever this vision is.” How do you

0:14:50
help somebody then help someone else get

0:14:53
there?

0:14:54
Oh, yeah. So, we um I mean there’s a

0:14:56
couple ways. One, we have a quiz that’ll

0:14:58
tell you pretty quickly where are you

0:15:00
going to get stuck in the process

0:15:02
because it’s so simple. The reaction,

0:15:04
Chris, is this is too simple to work.

0:15:06
Like this is so obvious and and the

0:15:09
reason we like complicated solutions is

0:15:11
because then we don’t have to do them.

0:15:12
So, it is really simple, but it actually

0:15:14
works. So, what happens is the dreamers

0:15:17
get stuck dreaming. Obviously, thousand

0:15:19
ideas, zero actions. Perfectionists get

0:15:21
stuck planning. They’re going to change

0:15:23
the world just as soon as the plan’s

0:15:24
perfect. Hustlers get stuck doing they

0:15:26
hate a review. They hate a plan. They

0:15:28
just let me sell. You’re holding me back

0:15:30
with your paperwork. I’m a sales per

0:15:32
like ah I’m in the streets. And then re

0:15:34
an analyst tends to review mistakes from

0:15:37
the past or predict failure in the

0:15:39
future. That’s where you say that’s not

0:15:41
how we do things here. We tried that

0:15:42
before and it didn’t work. So we have

0:15:44
this thing at johnacob.comquiz

0:15:47
that kind of quickly gets you into one

0:15:48
of those categories. Now, when I speak

0:15:50
at a company, what’s nice is we have a

0:15:53
fuller assessment. So, you know, the

0:15:55
quiz is kind of the small version, then

0:15:57
we have a fuller assessment and we’ll

0:15:59
send it ahead of time and then I get the

0:16:01
results and I can say very clearly on

0:16:03
stage and we’ll have a couple slides,

0:16:05
hey, this is a room full of hustlers.

0:16:07
Nobody is reviewing like you guys are

0:16:10
making tremendous progress right off the

0:16:12
end of the cliff because nobody was

0:16:14
like, hey, wait a second. What’s going

0:16:16
to happen when we launch this thing? we

0:16:17
don’t have customer service to actually

0:16:19
support this. Like we’re going to have a

0:16:21
bunch of sales just we can’t fulfill it.

0:16:23
That’s going to doom us. And so that’s

0:16:25
what’s fun about my job is with those

0:16:27
two things with the quiz you get a kind

0:16:28
of quick picture. And then with the

0:16:30
assessment and one of the keys of the

0:16:32
assessment is here’s how it shows up in

0:16:35
your leadership and here’s how to lead

0:16:36
the other types. So if you get

0:16:38
identified as a perfectionist uh leader,

0:16:41
it tells you, hey, here’s what you’re

0:16:42
going to kind of be great at. here’s

0:16:44
what you’re going to struggle with, but

0:16:45
also here’s how to talk to a dreamer.

0:16:48
Like, a dreamer is a different creature

0:16:49
compared to you. Like, here’s how to

0:16:51
lead an analyst. And so, yeah, there’s a

0:16:53
whole section on how do you actually

0:16:55
lead through these different stages.

Remarkable and Procrastination

0:16:58
Wow, I love that. We’re going to have to

0:17:00
put in the description in the show notes

0:17:02
for people a way to go get the quiz

0:17:04
because I can see that being immediately

0:17:06
helpful for people, at least a short

0:17:08
version. And then,

0:17:09
oh yeah,

0:17:10
how to lead people who are not like you,

0:17:12
right? That’s a really interesting

0:17:14
thing. I know we had Stephanie Chung on

0:17:16
and I know you know her and she talks a

0:17:18
lot about that too and

0:17:19
yeah, a lot of interesting stuff. One of

0:17:21
the things that I know you’ve talked

0:17:23
about too and I want you to elaborate on

0:17:25
this.

0:17:25
Sure.

0:17:25
You use the word remarkable a lot and

0:17:28
and you’ve kind of in my mind rebranded

0:17:30
the word remarkable. I maybe not in your

0:17:32
mind but you talk about the price to

0:17:34
being remarkable.

0:17:35
Talk about talk about that a little bit

0:17:38
for our audience.

0:17:39
Yeah. Well, I mean, so the the way I

0:17:42
define procrastination is usually just

0:17:44
the opposite of remarkable. So the the

0:17:46
definition of procrastination I use is

0:17:48
when your actions don’t match your

0:17:50
intentions. So what you say you want to

0:17:52
do, you’re not actually doing. That’s

0:17:54
procrastination. Remarkable is just the

0:17:56
opposite. When your actions match your

0:17:58
intentions, when there’s overlap,

0:18:00
there’s overlap between the things you

0:18:01
desire and feel called to do and the

0:18:04
things you’re actually doing. Like it

0:18:05
the ven diagram looks like a perfect

0:18:07
eclipse, if you will. And so that’s what

0:18:09
remarkable is. And the price of

0:18:11
remarkable is interesting to me because

0:18:13
it costs a lot of things you don’t

0:18:15
anticipate. I just posted about this

0:18:16
today. I’m really become active on

0:18:18
LinkedIn in the last month or so. Um and

0:18:22
I posted about Greg Sanki, the SEC

0:18:25
commissioner. So Greg Sanki is arguably

0:18:27
the most powerful person in college

0:18:29
sports. um he sits the top of the SEC um

0:18:32
billion-dollar company, you know, and

0:18:35
when he was on my podcast, uh he sent me

0:18:38
a thank you note, a handwritten thank

0:18:40
you note for being on my podcast. And I

0:18:42
said to my wife, like, “Isn’t it crazy

0:18:43
that a guy at his level still does

0:18:44
that?” And she said, “No, he’s at that

0:18:46
level because he does that.” And that’s

0:18:48
another sign of what it costs to be

0:18:51
remarkable. It costs small things like

0:18:53
sending handwritten thank you notes. It

0:18:55
costs small things like remembering your

0:18:57
client dropped off their first kid at

0:18:59
school at college this week and asking

0:19:01
them how it went. It takes followup. It

0:19:03
takes details. It takes noticing things.

0:19:06
Like here’s an example of something I

0:19:07
noticed that made me more remarkable.

0:19:10
For 10 years, I’d be on site at an

0:19:12
event. I’d speak at an event. I’d be in

0:19:14
the lobby after and somebody come up go,

0:19:15
“Hey, we we love that. We want to book

0:19:17
you at our company.” And I go, “Oh,

0:19:19
here’s my business card. Please, yeah,

0:19:20
let’s follow up. Let’s connect.” And I

0:19:22
realized when I did that, I just gave

0:19:25
that person a job. I just assigned them

0:19:27
a task and they’re going to lose the

0:19:29
business card by the time they get to

0:19:30
their hotel room or by the time they get

0:19:32
to the airport. That’s actually my job

0:19:34
like to follow up. I should own the

0:19:36
followup. I have the most skin in that

0:19:38
game. So when when I realized that, I

0:19:40
went, “Oh, that I’ve got to get their

0:19:43
cell phone number. I’ve got to connect.

0:19:44
That’s on me. I assign that job to me.”

0:19:46
And that’s a little thing that

0:19:48
remarkable people are constantly

0:19:50
recognizing those kind of things and

0:19:52
adjusting. It’s doing a review and

0:19:54
going, “Wait a second. Did that

0:19:56
experience go the way I wanted it to go?

0:19:58
What could I do differently?” And and

0:20:00
remarkable people are also really good

0:20:03
at filtering a few things. Like they’re

0:20:04
good at like they’re never casual about

0:20:06
their mindset, their money, their

0:20:08
relationships, and their time. Like

0:20:10
they’re always very deliberate about

0:20:11
those four things. And I’ll give you an

0:20:13
example about relationships. There’s a

0:20:15
guy I know named Rick Edler. He’s one of

0:20:17
the top Sbees agents in the world. He

0:20:19
puts on this massive amazing event in

0:20:21
LA. And I spoke at it twice and

0:20:25
everybody wants to work for Rick. Like

0:20:26
when you meet him, you’re like, “This

0:20:28
guy’s killing it. He’s selling tens of

0:20:30
millions of dollars in real estate in

0:20:31
the in like the fanciest zip code, you

0:20:35
know? He’s in LA.” Like, and so all

0:20:37
these young agents go, I want to be part

0:20:38
of your team. And his way to filter

0:20:40
that, he has a book called Ninja

0:20:43
Selling, which is his favorite book on

0:20:44
selling. It’s a great book, even if

0:20:45
you’re not in real estate. And he says

0:20:48
to the young person, “This is my

0:20:49
favorite book. It’s my Bible. This is my

0:20:52
you should read this. Let me know what

0:20:54
you think.” And then on page 51, he’s

0:20:56
written his cell phone number. And if

0:20:58
they never call him, he knows they never

0:21:00
read to page 51. They’re never going to

0:21:02
work in his office. If they won’t do

0:21:05
that low effort, they’re not going to do

0:21:06
the other things. So that’s what I mean

0:21:08
by like remarkable is like as you spend

0:21:11
time with remarkable people, they’re

0:21:13
always playing small games like that.

0:21:14
They’re always really

Remarkable People Traits

21:15
good at talking

21:17
themselves into doing things that maybe

21:19
they don’t feel like doing, but they

21:20
ultimately want to do. And so that’s

21:23
part of the price of being remarkable.

Spotting Remarkable People

21:23
Wow. I love those practical tips. I

21:26
mean, when you think through all the

21:28
people you bump into, you bump into

21:30
millions of people with your speaking.

21:32
Lots of people are reading your content,

21:33
seeing you, listening to you.

21:36
How easy is it for you to spot a

21:38
remarkable person? You know, what are

21:40
the things that you don’t know them

21:41
well, but you’re trying to figure out is

21:43
this a remarkable person or not that I

21:45
should be surrounding myself with?

Curiosity and Leadership

21:46
Yeah. I mean, you are kind of looking at

21:48
those four things like how they spend

21:50
their time, how they, you know, what

21:53
kind of their mindset is. Is it

21:55
positive, negative? Um, but a lot of

21:57
it’s just being curious. I think my job

21:59
and I think most jobs are easier if you

22:01
actually like people and are curious

22:02
about them. um you get to you know if

22:05
you get to the world with a servant

22:07
leader attitude and a curiosity every

22:10
conversation is a classroom every

22:12
interaction is a classroom where you can

22:14
get to learn and so if I look at it that

22:16
way then I am asking those kind of

22:18
questions then I am you know one of the

22:20
things I talk about in my you know my

Performance to Service

22:23
one day speaking event is helping people

22:26
figure out what does your audience need

22:28
because from a servant perspective my

22:31
ability to perform well with live

22:33
audiences changed when I changed from an

22:35
act of performance to an act of service.

22:38
Now it’s an act of service for me. Like

22:40
if they like I failed if they walk out

22:42
and go, “Man, John Akob is cool or funny

22:44
or whatever.” I want them to walk out

22:46
with them winning. Like I I say to event

22:49
planners all the time, I want your phone

22:51
blowing up, not mine because I’m there

22:53
an hour. You’re there all year. Like I

22:55
want the CEO to win. I want the person

22:56
on the second row to win. So once I

22:58
figured that out, I was like, “Oh, how

23:00
do I serve these people?” And you serve

23:01
people by understanding what they need.

Empathy and Questions

23:03
And that starts with questions. My my

23:05
favorite definition of empathy, and I

23:07
think I’ve shared this at GLS where we

23:08
first connected, is read less minds, ask

23:11
more questions. Read less minds, ask

23:13
more questions. And so for me, when I’m

23:16
trying to understand if somebody is

23:17
remarkable or what about them is

23:19
remarkable, I’m just asking questions.

23:22
I’m not trying to guess. I’m asking them

23:24
a couple questions. and and usually, you

23:27
know, their answers are going to, you

23:29
know, like if I if I say like, “What are

23:31
some of your favorite books?” You I’m

23:33
not a big reader. I don’t really read

23:34
ever. Like, if you don’t follow it up

23:35
with, “But I’m huge on podcast. Here’s

23:37
how I like to learn.” Or, “I’m huge on

23:39
experiences. I’m an experienced person.”

23:41
Great. You don’t have to be a book

23:43
person. That’s not what I’m saying. But

23:45
if I say, “How do you like to learn?”

23:46
And you go, “Essentially, I hate

23:48
learning. I’m trying to not get better.

23:50
I just hate getting better.” you know,

23:52
like then I might go, “Oh, there’s so

23:55
many good books. All books are off.”

23:57
Like, you don’t like there’s so many

23:59
good podcasts. Like that’s that’s an

24:02
easy sign of like, “Oh, I don’t know

24:04
that they’re trying to get better in

24:06
that area of their life.” Or or if they

24:08
criticize their spouse to you and you’re

24:10
like, “Oh, that no like I don’t no, I

24:13
don’t want you talk. You don’t have to

24:15
talk about your spouse to me that way.”

24:16
Like what? So, there’s all these little

24:18
things that I’m thinking about.

Character and Growth

24:20
Yeah. I mean, it’s so interesting that

24:23
you talk about that. You you talk a

24:25
little bit in some of your past books

24:26
about character. You talk about um you

24:29
talk a lot about I I don’t know what

24:32
word this falls into, but I I even text

24:34
my wife something this morning that

24:36
talks about like imagine if you’ve got a

24:38
negative voice in your head all the

24:40
time. How are you going to treat other

24:41
people, right? And you’re going to

24:43
you’re going to be negative with other

24:44
people. When it comes to character,

24:46
you’ve talked about leaders who can’t be

24:48
questioned, do questionable things. Like

24:50
how do you view character and character

24:52
growth? Like is there hope for leaders

24:54
who are so stuck on their thing but want

24:56
to get better but realize that maybe

24:58
they’re not like maybe they need to

25:01
change some major things about how they

25:02
view life and outcomes.

Character Development

25:04
Yeah. I mean character is pliable

25:06
definitely. Like it’s not that you were

25:07
born with a certain type of character

25:08
that you don’t get to change. Um, you

25:11
know, I I would just say that I think

25:13
often being around people that have the

25:16
type of character you want to have is

25:18
groundbreaking. So, I’m I’ve been, you

25:21
know, doing this pro this workout called

25:22
F3, um, which is a morning workout. It’s

25:25
5:30 in the morning, rain or shine, held

25:27
outdoors. It’s a men’s boot camp. Um,

25:30
and I love it. And I didn’t know how

25:32
much I needed that kind of community in

25:35
what I was doing. I was working out by

25:36
myself in my home gym for years. And

25:39
then I was like, “Oh, a neighbor invited

25:41
me.” But now I’m around guys that have

25:44
fantastic character and that tends to

25:46
rub off on me and I tend to be inspired

25:48
by that. I tend to be challenged by

25:50
that. I’ll just give you one example. So

25:53
like when we have a workout and

25:54
everyone’s peer-led, like there’s no

25:56
experts there, but when somebody says,

25:58
“Hey, today’s workout we’re going to do

26:00
100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 300 squats,

26:03
whatever.” If you finish first, you

26:06
finish yours first. You go around to

26:08
other guys and go, “Hey, how many do you

26:09
need? I’ll give you some.” So, you go,

26:11
“Hey, I’ll give you 20 push-ups.” And

26:13
like two things happen in that moment.

26:15
One, it taught me the people with the

26:18
greatest strength have to also be the

26:19
most generous. That’s that’s the that’s

26:21
the price. If you finish first, meaning

26:24
you’re the strongest, you’re the

26:25
fastest, you’re the best, you then have

26:26
to go be generous. Go do extra and give

26:29
it give it out to somebody else. Two,

26:31
you as a man have to be humble enough to

26:33
receive help. Men don’t like receiving

26:35
help. They certainly don’t like raising

26:38
their hand and being like, “I can’t do

26:38
all these push-ups. Is someone strong

26:41
here?” Because apparently I’m not like,

26:43
but there’s none of that vibe. There’s

26:45
none of that competitiveness. There’s

26:47
none of that shame. So, even just

26:49
plugging into certain communities,

26:51
character grows, character stretches.

26:54
Um, and then it’s about like who you

26:56
keep in your corner and who’s able to

26:58
tell you the truth. Um, like my my wife

27:02
uh like she has full reign to be like,

27:04
“Yeah, I think you did that out of ego.

27:06
I think that was ego-driven and I think

27:08
it’s going to be a mistake that cost you

27:10
in the long run.” I’m like, “Oh, nobody

27:11
likes to hear that.” But also like you

27:14
ask a how can I tell when somebody I

27:16
feel like is remarkable. If they’re

27:18
married, you can tell a lot from their

27:19
relationship. Like do they have the kind

27:22
of spouse that throws water on their

27:24
anger or fuel? Meaning like if somebody

27:27
offended the husband, does the wife go,

27:29
“I can’t believe they did that to you.

27:31
Are you going to let them get away with

27:32
that?” Like, and they’re throwing fuel

27:34
on the ego and you’re like, “Oh, this is

27:36
going to end poorly.” Versus like one of

27:38
our soundtracks in our house that Jenny

27:39
says to me all the time is, “You’ll be

27:41
fine. Like, you’ll be fine.” Like, if I

27:42
come home and I’m like, “I can’t believe

27:44
this.” Or like, “This is the worst.” And

27:46
she’s like, “Yeah, you you’ll be fine. I

27:47
think you got it in you. Like, I think

27:49
your shoulders are strong enough.” Like,

27:50
“Yeah, you’ll be fine.” And I’m like,

27:51
“No, I want to I want to be a victim all

27:53
day.” And she’s like, “No, I think I

27:55
think you’ll be fine.” And I’m like, I

27:57
wouldn’t say I received that well the

27:59
first couple years of our marriage as a

28:01
young immature man, but 25 years in, I

28:04
receive it differently. I, you know, I I

28:07
I try to receive it as the gift it is.

Procrastination Insights

28:10
Yeah. It’s so much about how people

28:13
perceive situations and how they

28:15
respond. You talk about in in your new

28:17
book, you talk about five reasons people

28:19
procrastinate. Yeah.

28:20
Right. talk about those a little bit and

28:23
why you think people procrastinate the

28:25
way they do.

Reasons for Procrastination

28:26
Yeah. And if you ask essentially if you

28:28
ask a h 100red thousand people why they

28:30
procrastinate because of my social media

28:32
channels I have the ability to do their

28:34
answers all fall into one of five camps.

28:36
One the task was too complicated. I

28:39
didn’t know where to start. That’s a

28:40
broken soundtrack. I didn’t know where

28:42
to start. As if there’s a perfect place

28:43
to start that’ll make everything easy.

28:45
Like as if there’s one thread that will

28:48
unravel the whole knot. That’s not how

28:49
life works. They’ll say the task was too

28:51
big. The second is time. I didn’t have

28:54
time. Um, and I didn’t have the right

28:56
amount of time. If I’d had more time,

28:58
and you hear people procrastinate when

29:00
they say things like this, yeah, I know

29:02
I need to learn AI, and someday, like

29:04
when things slow down, I’m going to

29:05
totally learn AI. And I always joke like

29:08
there’s never been a completely empty

29:10
week that just shows up on your

29:11
calendar. No leader has ever been like,

29:13
“Oh my gosh, this is the Sunday week.

29:15
All the things I said I’d do when I had

29:17
time, I can do them this week because my

29:19
whole week is blank. So, they think time

29:21
is gonna, you know, I need more time.

29:23
The third one is history, meaning I tr I

29:26
procrastinated in the past and it

29:28
worked. So, now they believe it’s a tool

29:30
versus a detriment. So, that’s the

29:32
college example. I got a I waited till

29:35
the last second to write my term paper.

29:36
I still got an A minus. Like, that’s how

29:38
I work. Or I’m the kind of person that

29:41
needs a really strict deadline to get

29:43
motivated. And there are deadline

29:45
motivations. I would never say the

29:46
opposite, but I would just say that

29:48
nobody’s first attempt is their best

29:50
attempt. If you wait until the last

29:52
second and you still turn in the

29:53
project, you still turn in the agenda,

29:54
you still turn in the whatever, it’s not

29:56
your best. It’s just not. Because on a

29:58
second pass, you would find a mistake.

30:00
On a second pass, you would find an

30:02
improvement. Um, the fourth one is just

30:05
generalized fear. They’re afraid of what

30:07
will happen if they do the thing. If I

30:09
write a book, I’ll get criticized.

30:11
Therefore, procrastination promises me

30:14
you’ll never get criticized. It doesn’t

30:15
mention you’ll never get to write a

30:16
book. It just goes, “Hey, nobody will

30:18
ever criticize you.” And you go, “Oh,

30:19
that’s that’s better.” So, they’re

30:20
afraid of what’ll happen if they try.

30:22
And the fifth one is kind of surprising.

30:24
It’s ego, meaning I shouldn’t have to do

30:26
this. This is somebody else’s job. I

30:28
can’t believe I have to do this. Why am

30:30
I, you know, and from a leader

30:32
perspective,

30:33
the the more successful you get, the

30:36
worse they let you behave. Like, that’s

30:38
just a weird life principle. the more

30:40
successful you get, the less, you know,

30:42
they don’t think you’ll have time to

30:43
write uh thank you notes. They don’t

30:45
expect you to know people’s names. They

30:47
expect you to be too busy for, you know,

30:50
whatever the things are that often got

30:52
you there. I mean, look up every tech

30:54
founder that was just the worst to work

30:55
for. And they all go like, “Yeah, he

30:58
spit on us and like would punch us

30:59
sometimes in the face, but man, what a

31:02
visionary. what have and like so the

31:04
trick to me is that you know when it

31:07
comes to ego is how do you get really

31:08
successful while maintaining that

31:10
humility you talked about earlier like

31:12
how do you hold on to that and that’s

31:14
what I think GLS does a good job at they

31:15
they have leaders that lead that way

Leadership and Humility

31:19
versus the climb the ladder and step on

31:22
necks your whole way

31:24
yeah it’s so interesting because you get

31:27
to talk to lots of people but you also

31:28
get to work with like seauite teams at

31:31
like top Fortune 100 companies

31:34
constantly

31:35
and and it’s interesting I I think of

31:37
this like you’re learning something of

31:40
so you start writing a book you publish

31:43
it that process is a few years in your

31:45
mind you might already be moved on a

31:48
little bit to the next thing that you’re

31:49
learning right because you’re like now

31:50
I’ve had time to process this now I’m

31:52
struggling with this next thing

31:54
what are some insights that you feel

31:55
like after working with so many seuite

31:57
teams that you’re like man this is just

31:59
a great insight that I’ve been gaining

32:01
recently

Leaders Want You to Win

32:02
Well, the the one that I wish I could

32:04
tell every employee, everyone who’s

32:05
being led by somebody, they want you to

32:08
win. They want they are desperate for

32:10
you to win. They don’t want to have to

32:12
hire somebody else. They would really

32:14
rather you be awesome. Like they’re not

32:16
they are so for you. They want you to do

32:19
like and sometimes we get into this

32:21
position as an employee versus a leader

32:23
of like they don’t understand me.

32:25
They’re making my life more difficult. I

32:27
can’t believe they did that. And

32:28
ultimately I try to let people know like

32:30
no those leaders want you to win and

32:33
they care like they care about a fuller

32:35
human than you even think. So a lot of

32:37
you know in the last year if you said

32:39
what have I seen like a lot of leaders

32:41
going how do we deal with mental health.

32:43
Part of the reason soundtracks has

32:45
worked as a book is that now leaders

32:47
have to manage the whole person not just

32:49
the work version. Like 20 30 years ago

32:51
it was just like you left your feelings

32:53
at home and you came and you did work.

32:55
this is the work version and now no it’s

32:57
it’s a whole person. So I just think

32:58
there’s a lot of leaders who are really

33:00
working hard to manage toward um toward

33:05
a whole person. The second thing with AI

33:07
anyway I’ve got a new talk about the AI

33:09
mindset which is in essence like how do

33:12
you you know if you can get your mindset

33:14
right about AI it can change every day

33:17
it doesn’t matter you’ve got the tool

33:18
that doesn’t need to change. And so one

33:20
of the broken soundtracks that I hear

33:21
leaders saying right now is if I tell

33:24
like if I talk about AI, my team will

33:26
panic. Like if I talk about it, they’ll

33:28
panic. And I always joke, I’m like, you

33:31
know, you’re not the only place they get

33:33
information, right? Like there’s a

33:34
chance they’ve heard of it. And the

33:36
second thing is that approach is like

33:38
when a toddler plays hideand go seek and

33:40
covers their own eyes and they’re like,

33:42
“Well, if I can’t see you, you must not

33:43
be.” It’s an ostrich approach. And so

33:45
the better view of that like if the

33:48
broken one is if I talk about it my team

33:49
will panic is if I talk about it my team

33:52
can plan like if I they’re already

33:54
writing their own story. They’ve already

33:56
got a story. Now you get to tell the

33:58
true story if you’re brave enough or you

34:00
can just they’re not writing a positive

34:02
story right now. Like the story they’re

34:04
writing is not positive. You as a leader

34:06
have to be brave enough to step into

34:07
that story and say let’s figure this

34:09
out. But that that’s another thing I’m

34:11
hearing from a lot of leaders right now.

Concept of Soundtracks

34:13
something I I probably should have asked

34:15
you to start the podcast, but it’s just

34:17
been so impactful on me. Explain the

34:19
concept of soundtracks because it make

34:22
when you say it makes so much sense, but

34:24
as people might be listening, they might

34:25
be like, I kind of get what he’s talking

34:27
about. How did that come about?

Understanding Soundtracks

34:29
Yeah. So, again, like I write about um

34:32
challenges I have overthinking,

34:34
perfectionism, and this one was about

34:36
overthinking. And um I’ve heard people

34:38
say like, oh, a thought is like a leaf

34:40
on a river. But for me, it’s always been

34:42
a soundtrack, meaning it’s playing in

34:44
the background and has the power to

34:45
change the entire moment. And often, we

34:48
don’t even notice it’s happening. I got

34:49
called out on a broken soundtrack

34:51
yesterday. I said something about

34:53
parenting and a friend was like, “I

34:55
think that might be a broken soundtrack

34:56
you need to work on.” And I was like,

34:57
“Oh, I think a better one would be

34:59
parenting isn’t automatic.” Meaning,

35:01
it’s not instant. It takes time. But

35:03
easy creates this negative like

35:05
parenting’s the worst. Like whenever

35:07
somebody’s like, “Marriage is the

35:09
hardest.” I’m like, “Boy, no wonder like

35:11
we’re struggling.” So, a soundtrack is

35:13
my phrase for repetitive thought. And

35:15
the the book teaches three things. How

35:18
to retire your broken soundtrack, how to

35:20
replace them with new soundtracks, and

35:22
how to repeat those new ones so often

35:24
they become as automatic as the old

35:25
ones. So, retire, replace, repeat.

Impact of Soundtracks

35:28
Yeah. And I think one of the things that

35:30
that gave me vocabulary for when I first

35:32
read that was that there are

35:35
soundtracks, there are narratives that

35:36
it’s like this is how I’m just playing

35:38
this moment over and over

35:40
and and then it’s is that a good

35:42
soundtrack or a bad soundtrack. It’s

35:43
I like that one,

35:45
right? And what would I want it to be?

35:47
When should I retire it? When should I

35:49
change it? And how would I change it? I

35:50
mean, it just put such good language for

35:52
me around like how to talk about stuff

35:55
that maybe I was feeling, but I didn’t

35:57
think about them as feelings. It was

35:59
just inside of me.

Soundtracks and Inner Voices

36:00
Yeah. Well, and if I had named the book

36:03
Inner Voices, men wouldn’t have read it

36:04
because no man wants to admit they have

36:06
an inner voice. But because I named it

36:07
Soundtracks, I can talk to a thousand

36:10
plumbers and they’ll go, “Oh, yeah. I do

36:12
that.” Like I said that the other day

36:13
like I told myself like I’m a I have a

36:16
I’m a plumber and I’ve got two trucks

36:18
and I told myself I’m not a real

36:19
business owner. Like that’s their broken

36:21
soundtrack. I’m not a real business

36:22
owner. And you’re like well I mean you

36:24
have two trucks, you have employees, you

36:27
have a P&L. Like I don’t know. You have

36:29
a logo. Like you’re, you know, like I

36:32
don’t know who’s magical that you think

36:33
are real business owners and you’re not,

36:35
but you’re actually a real business

36:36
owner and that might be holding you

36:38
back. And so, yeah, that’s what’s been

36:40
fun to me is the the phrase works on a

36:43
lot of levels and it it allows people to

36:45
talk about it that might not normally

36:47
talk about that.

Hope from New Book

36:49
Yeah. What’s the biggest hope you take

36:51
away or or that you hope people take

36:53
away from the new book on

36:55
procrastination?

Encouragement to Start

36:56
Well, I hope they start I hope they try

36:58
the thing they’ve been putting off. I

37:00
think it, you know, I hope the book’s a

37:02
slingshot. Like I say in the book, when

37:05
you actually try, you’re going to wish

37:07
you started sooner. That’s what

37:08
everybody feels. They go, “Man, I wish I

37:11
had done the suitor. Like, I had 10

37:13
years when I wasn’t writing my book or I

37:14
had five years when I wasn’t building

37:16
the relationship with my son that I

37:17
wanted or I had four years when I wasn’t

37:19
pursuing my career.” I don’t want you to

37:22
look back on life and say, “I wish I

37:24
had.” Like, I think you should go ahead

37:26
and do that. And so, that’s my hope. And

37:28
then the second hope would be I want you

37:30
to write some great letters toward the

37:33
future. I always say like we write our

37:35
letters the wrong direction. We say

37:36
things like, “What would you tell your

37:38
20-year-old version of yourself?” And I

37:40
I know that person wouldn’t have listen

37:43
like listened. I was there. I was

37:44
arrogant and scared and insecure. And I

37:47
wasn’t looking for wisdom. And that

37:49
person’s gone. I can’t do a thing to

37:51
change the 20-year-old version of me.

37:53
But the 70-year-old version of me still

37:55
very much alive, still very much

37:57
available. And so, I want people to send

37:59
letters and gifts that way. Who do you

38:02
want to be at 70? Who do you want to be

38:03
at 60? What are the things you could do

38:05
now that 70-year-old you would write a

38:07
thank you letter to you right now and

38:09
go, “Hey, I am so glad you got your

38:12
finances in order.” Like, you’re not

38:13
going to believe retirement. I know

38:15
there was some challenges. I know like

38:17
it wasn’t fun and like there were some

38:19
ups and downs, but man, I’m so glad you

38:21
did that because it’s really changed

38:23
what 70 looks like. Or the six-year-old

38:25
that goes, “I’m so glad we have such

38:27
good knees. like you did the annoying

38:29
thing of walking around the neighborhood

38:31
with a weighted vest and I’m so glad you

38:33
did that because at 60 I’m benefiting

38:35
from that. I want people to send some

38:37
amazing gifts forward because then you

38:40
really get to enjoy them.

Momentum and Growth

38:42
Yeah, that whole concept of momentum

38:44
builds off of momentum. Like just the

38:46
growth like if somebody can get started

38:48
now is just so important. Um John, I

38:51
want to finish with 10 rapidfire

38:53
questions.

Rapidfire Questions

38:53
Let’s do it.

38:54
I’m just gonna say question, you say the

38:56
first thing that comes to mind. Love it.

38:58
Who’s the first person you think of when

39:01
I say servant leadership?

Servant Leadership Example

39:03
Yeah, I’d say Dan Kathy. I spent some

39:06
years working with Dan Kathy at

39:07
Chick-fil-A and like the first thing

39:09
he’d do when we’d visit a Chick-fil-A is

39:11
empty the garbage and like he’s a he’s

39:13
worth like 10 billion and he’s emptying

39:15
the garbage like and he wasn’t for show.

39:17
Nobody was there but me. Um and so yeah,

39:19
ser definitely Dan Kathy.

Describing Jon Acuff

39:21
He’s one of the best. Five words that

39:24
most describe you.

39:26
curious, humorous,

39:29
um,

39:31
hyper,

39:33
um,

39:34
uh, empathetic and restless, I would

39:39
say. And restless and hyper probably

39:40
similar, but yeah.

Favorite Book and Author

39:42
Favorite book or author?

39:45
Uh, you know, I’d have to say the Bible,

39:47
but other than the Bible, like, uh, War

39:51
of Art is the book I’ve given away more

39:52
than any other book other than my own by

39:55
Stephen Preser. Okay. Favorite food?

Favorite Food and Activity

39:58
Sushi, definitely.

40:00
Favorite thing to do in your free time?

40:03
Um, I would say run. I really like to

40:06
run or uh I love the morning workouts

40:09
with the guys.

Surprising Fact

40:10
Surprising fact about you.

40:13
Um, I’m a pastor’s kid. I think that’s

40:15
kind of surprising.

Writing with Daughters

40:17
I’m gonna I’ve never done this for

40:19
somebody, but I’m going to add one in

40:20
that somebody should check out is you’ve

40:22
written with your daughter, too. Like I

40:25
found that really cool.

40:26
Yeah. So we, my two teenage daughters

40:29
and I wrote a book called Your New

40:30
Playlist, which is soundtracks for

40:31
teenagers because

40:34
a lot of the people I work with in their

40:35
early 50s, if you pull the thread, are

40:37
listening to a broken soundtrack they

40:39
picked up at 12, at 13, at 14. And so

40:41
the concept of the book is how do you

40:42
teach a teenager how to think? So yeah,

40:44
I did two books with my daughters, which

40:45
was a blast.

Favorite Place Visited

40:46
I I thought that was really cool when I

40:48
heard that. Um, okay. Favorite place

40:50
you’ve been?

40:52
Santorini. Uh, it looks better than

40:54
Instagram. I’ve been a lot of places

40:56
that you get to and you go, “Ugh, this

40:57
looks better on Instagram.” That place

40:59
is actually even better than Instagram.

41:01
It was bonkers to me.

Future Travel Plans

41:03
Place you want to go that you haven’t

41:05
been to yet.

41:06
Tokyo. Tokyo. Definitely.

41:08
Tokyo or Norway? Not that they’re

41:10
similar in any means.

41:13
Yeah. One is neon and frenetic and one

41:15
is like fjords and quiet, but like those

41:17
are the two opposite those probably the

41:19
two opposite sides of my personality.

Best Advice Received

41:21
Wow. All right. best advice you’ve ever

41:23
received.

41:25
Um,

41:27
well, my wife recently taught me a

41:29
principle that I’ll totally put in a

41:31
book and probably not give her credit.

41:33
Um, she said, “Are you signing the front

41:36
of the check or the back of the check?”

41:38
And what it means is that soundtrack is

41:40
it helps you understand service and

41:42
servant leadership. So, like when I’m

41:45
signing the back of the check, you

41:46
better believe I’ll be there at 6 a.m.

41:47
You better believe I’ll do the

41:48
follow-up. You better believe I’ll be

41:50
the one who gets your cell phone

41:50
information. Like when I’m signing the

41:52
front of the check, it helps me with

41:53
leadership because sometimes contractors

41:55
I hire try to assign work back to me and

41:58
I have to go, whoa, whoa, no. Like I’m

42:00
signing the front of this check. Like

42:01
that’s not the relationship right now.

42:03
And I taught it to a friend who’s a

42:05
musician. He and his band. It was at 7

42:08
a.m. We were both doing a soundtrack in

42:10
Orlando. I think it was Orlando. They

42:12
were about to play Cool in the Gang for

42:13
a bunch of HR professionals. And these

42:16
musicians did not want to be there. Like

42:18
none of them when they were 12 and got

42:20
their first electric guitar was like, “I

42:21
hope someday I I’m in a conference

42:23
room.” And I said, “Bro, you’re signing

42:25
the back of the check, so you better

42:27
like change your attitude.” And he was

42:29
like, “Oh, you’re right. We are signing

42:30
the So that’s been my most recent

42:32
favorite advice is back of the check

Jenny Auff Mention

0:42:34
front of the check.”

0:42:36
That’s really good. I’m gonna I’m gonna

0:42:38
Jenny Auff. Jenny until it comes out in

0:42:40
a book. Jenny Auff. And about five years

0:42:42
from now, I’ll be like, “John Akov said

0:42:43
something so smart.” I was like, “Thank

0:42:44
you.” We’re one, by the way. Jenny and

0:42:46
I, we’re like, we are one. So, like, I

0:42:48
think we get to do that.

Servant Leadership Importance

0:42:50
All right. Finally, podcast on servant

0:42:52
leadership. Why should people care about

0:42:54
becoming better servant leaders?

0:42:56
It makes leadership a lot more

0:42:58
enjoyable. Like, it just does. Like,

0:43:00
boy, it takes the pressure off, too.

Reducing Leadership Pressure

0:43:03
Nobody talks about that side of servant

0:43:05
leadership. Like, it reduces the

0:43:07
pressure. One of my favorite parts of

0:43:09
that is like when I’m at an event, I’m

0:43:12
not the bride. I’m really not. like the

0:43:14
CEO is or the bonus they’re about to get

0:43:17
is or the pressure they’re feeling from

0:43:18
a new compet like I’m not the bride of

0:43:21
that as a wedding like I’m a participant

0:43:23
I’m gonna crush my part but that’s me

0:43:26
serving the audience like again I’m

0:43:28
thinking about them not me and that also

0:43:31
reduces the pressure because then you’re

0:43:33
not like your whole focus isn’t like how

0:43:35
do I look or how did I sound or how did

0:43:36
I you’re going how did they experience

0:43:38
this how can I help them like one of my

Event Planner Question

0:43:41
favorite questions to ask an event

0:43:42
planner is how do guys like me make your

0:43:44
job easier and they always go, “Oh,

0:43:46
nobody asked me that.” I’m like, “Yeah,

0:43:47
we should like my I want my event

0:43:49
planners to have the best day because I

0:43:52
I use servant leadership to really

0:43:54
support them.” So, but I would say,

0:43:55
“Yeah, it reduces pressure.”

Podcast Appreciation

0:43:58
Wow. Well, John, thank you so much. I

0:44:00
told you before that we started before

0:44:03
we started recording that you were one

0:44:04
of the very few people that I really

0:44:06
wanted on this from the get-go. So,

0:44:07
I appreciate that.

Closing Remarks

0:44:08
Yeah. Thank you so much and thanks for

0:44:10
sharing your wisdom. In the description,

0:44:12
we’ll make sure to put a link to the

0:44:13
quiz where people can check it out and

0:44:15
and your website where people can go

0:44:17
follow you on social, where they can go

0:44:19
listen to you on more podcasts, on your

0:44:21
own podcast, and see what happens.

0:44:24
Great, man. I appreciate you having me

0:44:25
on.

Podcast Outro

0:44:26
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0:44:27
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0:44:30
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0:44:32
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