Great Work Interview Kevin Carroll, author of Rules of the Red Rubber Ball
Kevin Carroll has an amazingly cool background. Raised by his grandparents in Philadelphia, his first job really was with the U.S. Air Force where he served as a language interpreter and translator. And in those ten years he became fluent in Croatian and Czech and Russian and German. But while being fantastic at languages, he was also an athlete and soon an athletic trainer. Leaving the Air Force, he worked his way up to be the head athletic trainer for the Philadelpha 76ers. So he’s already cool. But then he was tapped on the shoulder by Nike. He spent a number of years at Nike helping to deepen their understanding of athletic performance and team dynamics and interpersonal connection, basically helping Nike become one of the forces it is today.
And then things shifted again, and he put his experience and wisdom into a terrific series of books, starting with the Rules of the Red Rubber Ball. In this interview we talk about:
How it was a ball that saved and changed Kevin’s life.
Why ‘encouragers’ are so crucial to sustaining success
The role of curiosity and play in connecting with your great purpose and Great Work
The role of “lonely work” is setting up for success.
Great Work Interview Jason Fried of 37Signals, author of Rework
Jason Fried’s new book Rework comes out today, and I’m delighted that we managed to talk just a week ago in the lead up to its launch. Now here’s a quote to kick us off. It’s from Seth Godin, and he says (and I’m paraphrasing), “Make everything a project – and run it through 37Signals’ Basecamp.” Jason is the one of the founders of 37Signals. They design useful software to help people work better – connect with people, run projects, managing stuff. (I know, because I use it!)
And what’s cool is they haven’t done it by practising business as usual, but by practising business as unusual. In this interview Jason shares some of his successful and counter-intutive approaches to how to get stuff done. We talk about:
The evolution of 37Signals – and why where you start is not where you finish
The value of introducing “done enough” as a measure of success
The problem with meetings – and what to do about it
Mojo meets Great Work: Free telelcass with Marshall Goldsmith
Join Marshall and Michael for a free 45 minute teleclass on Monday March 29th at 12 noon Eastern share tips and insights on how to keep your Mojo and do more Great Work.
When times are challenging and demands on your energy, focus and time are only increasing, you need to have practical strategies to not only succeed but to flourish.
In this session you’ll hear Marshall and Michael share:
==> What’s at the heart of Mojo – and why you need to find it and keep it.
==> What’s the difference between Good Work and Great Work – and why Good Work can be part of the problem.
==> Three key tactics to help you keep your Mojo.
==> Four ways to Stop the Busywork so you can focus on your Great Work.
We expect this teleclass to be popular, and there are limited lines, so please register now
It must have been quite the moment in 1922 when Howard Carter first peered through a small crack into the antechamber of King Tutankhamun’s tomb.
I do love this exchange between Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnavon. You can almost hear the amazement and astonishment and excitement in Carter’s voice.
Occasionally, just occasionally, I’m smart enough to stop the rush, step away from my own busywork, and take a look around at my world and my life.
And lo and behold, I too see wonderful things.
If there were two things you’d point to as amazing in your life now – what would they be?