Playmakers: An All-Star Mashup

In this week’s episode, we meet four different playmakers, each with their own perspective on leveling up in business and life.

GUEST BIOS:

Jordan Harbinger

Jordan is a Wall St. lawyer-turned-podcast interviewer with an approachable style and a knack for securing high-profile guests. His show, The Jordan Harbinger Show, was selected as part of Apple’s Best of 2018. Today, the show has over 11 million downloads per month and features a wide array of guests that have included the late Kobe Bryant, Dennis Rodman, Tony Hawk, Cesar Millan, Simon Sinek, Eric Schmidt, and Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Erika Wasser

Erika Wasser is a thriving entrepreneur and has hosted her own HGTV show after cutting her teeth as a comedian. She founded GLAM+GO, a salon and blow-dry chain and membership program. Most recently, she co-founded Prospr at Work, a workforce management software platform for hourly and shift-based teams now used by some of the country’s most recognizable brands to manage and connect their teams.

David Siegel

David Siegel joined the Los Angeles Sports Council and Southern California Committee for the Olympic Games as President and Chief Executive Officer for both organizations after a 22-year career with the LA Dodgers. He worked in every revenue producing department, most recently as Vice President of Global Partnerships after spending 10 years as Vice President of Ticket Sales. Under his leadership, the Dodgers achieved the highest attendance in Major League Baseball for five consecutive seasons.

Santor Nishizaki

Santor Nishizaki is on a mission to create a happier workplace by helping organizations increase generational awareness and discover strengths that can elevate people to reach their full potential, something he has implemented in the boardroom as well as the classroom as he serves as the professor in multiple universities at an undergraduate and MBA level. Santor has served in leadership roles at both NASA and Disney Imagineering, where he was an integral part of the opening of Disneyland Shanghai. He’ll be launching his first book this year, a guide on leading and working with Generation Z.

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

Jordan Harbinger

[4:38] - Jordan’s ‘Connect Four’

Find the ‘dead’ networking contacts and bring them to life

Jordan uses a method he calls ‘connect four,’ where he scrolls down through his messages and finds four connections someone else might consider ‘dead’— no recent messages, no potential. Then he reignites those conversations, often to striking results. How can you ‘connect four’ in your own career?

[6:52] - The Power of Reciprocation

Make people happy to help you by helping them first

Too many people try to get something out of a connection before they’ve put in the work. Your first question when building a connection shouldn’t be ‘what can they do for me?’ It should be, what can I do for them?

Erika Wasser

[11:26] - How Being a Leader is Like Doing Stand-up

Why standing up in front of an organization is like standing up in front of a crowd

As a leader or a standup, you’re always taking risks, taking chances, gauging your audience and changing course. Whether it’s fundraising or making quick decisions or leading a team, the basic skills of paying attention to how you’re perceived is essential.

[16:49] - Planning Doesn’t Replace Doing

“Sometimes you just have to do the thing.”

Don’t let perfect get in the way of good enough, because perfect isn’t happening. You can plan as much as you want, but planning doesn’t replace doing. Sometimes you have to get knee-deep in a problem before you can begin to figure it out.

David Siegel

[22:50] - Never Say No to Opportunity

You’ll never have experiences if you don’t say ‘yes’ when they arrive

In the first seven or eight years of your career, just say yes to every opportunity. Elevate every project and teammate you’re associated with and watch your skills, experiences, and relationships blossom.

[25:32] - No Scoreboards

Why measuring relationships with a ledger is a bad idea

David isn’t a believer in doing things for others in the hopes they’ll do something for you in return. Selflessness and relationship-building must be real, not put into place in order to get some benefit out of it. That’s the only way truly powerful connections can be made and maintained.

Santor Nishizaki

[29:53] - Embrace Your Winning Spirit

Sometimes competitiveness is a powerful trait

In today’s career market, we’re often told to subdue our competitiveness and focus instead on lifting all boats. But if you’re competitive by nature, sometimes your best move is to embrace that side of you to an extent— it can be a powerful motivator that pushes you to make impactful plays.

[31:52] - Turn Your Worst Moments into Your Greatest Strengths

How tragedy, frustration, and failure help us grow

After experiencing a terrible tragedy, Santor decided to grow up overnight. He used that moment as a springboard to propel him to a work ethic that can only be called ridiculous. He’s channeled his passion, tragedy, and frustration into success.

RESOURCES:

[0:14] - The Power of Playing Offense[3:04] - The Jordan Harbinger Show[8:10] - GLAM+GO[8:18] - Prospr at Work[21:12] - Los Angeles Sports Council[28:17] - Disney Imagineering

FOLLOW:

We'd love to hear your thoughts on today’s episode. Feel free to DM Paul on social or shoot him an email at [email protected].

Want to keep making the right plays? Subscribe to Playmakers now.Check out more episodes and content on the Playmaker’s website.

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SHOW SPONSOR:

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ABOUT PLAYMAKERS: IMPACT UNLEASHED:

Playmakers: Impact Unleashed is an all-access pass to the game-changers of today and the history makers of tomorrow. The show looks past the trophy cabinet and features a no-BS, inside look into the world of comeback, transformation, and impact unearthing practical tools and mindsets that we can all leverage to make a play in our own lives and careers.

Take a seat at the table with leadership expert, sports industry veteran, bestselling author, personal transformation coach, purpose igniter, and your host Paul Epstein in this inspiring, yet immediately actionable podcast. From stories of total defeat to the thrills of unimaginable achievement to the practices of mastering the inside game, each show will share a high-energy, prescriptive blueprint to unleash impact and drive success, significance, and purpose no matter your starting point.

Meet Paul at the 50 and make a play together!

Learn more at: PlaymakersPod.com

ABOUT DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. 

With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Paul Epstein may not be a hard charging running back on the actual football field, but his list of high-profile wins in the world of sports will have you thinking that he could be.

Paul has spent nearly 15 years as a pro sports executive for multiple NFL and NBA teams, a global sports agency, and the NFL league office. He’s transformed numerous NBA teams from the absolute bottom in league revenue to top-two in financial performance. He’s broken every premium revenue metric in Super Bowl history as the NFL’s sales leader. He’s opened a billion-dollar stadium, helped save the New Orleans NBA franchise, and founded the San Francisco 49ers Talent Academy.

He's since installed his leadership and high-performance playbook with Fortune 500 leaders, Founders and CEOs, MBAs, and professional athletes.

Now, as Founder of Purpose Labs, keynote speaker, bestselling author, and host of the Playmakers: Impact Unleashed podcast, Paul explores how living and working with a focus on leadership, culture, and purpose can transform organizations and individuals anywhere to unleash their full potential.

Learn more about Paul at PaulEpsteinSpeaks.comOrder Paul’s new book The Power of Playing Offense

CREDITS:

Paul Epstein: Host | [email protected]Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]

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