Unlocking Leadership Secrets: Principles Straight from Barack Obama’s Advisor Anton Gunn

Key Takeaways

Balancing work and familyLeadership starts with self and can be practiced by anyone, regardless of their position in the organization.The significance of having a best friend at work and how it can impact retention.The power of three questions that every employee and customer asks every dayPlanning ahead and the need to spend at least two hours on Sunday to plan the entire week

In This Episode:

[00:29] Introduction to Anton[01:57] Leadership lessons Anton learned from former President Obama[02:06] The importance of surrounding yourself with smart people[02:35] The significance of going big and making a difference[05:09] Strategies for prioritizing family amidst life's demands and distractions[08:19] The meaning of socially conscious leadership[11:10] Different types of people in organizations and their attitudes toward problems[12:53] Paralysis by analysis and living in oblivion[15:00] Social blindness in America[18:38] Strategies for thriving in the workplace and becoming an effective leader, regardless of positional authority[19:02] Building relationships at work and its impact on retention[21:01] Anton’s "Just Lead Toolkit" for becoming an admired leader[23:09] The significance of three questions: "Do you care about me?", "Will you help me?", and "Can I trust you?"[32:24] Anton’s tip for winning the day on Monday through planning and preparation.

Notable Quotes

[02:02] “The thing that I learned most from Barack Obama is to always surround yourself with people who are smarter than you. The job itself is so complex and so hard. Even if you are the president, it is not possible to be great at it if you're the smartest one in the room.” - Anton[03:45] “You gotta have that personal life side of you no matter what the job is, no matter how much you dive in the business, you've got to find those things that fill your cup and be unafraid about sharing that with other people, that you have this personal side.” - Anton[04:00] "Many of us want to be the perfect leader, we want to keep this Stoic framework about us, and it's all business all the time but you and I both know that that's a mistake, that's a huge mistake and so find your local spaces and that's what I got from him is find your family space."- Anton[32:29] "I take two hours on Sunday and I plan my entire week. I literally have a spreadsheet of what I'm going to do Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. And I get it all figured out on Sunday for a couple of hours. You know what's coming, so the day doesn't surprise you." - Anton

Our Guest

Anton Gunn, former senior advisor to President Barack Obama and world-renowned expert in Socially Conscious Leadership. Bestselling author of "The Presidential Principles," international speaker, and consultant. CEO of 937 Strategy Group, empowering diverse high-performing teams.

Resources and Links

Win Monday Community (join here)

Win Monday Community

Paul Epstein

Paul's New Book: Better Decisions FasterPaul's Confidence QuizPaul's WebsitePaul's LinkedIn to ConnectPaul's Instagram to Follow

Anton Gunn

https://www.linkedin.com/in/antonjgunn/https://antongunn.com/https://www.instagram.com/antonjgunn/https://twitter.com/AntonJGunnhttps://www.facebook.com/AntonJGunn/

Mentioned

The Presidential Principles - https://www.amazon.com/Presidential-Principles-Inspire-Action-Lasting/dp/1642250201Anton Gunn's Just Lead Toolkit: https://antongunn.com/op/just-lead-toolkit/George Floyd incident - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kiSm0Nuqomg