Transcript 0:00 [gentle music] We set about thinking about the adventurer's mindset, 'cause I think that mindset and that approach to life certainly has helped the two of us and helped everyone in the book, but I think it also helps all of us right now 'cause we're on kind of this crazy adventure with everything that's happening in the world and the turmoil. 0:18 And adventure is really about going out into the unknown, and everyone in our book really does that, from a, a big wave surfer who's surfing 50-foot crazy mountainous waves to ocean rowers to mountaineers and polar adventurers. 0:35 They're all going out into this unknown and expect to be challenged. [upbeat music] Welcome back to The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. 0:52 Hello, listeners, and welcome back to The Peggy Smedley Show. My final guest is a Silicon Valley-based leadership consultant focused on neuroscience and high performance. 1:02 She is the founder and CEO of a super mega boss, a manager training company. So please join me in welcoming Amy Posey, co-author of Wild Success: Seven Lessons Business Leaders Can Learn From Extreme Adventures. 1:17 Amy, welcome to the show. Thanks, Peggy. Appreciate it. Happy to be here today. So now, you know, I have to tell you, I love the name of your book. It's kind of exciting- [laughs]... 1:27 just to figure out what in heaven's name inspired you to just write this book. I'm really kind of stoked by this, I have to ask. Yeah. 1:36 [laughs] Um, I, I love the title too, and it was great 'cause our publisher came up with it, and my co-author Kevin and I were also really excited 'cause I think it has the, the heart of what we're trying to get across. 1:48 So we're both adventurers of different caliber, and we go out on adventures and have been working together for a good couple of years now through one of the other companies I work with that, that really focuses on the lessons we can learn from adventure. 2:03 And so we wanted to share the stories of all the adventurers that we know who are ordinary people like you and I who go off and do extraordinary things, and have these qualities and traits that they have developed over the years that I found make really great parallels to what we need to be successful in the business world. 2:26 And so about four or five years ago, we had thought about this idea and h- said, "You know, we wanna, we wanna tell these stories." 2:34 And we happened to be in the right place at the right time and met our publisher, and she said, "There's definitely something here." 2:41 And so we embarked on writing Wild Success to share those seven lessons and those seven stories that I think is a different way to look at business. 2:51 And, uh, and, uh, I'm glad you're stoked 'cause it's a much more exciting way to look at business and to use these stories as a, as a platform in a different context. Well, you have to think about it. 3:00 I mean, if we look at the way the world is today, the world is just on fire. [laughs] Not on fire in a positive way, on fire because it's just messed up. 3:08 So I, I have to have you tell us a little bit about some of the adventurers you profile because it's gotta be fun to meet people who are just creative, who are just out there and think differently in a, in a more adventurous way because those are got- have to be the people that you say, "Wow, I wish I would kinda think like that," not just be in this very stoic way, but more of the adventurous, kind of fun, free-spirited kinda way. 3:34 Yeah. 3:34 And, and I think that's what we said about thinking about the adventurer's mindset, 'cause I think that mindset and that approach to life certainly has helped the two of us and helped everyone in the book, but I think it also helps all of us right now 'cause we're on kind of this crazy adventure with everything that's happening in the world and the turmoil. 3:52 And adventure is really about going out into the unknown, and everyone in our book really does that, from, uh, a big wave surfer who's surfing 50-foot crazy mountainous waves to a few of our ocean rowers to mountaineers and polar adventurers. 4:10 They're all going out into this unknown and expect to be challenged and sort of expect the things that are g- are gonna screw up and gonna, gonna go sort of sideways. 4:22 And so thinking about the skills that you learn when you go through challenges, things like resilience, things like being able to be innovative when things go really wrong and find solutions, being able to cognitively reappraise or relook at a situation and find the positive, find the silver lining, these are ways that we can sort of very emotionally and impa- and passionately look at our world and the challenges that we're facing. 4:48 And I've found that the parallels sort of face much better when you are going through challenge. And so it is actually a great book for people to pick up right now. 4:58 So, you know, if you wanna build your resilience, right? Many of us have been sheltered at home since March, and so thinking about, how do I... You know, it's, it's July. 5:06 How do I be resilient and, and still keep going when I'm exhausted and tired and cranky and things aren't getting better? Um, there's a story of a woman who is incredibly resilient. 5:17 Her name's Lisa Blair, and she is a open ocean sailor, a solo sailor and has sailed and circumnavigated Australia and Antarctica. And we profile her story of a huge challenge she faced on her Antarctic journey. 5:32 And she, she kind of gets a lot of, uh, flack from people who, you know, this young woman who is, uh, she is definitely a resilient soul, and she's a hard worker and plans for the unknown and is prepared and ready to go and has the support of her family and friends. 5:51 Those are the things that help us all build resilience. 5:54 So telling her story in sort of the most extreme case that you would be in, you know, sailing by yourself and having challenges, those types of lessons that you can learn from someone like that to apply to your own day-to-day and how you can be resilient, whether it's, you know, facing the pandemic, facing a challenge at work, it doesn't matter. 6:12 It's, it's... 6:13 Those are the lessons I think that we've sort of squeezed out of, of these adventure stories that I think are really helpful for all of us.I think what's really exciting about that is you think about people today, and they're just kind of these people who say, "Well, what am I supposed to do? 6:27 I, I can't be home. I, I, I can't do this," and they panic. And I love that idea that you talk about resilience and, and someone who's thinking about I, I have to s- solve it. I have to figure it out. 6:37 And I think those are the lessons that I hear that you're describing that are really exciting. Is there something that you saw that surprised you that you said, "I wish I could be like that. I wanted to do that. 6:48 Why didn't I think of that?" You know, that really- [laughs]... you know, that lit you up and said, "I, I, you know what, why am I never doing something that exciting? Why, why didn't I think of that?" 6:57 Well, so it's, it's really interesting, 'cause I've, I've taken on a couple of adventures myself and, and actually have gone on an adventure with my co-author, Kevin. And Kevin has a very illustrious adventure resume. 7:10 He broke, uh, the world record unsupported to the South Pole trekking. He has rowed across the Northwest Passage. He has done these incredible runs in frozen areas. He's kind of... 7:22 Like, he's a polar bear come to life a little bit. And so one of the interesting things is, as I got to know him, and we profile his story, uh, in the book, but he's all about balance. 7:32 It may sound like these, these people go out and do these extreme things, and they're crazy, and they're this. 7:37 It actually takes really thoughtful planning and preparation and balance to be able to achieve the things that they've achieved. 7:46 And so he, he and I have, have spoken at length around how do you create this life for yourself, and how do you do the things that you really wanna do? And some of it requires saying no to things. 7:57 Some of it requires being able to balance out the needs that you may have. 'Cause, 'cause Kevin's also a writer, an accomplished architect. He's a dad. He's a spouse, right? Like, he's got a very full life. 8:08 And so for me, thinking about balance in all of this, that yes, there are these extreme adventures, but they also require a lot of balance and personal balance to sustain for the long term. 8:19 And it shifted my thinking, particularly around the area of balancing your physical health. Because if you don't have that, like, you can't do any of this stuff. 8:29 And so he is, like, the fittest human that I know, and I'm very envious of him. 8:34 And so he gets out and gets after it every single day, and he's been sort of i- in the back of my head during this pandemic and making sure I get out every single day. And I'm not doing the crazy... 8:45 Like, I'm not going on huge, long hikes in the mountains. Like, I'm, I'm doing it in small bursts. 8:50 And so that's part of it, is thinking about taking on something big means you really start small, and you start with the perspective of everything else in your life. 8:59 And, and I think it goes the same in business, but in this adventure space, the things that people do, like, they're not always these wild ideas. 9:06 They take, uh, hours, days, weeks, months of planning and thinking about and, and sorting out, but they take it one step at a time, and they take it, break it down into small components. 9:15 And so there are a couple of things that I think that, you know, I've been thinking about especially lately around that balance and being able to be balanced and know that in the future I will be able to go out and do those great things again. 9:27 But to keep motivated and to keep excited about the things that are happening, I think it's taking those small steps. Do you think that's what people get lost in? 9:34 They always think the ideas that you have to have have to be these giant bursts, but they don't have to, and that's one of the things that you've learned from this, the takeaway maybe, u- you know, most from this book is that there's many things you can do. 9:46 Don't think you have to swallow it all at once. [laughs] You, you know, there's take out in chunks, you know, pieces- Yeah... kind of thing. Well, that's absolutely true, Peggy. 9:54 I think, uh, you know, all of us get overwhelmed by the big thing, right? Like, you always have to be chasing the big thing, and it's gotta be this huge thing. 10:01 And, and there's a certain satisfaction in realizing that you can break things down into those component parts, and I think that's what I took away from thinking about all the stories in the book and the people in the book, that they, they did that. 10:13 But also, I sort of ate my own dog food in thinking about the book. 'Cause even writing a book is a huge endeavor, [laughs] and it's like you don't... 10:21 You, when you get out and you start thinking about it, it, it becomes overwhelming, and you stare at a blank sheet of paper, and you go, "Oh, gosh, what have I gotten myself into?" 10:29 It was almost the parallel feeling of, you know, the, staring at what, what we were gonna do on an adventure that Kevin and I went in to Baffin Island. 10:38 We crossed the fifth-largest island in the Arctic in Canada on foot with a team of 11. And when we thought about this project at the very beginning, we were like, "Oh, God, uh, what are we doing? Are we crazy?" 10:50 Like, "This seems too much." But then we broke it out into its component parts and really thought about it and knew the time and energy it would take, and we took that time to plan for it, and we were successful. 11:00 We had challenges, as we expected, but we were successful, and I think that's part of it, is breaking those big ideas into those small things and celebrating the progress that you make, not necessarily just the success at the end of it. 11:13 Because that's a much more satisfying journey for any of us, is to keep ourselves going and recognize how much effort we put in day to day. 11:20 When you look at all of this now and you look from the beginning and you look to the end now, is there something you would say that you got the most out of this and you would say, "Look, I've accomplished this, and I continue to accomplish," and you want others to, when they read this book, to say, "These are the takeaways I want you to get from reading this book"? 11:36 Yeah. I think as I have been talking to people about the book, and I've been doing some book clubs and doing just chats with people who are... 11:45 who, who maybe have known some of these stories peripherally, but really it's about the, the sort of instruction manual for living a really good and fulfilled life, right? 11:54 Taking on things that you didn't think you could, exploring, adventuring. 11:59 And not to say that you've gotta go out and climb the highest mountain here or there or, you know, sail a sea by yourself, but it's taking on the adventures in your life. 12:07 And I think part of it is realizing that because there's also stories in the book about people I've known in my network for the last two decades in business who have taken on really challenging things and how they approach and look at the challenges that they're, that they're facing. 12:22 And, and so part of it is the takeaway is that, that people have the capability to do, uh, amazing things, and I think the platform for extreme adventure is just one way to explore and think bigger than yourself and to get inspired that you can go on and take anything and, and try anything and go for it. 12:41 And, and I think that's it. The, the, the real takeaway is that if you wanna be successful, and you wanna be wild suc- wildly successful, you just have to start somewhere. 12:49 You just have to give it a go, and we can all build these capabilities and skills. And, and some of it is the, the, you know, lessons around how our brain works to sort of uncover and unlock. 12:59 'Cause we think these people in the book, you know, who are these amazing adventurers have some secret sauce. You know what? They don't. 13:05 They've just paid attention to one critical aspect that has enhanced their life greatly, and I think that's it. 13:11 It's, it's thinking about our thinking, thinking about our approach to the way we wanna go through our lives and taking on these challenges that make us stronger, more interesting, and the things that we look back on very fondly as, as huge life lessons that we use every day. 13:28 Amy, I've enjoyed this conversation. Where can our listeners get your book? They can get it at their favorite bookseller. It's, uh, on electronic shelves right now, and you can also go to morewildsuccess.com. All right. 13:40 Amy Posey, co-author of Wild Success: Seven Key Lessons Business Leaders Can Learn From Extreme Adventures. Thank you so much for your time today. I really appreciate it. Thanks, Peggy. It was fun. 13:51 All right, listeners, we're out of time. Remember, we broadcast every Tuesday at 12:00 PM Central. 13:55 Check out our website at connectedworld.com or thepeggysmedley show.com, or most importantly, tweet at us at connectedwmag. 14:01 Remember, this is The Peggy Smedley Show, the podcasting voice of IoT and digital transformation. Have a great week, and remember, with great technology comes great responsibility. [upbeat music]
