Okay, first of all, before I jump into it, it's always important just for my, I play for two teams in the league. One was the New York Jets, the other was the Packers, and I speak to a lot of audiences and I'm always trying to figure out who the most courageous person in the room is. So if there's that one New York Jet fan in the room, will you raise your hand? My man. Okay, let me see. Oh, I see you. I see you, J-E-T, J-E-T-S, Jets, Jets, Jets, all right. Is there a Packer fan in the house? Like, okay, I see a few, okay, a few claps, okay, I got you. If you can't stand the Packers, make some noise. Yeah, that's usually the case. I'm with you, though. They cut me right before winning the Super Bowl, but anyhow, I'm grateful to be with you. We got some time here, but can I just say this? I first of all want to say thank you. Thank you for what you do. Thank you for the help that you offer individuals like myself. It was fascinating this morning. I sat through the earlier session, and as I sat in the back and I was listening to the panel, as I was listening to all these technical experts describe details about, you know, basically my body, right, because of my injury that I went through, I was sitting there thinking not only is it fascinating the process you all go through with decision making and what move to make, the other thing that it made me think of, and I know I'm speaking to the best, Dr. Miller did a great job of not only prepping me, but helped me understand exactly the purpose that you all are all together here. I did have a question, though, and my question is this. As phenomenal technically as you are, as good as every one of you are, even as you're describing a data point or a detail, it still resonated with me that when I heard you talking about the ACL, emotions came over me. See, I had tore my lateral collateral ligament, right, and I told Dr. Miller this when I was with the Jets, and I tore my lateral collateral ligament, and so as I was getting surgery at Lenox Hill, as I was being taken care of by an orthopedic surgeon, I woke up and I saw like six, seven doctors in the room, and I thought I was really, really important because that's a lot of doctors in the room. You got to keep in mind, I was an 11th round draft pick. I'm telling you, like, happy to just be in the league. I know you've had some speakers before. I saw some of the names. That's not me, right, from a playing standpoint, but what's so fascinating about it, I woke up and I was like, oh, and I remember one of the, a friend of mine or one of the team, not team physicians, but one of the team trainers comes to see me, and I was like, man, I can't believe how many doctors were in there looking at my knee. I mean, you guys must see a whole lot of opportunism from me. He was like, oh, no, you just had a unique injury, and it was kind of fascinating to everybody. Okay. Now, I'm not saying that, you know, that's the case all the time, but here's what I do want you to understand, that what may be surgery to or a unique dynamic to a doctor is one of the most difficult emotional moments for the patient. I know you know this already. I get it. You know this, but I just hope you never grow numb to how significant those moments are, because I wasn't expecting him to tell the story, but I just sat there and I was looking at some of the MRIs I was looking, and it just took me back to the moment where I realized that my life was not going to be the same, that my whole identity, not saying that's healthy, but a big part of my identity was based on what I do, and in that moment of an injury, that's about to go away, and the person who's there with me at some of my darkest transitional moments was my doctors. Now, I bring this up because this isn't just my conversation with orthopedic surgeons. I do, you know, it wasn't all mentioned in the intro, but Mayo Clinic, many of the healthcare systems in America, I work with the Leadership Institute, all the CEOs of many of the healthcare systems that are across the country, GlaxoSmithKline, some of the pharmaceuticals, dealing with Dr. Tanya Small, who's in charge of all the oncology for them. And I remember Dr. Small, as I was speaking to the group, she had a list of data points behind me, like, and all these data points, and she stood up and I'll never forget it because it's so fascinating. She goes, please, as a team, as a group, in the work that we do, we have to remember that every data point, every description, every percentage that we cover is an actual family. To us, it might be just a lot of data, but to the people who are the data, that's their entire life. There's a whole different dynamic. Now, I'm not saying this because you don't get this. I'm saying this to just keep reminding you of how significant your role is. And I want to say thank you for it because not all the time is everybody happy to see you. Okay, grateful for you, but they may not be happy to see you because of what needs to be done. So thank you for the work you do. Thank you for the help that you do. Now, you see the title here, it's called Moving to Great. My primary purpose today is to, and I'd like to say it this way, I'm at my best when I'm helping the best. So my goal is help the best become even better. Not technically, I can't speak to any of the things that you know technically, but what I have learned is as technically sound and as gifted as somebody may be on the field of play or in their particular profession, all of us can get help with how to lead. All of us can have some help with how to influence others because as much as we can deal with the body part, dealing with people is a whole different matter. Am I right? Okay. And so here's what I want to do. I want to offer you today a few things that allows you to be even more effective. That's going to be a word you hear me use several times, effective. Now at the end, I'm going to give a few minutes for Q&A if people have a few quick questions for me in conclusion. So let me jump right into it. This is called Moving to Great. It is not called contemplating great, planning on great, sitting around waiting for great. It's called Moving to Great. And the reason why we call it Moving to Great is whatever was considered great a couple years ago may not be considered great today. Now it's not the fact that we're not working just as hard, it's just the fact that everybody's expectations keep going up. And as expectations go up, the answer to becoming even more or to exceed expectations may not be just working harder. We've got to figure out how to work smarter, how to be more effective. So that's what I'm going to cover today. Now I'm going to do a little from an engagement standpoint. So the first question I have for you is this. Just work with me here, all right? Just this first question. What do you see? Quick answers. Let me hear your answer. What do you see? Acorn. Thank you for answering in a hurry. I was doing this with Boeing, a bunch of flight engineers in the room, and two minutes went by without an answer. That is an awkward silence. And finally, a guy in the back says, an acorn? I was like, thank you. It wasn't a trick question. Yes, an acorn. Does anyone see something different? A pumpkin. You said a pumpkin? First time I've ever heard that answer. My man, I will remember you forever. Okay. Anybody else? You see something different? Potential. A future tree. Yeah, yeah, you're seeing not, you're looking at an acorn, but what you see is beyond that because inside of every acorn, we know is the possibility of this. Mighty oak tree. This is not complicated. We see this. So what you're looking at right now is you see a tree. So the possibility of this is on the inside of every acorn. When you look at this, what do you see? Quick answer. Yes. My man said firewood. It was interesting. The same gentleman from Bowen, the flight engineer, literally sat in the back and said, furniture. And I said, I appreciate the speed by which you answered that. Not the answer I was looking for, but no. Yes, it's furniture. Yes, it is firewood. But what in shade, it is, you know, significance, growth, I get all that, but what's on the inside of every acorn? I mean, of every oak tree? More acorns. So in essence, in one acorn, you have an oak tree, but in that oak tree, you have thousands of more acorns. So what you actually have in one acorn is an entire forest of oak trees. Now follow this here. This isn't a story about just acorns and oak trees, but it is a conversation about what you see because what you see dictates the value that you apply to something. If I have an acorn in my hand, it's just an acorn, and I don't see the potential of this, I just throw it aside, grab another one. But if I actually see this on the inside of this, this value goes up. I say this to leaders all the time. I mean, I was like, it's not about just your technical ability. It's not just about that. The question is, can you see? Because the leader who can see can help their people be able to see. Most of the time, our frustration is what we see and who we're trying to influence don't see the same thing. And many times we think people aren't just motivated. They're just not connected. No, they have a sight problem. They're looking at something you can actually see. So the goal is, how do we help ourselves see better? Now it's interesting, my wife and I have been married 28 years, you can clap for that. You can clap, feel free, okay? 28 years, she'll tell you they've been two or three of the best years of her life, but okay. But my wife and I have been married 20 years. We have two daughters, 26 and 22, Taylor and Madison, my babies. So I'm a girl dad, right? And so my youngest daughter, Madison, graduated from Colorado State University, from Fort Collins. There we go, hey, yeah, beautiful campus. And so we live in the Seattle area. So every time I'm in Fort Collins, I love visiting the college. My daughter played volleyball there. And so I would walk around the campus and they have this particular oak tree that is just amazing. It is beautiful. And every time I go to the oak tree, I look at it and I'm like, this is just incredible, man. It seems like it grows every year. And so not too long ago, I was there in the spring and I was looking at it and a gentleman walks by. And as I'm looking at this beautiful oak tree, he walked by and I'm like, man, is this, this oak tree is just amazing, isn't it? He says, it is. I said, I can't believe how much it grows every spring. Every time I go, it just, it grows more and more. And he smiles and he goes, actually, it grows the most during the winter, not during the spring. And I said, no, it doesn't. Now, the only thing worse than being unconsciously incompetent is arguing from that place. And that's what I was doing. And he looked at me, he was like, no, I know it looks like it grows the most in the spring, but it actually grows the most during the winter. And I was like, then why does it look dead in the winter? He was like, it's just dormant, it's not dead, okay? And the reason it's dormant is because beneath, and I say it grows the most, is because beneath the surface, what you don't recognize is how much it grows in the most difficult part. And I was like, wow. I said, so how old is this tree? He goes, man, this tree is actually over 250 years old. And the fact that it's over 250 years old isn't the great part of the story. The great part of the story is, it didn't just survive 250 years, it's thrived through 250 Northern Colorado winters. Now, that's what's impressive. Now, the first thing I did when I stepped back, I looked at it, I was like, wow, I am so amazed by this tree. You know what it reminds me of? Even my playing day with the great Reggie White, God rest his soul, when he was with the Green Bay Packers, one of the best defensive players of all time, he would often say, he says, Eric, champions are celebrated in the light, but they're made in the dark. It's made where no one's looking. See, that's what really, we all know how to celebrate when the lights are on, but what do you do when no one's looking? I know the doctor was just celebrating up here with a great award, and the award is fantastic, but you know what I'm interested in? I wanna hear a story. I wanna hear the ups and downs and what he went through in those transition points in those moments that were made. I know I'm sitting in a room right now full of a ton of oak trees, but the question is how many acorns are following you and are you developing them? Who on your team is going to be the next one? How is that forest of oak trees growing in the area that you influence? This isn't just about technical skillset. The reason we use the word like potential, and you see the word potential up there. One person said, Eric, you're a motivational speaker. I was like, yeah, I'm trying not to, you know, I don't wanna be like a Geico commercial. You remember when Pinocchio was the keynote speaker and he was turning around telling everybody, you have potential and you have potential, and his nose kept growing. That's not how I mean by potential, but this is what potential means. Potential is dormant ability. It's unused success. It's everything we can be, but have not yet become. It's everything we can do, but have not yet done. Potential has no retirement plan. Has nothing to do with age. Has everything to do with mindset. There are individuals 40, 50, 60, 70, 80 years, green and growing. And there's others 20, 30, 40, 50 years old, ripe and rotting. It's a mindset. Has everything to do with how you see. Are you full of purpose still? This is why I asked you a question a little earlier. The technical expertise is important. We keep learning, we keep doing that, but make sure you don't grow numb. I've seen everything, so that's what everything is. You may have, but the person you're talking to, this is their first time going through it. And if you no longer feel that, that's a dangerous thing. If you ever get to a point where you're numb, because the minute I stopped feeling is the minute I stopped growing. And the reason I stopped feeling is because I stopped seeing. Let me make it perfectly clear. You see, then you feel, then you do. Anytime I work with leaders like, man, I just feel this way, I'm upset, I'm angry. I was like, I got you. But the reason you feel that way is because of something that you're seeing or the way that you're looking. This is why I say perception is power. Every time I look at an acorn now, all of a sudden it looks different. Why? Just simply because of the story. Well, then that should also have an influence on how I lead and influence others. Now, here's the question I have for you. I told that story, you know, about the oak tree and I looked at it and he, you know, I walked away and I told the guy, I was like, you know what? Not only is that oak tree amazing, I can't believe, I'm even more impressed with it. As I looked at it, I said, I can't believe how it stands on its own. You know, this mighty oak. And he laughed again. I was like, what's funny this time? And this was his response. He goes, have you looked over there? And then I looked around the courtyard, there was an oak tree there, there was an oak tree there. And he says, during the winter season, the reason they can grow is because beneath the surface, they feed off of each other. They stay connected. This isn't a mighty oak tree on its own. This oak tree's connected to the other oak trees beneath the surface. I'm in a room right now full of mighty oaks. But don't, I mean, I know you know this, but who are you connected to? Who are you feeding and who's feeding you? How are you making sure that's continuously happening? I love conferences like this, but I love these more so, not because what you're gonna hear from a speaker, but what you're learning from each other. That in-between time, have you maximized it? Man, for you to go into any session right now and not take notes, one of my mentors, very fortunate, great coach. And he talks about the time he went to a college coach's convention. And while he was there, he's passed away now, but while he was there, he tells me that he went to a breakout session that his friend was leading. And his friend was a high school basketball coach. Now, if you ever wanna go to a place where there's not a whole lot of humility, go to a college coach's basketball conference. And so he goes into this breakout, there's only six people in there. He's one of the six. He's there only to support his friend, not necessarily in there because he's gonna learn something. But he had an experience that he'll never forget. As he sat in the front, he looked to his left and he couldn't believe who he saw, who was actually taking notes. The great John Wooden. John Wooden, after winning national championships, clearly the best coach in the sport is sitting there taking notes from his buddy, who's a high school coach. At the time this happens, my buddy's and you can tell his buddy's nervous because John Wooden's in the room. He goes to John Wooden afterwards and asks him, hey, coach, simple question. First, honor to meet you and everything. But my question is like, why are you here? Now, in the only way that the great John Wooden can say it, he just simply said, my friend, it's what you learn after you know it all that counts. He goes, the best always want to get better. It's a dangerous thing to be a know-it-all. It's better to be a learn-it-all. So if somebody asks me, Eric, what gets in the way of going from an acorn to an oak tree? What gets in the way of us truly being effective? I promise you, it's not competency. I promise you, it's not just knowledge and skills. We're going to keep doing that. The point is, are we still humble enough to keep learning from an attitude perspective? Follow this here. We talked about this potential. I'm going to give you just two things that can get in the way of us actually being at our best or the people that we lead in the group that we lead being at its best. One is this attitude that I'm OK just the way that I am. It's an attitude of complacency. There's a quote by a gentleman named Eric Hoffer that simply said this. In times of change, learners inherit the earth, while the learned, the know-it-alls, are beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists. It is a scary thing to be a know-it-all. It is a freeing thing and a growth thing and an exciting thing to be a learned-all. My wife and I, as I said before, I'm OK just the way I am. I never forget when I, early in my marriage, instead of figuring out how to get better, my wife, first of all, I'm married way up, like way up, like many of you in this room, especially the husband's room, married way up. I'll kick my coverage. But my wife has some real powerful abilities. One of her greatest abilities is to give very clear and constructive feedback. I rarely struggle knowing how I'm doing. Having fun with it, but there's some value in clarity. And so early on, when I would get this feedback, instead of figuring out how to get better, or at least be humble enough to take it, I had a better idea. What I would do instead was call two of my buddies up, Daryl and James. And I would call Daryl and James for two reasons. One, just getting together is great, but the bigger reason is they were both worse at being a husband than I was. So we would go out on a group date, and on the drive home, I'd just look over at my wife and say, it could have been worse. Could have been married to one of them jokers, right? Now, I'm having fun with it, but here's the reason why I'm bringing this up. When we talk about exceeding potential or being at our best, I am not talking about we are maximizing our potential because the scoreboard is working in our favor. The scoreboard is a lagging indicator. It's not a leading indicator. It's a lagging indicator, not a leading indicator. Sometimes the scoreboard working in our favor, and it has nothing to do with how much of our potential we're using. It has a lot more to do with just who we're competing against. Who we're competing against ain't that good. But the question is, how can we be at our best? Even those that we lead and influence. Now, do you know how powerful this is when the leader of the team thinks this way? When the goal isn't just to win on the scoreboard, or they don't allow the scoreboard to dictate how they coach their team. Follow this now. There's individuals you can have who are part of your team that you see have a whole lot of potential. Even though them performing at 40% of their capability may be still better than the others you have on their team. But you won't say nothing to them. Why? Because they're performing better than the others, but they're still not performing up to their potential. As a leader, what other role do you have than to make sure those who you're leading and influencing are exceeding all of their potential, at least bringing it out to the table? More importantly, the responsibility we all have requires us to be far more effective in terms of bringing out our best than just functioning enough to just be a little bit better in who we're competing against. I can't stand the New England Patriots. I'll be honest. I can't stand that team for a reason of their success. But I never forget, and I'm having fun with it, but I never forget I knew that their program was different, their organization was different. First of all, I've got two buddies who play on a team who are knuckleheads and completely bought into the culture. So I know that culture has to be special. But the other thing that I never forget is, they win the Super Bowl. And I remember Bill Belichick making this statement. I'm happy that we won the game. I'm not really happy how we played. And when I heard that, I knew they were different. That the scoreboard alone, winning a Super Bowl, was not the end all, be all. What does our best look like? That became it. As leaders, our goal is that we bring the best out of those that we lead. What's their potential? Not just how are they doing right now. The scoreboard is a lagging indicator. I'm going to say a little deeper. How many of you remember that leader, that individual, that influence in your life, who saw something in you before you saw something in you? They coached you as if you were already a mighty oak tree, even though what you remember is simply being an acorn. How are you ensuring you're passing that forward? None of you are sitting here on your own. I know I tell people all the time, I'm Captain Obvious. But the reason I'm Captain Obvious is you're so busy that sometimes the obvious, you miss. Sometimes we can get so busy, we forget that it isn't just about being busy. It's about developing who's coming next. How can we be more intentional? Not working harder, but working smarter. How do we ensure more oak trees take place? There's a reason there are millions more acorns in the world than oak trees. Because actually becoming an oak tree, the probability is not high. For individuals to bring out their best, the probability is not high unless leaders in front who've already got there ensures that they're intentionally involving themselves in the lives of those around them. Now, the last one I'm going to deal with, do this quickly, is the other thing that can get in the way of us unleashing our potential. And I want to make this very practical. Fear of the unknown. Again, I said it earlier. It is not a competency issue. But many times we struggle from a confidence standpoint. And my fear of the unknown, my fear of failure, my fear of not being good enough, can hesitate, can get in the way of. There's a lot of individuals I work with whose primary responsibility is to influence. They can't control, but they influence. Many of you in this room, you influence. And what I mean by that, you're working with teams where you're not necessarily your support to team, but you don't necessarily lead the team. You're not in charge. You can't directly demand what somebody needs to do in terms of those teams that you support. You've got a particular practice, different, but for those that you influence. So how do we overcome the fear of the unknown? How do we grow our influence? And we do it by making the unknown known. And we make the unknown known by being crystal clear. I want to make this point. I hope this comes across as clear as I want it to. The biggest challenge that individuals face, teams face, individuals going through surgery or injuries face, just in life in general, is confusion. Rarely is the problem the actual problem. The problem is we don't see the problem the same way. There's confusion. And the work we have to do is we have to have people who are courageous enough, willing to have real, clear conversations to make sure we're truly aligned. In the absence of alignment, we got problem. I don't care how talented a team is. If the quarterback gets in huddle and says, just get open, that is a horrible play. Doesn't matter how talented. I have never seen a highly effective, confused ball player in my life. And I'm telling you, the amount of confusion that takes place across the board is huge. Now, the reason this is so important to understand is clarity isn't hard. I learned this from General Robles, who is the CEO and chairman of the board for USAA Insurance. I got to work with them for a number of years. And he simply called it commander's intent. But this is what clarity is. This isn't complicated. But don't confuse the simplicity of this. Meaning it's easy. It's not. So when we talk about clarity, clarity is knowing what it is you want, why you want it, how you're going to do it with flexibility, what are the benefits, what's the cost of an action. This is so obvious. But I will tell you from the beginning, number one, doesn't happen effective enough. It doesn't happen effective enough. I remember when I got hurt. I remember others who've gotten hurt. That clarity of somebody even have a comment. What is it that we want? Or what are we dealing with? It's amazing that a doctor will say one thing, but the picture in the mind of the patient is another thing. And here's the reality. We haven't communicated until our pictures match. We've said the same words. But how you see it and how I see it, two totally different things. I heard things earlier today. And you all were just saying something basic to you. But what I heard and then finally, what I finally got clear, two different. I was like, oh, that's what that means. Yet I've been the one who's been communicated at times. Now I'm going to make this very practical for the period of time that we have. This works extremely well in your business. If you went around your practice, those who you influence the most, those who you work with, and you ask them, OK, when it comes to how we serve, what we do, what matters most? That's a test I want you to do with your team. Just ask that question. Listen to their answer. And I promise you're going to be shocked. I'm not going to say it's going to be completely different. But I promise you, it will be. You're like, wait, where did they get that from? Or where did they get that from? Here's the reality. Here's where they got it from. You say a lot of stuff. We talk to you all the time. So it's very easy to get confused on what matters most and what doesn't. So anytime we're communicating, the problem isn't what we're trying to get rid of. The confusion about the problem is what we have to spend time on. And leaders, your primary job is to make sure we're aligned in the first place. You can't stop an aligned team, no matter what the problem is. But in the absence of clarity, all of a sudden, we get defeated by problems we should have conquered. I told you about my youngest daughter playing volleyball at Colorado State. But she had to medically retire. And she had to medically retire because she had lupus. And we thought that was the main thing. But she went from lupus to anemia. That's just 14 months ago. She had to medically retire. She's 6 foot 170 pounds. All of a sudden, she's now 6 foot 150 pounds. Like, what's going on? Next you know, she's 6 foot 130 pounds. And clearly, we're seeing things shift. Are we nervous? Absolutely. Why? Because remember, I got some very, I mean, the unbelievable doctors and staff that we have there in Colorado. Mayo Clinic's one of my clients. They're looking at stuff for us. University of Washington, where I put where it's home, medicals, they're looking. Everybody's confused. Now, if you think the problem is what her sickness is, no. The problem was the confusion. It was hard to be effective. It was hard to be confident and confused. All of a sudden, we do a CT scan. They look at something because my daughter coughed up a little blood. After she finishes, all of a sudden, we have doctors walking in. They say, oh, we want to do a quick biopsy. They get it back to us. We're sitting in the room. A young doctor walks in and says, I just want you to know, your main doctor's coming in. They're oncologists. And I was like, whoa. That's the first thing he said. And then the next thing he said was, your daughter has Hoskin's lymphoma. Madison, you have Hoskin's lymphoma. But the doctor's going to be in here in a minute to give you even greater clarity. And he's about to walk out of the room. I stop him in that moment. And I'm like, whoa. You do not get to just say that and leave the room. I'm saying it to you with the kind of intensity that's necessary. Why? Because I told him, you said Hoskin's lymphoma. You said cancer. I understand it. You see that all the time. But what I'm hearing is being on this planet without my daughter. Our pictures don't match. So you don't get to leave until our pictures start matching. So can you tell me, what does that mean? I mean, what? And he starts to talk about it. So this works not only in the positive. This even works when you have to deal with difficult. Remember, again, I'm making this clear. Cancer is not the problem. The confusion was the bigger problem. So when he said, what it is, then I asked him, can you tell me why? Well, there's some other things that go around. But then we had to wait. The doctor comes in. And we're still walking through the process. He talks about what it is. He talks about why it is. We ask, what's the treatment? He talks about what it is and why it is. He gets the flexibility, how we're going to have to make adjustments. I said, what's the benefits of doing this one? What's the benefits of doing that? Now, keep in mind, we're emotional. I'm scared. I can't speak for mothers. But I can tell you this. For every father that has a daughter, you know what I'm talking about. When something hits you that you can't fix, it's a different emotion. But all of a sudden, we then get down to, what's the cost of an action? And he says it. He clearly tells us, if we don't do this immediately, this will take your daughter's life. He was that clear. I am like, whoa. But you know what was fascinating? I turn around and I look at Madison. All of a sudden, Madison, my daughter's shoulders go back. Her head's up. I'm like, whoa. And then the doctor leaves. We got clarity. I look at Madison. I said, babe, why are you so comfortable? Like, why are you? She goes, because now I know what we're facing, dad. This is no different than a game or sport I get. But now I know who I'm competing against or what we're doing. Clarity now helps me lead to what we should be focusing on. And when I got focused, now I know how to execute. But in the absence of clarity, we keep complaining about execution problems when it's not an execution problem. It's a lack of clarity problem. And guess what, leaders? We own that. Now, I'm emphasizing that because I don't care the industry. I'm just saying so many industries, so many businesses, so many teams, so many groups, so many relationships are suffering for a lack of clarity, not competency. If we get clear of what we want, if we get clear of what we don't want, if we get clear of why it's important, if we get clear about the benefits, if we get clear about how we're going to do it, also understanding we've got to be flexible in how we do it. I asked General Robles, and I'll be done with you. I asked General Robles, I said, General Robles, why is it so important to be flexible in the House, especially in the military? You just tell people what to do and you do it. He was like, he started laughing. He goes, you read too many books. He goes, the reason we have to be flexible. We're clear about what we want. We're clear about why we want it. But Eric, we've got to be flexible in the how. I said, why? He says, because the enemy gets a vote. Man, the marketplace gets a vote. The body gets a vote. Other people, there's too many things that get a vote. So we have to keep working on alignment because dynamics keep changing. But us being clear about what we want and why we want it, so many leaders spend so little time on the what and why, then they're spending all their time trying to fix the how. No, take a step back. Really look at it and go from there. Last point I want to make to all of you for this. I'm in a room full of incredible leaders. Incredible leaders, okay? I know it. It's confusion that gets in the way. And sometimes when you have clarifying conversations, it sounds kind of harsh, but it's not. It's ensuring we don't waste all of our efforts. There's nothing we hate more in sports than wasted motion. All this athleticism used on something that makes no difference in the world. Don't use all your athleticism on the wrong thing. I never forget one time I made this great one-handed catch and I was thinking everybody was going to celebrate it. I get to my coach and my coach looks at me and in the meeting room and he looks at me and he says, you know what just pisses me off, Bulls? I was like, man, what? That I didn't catch it with just three fingers? I don't know, right? And that's what is important to me. If you would have done what you should have done in the first place, like line up in the right spot, you would have actually scored. So you used all your athleticism to make up for what should have been clear in the first place. And I sat back and I thought he was going to holler at me more. No, he turned around and hollered at our receiver coach. How in the world would he not be lined up two yards in the right spot? That's a touchdown. And as a result, we lose the game. Lack of clarity costs us. Great clarity will even take mediocre performers and take them to the next level. We all can get better with clarity in any area of our lives. I said it at the beginning, I'm going to say it again. Thank you for what you do. You meet so many athletes at some of their lowest moments, but when you give them hope for the future, it gives them power in the present. Giving them hope for the future and gives them power in the present means they are willing to put in the work as long as you can help them see what the forest of oak trees look like. As long as you can help them see that there's life beyond what they're in right now. Bless you all. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you.

Eric Thomas

clarity

leadership

potential

continuous learning

growth

effective leadership