No #140 | August 11, 2024

by Matthew Boyd

Good morning, welcome to the weekly Lead It Cool newsletter.

A friendly reminder that if you have kids and you're going on a holiday, your kids deeply care about two things: If the hotel has a swimming pool and whether or not the hotel has a DIY waffle maker🏊🧇😜.

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• 🎣Gone Fishin'
• 👀Eye Contact
• 😆If Walls Could Talk
• 😎Cool Links

🎣Gone Fishin'

I’ve never really been much of a fishing guy.

Maybe I just don't have the patience for it?

I mean, sitting around, waiting for something to happen, all while getting more and more sunburned, it’s not exactly my idea of fun.

But over the past week, we’ve been vacationing at a place where a lot of other people are fishing. And when your son gives you that eager look, and says something passive aggressive like "I wish my dad took me fishing...", well, you just can't say no. So, we gave it a go.

And what did we catch? Well… not much.

But here’s the thing, maybe I started to get it. It's not just about the catch, it's about the process and quiet moments, the anticipation, and the tiny victories along the way.

Sure, we didn’t reel in a legendary fish tale, but we had some fun, had some laughs, and maybe even learned a little something about patience.

In the spirit of our fishing "adventures", here are a few of the best quotes about fishing that might just inspire you, or at least give you something to think about the next time you’re holding a fishing rod:

🐟“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” – Henry David Thoreau

🐟“There’s a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.” – Steven Wright

🐟"Fishing is not an escape from life, but often a deeper immersion into it." - Harry Middleton

🐟"There he stands, draped in more equipment than a telephone lineman, trying to outwit an organism with a brain no bigger than a breadcrumb, and getting licked in the process." - Paul O'Neil

Finally, just remember: "It's called fishing, not catching!"😂

👀Eye Contact

A reminder that standing out from others may be as simple as the ability to keep good eye contact (and not bring your parents to an interview😮). source.

😂If Walls Could Talk

This comic by Chris Gural made me chuckle.

😎Cool Links

🤔Warren Buffett: The three things I look for in a person. “You’re looking for three things, generally, in a person,” says Buffett. “Intelligence, energy, and integrity. And if they don’t have the last one, don’t even bother with the first two. I tell them, ‘Everyone here has the intelligence and energy—you wouldn’t be here otherwise. But the integrity is up to you. You weren’t born with it, you can’t learn it in school.”

⚽How to be a good leader according to USWNT coach Emma Hayes. All leaders scavenge bits and pieces. There’s nothing wrong with that, but for me the essence of leadership is understanding your team and how your organization works. It depends on the application of interlocking virtues, the way people in our club, company, or department conduct themselves with our values and our collective goals. It means knowing what to do, when to do it, and why you do it.

😱The most urgent issues facing boards. Concerns about the economy were paramount, followed by employee productivity, a recent survey of 56 public company board members and executives. Artificial intelligence was notably below both those issues and employee retention in terms of urgency. Many of the respondents identified people-related issues as being of urgent concern.

🏃Why are races run counterclockwise? It's believed to be easier for righties, who make up the majority of world population, to run in a counterclockwise motion. Putting their right foot forward and leaning into a turn feels more comfortable and provides more power and balance than the reverse direction, say physicists.

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