No #141 | August 18, 2024

by Matthew Boyd

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

Congrats to my super amazing talented wife Valentina for announcing the release of her third novel. The release is on September 18, 2024 and you can pre-order here💚. BUY IT.

In this week's Lead It Cool newsletter:

• 🎾The Cover Up...
• 🏔Vista Views
• 🥇Olympics Wrap up
• 🤣Sitting In Front of People
• 😎Cool Links

🎾The Cover Up...

The cover up is always worse than the crime.

This is one of those dad-isms I’ve always emphasized with my kids.

Mistakes are inevitable, but the judgment for those mistakes becomes much harsher when someone tries to cover them up.

A recent incident at the Cincinnati Tennis Open illustrates this. Canadian tennis star Félix Auger-Aliassime found himself robbed of a fair chance to win his match against Jack Draper.

In a critical moment, Draper mishit a volley on his side of the court, which should have given the point to Auger-Aliassime. However, because the play unfolded so quickly and the ball ultimately got over the net to Auger-Aliassime's side, the umpire missed the call and awarded Draper the point (and ultimately the match).

The video evidence was clear: the ball hit Draper’s side of the court after his racquet made contact.

Draper’s body language right after the play didn’t help his case either. Instead of celebrating the match point, as most players would, he slouched and walked away, suggesting he knew he’d made an error.

Yet, when the umpire awarded Draper the point and the match, Draper didn’t object. He claimed he didn’t see what happened and left the decision to the umpire and only stated that he would replay the point if that was the umpire's directive.

In an ideal world, Draper would have admitted the mistake and asked the umpire to change the point. (Here's Federer doing something similar when he called his own service fault in a match).

But he didn’t.

Instead, he deferred the decision to the umpire and took the point, a move that has drawn significant criticism.

Imagine an alternative universe where Draper asked to have the point changed? His sportsmanship would have been celebrated, and he still likely would have won the match.

If there’s a bright spot in this saga, it’s Auger-Aliassime’s reaction. Despite having every right to channel his inner John McEnroe, he remained calm and professional.

🏔Vista Views

Have you ever noticed that when you look at a vista or a horizon you become more relaxed and clear-headed?

Well it turns out that there is some science behind it.

Looking at vistas is relaxing because we are forced to switch our vision to panoramic as opposed to tunnel vision (which is what we're in most of the time as we work indoors and stare at screens).

By shifting to panoramic vision, we activate the part of our nervous system associated with relaxation and calmness. We can see all of our surroundings, which reduces our threat of being attacked by a sabre-tooth tiger.

So if you're feeling a bit stressed these days, try taking breaks where you can take in a panoramic view.

🥇Olympics Wrap Up

A great infographic of all the best things from the recent Olympics (created by Martha Brook).

Also, what's the over/under for how many "Turkish Shooting Guy" and "Australian Break Dancer" costumes will be at Halloween parties this year?

🤣Sitting in Front of People

I went to see a movie the other night and, as an awkwardly tall person, I thought of this classic Gary Larson comic.

😎Cool Links

🌯6 leadership lessons from the new Starbucks CEO who revived Chipotle. Niccol is an active user of TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram for that reason. He also ensures that Chipotle's bosses discuss the trends they're seeing and what their kids and their kids' friends are talking about every week. "We want to be very much in touch with what young people are doing," Niccol said. "It gives us some insight into what are the things we can do to keep Chipotle fresh, keep Chipotle connected."

🎤The Nine Principles of Improv. Amy Poehler gives a MasterClass on how to be a better communicator by turning PRESENTATIONS into PERFORMANCES. Instead of focusing on a hero's journey (where the story revolves around a protagonist) - in improv comedy THE AUDIENCE IS ALWAYS THE HERO - and it becomes our job to connect with them and tell OUR STORIES as fast and compellingly as possible.

🌯Mediocrity and perfectionism (Seth Godin). It’s surprising to realize that they’re the same. They are both places to hide. When we ship average work, it’s not our fault. We’re simply doing what the manual says, and if you don’t like it, blame the culture and the system.

🎯A cool archive of interesting ads.

🤣How to build a Cybertruck.

💌Tell a friend to subscribe​

Thank you!

Let’s connect! 💬 You can find me on LinkedIn and Twitter