Meikles & Dimes

158: Admiral William McRaven Who Oversaw the Raids that Killed Osama Bin Laden and Captured Saddam Hussein | How Do You Earn Respect?

Admiral McRaven is a four-star admiral who oversaw the Navy SEAL raid that killed Osama bin Laden; his forces were responsible for the capture of Saddam Hussein; and he also led the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips, who was held hostage by Somali pirates (which became the basis for the blockbuster movie, Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks).

As commander of U.S. Special Operations Command, Admiral McRaven led a force of 72,000 men and women and was responsible for conducting counter-terrorism operations worldwide.

After his military career, he served as chancellor of the University of Texas System, overseeing 14 institutions, 220,000 students, 20,000 faculty and more than 80,000 health care professionals, researchers, and staff.

In 2014, he gave a commencement speech at the University of Texas that went viral, titled, “If You Want To Change The World, Start Off By Making Your Bed.”  

He is also the author of several books, including Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations and the New York Times Bestseller, Make Your Bed.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• When Admiral McRaven asked his Master Chief how to earn the respect of the soldiers, he responded: “Work hard. Come early. Stay late. Work on the weekends.”
• You don’t have to be the most talented to succeed. But regardless of talent, everyone can work hard.
• You will earn the respect of others if they know you are working hard on their behalf.
• Know your business. As a Navy SEAL that meant knowing all about weapons, diving, and demolition. It also meant knowing the details of the playbook. For example, if you’re in an ambush, first guy goes left, second guy goes right.
• When Admiral McRaven’s solider accidentally blew off the leg of his colleague, the Master Chief wanted to go relatively easy on the solider. But Admiral McRaven believed they needed to “throw the book at him.” And through the tough love of accountability, the solider bounced back and became Sailor of the Year.
• How do you gain respect of those you lead? Work hard and be a good person. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.
• When I asked Admiral McRaven, “Did you ever get scared?” he laughed out loud: “Yeah, of course. You’re scared all the time.” But he was able to fall back on his training and barricade his fears to help him get through countless life-threatening situations.

 

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157: Alfred Grace, President of the Polynesian Cultural Center | "Love What You Do"

Alfred Grace is the President of the Polynesian Cultural Center on the north shore of Oahu, Hawaii. Alfred grew up in New Zealand and then moved to Hawaii for an engineering apprenticeship and later attended BYU Hawaii. He had hoped to become a tour operator for New Zealand, but ended up working for the PCC, where he then became president. The PCC is one of Hawaii’s top destinations, having served more than 40 million visitors since opening in 1963.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• When Alfred became president of the PCC, the goal was to attract as many customers as possible. But COVID gave them a chance to reassess their strategy, and they realized that maximizing attendance put too much stress on the infrastructure and the employees, which in turn reduced the satisfaction of the guests.
• By capping attendance, they were able to increase guest satisfaction, increase employee satisfaction, and also charge a premium.
• And lastly, I love Alfred’s advice to the employees when they ask him for advice: Keep trying to excel at whatever you do. Love what you do. Enjoy what you do, and don't worry so much. Because if you are consistent, and do the things you do very well, life is going to take care of you.

 

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156: Entertainment Attorney Harry Reynolds | Representing A-list Celebrities and Grammy-award Winning Artists

Harry Reynolds has negotiated and drafted deals and contracts for A-list celebrities, Grammy-award winning artists, YouTube stars, music producers, record labels, video game companies, television and film writers, directors, and actors. Prior to coming to Reynolds & Associates, Harry worked in Los Angeles as an entertainment associate at Greenberg Glusker.

Harry received a perfect score on the ACT college admissions test, attended college on a full-ride academic scholarship, and graduated from Stanford Law School.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Harry didn’t want to be a famous artist for a living, so he chose a career that allowed him to be adjacent to creativity. And now he represents some of the top artists in the world.
• Being an entertainment attorney is like reading instruction manuals for board games and looking for ways to cheat.
• Many industries are not as large as people might expect. So, reputation and relationships matter. By looking for win/win deals, not only will people want to keep doing business with you, but also you’re likely to get better performance on the deals.

 

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155: Litigator Craig Lavoie | Representing Vanessa Bryant & Other Litigation Insights

Craig Lavoie is a trial lawyer and litigation partner who has been recognized as one of the leading litigators in America, and as a top lawyer under 40.

Craig served as trial counsel for Vanessa Bryant in her landmark civil rights victory against the LA County Sheriff’s and Fire Departments for their improper photos of the victims of the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant, Gianna Bryant, and seven others. 

Following Craig’s closing argument, the jury delivered a verdict in favor of Vanessa Bryant and awarded her and a co-plaintiff $30 million in damages for their emotional distress.

Other significant representations for Craig include:

• Lead counsel for Berkshire Hathaway in a billion-dollar dispute with Pilot Corporation 
• The LA Clippers in litigation against Madison Square Garden Company
• Hume Street Management Consultants—a world-renowned developer of luxury hotels—against members of the Qatari royal family—including the former emir of Qatar and a former prime minister of Qatar.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Litigation is like the debate Olympics. It’s a team sport. It’s often irrational to take cases to trial. And there’s nothing like giving a closing argument.
• The case Craig is most proud of, defending Vanessa Bryant, the widow of Kobe Bryant, in her landmark civil rights case.
• Craig’s advice about authenticity. He doesn’t try to act how he thinks a trial attorney should act. He doesn’t try to impress the jurors. Rather, he tries to connect with them by being himself and conveying information clearly.

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154: Sundays with Tozer Episode 17 | Tozer Tutors College Students

Justin Tozer is a math and science prodigy who grew up on a farm where formal education was all but prohibited. Yet, somehow Tozer would make his way to the world’s most prestigious firms, first in Silicon Valley and later in Los Alamos at the world’s preeminent scientific lab.

Yet no professional accomplishment compares to the countless lives Tozer has saved, changed, and enhanced.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• How Tozer tutored college students
• How Tozer started funding the education of someone he met online
• How Tozer has an amazing knack for recommending books that change peoples lives

 

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153: Sundays with Tozer Episode 16 | Tozer's Friends Share Stories about Tozer

In this episode we discuss several families in Idaho Falls that Tozer impacted, many of which he impacted profoundly and privately, in ways that I had never heard of until now.

152: Sundays with Tozer Episode 15 | Tozer Teaches about Nuclear Power

In this episode we discuss one of Tozer’s favorite topics: nuclear power. And though we talk about fission, radiation, criticality, positive reactivity, and other topics that many of us aren’t familiar with, Tozer describes everything in plain English, because he’s a master teacher. And the episode is fascinating. I learned more about nuclear in this one hour interview than I’d learned in my whole life.

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151: Sundays with Tozer Episode 14 | Tozer's Impact on Ryan Meikle

In this episode, Tozer and I talk with Ryan Meikle, who is general counsel for Brad Hall Associates, one of the nation's largest fuel brokers. Ryan is also my brother, and one of the greatest role models a younger brother could hope for. We discuss how Tozer impacted Ryan in scouting, school, and church, in ways that Ryan will never forget.

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150: Pulitzer Prize Winner Charles Duhigg | How To Be a Supercommunicator

Charles Duhigg is a Pulitzer prize-winning reporter and the author of The Power of Habit, which spent over three years on New York Times bestseller lists. His second book, Smarter Faster Better, was a bestseller, as is his most recent book Supercommunicators.

A graduate of Yale University and Harvard Business School, Charles has been a frequent contributor to This American Life, NPR, The Colbert Report, PBS’s NewsHour, and Frontline.

Charles currently writes for The New Yorker magazine.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• One of the skills that Charles most wants to teach his kids is how to ask questions, and specifically deep questions that get at peoples’ values, beliefs, or experiences.
• Rather than ask someone, “Where do you practice law?” we can ask, “Did you always want to be an attorney?”
• Nick Epley plays a game with strangers of trying to get people to talk about their hopes and dreams within three questions. He usually gets there in two questions (What do you do? Did you always want to do that?).
• We often hesitate to ask deep questions, when in reality people love to answer deep questions.
• When Charles speaks to large groups, he has people share with their neighbor the last time they cried in front of someone. People predict they’ll hate the activity, but then they do the activity and love it.
• Supercommunicators don’t have superpowers. They’re just a little more thoughtful about communication.
• Supercommunicators ask deep questions, they show people that they want to connect, and they’re aware of the different types of conversations such as practical, emotional or social conversations.

Follow Charles:

Twitter: https://x.com/cduhigg

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlesduhigg/

Website: https://www.charlesduhigg.com/

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149: SEAL Team Six Navy SEAL Karl “Gus” Gustavson | Leadership, Decision-Making, Communication, & Mental Toughness

Karl “Gus” Gustavson served in the US military as a Navy SEAL and as a member of the elite SEAL Team Six. Back in 2001, Gus was attending college when planes crashed into the World Trade Center. Gus dropped out of college, joined the military, and then served our country for 22 years, completing multiple tours of duty in the Middle East.

And now a quick word about SEAL Team Six. Most information concerning SEAL Team Six is classified. Their activities generally aren’t commented on by the Department of Defense or the White House. But they are the U.S. Military’s primary Tier 1 special mission unit, and are responsible for carrying out the most complex, classified, and dangerous missions, as directed by the President of the United States or the Secretary of Defense.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Over and over again, Gus saw that his leaders were willing to do everything that they asked their men to do.
• Secretary Mattis taught the SEALs to ask three questions when making a decision: Does this decision make us more efficient? Does it make us more effective? And does it make us a more lethal fighting machine?
• Gus noticed that the best leaders delivered information clearly, concisely, and in a timely manner. “Here’s the info you need to know. Here’s what you’re going to do with it. Now go execute.”
• I was impressed by how Gus controlled his thoughts, whether in combat, on a dive, or even during BUDs. He focused only on the things he could control, in manageable chunks. Sometimes that meant that all he was thinking about was how he could make it through the next hour, or just make it to chow.
• As a member of SEAL Team Six, Gus is the most elite of the elite. And yet the lessons he shared are lessons that we can all apply. Lessons on leadership, decision making, communication, and mental toughness. All simple, yet profound, practical ideas. 

 

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