Ryan Leak

And the board member, while we were in the back, she smiled and she looked over at me and she goes, do you want to know what got her the job?

And I was like, well, of course I want to know.

And she told me about the first moment of her interview.

Not her resume, not her strategy, not her vision deck, her first words.

She walked into the room.

She looked around and she said, hi, I'm really nervous because I really want you all to like me.

Hi, I'm really nervous because I really want you all to like me.

That was it.

That was the moment.

That was the moment that the board knew something that they weren't just getting a capable leader.

No, they knew something was up.

They knew that in that moment, they were getting a human.

And in that moment, in that organization's history,

That's exactly what they needed.

They did not need a superhero.

They did not need a performer.

They did not need a perfectly polished executive who pretended to have it all together.

No, no, no.

They needed someone who was willing to tell the truth about how she felt.

And if she could be honest about that moment, she could be honest about a whole bunch of other moments where it really matters.