Leap Academy with Ilana Golan
From Childhood Trauma to Building High-Performance Leaders | Mick Hunt | E141
20 Jan 2026
Chapter 1: How did childhood trauma shape Mick Hunt's leadership journey?
At 10, I made my mom a promise I was going to change her life, that she would smile one day and not feel ashamed to smile. I made myself into the person that I needed to be to fulfill the promises that I made.
Chapter 2: What was the promise Mick made at age 10 that influenced his life?
Mick Hunt, he is the voice behind one of the most popular podcasts on leadership, self-improvement, which is Mick Unplugged. He's also the author of the bestseller, How to Be a Good Leader When You've Never Had One.
We don't talk about leadership enough. We don't talk about leadership theory and principles of what that should look like. And since society has changed, some of our leadership principles need to change too. When I mentor people, I always say, tell me what your team is gonna look like.
Chapter 3: What entrepreneurial challenges did Mick face in his early career?
And you need to start with a few team members. And if you can't do that, then you're not ready. We don't give ourselves enough credit for being really damn good at some things that we do. And if you can zero in on those things that you do really well, you can impact other people's lives.
How do you see leadership in the future? What do you think are some of the things that are changing?
Leadership in the future is almost like...
Mick Hunt.
Chapter 4: How does Mick define high-performing teams and their importance?
I've been actually following him for a while on his podcast.
Chapter 5: What is the difference between 'why' and 'because' in leadership?
You might be listening to it as well. He is the voice behind one of the most popular podcasts on leadership, self-improvement, which is Mick Unplugged. And he's also the author of the bestseller, How to Be a Good Leader When You've Never Had One, which is so fascinating. Mick,
Chapter 6: How can a 'What If I Fail' mindset impact leadership?
has built himself, and that's why I'm so passionate about this conversation, from one childhood promise that became a lifelong mission. And I just can't wait to dive in. Mick, thank you for being here.
Thank you for having me. It's a pleasure to be here with you. And I was telling you before, I've been such a huge fan of yours for over a year and just seeing all the amazing things that you've been doing.
Chapter 7: What is the MICK Factor and how does it relate to leadership?
So this is like a bucket list moment to get to be interviewed by my favorite host in the world.
So fun. And I'm going to take you back in time. We're going to do like a little time machine here. But I want you to take me, first of all, to who is Mick as a child, but before age 10. How do you grow up? Where do you grow up? Give us a little bit of lay of the land.
Born and raised in an area in the upstate of South Carolina, so Greenville, South Carolina area. Me as a kid, before I know the story you want to go to, was the most competitive person in the world. Like, I grew up in a family of athletes, of business leaders, and competition was the norm.
So I joke all the time, me and my uncles would have challenges to see who could tie their shoes the fastest, right? If there was something that can be competed, if there was a competition, we were doing it. So I was one of the most driven kids that there was. I wanted to be the best athlete on the team.
Chapter 8: What daily practices does Mick recommend for success?
I wanted to be the smartest kid in school. And so me growing up from the age of like three or four, I was trying to set the mark. I was trying to set the standard. That was me.
Wow. Okay, so now you're age 10, and we all have moments that define us. And I think this is definitely one of those moments for you, Mick. Take us there.
Alana, it was not an unusual circumstance in my home growing up to see my mother... being physically, emotionally, financially, sometimes even sexually abused by my father, who she was married to, who lived in the same household. But I also knew that I couldn't make that feel normal. I knew it wasn't right. And...
At the age of 10, Christmas Eve morning, which should be the second happiest day of the year, right? My mom is sitting on my bed and she's wailing, right? Not just crying, but wailing. And I knew what that sound meant. I knew what those tears meant. And without saying a lot of words, I just asked my mom to leave. I said, you don't have to deal with this. You leave.
At 10 years old, I couldn't define my father as a narcissist because I didn't know what that meant at 10 years old. But I knew his ego that if I stayed... he would be okay, right? He didn't want to be alone. So I said to my mom, take my sister and you both just leave. And my mom looked at me and she said, no, I'm not going to leave you. And I said, mom, I can handle it. I can do it.
And she said, no, because I love you, I wouldn't feel right if you were going through what I go through. And Alana, I got angry. I got angry because I felt like I was giving my mom a path to be happy, to escape. And she said no. And so that moment I grew up, I was no longer a 10-year-old doing what 10-year-olds did.
I started to understand what today we would call emotional intelligence in not just myself, but in others. So I got to understand what would trigger my father so that instead of him welling off on my mom just hit me, right?
Instead of him finding a way to mentally embarrass or punish or psychologically embarrass or punish my mom, just do it to me because when I know it's happening, I'm prepared for it, right? It's a game to me. And so at 10, that just became who I was. And so I still was a 10-year-old, don't get me wrong. But at the same time, I was thinking future.
I was thinking, how can I get my mom out of this situation? How can I understand my dad and make life somewhat easier for my mom? And so I grew up very different. I never wanted to go spend the night or hang out at other people's homes because I had to protect my mom and my sister. When school was over, I'm going home to make sure my mom's okay.
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