Judge Bruce Smith, the first judge to appear on Meikles & Dimes, served as a judge advocate in the United States Air Force for 22 years. After that, he served for more than a decade as an administrative law judge with the United States Department of homeland security. Following his time on the bench, he founded the successful business venture, BartlettJames, LLC, serving as CEO.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Bruce shared an interesting story about a hospital that was responsible for a child’s death. Rather than lawyer up, the hospital admitted their mistake and took full responsibility. Sadly, in Bruce’s experience as a judge for decades, this sort of accountability is far less common than it should be.
• Saying we screwed up is not a sign of weakness, but rather it’s a sign of strength and character. And speaking of character and ethics, we should follow the law, we should make sure our behavior benefits people and the planet, and we should never do anything that we’d be embarrassed to tell our mothers about.

Martin Reeves is chairman of the Boston Consulting Group’s Henderson Institute, a think tank dedicated to developing new insights from business, technology, economics, and science. He is a coauthor of several books, including his most recent book, Like, which describes the genesis of the Like button, which was created in part, by his co-author Bob Goodson.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• Though we often think of innovation is heroic, deliberate, and isolated, it’s often serendipitous, unpredictable, and social.
• The idea of inventions as private property, which reinforces the often incorrect notion that inventions are made by single inventors, is a relatively recent invention in human history.
• We never know the impact of innovation. The Like button blew up an industry and created a host of new challenges and problems to be solved.
• Whether in the field of academic papers, the creation of the Davy lamp, or a simple Like button, innovation is rarely an isolated, independent event.

Todd Herman works with the highest performers in sports and business to help them achieve their most ambitious goals. He has been featured on the Today Show, Inc Magazine, NFL Films, CBS, and Business Insider among others. And his professional programs are delivered to over 200,000 professionals annually in 73 countries. Todd is also the author of the book, The Alter Ego Effect.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• When Kobe Bryant was struggling, Todd helped him create an alter-ego which would eventually become the Black Mamba. Though creating an alter-ego can feel inauthentic or weird, creating a model of the person we want to become can help us behave in ways that will allow us to reach our goals.
• We all have multiple identities, but being thoughtful about the identities we adopt and create can help us become the best versions of ourselves, whether we’re creating a Spiderman, fitness, public speaking, or business alter ego.
• The highest performing, most capable people have powerful tools in their tool belts. And creating an alter-ego, like we once did as children, is a tool we can add to our own belt. There is power in using our identity to reach our most ambitious goals.

Zach Mercurio is a researcher, author, and speaker specializing in leadership, mattering, and meaningful work. He is the author of the books The Invisible Leader and The Power of Mattering, and some of his clients include the U.S. Army, J.P. Morgan Chase, Delta Airlines, Marriott International, The Government of Canada, and The National Park Service.

Zach also serves as one of Simon Sinek’s “Optimist Instructors,” teaching a course with Simon on how leaders can show everyone how they matter.

Zach earned a Ph.D. in organizational learning, performance, and change from Colorado State University, where he now serves as a Senior Honorary Fellow in the Center for Meaning and Purpose.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• To show people they matter we can ask them, “When you feel that you matter to me, what am I doing?” And then do more of those things.
• We can show people they matter by providing evidence (e.g., pictures) of how their work benefits others.
• We can show people we need them by pointing out what wouldn’t get done without them.
• Just because something is common sense, doesn’t mean it’s common practice. But by taking simple steps to notice and affirm people, even scheduling our good intentions, we can help people know that they matter and close the knowing / doing gap.

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Tozer and I continue our discussion with Raul and we learn how Raul got Vicente Fox, the former president of Mexico, to visit Raul’s university. We also dive into the moral philosophy that Raul so effectively teaches his students.

In this episode Tozer and I talk with Raul Rodriguez, who has one of the most impressive life stories I’ve ever heard. I think you’ll really enjoy hearing about Raul’s life and the impact Tozer had on it it.

In this episode we talk with Tozer and Greg Fullmer (aka Fromer).

Kannon Shanmugam is a partner at the law firm Paul Weiss and has argued 39 cases before the Supreme Court, representing clients such as Goldman Sachs, ExxonMobil, Meta, Warner Music, Bank of America, Coinbase, and the NFL, among others. Kannon has also argued more than 150 appeals in courts across the country, including all 13 federal courts of appeals.

A longtime Supreme Court reporter said that Kannon has “perhaps the most eloquent and elegant manner … that I’ve ever seen in my 40 years covering the Court."

Legal 500 called Kannon "a brilliant lawyer and tactician, with impeccable judgment and an optimal moral compass." It added, “you won’t find a more talented, sophisticated, compelling lawyer—and he matches that with his overall humility and kind nature.”

Before entering private practice, Kannon served as an Assistant to the Solicitor General at the U.S. Department of Justice and as a law clerk to Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

Kannon earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard, was a Marshall Scholar at the University of Oxford, and then returned to Harvard for his Law degree.

In this episode we discuss the following:

• As Judge Sack told Kannon, all you can do in a career is stand by the hoop and hope that somebody passes you the ball.
• There’s no substitute for hard work. At the top levels, everyone has great credentials. But what differentiates the very best people is they put in the work, in a profession where there are no shortcuts.
• Surround yourself with great people, including great mentors. But not just older people. Kannon devoted a lot of time to finding the most talented young attorneys who were driven, smart, and enthusiastic.
• Enthusiasm is one of the most important things Kannon looks for when identifying talented people: enthusiasm to work, enthusiasm to grow, and enthusiasm to learn.
• If you love what you do, it’s easy to get out of bed in the morning and keep doing it.

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