Episode Transcript
[00:00:06] Speaker A: Welcome to the Leadership window podcast with Dr. Patrick Jenks. Each week through a social sector lens, Patrick interviews leaders and experts and puts us in touch with trends and tips for leading effectively. Patrick is a board certified executive coach, a member of the Forbes Coaches Council, a best selling author, award winning photographer and a professional speaker. And now, here's Dr. Patrick Jenks.
[00:00:31] Speaker B: Hey everyone. Hey everyone. Welcome to episode 134 of the Leadership Window. We're in May of 2025. Did you hear that? Can you believe that? It really does seem impossible. It's really kind of weird when you think about we're in May of 2025, but here we are. It's true, it's real, it's beautiful. This is the season to live in Columbia, South Carolina by the way. It lasts about a week and then it gets, okay, maybe it's, maybe it's maybe three weeks or so and then it gets really hot. We're famously hot but in the winter we're, it's not too bad. But then we have all the pollen season and now it's just like, it's perfect. It's so beautiful here. My guest today is Angela Lewis. She is a former professional basketball player. I'm gonna start with that one because that's the thing that kind of caught my attention the most. She's championship winning coach, she's head of operations at speaker hub, supporting over 60,000 speakers around the world. And she's an author and a speaker herself who simply helps people, particularly young people, navigate their own loves and choices towards success.
And after the show, head over to Angelar Lewis.com Lewis, by the way, is L e W e s so Angela.
And check out everything she's doing because it's pretty amazing stuff. And that's about as plain as I can say it. There's a lot more. So, Angela, I'm going to let you clean up my mess and share anything else about yourself that we should know. I'm really thrilled for this conversation. Welcome to the Leadership Window, Patrick.
[00:02:18] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me. I'm really excited. Angela R. Lewis. L E W I S I think you may have said es, but thank you. You're welcome. No, it's okay. It's not a problem at all.
Really excited to chat today. I mean sports has been amazing and in our pre, in our intro call we talked a lot about sports. So I'm excited to dive into that part of me and how that all led up to where I am today.
[00:02:47] Speaker B: Yeah, I'm excited to dig in a little more too and like you said, we talked offline a little bit, but now we. Now we get to really unpack this. Your profile really caught my attention, Honestly. I happen to follow. Not. Not super, super follow, but I have followed for many years women's basketball. And, you know, we have a little team here in South Carolina you may have heard about, but heard of them. So we love. We love living here right now. It's a great. It's great. Coach Staley and the team here just, you know, really boost the morale for. For this region and just what an extraordinary story they have. You've got an extraordinary story. We talked earlier about my connection to Louisiana Tech back in the 80s, back in the heyday of Louisiana Tech, and when. When Pat Head Summit was at Tennessee and Leon Barmore and. And Sonya Hogue were at Tech, and you had Cheryl Miller playing at. At Southern Cal, and yet Kim Mulkey playing for LA Tech and, you know, the Teresa Witherspoon days and all that really. That got me really hooked on women's bat. I ended up really liking it more than the men's game. It just. It felt more. I don't know, it just felt more of a game to me. It felt. It just felt different.
More strategy, less slamming. You know, just like, let's. You got to really kind of make the plays anyway. So that's. That really attracted me, obviously, to your profile, and I wanted to learn more, particularly since you played pro ball, I think, over in Europe and University of St. Louis. Am I remembering that right? Is that what you said? Yeah.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Saint Louis University. Yes.
[00:04:19] Speaker B: Saint Louis University is where you played college ball.
[00:04:22] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:04:22] Speaker B: Yeah, it is. Well, my listeners know that I'm a big St. Louis Cardinals fan, which I think you are as well.
[00:04:29] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah. Okay. They have to be.
[00:04:31] Speaker B: You have to be, or we'd have to. You have to be, or we'd have to end this episode right here, right now. No, that's good. Hey, let me ask you this. Did you find basketball or did basketball find you?
[00:04:41] Speaker A: Because basketball found me. Basketball found me.
[00:04:45] Speaker B: I thought so. Because you tell the story about not being a good basketball player when you were young and how your brothers kind of nudged, if that's maybe too gentle a term from what I read. But tell me a little bit more about how basketball found you.
[00:05:00] Speaker A: Basketball found me because I'm 6 foot 1 and I've been this tall since I was 12 years old, and I was walking out of Blockbuster Video one day dating myself. For those of you who don't know what Blockbuster is or haven't heard of it. It's a video rental store where you would literally go and rent videos. But this was our family routine on Fridays. And there was a basketball coach there named Luther Coyle who saw me and asked if I could play basketball. They were looking for more tall girls on their team. Like every team is looking for tall girls.
[00:05:33] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:05:34] Speaker A: And I said, of course I. Of course I can. Let me ask my mom. And then my mom took me to practice with these young women, and they were so good. Patrick. I hadn't played organized before, and what I eventually learned is that this team was a select team that traveled and played basketball, and we went to national tournaments. And that opened the world for me because I wasn't very good and I hadn't traveled anywhere. My family only went to Mambayou, Mississippi and Memphis, Tennessee, only two places. And so basketball just opened the world I know we'll get into. But basketball found me because I was just a tall kid who was really insecure. Someone saw me and said, well, do you want to come try this thing out? And it ended up being a cornerstone to my life.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: Wow. Yeah.
So today, what would you say you're on a mission to do?
[00:06:27] Speaker A: I'm on a mission to do one thing, and that is to help people learn, grow, and give. That's it. Learn, grow, and give. So it's one thing, but it's all three of those. Those are the big three for me. So what we do at Speaker Hub is help people share their message on various stages, and we encourage them to share more positive.
More positive messages on various platforms. In my personal life, I'm always trying to learn and grow as a person and as a leader and encouraging others to do the same. I help lead our team at Speaker Hub. And so in our one on one calls with our team, I'm always encouraging them to continue to learn and grow. So learn, grow, and give. That's it.
[00:07:11] Speaker B: Yeah. And you have a.
I'm thinking you have a particular bent toward youth.
[00:07:18] Speaker A: I do. I do. I love youth. I love kids. I was on another podcast and the person asked, how do we help people become more empathetic? And I really think it starts when they're young. I think it's hard to change the heart space and the value system of adults. I think that's hard. But if you can really instill empathy, care, caring, love, a perseverance that we get from sport and young people, then we can create a different type of adult.
[00:07:48] Speaker B: Boy, we could do a whole episode just right on that right there. That Concept of developing value. You know, I've spent a lot of time around early childhood work, and, you know, they say that 90% of our brains are developed by the time we're five.
And we think about that in terms of, you know, intellect, but we often don't think of it in terms of socializing and even value creation. Values may come a little later, you know, in terms of really forming them and rooting them. But, yeah, what we are brought up believing and being taught and being shown matters. And so I love that. It is so much difficult, so much more difficult to change a value system when you're older. Much like language. You know, if you. If you grow up learning Spanish, it's easy, but if you try to learn Spanish at 40 years old or more, it's hard.
[00:08:48] Speaker A: It is definitely more challenging. Patrick, I just started this new project that I have to tell you about about basketball, language learning, and kids we can get to.
This literally just happened in the past two weeks. So I'm going to share that.
[00:09:02] Speaker B: Jump in.
[00:09:02] Speaker A: Oh, right now?
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Sure.
[00:09:04] Speaker A: Okay. So I'm working on a children's book. I'm working on a children's book. I was asked to speak on a panel at the local Boys and Girls Club that I grew up going to, which is in the inner city of St. Louis. And they asked people who are authors to come in and speak about writing and literacy to kids who are a part of the club. And the woman who organized the event said to me, the other two people have children's books, but your current books are for middle school, high school, and college, so your book is a little too advanced for them. And I was like, oh, my God, I should just write a children's book. I can't come to this event, speak on this panel, and not have a book. So here's the premise of the book.
It's called A Ball and a Chance. Destiny's Adventure in Colombia. As you know, I lived in Medellin, Colombia, for two and a half years. And so the premise of the book is there's this little girl who's very tall and feels very uncomfortable and feels out of place. One day, her aunt Jasmine, who's a basketball coach, calls her and says, I'm doing a basketball camp in Medellin, Colombia. I would love for you to come. Of course, Destiny is elated. Long story short, can't give the whole story away. But she goes, she learns a lot. She meets new friends. So the premise of the book is basketball can connect you to people all over the world and sports can connect you to culture and language in ways that you couldn't have imagined, which is my story, in essence. And so I'm super, super excited about this book because it's. It's going to. My hope is that it will, to your point, help people learn, help kids become curious about language and culture and about leaving wherever they're from and exploring new places. And Destiny is going to travel around the world and visit a lot.
[00:10:53] Speaker B: That sounds cool. When's it. When, When's it out?
[00:10:56] Speaker A: I knew you were going to ask that. This summer. This summer. You know, like the movie premiere is coming this fall.
[00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah. Make sure you. You. You pegged me on that. That sounds exciting. You know what's cool about that, Angela, is it sounds like the book is not about basketball.
Right. The book is about connection and life and growing and, you know, all those things. But basketball's the context.
[00:11:23] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
[00:11:24] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:11:24] Speaker A: And it gives you the opportunity. Sports, it was basketball for me. For other people, it may be dance or music or reading or science, whatever it is. But whatever the thing is that you enjoy it can connect you to people all over and use that as the bridge.
[00:11:42] Speaker B: Man, that's really cool. So what are the various ways in which you're spreading this message? I'm obviously, you're doing podcasts, you're writing books, you're doing keynote speaking. Do you do coaching and consulting? Tell me about your work and how it is you're helping people.
[00:11:58] Speaker A: Sure. So panels, keynotes, podcasts, small group settings. There's also. I talked to a guy who's an Olympian recently and he wants help sharing his story and communicating. So I'll be doing some coaching with him. Some one on one. Like, how do you frame stories? All athletes have, like, I won and I lost. But then how do we tell those stories a bit more robustly? So we'll be. I'll be doing some coaching with him, which I'm very excited about. MC Love to emcee events, so I love doing that as well.
[00:12:32] Speaker B: Yeah, awesome. Good. Well, again, for those that are out there going, ooh, how can we leverage her again? Reach out. Angelarlewis.com L E W I S Lewis thanks, master. Hey, let's talk about your book. I read it and honestly, it was easy to read. It's like 100 pages. And so it's one of those what I call an airplane read, because you can read it pretty quickly. But I will say this about it, and I love books like this.
There's not a line wasted in that book. It is so it captures you the whole way. I mean, you don't read this book and go, let me get through this like already, let me skip through this. Not a line wasted. And it's simple and profound. It's very uplifting. And man, you're a great storyteller, Angela, because obviously you, you're telling your story through this book. It's, it's. You weave it in beautifully but in a way that is admonishing or inspiring others for their journey, which is going to be different. Right.
And, and if you're up for it, I'd like for you to kind of walk through the book is. The book is called the Game Changing Assist. It's a basketball term which I love. And it's. The subtitle is six Simple Ways to Choose Success.
We're definitely going to spend time on that word choose because you use it. That is the theme of the book is we choose ourselves.
But if you're up for it, I'd like to have you just kind of walk through those six simple ways to choose success. I love frameworks. I live in frameworks. So you've created a really easy one with the six V's. You mind just walking us through those and we can just kind of talk back and forth as you go through them?
[00:14:24] Speaker A: No, I don't mind at all. Of course, of course. This book, really, this was my first book. So anyone who's published anything or put anything out there knows how nerve wracking, you know how it is to put your heart on paper. So the six V's are Voice, Vision, Value, Valleys, Victory, and volunteering. And as Patrick said, the goal is for you to know that you have a choice in each one of those. So you can choose the vision that you have. We'll start with vision.
A lot of times we don't necessarily know the next step or what it, or what options exist for us. And so it's really important to have a vision like a really, you can dream really, really big. And then when you have that vision, understand that it's sacred for you. And so you may go in and share that with someone and they may not get it. So vision is important because I'll give you an example.
I was talking to one of my college professors and he said, I showed him the vision that I have and I had it all laid out. Patrick like had charts and arrows pointing everywhere and he goes, it looks like you have a lifetime of work.
And this is my 24 year old self. And I was like, there's no way I'm getting all this done this year. And of course you can't get it all done in a year. When you have a vision that's that big, it literally takes a lifetime to do all of the things and so have a big. A vision that's so big that it will carry you. Now, you may not necessarily know every single step of how to get there, but we need something that pulls us into our future or we'll get caught up in our past and believe that that's all that we are. So that's vision.
[00:16:07] Speaker B: There's a place in the book. I don't remember where it is. I don't know if it's on this V or another one, but I'm going to use it now because as you're talking, you know, you talk about choose your vision, which is good. Let's cast our own vision. What are we dreaming of?
Other people are involved in that, though, and we are involved in other people's visions. You know, I'm thinking about people who inspire vision, like the coaches and the music teachers and the. That expose you to things you don't even know exist yet until someone shows you, hey, look at this. It's your story of destiny is going to do that for people. They're going to go, wow, hey, basketball might be a thing. I never thought about that. So we inspire others toward their own vision many times not even realizing. Think about the school teachers that. You know, we all have those several school teachers that really made the impact. And it wasn't because they taught good English or math. It was because they connected with you as a person.
[00:17:07] Speaker A: And.
[00:17:07] Speaker B: And the impact that we have on others is really profound. And the. The part in the book that. That I'm talking about here is where you talked about.
So the book is called the Game Changing Assist. And for anyone who doesn't follow basketball, an assist, much like in hockey, an assist is when you've got the ball and you pass it to someone else in a way that sets them up for the score.
I'm probably slaughtering it. I'm sure there's a more technical way to call an assist, but for people that don't understand the game, it's when you're actually setting someone else up for the score.
And one of the things that excites me about that is we always want to be the one to score the points and win. It's the assist that. To me, some of the greatest plays I see in basketball are the amazing assists. But there's a. The part in the book is where you say, in order to get an assist, you have to first get open.
[00:18:14] Speaker A: Yeah.
[00:18:15] Speaker B: You have to, like, you know, get to a. You have to create an opportunity for someone to assist you. That was a powerful concept because a lot of people don't have the vision yet. Just get open.
You don't know yet. When the ball gets in your hand, then the vision becomes the goal. Right. Literally the hoop. But if you don't have a vision, it's okay. Just get open for one. Right. That really hit me in a really cool way when I read that.
[00:18:43] Speaker A: Thank you for bringing that up. Because it's a subtle point that deserves more light on it. And I want to dive a little bit into what does it mean to get open.
Being open is about character. That's a conversation about character. If. If you want to be in a position where people are willing to assist you, where people see something in you, one, you got to be willing to work. Every opportunity that I've had and that people get is because people who work respect people who work, who've done the work. And so opportunities will come from doing the work. That's a character issue. Are you. Do you have integrity? Are you honest? Do you do what you say you're going to do? That's how you get open for opportunities. You don't necessarily have to be the very best in that moment. But the professor who said to me, this looks like a lifetime of work was one of my favorite professors in college because I showed up to class every day. I sat in the front. If I had a question, I raised my hand. I turned my papers in on time. He gave feedback. I was coachable. I took the. You know, by no means was that perfect. And I'm not even sure if I got all A's. However, I was just willing to do the work. And so we can't sit around and hope that people do things for us and put us on and give us opportunities. If you're not willing to do the work, once you start doing the work, you will be amazed at the opportunities that come your way.
[00:20:08] Speaker B: Yeah, that's great.
So vision.
[00:20:12] Speaker A: Vision. The next one is voice.
Voice is the cornerstone of the book, because nothing moves without us using our voice. You've heard the saying, closed mouths don't get fed. Right. You have to say something.
And the power in our voice is twofold. One, it's, what are we saying to ourselves? It's internal. What's the internal voice that we're saying to ourself? Are we good enough? The activity from this chapter is about affirmations. And I think as an athlete, when you've pushed through it, the only way you get through it is by telling yourself, you can do this on your most difficult day. I can. I know I can push through this. I know that I can fight. You know, you have to force yourself to become something that you've never been. But it starts with voice. So that's the internal side. The external side is how are we using our voices to help other people? Who are we inspiring? And it's the people closest to us. I'm not talking about, like, even coming on a podcast or speaking at a keynote. I mean, what are you saying to your sisters, your brothers, the people in your community? Don't. Don't take your voice for granted. And so the book talks about that, the internal voice, what we say to ourselves, and then how do we use our voice externally to inspire others?
[00:21:26] Speaker B: Yeah.
You have a line in the book that says you can't control what other people may say. You can only control how you respond to their words.
And that was in the voice section. So what I loved about that is that it's not just your voice. It's your response to other voices, too. They all. They all shape each other.
[00:21:49] Speaker A: They do. And we get to choose what we take in and what we don't. If someone says something that's not true, you don't have to accept it, and you have to be able to control your response to it.
So voice, especially in today with social media and likes and comments, and we're hearing way more voices than we've ever heard before.
[00:22:10] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. I'm going to give another tidbit in the book here, and I may do this throughout here, because there were just so many, like, even just the one liners that were so powerful. You said every time you speak, you are letting a little piece of you out to the world.
Maybe you're not a basketball player or even an athlete. It doesn't matter either way, but your voice is still the most powerful tool that you have.
It's just so powerful. Every time you speak, we don't think about that. We. Sometimes we speak and we don't realize we just put something out in the world. But you said we put something of ourselves out into the world. So what are we putting out there, man, that's just so powerful.
[00:22:52] Speaker A: Patrick, thank you for the reminder.
I read that line a little bit.
[00:22:57] Speaker B: Yeah, I forgot I wrote that.
[00:23:01] Speaker A: But I appreciate the reminder because it's parts of us we have the ability to infect and affect Other people with what we say and how we show up. And so if we take that seriously, which is why I love the work we're doing on speaker, Hub, we really take that seriously. Seriously. And we believe that we need more people who are willing to share positive messages, who actually want to create change in the lives of others.
[00:23:25] Speaker B: Yeah. Beautiful. And then is it value?
[00:23:29] Speaker A: Values. Values. So we have this vision. You have this vision of what you want, or someone instills a vision upon you that's bigger than anything you could have imagined for yourself. You're listening to positive voices. You're being positive. However, if your values don't align, for example, if someone wants to play college basketball but you don't like working out, you're not getting to that vision and you're the only one to blame. Like it's you who. Who made the choice to not do what was necessary to. To embody the values necessary to get to that vision. So values is challenging the reader to take a hard look at yourself, myself, ourselves, and say, am I really doing the things to get to where I want to be? It could be working out. It could be a leadership position with work. It could be just being a great daughter. I mean, there are certain things that we say we want, but if you can figure out who you have to be to accomplish those things, then embody that and you will get closer.
[00:24:38] Speaker B: Yeah, I don't have. I don't have much to add to that. That's really well summed up. We in. In the work that I do with nonprofit organizations and strategic planning. You know, all organizations have what they call their values statements. And we've seen these on the website. Right, Our values. Integrity and honesty and trust and yes, Givens. Right. I mean, hopefully those are your values. But they, they often just sit on the website, though. Or maybe they're even a poster board on the wall in the break room. Maybe they're. Maybe they're in integrated into the strategic plan as a statement, but it's value statements. But those aren't really values. Those are just words. Those are concepts.
Living them and creating a culture that honors those values where you can see, Yep, I know where that transparency shows up for this organization. Or I've watched this organization demonstrate respect toward the least of these. Or I've watched this organization be customer centric, as it says in their value statements. And someone, someone told me, our, our. My adjunct coach and a good friend of mine, Monroe Free, says that it's the external people that will tell you what your values are because they're watching them.
We don't tell people what our values are. They'll tell us based on what they see.
[00:26:08] Speaker A: Patrick, let me tell you, one of the greatest tensions in my life has been my big brothers. Like, the biggest points of contention came from them because they see me fully. Right. They don't see the person who wrote the book. They don't care about any of that stuff. It's the people who have paid attention to your habits, to your point, who can say, oh, you're a bit inconsistent, you seem a little non committal, but also you're super talented. Right. So there's both sides of it. And so I, I think values can be told, like you said, by two things. What you spend your time on, what you spend your money on. You, you can say that you value learning and growing, but if you're not spending time doing those things, then, then you're probably not.
[00:27:00] Speaker B: What did you say? What you spend your time on.
[00:27:03] Speaker A: And money.
[00:27:03] Speaker B: And your money. Yeah, absolutely. We say that also in the organizational context. Look at an organization's budget and you'll find out what they care about.
[00:27:12] Speaker A: Yes, absolutely.
[00:27:15] Speaker B: Yeah. All right.
[00:27:16] Speaker A: Absolutely. So from values, you go to Valley because it's great to have this vision. You get your values together. You're, you're working hard, you're listening to the voices and your motivational talks in the morning and you're speaking positively. But life's going to knock you off your game. You're going to get knocked down. It's a part, it's just a part of it. And so in the Valley is where you get to really evaluate who you are and bounce forward. I like to say bounce forward, to move on to the next level. But the Valleys are hard because you end up questioning if it's worth pursuing. And the valleys are inevitable. So I encourage everyone, when things get tough, which they will, for you to dig in a little deeper and you may have to work harder and lean on those voices and people to help pull you out of the valleys. But they're coming. It's just a part of life.
[00:28:13] Speaker B: Well, I, you're, you're obviously spot on to use valleys in the plural because it's. We're going to go through a lot of them. If we live long enough, we're going to go through a lot of them and some of them are going to be little ones, no big deal. Some of them are going to be, going to be game changers, to use the pun.
But yeah, it's the biggest learning I've had about the valleys. Is what did I learn from them?
[00:28:40] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:28:40] Speaker B: Is. Was there learning. And some of the valleys have been things that I felt where I felt like I was wronged by somebody.
And I can spend time being righteous or I can learn from the situation. I have to put in your words. I have a choice as to how I handle that. You know, you've heard. Do it. Do. Do I want to be bitter or do I want to be better?
[00:29:06] Speaker A: Oh, that's good.
[00:29:07] Speaker B: And. And that's what the valleys give you the choice to do. You get a choice. You can complain and stay in the valley. Say, oh, this poor me. I'm in this valley.
Or you can. You can get better.
[00:29:18] Speaker A: Yes. You take responsibility for every part of your life.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: That's the big thing. That's the big thing of the book. That really, really. I mean, you take responsibility.
You say it over and over in the book. It's the most powerful concept in the whole thing. You choose you. In fact, the line you used is you are up to you.
[00:29:42] Speaker A: Yes, yes.
[00:29:44] Speaker B: What a great line. You're up to you. You're not the product of every. All the external forces.
I mean, yes, they matter. They bear an impact on our lives, but you are up to you.
[00:29:55] Speaker A: I love that and thank you for highlighting that because oftentimes we look at our environment and we say, well, what's possible for me is only what I see in front of me. But we've seen so many people overcome difficult challenges from my life. My mother was born in 1941 in Marigold, Mississippi. Okay, 1941, Marigold, Mississippi. My mom and her eight siblings were sharecroppers. Mom and dad. My mom literally pick hot and so. And she is the most. She's 83 today. She is vibrant. She has faith. She is positive. She's the most affirming person I know. And I'm thinking, well, if she can go through that, you know what? I could probably go through anything. I can definitely go through anything. But that doesn't mean that I won't have hard times because she had them but mine in context of hers, non existent.
[00:30:50] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. Easy peasy, easy. Yeah. And from the valleys.
[00:30:55] Speaker A: From the valleys, you get to victory. That's the high point. You get to the point of victory. And Patrick, you alluded to it is what you've learned along the way. But those victories aren't for you. So this the chapter on victory. I talk about my parents, I talk about my mom, I talk about dad. He was a professional baker. I've eaten way too many pastries in My life because of my father, but he grew up in really difficult times. He was born in 1939 in Robinsonville, Mississippi. He's 85 today. And so for victory, what my mom and dad went through helped my brothers and I. It created the lives that we have and the opportunities that we have today. So we go through these things. Not for us. It's actually for the people who are looking and watching and who are next to you. So go through your valleys, get to your victory, and then teach someone else along the way, which gets us to volunteer.
[00:31:44] Speaker B: It does get us to volunteer. The last of the six. But before we go, there, I another. Another line in the book. I'm telling you, get this book because it just power line after power line after power line. Victory is a product of your choices. And it's simple, it's elementary, but it can't be overstated. The power of that line, Victory is a product of your choices. We tell organizations all the time, you know, I'm coaching leaders that will say, well, we've got this going on, and we got this problem and that problem.
The problems that most organizations have are systemic problems that they are that they created.
The leadership created their system. You created your environment. You're getting exactly the results that your environment is set up to get.
You're getting it. You should be thrilled so you have a chance to change that. And one of the powerful things I'll say this about the victory is if you're going from A to B, and that's your plan, and B is your definition of victory or vision.
It is actually pretty rare in our lives that we go from A to B.
We usually end up at L.
Yes. And because we. We missed the mark on B and we went to C instead. And then we said, well, let's. Then let's go to D and D. Actually, while we were on our way to D, some new inspiration or opportunity came up that led us toward E, and we move on. And so the key is, at whatever point you are. So if you said, well, I was going from A to B and I failed miserably, and I ended up on D.
All right, well, B may or may not still be an option. You might have to accept that. But what is victory from here now, from right here now, what's the vision? I think we constantly have to recreate those visions. It's rare that there's just this linear straight line. Yep. I visioned it. I did it. I planned it. There it is. Boom.
[00:33:56] Speaker A: What do you think? Oh, I agree 100% very rarely do things work out the exact way that we anticipate in the exact timeline that we anticipate. However, if we can take little steps and get little wins, we can still experience a piece and a portion of the goal, but the strategy may have to change. So this strategy got us a little bit closer. Then we tried this next strategy that didn't work well. Then we shift strategies, but the goal stays the same. And so I think you're right on point with that is you start from the point you are today and then you look to move forward.
[00:34:32] Speaker B: Victory is relative.
[00:34:34] Speaker A: It is.
[00:34:34] Speaker B: You know, the other thing that I liked about your victory chapter is that you talk about the small steps that it takes to victory. It's not big, giant leaps. It's big goals, little actions. We say that all the time in our coaching world. Big goals, little actions. And you really highlighted that because if you said, for example, if your long term goal is to earn an A in math class, one short term goal might be develop some better study techniques.
Right. A little small, little small step, not become a math wizard. That's not the step you take.
[00:35:11] Speaker A: No.
[00:35:11] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:35:12] Speaker A: And we get, sometimes we get enthralled by things. We see online of people's highlights, but we don't see all the work that it takes to put in to actually accomplishing anything. Y'all didn't see this, but before, before this interview, I'm trying to figure out how to connect the mic, the headphones, and Patrick was so patient with me. But we wanted to have a great interview that had great audio. And so we were a little delayed trying to figure this thing out. And so there will be mishaps along the way.
[00:35:43] Speaker B: Yeah, it's how we respond to them.
It's how we respond to them. They're going to happen. It doesn't mean you failed. It doesn't mean you're in the wrong spiritual dimension. It might mean you're in the exact right spiritual dimension.
So, yeah, it's going to happen. It's how we respond to it that matters.
And then, you know, when we're successful in life, it's that giving back piece.
You said, teach others, show others, lead the way, serve. And that's your sixth V the volunteer. Talk about that one.
[00:36:16] Speaker A: Volunteering is it's something that can happen wherever you are in life, whoever you are, at whatever stage, we all have something that we can share with others that we know. Regardless of whether you have a degree or not have a degree, whether you're the owner or CEO of a company or not we have the ability to give. My mom and dad were big givers, but they weren't a part of organizations. They gave. It was the kids who came to the house, who played basketball in the backyard, who my mom gave food to. It was, you know, the person walking into the grocery store who was asking for money that we gave to. So you can give and serve in a myriad of ways. Back then, our coaches didn't get paid at all. Or like some our youth coaches, they, they just gave and poured into us. And so I think when you grow up like that, you, you have this sense of responsibility to do the same and to share that because you know the impact that it'll have. So volunteering isn't about doing it big. If you can't do it big, great, do it big too.
But if, but think about who you can give to that's right next to you. And there, there's a ripple effect that occurs whether you're 5 or 55, it doesn't matter.
[00:37:37] Speaker B: I mean, almost every major religion in the world has this as a tenet. Yes, giving and, and how giving returns exponentially.
And which is not why you give, by the way. But that, but that, that is, that is a reality that giving and people gave to us and are still giving to us every single day. You know, I, I wouldn't be here without, oh man, some amazing gifts. I'm just, you know, just crazy how certain people have stepped into my life at the right time and really offered something. Sometimes small things that just changed my mindset and sometimes big things that I couldn't have, you know, climbed over a rock without them. So, yeah, volunteering, you know, the, the, the again, the crux of this book is choices, choices, choices, choices, choices. We choose.
Big follower of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, world, world class executive coach, pioneer actually of executive coaching. And he talks about the employee surveys that we do in organizations. Did my supervisor, does my supervisor foster a positive relationship with me? Do my co workers accept change readily? Does. Does my manager communicate well with me? Does my organization set good goals for me? He said those are backwards.
That's. We're asking people to rate someone else. The question should be, did I do my best to foster a relationship with my supervisor? Did I do. Do I accept change readily? Do I communicate well? You know, and so it's that sense of personal responsibility that always resonates with me, which is why this book really resonated with me. So anything, anything else you want to say about the book? And kind of, what's this book created for you, what are you finding in terms of response and your own learning from writing it?
[00:39:40] Speaker A: What I found in terms of response is that people really have found a way to apply it to their own life. And for all of us, there are things that areas that we can grow, but it's simple. I think that's been the most positive feedback that is simple to understand, simple to follow, simple to apply, and it's something that you can use throughout your entire life. When I initially wrote it, I was working in a school district in St. Louis and there were these little girls who read the book and they pre read the book for me and gave me some insight, and I thought it was for them, so I wrote it for them. And then others read it and they were like, oh, this, this applies to me as well. I mean, today this applies to me. And so I've been really grateful to know that you can have an intention of creating something with a specific person in mind and then because.
Because the framework can extend beyond that. So the biggest lesson is just keep creating and keep giving from the purest place in your heart and it will be received by the people who need it in the moment that they need it.
[00:40:51] Speaker B: I wish our listeners could see this episode. I wish we had a video version of this because what I've appreciated, I get to see, because we're doing this through zoom, and I get to see you and it's striking how authentic your expression is. And you know, I know our listeners are missing part of that, but just seeing, I mean, here you are on a. On a. On a podcast that is not going to air on video, and your expressions are, if you were in the room with me having a wonderful conversation. And I really appreciate that, Angela. The authenticity that you show up with is off the charts.
[00:41:28] Speaker A: Thank you.
[00:41:29] Speaker B: I have two questions I like to ask all my guests as I wrap up an episode, and one is because I love the stories, the diverse stories I get and people's perspective on this. But who comes to mind for you as a leader somewhere in your life? You may know them or may not even know them, but a leader sometime in your life who you would say has had a profound influence on your view of leadership and your ability to lead others. Who comes to mind and why?
[00:41:58] Speaker A: Who comes top of mind is Ron Story Jr. He is the owner of Speaker Hub and a really great friend of mine. Ron is the most humble, hardworking, caring person that I've met.
I mean, he's a really dynamic person because he's from East St. Louis, Illinois. He has built himself. When we talk about choosing who you're going to become, he's built himself and learned and is willing to ask questions and has purchased multiple businesses and is so giving of his resources and of his time. We have a speaker hub, customer meetings every day Monday through Friday. His leadership Monday through Friday noon. We're going to show up for people. So it's like a leader who's willing to show up, who's willing to serve and who's willing to be available and who's willing to learn. I think Ron Story Jr. Is dynamic and I'm going to connect you with him because I think you would love a conversation with Ron. Yeah, he inspires me.
[00:43:01] Speaker B: I would love that. I would love that. I'm going to ask you for another one because I'd like for our listeners to get a little. I want you to read the books. I don't want to give away too much, but the way you talk about Coach Evans, Coach Ty Evans in the book is pretty powerful because again, the book is about assist and the ways that the numerous assists that you got from him on and off the court. Say, say a little bit about that relationship.
[00:43:28] Speaker A: I'm getting chills. Coach Ty Evans is, was my an assistant basketball coach at St. Louis University. And Patrick, ironically, I just saw him a month ago. He was in a, he was an assistant coach at Syracuse and I was up there watching their last home game and now he's coaching at DePaul as an assistant coach with our former head coach. So they're reunited. So shout out to DePaul women's basketball in Chicago. But Coach Evans, I mentioned that I saw him recently because he's the same person that was 20 years ago when he was my college coach. He's consistent. Everybody on the team had a nickname. He challenged us to give more. His favorite movie is Pay it Forward. So he early on, in terms of a leader, early on who really embodied service, care for people, care for players, and worked his butt off as a coach to make sure that we were prepared for games, but more importantly, prepare for life. Coach Ty Evans, I highly, highly respect, admire and love who he is as a person and as a coach for me.
[00:44:33] Speaker B: Wow. Well, I can see and hear what that brought out of you. I'm glad I asked that one about him because that was, it was pretty, what's the word?
It resonated with me in the book. You know, again, I can't say enough, Angela, about how much I enjoyed it and enjoyed just love the work you're doing. Thank you You've made our podcast better, so thank you for that last question.
[00:44:59] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:45:00] Speaker B: You're on the top of a mountain with a big megaphone and all the leaders of the world are at the base of the mountain to hear you for 15 seconds. And they're asking you for the 15 second soundbite of the Angela Lewis view on leadership. What's the most important thing about leadership that you would share with all the leaders of the world?
[00:45:24] Speaker A: The most important thing about leadership that I would share with all the leaders of the world is that if we work together, so leadership can feel often, it can often feel lonely. But if more leaders got together who are in the same space and decided to collaborate instead of compete, then we can really move more needles forward. We can find win win solutions. We can serve in a greater capacity the people who we're serving because the resources are there.
[00:45:59] Speaker B: Wow.
[00:46:00] Speaker A: We haven't used them.
[00:46:02] Speaker B: I love it.
[00:46:03] Speaker A: Collectively.
[00:46:04] Speaker B: Yeah. Why do we have. We don't have to go alone.
[00:46:07] Speaker A: No, not at all.
[00:46:09] Speaker B: Yeah. Angela, thank you. I really do appreciate this, folks. And by the way, yes, Angela, let us know when that child, that children's book comes out. I want to read about destiny and help you promote that. Yeah, folks, go to Angela R. Lewis dot com. That's Angela R L e W I S dot com to learn more. Book her for your conference, your youth group.
Get to know what she can offer you. Read her book. Good stuff. And we'll see you here next time. Lead on.
