Brian Johnson shows the portraits on his studio wall: his family, philosophers like Marcus Aurelius and Aristotle, and leaders including Eleanor Roosevelt and Gandhi. He tells the story of a basketball coach whose top hero was Harriet Tubman, who crossed the Mason-Dixon line 13 times to free others after her own escape. Johnson asks you to name your heroes and how you'll live like them.
Questions this episode answers
July 28, 2024.
Alexandra.
Phil Stutts.
Thirteen times.
Chapters
Hi, this is Brian. Welcome back to another heroic plus one. The other day I was talking to a new friend who happens to be the head coach of one of the best college basketball teams in the country.
We were FaceTiming and he asked me who I had on the wall behind me in my office studio.
I told him I had some of.
My heroes back there, starting with my wife, Alexandra, who is always right behind me when I film and in every.
Other moment of my life. And then my kids.
And then of course, some of the heroic human beings who inspire me to be my best.
We've got Epictetus, my favorite teacher, and Marcus Aurelius, my favorite leader to my right and left. Then we've got my coach, Phil Stutts.
Eleanor Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, and Winston Churchill. You can't see the row above, but.
Up there I've got Jesus, Aristotle and.
Abraham maslow, Gandhi and Mr. Rogers. Now, my heroes aren't the point of this plus one.
Today I want to chat about his number one favorite hero.
So after I told my new friend about my heroes, I asked him who.
His favorite heroes are.
Note this is a really powerful way.
To learn a lot about someone, which.
Is one of the many reasons I always love wrapping up my keynotes, which with a little exercise, asking people who their top two favorite heroes are and then breaking them out into small groups to share. Now, my new friend didn't hesitate for a second. He told me that Harriet Tubman is.
One of his heroes, and I asked him why.
He told me that she is one of his heroes because she willingly crossed the Mason Dixon line 13 times after escaping slavery to free as many members of her family and community as she could. I got goosebumps typing that and saying that now.
We'll talk about Harriet Tubman more In.
Our next plus one, when I lean.
On some wisdom from General Stanley McChrystal.
In his book called Leaders, Myth and.
Reality, as she was one of his heroic exemplars.
For today, who are your favorite heroes? Why? What qualities do they embody? And most importantly, how can you embody the qualities they embodied just a little more today.
That's today's plus one.
Today is the day to make our heroes proud. So let's go.
