In this motivational video, Kevin McCann steps away from his usual focus on tactical business tools and instead addresses the mindset required for CEOs, business owners, and leaders to thrive amid turbulent economic and social conditions. He opens by highlighting the barrage of negative news—stock market drops, geopolitical turmoil, and constant digital distractions—setting the stage for a call to personal responsibility. McCann shares two vivid personal anecdotes: a woman who, after hearing his talk two years earlier, delivered the eulogy for her father, and a one‑legged father at a baseball game who joyfully kept up with his son, illustrating resilience and the power of perspective. From these stories he derives core principles: the importance of choosing what to focus on, the necessity of eliminating defeatist language (e.g., “I can’t”), and the belief that individuals control their own feelings. He urges immediate action despite a weak economy, emphasizing that waiting for external conditions will likely result in missed opportunities. McCann stresses that true leadership means inspiring others by first being inspired, surrounding oneself with like‑minded, high‑performing individuals, and creating lasting value for family, clients, and the nation. He concludes with a symbolic gesture—removing a Notre Dame towel from his golf bag to hang in his office—as a daily reminder to “play like a champion.” The overall message is a rallying cry to adopt a champion’s mindset, banish mediocrity, and add value in every interaction.
Chapters
I often talk about tools and methods of how CEOs can improve their businesses by integrating strategy, marketing, sales, financial metrics all into one outbound revenue capture program to raise sales. And we offer numerous answers and breakthroughs for several clients in this area. But today's talk is going to be a little bit different. It's going to be around the mindset and the mindset of winners in today's economy to get your business to the next level. You know, we've all seen the news recently. Last week the stock market dropped 500 points. Yesterday it dropped another 634 points. Same is happening in all the overseas markets. You know, more news. The US just lost several of our elite Navy Seal Team 6 members in Kabul, Afghanistan. Race riots are breaking out in London as I shoot this video. I mean, are you kidding me? Enough is enough. It's tough enough to stay focused in today's world. Right now we with emails blasting at you from every angle. Instant messages, text messages, phone calls, advertisements, all this stuff coming at you with blinding speed. And now you also have to deal with this constant negative reinforcement everywhere you turn. So the time is right now to take control of how you personally react to the seemingly endless stream of bad news. And it's time to actually be the inspiration you're looking for to actually be the inspiration you're looking for right now. And I want to share a story with you. An amazing thing happened with me this weekend. I was at a client appreciation event with my family that was put on by our wealth manager, a great guy from Northwestern Mutual. Halfway through this day, a woman came up to me that I didn't immediately recognize. And she walked up to me and my wife and said that it was great to see me again and asked how I was doing and said it was great to see the family. But then she reminded me that she had seen me speak about two years ago when I had given a presentation to about 100 plus or so of her colleagues. And she proceeded to tell me a story of a topic that I touched in that presentation that enabled her to basically give the speech of her life when it mattered. The speech that she gave was her father's eulogy at his funeral. So imagine the impact on me. So I'm standing there just kind of speechless. She continued to tell me that he had just passed away a couple days before. I'd given my talk about two years ago and she had just then been given the task of coming up with a presentation or obviously the eulogy at the funeral. But she had no idea what she was going to say. So she told me that I inspired her to give the speech of her life and I had no idea I was doing that. So that actually triggered something in my head, is that my intention was to inspire and provide valuable information, much like I do on a weekly basis with my clients around, helping these hundred people improve their productivity and their efficiency and all the stuff that we typically do. And yet I was able to inspire someone to have the strength and fortitude to give the speech of her life when it really mattered. So let me turn the tables for two seconds here and share with you how I was recently inspired. Last week I went with my family to a semi professional baseball game and I believe it was in the third inning or so, got out of my seat with my son to go and get some refreshments. As we walked up and came down the ramp looking for these refreshments, my son and I passed another father with his son coming in the opposite direction. They're probably doing the same thing as us, getting popcorn and hot dogs and stuff. The only difference here is that this man was on crutches and was struggling a little bit to keep up with his son. So it turns out he was on crutches because he only had one leg. And yet there he was at a baseball game with his son, having a great time, laughing while he was chasing, trying to keep up with his son as they went and got popcorn. So that hit me as well and inspired me to realize that I am not my circumstances, nor is that guy. I can choose to view any situation however I want. That's my choice. So the moral here is that you get more of what you look for and what you focus on. If you're looking to be miserable, guess what? You're going to find it. Believe me, there's enough bad news out there for you to focus and chew on until the cows come home. But if you're looking to be inspired, truly inspired, and if you're looking for others that have a positive outlook with optimism, really upside, belief, background, you're going to find that too. It's out there. Sometimes you may have to look a little harder for that type of individual and setting, but I'll tell you now that I've recently been really focusing and looking on that. It's there. I read a great article in USA Today by Steve Strauss titled why Only Small Businesses Can Save America, and I'll include the link underneath this blog here. But the fact is that the country needs you and me more than ever right now to Stay focused, upbeat on Mark, and continue to drive this country to greatness. And another thing is that the time is also now to change your language. Your language, if it includes terms like I can't or I can't do it, you can do anything you put your mind to and focus on this is one thing. Not only do I teach my clients, but also my kids what We've more or less banished the word can't from our vocabularies. Another thing I hear is they made me feel like, or you make me feel like or things. In that arena, you control your feelings. Nobody can make you feel anything that you don't want to feel. So you got to remember that you're not a victim, no matter what. More negative speak I hear is the economy is the reason I can't succeed. Well, I'll tell you what. If you're waiting for the economy to turn around before you take action to build your business and to drive it north, chances are you may not be here next year to actually witness what's happening. So the time to take action is right now. Stay positive and upbeat. So the question you need to ask yourself is, how would I behave in this situation at my best? What do I need to do to be my best in this situation right now? And then another thing to think about is, and this is now present for me is really, who do you have to be in every situation to inspire others? Believe me, when you least expect it, someone's going to walk up to you at a company outing like happened to me this weekend. But people are looking to you, you specifically, for inspiration, even if they're not telling you. So one thing I've learned is that in order to inspire others, you must first be inspired. So today's the day I make my personal stand to no longer tolerate mediocrity. And I'm personally looking to surround myself with clients, with prospects, with friends and colleagues that have that same mindset. And I'm hoping that you're on board as well. So we need to come together and create a legacy for our children, our families, and doing it by providing as much value as possible to everyone we come in contact with, because you never know when it's going to come back to you and pay you in spades. We got to be our best every single day. So I want to end this on a neat note here. I carry this Notre Dame towel around on my golf bag to remind me to play like a champion today. So I'm officially yanking this off my golf bag and hanging on my office to remind me of today's important message, and that's be your best. Right. So hopefully I've given you something to think about that inspires you to go out and be your best, especially right now. And, you know, news isn't so great out there. Be positive, but always add value, and people are going to come back to you. We're counting on you. I'm counting on you. The country's counting on all of us. And you know what? Go out and play like a champion today.
