I recently interviewed Governor Mark Sanford on my podcast, Thirty Minute Mentors. Here is a transcript of our interview:

Adam: Our guest today is the former governor of South Carolina and a former United States Congressman. Mark Sanford spent six years serving in Congress before getting elected twice as governor of South Carolina and spent nearly six more years in Congress thereafter. Governor Sanford, thank you for joining us.

Mark: Well, it's a treat to be with you, Adam. Thanks so much.

Adam: You grew up in Fort Lauderdale before moving to South Carolina, your senior year of high school. You went to Furman University in South Carolina, where you were a student body president, got your MBA at UVA, and worked in real estate in your 30s before breaking into politics and running for Congress. Can you take listeners back to your early days? What early experiences and lessons shaped your worldview and shaped the trajectory of your success?

Mark: Several things I don't believe in a Horatio Alger story. I don't think anybody gets anywhere at the end of the day completely on their own. We all get nudges, helpful hands, and suggestions that push us in the right direction by loved ones, by family members, and by friends. And so it was with my story. I think my dad was formative in my life. He was at the finish line of every cross-country meet and tracked me that I had through high school. I was just sort of an average kid like anybody else. But he hypnotized us into thinking we could do anything. And there's a measure of self-confidence that comes when your parents invest in you, as you know. And that meant a lot. I'd say that that was formative. On the opposite side of the equation, tragically, my dad got Lou Gehrig's disease when I was in high school, and we had this farm in South Carolina since before I was born, he had gotten that. It had been a formative place for us to spend all summers, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Easter to go down the list at this farm. And his point was I can't grow much in the way of crops but I can teach some boys some lessons that were important to him as he grew up. And we just learned the value of hard work, the sanctity of a dollar, how hard it was to earn a dollar. Yes, you'd be baling hay in August and worried about, oh, my goodness, are we going to make it? Of course, it's all a head fake from his hand. We were just fine. But he convinced us that we were depression-era kids, even if we didn't grow up in the depression, that was formative. And the third part of what was formative with him was he did get Lou Gehrig's disease, he went through the dyeing process when I was in college. And when he died, I built the coffin, my brothers dug the grave, and we did a homestyle service here at the farm. And it hit home how short life was when you put it in the box, you nail it shut. It's like, wow, you're not taking this stuff with you. And it really, at that point begins to put some measure of urge in like, what do I do with my life? What ultimately matters? What's going to have meaning? Does it be three things along the way, I could give you another dozen. But those would be three things that quickly come to mind.

Adam: What drove you to pursue a career in politics? What drove you to run for office? You had such great success, getting elected and winning races. How?

Mark: Well, belief, I look back now on my first race for Congress. Life is a series of accidents that collide. I had gone to business school and studied Sam Zell, who was a real estate investor in the midwest who had done also well buying on the cycle. My second-year thesis was if you combine the demographics of the Southeast and the migration, with the ups and downs of the real estate cycle, wow, I could be the junior Sam Zell and that was my business plan. And where I wanted to go with life and geared accordingly. But I had also gotten keyed up about the debt and what was going to happen in the country. And I was at a business lunch complaining about it. And this guy turned to me, saying, "Don't complain about it. You ought to try and do something. You ought to run for Congress," which was a rather novel thought given the fact that I've never been involved in politics. But long story short I decided to get in. And to my surprise and everybody else's saying, and then went from there for, again the next 25 years. But I think as to what got me going, what got me going was I believe this stuff. And I think that the voters out there, whether you're in the business world, political world, or military world, they read conviction. Do you believe this stuff? Or do you not? And not look back embarrassingly on the first run for Congress, I would have these flip charts. It was like, who was the guy from Texas? Ross Perot. And I'd be flipping through these flip charts. I'm like, look at what happened to Spain in 1600 based on their debt load. I mean, all these crazy thoughts, it was wrong as it turns out, or at least premature, I still don't think I was wrong, but premature. And whoever was in the back of the room must have been thinking, I have no idea what that guy is talking about, but he sure is passionate about it. And based on that, I'll give him the benefit of my vote. And that's how it all started. And that's what sustained me. I'm not saying you can't head fake folks with good advertising heavy media bias and good acting, if you want to call it that. But for me, it was just conviction based on, oh, my goodness, if we don't get our financial house in order, there's gonna be a serious price to pay. And I still believe that's the case. And I still think that that bill will come due in time.

Adam: A lot of great lessons there that are applicable, regardless of whatever it is you're trying to pursue. The importance of passion, belief, authenticity, a key lesson you learned early on in your life, urgency, in your case, you apply that urgency to politics. But whatever field we're pursuing, to be successful, to make it to the top, you have to apply that same level of passion, belief, authenticity, and urgency to whatever it is you're doing.

Mark: Amen, and double Amen. You synthesize that a lot better than I could. But yeah, that's the bottom line. And it's true, it's applicable in any field of work. But if you don't have the fire in the belly, I mean, I tell my boys, we have four sons. Look, if you don't have the fire in the belly, believe me, somebody else will, and they're gonna completely crush you. And you're gonna be miserable. So you better do things that fire you up in the morning, whatever your calling is, you better be passionate about it, and you better apply yourself. And you need that intensity that comes with wait a minute, I don't have that much time on this particular playing field. Let me double down here. And you can see it in sports. Several stories have been told that was the Rudy of the world where they just didn't have the physical requirements. But man, they had the mental toughness, they had the conviction, they had the will. And inevitably, they beat out folks who were much more seemingly capable. I mean, Steve Origins, the godfather to our youngest son, is in the NFL Hall of Fame. And everybody says he was not the biggest he was not the fastest. But he was disciplined in running the routes. And he had the fire in the belly and served with him for six years when I was in Congress. Totally good guy, but I will go off on sides.

Adam: I love that. And I love that line. If you don't have the fire in the belly, someone else will. And why pursue something that you're not passionate about? Something that I share with audiences all the time when you're trying to figure out what you want to do in life, you have to check three boxes. Number one, what are you great at number two? What do you love doing? Number three. What can you do that will allow you to make a positive impact on the lives of others? And if you can check all three of those boxes. That's it, you found it. It doesn't feel like work. And in your case, when someone told you, hey, well, you might think that your path is to be the next Sam Zell. But what about running for office for youth? That was it.

Mark: Yeah, it was one of those weird moments. I mean, I can still remember where we were at a cheap Mexican restaurant, I can still remember the guy, you remember a few moments in life that hit you hard. And that was one of them. I remember going back to my wife at the time and saying, "Look, I had this totally weird visit, but it hit me". And she's like, "Well, why in the world would you want to drive back and forth to Colombia, which happens to be the state capital of South Carolina? Because I mentioned the house?" I'm saying, "No, I'm not talking about a house in South Korea. I'm talking about the US House." She's like, "Are you out of your mind?" I said,  "Probably so." But I don't know, one thing went from there and off we went to the races.

Adam: But sometimes you have to be a little bit out of your mind. You have to pursue big goals, you have to dream big, you have to shoot for the stars. It's ultimately about aiming high.

Mark: Yeah, life and its different adjustments can take care of bringing it back to Earth. I've experienced more than my share but if you at least aim for the stars, you certainly have a zero chance of getting there much of anywhere else. And I wouldn't aim for the stars just aim for the stars. I'd aim for the stars based on that being the voice inside that says this is what I need to do.

Adam: Let's dive into that. You mentioned that there are moments in your life that stand out, the moment and the Mexican restaurant. A moment that stands out was the press conference, in June 2009, a huge international public scandal. The words hiking, and the Appalachian Trail became famous. To give listeners some context, you were the chairman of the Republican Governors Association. And you were one of the rising stars within the Republican Party and on the shortlist, among many in the know, to potentially be the next President of the United States. And next thing you know, you're known for a different reason. And not the reason that anyone, let alone anyone running for office wants to be known for. Can you take listeners back to that moment? What did you learn from that experience? And what can anyone else learn?

Mark: Yeah, I'd say a couple of pretty important things. One is heading off trouble in the past, I made a critical mistake, I ran into this woman on a completely innocuous trip, completely fine. And at the end, because I wasn't hitting on her, she says, "Look, I appreciate your conversation. The ironies are too rich." I've gone into full-blown preaching mode. She was separated from her husband, and they had two young kids. I said, "You got to find some way to get back with your husband because you look at the data, it's fairly conclusive on single-parent versus dual-parent households." Anyway, then she says, "Look, I appreciate the conversation. So we could swap emails." I was married. I said, "Sure." And anyway, long story short, I didn't see her for another eight years. But over that time, it was emotionally and more of an emotional affair than a physical affair. But basically, politics can be rough and tumble, and you can get isolated. And I developed an emotional attachment and fell in love with somebody living 1000s of miles away, which is crazy. But I did. And so I'd say a couple of different things. One, I never should have swapped emails. I didn't know at the time, I know at least but it was a benign conversation. But it didn't end up there. And so I'd say head off trouble in the past. Put everything within the context of would I want my wife to know about this. Again, there was no shame, no problem, then but where it ultimately led was a place would I feel comfortable with on the front page of the paper. So I'd say head off trouble in the past, I'd say avoid isolation, it is one of the curses of leadership, whether military sense, or you read the isolation, some of the decisions these guys or gals had to make. You're like, wow, talk about lonely at the top. And oftentimes you don't have peers. And governors, you get together a couple of times a year, but you're not getting together, they don't have your constituency, they don't have your pressures, and you may have some common themes, but you are not sharing the same level of political intensity based on their constituency versus yours. And I'd say make it a point to have a group of guys and gals, whatever, where you avoid isolation, because if you're in the rough and tumble of whatever it is that you're doing. And you don't have a peer group with whom you can really... I mean, that's the value of YPO and forum groups are you let down your guard, which is tough to do in the world of politics, and say, "Look, this is where I'm hurting or this is where I feel isolated. This is where I feel lonely," whatever the human pressure is, you're going to find yourself in trouble. And then finally, I'd say different off-ramps come to all of us in life. And if you don't take them you're setting yourself up for a much bigger fall, which is what I went through. And so I'd say those are the three that come again quickly to mind. I can give you many, many more because what I did learn is that you learn a lot more on the way down and you learn on the way up. And in retrospect, and again, I'm not in any way excusing my failure in that instance. But it's almost like I would want to hire people going forward who've been through some measure of failure because you learn a lot more about yourself, the world at large, and others on the way down. A friend of mine, jokingly at the time said, the good news here is you don't have to wait till your funeral to find out who your friends are. And that's a crazy way to look at it. But it is true. And though in the eyes of the world, I may have been a rising star, I look back at myself then. And I think I may have a smaller playing field for the rest of my life. But I didn't know anything about anything. Compared to where I am now having been through the fire, and come out at the other end, hopefully, a better and more thoughtful human soul.

Adam: Wow. So many great lessons there. And I want to dive into them. The last point, reframing the way that we look at adversity, reframing the way that we look at challenges, hardships, and failure, is it terminal? Is it the end? Is that it? Do you exit the playing field? Or do you re-enter the playing field a better player, a stronger player, a wiser, better person?

Mark: The answer is the choice is yours. I would say the toughest race I've ever had in my life was racing 13. So I blew myself up in June 2009. To your point, I served the last year and a half in the governorship. And it was a lonely year and a half, my wife and kids had left at that point, they were living down at the beach, you're living in a very large governor's mansion alone, it was more like a prison than a home. You're isolated. I mean, boy, hurting at the soul level. And I left there and I thought, hey, not only was life over, but certainly politics was over. You went from 1000 calls a day to phones not ringing, no emails, no texts. I mean, you were just spent rocket fuel laying as roadkill on the side of the road. I remember the first guy asked me to go on a little Junior board. It was a nothing thing. I cried. Because it was like, oh, my goodness, somebody still values my opinion. I was in tears. And then one thing came, another thing came and confidence started to come back up, and began to do some real estate stuff, which is what I'd always done. And today, we're chugging along. And the guys I was often with came in one day, they said, first districts come open. Tim Scott's being pulled up to the Senate, you need to do this. And I was like, not a chance in the world. scabs are finally healing, the wounds are healing. I have been there and done that. Anyway, long story short, though. Within 24 months of the time, I left the governorship, I was back in the US Congress, which I wouldn't have imagined in 1 million years, Rome was burning when I left Columbia, which again is our State Capitol. And I would just really encourage people, there is a tendency to hole up, to isolate yourself even further, to drop out a life and not do it again at a soul level. I used to read the papers and think, moron, moron, idiot, what was that guy thinking? If you read the papers now it's like, but by the grace of God, I don't know their journey. But I'm sure not going to judge it. And it's probably more complex than I realize. And it's given me a level of humanity and empathy that frankly, I just didn't have before. And frankly, most people won't have on their way up because they've never seen the other side of life. But when you have, it does change your perspective. And you can be the better for it. I'd encourage people to get back in the saddle.

Adam: I love that. Humanity, humility, and empathy are essential characteristics among the very best leaders. Looking back on all the different leadership experiences you've had, what do you believe are the key characteristics of a great leader? And what can anyone do to become a better leader?

Mark: Well, that's a big toolkit. But t pulling a couple out, I'd say, one, vision, where do you want to go? Where do you want your company to go? Where do you want your country to go? Where do you want your state to go? But you better have a very clear vision of what you believe to be true north. And by having a clear vision, and then it attracts other people to your vision, because a lot of people frankly, wander through life without a vision, but they don't mind attaching themselves to others' visions, and they can have great skill sets. And they can help and make haste more proficient at certain things necessary to get into your TrueNorth. And you are, but you got to be absolutely crystal clear on where I want to go. And that can be a tough chapter of life of figuring, I mean, it's not that hard getting anywhere, but the hard parts to get where you want to go. So I'm not diminishing the difficulty at times, establishing your TrueNorth. But once you've got a sense of that locking in, and being very clear, and then develop a battle plan for how you want to get there, okay, I need seven chainsaws, I need three come along, I need 12 tanks of gas, I need a Land Rover to climb mountain X. Okay, now I can start divvying up tasks and saying, okay, will you help me with this? Could you help me with this? Because if it's a big enough dream, there's no chance you're gonna get there on your own, and you're going to need teammates. And so breaking out pieces that people can work on becomes a big deal. And then either you directly or having a team that holds people accountable toward what is it we're working on, how we get in there. You got your base covered, okay, no, you didn't run that route, right? Let's run that one, again, those kinds of things. And then at the human level, again, on the way up, it's easy to fall prey to a lot of different things. But one of which is we've all seen those guys who think that they are better than everybody else, who's smarter than everybody else, just because they've had some success or modicum of success and something. Well, they are missing it. And they're setting themselves up for disaster because humility, whether you discipline yourself and have a court jester who's reminding you every day, hey, by the way, you're not as smart as you think you are. Or you get there by virtue of spiritual faith or great discipline. But humility, I think, is a very, very important ingredient. Because it helps you to appreciate the blessings of life, and it helps you to appreciate maybe the struggle that other teammates are going through. And it helps you not to overthink and think of your piece of the pie as it relates to the larger success of the team. Everybody gets there because of teamwork. And if you keep humility as a part of your journey or your path, I think you're gonna get there and you're gonna have a more enjoyable route and getting to wherever it is that you want to go.

Adam: Something that you shared, as you were reflecting on the lessons that you learned from that difficult experience. Back in 2009, you said that there are different off-ramps in life. Take them. Can you expand on that?

Mark: Well, the Bible is fairly clear that there's no temptation out there that didn't come and most everybody out there. But what happens is the ability, particularly if you're focused on whatever your work is, and you're passionate about your point itself, some temptation comes along and you're thinking, well, I'm lonely, or I'm this or I'm that or whatever. And the fact is, well, welcome to humanity. They're a bunch of people who are lonely, or they're this or that. And you don't have to scratch every itch out there. And you could say, well, wait a minute. Yeah, I am lonely. But there are other ways to deal with it. And let me think about this, or let me make sure that I'm more involved in my church, or my synagogue, or my whatever. Or let me make sure I'm playing soccer on Saturdays. When I come home with a group of guys that I've known since high school, it'll be good about bringing me back to Earth because they are not going to give you any passage on you may be the CEO, but at the end of the day, you're the guy that they played high school football with, and they'll treat you accordingly. Scott Peck wrote a book a long time ago called The Road Less Traveled. And its first sentence begins with life is difficult. And once you begin to accept that, life becomes less difficult. But what happens when your CEO position or your star is rising is you begin to think, well, it shouldn't be that difficult because I get all the good stuff going, and it's happening. And I must be smarter than I think I am. Because boy, this is really on a roll. But that's not the case. And I just think it's critical. Maybe a different way of what I'm trying to say is to be a good leader, you need to stay grounded, you need to keep your feet on the ground. And yet there are so many things as you climb the ladder, that are going to attempt to pull you from groundedness. And that can come at a great cost.

Adam: I was literally about to ask you the following question, and I'll still ask it, but you just touched on it, which is, how important do you believe ethics and morality are to effective leadership and why?

Mark: John McCain wrote a book called Character Is Destiny. And he's right, he was right. He is right, though he's deceased. Morality and ethics are central to the common threads through all faiths and even non-faiths, which is sort of the Golden Rule. Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you. And if there's not a win-win in the equation, ultimately, you will lose. If you don't produce an added benefit to that customer, whether that's in the political world, whether that's in business, World Education, we'll go down the list, that the end of the day the customer is going to walk, the voter is going to walk, the subordinates gonna walk. And so ethics and morality, how you treat people, is central to any great form of leadership. And consistently, you read through great leaders through that time, there are tyrants and dictators, and they're authoritarian to different stories, but they don't last through the pages of history. I mean, they last maybe in a bad way, but in terms of having a full life, which includes not only success, but what David Brooks talks about, when talks about moving from success to significance, they do not live significant lives. And if you want to live a life of significance, you better have morality and ethics along the way, and you need to have somebody tapping you on the shoulder, an old buddy from high school, reminding you of, hey, your feet are getting just a little bit off the ground, what's up here, on the way to help enforce that important necessity to being a good leader?

Adam: Something we touched on a little bit at the beginning of our conversation, is authenticity. You are very unique, in your style, unique in your approach to politics, your unique approach, has made you friends, has made you enemies, has helped you win races, and ultimately got you knocked out of Congress. But it's what makes you you. And I want to know if you can share with listeners, how you were able to get to a place where you were able to develop the comfort in your skin to be yourself, to be you particularly as the stakes got higher and higher, and how anyone listening to this conversation can get to that place?

Mark: I think that authenticity is in part DNA. To your point, it comes through ups and downs. I mean, I've been authentic along the way. And it always served me well. And in this last run for Congress, I got beat for the first time in 25 years. I don't care whether somebody is for or against Trump, that's not the point. The point is, that you need to be honest about who you are in that equation. And based on a lot of fairly intense conversations with my sons post-divorce, I had no choice in that issue other than say, I mean, a lot of people in our state without naming names that twisted themselves in absolute pretzels. And they were for Trump, and then they were against Trump. I mean, just pick a flavor. And so I didn't look for a fight, but I wasn't gonna back away from it. I spoke out on some things. I'll give you an example of a perfect storm. Early on, well, before Trump got the nomination, somebody came up and said, "Do you think whoever the next president is ought to release your tax returns now*29:29 go to my little spiel yet? More than a 50-year-old tradition that served our country well, and Republicans and Democrats alike have released their tax returns? I think it's a point of transparency. I think it's a good deal. But you're not asking me for that reason I happen to be... I only think Charlie Crist was in there. I think it was the only former governor who's in the US Congress who did the US House and I said, you're asking me because I released mine twice when I got the nomination and I take it again. It's another point of transparency. And believe me, if you could do it at the federal level, at the state level, people are not going to be releasing their tax returns when they get the nomination. Fast forward, Trump gets the nomination, the same reporter comes back, sticks a microphone in your face, and asks the same question. And I'm not dumb, I knew that the right answer to that point was not to give the same answer. But based on these fairly intense conversations with my sons, I gave the same answer. And then the next thing you know, you got the president of the United States of your party coming at you pretty hard, real hard. And you got then Speaker of the House coming to me on the House floor saying, what's the deal? I said, "I'm not gonna get them, I just gave the same answer that I gave before." And so I think that this notion of being authentic to who you are, it's in your DNA, but part of it, it's forced on relationships that matter to you, like my relationships with my four sons is paramount. And they're pretty clear that you can't go change your mind on this stuff. That may be the current political water. But that's not the lesson that you've tried to teach us over the years. And so I went through the way I went, I think authenticity is the courage to be who you are, not necessarily when it serves you, but maybe at times when it doesn't as well.

Adam: I love that. I also love another lesson that you shared in that story, which is, that we need to ask ourselves, who we want to be, and who our actions impact. How we carry ourselves has a ripple effect. It doesn't just affect our lives. But it impacts all the people around us. People close to us, and maybe even people we don't know. So think very carefully about who you want to be and what it takes to be that person.

Mark: Yeah, another way I put it to you is, to think about who's your audience, we all play to an audience whether we realize it or not. And it could be the audience that matters most to you is your wife, or your husband, or your significant other, could be your audiences. My case is my four sons. I mean, that told me the audience that matters the most to me, but I think that you need to think through and define it. It could be folks in your church or synagogue, or it could be your best buddies, but who is your audience that is consistent with what you believe to be your true north? And that's going to help you in life. What happens particularly as you climb the ladder, is you get so many people coming to you, you will get confused. And you will have to ask yourself, who are my real friends? Is it the guy who did some big fundraiser for you? Or is it this guy you knew since high school who hadn't done anything to help you politically, but we were good friends back then? Believe me, after you fail, and you fall flat on your face, it doesn't become real clear as to who your real friends are in that equation, because the guy that did a big fundraiser, didn't know your name anymore. But the guy who was not all that helpful, who's your buddy since high school, is probably still going to be the guy showing up at your funeral. And you need to think about that. Not to say you can't add on new friends along the way. You do. But you need to think about who your audience is, and when you look at it from the grave looking up, who do you think will be there that ought to help calibrate some of the decisions you make and the way you play some of these different things that will come your way.

Adam: And something that you shared multiple times in this conversation that stood out to me, is the importance of being a good friend, it's something that we oftentimes take for granted, we oftentimes don't think about, don't pay that much attention to. But if you're a good friend, if you're there for the people who you care about, particularly in times of need, that can be incredibly powerful when someone is down a phone call a text message, and offer to help, hi, how are you doing? What can I do for you? That's invaluable.

Mark: You ain't kidding. Two thoughts on that. One is when you get busy in life and high-pressure jobs with your governor or CEO or go down the list, it gets more and more difficult to be a good friend. And because you got so many people coming at you every single day, but to have the discipline to say wait a minute, I need to check in with Joey or Tommy or Susan or whatever the case might be, is a big deal and you need to be disciplined about that. And the reverse, as you just pointed out is equally true. I can still tell you the two governors who called me in 2009, after I blew myself up, now they have to be 50 governors in the country. But two of them call me. And I to this day, if they were to call me, you know, I'm calling back. And so you will make an indelible impression on people when you call them not on their up day, but on their down day. And in all of life, it's important for us to not judge people on their best day, nor on their worst day, but to again, have the humility that says, don't exactly understand the shoes they're walking in, don't necessarily approve how they're handling whatever the shoes they're walking in, but I'm still gonna give them a call. Because at the end of the day, we're all human, and I'm just gonna connect with them, I'm just gonna give them a quick call, you will be putting emotional credits in your bank account like you cannot imagine that will accrue to your benefit. And that's not the reason to do it. But I'm just saying it will pay dividends for the rest of your life. Because again, I can still remember the two folks who call me the two governors. And it mattered to me and to this day, when I think about that and several other things, certain people stand out. Well, it's people calling you on your worst day, not your best day that you remember.

Adam: Governor Sanford, what can anyone listening to this conversation do to become more successful personally and professionally?

Mark: Have a dream. You'll have a variety of dreams throughout life. I mean, I wanted to be Sam Zell. And then politics came at me and then jumped into that pretty hard, and they had certain dreams in terms of my boy's lives and what might materialize there. I failed at my marriage. And I blame myself on a variety of different fronts on that one, but you live in your learning. And all you can say is boy, you know, find a gal who put up with me, I'll get it right this time. And so I just have a dream, learn from your failures, you're gonna learn a lot more from your failures than you will from your successes. I mean, the team that loses on Friday night studies*37:15 The game day takes a whole lot harder the team that won and stays human along the way, the number of robots that end up highly successful but they lose the human can act because they think that they're many gods and they tell because they made something happen or work to create something. Maybe at the right time, right place, never kind of lucky too, but they won't include that as part of the equation. So just keep your humility and humanity in the past because it'll be a lot more fun and enjoyable. And make it a point. Stay connected with friends, those would be four things that come to mind. But going back to raw leadership, have a vision, break it out into something you can work on with others, and go back and reevaluate on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis. Are you getting there enough?

Adam: Governor Sanford, thank you for all the great advice, and thank you for being a part of Thirty Minute Mentors.

Mark: Pleasure. Good to see you again.


Adam Mendler is an entrepreneur, writer, speaker, educator, and nationally recognized authority on leadership. Adam is the creator and host of the business and leadership podcast Thirty Minute Mentors, where he goes one on one with America's most successful people - Fortune 500 CEOs, founders of household name companies, Hall of Fame and Olympic gold medal-winning athletes, political and military leaders - for intimate half-hour conversations each week. A top leadership speaker, Adam draws upon his insights building and leading businesses and interviewing hundreds of America's top leaders as a top keynote speaker to businesses, universities, and non-profit organizations. Adam has written extensively on leadership and related topics, having authored over 70 articles published in major media outlets including Forbes, Inc. and HuffPost, and has conducted more than 500 one on one interviews with America’s top leaders through his collective media projects. Adam teaches graduate-level courses on leadership at UCLA and is an advisor to numerous companies and leaders. A Los Angeles native, Adam is a lifelong Angels fan and an avid backgammon player.

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