635: Rich Gotham (President of The Boston Celtics) - How To Build a Championship Organization
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Release Date: 05/14/2025
635: Rich Gotham (President of The Boston Celtics) - How To Build a Championship Organization
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Go to for full show notes This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to Rich Gotham is the President of the Boston Celtics. He is responsible for all aspects of the Celtics' business operations. In addition, he works closely with Celtics ownership, basketball operations staff, and the NBA on basketball-related matters, as well as team and league initiatives. He succeeds “Red” Auerbach as...
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634: Tom Nolan (CEO of Kendra Scott) - 2% Moments, Setting Big Goals, Being Unbalanced, Moving Fast, Coaching High Performers, & Going Through Hard Things Together
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Go to for full show notes. This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to Notes "Average players want to be left alone. Good players want some coaching. Great players want the truth." It is not a company’s job to give work-life balance to someone. And he is not balanced. He’s on 24/7. It was refreshing to hear the real story from someone who is...
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633: General Stanley McChrystal - In Pursuit of Greatness, High Standards, The Ranger Effect, Self-Discipline, White-Water Rafting, Obsession, & Making Choices That Define Your Life (On Character)
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Go to for full show notes This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to Stanley McChrystal is a retired four-star general. Stan is the former commander of the nation’s premier military counter-terrorism force, Joint Special Operations Command (also known as JSOC). His command included more than 150,000 troops from 45 allied countries. Since he retired...
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632: Nick Huber - The Attributes of Winners, Becoming Great at Sales, Changing Your Mind, & The Fundamental Truths of Life (Sweaty Startup)
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Go to for full show notes This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to Episode #632: Nick Huber is an entrepreneur who owns stakes in 11 companies, including a real estate private equity firm and several agencies. His portfolio of companies employs over 325 people living all over the world. Nick lives with his wife and 3 children in Athens, Georgia. He’s...
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631: Bert Bean & Sam Kaufman - Obsession, Grit, Growth-Mindset, Winning in a Tough Market, Hiring for Potential, Running Ultra-Marathons, and Caring For Your People
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Go to for full show notes This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Bert Bean is the CEO of Insight Global. Insight Global is a 4.3-billion-dollar, industry-leading talent and technical services firm based in Atlanta, GA. Bert started with Insight Global in 2005 as a Recruiter and has since worked his way up within the company, exemplifying Insight Global’s...
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630: Marcus Sheridan - How To Build Trust, Drive Sales, and Earn Endless Customers
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Go to for full show notes This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Bio: As an owner of IMPACT, Marcus Sheridan has established one of the country's most successful digital sales and marketing agencies. He is the author of the international best-seller They Ask, You Answer… His new book is called Endless Customers: A Proven System to Build Trust, Drive Sales, and Become the Market Leader. Notes: ...
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629: Anne-Laure Le Cunff - How To Live Freely In a Goal Obsessed World (Tiny Experiments)
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk. Go to for full show notes. This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to At 27, Anne-Laure had her dream job at Google. She quit. "Are you sure?" "No." She was focusing on a narrow vision of success. Anne-Laure was most curious about the brain, neuroscience, and why we think the way we do. She went back to school to learn more. Writing - First, to...
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628: Anthony Consigli - Digging Graves, Playing Football at Harvard, Learning From Failure, Taking Big Chances, & Growing a Business From $3 Million to $4 Billion
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Go to for full show notes The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk Episode #625: Anthony Consigli - Digging Graves, Playing Football at Harvard, Learning From Failure, Taking Big Chances, & Growing a Business From $3 Million to $4 Billion Anthony's great-grandfather came from Italy and he was a stone mason. He had 6 sons. He gave each a trade. His grandfather had a business mind. Then WWII came. 4 brothers went and fought. His grandfather and blind uncle stayed back to run the business. He brought his son into it (Anthony’s dad) he was a heavy equipment operator. And did business...
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627: Jenny Wood - How To Go After What You Want and Get It (Wild Courage)
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Go to for full show notes Notes: Serendipity isn’t found. It’s made. Make your own luck. The best leaders create serendipity for their teams. A success mindset precedes success. From Jenny - In 2011, I was single and living in New York City. I spotted an attractive guy across the train from me. I wanted to talk to him, but I was too nervous. Then he got off the train. She met her future husband by chasing after him off a train in NYC. "I was letting life pass me by." She used some wild courage to approach him. What sits between you and the thing you want is fear....
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626: Rob Kimbel - Living By Your Values, Caring For Your People, Taking The Back Seat, & Creating Opportunities That Improve Lives
The Learning Leader Show With Ryan Hawk
Go to for full show notes. The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk This is brought to you by . If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver. Go to Rob Kimbel is an owner of Kimbel Mechanical Systems, located in Fayetteville, AR. He joined KMS in 1993, and in 2001, at the age of 26, he became the CEO and grew what was then 3 local plumbers making a couple hundred thousand dollars a year into a national company with more than 750...
info_outlineGo to www.LearningLeader.com for full show notes
This is brought to you by Insight Global. If you need to hire 1 person, hire a team of people, or transform your business through Talent or Technical Services, Insight Global's team of 30,000 people around the world have the hustle and grit to deliver.
Go to www.InsightGlobal.com/LearningLeader
Rich Gotham is the President of the Boston Celtics. He is responsible for all aspects of the Celtics' business operations. In addition, he works closely with Celtics ownership, basketball operations staff, and the NBA on basketball-related matters, as well as team and league initiatives. He succeeds “Red” Auerbach as Celtics team President and serves on the NBA Board of Governors. Since joining the Celtics in 2003, he’s helped grow team revenues by over 300%, and they’ve won two NBA championships.
Notes:
- Must-haves when making hiring decisions for a leadership role: Work ethic, self-awareness, a catalyst for positive energy, purpose-driven, and care ("give a shit").
- At the time, the Celtics were run like a mom-and-pop shop. Rich was brought in to help them run like a professional business.
- Rich was recruited to the Celtics by new owner (at the time), Wyc Grousbeck. 3 different people told Wyc that he should talk to Rich. – Add value. Leave people better than you found them. They will refer you to others for big jobs without you even knowing it.
- Celtic pride - grew up there, made you proud to be from Boston.
- "Different here." 18-time champs.
- Pressure from fans to win: It beats indifference.
- Making bets on potential - Hiring Brad Stevens.
- Danny Ainge did a great job selling it to Brad.
- Watching Payton Pritchard warm up. He cares.
- Working with the Bruins and Red Sox leaders – Lower the ego, put yourself in their shoes. Seek first to understand. And find a way to get it done. Rich went outside of the office to meet regularly with a leader of the Boston Bruins to get their lease squared away. That had been an issue for decades, and he helped get it figured out so both sides could win.
- Advice - You have to have self-belief, believe in your ability. Don't let that get chipped away. Why should they pick you? Be vulnerable.
- Leave others better than you found them.