Unpopular opinion:
Meetings should be emails.
Emails should be posts.
Posts should be keynotes.
Keynotes should be paid.
Agree? 馃憞
Brayden Kessler
Founder & Chief Vision Officer at ThoughtLeaderly | 3x keynote speaker | I help founders 10x their mindset
Greater Harbor City Area
Founder. Father. Keynote speaker. In that order, depending on the quarter.
At ThoughtLeaderly, we help founders unlock the 10x mindset that was inside them all along. We don't do "work harder". We do "work harder, with intention".
3x keynote speaker (two conferences and one best man's speech that went viral in a group chat).
My DMs are always open. My calendar is booked through next Q3.
This morning a barista wrote "Brendan" on my cup.
I could have corrected her.
I didn't.
Because Brendan is who I was.
Brayden is who I've become.
Sometimes growth is a name a stranger gets wrong.
Thank you, Kayla.
(Kaylee?)
5:00 a.m. Thirty-seven degrees. Just me, the ice bath and my thoughts.
Day 30 of cold plunging. Here's what it taught me about B2B sales:
1. The first 30 seconds are the hardest. So is a discovery call.
2. Your body will beg you to get out. Your pipeline doesn't care.
3. Nobody claps for you in the plunge. (My neighbor did once. I don't think he meant it.)
4. Breathe.
The water doesn't care about your excuses. Neither does Q4. 馃
Last week we turned down a candidate for a senior role.
She replied within the hour:
"Thanks for letting me know. Best of luck filling the position."
Most founders would archive that email.
I read it eleven times.
That's not a thank-you note.
That's grit.
That's someone who hears "no" and answers with grace, speed and impeccable punctuation.
So I called her back and offered her the job on the spot.
She'd already accepted somewhere else.
Grit.
Hire for grit. Train for skill. Let the ones that got away teach you something.
I'm humbled to announce that ThoughtLeaderly has been named one of the Top 5 Mindset Platforms at this year's Mindset Platform Awards.
When I founded the Awards in the spring, I never dreamed we'd make the shortlist.
Congratulations to my fellow nominees: ThoughtLeaderly Pro, ThoughtLeaderly for Teams, ThoughtLeaderly Kids and The ThoughtLeaderly Podcast. It was a close race.
I'd thank the judges by name, but I'd be thanking myself, and that's not who I am.
Humbled. Grateful. Mostly humbled. 馃檹
My flight to a keynote was delayed four hours.
Most people saw a delay.
I saw a leadership masterclass.
One gate agent. Two hundred frustrated passengers. Zero raised voices.
I went up and asked her what drives her.
She said, "Sir, I need you to step back from the desk."
Focus. Boundaries. Customer-centricity.
When we finally boarded, the captain said, "Sorry for the wait, folks."
No excuses. No blame. Just ownership.
And then he flew the plane.
That's leadership. Own it, then fly the plane.
It's in the keynote now.