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Game Changers with Molly Fletcher is our podcast designed to help you maximize your influence and unleash your potential. Each episode, we take you behind the scenes with peak performers to learn what makes them tick and discover how you can apply their lessons to your life. Join Molly each week to hear from her special guests— top athletes and coaches, transformative CEOs, brilliant thought leaders, and entrepreneurs and trailblazers from around the world. Subscribe now on iTunes, Google Play, Stitcher, or Spotify.

Recent Episodes

Nir Eyal

Episode 93- Nir Eyal on How To Manage Distractions

Know the feeling of getting bombarded with too many pings, dings and rings? You’re not alone. Nir Eyal writes and consults about the intersection of psychology, technology and business. His latest book, Indistractable, reveals the hidden psychology driving us to distraction. On this episode, Nir shares the practical techniques to control your time and attention—helping you live the life you really want. His four-step, research-backed model will help you manage distractions and finally do what you say you will do.

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“Time management is pain management.”

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Show Notes

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  • How Nir’s background in Silicon Valley led to his research on the psychology of habit-forming products (1:55)
  • Distraction is not a new phenomenon (4:53)
  • The number one source of distraction is other people (5:33)
  • The opposite of distraction is traction – any action that pulls you towards what you want to do (6:39)
  • Most distraction begins from within us (8:19)
  • Time management is pain management (9:26)
  • Three ways to master the internal triggers: reimagine the trigger, reimagine the task, reimagine your temperament (11:20)
  • Do you show up as a Blamer, Shamer or Claimer? (12:57)
  • The ten-minute rule to minimizing distractions (14:04)
  • Long-term behavior change is identity change (15:57)
  • How to reimagine your “to do” list (17:31)
  • The power of schedule syncing (20:38)
  • How to hack back your email (25:24)
  • Create pacts to prevent distractions: effort pacts, price pacts, and identity pacts (32:17)
  • Why he wrote Indistractable for himself (36:00)

 

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Reshma Saujani

Episode 92- Reshma Saujani on How to Be Brave, Not Perfect

Where along the way did we trade in our confidence and courage for approval and acceptance? And why? That’s the question Reshma Saujani challenges us with in her book Brave, Not Perfect. Reshma is the founder & CEO of Girls Who Code, an international nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology and change the image of what a programmer looks like and does. Her TED Talk, “Teach girls bravery, not perfection,” has been viewed more than 4 million times and sparked a worldwide conversation about how we’re raising our girls. On this episode, we talk about how to fear less, fail more and live boldly.

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“Bravery is the antidote to perfection.”

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Show Notes

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  • What inspired Reshma to start Girls Who Code (2:44)
  • Measuring the impact of Girls Who Code’s work (4:16)
  • A failed congressional run becomes a catalyst (5:52)
  • The mentorship she’s received from Hillary Clinton (7:53)
  • Be brave, not perfect (10:00)
  • How we socialize our girls differently than boys (10:30)
  • Prepare yourself to be brave in the small moments (14:30)
  • The learned need for approval and being liked (16:01)
  • How to build your bravery muscle (18:13)
  • Just start: the lesson she learned starting Girls Who Code (21:25)
  • Show the mess behind the scenes (22:48)
  • Bravery builds your confidence (24:18)
  • Don’t stay stuck in things that you are good at, that you don’t like (25:24)
  • Does failure motivate you more than success? (27:11)
  • Anxiety as a superpower and overcoming the imposter syndrome (28:04)
  • Three failure hacks to help you recover from setbacks faster (30:54)
  • Take an athlete’s approach to soliciting feedback (33:00)
  • Bravery is at the core of relationship transformation (34:27)
  • How to get involved with Girls Who Code (35:56)

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James Franklin, Penn State

Episode 91- James Franklin on Leading with Core Values

James Franklin is one of the top college football coaches in the country. Since arriving at Penn State University in 2014, Franklin has led the Nittany Lions to three top-10 finishes and a Big Ten championship. His journey took him from Division II quarterback to college coach, where he found unlikely success at Vanderbilt before taking on the challenge of rebuilding the storied Penn State program. On this episode, we dig into how he built trust in a tough environment when he arrived at Penn State and the ways his leadership approach has evolved over the years.

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“It’s not necessarily winning for me; it’s the pursuit of winning.”

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Show Notes

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  • How his upbringing shaped the person he is today (2:21)
  • Why he got into coaching football while pursuing his master’s degree (4:32)
  • What fuels him more- the desire to win or the fear of failure? (7:28)
  • His approach to building community support and alignment when he took the Penn State job (9:00)
  • How he built trust and relationship in a tough environment (13:05)
  • Team building tips to enhance team chemistry (16:14)
  • The unique locker room setup designed to build connection (17:54)
  • The importance of consistency in rebuilding a program (19:00)
  • How to balance the need for structure with embracing change and flexibility (21:54)
  • Learning how to handle losses better (24:32)
  • The greatest leadership lesson he’s learned (27:22)

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Episode 90- Tony Gonzalez on Leveling Up to Maximize Your Potential

Tony Gonzalez is an analyst for FOX Sports and the host of the podcast WIDE OPEN with Tony Gonzalez. In 17 seasons in the NFL with the Kansas City Chiefs and the Atlanta Falcons, Tony was a 14-time Pro Bowl selection. He is the NFL’s all-time leader in touchdowns and yards by a tight end and is third-all time in receptions. Tony tackles all aspects of his life with the same drive and curiosity that helped him excel on the field. In this conversation, Tony shares what fuels him, the defining moments that shaped his life, and his powerful habits for success.

Follow Tony: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Podcast

“Success leaves clues.”

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Show Notes

  • What is the biggest misconception people have about you? (2:06)
  • How struggling in his second season in the NFL changed Tony’s approach (3:27)
  • Pushing through fear to find growth (5:45)
  • “There’s always a sense of urgency.” (8:46)
  • Greatness requires obsession and sacrifice (10:30)
  • Surround yourself with people who tell you the truth (14:27)
  • The power of visualization (20:11)
  • The keys to Tony’s consistency and durability (27:07)
  • Loving the process (30:13)
  • Did you think about your legacy? (32:20)
  • Tony’s approach to goal setting (33:38)
  • Transitioning to TV and the decision to leave CBS (36:46)
  • How to cultivate curiosity (43:26)
  • Why he started journaling and writing letters to himself during his NFL career (47:35)
  • A powerful habit Tony does when reading a book (48:28)
  • His tips for daily meditation (52:17)

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Episode 89- Lori Gottlieb on How Changing Your Story Can Change Your Life

We all have stories we tell ourselves that define the way we live our lives. Stories help you make sense of your life, but they can also keep you stuck. How can you become the editor of your life? Therapist Lori Gottlieb is the author of the New York Timesbestseller Maybe You Should Talk to Someone and writes the Dear Therapistadvice column for The Atlantic. In this conversation, we talk about how to defeat toxic thinking, change our self-limiting narratives, and get unstuck. It’s about changing your narrative to change your life.

Follow Lori: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website

“Part of therapy is getting to know yourself, but part of therapy is also getting to unknow yourself.”

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Show Notes

  • Why therapy isn’t just self-work (1:51)
  • The biggest misconceptions about therapy (3:17)
  • Part of therapy is getting to “unknow” yourself (4:47)
  • Lori’s experience as a therapist going to therapy (5:43)
  • The root of why people go to therapy (8:35)
  • What happens when we avoid feeling (11:07)
  • “We are all unreliable narrators of our own lives.” (13:47)
  • The difference between “idiot compassion” vs. “wise compassion” (14:51)
  • The power of self-compassion + accountability (16:59)
  • Lori’s unique background (TV, medical school, journalism, therapy) and how it all centers around stories and the human condition (19:40)
  • Why people don’t change when they know they need to change (24:16)
  • The five stages of change (26:12)
  • Facing your own mortality (28:18)
  • What she’s learned about forgiveness from her years as a therapist (32:18)
  • The misconception that therapy is focused on the past when it’s really focused on the present (33:53)
  • How to deliver “loving truth bombs” (35:13)
  • Having the vulnerability to put herself out there (37:57)
  • Lori’s upcoming projects including a TV series and podcast (41:57)

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Dan Quinn

Episode 88- Dan Quinn and Russ Rausch on Strengthening Your Mental Game

How do elite performers mentally train for success? Atlanta Falcons head coach Dan Quinn and Vision Pursue founder Russ Rausch discuss the relationship between mindset and performance. As an NFL coach, Dan uses Vision Pursue’s performance mindset training with his team to strengthen their mental game. In this episode, we talk about how to develop mental toughness, focus through distractions and perform under pressure.

Follow Dan Quinn: Twitter | Bio

Follow Russ Rausch: Twitter | Facebook

“How we feel affects how we think, and how we think affects how we feel.”

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Show Notes

Resources / People Mentioned

  • The partnership between Dan Quinn and Vision Pursue (2:37)
  • Developing his leadership philosophy in Atlanta (4:31)
  • Default mindset vs. performance mindset (5:48)
  • How he gets his players to embrace mindfulness training (7:17)
  • SEE- separate, embrace, evaluate (8:11)
  • The lessons he learned personally from a tough season (10:40)
  • How the team rallied around Coach Quinn (13:07)
  • A three-step framework to processing emotions (14:00)
  • A tip for high performance under pressure (16:15)
  • The leadership lessons Dan Quinn has learned from Arthur Blank (17:41)
  • “Tell The Truth Mondays” (19:39)
  • Dan Quinn’s leadership style (24:59)
  • What he has learned from coaches in other sports (26:23)
  • Training your brain to make thoughts and emotions more in sync (32:28)
  • How to change your thought patterns (36:43)
  • Visualizing yourself recovering from adversity (43:13)
  • How to change a team culture (44:16)

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Glennon Doyle Headshot

Episode 87- Glennon Doyle on Finding Your Brave

Who were you before the world told you who to be? That’s the question Glennon Doyle asks in her new memoir Untamed. Glennon is a speaker, activist and New York Times bestselling author. Her two previous books- Love Warrior and Carry On, Warrior were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and Love Warrior was an Oprah’s Book Club selection. Glennon writes about addiction, recovery, marriage and faith with no holds barred. In today’s conversation, we dig into becoming attune to our discontent, abandoning expectations, and learning to trust yourself. It’s about how sometimes we forget who we are… and how we find ourselves again.

Follow Glennon Doyle: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

“We cannot allow the fact that we can’t do everything keep us from doing what we can do.”

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Show Notes

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Resources / People Mentioned

  • The story of how she met her now-wife Abby Wambach while on book tour to promote Love Warrior (1:55)
  • Why she stayed in her marriage and what changed her mind (5:05)
  • The hardest thing she’s written about (8:08)
  • What her recovery from addiction taught her about honesty (11:35)
  • Glennon’s definition of brave: Brave is listening to the Knowing on the inside and speaking that Knowing and acting that Knowing on the outside. (14:47)
  • What is confidence? (20:58)
  • Becoming attune to your discontent (21:31)
  • The fear of being too much (26:23)
  • Not defining your identity by the roles you play (30:40)
  • Learning to trust yourself (35:05)
  • Forgiveness is circular not linear (39:52)
  • How to face the fear of disappointing the people you love most (43:26)
  • The vision behind Glennon’s nonprofit Together Rising (45:37)
  • Glennon’s mantra: “We can do hard things.” (47:55)
  • Pain as a teacher (50:38) 

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Leonard Hamilton

Episode 86- Leonard Hamilton on How to Rebuild A Team for Long-Term Success

Leonard Hamilton is one of the most successful coaches in college basketball and a trailblazer in the sport. The head coach at Florida State University, Hamilton is the Seminoles’ all-time winningest coach and the 5th winningest coach in ACC history. This season he won ACC Coach of the Year honors and led Florida State to the #4 ranking in the country and the ACC regular season championship. On this episode, Hamilton shares the moment where he thought he gave up coaching for good, the hurdles he had to overcome, and how he built a reputation as a program rebuilder.

Note: this conversation is updated with Coach Hamilton’s thoughts after the cancelation of the NCAA tournament, where Florida State was expected to be a top seed.

Follow Coach Hamilton: Twitter

“If you spend all your time worrying about what you can’t control, you’re going to waste a lot of time.”

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Show Notes

  • The message he shared with his team after the cancelation of the ACC Tournament moments before tipoff (2:16)
  • Not having the opportunity to compete for a NCAA championship (6:21)
  • Finding his purpose in coaching (9:07)
  • Growing up in the era of segregation in the south (15:07)
  • The work ethic his father instilled in him at an early age (19:02)
  • Getting his start in coaching as a graduate assistant at Austin Peay (23:10)
  • The moment Leonard Hamilton walked away from coaching and took a job in sales (28:23)
  • How his persistence landed a job as assistant coach at University of Kentucky (31:13)
  • How he built a reputation as coach who could rebuild a program (38:03)
  • His approach to recruiting (43:01)
  • Creating a culture of accountability (47:59)
  • Developing selflessness inside of the team culture (49:12)
  • The importance of self-evaluation as a leader (52:38)
  • Give people the opportunity to learn and grow (53:15)

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Shawn Achor

Episode 85- Shawn Achor on The Happiness Advantage

Most people believe: if you work harder, you will be more successful, and then you will be happy. But if you think the key to happiness is success, you’ve got it backwards. It’s happiness that fuels success. Shawn Achor is one of the world’s leading experts on the science of happiness. He’s the bestselling author of The Happiness Advantage and Big Potential. More than a decade of research shows that training your brain to be positive first actually leads to greater success at work. On this episode, Shawn shares the four biggest predictors of happiness, how to spark happiness in your own life, and the simple steps you can take to embrace a positive mindset.

Follow Shawn: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website

“Happiness is the joy you feel moving towards your potential.”

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Show Notes

  • How Shawn became a “happiness researcher” (2:07)
  • How small interventions can change your levels of happiness (4:40)
  • The definition of happiness: the joy we feel moving towards potential (7:53)
  • Success doesn’t fuel happiness; happiness fuels success (10:08)
  • The greatest predictors of happiness: optimism, gratitude, meaning and social connection (15:31)
  • A better way to use social media (19:16)
  • How to measure your happiness (22:33)
  • The power in choosing happiness (24:52)
  • The human capacity to change (27:14)
  • The 21-day gratitude challenge and other simple ways to increase your happiness (27:37)
  • The science of happiness (30:47)
  • The interconnection between happiness and success (33:06)
  • The one thing to do after you listen to this podcast (37:22)
  • What to teach your kids about happiness (40:12)

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Ryan Hawk Headshot

Episode 84- Ryan Hawk on How to Grow as a Leader

Wouldn’t it be nice if leadership came with an instruction manual? In his new book, Welcome to Management, Ryan Hawk is sharing the advice he wishes he knew when he transitioned into a leadership role. Ryan is the host of the popular podcast, The Learning Leader Show,which boasts millions of listeners in 150+ countries. On this episode, Ryan shares how to transition seamlessly from individual performer to exceptional leader. Listen in to discover the common qualities top leaders share and the three skill sets every leader needs to master.

Follow Ryan: Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Website

“Your success as a leader can only follow the success of the people you are leading and serving.”

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Show Notes

  • Ryan’s personal leadership journey (1:23)
  • The common mistakes leaders make (5:01)
  • Transferring skills from sports to the business world (6:38)
  • Tips for leaders to prepare for one-on-one meetings with a direct report (8:56)
  • The power of using curiosity to connect (11:52)
  • Ryan’s “welcome to management” moment that inspired the book (15:50)
  • How to build relationships with people who are difficult to connect with (22:29)
  • Leading with trust and how to share vulnerability as a leader (24:29)
  • Why “player-led teams” are more successful long-term (26:48)
  • The three elements of leadership: coaching (for development and performance), managing, and leading (34:09)
  • Micromanagement is not scalable. (37:46)
  • Ryan’s favorite leadership resources (40:01)
  • Some of Ryan’s favorite episodes from his podcast (43:20)

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Thanks for checking out Game Changers with Molly Fletcher. Be sure to subscribe on Apple Podcasts or your favorite podcast app and leave a rating or review!