𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐩𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐞𝐫𝐬? 𝐍𝐀𝐒𝐀 𝐑𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐚 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩

Why do even the most successful leaders feel stuck? 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐟 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦𝐬—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐲𝐦𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐦𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐫?

In this powerful new episode of 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, I sit down with returning guest 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐚, a former NASA rocket scientist turned keynote speaker and executive coach. Together, we unpack 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧’𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤 that’s helping high performers move from hesitation to high-impact action.

💥 You’ll discover:

Why “𝐎𝐧𝐞 𝐃𝐚𝐲” thinking is silently costing you your goals

How to flip fear into bold, sustainable leadership moves

The 6 key leverage points that will transform your results (starting today)

Why pauses prevent saying stupid things—and how to build them into your leadership habits

How John’s faith, pain, and purpose fueled a mission bigger than NASA

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧—𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞, 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐥

🎧 Listen now on Apple, Spotify, or your favorite platform

👉 𝐉𝐨𝐡𝐧 𝐌𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐚’𝐬 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 𝐄𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧: johnmollura.com/freestuff 

📞 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩?

𝐁𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚 𝐅𝐑𝐄𝐄 1:1 leadership strategy session with me:

→ https://coachjohngallagher.com/freecall 

#TheUncommonLeaderPodcast #JohnMollura #EliteLevelAction #LeadershipDevelopment #ConfidenceCoach #HighPerformanceHabits #OvercomeFear #ExecutiveCoaching #FaithDrivenLeadership #ImposterSyndrome #PersonalGrowth #PodcastForLeaders #CoachJohnGallagher #TakeEliteAction

Thanks for listening in to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Please take just a minute to share this podcast with that someone you know that you thought of when you heard this episode. One of the most valuable things you can do is to rate the podcast and leave a review. You can do that on Apple podcasts, or rate the podcast on Spotify or any other platform you listen.

Did you know that many of the things that I discuss on the Uncommon Leader Podcast are subjects that I coach other leaders and organizations ? If you would be interested in having me discuss 1:1 or group coaching with you, or know someone who is looking to move from Underperforming to Uncommon in their business or life, I would love to chat with you. Click this link to set up a FREE CALL to discuss how coaching might benefit you and your team)

Until next time, Go and Grow Champions!!

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Chapters

• 0:00 The Power of Pauses
• 1:20 John Malara's Leadership Evolution
• 5:13 From Imposter Syndrome to Elite Level Action
• 10:50 Understanding the Big Three: Fear Symptoms
• 18:10 The Six Leverage Points Framework
• 25:00 Communication and The Power of Pause
• 31:12 Faith Journey and Business Impact
• 34:29 Recognizing Spiritual Pullback

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

So teaching people to build those pauses in, and what I always teach people I actually it's fun to like when I do like a big keynote event or even a workshop event and I'm working with people and what and I just drill into them I make them repeat this back by about like eight times during the course of the thing is pauses prevent saying stupid things stupid things.

Speaker 2: 0:33

Hey, uncommon Leaders, welcome back. This is the Uncommon Leader podcast. I'm your host, john Gallagher, and I've got a great guest for you today. He's a second time guest as well, so we'll talk about that just a little bit. John Malara is a NASA rocket scientist turned photographer, and now keynote speaker and executive coach as well. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. We're going to talk about his new framework that he's been developing over the past couple of years, called Elite Level Action, and how he equips leaders with high performance and science-backed strategies. To move from hesitation to bold, confident action is what he's looking for in this space. I can't wait to hear not only how he does that, but how he's overcome some of these things in his journey, because he's talked about some of his challenges as well before and wrote about those, and we talked about on the last episode. John Malara, welcome back to the Uncommon Leader Podcast. How are you doing?

Speaker 1: 1:24

I'm well, my brother. Thank you for having me. It's good to be back after two and a half years.

Speaker 2: 1:34

You know I looked at that as I prepared for the podcast. I'm like, how has it been two and a half years since we've had that? And then you know you look at this 150, some episodes later, you know we've grown and maybe let's start right there, even before we get into elite level action. In terms of what you're going to talk about, what's been going on in your life, how have you grown the last couple of years in your leadership journey?

Speaker 1: 1:53

Yeah, when, when we talked last and I think probably very in the winter of 2023, I was, I was just coming into my imposter syndrome talks where I was just hitting stride with that, helping people understand ways to not feel like a fraud, and it was starting to get traction, but it never really developed the traction that I thought it should. People would love the talks, but I was having trouble getting bookings and getting into places and I was talking with one of our coaches and brand builders group, which is how you and I met. I said man, elizabeth, it's just not grabbing. I don't get it. And she said what's your talk called? And I said Unmasking Imposter Syndrome. She said who are you looking to help? I'm like high performers. She's like do you think a high performer wants to admit they have some kind of a syndrome?

Speaker 1: 2:49

So, you know, like they hit the brakes, you know, at the end of 2023. And I was like, well, whoops, totally missed the boat on that. So I took that, took that you know, unmasking imposter syndrome content, which was which was really powerful, really well received when I could get in to talk to people about it and I thought, all right, what do I need to do? You know what would high performers like? And my buddy, william, who's a 26 year veteran, the navy seal teams has a keynote called Navy SEAL mindset and I'm thinking like what's that even mean, william? But then I'm like I don't care what it means, like Navy SEALs are, like I want a Navy SEAL mindset, right.

Speaker 1: 3:37

So I took the same content. I had the unmasking imposter syndrome content that you and I talked about two and a half years ago and I totally rebranded it as elite level confidence and that took off and that took off into this elite level kind of ecosystem that I've built out. So that's what's been going on with me. I totally fell on my face after we talked, went back, you back, got my coach involved, because how powerful is that to have some outside perspective poured into you and then be able to receive that and then give yourself some grace and go again. So that's the short list of what's been happening since we talked two and a half years ago.

Speaker 2: 4:18

No, I appreciate that. I mean again the fact that you and I are both still on that journey. We know we still have a ways to go in terms of what we're doing. We're not experts by any means, but just to listen through that, and rather than talking about the gap as the title, we talk about the outcome and what's going to be the result of the work, this elite level confidence that folks are going to experience when they overcome some of these things. So I love that. I mean Rory and AJ just came out with their book as we're recording this podcast.

Speaker 2: 4:51

Uh, what is it? What did they refer to it? As wealthy and well-known. Certainly, when you pick up the book covering, you say what do I want? I would definitely want to be wealthy and well-known. I would definitely want elite level confidence or, frankly, Navy SEAL mindset as well. Uh, Navy, those Navy SEALs guys are beasts, no doubt about it, and to learn from them would be very important, so let's jump there. Then You've converted it over to this elite level confidence. What does that framework mean to you? What are the outcomes and who are you talking to when you're giving this talk or doing this teaching?

Speaker 1: 5:23

Yeah, absolutely so, the people that I love to help. As Rory has told us, you are best suited to serve the you that you used to be. So for 15 years I led test operations for NASA and elite military units All across the planet. We led missions that landed on Mars successfully One of them didn't land successfully, so I know how that feels too. So I led these teams and, even though I was operating at an elite level, I really never felt like I belonged there and I didn't have the confidence to really make the most out of that time that I had there. So I just always felt stuck, even though like to the outside world, like I seemed like I was performing at these elite levels.

Speaker 1: 6:11

So the way I developed my content was to help people that are always talking about like one day, one day I want to do this, one day I want to do that, and I'm like all right, stop talking about one day and let's get you started on day one. So I provide people a framework, which are which are my six checkpoints to help them just not only get into action towards what they want, but also give them the tools to keep going in a sustainable way, because it's one thing to get going like out of the gate, like at a hundred percent, and you're running full speed, like you. Just you just ran a Spartan race, right? Or you and you're getting ready to run another one. So am I like you don't run out at full speed, right? This is this is this is a process. So that's the framework I developed. It's a framework to get people moving into action. But once they get moving in action, to take that consistent action, those steps to get the results that they're after.

Speaker 2: 7:11

I love that and I wrote this down as you were talking one day versus day one. I love the play on words that goes there, the pillar point, however we end up defining it as you go forward. But because I think about that when you talked about one day, I often hear folks say soon or some, and I often tell them some is not a number and soon is not a time. You talk about that. I believe at times, when we say things like that is, the key word might be procrastination, and you say that procrastination isn't laziness, but certainly this may be one of the barriers that we have to overcome to get to elite level. So, before we talk about the six steps, tell me more about procrastination and what that means to you and how we recognize it and how we view procrastination.

Speaker 1: 8:00

Right. So one of the ways that we view procrastination, and not only procrastination I call these the big three overthinking, perfectionism and procrastination. I call them the big three and I lump them all together and I say'm a perfectionist or I'm a procrastinator. But overthinking perfectionism, procrastination, john, they're actually symptoms, they're not the root cause. So what I help people see is that overthinking perfectionism, procrastination is a symptom and what they're a symptom of is fear. Fear is the symptom that actually causes us to overthink, get stuck in these like just endless loops of trying to make it a little bit better and tweak it here and there. It's not quite ready. One day I'm gonna put it out when it's perfect, right, right. So the reason why those are symptoms of fear is because we're scared to put ourselves out there. So we come up with what I call these brave delays to just stall it out.

Speaker 2: 9:18

Brave delays. I love that and, again, I love that word in terms of fear, that it manifests itself in that space of being afraid of putting ourselves out there, even going back again to what we talked about a couple of years ago with regards to imposter syndrome. But fear is that big thing. So you've got this framework to help them overcome this fear. Then, right, and you got this in terms of six steps and we won't have time to go through all six of those. But, frankly, how do folks get started first in recognizing the fear and then overcoming that fear as well?

Speaker 1: 9:50

Right. So a lot of times it comes, it comes down to asking yourself a better question. And a lot of times when we ask ourselves these question of why can't I just get started? Why can't I just do this? Why can't? Why? Why do I think so much about this? Like those questions, like they just keep us stuck. So the better question to ask is what am I scared of? And drilling down to that it might take a couple times. So I call it the five whys. You know, and we're looking through these golden threads of themes throughout stuff. So if we keep drilling down and saying why, like, let say someone, like we were just talking about Spartan races Like, let's say, someone has a health goal that they're going after and they're just procrastinating with walking 10 minutes a day, like something always comes up, it's like ask yourself what are you scared of?

Speaker 2: 10:43

something always comes up. It's like ask yourself what are you scared of? Like? Well, I'm not scared. When you think about fear and in that we talked about that 10,000 steps a day. Again, I wouldn't have thought five years ago that I ever would have considered signing up for a Spartan race. And then to realize and again I think that probably needing others to go along that journey has been very important, but there's a. You know, that's five years that I lost. You talk about the cost of procrastination. What's the actual cost of procrastinating that folks don't even realize?

Speaker 1: 11:15

The biggest one is is the mental load that we are taking on because of all the little things that we're not doing, like those are getting tucked away in our brain and it's just, it's just cluttering up our brain, like if we think of our brain like a computer.

Speaker 1: 11:31

You know we've all had the computer that just has too many tabs open and it's just going so slow and you got to just, you know, kind of reboot everything. Right, I had too many tabs open on your phone and you're, you got to reboot the phone, our brains, like that, and all these little things that we procrastinate on that. I'll do those tomorrow, I'll do those one day. But here's the truth Tomorrow never shows up wearing a cape to save the day, does it? Tomorrow's going to show up, you know, wearing this like sleek kind of overcoat with all these tailored pockets where it's going to hide more excuses to hand to you and be like here's your excuse today. You're off the hook. And those gloves that tomorrow's wearing when it hands you these envelopes of all these excuses you get, those gloves are not because they're fashionable.

Speaker 2: 12:16

Tomorrow's wearing those to keep its fingerprints off of your stolen time the idea behind overcoming that cost and recognizing, in essence, defining what the reason for action is, that you need to take this elite level action. What do you see in your coaching of others and your conversations of others? Are things outside of that fear that just keep them from getting started? And what's the one way you overcame that fear to?

Speaker 1: 12:51

get started and again it goes back to being aware of it, like being honest with yourself, be like what am I really scared of? And when we can understand that the human brain hates change, just by nature it associates change with danger. So I would say, like you know, change or danger is what your brain thinks anytime you try to do something different. That's why your brain would rather keep you in something that is familiar but not serving you well. It would rather keep you in something that's familiar and not serving you well than do something different where your brain doesn't exactly know what's going to happen.

Speaker 1: 13:32

So if we just stay on autopilot and allow our brain to just run the show like that, nothing's going to change. But the beautiful part is we get to engage that wonderful prefrontal cortex of our brain that makes us human, that separates us from my dog who's sitting on the couch here, of our brain, that makes us human, that separates us, you know, from my dog who's sitting on the couch here. We get to engage that prefrontal cortex and interrupt that thought and be like okay, I recognize I'm freaking out right now because my brain, I'm getting ready to change and my brain is trying to keep me safe. And that's where it's like thank you, brain, I got it from here and stepping in and actively making that choice to push through the fear, but recognizing that it's really just a natural response to things but it's not valid.

Speaker 2: 14:18

So let's move into practical strategies and, in terms of how folks are able to overcome this, take me through the six leverage points for success that you talk about real quick and then maybe talk about one of those and how somebody might be able to implement a habit to help make that change.

Speaker 1: 14:35

Absolutely. So the six points that I talk about are, you know, the first is confidence, because without having this innate belief that we can do difficult things, you know, we just stay stuck. So there's confidence. And then, once we start building up our confidence, then it's all about taking action, you know. So there are the first two confidence, action. And then, once we get moving into action, now the important part is keeping up that momentum right. So I have strategies and frameworks to keep people going with momentum. And so so I come, I, I, I have strategies and frameworks to keep people going with momentum. And then, once we get moving, you know we've got, we're starting to build our confidence, we're taking action, we're, we're starting to build up a head of steam, you know, like a train. Now the important part is we got to keep our focus because you, you and I are, are, are, are both.

Speaker 1: 15:24

You know big football fans. You know you've got WVU, mountaineers, penn State and the Lions. You know my poor father had to go to University of Pittsburgh, but at least he got to play there. You know last guy to win 33 before Tony Dorsett, and one of the things my dad always talked about with football was when you have the ball and you are going towards the end zone, you never, ever, ever, look to the side to see who's beside you and you never look behind you to see who's coming for you. He said that is the quickest way that you will lose the game and get dropped. And that is so much the way it is in our life, right, like if we start taking action, building momentum, and all of a sudden you start looking like, oh, what's everyone else doing? Or oh, wow, they're a little bit steps ahead. Well, guess what, you just got tackled, right. So that's why that fourth point that I have is maintaining focus on your actions. And then the fifth one is building structures into our relationship and having the structures in our relationships that enable us to do our best and not get, you know, diverted into, like people pleasing behavior, which I'm a recovering people pleaser everybody. So you know how do we build these structures and set these boundaries in our relationship, not to keep people out, but to keep the relationships healthy.

Speaker 1: 16:49

And then the final point that I work on with people is legacy, and legacy is not something that's far off. Legacy is something that we build moment to moment, right now that, when we meet the future version of ourselves, that we want that future version of ourselves to say, hey, john man, thanks for showing up for me all those years ago, all those weeks ago, all those months ago. Thank you for showing up and making the difficult decisions then so we can live the life that we want now. That's the point of legacy. So that's how I actually frame it with people to help them get moving into action.

Speaker 1: 17:32

One of the first things we do when I work with someone one-on-one is I help them understand who they want to be. I say, like, who's this future you that you want, and I have frameworks and questions to help them figure out. You know, four foundational points to help them define that future you. Four foundational points to help them define that future you, because that's what will get you into action on those days where you don't want to do the thing in front of you.

Speaker 2: 17:54

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Speaker 2: 18:35

Now let's get back to the episode. You know I love the analogy you use on the focus as well, in terms of not looking to the side. Just keep your eyes down the field and running straight down the field, and once you start to look to the side or what anyone else is doing, it can be something that is going to get you tackled. It's going to slow you down. Whatever that is. So keeping your focus and I would imagine some of the disciplines you've had to put in place to keep there, to keep you consistent, is very important inside of that focus. What's one way you've been able to build discipline to help you stay focused in your work, john, that others could implement in their lives?

Speaker 1: 19:13

Yeah, so. So with any any of these, these, these points that we're that we're talking about today, the biggest thing that we want to do is shift out of this mindset of autopilot that we're on, where we're just kind of bebopping along and doing everything like we normally do, and shift out this mentality of just being on autopilot and being aware of things. And, like this happened to me in the past 48 hours. Right, like I was, I was on Instagram. Someone popped up in my feed that that I know we're, we're in similar spaces and they had this whole post. And I'm like how, how did they do that and why am I stuck here? And like I, you know, I had myself a little pity party. I went to negative town, you know, for a while. So that was my automatic behavior, you know, like I was stressed about something else, I was tired, there was other things going on in my life, and like it just caught me. You know, my guards were down, I took my eyes off the goal of where I want to go, which has nothing to do with this person at all, and you know I done got myself tackled.

Speaker 1: 20:19

So the goal, then, is to switch, becoming aware of it, realize like, okay, right, I'm comparing myself to other people. And the important thing is, once you become aware of something, is not to slide into judgment. We can be so judgmental of ourselves, right. And when you're aware and judgmental, that's when you can become like a really big critic I should be doing this, I shouldn't be doing that, I can't believe, yeah. So the goal is, once we become aware, one of the frameworks I teach in my masterclass is shifting out of autopilot into awareness.

Speaker 1: 20:56

And when you get into awareness, the opposite of judgment is being curious. And when you can be aware and you can be curious, you become what I call a seeker. Be aware and you can be curious. You become what I call a seeker. Now you're getting in the problem solving mode. When you're aware and curious, now you're a seeker. And now you're going towards something. And now you're asking action-based questions. You're seeking for the truth, you're seeking for what's next, you're seeking what you want and you're being aware and you're just being curious. There's no judgment.

Speaker 2: 21:33

You talked about that story 48 hours ago. How did you become aware? How did you recognize it, because it's probably a muscle you have to train? How did you?

Speaker 1: 21:36

do that. Yeah, I was like I just found myself spiraling right. I'm like man, like I came up with all the stories, like it seems to be so easy for this person. Everything's difficult for me. Why am I even you know, creating this course like kind of thing. I'm like stop, like wait a minute.

Speaker 2: 21:53

One of our worst, one of our worst critics is ourselves, normally as we go through, and we have to learn even then to recognize that, that that voice doesn't exist. You, you started it off with some of the symptoms and you actually refer almost in not that you were, but in declarative statements. Some people think they're I am an overthinker or I am a procrastinator or I am a perfectionist, and so when we recognize or label ourselves in that negative space, then that's going to be kind of where the direction we turn, just like looking at the line on the side of the road as we're going to move toward. But if you can ultimately be aware, I love that be curious and seek what you want as a positive. I am a leader, I am a strong person and I am successful Ultimately, even if you take that in the faith side that I am a child of God, I'm not who I'm trying to call myself in that negative and that's not me speaking.

Speaker 2: 22:47

That awareness is so important. If you can find a methodology to step out of that, inside of that framework, to say no, no, no. Let's become curious and seek a solution versus recognizing and identifying with the symptom that is there, I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Do you have a special story or a win with a client that you've helped overcome? That's been really a good feeling for you.

Speaker 1: 23:13

Yeah, absolutely One of the folks that I've been able to work with one-on-one. There was a lot of very high performer like uber high performer and a very critical field, a lot of stress, a lot of high performer like uber high performer and like a very critical field, you know, a lot of stress, a lot of high states like literal life and death stuff, and it came down to a lot of communication. It wasn't the skills that they lacked, it was the way they were communicating with other people, not understanding how they actually benefited best from communicating or being communicated to also. So one of the first things I have people do and I work one-on-one with them is do the Enneagram test, which is how do you communicate, just naturally, how do you receive messages, and it builds a lot of awareness. It's in like, oh well, that's why whenever I talk to this person like, or this type of person, or this communication style person like it just bristles the hair on your neck, and other people like it can just flow. So having that self-awareness was so powerful for this client, they're like oh well, that's why it just automatically puts me in the red when someone communicates with me like this. And the beautiful part is once you understand yourself. Now, now, now you got some information to work with. Now you can be like okay, what's the truth here? Like I know, I know I don't receive messages, well, when someone speaks to me, I don't know very flowery like it's like, okay, now we got, we got things to do, like what, what are we doing? And so you can check yourself.

Speaker 1: 24:49

And I teach people in my frameworks to pause, like the power of the pause, like instead of reacting, like how do we pause? And I say the best way to pause is take a breath, like just take a breath, build that natural, build some time in to respond instead of reacting, because reacting is just impulsive, like we don't think about, we just do it. And how many times have we reacted, especially with our words? It hasn't been. We've regretted it. Like as soon as those words leave your mouth, it's like, oh boy, I should not have said that right. So teaching people to build those pauses in and in the what I always teach people, I actually it's fun to like when I do like a big like keynote event or even a workshop event and I'm working with people and what, and I just drill into them. I make them repeat this back by about like eight times during the course of the thing is pauses prevent saying stupid things. Pauses prevent saying stupid things. People in the audience say it with me, john, say it with me, here we go.

Speaker 2: 25:58

Pauses prevent saying stupid things right, amen, brother, there's no doubt about it, whether you call it the abe Abe Lincoln rule, where you don't hit that email send button but pause, because it can prevent a lot of problems in the future. But once it comes out, it's hard to put it back in. It's just like that toothpaste that you try to put back in the tube. It does not work, it's already out there. I love that.

Speaker 2: 26:23

I'm in the back of my mind recognizing hey, I've done the Enneagram test and I tend to smile when I read the differences inside of those things and just smile and say so. That's why I feel this way. It's not really that I'm a bad person or a good person here. It's just that I respond as this type in certain ways. And to your point that awareness is so important, I appreciate you share that. Pauses prevent staying stupid things that will stick with me for a while, no doubt about it and being able to use that. The last step that I find fascinating too of the six steps is legacy. You know, reaching your future potential and what that means. Yeah, you talk a lot about intention of doing good in the world. Were you always that way in terms of doing good or what's what's there for you?

Speaker 1: 27:16

So, at at the core, I always wanted to do good. But you know, just just throughout the course of my life you know the the trials, transitions and traumas that that had happened, the trials, transitions and traumas that had happened I felt that it was safer to build up this wall around me. I built up this very hard exterior with the goal, subconscious goal, of not being able to be hurt. So the way I would, in, in error, try to prevent myself from being hurt was being very sharp with my words, just keeping people at bay, and you know, I had the mentality of I'm going to, I'm going to shut the other person down quicker than and not even give them an opportunity to hurt me. So for a lot of, a lot of my life, until until the moment I was saved in in June of 2009, like I was, I was very much like the apostle Paul. Like I, I just, I just you were Saul huh.

Speaker 1: 28:25

Yeah, yeah, yeah, I was, I was very much. I know I didn't sign anybody's death warrants or anything like that, but verbally, like I was a verbal assassin, like I might as well have been signing death warrants, especially like after, like you know, I would reach out to people and like apologize and like realize the impact of, like, the words that I said to people had over the years, um, it was, that's so. No, I, I wasn't always seeking to do good. And then, once I was saved in June of 2009, after, after my, my best friend's, um, intentional overdose, it really just opened my eyes.

Speaker 1: 29:03

You know, first thing, god showed me how I was showing up in my life and he was like, hey, let's get, let's get you know, let's get you sorted out, buddy, because, buddy, because before God can do work through you, he's got to do a lot of work in you. So there was a lot of just self-reflection and learning the word and who the lord was. Because, growing up, the faith system I I was raised in like it wasn't really the loving father, you know it was what. How can religion be used to make you feel bad about yourself, to have you fall in line? That was the message I got.

Speaker 2: 29:48

so, once, I said that word abiding was more about, you know, harsh discipline than it was about love and mercy, exactly.

Speaker 1: 29:54

Yeah. So once I started learning about that, that, that unconditional love, that agape, that that really was what Jesus came for, that I was like I want to, I want to, I want to do that, you know, because I was shown that love, you know, and that, and that forgiveness, you know, whenever I I came back to the faith and really started learning about what, what that love really is. So that's why I have such a heart to help people is because I know how dark that feels, I know how hopeless that feels, even with, you know, earning accolades that most people think are great. Like so many of the accolades that I got, like I would get them, I'd get a letter of commendation and I'd put them in a folder and just stuff them in my desk because I just didn't believe I deserved it. You know, I was believing so many lies of the enemy at that time in my life and I just was just really numb and hollow. So that's why now in my life, almost what 16 years later, I have such a heart to help people.

Speaker 2: 31:01

John, I love that and I love that the conversation went there just a little bit, and that's a question that I've been pondering. In fact, again as we record this, I have a newsletter coming out this week where I try to answer the question. You know, how do faith and business, you know, work together. So let me ask you that question. I know it's not part of anything that we kind of worked on directly with regards to elite level action, but how does your faith impact your business?

Speaker 1: 31:30

or vice versa. Yeah, it gives me a first of all. It gives me a rock to fall back on, Because through so much of my life I wanted to be, I wanted to be able to be the person who was able to do it all. I didn't need anybody else. You know, I had that lone wolf mentality, Like I can do it, that lone wolf mentality, Like I can do it, and that's good to be able to have that, that, that chutzpah and that, that, that grit to keep going.

Speaker 1: 31:59

But there's a big part of me that, when I recognize that I just really need to surrender this to God and really lean back on on on his grace and his guidance and incorporate prayer into like, what am I supposed to do next? I pray a lot, I don't know what to do right now. What do I do God? So incorporating that faith and it gives such a solid foundation for me. But also, at the end of the day, like, the Bible is all about love and treating people with respect and meeting people where they're at. Like that's a big thing about the Bible that I think a lot of people miss because so many, you know, the biggest thing that turns people off to Christianity is Christians.

Speaker 1: 32:49

Like let's be honest, like Christians, are what turn other people off to Christianity. So if we can actually model like that unconditional love and meet people where they're at, which is exactly what Jesus did, you know Jesus would eat with the tax collectors, the prostitutes. You know the people that society hated, he met people where they were at. So that's, that's at the core of what I do. That's what I do is I meet people where they're at, help them figure out where they want to go and walk with them as a guide on that journey.

Speaker 2: 33:25

Of that. I love that message. Look the the, the Bible, as you say, uh, is very clear, uh, the word is is in there if we allow it to penetrate our hearts. Jesus said it all comes down to really the two laws, that's, to love God with all your heart, all your mind and all your soul, and to love your neighbor as yourself. In terms of understanding that those two things, and if we can do those two things as human beings, as Christians, the world would be a much better place, recognizing that none of us are perfect.

Speaker 2: 33:55

All the way back to the beginning, I talked about perfectionism and wanting to be perfect. We're not perfect. Hey, john, I appreciate you sharing that and really sharing part of your story, part of your journey in that space. You look back in this journey for you, just in the past two and a half, three years, as you've grown as a leader, as you've grown, uh, in your role. What's one message you know, if you look back at your uh, john Lahr, three years ago, that you'd give yourself to say you need to do this.

Speaker 1: 34:28

Oh, great question. Oh great question, one of my, one, of someone who's become a mentor to me, pastor Ken Burns. He, when I talked with him, you know where I was three years ago. I was still doing photography and things just weren't working. Like, no matter what I did, it didn't seem to work. And so I did what I always do I tried harder. Right, it's kind of for the next course you invest, you do more marketing, you do more things.

Speaker 1: 35:02

And what Ken told me was and this is like a couple months ago, like I wish I had this information back then he said, john, you got to recognize when you're experiencing spiritual pullback. And I said, what the you got to recognize when you're experiencing spiritual pullback. And I said what the heck does that mean, ken? He said you have to be aware, going back to that awareness of what's going on around you and have that curiosity to realize if things like are not working out in one area of your life. He's like, think of it like a faucet. God's turning that faucet back because guess what? He needs you to wake up and start moving into something else.

Speaker 1: 35:42

So if I had had that framework that Ken shared with me a few months ago, a few years ago. That would have reduced a lot of just turmoil. It would have put me into a space of curiosity of like, okay, what's god trying to teach me here? What's god trying to call me to now, instead of just being like, you know, just being like, oh, I'm not getting anywhere on the hamster wheel, well, let me run a little bit faster, right, and then eventually put me in a place where, like I burned out, I was like I did get rid of my photography studio, so like I wish I had that information of if you're experiencing a spiritual pullback, start being curious about and leaning into and asking God where you need to go next.

Speaker 2: 36:26

I love that because, again, the picture that I had was actually pushing against this door so hard that I'm going to work, make this work, no matter what. And you know God's standing over here on the other, against this door, so hard that I'm going to work, make this work, no matter what. And you know God's standing over here on the other side saying, hey, john, I'm over here, this door is wide open, man, and this is the door I'm taking you through. You're trying so hard to lean on your own understanding back to scripture that you're not coming back to me. I love that, like, I'm closing doors so that I can open doors for others.

Speaker 2: 36:52

Look, the call was very simple we were called to make disciples of all, and not disciple necessarily just of our own self-generated things that we wanted to do, but to do what we were called to do. So I appreciate you sharing that, and that's some wisdom I could learn from myself as I look at some of the things that I try to continue to work on. Look, I think you're going to have tremendous success in this space, especially with the awareness and spirit that you have that you're going after it, john, as a speaker, as an executive coach, where can folks go to connect with you and learn more about you?

Speaker 1: 37:29

Yeah, absolutely, it's very creative website name johnmaloracom, J-O-H-N-M-O-L-L-U-R-Acom and I have these. I have the Elite Action Flight Plan there for free. It's johnmaloracom slash free stuff. They can click on it. It downloads all the six points we talked about. You know, the confidence, the action, the momentum, focus, structure and legacy. Explains a little bit more about that and why that's important and, more importantly, how you can start taking action on those things right now. And then, as a bonus, and there's my three minute action formula. So johnmalluracom, free stuff, and they can download that elite action flight plan and start making moves towards the goals that they want.

Speaker 2: 38:15

I'll be sure to put the link in the show notes, john, so that they get to that. And folks you know someone that you've listened to this message that needs to hear it as well. We need to get this message of elite mindset, elite action into the hands of so many leaders, especially again as we go to the end, and who we're called to be from men of faith standpoint as well, folks who need to hear that message in the times that we're living today. So, John and Laura, I have so enjoyed our second conversation. I want to honor your time or I'd try and give you a hard time about Penn State absolutely destroying my Mountaineers last year, but we'll get a chance to talk about that again. On the third one, let's not wait two and a half years to do that again, but I wish you the best.

Speaker 1: 39:03

All right man. Thanks for the time. Good seeing my brother.

Speaker 2: 39:08

And that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Thanks for tuning in today. If you found value in this episode, I encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues or anyone else who could benefit from the insights and inspiration we've shared. Also, if you have a moment, I'd greatly appreciate if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback not only helps us to improve, but it also helps others discover the podcast and join our growing community of uncommon leaders. Until next time, go and grow champions.