Memoirs: Lived Leadership Lessons
Rich Paul & Alex Toussaint
I recently saw interviews of two young, very successful Black American businessmen that warranted a resounding bravo. The similarities in their leadership journeys revealed how they became leaders in their fields irrespective of uncertainty and questionable odds.
Neither path went according to the customary business route: college, internships, corporate positions, or successful entrepreneurial ventures. Their lived experiences provided practical lessons of perseverance, resilience, and character-building. Their confidence and self-assurance shines through as they use their talents to help others do and be better.
Both men thought they might play for the NBA—but that wasn’t to be. Both men credit their fathers with installing a strong work ethic, that, despite what they faced, no victimization cradled their mindset or approach.
Alex Toussaint’s new memoir, Activate Your Greatness, takes us on his journey—starting out as a janitor cleaning gym floors to becoming one of Peleton’s most successful senior coaches, with 500,000 social media followers. He’s also a Puma athlete and a Hyperice training expert.
Toussaint speaks very fast—almost as if he’s keeping pace with a spinning bike and doesn’t want his cadence to fall out of sync with his thoughts and trip him up. Similar to when he’s coaching on a Peleton, his energy surges forward and you just need to keep up.
Kicked out of high school and military school, Toussaint says his cycle of negativity had him existing in a bubble that was his “dark space.” His passion for fitness eventually led him from the janitorial position to teaching Peleton classes where he began to channel life lessons of discipline.
Toussaint’s leadership lessons:
Prepare for the process. In jazz terms, go In the Shed and hone your skills.
Don’t be scared to fail—it’s a first attempt at learning.
Focus on the journey so you arrive at your destination equipped.
Don’t rush the process—trust it.
With these lessons, Toussaint says we can tap into our own greatness and go far together. His mantra to motivate his clients is: “Do good, feel good, do better.”
Rich Paul, founder and CEO of Klutch Sports Group, is known as one of the world’s most powerful and influential sports agents, negotiating more than $4 billion in contracts for his NBA, WNBA, and NFL clients. His recently released book, Lucky Me: A Memoir of Changing the Odds, shares his journey from the streets of Cleveland.
As a young man, Paul says he didn’t know anything else to aspire to, except the gambling, drugs, and hustling he saw in his community. That is what he set out to conquer because he didn’t see a different way or other options.
Paul says he became a success because of his early gambling and hustling experiences. They shaped him and gave him the knowledge and the experience of dealing with people—a skill he takes into boardrooms.
Paul says he persevered despite a negative environment and came away carrying these lessons:
Hard truths make us stronger
Learn how to lose
Be humble
Learn to listen more than you speak.
Hustling is not a negative
There’s something about ‘in-spite of’ success stories that inspire and encourage the rest of us. Paul and Toussaint’s stories are valuable testaments to a spirit of resilience and strength of character. Recognizing and incorporating significant aspects of our lived experiences can powerfully inform our evolution as leaders.
