Oct 16, 2019
Barry Siff, CEO
at USA Team Handball and former President of UA Triathlon, has much
to share about leadership from the world of sport, business, and
nonprofits. Barry talks about how he became a Senior VP at 25,
retired at the age of 42, and received both a BS and Masters
without graduating high school. He also discusses what it takes for
people to dream big, and how to see challenges as
opportunities.
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Key Takeaways
[2:53] Barry retired in 1998
from a Senior VP position at a $7 billion dollar food company. He
was only 42, and then decided he wanted to be involved with sports,
which led him to the Team USA Handball
organization.
[4:07] Barry is quite the
endurance athlete. He has run over 60 marathons, the Leadville
Trail 100 Mile Run, Expedition Races all over the world and 11
IRONMANs.
[6:52] Staying fit helps with
stamina, mental clarity, and energy. Barry sees similar lessons in
athletics as business, including the need for leaders to overcome
obstacles, and do what’s necessary to get the job
done.
[9:09] While the business world
mainly focuses on P&L and shareholder values, USA Triathlon is
a non profit that also focuses on both the cause and the
members.
[20:03] Great leaders know that
asking for help empowers others and gives them
meaning.
[21:13] People dream big when
they have passion.
[23:06] We can retrain our
mindset to see challenges as opportunities for learning and
growth.
[31:31] The little things, such
as intently listening and asking the right questions, really make a
difference in leadership.
[35:39] Barry describes Handball
as water polo played on a basketball court, and it is an extremely
fast and physical game. It is currently very popular in many
countries, and projects that it also will be a commonly known sport
soon in the United States, and also a participant in the Paris
Olympics in 2024.
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Quotable Quotes
- “It’s
all about the goal of having something way, way out
there.”
- “You
can’t fake a marathon.”
- “It
doesn’t matter what you are doing, just that you are passionate
about it.”
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USA Team Handball
Why I Taught Myself to
Procrastinate
Jane Goodall
U.S. athletes run fast, jump high,
throw hard - why are we so bad at handball?
Lewis Howes
Ty Reed Handball
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