Nate’s Notes 41: Brad D. Smith | Be a Learn-It-All Not a Know-It-All

I don’t know if it’s possible to pack in more wisdom per minute than Brad Smith did. I absolutely love the lessons he shared.

First, be a learn it all, not a know it all. Its the curiosity quotient that drives success, and whether we’re failing or succeeding, the learn-it-all views everything through the same lens…as an opportunity to learn something new. 

Second, “Volunteer for the job that no one else wants.” Brad’s dad gave him that advice when he graduated from college, and by following this simple advice, over and over again, Brad eventually found himself as CEO of a multi-billion dollar Silicon Valley tech company.

And finally, no matter what industry we’re in, we’re always in the people business. People will forget what we said, people will forget what we did, but they’ll always remember how we made them feel. 

If there were ever three lessons that were simple, practical, and underappreciated, lessons that I want to apply to myself and teach others, lessons that lead to success, these lessons were it. 

It’s a simple idea. Please take it seriously.

Brad D. Smith Bio:

Brad Smith was born and raised in West Virginia. When it came time for college, Brad chose to stay in West Virginia, and attend Marshall University, where he graduated with a business degree. That degree set him up for a wildly successful business career, which first included stops at Pepsi and 7UP. Then Brad served as CEO of Intuit, was chairman of the Board at Nordstrom, and served as a board member for Yahoo and Humana, among others. And then Brad chose to go back to West Virginia where it all started, to serve as the President of Marshall University. 

In this episode, Brad shared three hard-learned lessons that were critical for helping him get where he is. I hope you enjoyed learning from Brad Smith, because I certainly did.