Show Notes
He came within 97 miles of the South Pole and turned back because his party was running out of food. In 1915, his ship Endurance was crushed by the ice of Antarctica's Weddell Sea, stranding 28 men with no radio and nobody in the world knowing where they were. To get help, he sailed a 22-foot open boat more than 800 miles across the Drake Passage, then crossed a mountain island no one had ever crossed. Every one of his men made it home. This is the story of Ernest Shackleton, and we have a lot to learn from him. Source for this episode: Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing Links: Ambition website Ambition Summit Follow Justin on Twitter Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
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He was the 15th-generation heir to a 300-year-old sake-brewing family, and his father let him walk away. In 1946, he and Masaru Ibuka pooled about $500 in the ruins of postwar Tokyo to start the company that became Sony. When Bulova offered to buy 100,000 of his radios on the condition that they carry the Bulova name, he said no. By the time he died at 78, Sony was one of the most famous brands in the world. This is the story of Akio Morita, and we have a lot to learn from him. Source for this episode: Made in Japan: Akio Morita and Sony by Akio Morita with Edwin M. Reingold and Mitsuko Shimomura Links: Ambition website Ambition Summit Follow Justin on Twitter Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
Kobe Bryant started his workouts at 5 am to fit in an extra session a day, took up tap dancing to strengthen his ankles, and read the referees’ handbook to learn where the officials couldn’t see. That obsession carried him through 20 seasons with the Lakers and five championships. This is the story of Kobe Bryant, and we have a lot to learn from him. Source for this episode: The Mamba Mentality: How I Play by Kobe Bryant Links: Ambition website Ambition Summit Follow Justin on Twitter Connect with Justin on LinkedIn
By 31, Charlie Munger had been through a divorce and had just lost his nine-year-old son to leukemia. He went on to become Warren Buffett's partner and the man Buffett called the architect of Berkshire Hathaway, a struggling textile company they built into one of the most valuable companies in the world. This is the story of Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's partner for more than 40 years at Berkshire Hathaway, and we have a lot to learn from him.
He was the son of a Toronto barber, still broke at 40 after failing at business after business. Then he bought a small-town radio station and a small-town newspaper with $200 down. By the time he died at 82, he owned more than 200 newspapers, including The Times of London, and held the Scottish TV franchise he famously called "a license to print your own money." Today, the Thomson family is the richest family in Canada.
The greatness of Zemurray lies in the fact that he never lost faith in his ability to salvage a situation. Bad things happened to him, as bad things happen to everyone, but unlike so many, he was never tempted by failure. He never felt powerless or trapped. He was an optimist. He stood in constant defiance. When the Secretary of State teamed up with J.P. Morgan and the Honduran government in a way contrary to Zemurray's interests, he simply changed the Honduran government. When United Fruit drew a line at the Utila River and said, "You shall not cross," he crossed anyway. When he was forbidden to build a bridge, he built a bridge but called it something else. For every move, there is a countermove. For every disaster, there is a recovery. He never lost faith in his own agency. With his fortune fast diminishing, it was time to act.