Kevin Shaw

Date: October 24, 2016

Name: ManTalks – Mindset and the power of mentors

Presenters: Kevin Shaw, Daniel Fox, and Graham Young

Many successful leaders believe mentorship can be the only barrier between success and failure; moreover, mentors provide leaders the right mindset for growth and success. ManTalks invites Kevin Shaw, the Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at Renaissance Group, Daniel Fox, the Founder of WILD, and Graham Young, the Disruptive Performance Strategist of Graham Young Strategies, to discuss their journey of finding their meaningful mindset and the right mentorship. In this presentation, all presenters will share their experience on how they battle their obstacles and how they find their fulfillment.

Connor Beaton, the Founder of ManTalks, believes everyone has two different kind of mindsets: fixed and growth. Each mindset has their unique ways to pursue challenges, obstacles, effort, criticism, and success of others. It is up to leaders to discover their way to growth mindset with the help of mentorship.

The journey of Kevin Shaw

Kevin Shaw is the Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions at Renaissance Group. He is also the co-Founder of Whisky Wisemen, and the board member of Hong Kong Canada Business Association. In 2010, he won Ken Shields Community Achievement Award from Canada West Basketball Association. Moreover, in 2014, Kevin Shaw achieved the NOTABLE.CA best Not for Profit Award. His success come from great mindset, discipline and determination.

Kevin Shaw shares many people look at situations with negative outlook; however, successful leaders look at situations in different view. Mindset is a choice and it is a decision to change.

Shaw shares his childhood experience. He grew up as a regular kid in the average household. His parents taught him a valuable lesson: the principle of commitment. Shaw never missed any class at school because he was afraid he will upset his mother’s expectation. Shaw attended basketball practice every day after school until his mother gave him his first job.

“If you do not show up, you will let your friends down and yourself down”

Basketball was his whole life. At the age of 13, he wanted to focus on basketball and set the goal for scholarship in university. He met his mentor, Glent, and he showed him what it takes to build and work for dream.

“A candle loses no flame to light another”

Shaw believes mentor is somebody who has others’ interest in mind. Furthermore, mentee must be coachable. In grade 12, Shaw had 2 signing offers: full scholarship in Capilano College, and partial scholarship in Simon Fraser University. He took the university offer because his mentor inspired him to realize his true meaning of his goals.

Shaw indicates there are 3 things he always follows in his life: goals, commitment, and beliefs. By combining these 3 words, it summarizes his definition of mindset. He believes belief is something leaders must earn and it correlates to leader’s confidence.

In the age of 25, Shaw came across a crossroad in his life. He had the vision to cycle across the country. His movement was towards the Movember Charity. He created the group “Mo ride Canada” and cycled along with 2 of his friends across Canada. It was not easy for Shaw and there were many obstacles. The right mindset can shape leaders. With the strong mindset, he pushed his body to the limit and accomplish the vision. This ride motivated Shaw more than his daily routine life. He managed to raise $160,000.

Shaw suggests leaders to set small goals to give them positivity. They need to set large goals because mentors will always be there for them. They also need to continue their goals with determination and discipline.

“To live in an unreasonable mindset, to not let the reason not to do something, be the reason that you don’t”

The journey of Daniel Fox

Daniel Fox is the CEO of Daniel Fox SEA. He is also the Founder of WILD. Many leaders know him as “The Explorer”. His love of nature inspires many young leaders. His photography and writing touch many leaders’ souls through the world of natural world. He participates The Wild Image Project that focuses on relationship with environment. Moreover, he continues to help young leaders to discover their connection with nature.

Daniel Fox shares the memory of his childhood was vague. There was no emotional memory in his childhood and he defines his childhood as the theme of loneness. Fox moved a lot when he was young. At the age of 12, he already moved over ten times. Every time he moved, he had to leave everything, including friendship. However, he found peace in nature.

Nature was the world of silent. It made him comfort and it was the value of his life. It helped him understand how to live in this planet. Nature is Fox’s mentor.

Fox was born in Quebec and he had the childhood dream of going with the whales out to the sea. During his university years, he wanted to become Marine Biologist; however, he went for business in Toronto instead. The change of path took him to a different route. He then moved to New York when he decided to leave his childhood dream behind. He tried to fit in and tried every job he could apply. However, his heart contained an artist and the studio was the nature.

He reassessed everything and the theme of loneness was still within him. He decided to drop everything and go back to nature. He brought a camera and travelled down south. Since he never done this before, he encountered many obstacles, including the tragic of losing his life.

He reassessed everything again. He had no idea what he wanted to do, but he knew going back was not the option. He decided to travel to Patagonia to explore the wild life. It brought him back from unhappiness and he search his life passion.

“Nature is the reason for what I do”

Fox has the passion to create photos and write. He often goes out and meet his mentor. He knows it is important to be vulnerable and learn what is offer. Fox believes mentor is an experienced and trusted advisor. Mentor can help leaders take stress out and lead them to peace. Mentor guides them towards exit when they are stuck. Moreover, mentor stands by them during their epic failures.

Fox believes mindset is the habits of mind formed by previous experience. Mindset helps leaders to remain humble and it teaches them reciprocity. Vulnerability is the key to find leaders’ light. Tension is the pulse of life. In nature, there is no good, bad or judgement. Leaders never know up until they know down. Life is messy; we learn through failures.

Fox started a group called “WILD” to help people to reconnect through nature.

“Just go for it; stop thinking you need to fix the system”

“Look up to remind a connection that is important to us”

The journey of Graham Young

Graham Young is the Performance Consultant, Coach and the speaker of Graham Young Strategies. He is also the Founder of Disruptive Performance and he was a director in the organization called “Contributing to the Lives of Inner City Kids”. He focuses on brain performance and his work show many organizations how brain performance can impact employee engagement, productivity and sales. Graham Young inspires many young leaders. His speech motivates many young business professionals to achieve their next level of success.

Graham Young shares a memory from his childhood. When he was 13, he found out his parents were getting a divorce. Young mentions people have different perspectives and experience. In reality, they cope their problems in similar ways. They solve things in very similar ways; in fact, they are very similar regardless the differences.

Young provides a list that many leaders are going through in their life journey.

• Worry too much
• Fear failure or rejection
• Bad at making decision
• Perfection
• People pleaser
• Never satisfied
• Disorganized or lacking control

All these on the list comes from the past. When Young questions himself if he blamed for his parents’ divorce, he believes he could have done something to prevent it. When he was young, he already knew their parents’ change of tone. Their conversation changed. However, Young developed or coped something that started to create anxiety. It made him not to let go. He wanted to be normal, yet he was trying to gain control of things he did not understand.

Family is number 1 as kids. In fact, when facing problems, they tend to create other problems to avoid the bigger problem. It is a way to protect family as kid. When Young knew his parents were getting divorce, he felt he was a failure. He felt he was not good enough to keep his family together.

Young mentions everyone has his or her own coping mechanism. People worry about everything. People fear things, and people feel dissatisfied. When there are negative things in life, people’s brains want to reject those feelings. Brain wants to protect, so it forces them to control everything. When mind starts to think they are not good enough, it triggers the statement of thinking if they do not do something, they will lead to failure. Young believes this explains the reason why he became an impulsive note taker to avoid pain when he was a kid. When people are busy all the time, they end up being overwhelmed and fail at everything. People want to become independent because they want to in control of their environment. People have the fear of talking because they are afraid of being judge.

In order to change those negative thoughts, Young suggests leaders to start small and build their way up. For example, Young went to Starbucks to lead a random conversation to force him out of comfort zone. Young also force himself to do toast at his friends’ parties.

Often time, mentorship is a common advice in this generation. Leaders do not do that because they believe they are strong enough to do things by themselves. They do not ask for help. Young suggests leaders not to let their subconscious mind take their control. Young suggests leaders do not intentionally ask for mentor. Leaders can reach out over coffee. They should show their willingness to learn. Naturally, they will become their mentors. Moreover, leaders need to show relationship first.

Young also suggests leaders to stop thinking they are not good enough. They first need to understand there is a linkage between past and present. The beliefs formed a long time ago and those beliefs affect the mistake they are making in the future. Leaders need to reset the rules and change their definition of success. That is how successful leaders make powerful mindset.