Brant Menswar is a top 10 motivational speaker, critically acclaimed author, award-winning musician, podcast host, and the CEO and founder of Rock Star Impact, a boutique agency that teaches people and organizations how to cultivate value-based leadership. 

Brant is also the author of a new book called Black Sheep: Unleash the Extraordinary Awe-Inspiring, Undiscovered You. He talks about self-leadership, individual accountability values, and really finding your core values and purpose in your life. 

In our conversation, Brant tells the story of how his son’s life-threatening cancer diagnosis led him to recognize his own black sheep values and to stop trying to be someone he’s not. We also discuss how understanding your core values can lead you to make better decisions in your personal life as well as your professional life.

From an HR perspective, Brant believes one of the biggest points of contention that a lot of people within a particular company culture witness is people who make horrible decisions getting promoted. They are being promoted based on a result that was achieved, not on the deliberate intention that went into making the decisions. He says, “I’ve made horrible decisions in my life that have ended in really good results by sheer luck. And if that is what I’m being promoted on, it’s going to destroy the culture of the organization. We have to stop focusing solely on results and start thinking through what it looks like to make good decisions in the first place. And when you reward that, I always believe you’re going to have the company’s best interests at heart.”

I’m talking about these topics—and more on how to determine your black sheep values— in my weekly newsletter. I’m also sharing a video to help you think about your week ahead. You can sign up here.