With his book, Unoffendable: No Offense. None Taken, executive coach, speaker, author, podcaster, and viral documentary-maker (The Surprise Wedding), Ryan Leak, seeks to help people change the way they handle an offense, and ultimately, not stay offended. He references author Brené Brown’s ‘generosity hypothesis’, which encourages the offended to consider the most generous assumption for something one did or said. “Because all of us are Christopher Nolan, we’re Steven Spielberg, we’re Spike Lee, we’re Tyler Perry when it comes to offenses,” Leak raises to So Booking Cool.
“We turn into some of the greatest storytellers in the world when someone has offended us. We start filling our brains and minds and hearts with narratives that are rarely true…we actually don’t even fill in the narrative. We actually fill in the characters and their motive: ‘this is why they did this; they were trying to do this.’ And you don’t know that. You absolutely don’t know that.”
Among the keys, Leak, 33, outlines for living an unoffendable life include dealing with the part of you that offends other people; using words and actions to bring out the best in others; not allowing yourself to be offended when your life doesn’t meet others’ expectations; using an offense as an opportunity for growth and honesty; choosing to forgive rather than holding on to offenses/grudges; and loving people that are the opposite of you (such as people who don’t vote like you nor share your beliefs).
Whether it’s training over 15,000 leaders, writing inspirational and motivational books like Unoffendable and Chasing Failure (he shares a pivotal Kobe Bryant experience) or speaking to crowds of more than 200,000 people annually, Leak is passionate about helping people. He describes himself as someone who wakes up in the morning wondering how he can be of service to others. “I am in the business of adding value to others. And I don’t know that there’s ever going to be a day where people don’t need it.” He notes some of the common disappointments in life such as sickness, getting fired, and businesses/economies crashing. And then there’s the politics-related disappointments.
“…I care about politics, but I am neither republican nor democrat,” Leak continues, “so the seat I sit in is kind of interesting. I’ve been telling people lately: every four years there is a 50% chance that someone’s going to be president that you don’t like. And if you wait ‘til November to decide how you’re going to respond to that, it’s too late.”
Watch the interview to learn more about Leak including whether he was always a go-getter; surprising tidbits that come with motivational speaking; when he first felt called to become a speaker; how he came up with the keys for living an unoffendable life; his thoughts on whether music is vibrational; and more! For more information, visit Leak’s official website.