Latest / Calm Under Fire / Steven Heumann

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Steven Heumann · Calm Under Fire

• Col. John Boggs: Well, good day, good afternoon, good morning, wherever you are. This is Colonel John Boggs from Fortitude Consulting, and this is Calm Under Fire. This ⁓ is a ⁓ podcast about leadership. That's it, just leadership. And if you're paying attention, you may learn something. Today, we have Steven Heumann. ⁓ Steve helps business leaders turn. lived expertise into recognized authority. For more than two decades, he's worked across books, film, ⁓ guiding founders and executives through the process of capturing their voice and publishing work that earns trust, not hype. Now, his focus isn't trend-based personal branding. It's strategic storytelling. that elevates leaders from capable operators to undeniable experts. Today, we're talking about authority, voice, legacy, and what it really takes to put your thinking into the world. So Stephen, thank you very much for joining us today. Steven Heumann: Thank you, John. And this is a pleasure. I'm very excited for this conversation. Col. John Boggs: Fantastic. you mind if we jump right into it? Perfect. Okay. Hey, Stephen, you say most leaders have expertise, but few are recognized for it. When did you first notice that gap? Steven Heumann: Let's do it. So I actually noticed it when I was working in television, because I ran a production company for 15 years. And I started to notice that most everybody had some sort of story that was worth telling. So we could sit down with anyone and do an interview and get these amazing stories out of them. And some of these individuals really had amazing authority. They had worked in these very powerful industries. But they either were not recognized for it or they themselves didn't recognize it. And that's what it came down to more often than not was the fact that they first needed to recognize that their story had value and that their authority was valuable. And then other people could. And so I started noticing it then in TV and then it just became more pronounced when I went into ghostwriting and publishing. And I saw that there were these powerful individuals who were confident and they were competent, they ran companies. But when it came to their story, they saw that story as separate from them. That they were over here and their story was over here. And that's not the truth. Like we are the culmination of our stories. And so once they started to realize that, once I helped them to realize that, suddenly they were like, ⁓ so my authority does have value outside of just me showing up for work and running the business or whatever. The experiences that I've had actually give me more authority than I ever. realized and once they did that and they first started to get that then suddenly it expanded and everyone else was like ⁓ wow they really are the expert in their field ⁓ my goodness here's the story so yeah I noticed it a long time ago I just didn't quite know how to implement it how to execute helping people to be able to see it until I started my own company. Col. John Boggs: Wow, well, you I'd like to go back to something you said separate. They see it as separate from them. What happens to a leader or to an organization when their expertise stays private, when they keep it as separate from them rather than joining it together? Steven Heumann: All it does is it removes opportunities because oftentimes you're gonna have the same conversation with the same people. And if you're understanding your authority and you can prove it, like with a book or whatever, where you're so confident, you're like, no, my story has value. Here's the experiences that got me to where I am right now. Boom. And you're able to share that effectively. Then those conversations then become that much more impactful. So a person that, like, let's say that you're in business or you're working with a client. You're trying to land a client, let's say, whatever the industry is. Well, if you're relying on your authenticity and your expertise, and you understand the value of those inherently, then you're not going to have a problem sharing those experiences. And not like being long-winded about it or dragging on the conversation, but you'll be able to add those in because you're confident about them. And so then those conversations that may or may not have landed in the way that you want it to are far more likely to land. So it means... more business, means more confidence personally, because that's one of the main things that I see is that growth of confidence. And these are for confident people already. These are people who are confident in their business, but then suddenly they're confident in themselves and their own history. And that's different. That's different than just being confident that I'm going be able to close the deal, or I'm going to be able to do this in the board meeting, or whatever it is. It's different when you realize, ⁓ all of the crap and the trauma and the bad decisions and the mistakes that I've made brought me to where I am right now and where I am is good. I'm in a good position. I'm helping people. I'm serving my business. doing that. So that means that all of those things in some way, or form led to good to where you are now. Once people have that internalized, suddenly their entire outlook changes and it's wonderful to see. Col. John Boggs: Wow, this is interesting. Hey Stephen, you know, this is... ⁓ As an executive coach, I'd like to think I'm more than that. But the realities are a lot of folks that are in my industry, everyone's like, you gotta get your book out, you gotta get your book out, you gotta get your book out. And everybody just kind of churns it out real quick, just to get a book out. As they say, hey, it doesn't have to be good, just get it out. And you see people just, what do you think about that? Well, tell me. I see laughter. Steven Heumann: Well, yeah, because there's something to be said. So as an author myself, because I'm a fiction author, right? At a certain point, you've got to have a product to sell. So like the authors that get locked into like the perfection mentality and the imposter syndrome that never get their stuff out. Well, it's like, then your story is never going to serve you, whether it's fiction or nonfiction. It's just not gonna serve you. So at a certain point, you have to make the decision, type the end, get it, edit it, publish it, and let it go. But there's a different mindset of the people who are like, we'll just get it out, it doesn't matter if it's crap. Its existence is important enough. And it's like, yeah, the existence of it is important, but imagine that if something that you should be using as the first thing you hand out, that is you in reality in paper form, in a paperback or an ebook or whatever it is, and it sucks. then all that's going to do is lead people to look and say, well, this sucks. So why am I in business with this individual? ⁓ This was written by AI and it was obviously written by AI. Why would I ever trust this person with whatever it is that I'm to trust them with? And so yes, the existence of the book is important, but the existence of a good book that is quality is far more important because yeah, some people aren't going to read it, especially if you're handing it out like a Col. John Boggs: Bye. Steven Heumann: like a business card, which you should not be doing, by the way. You should not be doing that because what happens to a business card, generally they get thrown away. Because it was planted in your pocket and not in your chest, not in your heart. And so if you're just handing out a book and saying, hey, here's my business card, whatever, they're not gonna read it, they didn't ask for it. You want it to be a tool and you want it be a powerful tool, not just something that you're handing out for free to people. Col. John Boggs: ⁓ Steven Heumann: there needs to be a purpose behind its existence that is beyond just, it's my business card and it's an expensive business card. Cause having a ghostwriter is expensive. Like I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna sugar coat that. It's an expensive process. So why not use it to the utmost power that it can be, make sure it's good. ⁓ And part of the thing is that oftentimes like this, had to learn John, when I ghost wrote for the first time after I founded my company, I left television. The only experience that I had with it was talking to other authors, other fiction authors like myself. and they would say how much they hated Ghost Rider. That, this sucks, ⁓ it's hard, telling someone else's story. So when I did it the first time, I thought that that was also going to be my experience. And it totally was the opposite. I did it the first time, I was like, this is the most amazing experience I've ever had. I've been able to work with someone really closely for three or four months. I'm able to tell their story really powerfully. I'm able to help them get it published. And so they've got the books. And then I can see the impact that it has. Col. John Boggs: Uh-huh. Steven Heumann: This is the coolest experience ever. Why would I not absolutely just adore this process? That's one of the reasons why in the ghostwritten industry, sometimes books just suck even if they're ghostwritten, because the ghostwriter is not into it. They're just like, whatever. That comes through in everything we do. You've seen it. You saw it during your military career. You've seen it in business, where when someone is not into what they're doing and they're just going through the motions, they are not effective. ⁓ And you want to have an effective book. You want to have a book that transcends just being a book. You want it to be the thing that when someone reads it, they actually walk away with something powerful. like, ⁓ my gosh, this is amazing. ⁓ That's what you want to have. You want them to open up that first page, feel a connection with you, and then write it through to the rest of the book. And that's the most important thing. Don't get a crappy tool, get a powerful tool. Col. John Boggs: Wow, wow. Well, let me stick with this for a second. So when you're ghost writing, what are you listening for? Steven Heumann: For me, I'm listening for the personal story that then ties into the principle that they want to convey. So the most important thing about writing a book, whether you're doing it yourself or you're having a ghostwriter doing it, is you have to ask yourself why it is that you're doing it. ⁓ Because if you're feeling drawn to tell your story, that's wonderful. That's the number one thing you gotta do. But then you've gotta realize, okay, why am I doing this? Why am I spending 50 to $100,000 to get someone to write and publish my book? Why am I doing that? What is my ROI? Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: You have to ask yourself those questions. But if the why of your book comes down to, want to be a millionaire as an author, it's like, well, that's not a very good why. And it's not likely to happen. Like it can happen. It doesn't, but it can. But I'm very honest with my clients about where they should be looking for their return on investment. And it's not likely going to be that you're going to sell 10 million books. But if your why is, I want my story to impact the reader. And yes, I want it to impact my business positively. I want it to impact my brand. I want to do those things. But if their first one is my story has power and I want to share it because it's going to help people, that is the number one best reason to be writing a book because that's going to influence every page. So once I've got that locked down with a client and then we're like, okay, now that is our focus. We want to help these people. So now let's start telling your personal story. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: and linking it to the principles that are gonna help that reader to learn and to do the things that you feel they need to. So let's say that you're writing a book on risk management, on taking risks. So it's like, okay, so you want them to learn to take risks and learn that risks are good. And you could just say, taking risks are good, and that's it. Well, no one's gonna walk away with any kind of impact from that statement, never. But if you share your personal story about, this is what I did. and this is how it impacted my life and who I am. And here's what you need to learn from it. That is effective. People will learn from that. So here's a quick example. Since I'm using the RISC one, I worked with gentleman by name of Colin House from South Africa. And he told the story of when he was 18, he ⁓ was forced into the military because everyone, it was a conscription base in the late 70s. And so he was forced in and... He talked about what a terrible experience it was because there were so many people that were not prepared to go into the military. so he just talked about how hard it was. And that's when he took his first risk that he hated physical training, he hated PT. And one day someone, one of the sergeants came through and was like, okay, we need all of the national level sports athletes to go over here and sign up for your sport because you're gonna miss, you're gonna start training now. And he and his friends, was like four of them, they're all six foot eight and above, so they're big guys. Col. John Boggs: guys Steven Heumann: All of them looked at each other. They had never played volleyball before, but they were like, we're gonna sign our names to this. So they signed their names and they were thinking, we're gonna take this risk. We're probably gonna get in trouble, but at least we're gonna add a PT for one day. And the sergeant that was there was like, okay, obviously you guys have never played volleyball, but you're tall, you're athletic. If you guys give me your all, I will train you to be the national team. And they were like, okay, that was the first risk he ever took in his life. Col. John Boggs: Okay. Wow. you Steven Heumann: And it paid off huge and that then became the mantra for the rest of his life. And he made fortunes and lost fortunes and all of that sort of stuff. But he was like, that was the moment. So you tell a story like that and suddenly people are like, risk, ⁓ my gosh, okay. And then you follow that through on the rest of the book. And so that's the power of that personal story linked with the principle. The principle, who cares about the principle? So the principle is gonna be in a thousand other books that are similar to yours. It's your personal story linked to that principle. That's where the power is. And that's what changes people's lives. Col. John Boggs: ⁓ my. Wow, so okay, is that the difference between authority and personal branding? Steven Heumann: Yes. Yeah, because you can say that you're something. You can say that you believe in collaboration. You can say that all day long. And that can be your brand. But unless your personal story actually is that thing, then all you're doing is putting on a mask. And people eventually are going to see through it. And they're not going to trust you. So it's like in a business, if you say that you're a collaborative business, but nothing about your interior of your business is actually collaborative. Well, then there's no authenticity there. And so then you have no real authority. You just have a brand. You just have, this is what we are. But when you really are that thing and you can prove that you're really that thing, well, then suddenly you have the authority that people will trust and not just, well, I've heard this a thousand times before on every ad I've ever seen that we care about our employees. Your actions will prove that. And when you're telling the story of your actions, then suddenly people will trust you. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. This is true. This is very true. So tell me, when you... ⁓ You're capturing their voice. You're capturing their voice in the book. Are you becoming that voice? Are you becoming that person? Or are you just yourself separate? How do you do that without losing your voice? you know what I'm trying to say here is, we have to stop. Yeah. Steven Heumann: Yeah, yeah, no, I totally understand it, yeah. What I'm looking for when I'm working with a client is in capturing their voice is generally in the first session, I'm paying attention to not only their story, but how they say things, how they word things. Are they using a lot of big words, they using a lot of small words? Are they very conversational or are they very like regimented and stilted? And so I start to adapt that. start to think about it in those terms of how would like let's say we're working together. How would John say this? And then I'm going to adapt it so that the pacing of it is correct. Because when you're just having a conversation, there's a lot of stream of consciousness stuff that comes in. And we don't notice it because we're just having a conversation and it's flowing and you're feeling good and everybody's smiling. But in a book, you can't do that. the stream of consciousness takes things off that makes it so that you want to put the book down. It's just like, well, what is the point of this? And you close the book and that's not what you want. So you want to be able to take that voice and then adapt it to, okay, the story needs to be told in this way in order for it to really impact. So how do I tell that if, as if John knew these tricks and we're telling it himself? And that's kind of how I adapt. And I'm lucky in that I'm naturally very adaptable. And so think that's one of reasons why I've had such success in ghost writing because I can, have my own style of writing in my fiction, but I can adapt really easily to someone else's style. There was actually, when I was in college, I was in art class and the professor was like, okay, I want all of you to just start drawing. I want you to do, I don't want you to think about it. I just want you to draw and do all of this stuff, whatever. And that was an assignment I'd never had before. I thought it was weird, but we all just started doing it. And I just started just drawing. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: things and shapes and all kinds of different styles just kind of playing around. I didn't know what to do. Then he had us put them on the board and he didn't look at who put what on the board. He says, I'm going to psychoanalyze each of you based off of your drawing. And so we're like, okay, this is really interesting because obviously he was an artist. He knew what he was doing. Well, he got up and started looking at without having watched or known whose was what. He had left the rooms. We had no idea who drew what. Put it up on the board, walks to one and is like, okay, you're a people pleaser. Here's why. Col. John Boggs: Wow. Steven Heumann: Walks to this person, you're this. And you would see people in the room either like go, ⁓ because they knew he was right or they were nodding their head like, yeah, that's right. He got to mine and he was like, he paused for a second. went, this person is infinitely adaptable. And I was like, dude, that made me feel great. I was like, sweet. But I think about that sometimes because I'm like, yeah, with my career choice, ⁓ that definitely has served me. Col. John Boggs: Wow. Okay. Well, you know, this is a good story. Thank you. It makes me think of people who have you ever run across people who trying to manufacture, trying to manufacture the authority that they really don't have and now they're trying to write a book. Have you run across that? Steven Heumann: I have. ⁓ And like I said, everyone has a story to tell, but it comes down with those individuals to pull them away from the mindset of just focusing on their successes and realizing, okay, the true power of your story is going to come from your authenticity, which means that we're going to have to get into hard, difficult things and you're going to need to share them. Because if you're trying to manufacture your authenticity in a certain way that you think is going to be more impactful. I'm just going to tell you it's not. It's going to fall flat because people are to be able to see through it and they might not be able to tell you exactly why, but they'll be able to say, you know, I'm just not vibing with that person. I'm not, I'm not getting it. And so when I get someone who's, who's trying to manufacture that, always like, okay, we're not going to be able to do this. You need to be just truthful and accept the fact that maybe you don't have the level of knowledge that you want to have. But if you're upfront about that and you share the reality of who you are and where you've gotten to, that will be enough. And people will ride that wave with you because they'll then trust you knowing that you don't have all the answers because no one does, right? But you may have the answers that they specifically mean. And normally when I present it that way, they start to understand and it humbles them a little bit because They think, well, this book needs to be just about how great I am and all of my wonderful accomplishments. I was like, no, that's a memoir and it's a sucky memoir. ⁓ We want something that's real. We want something that's gonna have actual impact. And so that means that you have to be real and authentic and you have to share some things that might be embarrassing that as long as they fall into those parameters of the story that you're probably gonna need to share. And if you're okay with that, then the reader will, they'll go along with you and you'll gain the trust that. you want. Col. John Boggs: Okay, okay, have you? This is not the same question, but I have run across people who want to engage with me, and I tell them, you're not ready. That's, you're not ready. I mean, they aren't. You've got to be willing to open up. You've got to be willing to talk, and you've got to be willing to really bear your soul with me. ⁓ Have you run across that? And I guess maybe the people who are, I want a book, but I'm not ready. You're not ready yet. There's something inside you, but it's not there yet. you ever had that instance, have you ever had that happening to you? Steven Heumann: I have, and most of the time I'll know fairly quickly once I'm doing a meeting with them. ⁓ And oftentimes it'll come through in asking that why, why are they writing the book? It'll come through in that question because either they're just like, well, I want it because I want to be famous or I want notoriety or something like that. In which case I'm like, hey, you're not ready because you're not going to be authentic with me. You want to put a veneer on and not have it be an authentic story. Col. John Boggs: Okay. Steven Heumann: Other times you'll have those individuals who just haven't had their, haven't had enough experience in what they want to be the expert on. And that also comes through in those, in that first early session before we've even signed a contract or gone over anything, where I can see where it's like, okay, you want to be the expert in insurance, but you've only been in insurance for two years. And you're just in how you're describing it to me right now. I don't feel that you're probably. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: ready, and then I will give them tips and I'll say, here's what you need to do ⁓ in order to prepare yourself. And I start having them write their own stuff and take their own notes and kind of go through their own story ⁓ and then let that simmer for a while so that they're able to then come back at a later date. Because you can write a book as a young person, like I've had guys in their 20s that I've ghostwritten for, ⁓ but they've all been in a place where they've... they've already gone through the failure and success cycle at least once, where they started something and they got the beat down that every business owner knows is in the cards. And then they were able to succeed or get to a point where it's like, okay, you do have authority in this sphere. You're 27 years old, but man, you started that company when you were 22 or 21, and now you've gotten to a point of success and you do have something to share even though you're young. And then we just play into the fact that you're young. Col. John Boggs: Yes. Mmm. Steven Heumann: and that you have more to learn because you have more to learn. You may have gotten, you went through the failure cycle, but maybe you got lucky on this one and you won't on the next and we have to be willing to go there. So I'll usually see fairly early on whether or not they're ready or not by their motivations and by what they think that their story is, if that makes sense. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. That sense. does. That does. So does writing a book, and particularly using a ghostwriter like yourself, writing a book, have you noticed that leaders discover things about themselves? I mean, does that come out like, hey, wait a minute, I didn't realize I did that. Steven Heumann: Very much so. That is one of the most powerful things about the experience for me, is seeing that change in them. Because again, most of us do see ourselves separate from our story. And once that gap starts to kind of be bridged, and they start to recall things that they would never have put into a book that they barely remember. But because we're having that conversation, and I'm asking questions and pulling it out, that's something they get to. And then they begin to realize, the experiences that then became the core for who they are. So here's an example, I was working with a client, Mark Parrish, he owns a bunch of McDonald's. And he was writing a book on his management principles and how McDonald's made him the success that he is, because he started working when he was 16 and now he owns 18, telling the story. But he mentioned early on that... that in the McDonald's ecosystem, it's very impersonal when you talk about principles. So if he is going and talking to executives or if he's talking to 5,000 owners, usually it's very, here's the principles, boom, boom. But I was obviously pulling him away from that. So was like, no, this has to be about your personal experience. And he shared an experience when he was in the military and he was a sergeant in Fallujah in 2006. So the guy saw some heavy fighting. And he tells this story about complacency, because that's one of his main principles. Col. John Boggs: Yes, he did. Steven Heumann: about driving out of the base and having a sign there in Fallujah that said, complacency kills. And he was going on a 24 hour deployment with his unit and they were just looking for IEDs. That's all they were doing, 24 hours straight. At the end of that deployment, they're meeting up with the next group of guys who's gonna take the next 24 hours, pull off to the side of road, they switch things up, he tells the other sergeant, here's what you need to look for, they switch vehicles. As they're about to drive away, the Humvee he was just in backs up three feet, turn. hits an IED, blows up the Humvee. Luckily, no one was injured. The Humvee did its job. ⁓ But he realized in that moment that they had spent the entire 24 hours looking for IEDs, and they did not even check when they pulled off the side of the road at the end of there to see whether there was one right next to where they were. He said, they didn't even enter our brains. We did not check at all. And he said, we knew what to look for. Like, it's obvious we knew what to look for, but they didn't even check. And so he's like, that's how I learned about complacency. And I said, well, that's a Have you ever thought that's a key moment in your life that led to your success today? And he just kind of paused and he was like, ⁓ my gosh. And that completely reframed everything about his entire executive experience and why he ran his teams the way that he did. And then our next session, we were talking, he's like, I went last week, because I knew he was going to this conference in Florida for McDonald's. He's like, instead of just sticking to the complacency thing that I like to teach, I told that story. He says, it rocked the house. Everyone was just like, there were people crying. He said it was amazing. I was like, that's what we're talking about. It's your personal story. They learned, you've probably taught about complacency a hundred times and these people have heard it every time. And this was the first time that it actually resonated with them. And so suddenly his entire, everything that he did changed. So seeing that kind of change in a person is incredibly powerful and amazing. That's the power of going through this. Col. John Boggs: Wow. Wow. That, and I hope everyone heard that and heard it very closely. Yeah, you get some lessons. Wow. Thank you so much, Steve does, ⁓ Does writing a book change the way ⁓ a person thinks about their legacy? Because you're writing a book, I imagine you're leaving something behind. But does it change how a person thinks of their future, thinks of what they're leaving behind? for those who are coming after them. Does it change how they see that? Steven Heumann: It does, because every good book, whether it's a business book or a memoir or whatever, it needs to have a little bit of legacy in it. You have to think about it in terms of that, that you are leaving something behind. And the power of a book, like video is powerful and it's powerful in the moment, but a book for whatever reason ends up becoming much more long lasting. Like I made a documentary for my family back in 2010, And it's a wonderful doc just on my family, on my parents, my five brothers and sisters, our kind of journey as a family from, you know, my grandparents and stuff. But even now it's only been 16 years. It's a little bit dated at this point. And, you know, I'm less likely to watch it. But if I had instead done a book, well, there's no expiration date on that. There's no, ⁓ this is dated. There's just, it exists and I'm going to flip through it. My wife was going through some boxes of her late mothers and found this family history that had been compiled by one of her aunts or something. And it was boring. It was dry, man. It was dry. It was kind of like an encyclopedia, but it was still really cool to slip through because it went through to probably 1995. So it went from like 1890. probably 1995. So obviously, my wife was born, she's in the book, it has her stuff in it, what she was doing in high school at the time, that sort of stuff. That's really cool. And that thing sucked. Like it was dry. But so yeah, books have the ability to endure beyond anything else that you can do, because they don't get dated, they don't have those kinds of issues. It's just something you sit down, flip through and start to read. when When my clients realize that and they see the legacy component and they realize they're leaving something behind, well then it changes them, it changes their perspective where it's not just, okay, it's my business card I'm hand out. It's like, this is something that my kids or my grandkids could be reading and that they will learn about their ancestor ⁓ and that's really cool. And when they accept their own authenticity and they realize they're gonna be writing, we're gonna be writing about things that were bad, that were traumatic, that were huge mistakes in their life. It's going to have the same impact on the generations from now as it does on the business leaders who reading it now. They're going to be able to flip through and go like, my gosh, wow, great grandpa. Wow, did you see that he made this huge mistake and he still was able to make it work. He was still able to get to where he was. Wow, that's inspiring. Legacy is everything. And if you get your head around that when you're doing whatever book project you're doing, just like the why question, it's going to influence every page. Col. John Boggs: Wow. Steve, what is helping others shape their story, shape their authority, taught you about your own? Steven Heumann: It taught me that I've got to be authentic, that I can't put up any walls or pretend that I'm anything other than what I am. Because if I can be true to what I love and to who I am, then I know that's going to have a positive impact in the lives of the people that I'm working with and just the lives of the people that I work around, that I talk to. If I'm authentic, it invites them to be authentic and then they feel safe to be able to say things that they wouldn't. say or to share things they wouldn't normally share. In our society here, we're generally, we put up a lot of walls around ourselves. Some very, very thick, some thin, but almost always we have some kind of wall up. And when you have someone who is just disarming and it's like, you know, I don't got no walls. I don't have any. I'm just going to be who I am. And if you like me, then great. And if you don't, then you don't. It's one of the reasons why, like, I don't know if you can see it in the video here, but I've got cabinets, glass cabinets full of action figures behind me. I'm a huge geek. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: I'm a nerd and some people think that's stupid. I don't care. I put them on in my background because I want people to know who they're dealing with. That this guy's geeky and he likes it. And so that's a part of me being authentic. And when I'm authentic with my clients, they're more likely to be authentic, which then is going to make the book better. So that's one of the things that I've learned about this process of helping them to be true. I then have to be true and I can't be a glossy version of myself. I just gotta be me and and that will lead to good things. Col. John Boggs: Wow, that's awesome. Steve, what's the one thing you wish more experienced leaders understood about the power of writing, the power of using a ghostwriter? I mean, to help them get their stories down. What is it you wish they knew more about? Steven Heumann: I wish that they knew that, first of all, that their story is powerful and that it is a powerful tool. And then second, that the more powerful of a tool they can turn it into, the more success they're going to have. So if you're gonna half-ass it, ⁓ then you're gonna have half-ass success from the book. ⁓ If you're gonna go for, well, I just want, I'm have AI do, if you're gonna go with the easy route, then it's not gonna work. It's gonna, you'll get some notoriety from it, but when someone opens it up and sees that it's bad, they're, that's gonna influence how they think of you. Because this is you, the book is you when it comes down to it. And so understanding that skill, the more skill that you have in telling that story, the better off it's gonna be for everybody. ⁓ That's something that I wish they more understood, that they were just like, okay, yeah, I don't want to do a crappy job on sharing the deepest part of myself. And I don't wanna just have it be the principles that I think are important. because that doesn't teach anybody. It has to be a mixture. has to be their story. I was editing a book yesterday for a client that I did not write. And I had to keep at the beginning of the book, I had to go back to it. was like, you spent this entire chapter. All it is is a principle, but it's not hitting in any way, or form. We need a reason why you're the expert. And that comes from your lived experience. So share that. ⁓ And so I moved some things from later in the book where she finally got into her ⁓ experience growing up in Russia. and how rough it was and all this, that needs to be way up top. They need to know right off the bat that you understand leadership because of where you grew up and the beat downs that you got and how you escaped and all this, that's your authority. It's not that you read a book on how to be a good leader, it's that you saw those principles because you saw the exact opposite modeled your entire childhood. you saw finally as a teenager, real leadership and they taught you how to be a leadership and then you escape from that world. That's it right there. That's why people are gonna trust you. And so if business leaders understand that side of things, then they're gonna be in good shape and they're gonna start out from a place of strength and they're gonna have a really powerful tool at the end of the day. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Wow, thank you. Thank you. So for leaders who are listening, who know they've built something meaningful, they know they're good and they've worked hard. I mean, these are the people I work with, people who are good at what they do. But they know they've built something meaningful and they want to make sure their expertise is recognized at the level it deserves. Steven Heumann: Yeah. Col. John Boggs: What's the best way for them to connect with you? Steven Heumann: They can connect with me on LinkedIn, just StevenHuman. think I'm the only one. ⁓ There might be another one. There is a sports broker out of New York who's actually like my same age. And occasionally I'll get calls from sports stars thinking that I'm him. And I'm like, no, you got the wrong one. But yeah, LinkedIn is great. Email just steven at superhuman.com with human spelled like my last name. So H-E-U-M-A-N-N, steven at superhuman.com. ⁓ Col. John Boggs: Ha Steven Heumann: My website is superhuman.com so they can message if they want to do just jump on a call. Like I love when people are like, hey, let's just let's just jump on a call and let's talk and let's see if this is gonna work because those are people who are in a place of they're thinking about it. Sometimes they just need that little push. Just that little. No, it is worth it. It is your story is worth telling because too many people get stuck in the sort of who am I mentality. Someone else has told the story better than I could. And it's like It doesn't come down to better. It doesn't come down to who had more experience in any one place or time. It comes down to the fact that your personal experience is going to touch certain individuals in ways that no other story will. And that if you are writing to those individuals, then yeah, you're going to have a lot of people who are going to love your book and they're going to enjoy it. And you're going to get business and you're going to get the clout that you want or whatever it is that your goal is. You're going to achieve it. But if you know that that is going to have that impact on that group of people. that is gonna be so powerful that it's absolutely gonna change their lives? Wow. When you realize that and you realize that you have that kind of power, there's nothing that can stop you because you literally will. You will have people who will change their life because they read your book. And that is, it's a responsibility, which is what I take seriously, which is why I do good books really, really well, because I take that responsibility seriously. But when they understand that, Col. John Boggs: All Steven Heumann: that responsibility and that gift, then they're able to really make some substantial impact in other people's lives. And those are the people that immediately are like, once the book is done, they're like, okay, we need to start working on book number two. You know, cause they get something else where they're just like, hey, I've got more to share. Like, cause there'll be stories. That's one of the key things about writing a book or ghost writing is understanding that you've got to have this sort of framework. And you can't fit everything in that framework. Every story you want to share is not going to fit in that framework. And it shouldn't, because then the book's going to be real bad. But then there are other things. Like, I wasn't able to tell that one. And it plays into this whole other aspect of how I do business, this whole other aspect of how I think. I want to go there now. And you're like, hey, cool. Let's go there. ⁓ Because they're so inspired to share. And they see the value in it. So yeah, reach out, LinkedIn, email me. ⁓ Col. John Boggs: Ha ha! Steven Heumann: and let's just schedule a call, let's jump on a call and let's see where you're at and see if it's right for you or whatever. I'll help you get to where you wanna go. That's what I do. Whether it's having it fully ghostwritten, whether it's just me giving you some tips on how to do it yourself, I believe in the power of story to connect us. And so the more stories that are out there to connect us, the better. And here's another thing is that some people are like, ⁓ there's so many books. So many books are published, mine's not gonna do. That's like saying, I get so frustrated when people say that. That's like saying there are too many small businesses. Because small business, you can serve a certain group of people really effectively and you can pivot, you can do all these great things. Your book is like a small business. It is gonna hit people in a way and yeah, you're not gonna sell 20 million copies like Brandon Sanderson, but you're gonna touch a lot of people's lives, thousands, tens of thousands in doing that. And there is nothing wrong with that whatsoever. Col. John Boggs: It's like legacy at scale. mean, there's a number of businesses out there who I know I work with a lot of them who are leaders who are looking to scale their business. So this is really, if you're looking to scale your legacy, this is what it sounds like to me. This is, I'm going to scale my legacy. This is how I'm going to do it. Steven Heumann: Yeah! Yeah. Yeah, that's a really great way to think about it. Because basically, you're scaling your authority, you're scaling your expertise, because you're able to hit so many more people, influence so many more people, all through one tool. Col. John Boggs: Mm-hmm. Steven Heumann: just the one and then you talking about it and putting it out there. The people that I work with where the book just goes on the shelf afterward or it sits on their desk and then a year later like, ⁓ I haven't really done much with this. Like, well, that was a waste then. But those who use it and talk about it and say, hey, I wrote this book and here's one of my thoughts on what it is we're going to And then they share a story from the book and they're like, hey, you should check it out. Or then you can give it to someone if they're interested in it because they're going to read it. That's the key is that people who read it will be changed by it. it ends up at the thrift store, because they didn't ask for it, that doesn't serve anybody. ⁓ Yeah, but those are the people who have the success, because they talk about it, they use it as the effective tool, and they see the success because of those actions. Col. John Boggs: don't what. Wow. Well, Steve, Stephen, thank you very much. I greatly appreciate it. Stephen at superhuman.com. Stephen at superhuman.com. And it's spelled the way his last name is. That's H-E-U-M-A-N-N, superhuman.com. That's how you reach Stephen. So Stephen, thank you very much for being here and everyone out there, thank you for listening. And until next time, that's it, out here. Steven Heumann: That's correct.