Ep. 3 | The CEO Test Challenge + Domain-Specific Strengths

In this episode of the 8-Ball Podcast, Ryan discusses the importance of community engagement and personal growth, sharing his experiences with local non-profits. He introduces the concept of the CEO test, emphasizing the need for perspective, ownership, and humility in both business and life. Through historical examples, he illustrates the dangers of assuming strength in one domain translates to others. The episode concludes with a challenge for listeners to apply the CEO test in their own lives, focusing on areas for growth and progress.

Ep. 3 | The CEO Test Challenge + Domain-Specific Strengths

Listen on Spotify / Apple Podcasts / YouTube

🧩 Key Takeaways

• Visibility is about showing up in the right places and adding value.

• Credibility is built through proof, past successes, and word of mouth.

• Authenticity involves walking your talk and genuinely helping others.

• Availability means being reachable and transparent with your audience.

• The Stonecutter Principle highlights the importance of perspective in work.

• Connecting daily actions to a bigger vision energizes and focuses efforts.

• Success is about the people you help, not just personal achievements.

• Documenting outcomes builds credibility and trust with your audience.

• Transparency in business operations removes friction and builds momentum.

💬 Transcript

What's up everyone, welcome back to another episode of the 8 Ball Podcast.

Poppy here with us today. Go go puppy. She's doing great as you can see. Oh she's loving me working from home. I'm loving it too. She's gonna get tired of it soon but today I wanted to talk about a few things. This morning I walked my talk. I went to Food for Thought which is a non-profit organization that feeds

less fortunate kids in the Denver Public Schools. mean, these kids have nothing to eat sometimes. So we go up there and pack these bags. Each bag is a $5 worth of food. And we basically pack these bags and then the schools will put these bags out front of the school.

the school for the kids to pick up and bring home to their families and it feeds a family of four each bag each five dollar bag so it's um you know getting out involved in the community again it's called food for thought you can check it out online it's uh food for thought Denver dot let's see foodforthoughtdenver.org if you want to check it out and get involved. It happens every Friday morning from 6 to 9 a.m. and it's a great way to get involved in the community. There's many other ways of course. A few other ways I try to get involved is through COMBA, Colorado Mountain Biking Association, where they build trails, keep trails maintained. Of course I ride the trails so I feel that I need to. It's mandatory for me to go out and help them.

I sure ripped those trails up. Just kidding. I'm not that good Anyway, let's start this podcast episode Thank you for tuning in last last episode where I talked about the stonecutter principle How the story you tell yourself about what you're building in your daily work matters can completely change how you show up today

I'm talking about the CEO test and the fight of your life. It's about perspective, ownership, and humility in business and in life.

I'm going tell a little story about Intel. Back in 1985, Intel was in serious trouble. Japanese manufacturers were eating away their market share and memory chips and the company was fighting to stay alive. President Andy Grove was sitting with co-founder Gordon Moore brainstorming what to do next. Grove looked out the window, paused and asked, if the board fired us and brought in a new CEO, what would they do?

Moore didn't even hesitate. They'd get us out of memory, he said. Grove looked at him and replied, then why don't you and I walk out the door, come back in and do it ourselves? That question and the mindset changed everything. Intel pivoted out of memory and into microprocessors. The decision saved the company and shaped the modern tech world.

So the CEO test is about perspective. It's a simple way to remove emotion, history, and excuses and see your situation clearly. Ask yourself, if I hired a new CEO to run my life or my business for the next 100 days, what would they do?

That new CEO doesn't care about your old patterns. They don't care about sunk cost or comfort zones. They have a bias for action and a mandate for clarity. So picture it. What habits or mindsets would they cut right away? What bold moves would they make that you've been avoiding? What routines would they install to build momentum? And what fears would they demand you confront?

Andy Grove and Gordon Moore didn't wait for someone else to save until they became the new CEOs, and so can you. You don't need permission. Walk out the door mentally. Come back in and start leading from a higher level.

Let's talk about a few domain specific things. The South Sea Company story. Perspective also requires humility. As you can tell, a lot of the things to talk about is about perspective, which is huge, of course.

Perspective also requires humility. There's a story about the early 1700s that proves it. Britain was drowning in debt after years of costly wars. To fix it, they created the South Sea Company, promising massive profits from trade with South America. Even Sir Isaac Newton, one of the smartest people to ever live, bought in. He made a fortune early, sold, then watched the stock skyrocket. FOMO kicked in. If you don't know FOMO is, it's fear of missing out.

He bought back in at the top. When the bubble burst, he lost nearly everything. Newton famously said, can calculate the motions of heavenly bodies, but not the madness of men. The lesson intelligence is domain specific. Brilliance in one area does not guarantee brilliance in another. And the danger of assuming it does can be costly. I feel like I know that firsthand.

Another domain specific lesson, discipline. Tolski had near superhuman writing discipline, but struggled to control his personal impulses. Discipline in one area does not mean discipline at all.

Leadership Winston Churchill led Britain through war but faltered in peace leadership in one season doesn't guarantee it in another I did hear that Winston, you know if that if the war wasn't going on when Winston Churchill was Prime Minister of Britain You know people say he probably wouldn't have worked out Churchill was a great wartime leader

So again, leadership, whatever skill you have doesn't transfer to all other areas of life. Courage, Shackleton was fearless on the ice yet reckless with money. That's the story about the endurance, the book Endurance, if you've read that. Courage in one area does not mean courage everywhere. Apparently Shackleton was fearless but reckless with money.

Taylor Swift commands stadiums yet battles self-doubt off stage. Confidence on stage doesn't erase insecurity everywhere. Warren Buffett's instincts in investing are legendary yet he missed early tech giants for decades. Even the best stay within their circle of competence.

I forget Warren Buff I think missed Google or Apple. I could be wrong on that, but I know he missed a few big companies that boomed. The worst mistakes we can make come from assuming that strength in one domain automatically carries into another. Newton paid a massive price for that assumption. Most of us pay for it in smaller ways, overestimating ourselves in one area, underestimating the work it takes to grow in another.

Richard Dawkins once wrote, if living things didn't work actively to prevent it, they'd merge into their surroundings. That's true for people too. It takes constant, deliberate effort to fight the forces that pull you toward comfort and complacency. If you want strength across life's domains, you have to fight for it constantly. That's the fight of your life. So I'm gonna bring it home.

So here's the challenge this week. Run the CEO test on your own life, but do it with humility. Ask yourself, where am I strong and where have I been assuming strength I haven't actually earned? Pick one domain, your health, your relationships or your business and fight for progress there. Because clarity without action is just noise.

And that's it for today's episode of the 8 Ball Podcast or Get Out From the 8 Ball Podcast. I hope you guys enjoyed it. Next time, we'll talk about how to build momentum, how to turn clarity and self-awareness into consistent motion without burning out. I'm Ryan from 8 Ball Consulting. Let's keep getting out from behind the 8 Ball one step at a time. Cheers.