The Question That Changed My Career — A Conversation with My First Manager | Aaron Blawn

For 16 years, I have been quoting one mentor. The Season 6 finale of Future of Human Experience is a conversation with Aaron Blawn — Eric's first manager at Intel — the mentor who coined Eyes Wide Open, the framework underneath everything Eric teaches. If you have ever wondered where Tools in the Toolbox came from, where the manager-as-servant philosophy in Eric's keynotes came from, or what the actual question was that changed his career, this is the conversation. This is the last new episode until August. Subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to know what's coming next. 🔗 Connect with Eric's work: https://linktr.ee/ericjrodriguez 🔗 Arizona Forward: https://arizonaforward.org/ CHAPTERS 00:00 Cold open — Eyes Wide Open, the framework 00:42 Welcome — meet Aaron Blawn 01:50 Aaron's leadership style — people-centered 02:33 The 1-to-5 review story 04:00 Manager vs. leader — the distinction 06:24 Eyes Wide Open — passions, skills, business opportunities 07:30 The question that started everything 08:33 Where Tools in the Toolbox Came From 11:32 Have a plan, be flexible, find advocates 13:31 Aaron's own career — the Ireland move, the boundary conditions 16:08 How to think about your degree — "college teaches you how to think" 17:00 Think like a CEO looking down at your career 18:14 Network, network, network 20:46 The energize/de-energize question 22:08 Building a legacy — Arizona Forward, environmental work 24:42 The surprise question — what's my next move? 26:45 Eric on the seed Lorenzo Sierra planted 27:18 Authenticity, passion, intelligence — the ideal politician 28:05 The book segment — the reads on my list 34:30 Aaron's recommendations — SWITCH and Dungeon Crawler Carl 36:30 Legacy — people, spouse, father, friend 37:15 Final words — Arizona Forward FOLLOW THE FUTURE OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE Newsletter: https://ericjrodriguez.us18.list-mana... LinkedIn:   / ejrodriguez   Instagram:   / eric.j.rodriguez   TikTok:   / eric.j.rodriguez   #FutureOfHumanExperience #Leadership #Mentorship #ToolsInTheToolbox #EyesWideOpen #SeasonFinale