31 May 2026 11:00
690: Austin Kleon - Why Activated Leaders Win, The Analog Desk, Don't Call it Art, Stay Light, Professional Noticers, Lead with Curiosity, and How To Steal Like an Artist
The Learning Leader Show with Ryan Hawk
New Book -- The Price of Becoming
www.LearningLeader.com/Becoming
Austin Kleon is the NYT bestselling author of Steal Like an Artist, Show Your Work, and Keep Going. He's a writer who draws, a former librarian, and one of the most original thinkers on creativity working today. His new book is Don't Call It Art: 10 Ways to Create Like a Kid Again.
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Key Learnings
Stay light. Bill Murray told ballplayers that if you stay light, loose, and relaxed, you can play at the highest level. Same with acting, writing, anything. Austin keeps a photo of Bill in his studio as a reminder.
Play is the work. A lot of Austin's best work requires a sense of play. It's hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.
Go to the analog desk first. Austin has a digital desk and an analog desk. Nothing electronic is allowed at the analog desk. He starts there with nothing and sees what comes.
Most people never give themselves the time, space, and materials to make something of what's swirling inside them.
People want to watch someone who is activated. "People will pay every night to show up and see somebody believe in themselves." (Kim Gordon, Sonic Youth)
The market for something to believe in is infinite. (Hugh MacLeod) The world is full of people just doing their thing. They're hungry to see someone on fire for something.
The writer's job: take what everyone is thinking and put it into words. "You gave me the words" is the highest compliment a reader can give.
Effortless is earned. People say the Friday newsletter looks easy. Austin's reply: Do it every Friday for 13 years, then call me.
A place to put things makes you notice more. Thoreau took morning walks knowing he'd write later, so he paid closer attention. Carry a camera, and you start seeing shots everywhere.
Live for the living, not for the writing. There's a tension between living your life and documenting it. Don't lose yourself to the feed.
Your attention is the most valuable thing you have. Everyone wants to take it. The real challenge of modern life is making sure you're the one who decides where it goes.
The best teachers are perpetual students. You realize what you know and don't know only when you try to teach it.
Toggle between knowing and not knowing. The moment you think you know what you're doing, the work gets stale. You start running on routine instead of need.
To be an amateur is to be a lover. The French root means "lover of." An amateur does it out of love, not material reward.
Every great CEO shoul
