“Every two weeks, I’ve got a meeting on my calendar with someone whom I admire and look up to.”

Jonathan Azu knows a thing or two about shaking up industries, having driven the success of some of the entertainment industry’s biggest brands and companies. As the Founder and CEO of Culture Collective, he’s taking all of that expertise and pouring it into building an artist management focused on talent of color.

What’s amazing is that, more than two decades into an illustrious career, he’s still honing his craft. Jonathan knows that, to achieve his goal of creating inclusive opportunities for others, he’s got to keep growing as a leader, himself. You cannot impart what you do not possess — if you want to inspire others, you’ve got to stay inspired yourself. By cultivating relationships with folks he truly admires, he stays at the cutting edge, and amplifies his own inspirational potential.

A mentor gave me a helpful heuristic: roughly one day per month should be devoted to meeting with folks I look up to, who can inspire me to think beyond the status quo. Ever the optimizer, I asked about purpose, structure, objectives, etc. His response put me back: “You’re planting seeds, Jeremy. You’re cultivating a garden. Don’t worry too much about outcomes.”

Every once in a while, it helps to look up.

Related: Input —> Output
Related: Hack A Creative Calendar

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