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Speaker 1: Now here's a highlight from Coast to Coast AM on

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Speaker 1: iHeartRadio and welcome back to Coast to Coast George Nori

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Speaker 1: along with Matt Higgins. His website is linked up at

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Speaker 1: Coast to Coast dot com. Matt, you say that you

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Speaker 1: predict CEO failure? How do you do that? A great question, George,

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Speaker 1: Not to get too psychological, but it's basically self awareness

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Speaker 1: is really important in business because it enables you to

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Speaker 1: make your own interventions without having somebody to say to you, hey,

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Speaker 1: this project, this product's doomed, or you got to fire

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Speaker 1: that employee's going to ruin your company. And so I

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Speaker 1: find that CEOs who have the awareness to make the

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Speaker 1: course corrections without me having to tell them, that's the

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Speaker 1: whole game. And so I do a lot of work

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Speaker 1: and when I'm doing a deal to figure out this

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Speaker 1: is person willing to tell themselves the truth so they

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Speaker 1: could make those course corrections when everything is on the line.

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Speaker 1: How much of it is instinct within themselves. Yeah, it's

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Speaker 1: the whole reason I wrote my book Burned the Boats

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Speaker 1: is we are conditioned in society to outsource our judgment.

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Speaker 1: Books at Barnes and Noble or Ted talks or politicians,

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Speaker 1: and we overlook our own instincts. And so it's amazing

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Speaker 1: how people will seek outside help before first seeing what

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Speaker 1: can I unlock within myself and what's my intuition trying

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Speaker 1: to tell me? But everybody's always trying to talk to

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Speaker 1: you out of your intuition. I try to talk leaders

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Speaker 1: into their intuition and figure out what's blocking their confidence.

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Speaker 1: How would you look at poutin next to Zelinski Zolinski,

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Speaker 1: a former comic who turned president of Ukraine. I think

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Speaker 1: Zelenski is the ultimate burn the boats move. I opened

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Speaker 1: my book talking about this history of this philosophy and

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Speaker 1: all these military leaders, you know, who've embraced it. But

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Speaker 1: just to make anyone out there listening thinking, hey Matt,

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Speaker 1: that's ancient history. You know, we're a civilized about society.

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Speaker 1: Think about Zolinsky. There was think about when the war

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Speaker 1: first started, everyone concluded that he's got he doesn't have

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Speaker 1: a shot. In fact, the United States offered him safe passage,

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Speaker 1: and then he made a brilliant burn the boats move.

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Speaker 1: I don't know if you remember this, but he went

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Speaker 1: out and leaked the phone call in which he said, hey,

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Speaker 1: President Biden called me, and I told him, and Biden said, listen,

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Speaker 1: you're going to get assassinated, you and your entire family,

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Speaker 1: and so we'll help, you know, ferret you out of

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Speaker 1: you know, the Ukraine. And his response was, I don't

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Speaker 1: need a ride, I need the ammunition. What he did

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Speaker 1: was he burned the boats. He told the whole world,

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Speaker 1: and he told his own people that I'm prepared to

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Speaker 1: fight to the death and I'm gonna win. That was

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Speaker 1: the turning point, that was the ultimate burn the Boat's movement,

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Speaker 1: which all of us started to believe, what is Russia

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Speaker 1: doing wrong? You would think they could annihilate the Ukraines. Well,

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Speaker 1: they're a testament to the power of why. At the

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Speaker 1: end of the day, I think the Ukrainians have a

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Speaker 1: stronger why than the Russians have a stronger why. Why

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Speaker 1: did you invade Ukraine? You know? And what is the

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Speaker 1: Ukraine fighting for? They're fighting for their independence and freedom.

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Speaker 1: They're about to be subjugated by their neighbor. There's tons

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Speaker 1: of history, they've been through, everything, they've been preparing for

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Speaker 1: this moment. And so I think it's a testament to

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Speaker 1: when your why is weak or motivated by you know, greed,

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Speaker 1: or power at the end, you're you're destined to fail.

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Speaker 1: Does burn the boat's map teach diplomacy something I think

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Speaker 1: we're lack keen right now in government? Yeah, burn the

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Speaker 1: boats teaches nuance. You know, at the end of the day,

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Speaker 1: diplomacy is nuance, right, trying to resolve crisis. So absolutely

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Speaker 1: burn the boats teaches that. You know, these bombastic stay

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Speaker 1: Even burn the boats is a bit of a trojan

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Speaker 1: horse when you pick up my book. My book does

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Speaker 1: not say burn the boats with you in it. It

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Speaker 1: doesn't say burn the bridges. It says leave behind that

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Speaker 1: which is holding you back. But it's all about nuance.

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Speaker 1: So I totally agree with you. We are lacking diplomacy,

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Speaker 1: We're lacking sort of a global solution, an endgame. But

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Speaker 1: I am firmly on the side of a country defending

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Speaker 1: its sovereignty. You have an Italian saying, and I'll say

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Speaker 1: it in English, the fish rots from the head. What

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Speaker 1: does that mean? Well, the Italians they have a saying

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Speaker 1: for everything right, So it basically means that you can

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Speaker 1: I can walk into any business and I could identify

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Speaker 1: something going along wrong at that cash register that I'm

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Speaker 1: telling you. I could chase all the traits all the

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Speaker 1: way back to the management of the company, oftentimes the CEO.

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Speaker 1: What it means is when the leader of an organization

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Speaker 1: is out of kilter and as it has an out

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Speaker 1: addressed their issues and they're you know, short, they're blind spots.

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Speaker 1: That is going to cascade all the way downstream throughout

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Speaker 1: the entire business. And it's and that's why the reason

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Speaker 1: why I'm so heavily into that statement is because private

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Speaker 1: equity firms and venture capital It's the whole reason why

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Speaker 1: SFX they missed the fact that this guy was a

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Speaker 1: complete fraud, is because they want the answers to be

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Speaker 1: in an Excel sheet, whereas the answers are in the head,

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Speaker 1: right in the head of the leader. I went to

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Speaker 1: a pharmacy months and months and months ago, and the

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Speaker 1: lights on the outside of the building the first letter,

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Speaker 1: huge letter, it's either a C or a wall just

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Speaker 1: tell you that was was burned out. And it drove

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Speaker 1: me nuts because that tells me there's some carelessness going

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Speaker 1: on within that company, within that branch or something. Am

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Speaker 1: I right? I mean I love that example because think

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Speaker 1: about what would have to happen for that. That means

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Speaker 1: the worker on the you know they or does not care.

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Speaker 1: That means the manager is not worried about whoever the

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Speaker 1: owner is caring. Right, That means the owner telegraphed everybody

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Speaker 1: down to the worker. I don't even care if the

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Speaker 1: name of the company is correct when you pull up.

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Speaker 1: So don't you worry about you know, the mice that

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Speaker 1: are running around the back and you know, corrupting the refrigerator.

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Speaker 1: I mean, so that's one hundred percent perfect example. Fish

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Speaker 1: rots from the head. Absolutely, there's no question. And if

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Speaker 1: you have a great leader, you've got a stunning company,

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Speaker 1: don't you. You do? And I talk about that so

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Speaker 1: much because I grew up under such tragic circumstances I

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Speaker 1: talk about in my book, like probably a lot of

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Speaker 1: people listening, right, I was desperate taking care of my

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Speaker 1: sick mother, living on government cheese, right. And I had

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Speaker 1: a choice when I was a kid. I could either

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Speaker 1: choose to be a victim and decide that things keep

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Speaker 1: happening to me, or from that moment forward, I happen

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Speaker 1: to things. It's a much better life when you believe

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Speaker 1: that good and bad, you have the ability to effect

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Speaker 1: an outcome. When a leader is leaving those you know,

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Speaker 1: life bolts blacked out. They're telling everyone else it doesn't

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Speaker 1: really matter what we do, win or lose. We're either

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Speaker 1: going to succeed or not. It doesn't matter about our actions.

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Speaker 1: I always believe that I am at the epicenter of

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Speaker 1: my good and bad decisions. Was that an La restaurant

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Speaker 1: the last week in the former New York Governor Andrew

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Speaker 1: Cuomo came up to me and said, high and he

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Speaker 1: sure had his problems, didn't he? He did? I mean,

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Speaker 1: I have a pretty long background in politics in New York.

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Speaker 1: I work for Governor Pataki actually when I was overseeing

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Speaker 1: the rebuilding of the Trade Center, and wasn't always a

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Speaker 1: huge fan of Governor Cuomo. To be honest and interesting,

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Speaker 1: when you take on this righteousness right when you're in power,

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Speaker 1: the usually you get your come up and ultimately, so

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Speaker 1: I suspect that's what happened there. What's the main message

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Speaker 1: you would like somebody to learn from Burn the Boats? Okay,

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Speaker 1: my mate, My book Burned the Boats was not written

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Speaker 1: for the completely self possessed, for the person who has

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Speaker 1: no problem taking risk. It's written for the opposite. It's

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Speaker 1: written for the person who is fearful as has anxiety,

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Speaker 1: has gone through hard things. They believe that their mistakes

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Speaker 1: they're going to have to live with them forever. They're condemned.

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Speaker 1: My message to you is that although I was born

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Speaker 1: in extraordinary circumstances, I am not extraordinary. That you can

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Speaker 1: unlock that what you suspect is great about yourself. What

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Speaker 1: you need is the blueprint. And I have tapped into

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Speaker 1: the blueprint by virtue of my life, and that is

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Speaker 1: fully committing to my planning no matter what it is.

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Speaker 1: I'm on the phone with you right now, George. It's

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Speaker 1: one thirty in the morning of these coasts. I'm burning

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Speaker 1: the boats from my book Burn the Boats, and I

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Speaker 1: believe anybody can do it. I'm so passionate about it.

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Speaker 1: It's why I wrote the book. I hope we crash

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Speaker 1: your website with so many hits. Thank you. I hope

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Speaker 1: you do. I hope you do. His website is linked

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Speaker 1: up at Coast to coastam dot com. Folks, go ahead

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Speaker 1: and crash it right now, and boy they deliver. They

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Speaker 1: really do amazing. Thank you. George has Burned the Boats,

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Speaker 1: your first book, Burn the Boats is my first book,

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Speaker 1: you know. I tell you how it happens during the pandemic, right.

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Speaker 1: I always believe that you can make an opportunity at

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Speaker 1: a crisis. I had double pneumonia during a pandemic with COVID.

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Speaker 1: I was sick, trying desperately to stay out of that

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Speaker 1: hospital so I didn't end up on an intubator. And

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Speaker 1: I said, my god, I am not going to waste

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Speaker 1: this time if I get through everything. And I came

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Speaker 1: up with my list and on that list, but I

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Speaker 1: need to lift other people up. That does seem to

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Speaker 1: be the purpose of being on this earth. And I'm

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Speaker 1: going to finish this book. And that's how I used

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Speaker 1: the pandemic day in and day out to write this book.

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Speaker 1: My news guest earlier believes that crash is coming. What

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Speaker 1: do you think you can on a crash? I one

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Speaker 1: hundred percent believe we are in for a reckoning. It

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Speaker 1: just makes sense. Free money isn't free. We printed trillions

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Speaker 1: of dollars of it, and the only reason why it

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Speaker 1: hasn't happened yet is because the consumer is paying for

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Speaker 1: those eggs and milk and credit card payments and their

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Speaker 1: negative equity in their car using their credit cards at

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Speaker 1: twenty two percent interest rate once unemployment takes up, we

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Speaker 1: are in for a crash. Not a fast crash, a

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Speaker 1: slow car crash. I'm told the restaurant business has not

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Speaker 1: bounced back yet from COVID, that they desperately need employees

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Speaker 1: and they can't find anybody. Yeah, for those who don't know,

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Speaker 1: I in my portfolio, I own a lot of restaurants

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Speaker 1: all you know, a love of the country, fast casual restaurants,

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Speaker 1: Mumbile Fuku, Bluestone Lane coffee shop. That is still true.

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Speaker 1: It is. We're in this crazy place. You know, we

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Speaker 1: know the storm clouds up ahead, but they haven't come.

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Speaker 1: No one's leveling with us to batten down the hatches,

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Speaker 1: and yet still can't find labor. So as a result,

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Speaker 1: it's so expensive to get people to come to work,

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Speaker 1: and that's the very thing driving inflation. We're stuck in

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Speaker 1: this board text that we can't get out of until

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Speaker 1: the reckoning happens. Do you know any restaurants we'd know?

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Speaker 1: I own a company called Magnolia. It's called Banana Pudding,

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Speaker 1: those who know it. Tillbron Bleaker Street was in Sex

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Speaker 1: in the city. Anybody listening, by the way, I created

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Speaker 1: a code for you. Matt Higgins ten go on, you'll

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Speaker 1: get a discount, Milk Bar, David Chang's, Mobile Fuku, Bluestone

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Speaker 1: Lane and Pizza, lots of brands. Do you know Tillman

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Speaker 1: for I do? I do? I admired to him and

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Speaker 1: what an incredible operator. He's done a great job with

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Speaker 1: the restaurant Catch in New York, which I couldn't recommend more.

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Speaker 1: If you're ever in New York City, it's incredible. In

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Speaker 1: the Landry's, the chain, Mastro's, He's got them all. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: he does, he does. That is amazing. Do you sometimes

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Speaker 1: pinch yourself, Matt going look where I am right now?

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Speaker 1: If I'm honest, I always knew I was not destined

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Speaker 1: to stay in the circumstances I was born into. It's

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Speaker 1: why I had the fortitude to say, you know what,

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Speaker 1: there's another way. Everyone's telling me, Matt finished high school,

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Speaker 1: stay of the course. I'm like, my mother's dying in

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Speaker 1: the room next door and I have nothing to eat.

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Speaker 1: I see an alternative. I'm going to drop out of

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Speaker 1: high school. I'm gonna get my g D, and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna start college at sixteen again. Everyone thought I was crazy.

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Speaker 1: That single decision to trust my instincts and intuition change

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Speaker 1: my whole life. So while I am so grateful and

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Speaker 1: feel blessed, I don't feel lucky and it doesn't feel unexpected.

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Speaker 1: If I'm honest, George, what was that moment that you

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Speaker 1: realized at it? It hasn't happened yet. You know, when

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Speaker 1: I get texted me after writing this book, it takes

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Speaker 1: my breath away. I got a message the other day.

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Speaker 1: I talk in my book about how divorce brought me

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Speaker 1: to my knees and it wasn't cancer and everything else

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Speaker 1: I've been through was actually divorced and the breakdown of

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Speaker 1: my family life and my self esteem. I wrote about

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Speaker 1: on the book not because I wanted to, but because

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Speaker 1: I wanted somebody in the middle of the night, maybe

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Speaker 1: somebody listening to this call right now who is desperate

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Speaker 1: and feels like I spoke to them. I have been

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Speaker 1: getting so many messages in the middle of the night

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Speaker 1: from people who are going through tragedy and feel like

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Speaker 1: my book gives them hope. That makes me feel like

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Speaker 1: I made it. You know. It's the first time in

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Speaker 1: my life I've ever experienced that feeling, and I feel

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Speaker 1: like I'm starting to make it because of the feedback

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Speaker 1: of the book. I have an issue with myself that

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Speaker 1: I cannot pass up a homeless person without giving him

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Speaker 1: some kind of or her or some kind of money.

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Speaker 1: Doesn't necessarily have to be a great thing, George, I

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Speaker 1: feel good about it, and I don't do it for myself.

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Speaker 1: I obviously do it to help them. But there there's

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Speaker 1: a young guy who sits outside a post office here

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Speaker 1: in La that I go to quite a bit, and

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Speaker 1: I see him all the time, and I help him

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Speaker 1: out as much as I can. And finally I stopped

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Speaker 1: to talk to him. I've never done that before. I

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Speaker 1: just have always just said, hey, I'll be right back.

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Speaker 1: I'll give you some money. I asked him his name.

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Speaker 1: His name's Michael. I asked him how he got into

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Speaker 1: the situation he was, and he was very forthright, and

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Speaker 1: I said, well, hey, my name's George. Just remember that.

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Speaker 1: And then as I left, after about a ten minute

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Speaker 1: conversation with the guy, I turned a round and said,

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Speaker 1: what's my name? He remembered it, and but you know,

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Speaker 1: he must be about twenty five twenty six years old,

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Speaker 1: sitting on the cement in front of the post office

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Speaker 1: with a little blanket around him, and one day he

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Speaker 1: might be like you or might like me. He may

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Speaker 1: hit his home run. I love this story, George. You know,

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Speaker 1: I want to tell you something really quick and probable story.

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Speaker 1: But I have had two meetings in the last year

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Speaker 1: and a half of Pope Francis, two private audiences for you, yeah,

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Speaker 1: to talk about our shared passion for human rights. And

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Speaker 1: I was sitting with him in this private setting extraordinary,

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Speaker 1: and he gave a talk about the purpose of life.

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Speaker 1: And he said about the purpose of life and to

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Speaker 1: do good work on this earth is proximity to those

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Speaker 1: who are in need. It's to get closer to them,

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Speaker 1: to show them dignity. It's why he washed his feet right.

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Speaker 1: And I remember I was sitting there thinking, I remembered

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Speaker 1: my mother when we were desperate. All she wanted to

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Speaker 1: do was to get her hair washed, and no one

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Speaker 1: at a salon would let her because she couldn't bathe anymore.

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Speaker 1: I would, It's hard to say, but I would give

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Speaker 1: her sponge bass and she felt repulsive. Everybody who needs

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Speaker 1: to be seen, that's what we crave the most. And

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Speaker 1: that's what the Pope said, is go to the periphery

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Speaker 1: where people need you. The most and give them the

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Speaker 1: dignity of letting them be seen, like what you did

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Speaker 1: with that homeless gentleman. How old your mother when you

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Speaker 1: lost her? She was a fifty two yeah, yeah, so smart,

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Speaker 1: fiercely intelligent, but just there were no answers society. It's hard,

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Speaker 1: you know, people think, well, just you know, go to

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Speaker 1: the hospital or like when you have all sorts of problems.

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Speaker 1: She was very OBEs. There isn't a single answer, and

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Speaker 1: we she was drowning. That's why I worked so hard.

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Speaker 1: And the sad part is, George, I went from making

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Speaker 1: three seventy five scraping gum and McDonald's, dropped out of

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Speaker 1: high school. By the time I was twenty six, I

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Speaker 1: was making one hundred thousand dollars Mayor Giuliani's press secretary.

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Speaker 1: I had done it, and I go to work and

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Speaker 1: she calls me and says, you know, Matt, I just

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Speaker 1: called an ambulance and by the time I got there,

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Speaker 1: she had died. And so it taught me there's no

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Speaker 1: cavalry coming like you then there's no guaranteed happy endings

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Speaker 1: in life. That you have to do what you can.

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Speaker 1: But what I took from that, the best use of

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Speaker 1: my life, my power, my money, my influence. This book

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Speaker 1: is if I could ameliorate suffering like what you did

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Speaker 1: with that homeless man, If I could give people dignity

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Speaker 1: and never forget where I came from. Listen to were

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Speaker 1: Coast to Coast AM every weeknight at one a m.

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Speaker 1: Eastern and go to Coast to Coast am dot com

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Speaker 1: for more