In Part 2 of my two part series with Anton Gunn, we move deeper into the journey, from discouragement and struggle to leading at the highest levels of government. This isn’t a story about chasing titles, it’s about what it takes to lead with conviction when the path is unclear. Anton shares how hip hop music helped him survive his darkest moments, how a single mentor changed the trajectory of his life, and how staying rooted in service carried him all the way to advising a president. This episode is about grit, guidance, and the kind of servant leadership we need more of.
Anton's Bio
Anton Gunn has a Masters Degree in Social Work from University of South Carolina and was a resident Fellow at Harvard. He is the bestselling author of 'The Presidential Principles' and has been featured in TIME Magazine, Forbes, BBC, NPR and on Good Morning America. Recently, Anton was named by Fierce Healthcare as one of the Most Influential Minority Executives in Healthcare.
As an international speaker and consultant, he has worked with organizations like Mercedes Benz, T-Mobile, Entrepreneurs' Organization Sodexo, KPMG, Verizon Wireless, Aetna, Blue Shield of California, American College of Surgeons, FINRA, and the Boeing Company.
From playing SEC Football and being the first African American in history elected to the SC legislature from his district early in his career, to now serving on multiple boards, he has spent his life helping people build diverse high performing teams and world class leadership culture.
Episode Highlights:
How hip hop became the soundtrack of Anton's life, and a survival tool.
The story of how one leader, not only saw his potential but equipped him to lead, and how that shaped everything that followed.
How Anton followed his passion for fighting injustice led him from community organizing, to an elected office, to the White House and building his own consultancy.
Quotables:
[00:02:25]
"All of our lives are movies and we go to different scenes. We go to different segments of our life that are different scenes in a movie, different parts of the story. And every great movie has a soundtrack."
[00:12:22]
"People talk about knowledge is power. Lenora gave me a lot of knowledge, but what she gave me more than just knowledge is she taught me how to apply that knowledge, because applied knowledge is actually power."
[00:34:16]
"You may not be able to solve everything, but there is something that you can do to make it right. That's what I've been teaching to leaders from stages, is that it may be wrong in your culture. It may be wrong in your company. It may be wrong on your team. There may be things that are out of your control, but there is something that you can do to make it right."
Anton's Links and Resources:
The Presidential Principles Book
This episode is generously sponsored by: Human Design by Holly
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Giving Flowers To:
Theme music by: Adrian DiMatteo
Podcast edited by: Landis Podcast Editing