“Writing your Life Code, starting with I Will…”
Shaun Tomson, Surfing legend, Entrepreneur, and noted Speaker has a sit-down with Mark and Patrick to talk about his life mission and back story. This wide-ranging conversation covered a lot of ground including:- Shaun started surfing at nine years old in South Africa
- By 20 he was a competitive surfer and starting winning early in life
- He’s shared the stage with Malcolm Gladwell, Richard Branson, and others during his public speaking career
- He speaks a lot about giving his perspective, not a prescription
- The genesis story of the Surfers Code – 12 Lessons and how the project started at the Rincon
- The Surfrider Foundation – early days
- How the Code establishes the building blocks of character
- How the Code has morphed into his public life and speaking – and has impacted thousands of leaders
- How he does his workshops – very cool process. (Note: Love to participate in one some day)
- – Spend 30 minutes writing your 12 lines, starting with I will…
- – Pick one line that best represents your purpose in life
- – Stand up and represent – read your line to your peers
- He gives examples of how this transformative work has led to real change
- He’s passionate about his home country and is activating social change across South Africa through youth programs
- We talked about how Sports impacts Life and Leadership
- Interesting side note was the reality of surfing – you work so hard for so long to get 15 seconds of ride time.
- How passion underlies everything he does and stands for
- His studying of Nelson Mandela to get ideas on how to influence on a grand scale
- Passion + Purpose = The Core of Leadership
- Maybe this should be on a tee shirt: Surfing Teaches You Humility
Sport was an end game. I didnt surf to be the victor.”