Martin Sheen, Passion, Success in Hollywood, & Building Relationships
I was joined by legendary actor and activist Martin Sheen to discuss his tremendous career including his insights on success and the concepts and ideas that shape our personal and professional relationships. We dissected the key ideas that have been foundational to Martin’s long career as a leading man in Hollywood, along with my own reflections from my time in the United States Navy.
Martin’s deep sense of the things that matter to him was really refreshing and we share a similar attitudes toward self-awareness, failing as a path to success, and the key to good relationships being ownership of one’s own happiness. Never outsource your happiness to someone else!
We discussed everything from:
- How Martin learned accents of Robert E. Lee and John F. Kennedy
- How Martin discovered his passion for acting
- Martin’s favorite stories from behind the scenes of The West Wing
- And how someone who is unhappy with their partner can take responsibility for their own happiness
The surprising thing about the whole conversation is that when I’m studying a guest, preparing to do an interview, talking to Martin, editing the footage after, or even doing distribution like writing about it… I’m being true to my own “passions.”
I call this a sense of self-awareness or integrity, while Martin calls it his passion. It’s the same idea! The similarity in our experiences gives me a new excitement at this fork in the road of my career. My confidence in the decision to take a new path is bolstered by this sense of alignment between my work and my internal drive.
“If it’s not personal, it’s impersonal. And if it’s impersonal, no one cares.” -Martin Sheen
From someone who has won Emmy Awards and earned a star on The Hollywood Walk of Fame, Martin definitely had some deep thoughts on what it means to lead, follow, and trust people when the stakes are high. We talked about being able to project the very best in people and hold them to that with a radical accountability. And even harder, how to hold yourself to that high standard too.
I also asked Martin about how to lead people when they don’t work directly for you and you can’t fire them (my daily experience). His insights from leading thousands of volunteer Civil War re-enactors on the set of Gettysburg might be different than you’d expect!
We had a thorough conversation and Martin was incredibly gracious through the whole process. He’s a very busy guy (still doing numerous professional and philanthropic projects). However, he was open to discussing the most personal topics. Even after the interview, he stayed for several pictures with each member of the film crew. The complete video interview is below.
And for those of you that are busy and want to listen on your commute, check it out on Apple Podcasts