Episode 038: John Ruhlin – Working The Gratitude Muscle | Strategic Appreciation And Gift Giving
This episode was absolutely packed full of action oriented takeaways to help us become better at exercising the gratitude muscle. In addition to this, John truly lives by what he says… He sent me handcrafted custom made knives with this engraving, “Hand crafted for the Ryan and Miranda Hawk Family.”  He also added my Learning Leader Show logo on the knives.  One of the most incredible gifts I’ve ever received!
John Ruhlin is the founder and CEO of Ruhlin Group, a firm that specializes in high-level gifting plans to build relationships and acquire new clients.
The company was originally founded as a way to market Cutco Cutlery as a high-end corporate gift to companies of all sizes. This partnership with Cutco has allowed the company to become the No. 1 distributor of Cutco in the company’s 60-year history and an active consultant to its executives and leadership.
John currently resides just outside of St. Louis with his wife, Lindsay, and two kids. He’s the co-author of the best-selling book “Cutting Edge Sales” and is a sought-after speaker on the topics of C-level selling, relationship development, and strategic gifting.
Episode 038: John Ruhlin – Working The Gratitude Muscle | Strategic Appreciation And Gift Giving
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The Learning Leader Show
“In our digital age, a hand written note is gold.”
Some Questions I Ask:

What one common characteristic do all successful leaders share?
How have you been so successful at getting the attention of anyone?
What percentage of revenue do you invest in gift giving?
Reframing your questioning to: “What’s the most I could give?”
What separates you from all of the others? How have you been able to dominate this space?

In This Episode, You Will Learn:

How to master “strategic appreciation”
The importance of being a giver
Great leaders have 6 to 1 ratio of positive words to negative
How to work the gratitude muscle
An incredible story about how he got engaged
The unbelievable length John went to impress someone (Cameron Herold) that he wanted to mentor him.
How to dominate your specific space like he dominates the appreciation space

“What’s the most I could give?  What’s the craziest thing I could do to show them how much I appreciate them?”
Continue Learning

Read:  "Give and Take" By Adam Grant  
Go To: Ruhlin Group
Follow John on Twitter: @ruhlin

You may also like these episodes:
Episode 001: How To Become A Master Connector With Jayson Gaignard From MasterMind Talks
Episode 002: How To Take Over And Set Bigger Goals With Chris Brogan
Episode 004: How Todd Wagner (and Mark Cuban) Sold Broadcast.com To Yahoo! For $5.7 Billion
Episode 010: Shane Snow – How To Accelerate Success Using Smart Cuts
Did you enjoy the podcast?
This was a jam packed episode full of great content.  Ben Greenfield is leader who is constantly learning in order to help us all live a better life. Who do you know that needs to hear this?  Send them to The Learning Leader Show!
Episode edited by the great J Scott Donnell
 
Bio From ideamensch.com
John Ruhlin is the founder and CEO of Ruhlin Group, a firm that specializes in high-level gifting plans to build relationships and acquire new clients.
The company was originally founded as a way to market Cutco Cutlery as a high-end corporate gift to companies of all sizes. This partnership with Cutco has allowed the company to become the No. 1 distributor of Cutco in the company’s 60-year history and an active consultant to its executives and leadership.
 
John currently resides just outside of St. Louis with his wife, Lindsay, and two kids. He’s the co-author of the best-selling book “Cutting Edge Sales” and is a sought-after speaker on the topics of C-level selling, relationship development, and strategic gifting.