Life Lessons From a 20-Something Year Old: John Malone

In another effort to dig deeper, I revisited another episode of KindredCast. Their 100th episode features none other but the “Cable Cowboy” himself. Dr. John Malone holds many titles. He is a businessman, philanthropist, and conservationist who shaped content and cable industries globally. He also acts as chairman of Liberty Media, Liberty Broadband, and Liberty Global. Finally, my last virtual mentor, Barry Diller, describes Dr. John Malone as “deeply brilliant.”

Dr. John Malone shares the greatest hits and lessons from throughout his career. Dr. Malone touches on trends and visions in the current market while constantly weaving his colleagues, friends, family, and mentors into the conversation. He is clearly seasoned in many facets. Aside from being one of the most well-respected and highly accomplished media and cable giants, he is a seasoned husband, father, mentor, and mentee.

Surprisingly, after listening to this podcast, the lessons I took away did not relate to Malone’s insights into the media market but the world of collaboration. Like all well-rounded businessmen, Dr. John Malone has gone through trial and error and does not shy away from the topic. Malone draws on names such as Ted Turner, Rupert Murdoch, and Sumner Redstone to emphasize learning from examples. Malone states, “You learn a lot. From really smart, really talented people.” He shares his experience with fellow media mogul Sumner Redstone. After a long battle for the control of Paramount Pictures, Redstone eventually prevailed. Together, the two tycoons had faced over 2 decades of collaborative competition. The keyword here is: collaboration. Malone has an extremely collaborative mindset when speaking about mentors, business, and politics.

With collaboration, you create room to learn from others but also to solve problems. Dr. John Malone shares his perspective coming out of the pandemic, emphasizing that existing and upcoming issues are all solvable with collaboration. Malone urges us to invest in research and development to anticipate and even solve problems like climate change, population density, and pandemics. According to Malone, this requires two things: “mentality leaderships that are willing to solve these issues” and a firm understanding that it is “all about collaboration.”

My favorite piece of advice Dr. John Malone shares is words from one of those really smart and talented people and Malone’s toughest mentor, Moses Shapiro. Shapiro told Malone, “When you analyze, always ask the question, ‘if not.’ Always challenge your assumptions, always look at the downside.” In other words, play devil’s advocate. These words come across as very humbling. Even Dr. John Malone has to question himself, so all the more so, shouldn’t we? As a 20 something-year-old, it is effortless to look at the world around me and feel that most people have everything figured out.

We all have that moment in our 20-something years where we look around and see our peers in dramatically different stages of life. This has been on my mind lately. Some of my peers are living their full-fledged college lives, filled with parties and late nights. Others are planning fantasied weddings, and some are already killing it in their careers. The other half of us are in between dropping out altogether or simply just figuring it out. Being a 20-something-year-old in today’s day in age, it is helpful to look at a world through Malone’s eyes where everything is valuable. With a dash of collaboration and focus, failure and mistake take the shape of success and leadership. The confusion only promotes growth. While hearing these words lie in a completely different world than believing and executing them, it is a comforting start.

Dr. John Malone believes that “management is always the key to success.” In a world where “every business comes down to the quality… dedication, focus, and vision of the management,” I find myself drawing the connection between a business and an individual. Just as a business cannot survive without quality management, neither can people. We manage our own lives. The way in which we do so is key. It is easy to believe we have it figured out, that we do not have to ask the question of, “… if not?” Whether you are 20 or 80, take a page out of Dr. John Malone’s book and rely on those around you, your mistakes, and always practice collaboration.

Watch the full interview or listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you find your podcasts.