Kevin Carrol is the author of the highly successful Rules of the Red Rubber Ball. He considers himself and excitatory agent for change; in other words, he’s a “Katalyst.”
Kevin spent several years as the head athletic trainer for th Philadelphia 76ers, and while there, Nike founder Phil Knight tapped Kevin to bring his unique experiences to the sneaker giant and help inspire their creatives. While there, Kevin was the inspiration behind the Lance Armstrong “Live Strong” wristband phenomenon. Kevin left Nike in 2004 to found his own brand, The Katalyst Consultancy.
He has helped turn creative ideas into reality for such organizations at The Discovery Channel, ESPN, Mattel, Capitol One, The National Hockey League, The Walt Disney Company, Paramount Television, and Starbucks, which recently chose Kevin as one of their “Authors of Note” in Starbucks’ “The Way I See It” program. His words appear on 17 million Starbucks white coffee cups across the country.
Kevin serves as a special advisor to the global outreach organization, Right to Play, and is a frequent visiting professor at the University of Colorado School of Journalism.
Kevin lives in Portland, Oregon, with his wife and family.
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We all have a story to tell and we need to think of the value of our story, especially as future leaders.
Kevin shared his story about being raised by alcoholic parents and eventually being abandoned by his mother and living with his grandparents. One of the first days living with his grandparents in Philadelphia he went to a playground and he found a red rubber ball.
As he began playing with the red rubber ball, other kids started coming around to where he eventually was being included in play and found acceptance with his peers. At the early age of six he says he ‘committed’ to the red rubber ball because he knew it would take him places.
Moments of clarity lead to other opportunities. We are all human catalysts. We all have the ability to be change agents in our world.
What inspires you? What’s your red rubber ball? What are you chasing? That passion will lead you the next generation and cause dreamers to chase big dreams.
A red rubber ball can come in any shape, size, form or inspiration.
In life, all of us are desperate to play. If its something we want bad enough, you’ll figure it out. The problem is that as we mature, we allow our genius and creativity to atrophy. We need to exercise our creative muscle. Creativity can solve problems, come up with solutions.
Storytelling is valuable – it is how we learn and retain information.
Kevin offered nine pictures to remind us of ways to nurture our genius…
1 –Eyes of a child, eyes of wonder, eyes of possibility.
Kevin talked about how when he worked for Nike he organized a game of tag for over 4,000 people!
Childlike minds are free and unabashed. Creativity and imagination abound in childhood. As we become adults we tend to ‘dumb-down.’
Kevin says we need to keep reminders of play around you… toys, fun things to keep your creativity going. Open your eyes up like a child, see everything as a first. Recognize the value of that.
2 – Light bulb
We all have ideas abounding. We live in an imagination economy where things like creativity, cleverness and ingenuity are a critical.
How do you exercise your creativity? Imagination is important. Creativity solves problems.
Kevin shared the story of Will Mills, a teenage athlete who lost his hand in an accident with explosives, who created a prosthetic hand so he could still play basketball. It was patented and is called the Will Mills Rebound in his honor.
3 – Energy
You have to have energy to chase your dreams. If you don’t have energy, how will you chase your dreams? You need people to encourage you to chase your dreams. Your dreams should be lofty and audacious.
Kevin shared about one of the dreams he followed in creating the Homeless World Cup.
We all have the opportunity to be human catalysts, to impact lives. What are we committed to impacting? Whatever it is, it will require energy.
4 – Baby with a dumbbell
Anything is possible. Human possibility is endless – with God all things are possible. Our human possibility is limitless and boundless when its tapped and when its connected to our genius.
The greatest asset of any leader is their ability to inspire people to give toward a vision, dream or idea. Most major corporations today have done away with mission statements, instead they have an inspirational dream. Missions and visions are limited – dreams continue and provide the opportunity for ownership.
JFK had a dream to send men to the moon. There is a story about when he was at NASA one day touring one of the facilities and he encountered a janitor. JFK asked him how he was doing and he said, “I’m doing great, I’m helping send a man to the moon.” He believed what he was doing was contributing to the greater vision.
Can you inspire people at all levels?
Missions are finite – dreams are limitless.
5 – Mohammed Ali
Mohammed Ali once said, “I either won or lost before I entered the ring.”
If you are willing to do the hard, unseen work… to trust the process and trust it will pay the dividends, will you be willing to put in the hard work?
6 – The dollar bill
We each have 86,400 seconds a day. What would happen if you valued every second as a dollar? Time is money, right? What would you do with the investment of your day? There is an art to being ‘present.’ Children are pros at being present. We stifle that. Our jobs disappoint us. We get laid off, cut back or downsized – careers never quit. No one can take away your inspiration and your passions. You need to focus.
Kevin shared the story of a young man he met who was battling cancer. He chose to value his time.
7 – Starfish
Kevin shared the story about the boy on the beach throwing the starfish back into the ocean. That story illustrates the power of our legacy.
We all have the opportunity to impact someone every single day. Will you shift momentum? Will you be socially invested? Start a movement of your own based on the inspiration you have. We have the potential and capacity to change the world.
Believe it. You can’t be wishy-washy. The world is waiting for us with its distractions and challenges and we have to be focused and committed to making a difference.
8 – Five degrees to our dreams
There are 5 degrees to our dreams
Dedication
Responsibility
Education
Attitude
Motivation
Kevin shared the story of the LIVESTRONG bracelets and his involvement with the creation of them.
Tell people your dream for accountability and encouragement. Remember that a closed mouth doesn’t get fed.
Be clear about your dream and what you are chasing. We all have the ability to uncork possibility.
9 – Play
Kevin closed sharing this quote from James Michener:
The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion.
He hardly knows which is which.
He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing.
To him he’s always doing both.
