Joe LaRussa spent his career in automotive. Promotions, a patent, industry recognition. He was winning at work but walking into chaos every night. He talks about how the industry downturn swept up his position. He was a new dad with toddler at home and no plan. On the drive home that day, with nothing left to schedule and no meetings to run, it hit him: Every system he used at work was usable. He built a household balance sheet, a family mission statement, spending thresholds, and a calendar. Now he's a small-city mayor, and people trusted him with that office because of how his household runs.
He Ran a 200-Person Plant But Couldn't Decide What's for Dinner | Joe LaRusso
In our episode we covered:
→ Why work-life balance is a myth and what work-life blending looks like in practice
→ The family mission statement that ended the dinner argument
→ Running your home like a balance sheet
→ The Japan trip that came after ten flopped blending attempts
→ Why your problem at home is almost always the system
Thank you, Joe, for Talking Real Shift!
0:00 Teaser
0:48 From automotive leadership to Homegrown Leadership
3:08 The drive home that changed everything
6:19 Running the household like an operating machine
7:34 Building a five-month reserve, the household balance sheet
11:08 Getting aligned, the family mission statement
15:11 The vulnerable moments behind the anger
19:48 Get hold of your time first
24:58 Work-life balance is a myth, try blending
35:25 Good leaders lift other leaders up
44:23 The sledgehammer and the velvet hammer
54:45 Course-correcting a broken culture at home
59:48 The one resource you can't make more of
1:00:00 What he'd tell his 25-year-old self
1:01:48 Where to start and the closing invite
[Speaker 0]
Your life will never be less complicated than it is right now.
[Speaker 1]
I was constantly getting promoted. And meanwhile,
[Speaker 1]
my personal life was a dumpster fire that was floating down the pretty river.
[Speaker 0]
The systems that I was using at work every day, I was putting those in my briefcase and just
kind of setting them in the corner-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... and dealing with stuff in a very reactionary mode at home. For all my training and skills and,
and abilities as a leader, I wasn't maximizing it at home. How many more decisions like that are
draining us of our time?
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
The one resource we cannot make more of, the one resource we get to use once.
[Speaker 2]
Talk real shift.
[Speaker 2]
Backbone people, that's the gift.
[Speaker 2]
This is your seat, take your shift.
[Speaker 1]
Welcome back to Talk Real Shift. I'm your host, Devon Frashiser. On today's episode, we're
gonna talk about a different kind of shift. Not the shift that happens from the floor to the
boardroom, but the shift that happens outside of work. Stay tuned as I talk with Joe La Russa,
founder of Homegrown Leadership, as he shares stories and vulnerable moments of the
leadership that takes place outside of work. Joe,
[Speaker 1]
I was up all night. Okay, not, not up all night, but I was constantly waking up, falling asleep,
waking up, falling asleep.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
And I talk in my sleep,[Speaker 1]
and I'm pretty sure I was waking up thinking and talking, "What do I want to intro this-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... to be?" Because you're the founder
[Speaker 1]
of Homegrown Leadership-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... and I have watched and experienced my own personal life [laughs] explode and blow up for a
multitude of reasons, right? It takes 2 to tango.
[Speaker 0]
Sure.
[Speaker 1]
Um,
[Speaker 1]
but I, I didn't know, like, where do I wanna start the conversation? And so I figured, I wanna
start the conversation, how did you get into this? Tell me of your journey from automotive-
[Speaker 0]
Yeah
[Speaker 1]
... and leadership
[Speaker 1]
to where you're at today.
[Speaker 0]
1st of all, thank you very much for having me.
[Speaker 1]
Of course.
[Speaker 0]
This, I've been looking forward to this conversation.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
This is always fun to talk about, but it's even more so when people who can relate to what goes
on-[Speaker 1]
Yeah
[Speaker 0]
... in the shop floor. So being an automotive person, you know, there's a lot of situational
leadership opportunities.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And what I noticed was, a lot of times my folks, my people, my teammates, when they would
struggle at work, they weren't struggling at work because they didn't have what they needed to
get their job done-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... or they weren't well-trained, or they were having poor communication. What I noticed was,
there was always something lingering in the back of their minds or something weighing on
them personally outside of work, and usually it was at home. So the way I got into this was, I
was providing leadership coaching as a value-added service for my previous employers.
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
So because it was in my interest to keep my team at a high functioning level-
[Speaker 1]
Absolutely
[Speaker 0]
... and it doesn't really matter where the source of the frustration or the source of, um, you
know, weight was coming from-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... my obligation as their leader was to help them get through that so that they could return to a
high performing level.
[Speaker 1]
Because shift happens-
[Speaker 0]
Every day
[Speaker 1]
... every day-[Speaker 0]
Every day
[Speaker 1]
... everywhere, right? Um, and I think I've shared a little bit with you about some of my own
personal shift, um, where I was having a phenomenal career, right?
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
I mean, I was constantly getting promoted. I was going from, you know, various jobs where
sometimes there was a little bit of imposter syndrome because I- I'm not, I- I don't feel like I'm
qualified to be here, but somehow somebody was like, "Cool. Congratulations. You get to go do
something that you've never done before. You know, ha- have fun." Um, and meanwhile,
[Speaker 1]
my personal life was a dumpster fire that was floating down the pretty river, right? And I wish I
would've had somebody like, like you.
[Speaker 1]
So let's talk some real shift.
[Speaker 0]
Let's talk some real shift.
[Speaker 1]
Tell me about s- like, what was that pivotal moment? So there was-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... life happened-
[Speaker 0]
Yep
[Speaker 1]
... right?
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
You decided to get into the consulting space. What made you focus on the personal side of it?
[Speaker 0]
So the personal side of it came in, you know, as a young married and a new father. You know, I
had a toddler at home. And, you know, the automotive industry is notoriously cyclical.
[Speaker 1]
Very.[Speaker 0]
Notoriously cyclical. And my position at the time had gotten swept up in one of those downturn
cycles. So, you know, of course, like a good soldier, I'm like-
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
... "I can do something else. You can move me over here. You can move me over there." They're
like, "Hey, the decision's final. This is what's happening."
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
"You're impacted."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
"It, it is what it is." Okay.
[Speaker 0]
Well, when I was driving home and starting to figure out, "Well, now what do I do," right? "I
gotta figure out a next step," it dawned on me that the systems that I was using at work every
day, I was putting those in my briefcase and just kind of setting them in the corner-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... and dealing with stuff in a more, in a very reactionary mode at home. And it occurred to me
on that drive home that day, because I had time to think now. I wasn't thinking about what I
had to do tomorrow. I wasn't thinking about the meetings I hadn't scheduled. I hadn't, wasn't
thinking about... Because I had been freed from that-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
that. And now-
... mental, that cognitive load had been relieved by an externality, so I was able to just release
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... I was able to think about my household.
[Speaker 1]
Right.[Speaker 0]
And that's when it hit me that for all my training and skills and, and abilities as a leader,
[Speaker 0]
I wasn't maximizing it at home. And that's what led me to Homegrown Leadership, helping
frustrated parents and spouses who are crushing it at work but have chaos at home-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... reclaim hundreds of hours, reclaim thousands of dollars, find more peace, have their
household be a source of pride, a source of- ... of energy as opposed to a, a drain or a source of
frustration or anxiety or anger. Like, those are the things that, that-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... that aren't, that's not the way it's supposed to be. That's not how the movie is supposed to
end. The movie is supposed to end with you going home, and that's the place that-
[Speaker 1]
Your happily ever after
[Speaker 0]
... fills, that fills you up. Yes, that-
[Speaker 1]
[sighs]
[Speaker 0]
... the heavily, happily ever after.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
100%.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. I, for me, it was, I think it started even in school, right? It was like, "Okay, I'm never gonna
be the smartest person in the room. I know that. But I will tenaciously outwork almost
everybody else in that room." Right? And so even in school, I had to apply myself 10 times
harder than my peers because I just didn't get it, right? And so I threw myself into school, I
threw myself into my career, and it was like home was just, I didn't wanna be there, right? I, I
just didn't wanna be there. So I, I put all of my focus and my attention throughout college and,
you know, I got married... I walked across stage and got married, like, a week later, and then
started working, right? Right away.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.[Speaker 1]
Right? And so it was just school, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work, work. And by
the time I would get home, there was, there was nothing left, right? Like, I was a shell and a
husk, particularly in manufacturing. Do, I mean, you know, did, when you were a leader in
manufacturing, did you work an 8-hour work day?
[Speaker 0]
It demands a lot. It demands a lot from everybody that works there.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
And so let's, let's, again, let's talk some real shift stories. Tell me about some of these stories
that you've heard that you've been able to go from the situation that I just shared with you-
[Speaker 0]
Yep
[Speaker 1]
... to running it like an efficient operating machine.
[Speaker 0]
Well, the situation starts with my own household. I mean, the stories that I share the most are
the ones, are the journey that I traveled myself. And in that same scenario, you know, when
you're disrupted and your source of revenue for your household is completely, you know,
shattered-
[Speaker 1]
Oh, yeah
[Speaker 0]
... or gone, you start to say to yourself, "Okay, well, if, if this were work-"
[Speaker 1]
"What would I do?"
[Speaker 0]
"... what would I do? And how would I avoid this from happening again?" As I said, automotive
industry is notoriously cyclical.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
This is a well-known fact.
[Speaker 1]
Right.[Speaker 0]
It's boom and bust. Another one is coming.
[Speaker 0]
How do we prepare ourselves for the next one?
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
So during that time between
[Speaker 0]
jobs at that point in my career, I also sat down at home and applied all of the things that I had
learned in the workplace to my household financially and saying, "Okay, we're gonna make sure
that no matter what happens with me professionally, this household can run with no change
for," fill in the blank number of months, weeks, whatever.
[Speaker 1]
Ooh, okay, so what was your goal? What is-
[Speaker 0]
So the-
[Speaker 1]
... that fill in the blank? What's your goal?
[Speaker 0]
So the fill, so, so this is a conversation among the household leaders.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
And my wife and I sat down at the time and said, we said, "This is the blank we have to fill in."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Now, I'm a little bit risk tolerant. You know, my wife is a little bit less so.
[Speaker 1]
Fair.
[Speaker 0]
That's fine.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
So now we had to communicate and come to a compromise, and we said, "At least 3 months."[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
4 months is better.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Because we looked at the transitions that I had made career-wise, and I had never been out of
work for more than 90 days.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
So for sure we have to cover at least 3 months.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
Now, to raise the comfort level a little bit higher-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... right, we decided to push that to 5 months.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
So that no matter what happens, we've got 5 months where nothing has to change.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
And that's just at the beginning. If it was a prolonged period, let's say that there's a huge
economic problem, economic recession, big external event that can't be controlled, a
pandemic, whatever, whatever.
[Speaker 1]
Life happens.
[Speaker 0]
Life happens.
[Speaker 1]
Yep.[Speaker 0]
How do we make sure that even after that period, we could still make adjustments-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and survive longer?
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
If we need survival mode, we can activate that. But we wanted to keep ourselves in a position
where nothing would have to change for a certain period of time. So that was system one.
Financial management in the household had to look more like in industry. Nobody wants a
warranty or recall to happen, but guess what every single automotive company has sitting on
their balance sheet?
[Speaker 1]
Yep.
[Speaker 0]
The recall warranty reserve pot.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
So that if something goes bad-
[Speaker 1]
There's money put in
[Speaker 0]
... there's already a bucket of money set aside-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... to handle these things. So, uh, just transferring that concept-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... to the household was thing one. So that's one-
[Speaker 1]
So you set up a whole, a whole P&L. Your household was a P&L.
[Speaker 0]Balance sheet, P&L. We report the, the P&L monthly.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
Um, it's a very quick review. The annual reviews tend to be a little bit longer-
[Speaker 1]
Fair
[Speaker 0]
years out.
... as they, as they are. But we don't just look one year out. You know, at work, we think 3 to 5
[Speaker 1]
Right, you're always forecasting.
[Speaker 0]
The, the CapEx plan, we're, "Oh, we're gonna build a new plant. We're gonna buy new
equipment. We're gonna grow sales. We're gonna do these things."
[Speaker 1]
Yep.
[Speaker 0]
Though that requires long-term planning. Well, if we can't get to Saturday at home-
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
... I mean-
[Speaker 1]
Despair.
[Speaker 0]
You ever had this conversation?
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
"What do you want for dinner?" "I don't know. What do you want for dinner?" "I don't know.
What do you want for dinner?" And you spent, you waste a half an hour-
[Speaker 1]
Arguing what, or-
[Speaker 0]
... having a conversation-
[Speaker 1]... trying to figure out what you're gonna get for dinner
[Speaker 0]
... trying to, trying to solve-
[Speaker 1]
Because nobody wants to sit in your cabinet
[Speaker 0]
... the simplest decision you could possibly make. And, and at work-
[Speaker 1]
This is true
[Speaker 0]
site select-
... we're thinking about where are we gonna build a plant, what are the criteria, we're trying to
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... or pick a supplier-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
decisions.
... or pr- source a production contract and making 1,000,000 dollar, just millions of dollar
[Speaker 1]
Millions.
[Speaker 0]
And at home, you know, this is, like, literally a $25 decision if it's at the grocery store.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
It's a $50 decision if we go out.
[Speaker 1]
Fair.
[Speaker 0]
And we can't get there. So that kind of elevation out of this tactical, you know, reactionary
mode was critical for us.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]So financial management, team communication, figuring out what matters most, being aligned.
You look at a C-suite, the CFO, the CIO, the CEO, the COO, all these C people, they've gotta be
aligned. They've got to all... They don't have to agree.
[Speaker 1]
They have to see-
[Speaker 0]
They just have to-
[Speaker 1]
... the same way.
[Speaker 0]
Correct. They have to see, the C-suite has to see-
[Speaker 1]
To see the same way
[Speaker 0]
... it the same way. And that's, that's also true at home.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
If ev- if there's not alignment, you're already in a contentious posture.
[Speaker 1]
Right. That's fair. That's fair. What do you do if there's not alignment? How, how, how do you,
you know, advise people to get that alignment? Because I'm assuming the communication
alignment needs to come before any of the other alignment. Because if you're not heading
towards the same vision and goal...
[Speaker 0]
Yeah. Well, exactly. And this is what happens at work. You know, the very 1st thing that you're
trained on when you arrive at an organization-
[Speaker 1]
You should be, the vision and the mission.
[Speaker 0]
The mission, vision and values of the organization.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
This is the very 1st thing you're presented with. It's page one, paragraph one.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs][Speaker 0]
You're given this document that this is how we... And this is part of the culture here.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
This is how, this is what we value, this is how we a- approach our work, and this is the vision for
the organization. So
[Speaker 0]
one other exercise we went through is we did a family mission statement, and we wrote down
the 8 values that matter the most in our household. And those values are what we filter our
decision-making through, how we manage relationships, how we prioritize our financial
resources, how we prioritize our time resources.
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
And everything is filtered through those values. Because at work, it's the same. We would say,
"Okay, it, this is what our values are. This is the mission. This is the vision." Our, 1st of all, are
we attacking the right decisions as a leadership team or are we allowing ourselves to be pulled
to something-
[Speaker 1]
Distracted.
[Speaker 0]
Correct. This is thing one.
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
Thing 2, if we are gonna make a decision, through what are we gonna filter it and how are we
gonna use what we believe to filter our decision-making? So this family mission statement,
family value statement, family goals, it really clarified, because my wife and I, we were from
different family of origin, we had different cultural upbringings-
[Speaker 1]
Okay
[Speaker 0]
... a lot of differences, and it really allowed us to get on the same page. And now we could
communicate about those differences-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... because we knew we were grounded in the values for the household.[Speaker 1]
Can I put you on the spot?
[Speaker 0]
Yeah, for sure.
[Speaker 1]
What's your... Can you share your, your family's?
[Speaker 0]
I, I can. I wouldn't wanna bore the audience with all of them.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
But, um, there's one value where we say we meet our commitments.
[Speaker 1]
Oh.
[Speaker 0]
We meet our commitments. Our, we simply let our, let our yes be yes and our no be no. And if
we can't meet a commitment, on the rare occasion where we cannot do what we say, we
immediately inform the person we committed to that we can't do it, and we do everything that
we can to make it right.
[Speaker 0]
Everything. If we can't do something, we say we can't do it.
[Speaker 1]
We own it.
[Speaker 0]
And then if we can, if we can do it and we're gonna do it, we do it, no matter what comes up
after we've decided. We've made a commitment and we will live up to that, because we are
raising 2 small leaders in the household-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and we have to show them why are we, why don't we... This is hard. Why are we still doing
this? Because we said we would. This is a very simple, uh, illustration, but that value,
[Speaker 0]
we don't say yes to everything anymore.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
'Cause that was a frustration point. I'm Mr. We Can Do That, we can do that, we can do that.And my wife's like, "I, I don't know who, what people you're gonna activate."
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
"This is not work where you have a army of shop floor p- you don't have a army of production
workers that you can just move around and get these things done. Before you say yes to more,
[Speaker 0]
you know, you need, we need to discuss how we're gonna get that done." And it was a very
important discussion that we had after we said, because we both agreed, if we say yes, we are
all in.
[Speaker 1]
We are committed to it.
[Speaker 0]
We're all in. But if we can't and we said yes, now it's a,
[Speaker 0]
it's a source of frustration-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and disconnection.
[Speaker 1]
Your word is everything, right? I mean, I, at the end of the day,
[Speaker 1]
my mom has a handful of sayings that she would tell to us and, and a couple of them, like, stick
with me. And one of them is like, "Maintain your integrity."
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Right? Like, your integrity is everything.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
It doesn't matter where you go, it doesn't matter what you do, maintain your integrity. And
that's what you guys are doing with that, that commitment.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]Right? You guys are maintaining your integrity. As you're speaking with and advising clients,
right, these are C-suite, highly, highly successful people.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Right?
[Speaker 1]
They appear to have it figured out.
[Speaker 0]
Yeah.
[Speaker 1]
And then us at the bottom, the peasants of the world, as I like to call us-
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
... um,
[Speaker 1]
we feel like that is sometimes untouchable. We feel like our lives
[Speaker 1]
are the dumpster fire rolling down the river.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
And they have some secret sauce going on that they can balance it-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... because some of my biggest arguments are that there's no true thing as work-life balance.
And before we get into that,
[Speaker 1]
what are some of the vulnerable moments-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
alone?
... from them that you could share that would make everybody else feel like it's okay, you're not
[Speaker 0]For sure.
[Speaker 0]
The biggest thing that man- usually it manifests as frustration, anger, anxiety, and it's
[Speaker 0]
loosed in the workplace.
[Speaker 0]
You know, if, if a leader is, you know, losing their shift on you at work-
[Speaker 1]
Hmm
[Speaker 0]
... at work, it's not because of work. There's something else that's going on, A. B,
[Speaker 0]
systems.
nobody wants to go to therapy for this when it, therapy is not the answer. This is a lack of
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And when that realization happens or when that light bulb shines in their mind about, "Well,
yeah, I have all these systems and structures in place over here," you would never run around
the workplace and have individual conversations with every single person you have to talk to
and then run back around to verify and, and clarify.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs] You would never get anything done.
[Speaker 0]
No, nothing would ha- you'd run around all day-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and literally be talking all day. So we structure communication at work. We have weekly
team meetings. We have daily stand-ups. There's a communication-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... plan about-
[Speaker 1]
Yep
[Speaker 0]... how topics get... And part of that is to organize what gets discussed.
[Speaker 0]
We don't discuss a long-term strategy topic in a standup meeting.
[Speaker 1]
No.
[Speaker 0]
And we don't deal with tactical things that are going wrong on the shop floor in a strategy, a
strategic planning session.
[Speaker 0]
1st thing. So these folks that I speak with and that I help, you know, they bring their anger and
frustration, and then the very 1st thing we have to get down to is, is this a systems problem?
Which usually is the light bulb moment when they realize that it's a lack of systems. And then
the other connection is simply, well,
[Speaker 0]
you're able to use all of that over here in this sphere.
[Speaker 0]
What is preventing you, what is stopping you from implementing it in this other sphere? What if
you could just take what's making you successful here and move it over here? And what is
stopping you from doing that? And they honestly, the answer 99.9% of the time is, "I don't
know. I never thought ... It, it just never occurred. Home is just supposed to be this thing that
runs itself."
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
Right?
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
It's just an assumption.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Because, and there's no manual, there's no education, there's no training. Like, we watch how
our parents did it, or we watch how a neighbor's family-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... does it, or a trusted family member, whatever. We see examples, but we're never really
given the opportunity to train[Speaker 0]
on-
[Speaker 1]
Yeah
[Speaker 0]
... running a household. And for those people who may think to themselves, "Well, I, I don't
wanna be CEO. I don't wanna be ..." You know, some people are satisfied. I, I knew an engineer,
all he wanted to do was be the best air induction engineer in the company, and he was given
the biggest programs, the most complicated designs, because all he wanted to do was be the
best engineer.
[Speaker 1]
Yep.
[Speaker 0]
So he got all that.
[Speaker 0]
He still has gotta go home just like everybody else
[Speaker 0]
and lead his household, the fundamental economic and social unit of our society. If household
leadership is strong,
[Speaker 0]
neighborhoods are strong. If neighborhoods are strong, communities are strong. If communities
are strong, and so it goes. So even though you may not be, you may not have the aspiration
that other, you know, people might have-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... you still have a responsibility and obligation to run your household. And that's a, kind of a
social contract, you know? When you're in a dispute with a neighbor-
[Speaker 1]
Mm
[Speaker 0]
... you're not criticizing their taste. You're kinda getting, you're sensing the disconnect in the
way they lead their household versus yours. Companies are the same.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
They're led differently.
[Speaker 1]
Right.[Speaker 0]
get those results-
S- some, it's results at all costs. Results are all that matter. And then other companies, how we
[Speaker 1]
Matters
[Speaker 0]
... matters. And so it is at home. But yeah, those are, that's what I see from these folks when
they come. It presents as anger, anxiety, frustration, and unpacking that, it's typically,
[Speaker 0]
"Well, tell me about the systems that you have in place." "Well, what do you mean systems?"
"Well, you have systems in place at work. Do you not have those at home?" "Well, no." "Well,
why?" "Well, I don't know. I never thought about it that way."
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
This is the typical conversation.
[Speaker 1]
Interesting. Okay. What system do they typically implement 1st?
[Speaker 0]
Uh, so the, the sequence that I coach is
[Speaker 0]
get ahold of your time 1st.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
So the typical household leader is able to spend 2 hours a day leading and managing their
household. 'Cause if you think about it, you're at work-
[Speaker 1]
It's about ... Yeah, I was gonna say-
[Speaker 0]
... you're sleeping-
[Speaker 1]
... that seems about right, yeah
[Speaker 0]
have to get done.
... you're sleeping, you gotta eat, you know, personal hygiene matters. These are things that
[Speaker 1]
Right.[Speaker 0]
So when you, when you take it all out, you're, you're left with about 2 hours a day to lead or
manage your household. And if you were to take the leadership of a household and put a salary
to it-
[Speaker 1]
Ooh, please, let's do it
[Speaker 0]
... it's $140,000 job a year-
[Speaker 1]
Interesting
[Speaker 0]
... that we have to get done in 2 hours a day.
[Speaker 0]
day,
Now, this is the pinnacle of efficiency. I have to run a societal and economic unit on 2 hours a
[Speaker 0]
time.
the equivalent of $140,000 management job. So the very 1st thing we have to get ahold of is
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
Earlier we talked about, let's have a dinner conversation.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
What do you want for dinner?
[Speaker 0]
Okay, well, if you destroy 30 minutes of your 2 hours trying to make a-
[Speaker 1]
Simple decision-
[Speaker 0]
Oh, sim-
[Speaker 1]
... which should be a s- which should be simple.
[Speaker 0]
That decision should already have been made
[Speaker 0]because it's systematized.
[Speaker 1]
Oh.
[Speaker 0]
We ha- we have a system-
[Speaker 1]
You're pre-planning. That, that's your strategy. That's your weekly strategy. I'm following along.
[Speaker 0]
And then the startup meeting is, "Oh, this ingredient went bad," or, "We didn't have this on the
shopping list."
[Speaker 1]
Something happened.
[Speaker 0]
Something happened.
[Speaker 1]
You're good.
[Speaker 0]
And the standup meeting is where you have the flexibility in your system to adapt to external
things that are gonna disrupt your plan,
[Speaker 0]
just like at work.
[Speaker 1]
Wow.
[Speaker 0]
So the very 1st thing is we get ahold of time, and I take the, I take the client through, you know,
a, a series of steps and tools that look a lot like at work-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... but are right-sized for the household. So visual, visual management of your time.
[Speaker 0]
If it's not on the family calendar, it doesn't exist. Don't ask me for a ride. Don't ask me for
money. Don't ask me for resources. If it's not on the calendar,
[Speaker 0]
it hasn't been planned. Just like at work, you come with a great idea. It's not in the budget. We
didn't plan for that. I don't have headcount for that. The answer is no.
[Speaker 1]Right.
[Speaker 0]
There's a process to get something up and get it resourced. Very 1st step is it's gotta be on that
calendar over there. So making these things visible, getting hold of your time 1st. Then it's
resource management. So money comes next.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And then relationships.
[Speaker 0]
One in 3 people are reporting that they are, they feel more isolated than ever, even though
we're more connected than we've ever been.
[Speaker 1]
It is interesting, right?
[Speaker 0]
It's a, it's a-
[Speaker 1]
Because we've got a ton of social media that connects us, but I, I like to say it's like fake
connectedness because you're not actually sharing anything of value. You're sharing what you
are willing to share, not actually of anything that's, that's vulnerable.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Right?
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Interesting.
[Speaker 0]
So those are the steps. Get ahold of your time.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
Because that's the promise. I mean, Devon, if I asked you, if I could give you back 200 hours a
year for the rest of your life-
[Speaker 0]
Would that be something you'd be interested in?[Speaker 1]
100%.
[Speaker 0]
There you have it. And I've calculated 200 hours a year because, like I said, if you spend 30
minutes a day times 2 people-
[Speaker 1]
And something so simple
[Speaker 0]
... squandering that ti- squandering that time-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and you do that 3 times a week, it, over time, it turns in-
[Speaker 1]
It adds up really quickly
[Speaker 0]
... it turns into a lot of time that you've squandered.
[Speaker 1]
Wow. And I know this is something that I personally struggle with, right? Now, I mean, my
default would be like, "Let's go to Taco Bell," 'cause-
[Speaker 0]
And, but then that-
[Speaker 1]
... I love me some Taco Bell
[Speaker 0]
... but then there's a consequence, right? You're-
[Speaker 1]
There is a consequence
[Speaker 0]
... you're, you're taking resources-
[Speaker 1]
Yes
[Speaker 0]
... financial resources-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]... that you may have already-
[Speaker 1]
Allocated
[Speaker 0]
... or deci-
[Speaker 1]
And now you're reallocating. So it's just one stressor causes another stressor that causes
another stressor. But if you've had your strategy plan, just like you would do out on the shop
floor, just like you do in the office-
[Speaker 0]
And there are discretionary resources in our budget at home. And my-
[Speaker 1]
Because there needs to be
[Speaker 0]
... and my wife and I have put spending thresholds in place. We are both empowered to make
spending decisions up to X
[Speaker 0]
and then anything over that is a conversation.
[Speaker 1]
It's a leadership meeting.
[Speaker 0]
It's-
[Speaker 1]
Just like it would be at work.
[Speaker 0]
Because we have to work together to solve-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... whatever it is.
[Speaker 1]
And it has nothing to do with not, not trusting somebody, not having a true partnership. It has
to do with respecting and ensuring that you guys are maintaining your vision and mission, that
you've set yourself up to be successful as a family unit.
[Speaker 0]
Yep. And those systems build over time. They build a level of trust that it's like, uh,
[Speaker 0]I know that whatever you were dealing with in the moment, those circumstances,
[Speaker 0]
you were ready for it and you knew it had to be done. You don't need to check with me. Just do
it. It's the same advice you'd give a high-performing leader at work.
[Speaker 1]
Right. Just sometimes you just have to make the decision.
[Speaker 0]
Go do it.
[Speaker 1]
You don't know all the answers, but that's, I mean, that's, that's manufacturing. That's
operations logistics.
[Speaker 0]
Bias for action. Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Yes. That's what it is. It, it is-
[Speaker 0]
Bias for action
[Speaker 1]
... bias for action. It's having a backbone. It's disagreeing, it's committing, and it's owning it.
[Speaker 0]
100%.
[Speaker 1]
Wow.
[Speaker 1]
I like... Then I t- I told you, this is the fun stuff-
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
... Sydney, because, you know, we sit... Just recently I attended a conference.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
And, you know, leaders go on stage.
[Speaker 1]
Particularly, um, this one was focused on women. Okay?
[Speaker 0]Okay.
[Speaker 1]
So you have a bunch of females that are on, on stage talking about the hardships that, um,
women face in the workforce, prioritizing family and all of these things. And I will... There will be
people that don't like that I'm gonna make my next comment.
[Speaker 0]
Okay.
[Speaker 1]
But this is what we talk about on here. It's called Talk Real Shift.
[Speaker 1]
For me,
[Speaker 1]
it's not so much about being a woman and, and being up there and sharing this story and
sharing the struggle.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
It is about that you're a person and whether you're a man or woman, there's only a set number
of hours in the day, like you said. Right? And you, you can't have an expectation, regardless of
your gender, regardless of how you identify any of these things,
[Speaker 1]
that you can be a parent-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
activities,
... that takes your kid to school and picks your kid up from school and attends all these
[Speaker 1]
and you get to do the, the executive high level C-suite and you get to have work-life balance
and you get to have me time at the end of the night.
[Speaker 1]
That, to me, doesn't have anything to do with man or woman. It has to do with the fact that we
are human beings.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
We're only... There's only so much time in the day. But I was, I, I was very disappointed because
sometimes I just want somebody to talk real with me-[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... and be like, "You've been told you can have work-life balance
[Speaker 1]
and it's false.
[Speaker 1]
You have to make
[Speaker 1]
trade-offs."
[Speaker 0]
Choices. Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Right? And now what we predominantly see is, is that men have historically chosen
[Speaker 1]
the career path, right?
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Women have historically chosen the family path. Neither is right, neither is wrong.
[Speaker 1]
You know, stereotypes
[Speaker 1]
exist or perceptions exist for a reason.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
There's all different kinds of barriers that still need to be broken for equality in the workplace.
We won't go there. But when you're having these conversations-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... are you having to share similar things that, like, you can't expect to have equality in both
places because there's not enough time?
[Speaker 0]
What we've landed on in my household is that, as you said, work-life balance is, is a myth. The
real, the real objective is work-life blending.[Speaker 1]
Ah, okay. Work-life blending.
[Speaker 0]
So I've had opportunities to travel for work.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
Well, can we turn that into also a family vacation? Can we do a both and?
[Speaker 0]
to Japan.
So my son is a huge Pokemon fan. You know, he loves Pokemon. And I had an opportunity to go
[Speaker 0]
So I told him, I said, "Hey, this is a once in a great while opportunity."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
"It's not every day you go to Asia for work. This is not normal."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
"This is an opportunity. Do you wanna take advantage of it?" And he was like, "I would love to
go to Akihabara," and which is like the Pokemon capital of Japan. He said, "I would love to go."
Well, that required a conversation with my wife because
[Speaker 0]
I'm gonna be at work.
[Speaker 0]
I will be able to join them in the evenings. I'll be able to spend... If we stay over a weekend, I
can spend the time that way.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
But, you know, he can't run around Tokyo unsupervised. Like, this is not gonna work.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
So we were able to create an opportunity to blend
[Speaker 0]work life and provide a core memory for my son-
[Speaker 1]
Mm
[Speaker 0]
something that
... while I was working. So this is one way that we found a way to get work-life blending to be
[Speaker 0]
satisfies the obligations that we've made to my employer-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... but also give me the chance to provide an opportunity to my household. So this is one-
[Speaker 0]
... one thing.
[Speaker 0]
The other one that I would, I would probably point to is sometimes you have to say no,
[Speaker 0]
and you have to be prepared to take the consequences for that.
[Speaker 1]
On either side.
[Speaker 0]
On either side.
[Speaker 2]
[phone ringing] The call-off process is broken. Say goodbye to inconsistent communication,
absenteeism, no-call, no-shows. Say hello to TeamSense, the only text 1st and fully automated
attendance reporting system. Reduce absenteeism by up to 40%. Employees simply text and
select the reason for their absence, no app required. Supervisors are instantly notified, so they
can quickly adapt to fill shifts. Data syncs automatically to your records, making it easier for HR
and ops teams to track trends and stay ahead of workforce planning. And when you need to get
the word out, you know everyone will see it. Reach 100% of your employees for the 1st time
ever. TeamSense also syncs automatically with your tech stack, so that you can easily manage
everything in one place. We're trusted by leading companies who have seen up to 50%
reduction in no-call, no-shows. Discover how you can transform your absence reporting and
employee communication today. TeamSense, call-offs made simple.
[Speaker 0]
And I think that a lot of people forget that there's a choi- they can make a choice.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]There is a choice. Anyone who feels trapped or feels like there's no way out or that they are
shackled-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... to, whether at home or at work, that it's just there's no way out, that's fundamentally a
reflection that there's no system in place, that you've put yourself in a position where you're
completely a victim of circumstance. That is a symptom where work-life blending isn't
happening, work-life balance isn't happening, work-life nothing is happening.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs] Right.
[Speaker 0]
Right? There's nothing happening there, because the mental model right out of the gate is, "I'm
trapped. I'm a prisoner. I'm, I have no way out."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Anyone that's ever hustled in the shop floor knows you can work your way out of just about any
[Speaker 0]
emergency or travesty or-
[Speaker 1]
You learn to pivot. When there's a will, there's a way. You figure, you-
[Speaker 0]
You-
[Speaker 1]
... you figure it out, and you have to be able to do-
[Speaker 0]
You grind it, and you get out of it. And that's... And then you have the after-action review, and
you prevent it from happening again.
[Speaker 1]
Ah, you do your 5 why analysis, your fishbone, what have you.
[Speaker 0]
So these are things that also-
[Speaker 1]
This is your countermeasure.
[Speaker 0]
Right. And sometimes those decisions, when... Don't be afraid to try to do work-life blending,
but if it doesn't work,[Speaker 0]
talk some real shift about that and say-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... "This didn't work."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
If we did it again... I mean, it took us... That Japan trip was the product of 10 other work-life
blending opportunities that didn't go so well, because it wasn't just the day at work. It was the
social stuff that had to happen after. I had to dine with the plant manager. I had to go-
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
I, there were-
[Speaker 1]
You're working.
[Speaker 0]
There were other social obligations-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... that came after the work day ended. And so those 1st few work-life blending opportunities, it,
it took us a few to get there. But once we dialed it in-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... because the people at work also had to realize, well, Joe's away from his,
[Speaker 0]
everything normal. He's away from his normal.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
He's here, and he's not here because everything's going great.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs][Speaker 0]
Right?
[Speaker 1]
Right. We typically don't travel-
[Speaker 0]
That is not-
[Speaker 1]
... for work when things are hunky-dory, right?
[Speaker 0]
I'm from corporate. I'm here to help. Like, that's not the, that's not the mantra. [laughs] Like-
[Speaker 1]
No, yeah
[Speaker 0]
... you're, you're called there.
[Speaker 1]
You're coming in for a reason.
[Speaker 0]
You're called there because something's, you- you're needed there.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
Your skills, your ability, your leadership are needed there, but that requires you to leave your
normal. And I used to tell, you know, "The fastest way to get me out of this plant is to get this
thing fixed, because I'm motivated to get back to my normal-
[Speaker 1]
Mm
[Speaker 0]
... and you're motivated to get me out of your shop."
[Speaker 1]
Which is, which is fair. I used to say the same thing when I would show up at some of the 3P
locations, and I'd be like, "If I'm here, it's not a good sign." Like, you don't want to see this
again, because if I'm coming in, I'm coming in, I'm taking over, and I'm gonna show you what's
not going right.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
And we're gonna get you on course really quickly, because I want to get home.
[Speaker 1]That's interesting. So it, it's,
[Speaker 1]
it, again, it just comes back to those same principles, right? When something doesn't work, we
regroup very quickly with little, with a little bit of information.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
We take risk, and we reiterate, and we reiterate, right? And we're constantly doing the 5 why
analysis. We're constantly trying to say, "Okay, what's gonna be our countermeasure? What can
we put in place to prevent this from happening again?" But we're not doing those same things
at home.
[Speaker 0]
Nope.
[Speaker 1]
And we have to be willing
[Speaker 1]
to say no,
[Speaker 1]
because you can't, you, you can't have it all.
[Speaker 0]
You have to stretch those things out over time to get them all done.
[Speaker 0]
I, I can't stress enough, you know, I'm an opportunity addict.
[Speaker 1]
Okay.
[Speaker 0]
Like, I, I see an opportunity, it's like, "I could do that. I could do that. I could do that." And I, I
have to either... And that's what my, that's what my wife does as a leader in our household, is
she reminds me that as an opportunity addict-
[Speaker 1]
Just because you can do it-
[Speaker 0]
... doesn't mean you should and doesn't mean right now is the time.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
It's not no. It's not now.[Speaker 1]
Interesting. Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
Because I also value completion, and so does she. Like, that's our common, that's our-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... that's what we come back to. We value completion. We, neither of us... It's, it's a, it's an
anxiety-inducing thing for us to have something, 15 things half done. That's like an
anxiety-inducing thing in the house. So we both value completion. So her, you know, her-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... alignment with me is when I start to turn into an opportunity addict, I need a project
[Speaker 0]
so that I'm not chasing-
[Speaker 1]
Something
[Speaker 0]
... here.
[Speaker 1]
You've got, you've got some, you've got a project to come home to. You have an opportunity-
[Speaker 0]
... that I can chase and be-
[Speaker 1]
Right there
[Speaker 0]
... specific about it. And that's how homegrown leadership, quite frankly, was born, 'cause it was
like the side, side, side hustle.
[Speaker 1]
[laughs] Right.
[Speaker 0]
And it's like, you need to double down on this. You're getting traction. People need it. It's
working.
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]You know, what would it take to prioritize this? What would have to go on the stop do list to
make homegrown leadership
[Speaker 0]
something that's higher priority?
[Speaker 0]
It was actually her idea.
[Speaker 0]
And that's what good leaders do. They lift other leaders up. They help each other. That's
high-functioning teamwork, when a team member sees another team member's potential and
they draw it out and they provide the support that's necessary for them to reach that potential.
That's what homegrown leadership looks like.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. You know, Joe, I'm almost at a loss for words because it's, it is, it's so true, right? It's
everything you're saying in,
[Speaker 1]
like in work, whether you're on the floor or you're in the boardroom or you're somewhere in
between, right? Good leaders lift up others. They give the, the win to the team. They
single-handedly own the failures, right? If my team failed,
[Speaker 1]
I would be furious and upset, not because... And I shouldn't say my team failed. When it was
perceived that my team failed.
[Speaker 0]
Right.
[Speaker 1]
Because that was my failure. They didn't own that. I should've made a different decision as the
leader. I should've recognized it sooner. I should've saw all the signs, right? I should've been
able to do something to guide the team in a different direction. And that same thing happens
with your partner at home.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
And if you don't have a partner, you know, some of, one of the things that I wanna make sure
that, um... You know, I wasn't always a parent-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... but I have had to help care for a parent.
[Speaker 1]
And that's just as difficult, right? Whether you have a partner next to you or you don't have a
partner next to you, every aspect of your life-[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... you can treat just like the shop floor.
[Speaker 0]
Yes. There are ways to address life,
[Speaker 0]
and we've all had a lot of training, a lot of skill development, a lot of education, a lot... Those
are things that go in the toolbox for life, not just for work.
[Speaker 0]
And to the extent that they're useful, and yes, you can modify them for the situation.
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
You know, it's not a direct one-to-one.
[Speaker 1]
No.
[Speaker 0]
But-
[Speaker 1]
Nothing here hardly ever is.
[Speaker 0]
But, I mean, if you ran around your house and looked at the major pieces of equipment in your
house, the dishwasher, the washing machine, the water tank, the HVAC, the pick... Make a list.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
You could say, "If this one failed, what would be the severity of that failure?"
[Speaker 1]
Right. What's your CapEx plan? [laughs]
[Speaker 0]
How frequent, how f- what's the frequency? If I'm constantly fixing the furnace-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... well, now I have to sit there and say, "Is it time to make an investment over here?" And those
are decisions we make every day at work. Those are things we do all the time. And the toolsexist and there's way... And I truly believe that the stronger, the more we can strengthen
household leadership, the stronger we can make all of our communities, our businesses,
because people will help each other. The leadership sphere of influence just grows. And this is,
you know, this is also something that, that happened to me. You know, I'm the mayor of my
city, and I came to that office because people trusted me because they saw how my household
ran.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
They're like, "This guy knows what he's doing. This family seems to have it together," right?
They, they have this appearance.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Is it really? Well, when you look under the hood, it's really there. Like, we, we let our yes be yes
and our no be no. We are all in when we say we're gonna do something. We work hard.
[Speaker 0]
We, we do the things that we say. We live our mission and values. And that is something that
people are dying for-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... in their public leadership. And so this is something where... And not that everybody will be
called to that, but the fact that the community trusts me enough to make-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... decisions on their behalf, on the behalf of their household,
[Speaker 0]
that's,
[Speaker 0]
that is something that is gratifying beyond any accomplishment I think I've ever had
[Speaker 0]
in the shop. As gratifying as it is to see something start running or to launch a new line or to
build a new plant, all the things that, that I've had the privilege of doing at work, the most
gratifying leadership experience has been the trust of my neighbors to make big decisions
[Speaker 0]
on their behalf for the community that we live in. That's been huge.
[Speaker 1]It's different because you don't, you don't typically think
[Speaker 1]
about everything outside of, of the workplace.
[Speaker 0]
Right, it's compartmentalized, right? We put it on, we put it on a shelf.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah. I mean, I told somebody, um, a couple episodes ago, I said, you know, I was very naive
early on in my career because as a leader, you know, you know, I'm 23 years old out on the
floor. It took me 12, 15 years to figure it out, but I used to be like, "Cool, we've all got problems.
[Speaker 1]
Leave them at the door. Don't care." Like, you, you know, you wanna put your laundry list
against my laundry list? Okay, like, let's talk about abuse in every form. Let's talk about a
failing home life. Let's talk about a parent dying. Let's talk about blah, blah, blah, blah, blah,
blah, blah, right? Like, in our minds-
[Speaker 0]
Yeah
[Speaker 1]
... what we have going on is the worst of anybody else.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Now, do you,
[Speaker 1]
do you kind of mentor your clients into saying like, "Hey, you should share some of these
vulnerable moments with your team, some of these real-life moments to make them relatable"?
[Speaker 0]
I mean, that's situational. I definitely think that when someone on your team is struggling, you
know, there are some simple things that can be done to-
[Speaker 0]
Be relatable.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
Deepen the relationship to where you get the trust. 'Cause not everybody, not every leader in
the workplace can develop the kind of one-on-one relationship with every single team member,
especially if you're at a certain, if you occupy a certain level in the organization.
[Speaker 1]
Fair.[Speaker 0]
It's just, it's difficult.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
There are certain relational anchors that can be established in any conversation, um, or with
any person in the organization. It just takes intentional effort to do that, and it's no different
than building a new business relationship. Hey, Devin. Oh, you're, I see you're married. Tell,
how'd you meet your hu-
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
How'd you meet your husband? You know, where'd you guys meet? Where'd you honeymoon?
You know, oh, how, you have kids? Oh, tell me about your kids. Like, these are things we do in
business to build relationships because business is relational.
[Speaker 1]
It is.
[Speaker 0]
It is relational. And people want to do business with people they know, they like, and they trust.
[Speaker 1]
Mm. Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And so it is the same. So the mentoring really is, if it's something that just requires some
relational anchoring, most of the time the leader already has that.
[Speaker 0]
It's just an unused tool. It's the shiny, brand new, unused tool in the toolbox.
[Speaker 0]
Because s- leadership is situational. There's a time for command and control, and then there's a
time for, okay, this needs to be something a little bit softer.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
I need a velvet hammer, not a jackhammer. So we're gonna take a different tactic here, and I'm
gonna, I, I, this is my 1st time really engaging with this person one-on-one. They've kind of
been in the room or I've noticed them. I know their face. I know their name. I know how long
they've been here. I know what they do.
[Speaker 1]
But you don't know them.
[Speaker 0]But I don't really know them.
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
So I need to invest
[Speaker 0]
a little bit of time to put some relational anchors in place so that as a two-way street-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... I can come to them and they can come to me. So this is sometimes what it is. Now, if it's
something deeper, like if the dysfunction is something that requires
[Speaker 0]
an employee assistance program or HR or therapist, there, there's real trauma there.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
There's an off-ramp for that, because there are people who are-
[Speaker 1]
More qualified
[Speaker 0]
... trained and-
[Speaker 1]
Yep
[Speaker 0]
... can deal with that stuff.
[Speaker 1]
Absolutely.
[Speaker 0]
And that's sometimes what happens, you know, and, and it's, it, it's a two-way street there too.
The therapist, a therapist will call me and say, "Joe, this person doesn't have trauma. They just
have no system. Can you take this?"
[Speaker 0]
I- I'm not gonna charge them for therapy. They don't need therapy. They need a system.
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]I might say, "This person has systems, but there's some, there's some bad stuff here-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... they gotta deal with
[Speaker 0]
that needs to go over here." Um, but when it comes to my clients, you know, typically it's all
about creating the relational anchors and using what they already know how to do, because
they didn't get to where they are
[Speaker 0]
without doing that work.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
That's how they got there.
[Speaker 1]
They're, they're good at something.
[Speaker 0]
They were good, right.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
And they were respected for it.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
So how do we, again, open the toolbox. Oh, there's a shiny new one there. Let, today's the day
we're gonna use that. We're gonna take it for a spin, right?
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]
Machinery, things are made to work, to, made to run. They're not made to sit. A piece of
machinery, a piece of equipment, your car, whatever, if it sits, it won't start. You gotta go out
and start it. You gotta drive it around. You gotta use it.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]It's need to be used. Leadership tools are the same. If you acquire them and never use them-
[Speaker 1]
Yeah
[Speaker 0]
... where's the value?
[Speaker 1]
You said something earlier.
[Speaker 1]
There's a time to know when to have a sledgehammer-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... and there's a time to know when you need to use a velvet hammer.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
And
[Speaker 1]
that is ever so true in the workplace.
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
But also very much so outside of the workplace.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Let's talk some shift about that. Tell, tell me more about when you use the sledgehammer-
[Speaker 0]
Yeah
[Speaker 1]
... versus the velvet.
[Speaker 0]
Yeah. So at home, you know, there's clearly opportunities for both situations to arise.
[Speaker 1]
Mm.
[Speaker 0]And this is mostly in relationship with, with my children. You know,
[Speaker 0]
part of the, um, responsibility of having authority is imposing boundaries-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... and enforcing consequences.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
This is part of, this is part of the burden of leadership, is now you're responsible. So, and, you
know, to your earlier point, if my son hits a baseball through a window,
[Speaker 0]
he's not gonna be held responsible for that.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
This, this guy's gonna be responsible for that. Or my wife, if she happens to be the per- the
leader on, on deck.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
The manager on shift.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Right? She's the one, she's the one that's gotta deal with it or I've gotta deal with it. And there
was a point, I'll, I'll share a short story. My son didn't understand that. He's like, "But I broke the
window." And I'm like, "Yeah, but you're my kid.
[Speaker 0]
I'm the adult. So the way the system works is if you do something,
[Speaker 0]
I'm held, your mother and I are held responsible for that."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
And it, it really, that at 1st he didn't understand that.[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
But I noticed that after he kind of got it, he carried himself differently because he realized that
his behavior reflected-
[Speaker 1]
I'm more than just him
[Speaker 0]
... I'm more than just him. And so it is at work. When you're a member of our team, when you're
a member of this organization,
[Speaker 0]
you'll carry yourself a certain way.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
You'll present yourself a certain way, especially if the customer's standing there.
[Speaker 1]
Absolutely.
[Speaker 0]
The customer-
[Speaker 1]
Which is a whole different, it's a whole different thing, right?
[Speaker 0]
The cu- the customer doesn't care if you're the manufacturing person or the product person or
the salesperson. Your paycheck has the same logo on it.
[Speaker 1]
Yes.
[Speaker 0]
You're all, you're all the sa- you're all the same team. But back to at home, you know, those
opportunities when the consequences come is where you have to be selective about which
version of the hammer you drop. Just like at work. The 1st time,
[Speaker 0]
conversation.
okay, how'd this go wrong? What can we do different? How, you know, you have a coaching
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
Then the next one is, well, we talked about this before. We did some,[Speaker 0]
we did some things to prevent this from happening again. So what, did we miss something?
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Did, what can, you know, one more coaching conversation. Okay, then the next one is, we've
talked about this twice. This is a real problem.
[Speaker 0]
Now it's gonna be a consequence.
[Speaker 1]
Now we're gonna start putting you on a PIP.
[Speaker 0]
Now we're... [laughs]
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
You know, not for nothing, um, so my daughter, when she got old enough, uh, she wanted to
get a car.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
You know, we had a car that was not being used, um, or we had one that was well-loved.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
And, and it was up, it was time for my wife or I to take the well-loved one and pass it along and-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... do something else. So
[Speaker 0]
we gave my daughter favorable terms, knowing that if she went to a dealership, she wouldn't
get the same-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... treatment as she was getting from us. We wrote all that down. And not unlike a PIP, like,you're responsible if something happens when you're driving this car. Well, sure enough, she
re-
[Speaker 1]
Something happened
[Speaker 0]
... she rear-ended another driver.
[Speaker 0]
I said, "Well, here's the deductible." "Well, how am I supposed to..." That's... We were very-
[Speaker 1]
Clear
[Speaker 0]
that I own,
... we were very clear here. You would make payments on this car that you would get to drive,
[Speaker 0]
and if something happens, you're responsible for it. Now, you can take care of it
[Speaker 0]
upfront. I can tack it onto your payments. I can refi it into your loan.
[Speaker 1]
Ooh, very nice.
[Speaker 0]
So, and this, this didn't require... But I had to stand my ground, right? My daughter, my 1st born
child, the girl, the, the only other woman who, who owns a piece of my heart, you know-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... besides my wife, is, is looking at me like, "I need your help."
[Speaker 0]
And I had to stand there and stand and keep that boundary and say, "This is what we agreed."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
"And this is what happened, and now you have to feel the consequence."
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Because if I don't do this,
[Speaker 0]I'm
[Speaker 0]
not being a good leader.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
And that, that was a little bit more velvet... a little bit less of a velvet hammer and more of a
jackhammer, because I had to say no.
[Speaker 1]
It's, it's hard.
[Speaker 0]
Emphatically no.
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
And so that, those are occasions where the tough love department gets activated and brought
in to kind of settle. So that's one flavor. The other flavor is when you're talking to other
households.
[Speaker 1]
Oh. Okay.
[Speaker 0]
So there's a, an opportunity when you're dealing with your neighbors,
[Speaker 0]
you know, or other people in leadership-
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 0]
... we are in these situations all the time, on the PTA, on the homeowners association. There are
other leaders in the room.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Well, you tell me, Devin, when you're gonna go into a meeting where there's a
counterargument that is-
[Speaker 1]
Valid
[Speaker 0]... real, real valid-
[Speaker 1]
Yeah
[Speaker 0]
... valid counterargument backed up with facts, there's data there, and you're gonna come in
with the opposing point,
[Speaker 0]
what do you do when you prepare for that meeting? What are you, what are you trying to bring
with you to the maximum extent possible to sway the decision in your favor?
[Speaker 0]
Leverage.
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
You try to find leverage.
[Speaker 0]
And that is another tool for using a varying degree of a hammer, is if we're gonna go and we're
gonna go toe to toe with other leaders,
[Speaker 0]
is there leverage?
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Is my argument more convincing? Is my... 'Cause it's not always about leverage. Sometimes
you might have the superior argument. Recency. There's different factors. Um, but that, having
leverage is another, is a hammer. Leverage is a huge hammer. And you can carry that hammer
with you at home as much as you can at work. And I'm not saying that in a diabolical way. It's
just, if you are the most prepared and you have the most information and you have the most
trust and you have the most... if you have all those intangible resources maximized,
[Speaker 0]
your influence is peaked,
[Speaker 0]
and now you can
[Speaker 0]
drop a hammer.
[Speaker 0]
And then after-
[Speaker 1]And knowing when to drop it.
[Speaker 0]
And then after,
[Speaker 0]
you say, "I don't ever want that to happen again. I don't like doing that."
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
The amount of authority a leader has is inversely proportional to the amount that they use it.
The less you use your authority,
[Speaker 0]
the more authority you have.
[Speaker 0]
So the times where you have to use it, it's important that you follow up that conversation and
say, "I don't ever want that to happen again. What do we have to do different to avoid that?"
[Speaker 0]
And that's-
[Speaker 1]
That's the key
[Speaker 0]
won.
... that's, and that's what most leaders miss, right? They, they leave feeling strong 'cause they
[Speaker 1]
But it's not about the win.
[Speaker 0]
There you have it. There you have it. Not always. Not always. [laughs]
[Speaker 1]
Yeah.
[Speaker 0]
We live in a competitive sphere. Like, this is what... We compete-
[Speaker 1]
We do
[Speaker 0]
... all the time. We grind.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]We compete. This is what we do.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
So it feels good to win, but a pure-
[Speaker 1]
But you gotta bring the team along with you.
[Speaker 0]
Correct.
[Speaker 1]
Whether that's the team at, at work or-
[Speaker 0]
Correct
[Speaker 1]
... that's the team-
[Speaker 0]
100%
[Speaker 1]
... at home.
[Speaker 0]
100%.
[Speaker 1]
You know, [laughs] my daughter the other day told me, um, we were talking about veterans,
and she had the audacity to tell me that she had no freedom.
[Speaker 1]
I was describing to her what a, what a veteran, you know, what a veteran is and, and what they
do so that we have the freedom that we, that we have. And she told me, "I have no freedom."
She said, "You dictate everything." And I was like, "Well, let's, let's, like, wind that backwards,"
right? "Let's talk about all the freedom that you do have and the choices that you get to make."
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
"And when you choose to make choices, there are consequences."
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Whether those are good consequences, right, which we would call a reward-[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... or those are negative consequences that lead to-
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
... opportunities, as we like to call them in, in the, in the plant, right?
[Speaker 0]
Sure. [laughs]
[Speaker 1]
It's an opportunity. Um, you get to make choices. You have the freedom to be able to make
those choices. Unfortunately, or fortunately, it is my position [laughs] to enforce those
consequences- And you just don't happen to like them all of the time. But, you know, I say that
to say that as we're talking through, you know, some of these things, you know, you,
[Speaker 1]
you relate it to, to how you would coach and counsel an employee.
[Speaker 0]
Yes.
[Speaker 1]
Right? And for me, I think of documenting. And you know, my daughter's in therapy and we've
got like this, we do the sticker charts and all these other things, right?
[Speaker 0]
Yeah, of course.
[Speaker 1]
And for whatever reason, it just now clicked as we sit here, that's her form
[Speaker 1]
of documentation.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Right? It is, the sticker charts are the same thing that we do with our employees. We're just
documenting it in a way that's relatable for them.
[Speaker 0]
And age appropriate.
[Speaker 1]
Yes. It, yeah, of course, yes. Abs- absolutely age appropriate.
[Speaker 0]Shocking.
[Speaker 1]
It is kind of shocking, right?
[Speaker 0]
It clicks.
[Speaker 1]
Because it, because it, it, it did. It, it clicked and I'm like, "Huh, what else can I take that I've-
[Speaker 0]
You'll never-
[Speaker 1]
... done as a leader-
[Speaker 0]
You'll never see it the same
[Speaker 1]
so that-
... and, and reapply in a different perspective for a seven-year-old or a 15-year-old and make it
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... it, it makes sense.
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 1]
Right? Because I wouldn't allow one of my employees
[Speaker 1]
to get away with destroying the culture because they're not, they're not meeting expectations,
right? Because that's ultimately what happens, right? People that don't meet expectations,
albeit for one reason or another, it ends up ultimately destroying your, your culture.
[Speaker 0]
Yep, yep.
[Speaker 1]
And the same thing happens at home.
[Speaker 0]
Yeah.
[Speaker 1]
Whether it's, it's a friend or it's a family member or it's a child,
[Speaker 1]their behavior
[Speaker 1]
can destroy the culture. And the same thing with adults too, right?
[Speaker 0]
Oh, of course.
[Speaker 1]
If, if we make bad choices,
[Speaker 1]
we can destroy that family culture-
[Speaker 0]
Yes
[Speaker 1]
... that dynamic.
[Speaker 0]
Yes.
[Speaker 1]
How do you course correct that culture at home?
[Speaker 0]
Well, this is something that, you know, a lot of leaders struggle with because at work, it, it is,
you have a ultimate option.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
You know,
[Speaker 0]
you, people can be removed from the organization. At home, this is a different story.
[Speaker 1]
Very different. Sometimes we do wanna remove people.
[Speaker 0]
You sometimes do. And, you know, there are times where I think, like my daughter's 19, you
said yours is, you have a 15-year-old at home. Um, you know, sometimes I, I have that
discussion-
[Speaker 1]
Yeah
[Speaker 0]
... and say, "You have a choice.
[Speaker 0]You can choose to be somewhere else
[Speaker 0]
where you have all the freedom
[Speaker 0]
to come and go as you please, to eat whatever you want, to-"
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
"... whatever. You, you can do that.
[Speaker 0]
But if you stay here..."
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And, and she's seen the family values, she's seen the ro- she knows how we run the household.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
It's very clear. It's not new.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Not new at all. Um, but the course correction for folks is just like I would advise a leader at
work, have you elevated out of this long enough to really think about it and figure out what's
causing it? Have you thought about the circumstances that are
[Speaker 0]
crafting that path and making it something to fall into? You know, are there in, are there, um,
[Speaker 0]
are there things that can be changed in the environment to avoid that? Um, 'cause sometimes
it's a- it's about the environment. It's not about the actual, um, the actions of the leader.
Sometimes it's just the environment we've set up for ourselves.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Like, I make the coffee pot the night before because when I wake up in the morning, I don't,
that's not a task I wanna deal with.
[Speaker 1]Right.
[Speaker 0]
Right? James Clear, Atomic Habits, right? You change, you, you think about your future self.
[Speaker 1]
Yep.
[Speaker 0]
You, you take your current self and you do something for your future self that they'll be thankful
for.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
And whether it's putting your clothes out the night before, getting the coffee pot ready, making
your lunch for the next day, it's the same tactic, elevating out and saying, "Is there a
circumstance I can alter? Is there a variable I can change? Is this really behavioral? If so, what
does Deming tell us about behavior?" The system,
[Speaker 0]
it's happening because the system allows it. The problem is not the people. The problem is the
system. The system is producing a result it's been optimized to provide. If you want different
behavior, change the system.
[Speaker 1]
Change the system.
[Speaker 0]
Change the system. So this is, this is like the, the sound bite.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
But, but unpacking that, it's an exercise because to put your mind on your household system or
lack thereof and acknowledge that and sit there and analyze it, it, it's not unlike a strategic
planning exercise at work where it's, it's homework-
[Speaker 1]
Right
[Speaker 0]
... to sit there and think about that.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Well, this system has just organically, it wasn't intentional, just things land the way they land.
[Speaker 1]Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
It's the way things are done around here. It's the culture of the organization.
[Speaker 1]
Ah, it's the way things have always been done. We've been-
[Speaker 0]
It's the culture
[Speaker 1]
... it's always been this. It's the way it's been so long.
[Speaker 0]
It's the culture here, right? This is, you're not gonna change that.
[Speaker 1]
Right.
[Speaker 0]
Well, leaders have the authority to change the systems in place. If they conflict with the values,
well, now you have to have a different conversation. But a system i- should be in place to
support the mission, vision, values of the organization. And the minute you detect a system is
not doing that, your obligation as a leader is to modify that system. It is your absolute
responsibility.
[Speaker 1]
And it's no different than what we do on the floor, right?
[Speaker 0]
Correct.
[Speaker 1]
Are there, are there, are there engineering changes that we can make ultimately to, to prevent
this, right? Is there training? Is there all these different kinds of things that you go through-
[Speaker 0]
Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... you know, your hierarchy of, of, of change and influence that you can make?
[Speaker 1]
You, I need to be doing the same thing at home.
[Speaker 0]
Well, it's, it, that, that's a common reaction. You know, I can't believe that I, we do it all day
every day.
[Speaker 1]
Every day. That's what you, it's what you do.[Speaker 0]
And then we come home and we just take it off like a coat and we hang it up and it's like,
"Okay, so, uh, what are we doing here? And you know, what's, what's the deal now?" Uh-
[Speaker 1]
Right. And then we waste that 30 minutes, that 200 hours a year.
[Speaker 0]
Or more.
[Speaker 1]
Or more.
[Speaker 0]
That's just one decision. One. How many more decisions like that are draining us of our time?
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
The one resource we cannot make more of, the one resource we can't replace, the one resource
we get to use once.
[Speaker 1]
Is our time.
[Speaker 1]
or at work.
'Cause people might be our most expensive and our highest risk commodity, whether at home
[Speaker 1]
But the one factor, the one variable
[Speaker 1]
that dictates everything is time.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Joe, this has been phenomenal.
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
I am certainly going to go home [laughs] and, and bust out a notebook and do a little bit of, how
can I be a better mom, a better, you know, partner, um, a better friend by applying what I
naturally would do at work to my personal life?
[Speaker 1]
But before we go-
[Speaker 0]Mm-hmm
[Speaker 1]
... I got 2 more questions for you.
[Speaker 0]
Okay.
[Speaker 1]
If you could go back and talk to 25-year-old you,
[Speaker 1]
what would you say or what would you do differently?
[Speaker 0]
Uh, I would definitely tell my 25-year-old self, "Your life will never be less complicated-
[Speaker 1]
[laughs]
[Speaker 0]
... than it is right now."
[Speaker 1]
We do think that though, don't we? Like, "Oh, if I just get to this point, if I just get to... It'll get
easier to get..." It never gets easier. It just changes.
[Speaker 0]
Your life will never be less complicated than it is right now. And in 6 months, you're gonna get
to have one of 2 conversations with yourself. "Boy, am I glad I got that done," or, "Boy, I coulda
had that done by now." And you get to pick which of those 2 conversations you get to have with
yourself. And the other thing I would say is, as a young married young father, I would say take
the time to get aligned with your other household leaders 1st.
[Speaker 1]
Hmm.
[Speaker 0]
Even though, even though one person might be highly skilled in leadership, it's like we've been
talking about, you have to bring the team with you. And, you know, I, I've got a webinar that
talks about what matters most. I bring tools to that webinar to have people fill out, you know,
"Hey, if you've never thought about what matters most in your household, this is the, this is the
one hour that's gonna change your life. You're gonna sit here and you're gonna identify those
things, and you're gonna figure out how to translate those things into goals." And for Talk Real
Shift listeners, I'd like to invite them to that webinar to do that work. If you and your spouse, or
you and your partner, or you and your household have never had that alignment in your C-suite
about what matters most, this one hour will start you on a leadership transformation journey in
your household that will absolutely claw back your time, claw back your money, and give you
the fulfillment and the pride and the, the peace that we all want our households to be. So
homegrownleadership.net/wmm, for what matters most-
[Speaker 1]
Hmm[Speaker 0]
... and use code REALSHIFT to get that webinar. It's like $29. And you'll get everything you need
to start your leadership transformation journey in that one hour.
[Speaker 1]
listeners?
I love it. That was gonna be my next question. What, what, what advice do you have for our
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
Because you already did it.
[Speaker 0]
[laughs]
[Speaker 1]
So I'm gonna go on there
[Speaker 1]
and, and we're gonna do this at, at home, because I think we need to do this at home so we can
better support each other, because we know our strengths. I think inherently as leaders,
particularly out on the floor, you take leadership training after leadership training after
leadership training, right? You know, you're... It doesn't matter if it's Clifton or it's Briggs or
what have you.
[Speaker 0]
Yeah.
[Speaker 1]
Right? You've, we've done all the colors and all the animals.
[Speaker 0]
Yep.
[Speaker 1]
Um, and we don't wanna focus on our weaknesses.
[Speaker 1]
We wanna focus on our strengths.
[Speaker 0]
100%.
[Speaker 1]
We wanna be aware of our weaknesses, so we utilize our strengths to compensate for those.
[Speaker 1]
But we also have to utilize our strengths to support the other leaders in our household.
[Speaker 0]
Yes.[Speaker 1]
And this, this webinar will help us to facilitate and to start having that conversation-
[Speaker 0]
It, it's the very 1st thing
[Speaker 1]
... to change the trajectory.
[Speaker 0]
It's the very, it's the starting point. Alignment among the leaders, because if you just start
communicating and you're both-
[Speaker 1]
Going in other directions
[Speaker 0]
... you're, you're, it's not gonna work. The very 1st thing is, what do we value the most? We,
when we make our commitments, we say yes. We, and we do them, and we're all in for them.
And if we can't, we say no. Or if we overextended, we make it right.
[Speaker 1]
And we own it. We own it.
[Speaker 0]
Those are the, tho- that's the toolbox for household leadership. Implementing it, we do that all
the time. We just have to be intentional. We have to, we have to decide that it's not just what's
best for us personally.
[Speaker 1]
Mm-hmm.
[Speaker 0]
It's what's best for our household. It's what's best for our neighborhoods, our communities, our
cities, our states, the nation. This kind of leadership is gonna be transformational in so many
ways, and I'm so excited to share it with you today. Thank you for the opportunity.
[Speaker 1]
Thank you, Joe.
[Speaker 0]
Thanks, Devon.
[Speaker 1]
And until next time,
[Speaker 1]
see you on the floor.