WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:01.940 you know i would say something and then he would 00:00:01.940 --> 00:00:08.039 develop it so uh yeah it was um it was a good 00:00:08.039 --> 00:00:12.380 exploration i would say very good and uh since 00:00:12.380 --> 00:00:14.759 then so let's look back over the last six months 00:00:14.759 --> 00:00:19.079 or so what have been some of your favorite accomplishments 00:00:19.079 --> 00:00:22.320 or building blocks that you've put into place 00:00:22.320 --> 00:00:24.160 for bringing your vision to fruition over the 00:00:24.160 --> 00:00:28.260 last six months Well, there's quite a lot going 00:00:28.260 --> 00:00:33.219 on at the moment. I've finished writing my book. 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:38.780 And so it's now it's now how do I get it out 00:00:38.780 --> 00:00:43.460 into the world? So we're talking about I gave 00:00:43.460 --> 00:00:46.619 it to sort of my project manager and he he told 00:00:46.619 --> 00:00:48.780 me that it doesn't need content editing, which 00:00:48.780 --> 00:00:52.619 was kind of exciting. Just just proofreading. 00:00:54.000 --> 00:00:59.689 And I'm. I'm excited by that. There's a lot of 00:00:59.689 --> 00:01:07.109 trust in there. Yes. And I launched a series 00:01:07.109 --> 00:01:09.629 of webinars which started with the title of Leading 00:01:09.629 --> 00:01:17.170 from Within and now have developed from one of 00:01:17.170 --> 00:01:19.209 the themes of the book, which is rewilding. So 00:01:19.209 --> 00:01:23.409 rewilding leadership is where we've got to. And 00:01:23.409 --> 00:01:26.810 I've got a couple of webinars. in two days time 00:01:26.810 --> 00:01:31.469 on thursday um that uh i'm going to be exploring 00:01:31.469 --> 00:01:36.409 some of the aspects of of rewilding that can 00:01:36.409 --> 00:01:40.689 be applied to leadership which is uh feels feels 00:01:40.689 --> 00:01:44.150 very important to me and and is a it's a great 00:01:44.150 --> 00:01:46.930 mindset it's a great paradigm i think for um 00:01:46.930 --> 00:01:51.799 challenging uh some of our the principles of 00:01:51.799 --> 00:01:53.939 leadership that have been taught since the early 00:01:53.939 --> 00:01:58.159 1900s, which really are so hopelessly out of 00:01:58.159 --> 00:02:00.640 date now, and yet are still being taught, particularly 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:05.079 in business schools and some schools as well. 00:02:05.739 --> 00:02:11.500 Yeah. Yeah. Well, in the book launch, a lot of 00:02:11.500 --> 00:02:13.740 you visionaries out there familiar with the process 00:02:13.740 --> 00:02:16.379 or the idea of launching a book. And I love that 00:02:16.379 --> 00:02:18.759 you said you finished writing it and you're very 00:02:18.759 --> 00:02:22.400 aware of the uphill battle and challenges that 00:02:22.400 --> 00:02:25.560 exist with where you go with it from there. And 00:02:25.560 --> 00:02:29.479 the content editing aspects. At first, I was 00:02:29.479 --> 00:02:31.939 concerned because you said that, you know, it 00:02:31.939 --> 00:02:33.759 needed none of that. But then he said proofreading. 00:02:33.860 --> 00:02:35.780 I was like, OK, OK, they still got a process. 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:39.900 But I see so many people. um prematurely publish 00:02:39.900 --> 00:02:42.520 their books without a great plan um and it's 00:02:42.520 --> 00:02:44.780 one of those it's like you can pre -publish a 00:02:44.780 --> 00:02:47.599 website and it doesn't hurt you too bad because 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:50.219 you can just edit it as you go but with a book 00:02:50.750 --> 00:02:53.490 You got to land the reviews, right? The ratings 00:02:53.490 --> 00:02:55.770 on Amazon and stuff. You got to have a whole 00:02:55.770 --> 00:02:58.810 club of people ready to support it. It's a process. 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:00.729 And so I'm glad to hear you're doing that well. 00:03:00.830 --> 00:03:03.229 It's not surprising to me, given the dedication 00:03:03.229 --> 00:03:05.189 you've put into your brand, Serenity and Leadership. 00:03:05.689 --> 00:03:08.590 I love the way that you submitted to that, what 00:03:08.590 --> 00:03:12.090 we're going to talk about today. And Tom, it's 00:03:12.090 --> 00:03:15.009 not common for me to allow my guests to fully. 00:03:15.789 --> 00:03:17.870 drive the theme of the direction but in this 00:03:17.870 --> 00:03:20.949 case you've earned that um you put decades into 00:03:20.949 --> 00:03:24.009 figuring this out so yeah you answered the question 00:03:24.009 --> 00:03:26.409 where did your vision come from what circumstances 00:03:26.409 --> 00:03:29.509 help bring it to life and you know what is the 00:03:29.509 --> 00:03:31.990 vision that you have and you said to influence 00:03:31.990 --> 00:03:35.409 the influencers encouraging them to take full 00:03:35.409 --> 00:03:38.449 responsibility for the impact they have on their 00:03:38.449 --> 00:03:40.530 people their organization and the environment 00:03:40.530 --> 00:03:43.830 you furthered that concept you said growth is 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:47.259 a common driver But as the world evolves, it's 00:03:47.259 --> 00:03:50.199 becoming increasingly clear that growth for its 00:03:50.199 --> 00:03:54.699 own sake is unsustainable. We must instead reframe 00:03:54.699 --> 00:03:57.879 the concept of growth within the context of our 00:03:57.879 --> 00:04:01.120 broader purpose. I would go as far to say it's 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:04.099 not only an unhealthy practice to grow for the 00:04:04.099 --> 00:04:06.800 sake of growth. It's toxic. It's destructive 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:09.740 for us as individuals. So I'm really happy to 00:04:09.740 --> 00:04:13.340 hear you leaning into that. Normally, I'd ask 00:04:13.340 --> 00:04:16.040 for three resources, but I'd love to just dive 00:04:16.040 --> 00:04:20.019 into those concepts first. We live in a world 00:04:20.019 --> 00:04:23.199 that's just struggling with inauthenticity. Where 00:04:23.199 --> 00:04:28.180 do we go from here, Tom? Well, there's different 00:04:28.180 --> 00:04:34.480 dimensions to that, I think. Yeah. The first 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:37.620 word that came into my mind as you asked me that 00:04:37.620 --> 00:04:43.459 question was education. love that we we are teaching 00:04:43.459 --> 00:04:50.199 our young people uh to replicate uh the mistakes 00:04:50.199 --> 00:04:55.579 and the environment um that that we have created 00:04:55.579 --> 00:04:59.240 uh and at the same time i'm encouraged i think 00:04:59.240 --> 00:05:04.720 that a lot of young people um are coming in now 00:05:04.720 --> 00:05:11.670 uh coming into the world coming into late teenhood 00:05:11.670 --> 00:05:15.949 early 20s and they really have a different set 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:20.970 of values so it's like they're ripe to be educated 00:05:20.970 --> 00:05:25.529 to challenge things and to think differently 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:32.449 to the way that we've experienced so that's one 00:05:32.449 --> 00:05:35.230 thing but nevertheless we have governments that 00:05:35.230 --> 00:05:38.860 dictate And, you know, I mean, what's going on 00:05:38.860 --> 00:05:42.379 in the US, I don't know, you know, how political 00:05:42.379 --> 00:05:47.259 one wants to be in a conversation like this. 00:05:47.339 --> 00:05:49.879 But, you know, burning books was never a good 00:05:49.879 --> 00:05:56.620 idea. And in just the same way as the Israeli 00:05:56.620 --> 00:05:59.480 government today are talking about eliminating 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:07.410 Hamas, the concept is... is completely unworkable 00:06:07.410 --> 00:06:10.709 because they're creating, as they try and destroy 00:06:10.709 --> 00:06:15.230 so much, they are creating people who will grow 00:06:15.230 --> 00:06:20.350 up with a level of hatred that few of their antecedents 00:06:20.350 --> 00:06:26.269 had. I remember when I was in the military and 00:06:26.269 --> 00:06:28.589 I was involved in the troubles in Northern Ireland, 00:06:28.709 --> 00:06:34.029 I saw what trying to eliminate a concept or an 00:06:34.029 --> 00:06:39.439 idea does, you can't do it. You cannot do it. 00:06:39.519 --> 00:06:46.000 So we need a new political system. We need people 00:06:46.000 --> 00:06:50.420 to go into politics not as a way to make money, 00:06:50.540 --> 00:06:56.540 not as a way to have a career, but as a way to 00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:59.920 be a servant of the people. and to make decisions 00:06:59.920 --> 00:07:02.920 that are in the interest, the greater interest 00:07:02.920 --> 00:07:09.139 of the society and of the people. There are almost 00:07:09.139 --> 00:07:14.660 no politicians like that now. Almost none. There's 00:07:14.660 --> 00:07:18.060 one or two in the British government, but they 00:07:18.060 --> 00:07:20.699 tend to be ostracized, they tend to be criticized, 00:07:20.839 --> 00:07:26.120 and all sorts of things are done to mobilize. 00:07:27.120 --> 00:07:31.819 uh ways of demeaning them or uh disempowering 00:07:31.819 --> 00:07:34.920 them which i find very sickening actually um 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:38.800 but that's uh i mean i could go on but i i think 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:41.819 the authenticity and what you're saying you know 00:07:41.819 --> 00:07:43.800 you're not you're not shying away from a subject 00:07:43.800 --> 00:07:46.360 that most people don't want to touch you're you're 00:07:46.360 --> 00:07:49.819 willing to dive into it with a with a with a 00:07:49.819 --> 00:07:54.120 healthy dose of assuredness but also a respect 00:07:54.120 --> 00:07:56.339 that if i challenged it i i don't think you would 00:07:56.889 --> 00:07:59.410 leave the air. I don't think you would feel the 00:07:59.410 --> 00:08:02.370 need to back down on it. I watched a movie a 00:08:02.370 --> 00:08:05.610 few weeks ago called Michael Collins. I had no 00:08:05.610 --> 00:08:09.269 concept of the story. And so ironically, I watched 00:08:09.269 --> 00:08:11.170 it right before you came on and talked about 00:08:11.170 --> 00:08:15.589 some of what I saw in that history, where this 00:08:15.589 --> 00:08:18.930 man... had a concept of freedom that he wanted 00:08:18.930 --> 00:08:21.850 to achieve and and the government and people 00:08:21.850 --> 00:08:24.990 fought so hard against uh the bureaucracy fought 00:08:24.990 --> 00:08:27.170 so hard against what he was standing for what 00:08:27.170 --> 00:08:31.189 he was doing that no they couldn't win he created 00:08:31.189 --> 00:08:33.490 a movement that was successful even if it did 00:08:33.490 --> 00:08:35.809 hurt his own life the movement was not going 00:08:35.809 --> 00:08:39.210 to be stopped all right and so i would be happy 00:08:39.210 --> 00:08:42.809 to tie that back to okay so in a world of influencers 00:08:42.809 --> 00:08:46.179 um right that Uh, and I think my generation, 00:08:46.299 --> 00:08:48.340 I think the millennials and perhaps even the 00:08:48.340 --> 00:08:50.399 generation before us, maybe it's not generational. 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:53.899 Maybe this is forever a reality, but there's 00:08:53.899 --> 00:08:57.860 a lot of pressure put on us to be perfect. Um, 00:08:58.000 --> 00:09:00.080 there was a lot of pressure on us to perform 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:03.600 for the sake of love. Um, and to, you know, we 00:09:03.600 --> 00:09:05.740 didn't, we didn't have the type of career our 00:09:05.740 --> 00:09:08.100 parents wanted. We were a disappointment. Um, 00:09:08.120 --> 00:09:09.720 right. If we didn't do the church things the 00:09:09.720 --> 00:09:11.639 way our parents wanted, then there's a disappointment. 00:09:12.110 --> 00:09:14.990 Right. And so a lot of us, I think a lot of people 00:09:14.990 --> 00:09:19.269 learn to be something in public that they're 00:09:19.269 --> 00:09:23.490 not in private in order to feel connected to 00:09:23.490 --> 00:09:28.129 the world and feel acceptable. And that is a 00:09:28.129 --> 00:09:33.190 big part of why Instagram and TikTok and people 00:09:33.190 --> 00:09:35.669 show up and say, you know what, I better be something 00:09:35.669 --> 00:09:38.809 that people accept on the external. in order 00:09:38.809 --> 00:09:42.090 to feel valued in this world. Am I wrong or am 00:09:42.090 --> 00:09:46.409 I right about that? Yeah, you said I'd better. 00:09:47.169 --> 00:09:51.970 I'm not sure it's that. I think it's, I was writing 00:09:51.970 --> 00:09:55.049 about this today, funnily enough, this sense 00:09:55.049 --> 00:10:01.309 of loneliness that is so prevalent in such an 00:10:01.309 --> 00:10:04.730 ironical situation where we're supposed to be 00:10:04.730 --> 00:10:10.730 so connected. So Instagram, I know less about 00:10:10.730 --> 00:10:17.250 TikTok, but Facebook, all this lot, they're selling 00:10:17.250 --> 00:10:26.809 snake oil in a way. And I think people go on 00:10:26.809 --> 00:10:30.070 there. And, yes, they feel the need to be perfect. 00:10:30.470 --> 00:10:32.950 I mean, I experience it, for goodness sake. You 00:10:32.950 --> 00:10:34.950 know, I'm trying to build up followers. I want 00:10:34.950 --> 00:10:37.629 more people to see the stuff that I'm investing 00:10:37.629 --> 00:10:40.710 in and putting out there, which are ideas, which 00:10:40.710 --> 00:10:43.909 will then bring them to me to come to attend 00:10:43.909 --> 00:10:46.570 one of my leadership programs or a webinar or, 00:10:46.769 --> 00:10:49.570 you know, if they're incredibly enlightened, 00:10:49.629 --> 00:10:56.070 come and be coached by me. But how do I build 00:10:56.070 --> 00:11:02.330 my followership? what sort of things have I got 00:11:02.330 --> 00:11:05.789 to do to please these people so that they're 00:11:05.789 --> 00:11:07.269 sufficiently interested that they're going to 00:11:07.269 --> 00:11:12.750 watch a little video clip or read a small caption 00:11:12.750 --> 00:11:18.029 as opposed to just swiping by. It's like Tinder 00:11:18.029 --> 00:11:20.870 and all that lot. It's another version of Tinder. 00:11:21.029 --> 00:11:25.610 It's swipe, swipe, swipe. Yes, it is. It's sad. 00:11:25.809 --> 00:11:28.350 It's so, so sad because actually what we need 00:11:28.350 --> 00:11:30.629 to do is to be going out there and talking to 00:11:30.629 --> 00:11:33.409 people and engaging and finding someone and saying, 00:11:33.509 --> 00:11:38.009 I really don't agree with this guy, but he's 00:11:38.009 --> 00:11:41.450 saying something that's different to me. I'm 00:11:41.450 --> 00:11:43.529 curious about that. Why does he believe that? 00:11:43.629 --> 00:11:47.509 Why is he saying that? And what is the reaction? 00:11:47.769 --> 00:11:50.929 What is the visceral reaction that's happening 00:11:50.929 --> 00:11:54.799 in me as a result of this? Do I just hate him 00:11:54.799 --> 00:11:58.200 because he says something that I don't like? 00:11:58.600 --> 00:12:03.620 I mean, what logic is that? It's crazy. It's 00:12:03.620 --> 00:12:05.059 crazy. But that's the world that we're living 00:12:05.059 --> 00:12:12.019 in. It's so short term and it's so shallow. I 00:12:12.019 --> 00:12:15.919 wrote a piece for HR Zone, which was published 00:12:15.919 --> 00:12:18.240 today, funnily enough, about men's mental health. 00:12:18.480 --> 00:12:22.240 And one of the things that I am so sad about 00:12:22.240 --> 00:12:26.409 is that Certainly in this country, I mean, the 00:12:26.409 --> 00:12:29.870 US is a different subject, really, but they've 00:12:29.870 --> 00:12:36.009 austerity, you know, after the banks went bust 00:12:36.009 --> 00:12:41.269 and we put all our money into saving them. One 00:12:41.269 --> 00:12:43.570 of the things that they cut back on was spaces 00:12:43.570 --> 00:12:47.889 where young men could go and be interested and 00:12:47.889 --> 00:12:50.789 have an activity that took them away from hanging 00:12:50.789 --> 00:12:54.909 out on a street corner. spitting on people and 00:12:54.909 --> 00:12:59.490 taking some kind of drug. Young men need something 00:12:59.490 --> 00:13:02.049 to engage with. They need something that challenges 00:13:02.049 --> 00:13:08.029 them, that corrals their ego. And then they can 00:13:08.029 --> 00:13:12.350 grow up to be healthy contributors and members 00:13:12.350 --> 00:13:17.409 of society and challenge. And I'm not saying 00:13:17.409 --> 00:13:20.970 it's all sort of... lovey -dovey you know men 00:13:20.970 --> 00:13:24.769 need to express their masculinity in a way that 00:13:24.769 --> 00:13:31.009 is is creative and robust but all those environments 00:13:31.009 --> 00:13:34.529 have gone and we've just got shitty holes that 00:13:34.529 --> 00:13:38.230 they can go in instead uh and what's the result 00:13:38.230 --> 00:13:46.269 gangs um violence it's isolation yeah Loneliness, 00:13:46.350 --> 00:13:49.370 desperation, suicide. The rates of suicide of 00:13:49.370 --> 00:13:55.730 young men is the highest reason for death of 00:13:55.730 --> 00:13:59.470 young men up to the age of 50. Crazy, crazy, 00:13:59.529 --> 00:14:03.230 crazy. It is. Let's dive into the opposite side 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:07.029 of that, though. Let's dive into what we're doing 00:14:07.029 --> 00:14:09.529 to resolve. And I'll start with the first three 00:14:09.529 --> 00:14:12.009 resources. What are three resources you would 00:14:12.009 --> 00:14:14.669 recommend? for other visionaries who are building 00:14:14.669 --> 00:14:16.669 out there you're right it's challenging it's 00:14:16.669 --> 00:14:18.730 hard to figure the social media game out it's 00:14:18.730 --> 00:14:21.509 hard to figure out how to build you've built 00:14:21.509 --> 00:14:23.830 you've built a lot of clarity around your website 00:14:23.830 --> 00:14:27.490 and a lot around your messaging and you focused 00:14:27.490 --> 00:14:31.450 on serenity which so much of the world has decided 00:14:31.450 --> 00:14:34.610 to kind of abandon in place of fun or enthusiasm 00:14:34.610 --> 00:14:38.549 or dopamine or lots of other other things that 00:14:38.549 --> 00:14:40.990 are related to that what are the three resources 00:14:40.990 --> 00:14:46.750 tom Gosh. Well, the first that comes to mind 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:50.230 is this sense of serenity. I think we've become 00:14:50.230 --> 00:14:55.009 incredibly disconnected from nature. So, you 00:14:55.009 --> 00:14:58.009 know, I took the dogs out this morning, you know, 00:14:58.009 --> 00:15:01.730 and I stopped a number of times in front of a 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:10.679 flower and I just smelt it. I want to. find ways 00:15:10.679 --> 00:15:15.700 where I can get a sense of my role and place 00:15:15.700 --> 00:15:22.960 in nature. I'm not the master of this. I am a 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:28.460 part of it. And I think to have that sense of 00:15:28.460 --> 00:15:35.240 groundedness, I think it can be enormously resourcing. 00:15:35.899 --> 00:15:40.659 So that's one thing. take the time i mean they 00:15:40.659 --> 00:15:44.299 say take the time to smell the roses it's huge 00:15:44.299 --> 00:15:47.820 it's huge and yet yesterday when i was on a walk 00:15:47.820 --> 00:15:51.059 um talking to somebody very important to me making 00:15:51.059 --> 00:15:53.580 the time for that um right and that's it's hard 00:15:53.580 --> 00:15:55.379 when you're single father of four too there's 00:15:55.379 --> 00:15:57.659 a lot of a lot of directions i get pulled in 00:15:57.659 --> 00:16:02.299 right but um as i walk past this this bush of 00:16:02.299 --> 00:16:05.720 flowers that i had never seen like paid attention 00:16:05.720 --> 00:16:10.429 to before You know, here I was like just appreciating 00:16:10.429 --> 00:16:13.970 the aroma of that. And I'm glad you're doubling 00:16:13.970 --> 00:16:16.549 down on me on it because I looked up the definition 00:16:16.549 --> 00:16:18.409 of serenity right now while you were talking. 00:16:18.470 --> 00:16:20.269 I was like, OK, I know this has to do with peace, 00:16:20.409 --> 00:16:22.590 but I haven't looked at the full definition a 00:16:22.590 --> 00:16:24.610 long time and what's there. And so I obviously 00:16:24.610 --> 00:16:29.950 haven't mastered it, but it's a calm peace. And 00:16:29.950 --> 00:16:32.090 then it said a word that I didn't associate with 00:16:32.090 --> 00:16:36.850 it yet. It said untroubled. And I was like, that's 00:16:36.850 --> 00:16:39.289 what I need right now. I need that in my life 00:16:39.289 --> 00:16:42.409 right now. And I have all the access to it if 00:16:42.409 --> 00:16:44.830 I'm willing to be aware of that, right? And really 00:16:44.830 --> 00:16:48.330 dive into it. I can meticulously, methodically, 00:16:48.429 --> 00:16:51.909 meditatively lean into that. So first off, thank 00:16:51.909 --> 00:16:54.970 you for the first switch of serenity. Yes, I 00:16:54.970 --> 00:17:00.029 have the power to be untroubled, right? And I 00:17:00.029 --> 00:17:03.320 need to lean into that. What's number two? number 00:17:03.320 --> 00:17:09.380 that's really nice um well number two is there 00:17:09.380 --> 00:17:11.200 might be a big challenge you know i particularly 00:17:11.200 --> 00:17:14.079 in the states i lived in the states for for six 00:17:14.079 --> 00:17:19.279 years and you you go into a person's house and 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:24.900 typically the the tv would be on uh and if not 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:30.779 certainly the radio was on if not both and um 00:17:30.779 --> 00:17:33.799 i i say this with a degree of humility because 00:17:33.799 --> 00:17:36.779 i find this really hard to do myself but switch 00:17:36.779 --> 00:17:42.200 off the noise switch off the noise when i'm coaching 00:17:42.200 --> 00:17:46.380 um ceos and sort of senior execs i often say 00:17:46.380 --> 00:17:54.980 to them how can you hear the faint signals um 00:17:54.980 --> 00:17:57.819 because when there's so much noise in your life 00:17:57.819 --> 00:18:03.119 you can't And yet, as the leader of an organisation, 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:09.619 you need to be able to sense the future which 00:18:09.619 --> 00:18:20.039 is coming towards you. And I remember driving 00:18:20.039 --> 00:18:23.039 up a motorway a while back, and I was about 10 00:18:23.039 --> 00:18:26.880 miles away from where I was living. And I remembered 00:18:26.880 --> 00:18:33.839 then... what I needed to have with me to go to 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:36.640 the meeting that I was on my way to. And I didn't 00:18:36.640 --> 00:18:41.140 have it. And then I thought back, and as I was 00:18:41.140 --> 00:18:44.640 leaving the house, there was a sense that I had 00:18:44.640 --> 00:18:49.500 that I needed to take something with me. But 00:18:49.500 --> 00:18:57.240 I was too noisy in myself to hear that. And I 00:18:57.240 --> 00:19:05.529 remember shouting in the car, Speak louder. But 00:19:05.529 --> 00:19:15.710 it's like, no, you shut up and listen. So it's 00:19:15.710 --> 00:19:19.049 give yourself some space where there isn't any 00:19:19.049 --> 00:19:26.049 noise. Golly, man. Our lives, the stars of alignment 00:19:26.049 --> 00:19:31.250 of this, Tom, I just can't. And my, one of my 00:19:31.250 --> 00:19:35.529 prayers this morning, I had a very open talk 00:19:35.529 --> 00:19:39.150 with God about that. And I know how important 00:19:39.150 --> 00:19:41.750 it is to listen and that the, we call it the 00:19:41.750 --> 00:19:44.650 still calm voice. You know, that's that, that, 00:19:44.650 --> 00:19:48.150 that talk that, that you said, you said, as a 00:19:48.150 --> 00:19:50.750 leader, you need to be able to see the sense, 00:19:50.769 --> 00:19:54.130 the future that is coming towards you. And with 00:19:54.130 --> 00:19:57.869 all that distraction on, we can't. And I literally. 00:19:58.640 --> 00:20:02.039 kind of told God the same thing. I was like, 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:06.380 I need to hear, I need to understand, right? 00:20:06.539 --> 00:20:10.980 I need to understand. And it's not too different 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:13.700 than what you were saying, you know, speak louder. 00:20:14.359 --> 00:20:18.980 And I got that calm voice back of like, you will, 00:20:19.079 --> 00:20:22.900 you know, hang in there. You know, like it's 00:20:22.900 --> 00:20:25.259 not coming the way that you want it to, Jackson. 00:20:25.660 --> 00:20:27.799 You know, that's not how this process works. 00:20:28.569 --> 00:20:32.950 But I do want to lean in deep to that. At first, 00:20:32.970 --> 00:20:34.529 I got on my high horse as soon as you talked 00:20:34.529 --> 00:20:36.470 about the TV and radio. And I was like, mine's 00:20:36.470 --> 00:20:40.589 never on. And I was like, yes, I'm winning. And 00:20:40.589 --> 00:20:43.789 then I remember my computer whirring. We were 00:20:43.789 --> 00:20:46.650 talking and I'm like, no, I turned that off too. 00:20:46.789 --> 00:20:48.609 I was like, don't go there. I turned that off 00:20:48.609 --> 00:20:50.849 too. So I'm like champion. Then I remember my 00:20:50.849 --> 00:20:56.069 phone. And I was like, crap. I do a decent job 00:20:56.069 --> 00:21:00.259 of unplugging. but it's still there, right? It's 00:21:00.259 --> 00:21:02.359 still coming at me a lot of times, interrupting 00:21:02.359 --> 00:21:06.180 those signals that you talked about. And then 00:21:06.180 --> 00:21:09.279 I remembered my personal relationships. And now 00:21:09.279 --> 00:21:11.099 it has nothing to do with technology, but sometimes 00:21:11.099 --> 00:21:15.920 we either overindulge in a relationship or we 00:21:15.920 --> 00:21:17.559 take on other people's baggage that we're not 00:21:17.559 --> 00:21:19.700 supposed to take on. There's so much noise, right? 00:21:19.759 --> 00:21:21.680 There's so many things that can keep replacing 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:25.950 the noise that we might remove. So I'm going 00:21:25.950 --> 00:21:27.970 to ask a bold question. Maybe you do or don't 00:21:27.970 --> 00:21:32.369 have the answer. If those are symptoms, if the 00:21:32.369 --> 00:21:35.069 TV is a symptom, if the radio is a symptom, then 00:21:35.069 --> 00:21:39.549 what the heck? Where do we go? What is it that 00:21:39.549 --> 00:21:41.490 really needs to be shut off? How do we really 00:21:41.490 --> 00:21:50.450 tune in to that serenity? Well, you know, we 00:21:50.450 --> 00:21:58.819 are the masters of our own destiny. Try it. Quite 00:21:58.819 --> 00:22:05.539 a few people now are trying meditation. Some 00:22:05.539 --> 00:22:07.779 people find it unbelievably difficult, and I'm 00:22:07.779 --> 00:22:14.220 one of them. So give yourself a break. Meditate 00:22:14.220 --> 00:22:18.720 for a minute. Just switch everything off for 00:22:18.720 --> 00:22:21.839 a minute. and just sit there and, you know, your 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:24.180 head will be spinning and, oh, I've got to do 00:22:24.180 --> 00:22:27.660 this and I want some breakfast and my stomach's 00:22:27.660 --> 00:22:32.539 aching and, oh, God, I forgot about the papers 00:22:32.539 --> 00:22:36.180 that the kids have got to take. All of that is 00:22:36.180 --> 00:22:41.500 going on. But that is practice and it's not about 00:22:41.500 --> 00:22:47.839 trying to close it off. It's about thank you. 00:22:49.200 --> 00:22:52.539 You know, sometimes I kind of get panicky about, 00:22:52.640 --> 00:22:56.160 oh, God, I've got to do this. And then the thought 00:22:56.160 --> 00:23:00.460 comes to me and says, well, right now, there's 00:23:00.460 --> 00:23:02.619 nothing you can do about that. So let it go. 00:23:03.859 --> 00:23:07.640 You know, we spend so much, such a high percentage 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:12.579 of our time worrying about things that are not 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:19.420 going to happen. And it just takes energy, and 00:23:19.420 --> 00:23:25.039 it distances ourselves from that place of serenity, 00:23:25.140 --> 00:23:34.900 which is there. Wow. I'm taking a lot of notes 00:23:34.900 --> 00:23:39.579 in this one, guys. This is powerfully aligned 00:23:39.579 --> 00:23:44.079 with what I need in my life right now as a visionary, 00:23:44.220 --> 00:23:47.910 and I honor that. um and i hope the rest of you 00:23:47.910 --> 00:23:50.509 too are able to use these moments of silence 00:23:50.509 --> 00:23:55.710 to sense you know what is it that you need to 00:23:55.710 --> 00:23:57.750 do as leaders all visionaries in this role are 00:23:57.750 --> 00:24:01.410 leaders um we may not be of the winston churchill 00:24:01.410 --> 00:24:05.210 levels um you know we may not be the president 00:24:05.210 --> 00:24:09.670 of countries and some of us yet um right and 00:24:09.670 --> 00:24:13.809 at the same time if we're called into a sense 00:24:13.809 --> 00:24:15.289 of purpose where we're supposed to be helping 00:24:15.289 --> 00:24:19.609 others. And it's so important to learn to access 00:24:19.609 --> 00:24:24.029 powers beyond our cerebral recognition, right? 00:24:24.069 --> 00:24:26.349 Beyond our emotional reactions and instincts 00:24:26.349 --> 00:24:29.069 as well. And I'd love to dive into resource number 00:24:29.069 --> 00:24:30.930 three. Tom, what do you got? What's the third 00:24:30.930 --> 00:24:33.109 one? What's helped you get to where you are? 00:24:35.549 --> 00:24:41.210 I think there is no greater gift that one person 00:24:41.210 --> 00:24:45.920 can give to another. then they're 100 % presence. 00:24:47.880 --> 00:25:03.660 And so the resource there is how can I be with 00:25:03.660 --> 00:25:07.980 this person? So, you know, I switch off the phone. 00:25:09.819 --> 00:25:14.019 Do whatever. But in that moment, you know, even 00:25:14.019 --> 00:25:16.640 if you're just passing someone in the street 00:25:16.640 --> 00:25:20.640 and you have a very brief interchange, in that 00:25:20.640 --> 00:25:25.220 moment, you are there with them. You know, my 00:25:25.220 --> 00:25:27.839 daughter picked me up on this years ago and we 00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:30.980 were on the phone and I was fiddle -tapping on 00:25:30.980 --> 00:25:34.279 the computer at the same time. And she stopped 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.259 talking and she said, you're not really with 00:25:37.259 --> 00:25:42.009 me, are you? And we were just on the phone. But 00:25:42.009 --> 00:25:46.769 she could sense that. I'm, you know, pretty basic, 00:25:46.789 --> 00:25:52.349 so it was fairly obvious, I suppose. You know, 00:25:52.349 --> 00:25:55.430 I mean, that pulled me up pretty short. You know, 00:25:55.450 --> 00:26:00.650 I'm still not great at that. But I do know that... 00:26:00.650 --> 00:26:06.359 And even... Not so much being on the giving end 00:26:06.359 --> 00:26:08.460 of that, but on the receiving end of that. You 00:26:08.460 --> 00:26:12.119 know if somebody is really there talking to you 00:26:12.119 --> 00:26:14.500 and there is nothing else. There are no other 00:26:14.500 --> 00:26:19.279 distractions. Clear your desk. I am with this 00:26:19.279 --> 00:26:26.619 person. Bang. Full stop. 100%. And if they're 00:26:26.619 --> 00:26:31.559 doing it both ways, I mean, that's when you can 00:26:31.559 --> 00:26:39.150 feel. That's when love will transmit, pass between 00:26:39.150 --> 00:26:44.769 people. I mean, because it is a moment of great 00:26:44.769 --> 00:26:48.670 respect and it is a moment of great love. Yes. 00:26:48.890 --> 00:26:52.910 I absolutely love that. There's levels on this 00:26:52.910 --> 00:26:55.569 too. It's like a dial for volume, right? There's 00:26:55.569 --> 00:26:59.849 lots of levels where this can exist and maximizing. 00:27:00.519 --> 00:27:03.660 the dial of tuning in presently allows us to 00:27:03.660 --> 00:27:06.079 maximize that power of love and how it's felt. 00:27:06.660 --> 00:27:09.779 So I, I did something while you were talking 00:27:09.779 --> 00:27:12.039 about that. And one, one, one, I want to go back 00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:14.819 to what you said. You said, I guess the resources 00:27:14.819 --> 00:27:17.299 is after you said the resource, but I want to 00:27:17.299 --> 00:27:19.900 go back to, you nailed the resource. The resource 00:27:19.900 --> 00:27:24.480 is 100 % presence. I don't think anybody should 00:27:24.480 --> 00:27:26.619 mince words. I got cerebral people I meet with, 00:27:26.660 --> 00:27:28.799 Tom, who would in a heartbeat, and I can think 00:27:28.799 --> 00:27:30.599 of their faces and their names and I won't shame 00:27:30.599 --> 00:27:33.359 them. But all of you listening, you have people 00:27:33.359 --> 00:27:35.000 in your life like this who would say, well, like, 00:27:35.059 --> 00:27:37.299 how is that practical? You know, or how do you 00:27:37.299 --> 00:27:39.660 like, what is the real resource behind it? And 00:27:39.660 --> 00:27:42.859 they don't mean to disrespect the sacred value 00:27:42.859 --> 00:27:45.160 of what was just given. They just can't see it. 00:27:45.619 --> 00:27:47.799 They just can't feel it the way those of you 00:27:47.799 --> 00:27:49.859 who are leaning into this. And it's important 00:27:49.859 --> 00:27:51.660 because you're surrounded by so many people who 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:54.230 can't. who won't pick that up, who won't learn 00:27:54.230 --> 00:27:56.369 like, oh, I'm supposed to do something with this 00:27:56.369 --> 00:27:59.049 from here and meditated on it myself and find 00:27:59.049 --> 00:28:01.150 what this means for me. So thank you for diving 00:28:01.150 --> 00:28:04.390 into some examples on that. And I think the greater 00:28:04.390 --> 00:28:06.210 opportunity for all of you visionaries listening 00:28:06.210 --> 00:28:09.609 in is how do I lean into figuring out what does 00:28:09.609 --> 00:28:13.849 100 % presence mean for me, right? So I'm taking 00:28:13.849 --> 00:28:17.930 notes here and I'm like, okay, wait, am I really 00:28:17.930 --> 00:28:20.549 presence with Tom if I'm taking notes? Because 00:28:20.549 --> 00:28:22.690 my brain is doing this and I'm on this panner. 00:28:22.789 --> 00:28:25.549 And then I took my phone and it was sitting in 00:28:25.549 --> 00:28:28.130 front of me like this. Right, right, right here 00:28:28.130 --> 00:28:30.349 underneath there. And it was on vibrate. And 00:28:30.349 --> 00:28:32.069 I should never leave my phone on vibrate during 00:28:32.069 --> 00:28:35.150 the podcast. Right. And I'm like, it'll be fine. 00:28:35.369 --> 00:28:36.950 And then I said, no, I'm not being present. He's 00:28:36.950 --> 00:28:39.329 talking about being present right now. So I was 00:28:39.329 --> 00:28:41.869 being unpresent, literally going through this. 00:28:41.890 --> 00:28:44.049 And I was like, OK, I'm going to turn on silent. 00:28:44.289 --> 00:28:49.869 And I threw my phone over there. it's one more 00:28:49.869 --> 00:28:52.970 way to just turn that dial up. And I think it's 00:28:52.970 --> 00:28:55.849 easy as human beings to trap ourselves in the 00:28:55.849 --> 00:28:59.009 concept of beating ourselves up and focusing 00:28:59.009 --> 00:29:01.789 on what we fall short on and then diving into 00:29:01.789 --> 00:29:04.109 guilt and shame. But we all have an opportunity 00:29:04.109 --> 00:29:07.470 to say, you know what? Tom's pouring his heart 00:29:07.470 --> 00:29:09.930 and soul out to us by showing up on the show 00:29:09.930 --> 00:29:13.150 and giving the way he's giving. And I don't need 00:29:13.150 --> 00:29:15.970 to wallow in self -pity. Can I dive right back 00:29:15.970 --> 00:29:17.859 in with him? And say, you know what? I'm going 00:29:17.859 --> 00:29:19.539 to turn my dial up too. I'm going to meet him 00:29:19.539 --> 00:29:20.819 where he's meeting me. So we're going to come 00:29:20.819 --> 00:29:22.880 right back, my friends. We're going to dive in 00:29:22.880 --> 00:29:25.539 and talk about influence and Tom's vision for 00:29:25.539 --> 00:29:27.619 that. We've already talked about the authenticity 00:29:27.619 --> 00:29:29.539 of the world. We've already talked about how 00:29:29.539 --> 00:29:33.619 we're all in this world that contains a lot of 00:29:33.619 --> 00:29:35.700 mud and a lot of distraction, a lot of fighting 00:29:35.700 --> 00:29:38.019 and things like that. But I'd love to dive in 00:29:38.019 --> 00:29:40.039 and see where he's going with the vision, how 00:29:40.039 --> 00:29:41.640 he's helping people, how he can help us too. 00:29:42.140 --> 00:29:43.940 We're going to do our best to pull together as 00:29:43.940 --> 00:29:46.769 much truth and value for as possible. based on 00:29:46.769 --> 00:29:48.650 the love that Tom is talking about. We'll be 00:29:48.650 --> 00:29:51.329 right back. All right. Welcome in to Vision Pros 00:29:51.329 --> 00:29:54.329 Live with Jackson Callum. I'm your show host. 00:29:54.529 --> 00:29:56.589 We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs 00:29:56.589 --> 00:29:59.410 and guest leaders who are building fantastic 00:29:59.410 --> 00:30:10.519 visions out there. Hey, what's up, everybody? 00:30:10.619 --> 00:30:12.200 Welcome in to another episode of Vision Pros 00:30:12.200 --> 00:30:14.559 Live. I'm your show host, Jackson Callum, founder 00:30:14.559 --> 00:30:16.859 and CEO of First Class Business. And I'm super 00:30:16.859 --> 00:30:19.500 excited to have Tom Dennis on the stage with 00:30:19.500 --> 00:30:23.000 me from Serenity in Leadership. Those words are 00:30:23.000 --> 00:30:25.799 really, really sacred to me, by the way. When 00:30:25.799 --> 00:30:28.240 I saw that Tom was coming on the show, I went 00:30:28.240 --> 00:30:31.059 and Googled his brand and I was like, okay, he's 00:30:31.059 --> 00:30:33.319 got a well -structured website too. I went and 00:30:33.319 --> 00:30:36.619 checked that out and I felt the serenity of it. 00:30:36.680 --> 00:30:38.559 I could see it was like, okay, this guy is really 00:30:38.559 --> 00:30:40.960 working to be intentional in helping others. 00:30:41.240 --> 00:30:44.380 He's got decades of wisdom as well. There's so 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:46.480 much opportunity to lean in and see, okay, what 00:30:46.480 --> 00:30:49.200 truths can he unpack for the rest of us? What 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:52.140 things can we gain from somebody who's decided 00:30:52.140 --> 00:30:54.970 to dedicate? his life and vision to the space 00:30:54.970 --> 00:30:58.329 of serenity in a world that moves towards entertainment 00:30:58.329 --> 00:31:01.869 and noise and hype and hustle things that are 00:31:01.869 --> 00:31:05.190 ultimately at odds with the idea of leaning into 00:31:05.190 --> 00:31:07.730 serenity so to me this this interview is an absolute 00:31:07.730 --> 00:31:10.740 pleasure Before I bring Tom back on stage, I 00:31:10.740 --> 00:31:12.559 do want to make sure to talk about some of the 00:31:12.559 --> 00:31:14.779 resources you have available to you. We're going 00:31:14.779 --> 00:31:17.759 to start with Junaid Ahmed's Home Studio Mastery. 00:31:18.019 --> 00:31:20.500 I've got a podcast. I'm really happy with the 00:31:20.500 --> 00:31:22.740 setup that I have. And yet I'm also grateful 00:31:22.740 --> 00:31:24.940 to have a business partner in Junaid now who 00:31:24.940 --> 00:31:28.220 builds out world -class podcast studios. This 00:31:28.220 --> 00:31:31.299 is for those who want to be an industry expert. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:33.819 This is for those who want to be able to lead 00:31:33.819 --> 00:31:36.119 their industries, who really understand the value 00:31:36.119 --> 00:31:40.309 of, you know what? Let's just say that you're 00:31:40.309 --> 00:31:44.450 in a market or an industry where you need to 00:31:44.450 --> 00:31:48.430 have the appearance of leading as a great leader. 00:31:48.509 --> 00:31:51.130 You can't show up in a Pinto. You need to have 00:31:51.130 --> 00:31:53.509 your Lamborghini present or you need to have 00:31:53.509 --> 00:31:56.170 a nicer car. Well, I get that. That's not how 00:31:56.170 --> 00:31:58.269 I do things. I lead the third world, just so 00:31:58.269 --> 00:32:01.150 y 'all are clear. I want to be relatable and 00:32:01.150 --> 00:32:03.509 present in a way that's different than the way 00:32:03.509 --> 00:32:06.150 Junaid is able to set these studios up. So when 00:32:06.150 --> 00:32:08.089 it comes to upgrading studios and when it comes 00:32:08.089 --> 00:32:10.349 to my clients moving towards that. Junaid is 00:32:10.349 --> 00:32:12.289 absolutely the place that we turn people to because 00:32:12.289 --> 00:32:14.849 he knows how to put all those details in order 00:32:14.849 --> 00:32:17.210 and what it takes to have a world -class podcast 00:32:17.210 --> 00:32:19.250 studio. So if that's you, go ahead and check 00:32:19.250 --> 00:32:21.170 him out and see what he's up to in terms of building 00:32:21.170 --> 00:32:24.170 media schools out as well to help young kids 00:32:24.170 --> 00:32:26.289 make the most of their life and create a better 00:32:26.289 --> 00:32:28.349 sense of freedom of the press. As you all know, 00:32:28.390 --> 00:32:29.809 we suffer tremendously from that in this world 00:32:29.809 --> 00:32:32.910 too. Moving on, we got Dr. Danny Brassell. Dr. 00:32:33.029 --> 00:32:35.750 Danny Brassell isn't only a world -class, world 00:32:35.750 --> 00:32:39.349 -renowned speaker who helps corporate organizations, 00:32:39.849 --> 00:32:42.390 professionals move their lives forward. What 00:32:42.390 --> 00:32:44.210 I really love about Danny is he's got a program 00:32:44.210 --> 00:32:46.609 called The Reading Habit. He's an educator, he's 00:32:46.609 --> 00:32:50.710 a teacher. He helps parents inspire their children 00:32:50.710 --> 00:32:53.390 to become great leaders and to learn to love 00:32:53.390 --> 00:32:56.069 to read. And he's got that energy where he's 00:32:56.069 --> 00:32:57.470 one of those people you have to be careful with 00:32:57.470 --> 00:33:01.190 because if you sit down with Danny, in a 10 -minute 00:33:01.190 --> 00:33:03.450 session or 20 -minute session he's going to change 00:33:03.450 --> 00:33:05.190 your life and you know if you're like scared 00:33:05.190 --> 00:33:06.609 like i don't know if i want to meet this guy 00:33:06.609 --> 00:33:08.890 because he's going to make a big impact and he's 00:33:08.890 --> 00:33:10.250 going to inspire me and then i'm going to be 00:33:10.250 --> 00:33:13.349 yes he is that level of leader i absolutely love 00:33:13.349 --> 00:33:15.490 talking to danny he has superpowers when it comes 00:33:15.490 --> 00:33:18.049 to helping people and i can't think of too many 00:33:18.049 --> 00:33:22.079 better causes than actually helping kids learn 00:33:22.079 --> 00:33:24.420 how to read and helping them through the parents. 00:33:24.500 --> 00:33:26.559 So the parents get to be part of that experience 00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:28.539 as well as they're going to be the ones who are 00:33:28.539 --> 00:33:30.720 there long -term. Danny comes in, he's able to 00:33:30.720 --> 00:33:32.440 make his mark and help people. He's got a program 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:35.619 on this online as well. And I highly recommend 00:33:35.619 --> 00:33:37.539 checking out what Danny's doing to do that. If 00:33:37.539 --> 00:33:39.400 that touches your heart, if you understand the 00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:40.880 value of reading, reach out to him, partner with 00:33:40.880 --> 00:33:42.640 him, be a collaborator with what he's doing. 00:33:42.660 --> 00:33:44.460 That's what we're doing as well. Then there's 00:33:44.460 --> 00:33:46.299 the water project. As I said, I can't think of 00:33:46.299 --> 00:33:47.700 too many things that are more important than 00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:50.789 reading. And better than that, maybe this is, 00:33:50.829 --> 00:33:53.250 maybe this isn't. This is simply what I'm called 00:33:53.250 --> 00:33:56.250 to talk about. I understand the value of the 00:33:56.250 --> 00:33:58.349 water project because I meditated on it, not 00:33:58.349 --> 00:34:00.329 because I've been through it, but I imagined 00:34:00.329 --> 00:34:02.829 what would it be like for my kids to not have 00:34:02.829 --> 00:34:04.849 water and to not know where the next source of 00:34:04.849 --> 00:34:06.990 water is? What about me as a provider? What if 00:34:06.990 --> 00:34:10.150 I had to leave work or risk bringing water home 00:34:10.150 --> 00:34:12.929 that wasn't safe for my kids? I've never, ever. 00:34:13.400 --> 00:34:15.300 had to live with that type of experience yet 00:34:15.300 --> 00:34:17.320 there are millions of people throughout the world 00:34:17.320 --> 00:34:20.019 who do and because of organizations like the 00:34:20.019 --> 00:34:22.219 water project we're able to get involved and 00:34:22.219 --> 00:34:24.079 do something about it look at this picture these 00:34:24.079 --> 00:34:27.300 kids are celebrating water perhaps with even 00:34:27.300 --> 00:34:29.820 more enthusiasm than my own kids celebrate christmas 00:34:29.820 --> 00:34:32.519 day itself and that's just for the most basic 00:34:32.519 --> 00:34:35.360 essential resource for us beyond the oxygen we 00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:37.340 have the opportunity to choose which community 00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:39.639 want to provide for i love that they show you 00:34:39.639 --> 00:34:41.920 how the project works what is being built whether 00:34:41.920 --> 00:34:45.059 it's a sand dam or borehole well or a upgrade 00:34:45.059 --> 00:34:47.139 to an existing infrastructure that they may have 00:34:47.139 --> 00:34:49.420 it shows you how many people you're helping and 00:34:49.420 --> 00:34:51.380 all you got to do is donate a little bit of money 00:34:51.380 --> 00:34:53.769 to that Now, if you're struggling financially 00:34:53.769 --> 00:34:55.969 and you can't do that, my hope is that you'll 00:34:55.969 --> 00:34:57.949 just talk to others about it. You never know 00:34:57.949 --> 00:35:00.710 what happens when you spread the word about something 00:35:00.710 --> 00:35:02.750 that you believe in. You don't know how far that 00:35:02.750 --> 00:35:04.469 ripple effect is going to go. You might be the 00:35:04.469 --> 00:35:06.489 chain link that connects a friend to a friend 00:35:06.489 --> 00:35:09.070 that ends up investing $100 ,000 in helping said 00:35:09.070 --> 00:35:11.869 projects. So my hope is that you use your voice, 00:35:12.010 --> 00:35:14.809 you use your opportunity to influence. And with 00:35:14.809 --> 00:35:16.449 that being said, we're going to go back to this 00:35:16.449 --> 00:35:19.710 conversation about influence and purpose. And 00:35:19.710 --> 00:35:22.289 who better to speak to that? than Tom Dennis. 00:35:22.349 --> 00:35:24.969 Tom, welcome back to Vision Pros Life. Thank 00:35:24.969 --> 00:35:29.710 you, Jackson. I love the fluency with which you 00:35:29.710 --> 00:35:33.409 have just given people some important messages. 00:35:34.010 --> 00:35:36.730 It's very professional. Thank you. You know, 00:35:36.789 --> 00:35:40.599 it's passion. I'll dive in with that. It's passion. 00:35:40.699 --> 00:35:44.099 It's because I care. I'll write about these institutes 00:35:44.099 --> 00:35:46.440 and these organizations. And all of you out there, 00:35:46.460 --> 00:35:49.400 you can flow that type of fluency as you really 00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:51.719 lean into your passions with purpose. So back 00:35:51.719 --> 00:35:54.239 to that with Tom. Tom, tell me about your vision. 00:35:54.360 --> 00:35:56.139 Let's hear about what you see on the horizon. 00:35:59.940 --> 00:36:05.199 Well, the project manager for my book sent me 00:36:05.199 --> 00:36:09.070 a whole bunch of questions. because they want 00:36:09.070 --> 00:36:11.550 to do the book cover design and so they really 00:36:11.550 --> 00:36:15.469 wanted to get inside tom dennis and this this 00:36:15.469 --> 00:36:18.449 this this concept of rewilding the corporate 00:36:18.449 --> 00:36:33.010 mind um and so i i have a um this this this this 00:36:33.010 --> 00:36:40.949 vision i don't know of a new type of leader really 00:36:40.949 --> 00:36:49.130 being in the majority, of people who care and 00:36:49.130 --> 00:36:53.849 are in service. We have political systems which 00:36:53.849 --> 00:37:00.309 are just so riven with money and self -aggrandisement. 00:37:01.349 --> 00:37:06.309 And what we need is, we desperately need people 00:37:06.309 --> 00:37:11.730 who... are doing things because uh they can see 00:37:11.730 --> 00:37:21.570 the the the the the positive um impact on community 00:37:21.570 --> 00:37:24.469 i mean the word sort of came into my mind community 00:37:24.469 --> 00:37:30.250 you know we're too big we're and and you know 00:37:30.250 --> 00:37:35.449 we're global and yet we've lost our village You 00:37:35.449 --> 00:37:44.269 talk about being a single parent. My goodness, 00:37:44.429 --> 00:37:47.110 the number of people who are single parents. 00:37:48.670 --> 00:37:55.230 And in the past, a child was part of the community 00:37:55.230 --> 00:37:58.449 and it was the community that brought the child 00:37:58.449 --> 00:38:02.949 up. So the burden was not just on the parents 00:38:02.949 --> 00:38:10.489 or parent. but on the support, the guidance, 00:38:10.590 --> 00:38:16.590 and the inspiration of all the elements that 00:38:16.590 --> 00:38:19.750 made up that community, which is so beautiful. 00:38:20.030 --> 00:38:23.550 And we've killed all that. We don't have community 00:38:23.550 --> 00:38:29.210 anymore, pretty much. And where we do have it, 00:38:29.250 --> 00:38:34.809 the system is trying to break it down. I'm looking 00:38:34.809 --> 00:38:37.969 for leaders who, you know, I mean, one of my 00:38:37.969 --> 00:38:43.809 great sort of models is Yvon Chouinard, the founder 00:38:43.809 --> 00:38:49.650 of Patagonia, which is just such a truly amazing 00:38:49.650 --> 00:38:55.050 company. Yes. And if you look now, because they've 00:38:55.050 --> 00:39:00.880 had crashes from way back. They've now got people 00:39:00.880 --> 00:39:04.360 who are working in the organization who grew 00:39:04.360 --> 00:39:07.780 up through the crash system within the company. 00:39:08.599 --> 00:39:13.420 And that is a community. And it's an unbelievably 00:39:13.420 --> 00:39:18.019 successful community. I had the privilege to 00:39:18.019 --> 00:39:22.960 interview a guy who was the head of people, HR. 00:39:23.179 --> 00:39:28.070 I mean, he had a big title. for about eight years 00:39:28.070 --> 00:39:30.710 at Patagonia. And I interviewed him on a couple 00:39:30.710 --> 00:39:35.210 of podcasts. And just the passion. He's left 00:39:35.210 --> 00:39:37.630 the organization, but still the passion. He still 00:39:37.630 --> 00:39:44.630 talked about we. Yeah. And it's like, you know, 00:39:44.730 --> 00:39:50.929 Srinath and his family put the organization in 00:39:50.929 --> 00:39:54.730 trust to the earth because it cost him a fortune 00:39:54.730 --> 00:39:58.699 in tax. But nobody can lay their hands on it 00:39:58.699 --> 00:40:03.079 now. And, you know, 10 % of everything they turn 00:40:03.079 --> 00:40:07.340 over goes to protecting the environment. I mean, 00:40:07.400 --> 00:40:09.500 they're just beautiful people with beautiful 00:40:09.500 --> 00:40:14.340 ideas, principles, purpose, all these good things. 00:40:14.559 --> 00:40:20.400 It is possible. It is possible. And so, yeah, 00:40:20.579 --> 00:40:23.639 I haven't put it like this before. I want leaders 00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:31.940 to create. healthy, happy community. I love that. 00:40:32.639 --> 00:40:35.440 I love that. I'm grateful that you talked about 00:40:35.440 --> 00:40:39.420 how it's possible. And, you know, we live in 00:40:39.420 --> 00:40:42.420 a world of false guarantees, you know, where 00:40:42.420 --> 00:40:45.139 that's the competition. You know, this illusion 00:40:45.139 --> 00:40:50.119 of certainty, you know, this vanity of look at 00:40:50.119 --> 00:40:51.920 what I did, you're guaranteed to do this too. 00:40:52.360 --> 00:40:54.539 when the variables are so different and it's 00:40:54.539 --> 00:40:57.880 so easy to fall victim of diving into that. But 00:40:57.880 --> 00:41:00.820 I can say wholeheartedly, I would rather strive 00:41:00.820 --> 00:41:04.820 for what's possible and aligned with purpose 00:41:04.820 --> 00:41:10.099 and fail than go towards some guaranteed outcome 00:41:10.099 --> 00:41:12.460 that makes me a shadow of the man that I'm meant 00:41:12.460 --> 00:41:16.420 to be. That's not something I'm willing to concede 00:41:16.420 --> 00:41:18.420 and dive into. There's two questions we're going 00:41:18.420 --> 00:41:20.760 to skip for the sake of time. things that I would 00:41:20.760 --> 00:41:22.539 love to talk about, worst leadership experience, 00:41:22.800 --> 00:41:24.460 best leadership experience. Maybe we can get 00:41:24.460 --> 00:41:25.920 you back. Maybe we can talk about those in the 00:41:25.920 --> 00:41:29.159 future or do a separate segment that maybe is 00:41:29.159 --> 00:41:31.119 a solo and you send back. But I'm going to dive 00:41:31.119 --> 00:41:33.739 into the power question. My favorite question, 00:41:34.239 --> 00:41:37.519 Tom, if this is the last chance that you had 00:41:37.519 --> 00:41:40.500 to speak on earth, this was it. What powerful 00:41:40.500 --> 00:41:42.940 lesson can other visionaries learn from your 00:41:42.940 --> 00:41:52.119 experience? I thought you were going to go into 00:41:52.119 --> 00:41:55.719 power and the dynamics of power as opposed to 00:41:55.719 --> 00:42:01.360 just saying it's a power question. Powerful lesson. 00:42:01.559 --> 00:42:04.679 So in that, again, this is the last chance you 00:42:04.679 --> 00:42:07.340 had to leave wisdom with us. What would that 00:42:07.340 --> 00:42:23.019 wisdom be? Be kind. You know, you see someone 00:42:23.019 --> 00:42:31.219 and we make up stories about people very quickly. 00:42:32.179 --> 00:42:34.400 You see someone, you don't actually look at their 00:42:34.400 --> 00:42:37.179 face, so you make up a story. You see someone 00:42:37.179 --> 00:42:40.800 who's got some disability and you make up a story 00:42:40.800 --> 00:42:46.480 about it. You know, as opposed to saying, what 00:42:46.480 --> 00:42:48.780 is it about me that is making me uncomfortable? 00:42:51.880 --> 00:42:55.820 And who am I to make any judgments about this 00:42:55.820 --> 00:43:03.119 person? You know, life is tough. Even multimillionaires, 00:43:03.179 --> 00:43:08.860 you know, money doesn't buy happiness. But it 00:43:08.860 --> 00:43:18.280 does tend to amplify the journey that these people 00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:21.739 took. to make a whole bunch of money. And a lot 00:43:21.739 --> 00:43:24.480 of that journey was probably quite uncomfortable 00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:28.019 for other people and by implication for that 00:43:28.019 --> 00:43:31.760 individual as well. Don't judge. Don't judge. 00:43:32.000 --> 00:43:39.820 Just come with an open and kind mind. You know, 00:43:39.840 --> 00:43:50.420 you could say come with love. We could do with 00:43:50.420 --> 00:43:53.619 a bit more of that. I'm tempted to let it resonate. 00:43:54.880 --> 00:43:58.780 So I, cause I love it. And yes, we can, we can 00:43:58.780 --> 00:44:01.699 do a bit with a, with a bit more. And so it's 00:44:01.699 --> 00:44:04.860 a polite way of putting it a very graceful way 00:44:04.860 --> 00:44:08.659 of leaving that be kind. I love it. I'm grateful 00:44:08.659 --> 00:44:15.119 for it. As we, as we get ready to wrap up, are 00:44:15.119 --> 00:44:19.920 there, are there any questions that. No podcaster, 00:44:19.980 --> 00:44:24.039 no interviewer has asked you that you've been 00:44:24.039 --> 00:44:27.960 like, I want to answer this. I want to bring 00:44:27.960 --> 00:44:30.480 this to light. I want to talk about this subject. 00:44:31.460 --> 00:44:33.400 I'd be happy to use the next few minutes to dive 00:44:33.400 --> 00:44:37.280 into those territories. Well, thank you. I mean, 00:44:37.300 --> 00:44:41.480 the thing that comes to mind is rewilding. Are 00:44:41.480 --> 00:44:48.119 you saying rewilding, like wild? There you go. 00:44:48.420 --> 00:44:57.579 So the classic example is a 3 ,000 -acre estate 00:44:57.579 --> 00:45:04.320 in the south of England. And the husband and 00:45:04.320 --> 00:45:08.239 wife who were running the estate, they've been 00:45:08.239 --> 00:45:10.320 trying and trying and trying to make it work, 00:45:10.420 --> 00:45:16.599 but it's just chalk earth. uh it wasn't supporting 00:45:16.599 --> 00:45:21.500 anything commercial in terms of farming it was 00:45:21.500 --> 00:45:25.179 it was just desperate so they took the decision 00:45:25.179 --> 00:45:33.480 in 2001 to just let it go they took down all 00:45:33.480 --> 00:45:39.320 the fences they introduced the hierarchy of of 00:45:39.320 --> 00:45:42.940 of animals that as much as they could replicate 00:45:42.940 --> 00:45:49.110 existed In ancient times. So instead of wild 00:45:49.110 --> 00:45:54.210 boar. There was a certain type of pig. And just 00:45:54.210 --> 00:45:57.750 looking at the pig. The pig does it. It uses 00:45:57.750 --> 00:46:00.869 its snout. And digs for worms and stuff. And 00:46:00.869 --> 00:46:05.789 what it does is break up. The hard earth. They 00:46:05.789 --> 00:46:10.230 brought deer. They brought wild horses. And. 00:46:12.510 --> 00:46:17.260 Very quickly. they were starting to see animals 00:46:17.260 --> 00:46:20.880 that were extinct, thought were extinct, turning 00:46:20.880 --> 00:46:29.239 up in this place. There's one, a bird that was 00:46:29.239 --> 00:46:33.099 almost unheard of in this country, and now they've 00:46:33.099 --> 00:46:37.119 found that 90 % of these are in this 3 ,000 acre. 00:46:41.940 --> 00:46:44.619 There's the apocryphal stories of what they did 00:46:44.619 --> 00:46:47.340 in Yosemite, where they reintroduced the wolves. 00:46:48.360 --> 00:46:56.320 And that all started a whole series of changes. 00:46:57.820 --> 00:47:00.260 And it's been written up in all sorts of ways. 00:47:00.400 --> 00:47:02.519 And some of the stories are a bit apocryphal, 00:47:02.519 --> 00:47:07.869 but never mind. NEP, this estate in the UK now, 00:47:08.010 --> 00:47:12.690 since 2001, I mean, they make a very good living 00:47:12.690 --> 00:47:15.389 from that land because people come and they do 00:47:15.389 --> 00:47:21.250 safaris there. They have an excess of, because 00:47:21.250 --> 00:47:23.170 they don't have any of the higher predators, 00:47:23.369 --> 00:47:26.590 like lions or stuff like that, they have to cull 00:47:26.590 --> 00:47:30.230 some of the larger animals, like some of the 00:47:30.230 --> 00:47:32.679 deer. So, you know, they'll take out the weakest 00:47:32.679 --> 00:47:36.280 ones, you know, seasonally and that. And they're 00:47:36.280 --> 00:47:38.940 selling that meat. And so they're making a very 00:47:38.940 --> 00:47:42.179 good living, but in a totally different way to 00:47:42.179 --> 00:47:45.019 the way that they've been introduced to it. What 00:47:45.019 --> 00:47:51.360 you get out of that are the principles of honoring. 00:47:52.400 --> 00:47:56.300 as opposed to us coming in with a level of arrogance 00:47:56.300 --> 00:47:59.800 that we know best and that we're going to have 00:47:59.800 --> 00:48:03.280 straight lines and we're going to make the earth 00:48:03.280 --> 00:48:05.940 work and work and work and work. We're going 00:48:05.940 --> 00:48:09.739 to put chemicals on it so that we get more and 00:48:09.739 --> 00:48:15.179 more. Some people say that there's only about 00:48:15.179 --> 00:48:21.909 60 harvests left in most of the earth. on the 00:48:21.909 --> 00:48:30.550 planet before it becomes dead so um we we have 00:48:30.550 --> 00:48:38.750 to stop trying to rule nature but work with nature 00:48:38.750 --> 00:48:41.530 i mean why on earth are we still putting all 00:48:41.530 --> 00:48:44.929 these chemicals on the land which are killing 00:48:44.929 --> 00:48:49.989 bees which are probably the single most important 00:48:49.989 --> 00:48:57.829 resource on the earth for feeding us. And, you 00:48:57.829 --> 00:49:01.889 know, the short -termism, the short sort of level 00:49:01.889 --> 00:49:05.730 of thinking that goes into, I've got to put all 00:49:05.730 --> 00:49:07.650 these chemicals on because I'm going to get the 00:49:07.650 --> 00:49:11.969 maximum out of my harvest or whatever, and forgetting, 00:49:12.030 --> 00:49:20.119 you know, how it ruins. the biological infrastructure, 00:49:20.719 --> 00:49:23.920 but not only that, all the chemicals that go 00:49:23.920 --> 00:49:28.360 into the offshoot when it rains into the rivers, 00:49:28.380 --> 00:49:30.780 which kill the fish, and then we drink the water, 00:49:30.920 --> 00:49:36.119 and then we're surprised, like in Flint in the 00:49:36.119 --> 00:49:39.300 US, where people end up with cancers and all 00:49:39.300 --> 00:49:41.840 the rest of it. We are completely out of control, 00:49:42.000 --> 00:49:50.760 and we need to listen. Listen to nature and honor 00:49:50.760 --> 00:49:54.860 our place in nature as opposed to putting ourselves 00:49:54.860 --> 00:50:01.380 in somehow above it. Rewilding. You guys heard 00:50:01.380 --> 00:50:09.280 it first here. I love it. I really strive to 00:50:09.280 --> 00:50:12.500 see the world from the perspective of physics, 00:50:12.679 --> 00:50:19.170 the perspective of what? what life has tried 00:50:19.170 --> 00:50:22.050 to teach us for thousands of years, not what 00:50:22.050 --> 00:50:24.550 some influencers has uncovered in the last 10 00:50:24.550 --> 00:50:30.469 years. Go ahead. Because what I'm then doing 00:50:30.469 --> 00:50:35.449 is taking the ideas of how nature works so beautifully 00:50:35.449 --> 00:50:40.829 and then applying that to the corporate mind 00:50:40.829 --> 00:50:46.090 and leadership. So as a leader, Do I come in 00:50:46.090 --> 00:50:47.809 and say, right, you're going to do this, you're 00:50:47.809 --> 00:50:51.489 going to do that, as opposed to saying, okay, 00:50:51.610 --> 00:50:55.650 this is the objective, let's agree on that objective, 00:50:55.849 --> 00:51:01.429 and then let's say, what role, where is the best 00:51:01.429 --> 00:51:07.150 of all this team, and how can we work in such 00:51:07.150 --> 00:51:12.530 an integrated, systemic way that we can get towards... 00:51:12.730 --> 00:51:14.809 what we are trying to achieve. And by the way, 00:51:14.889 --> 00:51:19.769 as we go along, the objective may change. It's 00:51:19.769 --> 00:51:23.150 funny to me. Patrick Lincione wrote a phenomenal 00:51:23.150 --> 00:51:26.050 book, Five Dysfunctions of a Team. This poster 00:51:26.050 --> 00:51:30.550 behind me is a reflection of these principles 00:51:30.550 --> 00:51:34.429 that he teaches. And it is ironic. It's not ironic. 00:51:35.090 --> 00:51:36.969 It's something that I know, though. We could 00:51:36.969 --> 00:51:40.550 do a test on this and see. I bet most companies, 00:51:40.789 --> 00:51:45.519 once a leader, learns this process and then wants 00:51:45.519 --> 00:51:48.139 to shift their company to follow this style, 00:51:48.320 --> 00:51:51.659 then tries to teach the style itself to people 00:51:51.659 --> 00:51:54.320 right away. Ryan says, all right, we're shifting. 00:51:54.440 --> 00:51:55.960 We're doing this. As you talk about, they apply 00:51:55.960 --> 00:51:59.360 this control, this force aspect. When in reality, 00:51:59.420 --> 00:52:03.619 in his book, the new CEO who's come into the 00:52:03.619 --> 00:52:06.440 company, he shares one tip that almost everybody 00:52:06.440 --> 00:52:10.460 forgets. She comes into the company and she sits 00:52:10.460 --> 00:52:14.619 back and watches for two weeks. She doesn't do 00:52:14.619 --> 00:52:17.280 a dang thing. And everybody's starting to see 00:52:17.280 --> 00:52:18.940 that. And he makes a big deal out of it. But 00:52:18.940 --> 00:52:21.559 I think most people forget that part of the book. 00:52:22.239 --> 00:52:23.780 And they think they just want to move forward 00:52:23.780 --> 00:52:25.019 with the answer and they just want to fix it. 00:52:25.019 --> 00:52:27.340 Let's just solve it. And in reality, the grace 00:52:27.340 --> 00:52:30.239 which he leads with and the grace which he teaches 00:52:30.239 --> 00:52:33.739 is not about diving into the puzzle and fixing 00:52:33.739 --> 00:52:37.000 the puzzle as fast as possible. It has a lot 00:52:37.000 --> 00:52:40.139 to do with situational awareness and as you call 00:52:40.139 --> 00:52:43.429 it, rewilding. I love the term. It's a really 00:52:43.429 --> 00:52:46.730 catchy term. So I hope you champion this, Tom. 00:52:46.949 --> 00:52:49.269 I hope you really, really bring this to the world 00:52:49.269 --> 00:52:53.050 in a big way because our world, the world I want 00:52:53.050 --> 00:52:56.110 my kids to live in needs it. People will benefit 00:52:56.110 --> 00:52:58.210 from having that. So thank you so much for being 00:52:58.210 --> 00:53:00.920 here. Vision pros, those of you listening in, 00:53:01.000 --> 00:53:03.239 we're going to have Tom's links, of course, on 00:53:03.239 --> 00:53:05.239 the page. You can reconnect with him. You can, 00:53:05.280 --> 00:53:07.420 of course, Google Serenity and Leadership and 00:53:07.420 --> 00:53:09.780 find him there too. We'll also put the resources 00:53:09.780 --> 00:53:11.900 and the links below as well. And we've got that 00:53:11.900 --> 00:53:14.199 big button in the top right corner that says 00:53:14.199 --> 00:53:16.559 Be Our Guest. If you're a visionary leader, you 00:53:16.559 --> 00:53:17.960 want to come on the show and talk about your 00:53:17.960 --> 00:53:19.800 vision, we would love to have you. You don't 00:53:19.800 --> 00:53:23.460 have to have... the the ultimate grand cure for 00:53:23.460 --> 00:53:26.019 the world in terms of rewilding um you don't 00:53:26.019 --> 00:53:27.699 have to be that far along you might be at the 00:53:27.699 --> 00:53:30.000 discovery phase of what it is you want to do 00:53:30.000 --> 00:53:32.139 we're just looking to find those who want to 00:53:32.139 --> 00:53:34.500 make real impact in this world and want to help 00:53:34.500 --> 00:53:36.699 and are going to put some work in to make that 00:53:36.699 --> 00:53:38.420 happen so tom thanks for all that you've done 00:53:38.420 --> 00:53:40.519 any final thoughts you want to share before we 00:53:40.519 --> 00:53:44.739 wrap up you asked me with these big questions 00:53:44.739 --> 00:53:49.889 thank you thank you for spence um sharing some 00:53:49.889 --> 00:53:52.190 time with me and giving me the opportunities 00:53:52.190 --> 00:53:56.070 to share my ideas. I'd love to come back. There's 00:53:56.070 --> 00:54:00.429 lots more to talk about. And thank you to all 00:54:00.429 --> 00:54:04.190 those who are still here and listening and watching. 00:54:04.389 --> 00:54:08.809 And I hope that there's something that, just 00:54:08.809 --> 00:54:11.530 something amongst all the things that we've said, 00:54:11.590 --> 00:54:13.929 Jackson and I, that will make a difference to 00:54:13.929 --> 00:54:17.119 you. I love it. Vision Pros. We'll see you next 00:54:17.119 --> 00:54:19.000 time. Thank you for being here today. I'm really 00:54:19.000 --> 00:54:20.980 happy that you tuned in to Vision Pros Live. 00:54:21.159 --> 00:54:23.599 I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions 00:54:23.599 --> 00:54:26.199 as these episodes continue to move forward. This 00:54:26.199 --> 00:54:28.119 is going to get more and more fun. We'll have 00:54:28.119 --> 00:54:29.940 more and more engagement as well. We'll invite 00:54:29.940 --> 00:54:32.320 people to participate in the show. And thank 00:54:32.320 --> 00:54:34.300 you for giving us your time and attention. Have 00:54:34.300 --> 00:54:36.980 an excellent time building out your vision and 00:54:36.980 --> 00:54:45.789 becoming a vision pro yourself. Thank you for 00:54:45.789 --> 00:54:47.769 being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned 00:54:47.769 --> 00:54:50.090 in to Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to 00:54:50.090 --> 00:54:53.349 seeing your reactions as these episodes continue 00:54:53.349 --> 00:54:55.130 to move forward. This is going to get more and 00:54:55.130 --> 00:54:57.170 more fun. We'll have more and more engagement 00:54:57.170 --> 00:54:59.269 as well. We'll invite people to participate in 00:54:59.269 --> 00:55:01.449 the show. And thank you for giving us your time 00:55:01.449 --> 00:55:03.730 and attention. Have an excellent time building 00:55:03.730 --> 00:55:06.050 out your vision and becoming a vision pro yourself.