WEBVTT 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.280 Welcome to another episode of Networking Unleashed, 00:00:20.359 --> 00:00:23.440 Building Profitable Connections. I'm your host, 00:00:23.559 --> 00:00:26.120 Michael Foreman, and today we're talking about 00:00:26.120 --> 00:00:29.300 the kind of networking that doesn't just grow 00:00:29.300 --> 00:00:33.380 your business, it grows you as a leader. My guest 00:00:33.380 --> 00:00:35.820 is someone who knows what it means to lead through 00:00:35.820 --> 00:00:39.719 challenge, to mentor through uncertainty, and 00:00:39.719 --> 00:00:42.259 to build relationships that stand the test of 00:00:42.259 --> 00:00:46.100 time, both personally and professionally. His 00:00:46.100 --> 00:00:48.840 experience in leadership and mentorship gives 00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:51.500 him a front row seat to how meaningful connections 00:00:51.500 --> 00:00:54.659 can be the difference between burning out and 00:00:54.659 --> 00:00:57.560 breaking through. Whether you're building a business, 00:00:57.799 --> 00:01:01.159 leading a team, or navigating life's curveballs, 00:01:01.399 --> 00:01:04.719 today's conversation will challenge you to see 00:01:04.719 --> 00:01:08.280 your network not just as contacts, but as catalysts. 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:12.379 So I'd like to introduce Jeff Gripando. He's 00:01:12.379 --> 00:01:15.980 part of a larger company. I will let Jeff introduce 00:01:15.980 --> 00:01:18.739 himself and give us a little taste of his background. 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:22.299 Welcome to the show, Jeff. Thank you, Michael. 00:01:22.379 --> 00:01:24.620 I appreciate it. Thank you for having me. Been 00:01:24.620 --> 00:01:26.219 looking forward to this conversation for quite 00:01:26.219 --> 00:01:28.819 some time. To talk about my background a little 00:01:28.819 --> 00:01:31.400 bit, it's interesting. I have to say I have a 00:01:31.400 --> 00:01:35.579 very decorated past, and I owe that to my father. 00:01:35.739 --> 00:01:39.359 When I was in middle school, I grew up in Chicago, 00:01:39.560 --> 00:01:41.620 Illinois. My father got transferred to Jackson, 00:01:41.719 --> 00:01:44.500 Mississippi. I was down there for a few years. 00:01:44.579 --> 00:01:46.959 He gets promoted again. We moved to Atlanta, 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:49.760 Georgia. So I'm now in my second high school 00:01:49.760 --> 00:01:53.569 at this time. The summer between my junior and 00:01:53.569 --> 00:01:55.549 senior year of high school, my dad comes home 00:01:55.549 --> 00:01:57.750 and says, I just got promoted again. They want 00:01:57.750 --> 00:02:00.549 me to run the manufacturing facility out in San 00:02:00.549 --> 00:02:02.769 Leandro, California, which is in the Bay Area. 00:02:03.230 --> 00:02:05.469 And we moved to California. So I went to three 00:02:05.469 --> 00:02:08.030 high schools in my life. And the reason I bring 00:02:08.030 --> 00:02:11.729 that up is I was forced at a really young age. 00:02:12.520 --> 00:02:15.419 on how to make friends quickly, and you had to 00:02:15.419 --> 00:02:18.639 put yourself out there. And I lost all fear of 00:02:18.639 --> 00:02:21.620 being shy, timid, what have you, because if I 00:02:21.620 --> 00:02:23.319 didn't put myself out there, I wouldn't have 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:27.039 friends. And so I joined every single club, played 00:02:27.039 --> 00:02:30.439 sports, got jobs when I turned 16, and I just 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:33.120 started meeting people and so forth. So I ended 00:02:33.120 --> 00:02:35.360 up going to college out in California, and I 00:02:35.360 --> 00:02:38.330 started my career with a printing company. And 00:02:38.330 --> 00:02:40.229 I was a salesperson out in the San Francisco 00:02:40.229 --> 00:02:45.030 Bay Area. This is 1990, 91. And I was trained 00:02:45.030 --> 00:02:47.090 by a very good company on how to sell print and 00:02:47.090 --> 00:02:49.129 how to build relationships. That was really, 00:02:49.169 --> 00:02:52.310 it was drilled into our heads very quickly. We 00:02:52.310 --> 00:02:54.509 sell consumable products. We sell print. We sell 00:02:54.509 --> 00:02:56.550 stuff that people have to use over and over again 00:02:56.550 --> 00:03:00.469 to run their businesses. And so the message was 00:03:00.469 --> 00:03:03.400 people like. they buy from people they like and 00:03:03.400 --> 00:03:05.340 so you so the first thing you need to do is figure 00:03:05.340 --> 00:03:07.939 out how to build a relationship and i think i 00:03:07.939 --> 00:03:09.719 had a lot of history doing that all through my 00:03:09.719 --> 00:03:11.379 middle school and high school and college years 00:03:11.379 --> 00:03:15.020 obviously and i just became pretty good at it 00:03:15.020 --> 00:03:17.699 and i knew that i wanted to learn more about 00:03:17.699 --> 00:03:19.759 the company and work in a marketing role and 00:03:19.759 --> 00:03:21.879 i was then transferred to chicago where our corporate 00:03:21.879 --> 00:03:24.840 office was built I then wanted to get into a 00:03:24.840 --> 00:03:26.960 sales management role, and I was moved out to 00:03:26.960 --> 00:03:29.520 Denver, Colorado, where I managed our sales office 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.000 and a variety of offices in the Rocky Mountain 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:34.620 region. And I continued to grow in my career 00:03:34.620 --> 00:03:37.199 around print, around branded merchandise, promotional 00:03:37.199 --> 00:03:40.460 products, all about marketing, all about brand. 00:03:40.580 --> 00:03:45.319 Brand was pretty much... in my DNA. I eventually 00:03:45.319 --> 00:03:48.180 made my way back to Atlanta, Georgia, and was 00:03:48.180 --> 00:03:50.759 fortunate enough to get promoted in running a 00:03:50.759 --> 00:03:52.979 branded merchandise division of a billion dollar 00:03:52.979 --> 00:03:56.599 company out of Dayton, Ohio. And that's, I would 00:03:56.599 --> 00:04:02.389 say, really accelerated my career. across a lot 00:04:02.389 --> 00:04:05.270 of different leadership areas, mentorship areas, 00:04:05.430 --> 00:04:07.669 and so forth. But I would say, if you ever asked 00:04:07.669 --> 00:04:10.870 me, when I get to retirement someday and someone 00:04:10.870 --> 00:04:12.490 said, what was the best part of your career? 00:04:12.669 --> 00:04:15.689 I would say, I got to travel the country and 00:04:15.689 --> 00:04:19.089 actually work with and meet folks from some of 00:04:19.089 --> 00:04:21.949 the largest brands in the United States. To be 00:04:21.949 --> 00:04:24.569 able to do business with Harley Davidson, Boeing, 00:04:24.829 --> 00:04:28.110 to do business with Jelly Belly. I've been in 00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:30.209 the Jelly Belly plant in Vacaville, California. 00:04:30.250 --> 00:04:33.389 California Coors Brewing Company aggressive insurance 00:04:33.389 --> 00:04:36.949 Geico just some massive brands and some wonderful 00:04:36.949 --> 00:04:39.649 people that I had the fortunate opportunity to 00:04:39.649 --> 00:04:42.850 work with and and that's probably been the best 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:45.230 part of my career now five years ago I in the 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:48.269 middle of COVID I took this new position with 00:04:48.269 --> 00:04:51.689 a company called GBS Corporation I'm the president 00:04:51.689 --> 00:04:54.490 of our printing and promotional product division 00:04:54.490 --> 00:04:58.259 our division is called GBS Brand Connect And 00:04:58.259 --> 00:05:01.300 I was fortunate enough to get this position because 00:05:01.300 --> 00:05:05.420 of an acquisition that GBS made of a boutique 00:05:05.420 --> 00:05:08.300 agency called Atomic Wash out of Norcross, Georgia. 00:05:08.459 --> 00:05:11.879 An agency and folks that I did business with 00:05:11.879 --> 00:05:15.480 for at least 20 years prior to both of us becoming 00:05:15.480 --> 00:05:19.180 a part of GBS. And it's been, the past five years 00:05:19.180 --> 00:05:20.740 have been wonderful. Been a lot of challenges, 00:05:20.779 --> 00:05:23.959 as you all know, since 2020. But we continue 00:05:23.959 --> 00:05:28.709 to grow and to help. customers advance their 00:05:28.709 --> 00:05:30.769 greatest asset, which we think is their brand. 00:05:31.610 --> 00:05:34.870 Absolutely. And I'm in agreement with you 100 00:05:34.870 --> 00:05:39.370 % since half of my life is branding and everything 00:05:39.370 --> 00:05:43.009 else also. I agree 100%. So let's delve into 00:05:43.009 --> 00:05:46.649 the question, shall we? Sure. Perfect. In your 00:05:46.649 --> 00:05:49.910 leadership journey, how has networking played 00:05:49.910 --> 00:05:53.949 a role, not just opportunity, but in resilience? 00:05:55.819 --> 00:05:58.319 Oh, that's a great question. I think it's in 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:01.779 terms of resilience, it's and I would almost 00:06:01.779 --> 00:06:04.660 go back to being a starting as a sales rep. It's 00:06:04.660 --> 00:06:07.560 you're faced with rejection every single day. 00:06:07.639 --> 00:06:10.500 We're still obviously faced with rejection and 00:06:10.500 --> 00:06:14.319 it teaches you and it forces you to think, how 00:06:14.319 --> 00:06:16.779 can I get into my walk in my customer's shoes, 00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:18.579 get into their, we used to call it, get into 00:06:18.579 --> 00:06:21.040 their odds are understanding their business. 00:06:21.949 --> 00:06:26.129 And then being able to mentor a sales force to 00:06:26.129 --> 00:06:29.449 think and understand the same way. No only means 00:06:29.449 --> 00:06:32.029 no for now. That's kind of the philosophy. And 00:06:32.029 --> 00:06:33.709 I think a lot of that comes through resilience 00:06:33.709 --> 00:06:36.449 and not getting frustrated and so forth. But 00:06:36.449 --> 00:06:38.550 I always like to tell my reps, and I have the 00:06:38.550 --> 00:06:40.569 same philosophy, when you're having a bad day, 00:06:40.709 --> 00:06:43.230 pick up the phone and call one of your best customers, 00:06:43.370 --> 00:06:46.910 one of your best relationships you have, and 00:06:46.910 --> 00:06:48.970 just talk about the business and their lives 00:06:48.970 --> 00:06:51.089 and their families and so forth. Or go out and 00:06:51.089 --> 00:06:52.959 have... dinner with them or take them to a ball 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:56.540 game or something. That always makes the day 00:06:56.540 --> 00:06:58.699 better and helps you get through those tough 00:06:58.699 --> 00:07:01.139 times when you need to be resilient and patient 00:07:01.139 --> 00:07:04.709 and always moving forward. On top of that, to 00:07:04.709 --> 00:07:06.889 answer your question, I think the ability to 00:07:06.889 --> 00:07:09.290 set goals and objectives is very important too. 00:07:09.470 --> 00:07:12.509 And before you sit down or venture out into something 00:07:12.509 --> 00:07:15.589 new or start something different, build a goal, 00:07:15.709 --> 00:07:17.810 build the objectives, build the action steps, 00:07:17.970 --> 00:07:19.970 and then hold yourself accountable, hold your 00:07:19.970 --> 00:07:22.990 team accountable to what you wrote. All goals 00:07:22.990 --> 00:07:24.629 should be written down. You type, write them 00:07:24.629 --> 00:07:26.250 down, type them up. They need, and they need 00:07:26.250 --> 00:07:29.009 to be posted somewhere. And then always go back 00:07:29.009 --> 00:07:32.389 and evaluate and review where you stand against 00:07:32.389 --> 00:07:34.970 those goals, whether it's a weekly, monthly or 00:07:34.970 --> 00:07:37.209 quarterly basis. I think that's very important 00:07:37.209 --> 00:07:41.870 in anybody's leadership style. Absolutely. I 00:07:41.870 --> 00:07:45.089 used to have a whiteboard behind my desk and 00:07:45.089 --> 00:07:48.730 I used to put my goals up there. And I very quickly 00:07:48.730 --> 00:07:53.220 realized that a whiteboard is erasable. So one 00:07:53.220 --> 00:07:55.920 day when my brother, who was in the company at 00:07:55.920 --> 00:07:58.480 the same time, changed a few of the words and 00:07:58.480 --> 00:08:01.800 I was in trouble. But putting your goals written 00:08:01.800 --> 00:08:05.360 down on a ball, on something, very good advice. 00:08:05.500 --> 00:08:07.959 And that's something I think that everybody should 00:08:07.959 --> 00:08:11.129 do. It's funny, if you came into my office and 00:08:11.129 --> 00:08:13.550 you probably can't see it very well, but right 00:08:13.550 --> 00:08:16.750 behind me is two whiteboards and there's every 00:08:16.750 --> 00:08:20.470 single goal and objective for my business unit 00:08:20.470 --> 00:08:23.550 for 2025. And I actually, which is interesting, 00:08:23.930 --> 00:08:25.970 and I'm a big believer as a leader, manager, 00:08:26.149 --> 00:08:28.730 what have you, your teams need to be a part of 00:08:28.730 --> 00:08:32.179 that goal setting process. Probably in November 00:08:32.179 --> 00:08:35.299 -ish of this year, I will gather up my director 00:08:35.299 --> 00:08:38.120 of operations, my customer service manager, my 00:08:38.120 --> 00:08:41.039 director of sales. I'll take a few key people 00:08:41.039 --> 00:08:44.179 off their staffs. We'll all go into our boardroom 00:08:44.179 --> 00:08:46.480 down the hall over here, and we'll start building 00:08:46.480 --> 00:08:50.820 our goals and objectives for 2026. I won't erase 00:08:50.820 --> 00:08:55.139 that until January 1st because we like to always 00:08:55.139 --> 00:08:58.139 go back and do a quick review. How did you finish 00:08:58.139 --> 00:09:00.960 the year? Document it. That'll all get erased. 00:09:01.080 --> 00:09:02.720 And then everything that we worked on in November 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.840 and December will go up on that board. By January 00:09:05.840 --> 00:09:08.379 5th, that board will be full of all of our 26 00:09:08.379 --> 00:09:11.519 goals. So yeah, I'm the big believer in looking 00:09:11.519 --> 00:09:13.820 at it every day. I look at that every morning. 00:09:13.980 --> 00:09:17.269 Yep. Absolutely. Absolutely. As did I. As did 00:09:17.269 --> 00:09:21.710 I. And in a mortgage business, I had 15 people 00:09:21.710 --> 00:09:25.429 under me and they always saw the whiteboard when 00:09:25.429 --> 00:09:27.929 they came into my office. They always saw my 00:09:27.929 --> 00:09:30.669 goals and they saw that I was serious. I wrote 00:09:30.669 --> 00:09:33.649 down my goals and I was serious. And that was 00:09:33.649 --> 00:09:35.950 one thing that I hope that they picked up on. 00:09:36.710 --> 00:09:39.529 Yeah. And as a manager of an operation, yeah, 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:41.820 that those goals and objectives. They should 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:44.379 cascade down to everybody. So everybody's tied 00:09:44.379 --> 00:09:47.379 into, obviously my salespeople have specific 00:09:47.379 --> 00:09:49.779 goals. My customer service people have specific 00:09:49.779 --> 00:09:53.120 goals, but those goals should all bundle up, 00:09:53.120 --> 00:09:55.440 roll up to what's on that whiteboard back there 00:09:55.440 --> 00:09:58.259 for the entire operation. And I think over the 00:09:58.259 --> 00:10:01.600 years, we've done a very good job of making this 00:10:01.600 --> 00:10:05.019 a team effort, not just me. standing here as 00:10:05.019 --> 00:10:06.799 a dictator saying we're going to do this. It's 00:10:06.799 --> 00:10:09.919 a team effort. We win and lose as a team, not 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:12.000 as individuals. That's always been my philosophy. 00:10:12.519 --> 00:10:15.179 That's key in leadership. That's key in leadership. 00:10:15.399 --> 00:10:19.399 You want to be a team, but your team, you have 00:10:19.399 --> 00:10:22.600 to... create other leaders you have to give them 00:10:22.600 --> 00:10:25.480 the responsibility and so that they feel like 00:10:25.480 --> 00:10:28.639 they are part of it and so by them feeling part 00:10:28.639 --> 00:10:31.899 of it they're more accountable and then you can 00:10:31.899 --> 00:10:34.340 hold them accountable so it's a whole big process 00:10:34.340 --> 00:10:39.200 but very good that's can you share a moment when 00:10:39.200 --> 00:10:42.179 a mentor or a key connection helped you overcome 00:10:42.179 --> 00:10:48.480 a major obstacle Yes. And I think the example 00:10:48.480 --> 00:10:51.480 that I'd like to give was we were challenged. 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:55.279 It was a promotional product customer. This was 00:10:55.279 --> 00:10:57.519 in my previous job. We were challenged by this 00:10:57.519 --> 00:11:02.419 organization to set up a separate operation in 00:11:02.419 --> 00:11:05.840 Mexico City. So this organization had their headquarters 00:11:05.840 --> 00:11:09.679 was in Chicago. They also had another headquarters 00:11:09.679 --> 00:11:12.039 in Mexico City because that's where a lot of 00:11:12.039 --> 00:11:14.299 the products were manufactured south of the border. 00:11:15.129 --> 00:11:19.070 And they wanted a website, everything in Spanish, 00:11:19.289 --> 00:11:24.129 obviously. They wanted a supply chain where they 00:11:24.129 --> 00:11:27.090 wouldn't have to pay duties and taxes. So as 00:11:27.090 --> 00:11:29.809 you may or may not know, a lot of our branded 00:11:29.809 --> 00:11:33.330 merchandise items are manufactured in Asia, in 00:11:33.330 --> 00:11:36.360 China. They come to the United States, and that's 00:11:36.360 --> 00:11:39.419 where they're decorated and so forth. And then 00:11:39.419 --> 00:11:42.100 if they were then shipped to Mexico, you're paying 00:11:42.100 --> 00:11:45.059 duties and taxes. And nowadays, tariffs is the 00:11:45.059 --> 00:11:47.309 big word of the day. But they didn't want to 00:11:47.309 --> 00:11:49.809 have to pay that. So we had to build a supply 00:11:49.809 --> 00:11:53.889 chain that went right from China into Mexico. 00:11:53.909 --> 00:11:56.850 So it never touched the United States and so 00:11:56.850 --> 00:12:00.470 forth. So it was a big challenge. And my mentor 00:12:00.470 --> 00:12:04.870 at the time was my chief executive officer. And 00:12:04.870 --> 00:12:08.279 he, for first, was very... negative on the fact 00:12:08.279 --> 00:12:10.759 of sending a team down to Mexico City. They were 00:12:10.759 --> 00:12:13.519 worried about our safety, obviously. I had never 00:12:13.519 --> 00:12:16.659 been to Mexico City before and so forth, but 00:12:16.659 --> 00:12:19.320 the requests kept coming from the customer that 00:12:19.320 --> 00:12:21.480 this is something you all need to do. If you 00:12:21.480 --> 00:12:23.340 ever want to get into the European marketplace 00:12:23.340 --> 00:12:25.759 with us, you're going to have to start here. 00:12:26.240 --> 00:12:29.179 After I convinced my CEO, who was a great mentor 00:12:29.179 --> 00:12:33.240 to me, he was actually my vice president of sales 00:12:33.240 --> 00:12:35.440 when I was a regional sales manager in Atlanta. 00:12:35.659 --> 00:12:37.720 So I worked for him. years and he was promoted 00:12:37.720 --> 00:12:41.340 to CEO. His leadership and mentorship around 00:12:41.340 --> 00:12:44.860 the conversations we had of everything that we 00:12:44.860 --> 00:12:47.240 had to get accomplished and being able to sit 00:12:47.240 --> 00:12:51.120 down, document, meet regularly to go through 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:54.659 that process. He assisted in working with key 00:12:54.659 --> 00:12:57.700 decorators here in the United States. We found 00:12:57.700 --> 00:13:00.899 out who had operations in Mexico City and we 00:13:00.899 --> 00:13:04.000 built a complete strategy of how we were going 00:13:04.000 --> 00:13:06.649 to get this accomplished. Funny little story. 00:13:06.789 --> 00:13:09.570 At the time, we only had one gentleman in our 00:13:09.570 --> 00:13:12.049 whole company. And this is a billion -dollar 00:13:12.049 --> 00:13:14.389 company. One gentleman that spoke Spanish. That 00:13:14.389 --> 00:13:18.389 was bilingual. And he's actually still with this 00:13:18.389 --> 00:13:20.409 company. He's one of their sales reps in Miami, 00:13:20.529 --> 00:13:25.009 Florida. He's from Cuba. So when I first flew 00:13:25.009 --> 00:13:27.750 from Atlanta down to Mexico City, he flew over 00:13:27.750 --> 00:13:30.490 from Miami that Sunday morning. And our folks 00:13:30.490 --> 00:13:32.570 from Chicago flew down. And we all met up at 00:13:32.570 --> 00:13:36.840 the airport in Mexico City. And it was just classic 00:13:36.840 --> 00:13:39.700 having him there because none of us spoke Spanish. 00:13:39.860 --> 00:13:42.759 And it was an interesting experience. I'll admit 00:13:42.759 --> 00:13:44.460 it was a little scary the first time because 00:13:44.460 --> 00:13:46.700 you hear about corporate folks getting kidnapped 00:13:46.700 --> 00:13:48.600 and this and that. And they warned us and told 00:13:48.600 --> 00:13:52.039 us how to dress and what to do. But that mentor 00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:55.179 was very, he's still, he's retired now, but we 00:13:55.179 --> 00:13:58.200 still talk and stay in touch. And he's been a 00:13:58.200 --> 00:14:01.120 mentor to myself and a lot of other people over 00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.360 the years. That's probably the biggest challenge 00:14:04.360 --> 00:14:07.639 where I needed him to assist me in my career. 00:14:08.100 --> 00:14:10.419 Everybody needs a mentor. As big as you are, 00:14:10.559 --> 00:14:13.740 you always have a mentor. I feel because I have 00:14:13.740 --> 00:14:17.620 a mentor also, but I mentor other people. Okay, 00:14:17.679 --> 00:14:20.000 so I feel like I'm in the middle. Everybody asks 00:14:20.000 --> 00:14:22.759 me because the people who I coach and who I mentor, 00:14:22.840 --> 00:14:24.539 they look at me and they say, who do you have? 00:14:24.740 --> 00:14:26.580 Because if we're asking for you for problems, 00:14:27.159 --> 00:14:30.340 who are you going to? I'm to a higher authority. 00:14:30.809 --> 00:14:34.570 You know, that's all I say. Exactly. That's all 00:14:34.570 --> 00:14:38.769 I know. Okay. What's the difference between managing 00:14:38.769 --> 00:14:43.889 people and leading through relationships? Oh, 00:14:43.909 --> 00:14:45.429 that's another good question. You know what? 00:14:45.470 --> 00:14:48.289 I think at a very high level, when you say managing 00:14:48.289 --> 00:14:50.389 people, that kind of strikes me as an eight to 00:14:50.389 --> 00:14:52.610 five job. That's someone coming in, punching 00:14:52.610 --> 00:14:56.090 the clock. Making sure that whatever needs to 00:14:56.090 --> 00:14:58.649 get done that day is getting done and so forth. 00:14:58.950 --> 00:15:02.690 My other mentor in my life, and he has passed 00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:05.250 away a couple years ago, is my father. And I 00:15:05.250 --> 00:15:07.429 mentioned my father earlier in this conversation. 00:15:07.649 --> 00:15:09.789 And I used to go to work a lot with my father. 00:15:09.870 --> 00:15:13.110 When I turned 16, when I was in college, I worked 00:15:13.110 --> 00:15:15.450 at that manufacturing facility out in California. 00:15:16.090 --> 00:15:19.759 And then my father... My father led by example 00:15:19.759 --> 00:15:22.799 when he told me a long time ago that a good leader 00:15:22.799 --> 00:15:27.039 is a servant to their teams. And coincidentally, 00:15:27.039 --> 00:15:30.360 years later, I'm in Denver and I have a new vice 00:15:30.360 --> 00:15:32.899 president of sales that I'm now reporting to. 00:15:33.000 --> 00:15:34.980 And I remember he walked into the office in Denver. 00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:37.639 And he'd be another mentor in my life, too. I've 00:15:37.639 --> 00:15:39.679 got great stories about him. But he handed me 00:15:39.679 --> 00:15:42.039 a little paperback book, and it said, a leader 00:15:42.039 --> 00:15:44.539 is a servant. And I already had that philosophy 00:15:44.539 --> 00:15:46.679 that was in my DNA because of my father. And 00:15:46.679 --> 00:15:48.779 I read that book. And I'm a true believer that, 00:15:48.840 --> 00:15:51.299 you know what? Leaders, you lead by example. 00:15:51.480 --> 00:15:53.379 And you roll your sleeves up, and you get in 00:15:53.379 --> 00:15:55.879 the trenches with your team. That's the one thing 00:15:55.879 --> 00:15:59.000 I loved about my father was we lived 45 minutes 00:15:59.000 --> 00:16:02.679 away from that plant that he was running. And 00:16:02.679 --> 00:16:06.600 his goal was to be in that office, in the facility, 00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:10.440 because the first shift started at 6 a .m. And 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:12.259 he wanted to be in the building. He wanted to 00:16:12.259 --> 00:16:14.039 be one of the first people in there. He didn't 00:16:14.039 --> 00:16:15.460 need to be. He probably could have showed up 00:16:15.460 --> 00:16:17.840 at 8 o 'clock if he wanted to. But he used to 00:16:17.840 --> 00:16:19.519 drag me, and I used to complain. Here's a high 00:16:19.519 --> 00:16:21.240 school kid, and we're getting up at 4 .30 in 00:16:21.240 --> 00:16:23.360 the morning and going to work every day in the 00:16:23.360 --> 00:16:26.080 summer. I'm home for summer break during college. 00:16:26.799 --> 00:16:30.570 But boy, he... That I saw what he did. I watched 00:16:30.570 --> 00:16:33.269 it with my own two eyes and his people really 00:16:33.269 --> 00:16:35.830 respected him. And because he led by example, 00:16:35.870 --> 00:16:38.429 I think that's how I lead my life. You know what? 00:16:38.429 --> 00:16:40.789 It's not beneath me. If we have a big kidding 00:16:40.789 --> 00:16:43.190 job going on right now out in our warehouse here, 00:16:43.309 --> 00:16:45.879 a hundred feet away from me. I'll go right out 00:16:45.879 --> 00:16:47.840 there and help them get that team gets the job 00:16:47.840 --> 00:16:49.740 done. And it doesn't matter what your title is. 00:16:49.799 --> 00:16:53.159 You do what you need to do to get the job done. 00:16:53.259 --> 00:16:56.519 And ultimately, we all at GBS here, my philosophy 00:16:56.519 --> 00:16:59.120 is we work for our customers. That's who my boss 00:16:59.120 --> 00:17:01.799 is. My boss is all those customers that we service 00:17:01.799 --> 00:17:04.559 and have relationships with. So I think that's 00:17:04.559 --> 00:17:08.319 the difference. Absolutely. And really. The key 00:17:08.319 --> 00:17:11.299 to, now I'm going to combine networking with 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:13.940 leadership. So the key to networking, there's 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:16.319 a mantra, know you like you, trust you, they'll 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:19.059 do business with you. Everybody knows the mantra. 00:17:19.339 --> 00:17:21.720 But when you go to a networking event, you go 00:17:21.720 --> 00:17:26.599 with a servant's heart. You go for the act of 00:17:26.599 --> 00:17:30.240 giving, not receiving. So everybody thinks that 00:17:30.240 --> 00:17:31.859 you go to one of these networking events that 00:17:31.859 --> 00:17:34.240 you're going to sell. That's the absolute wrong 00:17:34.240 --> 00:17:38.390 idea. When you get... to having a relationship 00:17:38.390 --> 00:17:40.990 with somebody say, you know something, I like 00:17:40.990 --> 00:17:45.170 you. I like how you do business. How can I make 00:17:45.170 --> 00:17:48.549 you more successful? How can I be a good referral 00:17:48.549 --> 00:17:50.950 source for you? That usually blows them away. 00:17:51.109 --> 00:17:53.430 You know what you do yet? And you're saying, 00:17:53.549 --> 00:17:56.150 how can I be more successful? But that's what 00:17:56.150 --> 00:17:58.910 you do. So that's the mindset that you get in. 00:17:58.990 --> 00:18:01.670 So when you said having a servant's heart, it's 00:18:01.670 --> 00:18:05.000 all over. As long as you are authentic when you 00:18:05.000 --> 00:18:07.279 say it. And I want to tell you that there's an 00:18:07.279 --> 00:18:10.619 old book by Ken Blanchard called The Raving Fan. 00:18:11.960 --> 00:18:14.079 I've read other books by him, but not that one. 00:18:14.180 --> 00:18:17.059 But okay. Yep. It's a small book. Right. I used 00:18:17.059 --> 00:18:20.279 to give it out to realtors when I was in the 00:18:20.279 --> 00:18:23.059 mortgage industry. It's a quick read, 45 minute 00:18:23.059 --> 00:18:25.839 read, whatever. But it's all about customer service. 00:18:26.879 --> 00:18:29.180 Well, I'd like to make another comment about 00:18:29.180 --> 00:18:31.460 attending networking events because I go to quite 00:18:31.460 --> 00:18:34.000 a bit of them throughout the year. And you're 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:36.039 right. I think when you first approach someone 00:18:36.039 --> 00:18:38.539 or you meet someone, yeah, the thought process 00:18:38.539 --> 00:18:40.960 has to be this relationship has to be mutually 00:18:40.960 --> 00:18:45.329 beneficial. here just to sell you and sell you 00:18:45.329 --> 00:18:48.069 gbs products and services that's it's got to 00:18:48.069 --> 00:18:50.150 be mutually beneficial and that's about and now 00:18:50.150 --> 00:18:51.710 what are you doing you're building relationship 00:18:51.710 --> 00:18:54.589 you're building rapport with somebody and so 00:18:54.589 --> 00:18:58.250 forth and that's 100 how i go into those events 00:18:58.250 --> 00:19:01.430 and and we've had a lot of success here at gbs 00:19:01.430 --> 00:19:05.849 doing it that way and but most people don't have 00:19:05.849 --> 00:19:08.660 that thinking have that way of thinking and it 00:19:08.660 --> 00:19:11.740 throws everything off. If you go in with that 00:19:11.740 --> 00:19:15.380 in thought in your mind, then you'll be much 00:19:15.380 --> 00:19:18.660 more successful. Yeah, I love it. That's always 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:20.799 been my philosophy. As you can tell earlier in 00:19:20.799 --> 00:19:22.380 this conversation, I mentioned about all the 00:19:22.380 --> 00:19:24.579 different places I've lived. I've traveled all 00:19:24.579 --> 00:19:27.630 over the country for work. And again, I think 00:19:27.630 --> 00:19:30.609 it's in my DNA that I like meeting people. I 00:19:30.609 --> 00:19:32.690 like when I go out to dinner and if I'm alone, 00:19:32.890 --> 00:19:35.250 I don't sit at the table by myself with my computer. 00:19:35.329 --> 00:19:37.490 I go sit at the bar. I sit at the bar and I talk 00:19:37.490 --> 00:19:40.569 to people and it's mutually beneficial. It's 00:19:40.569 --> 00:19:42.750 not about me necessarily trying to sell you something. 00:19:42.829 --> 00:19:45.769 And here's what I do. So you always have the 00:19:45.769 --> 00:19:50.039 other person talk about. themselves. I use something 00:19:50.039 --> 00:19:54.460 called F -O -R -M. It's family, occupation, recreation, 00:19:54.819 --> 00:19:59.259 and a message. So you can take any, yep, you 00:19:59.259 --> 00:20:03.339 can use it. When you speak to somebody, you have 00:20:03.339 --> 00:20:07.319 that in mind. Husband, wife, sister, brother, 00:20:07.480 --> 00:20:10.740 daughter, son, whatever. You can have them talk 00:20:10.740 --> 00:20:13.380 about themselves because people love to talk 00:20:13.380 --> 00:20:17.279 about themselves. The more that they talk, the 00:20:18.240 --> 00:20:22.160 That barrier that they usually have between people, 00:20:22.220 --> 00:20:25.420 that starts to come down. And that trust factor, 00:20:25.619 --> 00:20:29.640 which is so crucial, that goes up. So you're 00:20:29.640 --> 00:20:33.019 automatically more trusted as a networking person. 00:20:33.160 --> 00:20:34.920 And that's before they even know what you do. 00:20:35.279 --> 00:20:37.400 Exactly. I have another quick little funny story. 00:20:37.480 --> 00:20:40.019 So my first day, actually, I have to say this. 00:20:40.039 --> 00:20:43.960 This past Wednesday was June 11th. And I started 00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:47.579 my career on, I graduated college in 1990. I 00:20:47.579 --> 00:20:50.759 started my career on June 11th, 1990. So I just 00:20:50.759 --> 00:20:53.299 had my 35th anniversary this past Wednesday of 00:20:53.299 --> 00:20:55.559 being in my career, which I thought was cool. 00:20:55.660 --> 00:20:58.019 But I remember that first day I walk into the 00:20:58.019 --> 00:21:01.119 office at 8 a .m. in the morning and it's a sales 00:21:01.119 --> 00:21:03.980 job. And I go into my director of sales's office 00:21:03.980 --> 00:21:06.359 and we sit down and he starts onboarding me and 00:21:06.359 --> 00:21:08.259 we're doing the paperwork and all that good stuff. 00:21:08.819 --> 00:21:10.880 Then he goes, come here. And he takes me into 00:21:10.880 --> 00:21:13.049 the conference room. sit down. And then he looks 00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:15.970 at me and he goes, tell me something about myself. 00:21:16.569 --> 00:21:18.730 And I'm like, looking at him like, what are you 00:21:18.730 --> 00:21:21.170 talking about? You're my manager. You hired me 00:21:21.170 --> 00:21:24.569 from Cal State Chico. He goes, no, tell me something 00:21:24.569 --> 00:21:27.490 about myself. And I'm like, Dave, I don't know 00:21:27.490 --> 00:21:30.109 what you mean. He goes, go back into my office 00:21:30.109 --> 00:21:31.869 and sit in there for five minutes and then come 00:21:31.869 --> 00:21:34.009 back. And I went back in his office and I started 00:21:34.009 --> 00:21:36.829 looking around the office. I came back and I 00:21:36.829 --> 00:21:39.369 said, okay, now I'm going to tell you something 00:21:39.369 --> 00:21:41.670 about yourself based on what I saw in your office. 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:45.329 And he was a big auto racing guy, big Indianapolis 00:21:45.329 --> 00:21:48.309 five. He had pictures of the Indy 500. He had 00:21:48.309 --> 00:21:50.569 pictures of his family and his daughter on his 00:21:50.569 --> 00:21:54.529 desk. And that's how you start to build rapport 00:21:54.529 --> 00:21:56.529 with people. You're going to walk into a potential 00:21:56.529 --> 00:22:00.680 customer's office. Talk about them. And because 00:22:00.680 --> 00:22:02.619 like you said, Michael, people like to talk about 00:22:02.619 --> 00:22:05.180 themselves. So I do that. I do that little trick 00:22:05.180 --> 00:22:07.200 with any new person I hire. I bring them into 00:22:07.200 --> 00:22:09.200 this office. We chat for a little while and then 00:22:09.200 --> 00:22:11.200 we leave. And I say, tell me something. And if 00:22:11.200 --> 00:22:12.920 you looked around my office, you'd see a lot 00:22:12.920 --> 00:22:14.859 of Chicago Cubs stuff over there because I grew 00:22:14.859 --> 00:22:17.480 up in Chicago. I'm a big golf fan. I've been 00:22:17.480 --> 00:22:19.759 to the Masters and the Atlanta Athletic Club 00:22:19.759 --> 00:22:22.460 and the PGA Championship back in 2011. That's 00:22:22.460 --> 00:22:25.259 over there. Yeah. You can see things about Jeff 00:22:25.259 --> 00:22:27.259 Rapando. And now you're starting to break ice 00:22:27.259 --> 00:22:30.089 and build rapport with somebody. Yep. Absolutely. 00:22:30.329 --> 00:22:33.970 Absolutely. And here's a little trick you can 00:22:33.970 --> 00:22:36.609 give to your people, whatever. When you walk 00:22:36.609 --> 00:22:39.289 into somebody's office and you're thinking form, 00:22:39.450 --> 00:22:41.309 okay, that's what you're thinking. Look on the 00:22:41.309 --> 00:22:44.670 walls, any pictures, any ideas, anything else. 00:22:44.769 --> 00:22:49.410 But the pictures that he has on his desk, okay, 00:22:49.450 --> 00:22:53.410 if the pictures are facing him, that's his family, 00:22:53.529 --> 00:22:56.450 and he likes to keep them close. If the pictures 00:22:56.450 --> 00:23:00.970 are facing out. towards you, that is an invitation 00:23:00.970 --> 00:23:05.630 for you to ask questions about his family. I've 00:23:05.630 --> 00:23:08.690 never heard that before. Yeah, that's okay. Yeah, 00:23:08.730 --> 00:23:10.690 very big, very big. And that's just something 00:23:10.690 --> 00:23:14.029 with the networking that you do. Instead of networking 00:23:14.029 --> 00:23:15.809 events, when you're going and having a meeting 00:23:15.809 --> 00:23:19.990 with somebody, you have about 30 seconds to check 00:23:19.990 --> 00:23:22.690 out the walls. Is there major leagues? Is there 00:23:22.690 --> 00:23:26.130 a youth sports, a grandson or something, something 00:23:26.130 --> 00:23:28.869 that will tell you a musical note on the wall? 00:23:28.990 --> 00:23:32.079 He's into music. Right. And you can talk about 00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:33.859 that. And that's the beautiful thing. Obviously, 00:23:33.940 --> 00:23:36.980 in 1990, cell phones weren't around quite yet 00:23:36.980 --> 00:23:39.359 where everyone had one. There was no such thing, 00:23:39.420 --> 00:23:42.119 obviously, as LinkedIn. So that's another tidbit. 00:23:42.180 --> 00:23:45.359 And I do this myself because even as president 00:23:45.359 --> 00:23:48.279 of this operation, I still prospect. Again, a 00:23:48.279 --> 00:23:51.180 leader leads by example. Yeah, I utilize LinkedIn 00:23:51.180 --> 00:23:53.400 all the time. Look at people's past and backgrounds 00:23:53.400 --> 00:23:57.299 and find some common ground there. And it really 00:23:57.299 --> 00:24:00.500 opens up that whole. process of networking and 00:24:00.500 --> 00:24:04.099 so forth. That's true. One day you should look 00:24:04.099 --> 00:24:06.980 at my LinkedIn profile. It's about this big. 00:24:07.180 --> 00:24:09.440 Okay. Because it's got everything listed inside 00:24:09.440 --> 00:24:13.339 of it. Okay. So you've mentioned others. You've 00:24:13.339 --> 00:24:16.319 probably been mentored, which you have said before. 00:24:16.420 --> 00:24:23.740 What makes a mentorship relationship truly powerful? 00:24:25.609 --> 00:24:29.150 I think when that relationship maybe goes a little 00:24:29.150 --> 00:24:32.230 bit beyond business, it becomes a little more 00:24:32.230 --> 00:24:35.529 personal, maybe. That's, I think, when it becomes 00:24:35.529 --> 00:24:39.269 powerful. I'm mentoring a couple of young sales 00:24:39.269 --> 00:24:44.690 reps right now on my team. And to be able to... 00:24:47.159 --> 00:24:50.240 almost be a part of their family it's interesting 00:24:50.240 --> 00:24:53.140 i get asked questions and because these folks 00:24:53.140 --> 00:24:56.900 are in their 20s and i'm in my mid to late 50s 00:24:56.900 --> 00:24:59.400 and the questions they're asking me i've lived 00:24:59.400 --> 00:25:01.819 those i've lived there i remember what i have 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:04.359 one young man who just had a baby and i go i 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:06.900 remember when we had our first baby and i know 00:25:06.900 --> 00:25:08.660 what you're going through and i know you're struggling 00:25:09.599 --> 00:25:11.779 with getting your work done because you're tired. 00:25:12.039 --> 00:25:14.059 And actually, I was with him yesterday and we 00:25:14.059 --> 00:25:16.759 just had a whole conversation and just some tips 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:19.759 that I gave him on how to get through that and 00:25:19.759 --> 00:25:22.900 so forth because he knows it's starting to affect 00:25:22.900 --> 00:25:27.759 his job a little bit. And so to me, that... Mentoring 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.720 typically in the beginning seems to be all about 00:25:29.720 --> 00:25:31.759 training. I'm going to teach you something. I'm 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:33.240 going to show you how to get something done. 00:25:33.500 --> 00:25:36.519 But when it becomes that next level of communication, 00:25:36.940 --> 00:25:39.559 like I just mentioned, the relationship is growing 00:25:39.559 --> 00:25:43.200 into areas outside of just the day -to -day business. 00:25:43.359 --> 00:25:46.880 I think that is when it becomes powerful. Absolutely. 00:25:47.140 --> 00:25:50.779 You have to find that fine line between business 00:25:50.779 --> 00:25:55.630 and personal, but a true mentor. You know everything 00:25:55.630 --> 00:25:58.829 about the person who you're mentoring and the 00:25:58.829 --> 00:26:01.109 trials and tribulations that he's going through. 00:26:01.289 --> 00:26:04.890 So if you can give him advice in that respect, 00:26:05.230 --> 00:26:08.710 you become all knowing. You become bigger and 00:26:08.710 --> 00:26:11.170 better than he even thought. And that will help 00:26:11.170 --> 00:26:16.029 him in business even further. Okay. So some people 00:26:16.029 --> 00:26:18.869 only network when they need something. What's 00:26:18.869 --> 00:26:22.509 your take on networking as a long -term leadership 00:26:22.509 --> 00:26:27.660 practice? I think my take is it's one of those 00:26:27.660 --> 00:26:31.359 things you've got to be disciplined to the activity, 00:26:31.579 --> 00:26:36.380 right? And it needs to be interwoven inside your 00:26:36.380 --> 00:26:38.299 goals and objectives and your business plan. 00:26:38.400 --> 00:26:40.380 So that whiteboard back there, there's definitely 00:26:40.380 --> 00:26:42.900 networking objectives that you'll see up on that 00:26:42.900 --> 00:26:45.940 board. But have fun with it. See, I like it. 00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:48.000 I think some people look at it as a chore. I 00:26:48.000 --> 00:26:51.599 actually enjoy it. Because I have fun with it. 00:26:51.640 --> 00:26:54.619 I want to get out there and I want to walk into 00:26:54.619 --> 00:26:57.559 a networking event and I got my GBS Brand Connect 00:26:57.559 --> 00:27:00.180 shirt on and I want people to see that. I want 00:27:00.180 --> 00:27:02.259 people to ask me, who's GBS? What do you all 00:27:02.259 --> 00:27:05.140 do? And type of thing and so forth. So I think 00:27:05.140 --> 00:27:08.559 it just needs to be a part of any other goal 00:27:08.559 --> 00:27:10.720 and objective. It's just as important as us hitting 00:27:10.720 --> 00:27:13.519 our revenue and gross profit goals. That networking, 00:27:13.660 --> 00:27:15.700 it's just as important. And then set goals for 00:27:15.700 --> 00:27:18.150 yourself. Yeah, I went to a networking event 00:27:18.150 --> 00:27:20.890 in Chicago a couple of weeks ago. And my goal 00:27:20.890 --> 00:27:23.549 was to leave that event with 10 new contacts. 00:27:23.910 --> 00:27:27.309 And I accomplished that. It started off a little 00:27:27.309 --> 00:27:28.670 slow. I'll be honest with you. I was a little 00:27:28.670 --> 00:27:30.410 worried that I wasn't going to get 10 contacts, 00:27:30.470 --> 00:27:33.029 but I stuck it out and it turned out great. I 00:27:33.029 --> 00:27:34.690 used to go to networking when I was in a mortgage 00:27:34.690 --> 00:27:37.150 company. I used to go to networking events and 00:27:37.150 --> 00:27:38.849 come home with a shoebox filled with business 00:27:38.849 --> 00:27:42.289 cards and say, look how good I did when I didn't 00:27:42.289 --> 00:27:45.440 do good at all. Now, with a three or four hour 00:27:45.440 --> 00:27:49.400 event, I say come back with 15, 20 business cards. 00:27:49.480 --> 00:27:52.619 Yeah. And do your follow up. I have a whole secret 00:27:52.619 --> 00:27:57.099 sauce for follow up. Okay. That really, you'll 00:27:57.099 --> 00:27:59.500 know right away whether or not they are truly 00:27:59.500 --> 00:28:02.960 interested, just a little bit interested or not. 00:28:03.119 --> 00:28:06.539 With everything that I have, it really introduces 00:28:06.539 --> 00:28:10.380 various ways where you will know yourself. Correct. 00:28:10.799 --> 00:28:13.440 I know exactly what you're saying. Yeah, it's 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:15.799 about quality, not quantity when you go to these 00:28:15.799 --> 00:28:18.720 events, right? Yes. Yep. Absolutely. And you 00:28:18.720 --> 00:28:21.960 have to have fun. If you're not enjoying yourself, 00:28:22.220 --> 00:28:27.839 that comes out. 100%. You see, I'm having a very 00:28:27.839 --> 00:28:31.160 good time. Be yourself. Crack a joke, providing 00:28:31.160 --> 00:28:33.079 that you're a funny person. You have to crack 00:28:33.079 --> 00:28:35.799 a joke because nothing's worse than somebody 00:28:35.799 --> 00:28:38.740 cracking a joke who isn't funny. You're right. 00:28:39.000 --> 00:28:41.500 That takes the air out of the conversation or 00:28:41.500 --> 00:28:44.319 the room real fast. Yes. Really fast. Really 00:28:44.319 --> 00:28:48.859 fast. Okay. So for leaders facing tough times, 00:28:49.039 --> 00:28:52.680 what role does network play in how they respond, 00:28:53.039 --> 00:28:56.960 adapt, and grow through it? I think. Having a 00:28:56.960 --> 00:29:00.140 solid network or even your mentors and so forth, 00:29:00.319 --> 00:29:04.220 being able to lean on other people and past experiences 00:29:04.220 --> 00:29:06.500 and being able to pick the phone up or send an 00:29:06.500 --> 00:29:09.500 email, send a text to someone, hey, I'm struggling 00:29:09.500 --> 00:29:13.259 with this right now. I'm sure you and your organization 00:29:13.259 --> 00:29:16.099 are feeling the same pains. I'll bring up tariffs. 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:20.529 It's been a wild ride. I think since the start 00:29:20.529 --> 00:29:23.150 of the year and so forth. And especially when 00:29:23.150 --> 00:29:26.250 your business is so tied into products and services 00:29:26.250 --> 00:29:29.029 that are coming from outside of the country. 00:29:29.369 --> 00:29:32.150 That's been a big challenge. And I will admit, 00:29:32.230 --> 00:29:35.799 I have talked a lot. to my network and contacts 00:29:35.799 --> 00:29:38.700 about how they're dealing with it, what they're 00:29:38.700 --> 00:29:40.799 learning, how they're educating their customers, 00:29:41.000 --> 00:29:43.859 how they're trying to stay in front of it. That's 00:29:43.859 --> 00:29:46.599 probably the best thing I can say about that 00:29:46.599 --> 00:29:49.019 because that has become a huge topic of conversation 00:29:49.019 --> 00:29:52.019 at a lot of events that I attend in the spaces 00:29:52.019 --> 00:29:54.960 and areas that I run in now and so forth. Yeah, 00:29:54.980 --> 00:29:56.839 I think to answer your question, having a broad 00:29:56.839 --> 00:30:01.200 network, a very diversified network only can 00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:04.339 help you. be open to the fact to reach out and 00:30:04.339 --> 00:30:08.200 ask for help, ask questions if need be. Yeah, 00:30:08.240 --> 00:30:11.900 I have a great many connections on LinkedIn, 00:30:12.000 --> 00:30:16.420 but I have a certain few that ask me the questions 00:30:16.420 --> 00:30:19.619 through LinkedIn or email because they're going 00:30:19.619 --> 00:30:22.299 through a problem, usually a networking or communication 00:30:22.299 --> 00:30:25.720 problem, and they want to know, is this the right 00:30:25.720 --> 00:30:29.170 way or is there a better way to handle it? And 00:30:29.170 --> 00:30:31.190 I answered a little bit. And they always are 00:30:31.190 --> 00:30:35.569 appreciative. But A, I was asked. So it made 00:30:35.569 --> 00:30:38.529 me feel good. My answer made them feel good. 00:30:38.690 --> 00:30:42.250 It was always that type of a feeling. And they 00:30:42.250 --> 00:30:46.430 would respect that and make my network grow. 00:30:46.630 --> 00:30:51.410 And that's really what I'm after. Okay, so here 00:30:51.410 --> 00:30:55.210 we go. How do you spot real connections? versus 00:30:55.210 --> 00:30:58.349 surface -level networking, especially when your 00:30:58.349 --> 00:31:01.970 time and energy are limited? Oh, that's a good 00:31:01.970 --> 00:31:05.109 question. Now, we've talked a lot about when 00:31:05.109 --> 00:31:07.130 you go to a networking event and it has to be 00:31:07.130 --> 00:31:10.829 a mutually beneficial relationship. We did this 00:31:10.829 --> 00:31:13.390 at GBS probably about the time I started here. 00:31:13.549 --> 00:31:15.690 One of the first things that we had to identify 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:19.500 was... What is our sweet spot? What are the vertical 00:31:19.500 --> 00:31:22.200 markets that we want to play in? What are the 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:24.220 products and services we want to sell in those 00:31:24.220 --> 00:31:27.859 vertical markets? And what do we need to be smart 00:31:27.859 --> 00:31:31.559 about? We're going to walk away or not focus 00:31:31.559 --> 00:31:33.940 on, I would say, in our prospecting efforts. 00:31:34.140 --> 00:31:37.759 So we built what we call a sweet spot. So when 00:31:37.759 --> 00:31:40.720 I go to these events, especially like a chamber 00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:43.660 event, I go to the Akron Chamber of Commerce. 00:31:43.740 --> 00:31:45.720 I go to the Canton Chamber of Commerce here. 00:31:45.799 --> 00:31:48.930 I've been to Youngstown as well. and so forth. 00:31:49.049 --> 00:31:51.089 And there's all walks of life there, all different 00:31:51.089 --> 00:31:54.549 kinds of businesses and so forth. I have an idea 00:31:54.549 --> 00:31:57.470 of where I want to focus my time and so forth. 00:31:57.609 --> 00:31:59.470 And I know there's other people there that want 00:31:59.470 --> 00:32:01.670 to capture my attention, my time, if they're 00:32:01.670 --> 00:32:04.430 selling something to me on a personal level, 00:32:04.529 --> 00:32:06.710 because you get a lot of that, obviously. There's 00:32:06.710 --> 00:32:09.250 insurance people there, the folks that want to 00:32:09.250 --> 00:32:11.569 put the brain guard over your gutters, they're 00:32:11.569 --> 00:32:14.500 all there and so forth. So I think you just got 00:32:14.500 --> 00:32:16.839 to understand where you want to spend your time 00:32:16.839 --> 00:32:19.579 in that two -hour session or three hours or whatever 00:32:19.579 --> 00:32:23.700 it is. But always be nice. Always be cordial. 00:32:23.700 --> 00:32:28.059 Speak to everybody. But then quickly pivot to 00:32:28.059 --> 00:32:30.019 where you need to be and who you need to be speaking 00:32:30.019 --> 00:32:32.119 to, I guess, is the best way I would say that. 00:32:32.700 --> 00:32:35.930 Yeah. I'm laughing while you're talking because 00:32:35.930 --> 00:32:38.690 I'm agreeing with everything that you're saying. 00:32:39.089 --> 00:32:42.250 And, you know, I know a local chamber of commerce 00:32:42.250 --> 00:32:44.650 is also part of that. It's like when I get up 00:32:44.650 --> 00:32:46.730 in front of them and I say you're at a networking 00:32:46.730 --> 00:32:50.769 table, you don't talk immediately. You don't 00:32:50.769 --> 00:32:54.130 say anything. Wait for the conversation. Is this 00:32:54.130 --> 00:32:56.589 a conversation that I want to become involved 00:32:56.589 --> 00:33:00.400 with? If it's not, you politely bow out and go 00:33:00.400 --> 00:33:03.339 to the next table. That's right. And if it is, 00:33:03.380 --> 00:33:05.000 of course, then you stay and talk and everything 00:33:05.000 --> 00:33:09.920 else. But you have to, it's called active listening. 00:33:10.140 --> 00:33:12.940 You have to listen for what's going on. Is this 00:33:12.940 --> 00:33:16.019 conversation? It's not. I'll see you later. I'm 00:33:16.019 --> 00:33:17.720 going to the next table. You don't say that, 00:33:17.759 --> 00:33:20.180 of course. You politely bow out and you go to 00:33:20.180 --> 00:33:22.680 the next table. But it could be there. I had 00:33:22.680 --> 00:33:25.079 a situation a year ago where I met some folks 00:33:25.079 --> 00:33:27.000 and I didn't quite know. I just walked up to 00:33:27.000 --> 00:33:29.319 the table and I started talking to them. They 00:33:29.319 --> 00:33:33.640 represented the Akron Canton Food Bank. And now 00:33:33.640 --> 00:33:37.160 that would not. fit a sweet spot of gbs brand 00:33:37.160 --> 00:33:39.200 connect and so forth but i started talking to 00:33:39.200 --> 00:33:41.779 them and it actually was mutually beneficial 00:33:41.779 --> 00:33:45.039 because now my wife and i volunteer and time 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:47.579 and donations and what have you because of that 00:33:47.579 --> 00:33:50.779 conversation i'm not selling to them we will 00:33:50.779 --> 00:33:54.609 never sell to them and so forth but You're right. 00:33:54.650 --> 00:33:57.569 You've got to walk into every conversation politely. 00:33:57.869 --> 00:34:00.069 Everybody wants to talk about what they do because 00:34:00.069 --> 00:34:01.809 it's important to them. And what they're doing 00:34:01.809 --> 00:34:03.990 is a wonderful mission. And that was interesting, 00:34:04.210 --> 00:34:05.970 but it had nothing to do with me selling to them. 00:34:06.130 --> 00:34:08.869 Absolutely. The best way to go out and to network, 00:34:09.070 --> 00:34:12.610 if you volunteer, volunteer for something, and 00:34:12.610 --> 00:34:15.670 you go in, because eventually it'll come around, 00:34:15.909 --> 00:34:18.489 what do you do for a living? Correct. You don't 00:34:18.489 --> 00:34:20.710 come out and say it, but something will happen 00:34:20.710 --> 00:34:23.179 and say, what do you do? And then you go and 00:34:23.179 --> 00:34:25.119 start talking about it, but you're never pushing 00:34:25.119 --> 00:34:29.739 it. You're trusted almost immediately when that 00:34:29.739 --> 00:34:32.980 happens because you haven't pushed it. I do like 00:34:32.980 --> 00:34:35.079 those events too, when you go and you, especially 00:34:35.079 --> 00:34:37.340 the breakfast one. So everyone is sitting down 00:34:37.340 --> 00:34:39.079 having breakfast around the table and you don't 00:34:39.079 --> 00:34:41.860 know who you're necessarily sitting with. But 00:34:41.860 --> 00:34:44.039 there's questions on the table and the table 00:34:44.039 --> 00:34:46.059 has to, everyone has to answer the question. 00:34:46.139 --> 00:34:48.460 So it just gets the conversation going and moving. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:51.519 And then usually there's a guest presenter, but 00:34:51.519 --> 00:34:53.480 then there's like networking afterwards, right? 00:34:53.559 --> 00:34:55.280 So, you know, right away, okay, here's a table 00:34:55.280 --> 00:34:58.280 of 10 people based on those questions that we 00:34:58.280 --> 00:35:00.420 asked and we all talked. There's maybe two or 00:35:00.420 --> 00:35:01.980 three there, but then when you get up and start 00:35:01.980 --> 00:35:03.440 mingling, those are the ones that you're going 00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:05.000 to talk to. And everyone goes off into their 00:35:05.000 --> 00:35:08.909 proper areas, I would say. Absolutely. And I 00:35:08.909 --> 00:35:11.230 like those also, by the way, the breakfast because 00:35:11.230 --> 00:35:15.570 it's a very good icebreaker. Sometimes you need 00:35:15.570 --> 00:35:17.949 that when you walk into an event or something. 00:35:18.210 --> 00:35:22.670 My usually go -to sentence is, wow, that's a 00:35:22.670 --> 00:35:25.170 nice blazer or that's a nice pair of shoes or 00:35:25.170 --> 00:35:26.989 something. Something to break up the conversation 00:35:26.989 --> 00:35:31.210 without saying, hey, what do you do? What do 00:35:31.210 --> 00:35:32.710 you do? Why are you here? And what do you want 00:35:32.710 --> 00:35:34.989 to sell me? Yeah. Usually they say, hey, you 00:35:34.989 --> 00:35:36.949 know, what brought you here today? I said, my 00:35:36.949 --> 00:35:40.769 2017 Dodge Ram. Right there. You know, and they're 00:35:40.769 --> 00:35:48.550 like, what? Okay. So as a mentor, how do you 00:35:48.550 --> 00:35:51.610 help others build confidence in reaching out 00:35:51.610 --> 00:35:55.050 and connecting with people who seem out of their 00:35:55.050 --> 00:36:00.679 league? Oh, that's a great question. The best 00:36:00.679 --> 00:36:03.420 thing that I can say that I do, number one, I 00:36:03.420 --> 00:36:05.559 like to role play a little bit first because 00:36:05.559 --> 00:36:08.820 I have a couple of young salespeople that they're 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:11.019 very, it's interesting. You're in sales, but 00:36:11.019 --> 00:36:13.699 you're uncomfortable in this environment, right? 00:36:14.179 --> 00:36:16.360 So I like to role play it first. Let's just role 00:36:16.360 --> 00:36:19.179 play. Pretend I'm the CEO of XYZ company and 00:36:19.179 --> 00:36:21.360 you just came up to me at this event. So let's 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:24.489 role play that. And then when we go to the event 00:36:24.489 --> 00:36:27.030 together, I have them, I'll have them tag along 00:36:27.030 --> 00:36:30.030 with me in the beginning. They listen to me and 00:36:30.030 --> 00:36:33.010 see what I'm doing and how I'm speaking. And 00:36:33.010 --> 00:36:34.989 then I'll send them on their own. And I say, 00:36:35.010 --> 00:36:36.909 okay, now you got to go over there, go to that 00:36:36.909 --> 00:36:39.829 table way over there, and so forth. So it is 00:36:39.829 --> 00:36:42.610 a definite process. It's a definite process in 00:36:42.610 --> 00:36:45.510 getting people out of their shells. There's one 00:36:45.510 --> 00:36:48.329 event that I love, and I'm going to take a couple 00:36:48.329 --> 00:36:50.150 of my young reps to this one coming up here next 00:36:50.150 --> 00:36:53.880 month. Akron has the Cleveland Guardians double 00:36:53.880 --> 00:36:56.559 A baseball team is called the Akron Rubber Ducks. 00:36:57.059 --> 00:36:59.340 And they play their stadiums right in downtown 00:36:59.340 --> 00:37:01.780 Akron. And the Chamber of Commerce does business 00:37:01.780 --> 00:37:04.880 at the ballpark night. And it's the best networking 00:37:04.880 --> 00:37:07.760 event they do. They open up the out in right 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:10.480 field. There's like a big party patio out there. 00:37:10.559 --> 00:37:13.059 There's like a tiki bar. And they open that up 00:37:13.059 --> 00:37:16.590 to the chamber members. And batting practice 00:37:16.590 --> 00:37:18.889 is going on behind you. The stadium's not, people 00:37:18.889 --> 00:37:20.730 aren't coming in yet to the stadium because the 00:37:20.730 --> 00:37:22.550 game's probably not starting for another two 00:37:22.550 --> 00:37:25.750 hours. But everyone is out there on a nice late 00:37:25.750 --> 00:37:29.389 afternoon, weeknight and having a beer and talking. 00:37:29.469 --> 00:37:32.449 And everybody's very, we've gotten so much business 00:37:32.449 --> 00:37:34.590 just by attending that one event because the 00:37:34.590 --> 00:37:36.309 atmosphere, it's because of the environment. 00:37:36.710 --> 00:37:38.829 And I'm going to take, I'm going to take my two 00:37:38.829 --> 00:37:40.650 young reps to that here in a couple of weeks 00:37:40.650 --> 00:37:44.369 in July and just wear shorts, wear a t -shirt. 00:37:44.760 --> 00:37:46.760 And put your GBS ball cap on, and we're going 00:37:46.760 --> 00:37:48.400 to go. And you're going to go, and you're not 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:51.039 going to hang with me. I'm going to go over there. 00:37:51.380 --> 00:37:52.739 You're going to go over there. The other guy's 00:37:52.739 --> 00:37:54.659 going to go over here. And yeah, and we're going 00:37:54.659 --> 00:37:56.639 to have fun. And yeah, they got to get out of 00:37:56.639 --> 00:37:58.780 the shell. You just got to keep forcing them 00:37:58.780 --> 00:38:02.380 to get out of their shell. Eventually, they're 00:38:02.380 --> 00:38:06.079 going to eke out themselves. But that's a great, 00:38:06.199 --> 00:38:09.139 down here, a lot of the groups go to the stripers. 00:38:09.260 --> 00:38:10.840 Yes, that's right. In Gwinnett County. Yeah. 00:38:11.280 --> 00:38:13.860 Yeah, it's the same thing. And I used to, when 00:38:13.860 --> 00:38:16.460 I lived in New York, we had another minor league 00:38:16.460 --> 00:38:19.880 ballpark and we had the same events there. I 00:38:19.880 --> 00:38:23.900 had the best time networking with everybody, 00:38:23.940 --> 00:38:27.559 but we're having such a good time that, you know, 00:38:27.579 --> 00:38:30.599 we're talking. And all I did was make arrangements 00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:36.039 for meetings another time. Well, I told my young 00:38:36.039 --> 00:38:38.739 reps, I go, isn't it easier? And if you say no, 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:41.340 that I'm going to be perplexed, but isn't it 00:38:41.340 --> 00:38:43.320 easier going to a networking event and talking 00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:45.860 to someone face to face than picking up a phone 00:38:45.860 --> 00:38:48.559 cold and trying to call somebody? Don't you find 00:38:48.559 --> 00:38:51.440 that to me, anything done face to face is a thousand 00:38:51.440 --> 00:38:53.840 times easier than me picking up a phone and calling 00:38:53.840 --> 00:38:57.800 someone cold. Absolutely. You're preaching to 00:38:57.800 --> 00:38:59.760 the choir, Jeff. You're preaching to the choir 00:38:59.760 --> 00:39:02.980 because that's exactly what, look, Zoom is great. 00:39:03.420 --> 00:39:07.960 Your cell phone is great. But nothing is the 00:39:07.960 --> 00:39:10.579 same as when you meet somebody, you feel the 00:39:10.579 --> 00:39:13.300 vibe of the person, you feel the vibe of the 00:39:13.300 --> 00:39:16.059 room, and it gets you juiced. You're with all 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:18.699 these people. There's just something about it 00:39:18.699 --> 00:39:20.780 that you can't get through Zoom. That's right. 00:39:20.980 --> 00:39:25.960 100%. Yep. Okay. Okay. What's one leadership 00:39:25.960 --> 00:39:31.360 trait that makes someone magnetic in their network? 00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:34.960 someone others want to follow or collaborate 00:39:34.960 --> 00:39:40.480 with? What's one leadership trait that magnetic 00:39:40.480 --> 00:39:43.539 person has that others want to follow or collaborate 00:39:43.539 --> 00:39:48.059 with? Well, I think number one, having an outgoing 00:39:48.059 --> 00:39:53.559 personality, having the trait of, like you said, 00:39:53.559 --> 00:39:56.869 that I... Being a leader, you have to make hard 00:39:56.869 --> 00:39:59.989 decisions at times. You have to make tough decisions 00:39:59.989 --> 00:40:05.349 at times. Always be firm, be frank, be friendly. 00:40:05.750 --> 00:40:07.989 Those are like some of the key F words that I 00:40:07.989 --> 00:40:10.429 have. Firm, frank, friendly. Those are good leadership 00:40:10.429 --> 00:40:12.889 traits, I think. And that makes people gravitate 00:40:12.889 --> 00:40:18.309 to leaders and so forth. It was the four Fs, 00:40:18.309 --> 00:40:19.789 and I can't remember the fourth one. It was firm, 00:40:19.869 --> 00:40:24.230 frank, friendly, fair. Those are the four Fs. 00:40:24.230 --> 00:40:26.269 Yeah. So remember that mentor I mentioned to 00:40:26.269 --> 00:40:28.289 you way back when, early in my career? I remember 00:40:28.289 --> 00:40:31.110 him telling me that. But those are the four F 00:40:31.110 --> 00:40:33.650 words. And if you live your management career, 00:40:33.769 --> 00:40:35.530 your leadership career, by those four things, 00:40:35.650 --> 00:40:37.849 you'll be successful. I totally remember that. 00:40:37.969 --> 00:40:42.389 Yep. I agree with that 100%. 100%. Before I ask 00:40:42.389 --> 00:40:44.929 you this, the last question. Okay. You're successful. 00:40:45.579 --> 00:40:49.780 You have achieved a presidential status and you're 00:40:49.780 --> 00:40:52.019 mentoring. And I believe you're doing it the 00:40:52.019 --> 00:40:54.400 right way just by listening to the way you're 00:40:54.400 --> 00:40:58.179 doing it. But you had to have made mistakes. 00:40:58.719 --> 00:41:02.079 What is one of your biggest mistakes that you 00:41:02.079 --> 00:41:06.559 made and how did you overcome it? Oh, boy, that's 00:41:06.559 --> 00:41:08.960 a great question. I get everybody with this question. 00:41:09.369 --> 00:41:11.369 That is, yeah. I'm trying to think of a specific 00:41:11.369 --> 00:41:14.510 example. Here's some mistakes that I made. And 00:41:14.510 --> 00:41:17.769 this one happened not too long ago. As a leader, 00:41:17.889 --> 00:41:20.429 you want to rely on the opinions of your team, 00:41:20.449 --> 00:41:24.909 right? And we were interviewing a gentleman that 00:41:24.909 --> 00:41:29.809 I had met previously at a lunch and had talked 00:41:29.809 --> 00:41:33.590 to via a team's call as well. We're hiring for 00:41:33.590 --> 00:41:38.739 a sales position. And I... My father passed away 00:41:38.739 --> 00:41:40.579 at this time, so I had to get down to Greensboro, 00:41:40.679 --> 00:41:44.320 Georgia. And I missed the day that all these 00:41:44.320 --> 00:41:46.760 candidates were brought into corporate here, 00:41:46.860 --> 00:41:49.780 and they had to go through a series of interviews. 00:41:49.840 --> 00:41:52.920 So they were interviewing with HR, with my director 00:41:52.920 --> 00:41:56.000 of sales, with other various leaders in the organization. 00:41:56.989 --> 00:41:59.110 So I get back from my dad's funeral and what 00:41:59.110 --> 00:42:01.429 have you, and it was a Friday afternoon, and 00:42:01.429 --> 00:42:03.670 right here I'm sitting at my desk, and these 00:42:03.670 --> 00:42:06.170 three folks that interviewed our candidates are 00:42:06.170 --> 00:42:09.489 sitting there, and they're giving me their updates 00:42:09.489 --> 00:42:11.769 or their feelings and opinions about the candidates. 00:42:12.880 --> 00:42:15.440 And one of the guy that I had lunch with and 00:42:15.440 --> 00:42:18.039 the guy that I had been talking to, and I was 00:42:18.039 --> 00:42:20.820 very strong on, supposedly he did very poorly 00:42:20.820 --> 00:42:23.900 that day in the interview process. So all three 00:42:23.900 --> 00:42:26.380 of my people that said to me, don't make him 00:42:26.380 --> 00:42:28.260 an offer. We think you ought to make this gentleman 00:42:28.260 --> 00:42:32.039 an offer. So I listened to them. And sure enough, 00:42:32.219 --> 00:42:34.639 we made an offer to this other gentleman. And 00:42:34.639 --> 00:42:37.739 that guy only lasted about six months, decided 00:42:37.739 --> 00:42:40.880 that he hated this job and went elsewhere. And 00:42:40.880 --> 00:42:42.639 then the gentleman that we didn't make an offer 00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.340 to went elsewhere and is being very successful 00:42:45.340 --> 00:42:48.219 where he's at. And so I think the mistake that 00:42:48.219 --> 00:42:52.219 I made was I didn't trust my gut. And that's 00:42:52.219 --> 00:42:55.000 probably, if I sat here long enough and thought 00:42:55.000 --> 00:42:57.659 about other mistakes, it's because I didn't trust 00:42:57.659 --> 00:43:00.250 my gut. at that moment. And that's what caused 00:43:00.250 --> 00:43:03.469 maybe the mistake and so forth. But that one 00:43:03.469 --> 00:43:04.989 was more of a recent one. That one happened about 00:43:04.989 --> 00:43:07.909 two years ago and so forth. So trust your instincts, 00:43:08.090 --> 00:43:10.650 trust your gut. But a good leader does rely on 00:43:10.650 --> 00:43:12.170 their people and the advice of their people. 00:43:12.230 --> 00:43:15.389 You have to allow them to have that opportunity 00:43:15.389 --> 00:43:18.289 to share their feelings and their thoughts. And 00:43:18.289 --> 00:43:20.889 like I said, we build our business plan as a 00:43:20.889 --> 00:43:23.429 team. But sometimes you, as the leader, you got 00:43:23.429 --> 00:43:25.750 to trust your gut. And I missed on that one. 00:43:25.809 --> 00:43:28.349 I swung and missed that one. Yep. Oh, absolutely. 00:43:28.630 --> 00:43:31.269 You take what everybody's telling you of your 00:43:31.269 --> 00:43:35.389 team, and you have to digest it and think about 00:43:35.389 --> 00:43:38.550 it, but you put it up against your gut, what 00:43:38.550 --> 00:43:41.389 you truly believe in. And sometimes it may go 00:43:41.389 --> 00:43:45.050 their way. Sometimes it may not. You, as a leader, 00:43:45.210 --> 00:43:48.070 have to make that decision. Right. Yeah, that's 00:43:48.070 --> 00:43:49.730 a good question. That's a hard one. Yeah, of 00:43:49.730 --> 00:43:52.190 course it's a hard one. That's why I asked you. 00:43:52.250 --> 00:43:55.659 Okay, so bring in this podcast full circle. If 00:43:55.659 --> 00:43:59.340 you could challenge every listener to take one 00:43:59.340 --> 00:44:03.059 bold networking step this week, what would it 00:44:03.059 --> 00:44:09.539 be? I think the bold step I would say in a networking 00:44:09.539 --> 00:44:14.840 is... Look for a networking opportunity that's 00:44:14.840 --> 00:44:17.739 not traditional. Maybe do something that, and 00:44:17.739 --> 00:44:20.420 this is a bold step for me too, do something 00:44:20.420 --> 00:44:23.800 outside of the norm. Like we all go to, it's 00:44:23.800 --> 00:44:26.019 easy to go to chamber events or other networking 00:44:26.019 --> 00:44:29.500 events and so forth. But maybe the bold step 00:44:29.500 --> 00:44:33.380 is network, network in a new place. Maybe it's 00:44:33.380 --> 00:44:36.920 church. Maybe I... Try something new. And I'll 00:44:36.920 --> 00:44:39.420 challenge myself to do the same thing. Typically, 00:44:39.579 --> 00:44:42.019 when I go to church and I leave church, you're 00:44:42.019 --> 00:44:45.400 talking to people more on a personal level, family, 00:44:45.599 --> 00:44:49.659 friends kind of level. Maybe turn that more into 00:44:49.659 --> 00:44:52.440 a networking opportunity, something a little 00:44:52.440 --> 00:44:55.440 bit different. I don't know if that's the right 00:44:55.440 --> 00:44:58.019 place, but yeah. Without being salesy. Without 00:44:58.019 --> 00:45:01.460 being salesy. Yes. Yep. Yeah. Maybe just do something 00:45:01.460 --> 00:45:04.579 that you never have done before. That's considered 00:45:04.579 --> 00:45:07.500 networking and putting yourself out there. So 00:45:07.500 --> 00:45:09.920 that's great. That's great. Jeff, I got to tell 00:45:09.920 --> 00:45:12.239 you, I can probably talk to you for another two 00:45:12.239 --> 00:45:18.199 hours. This is great. This is great. But if somebody 00:45:18.199 --> 00:45:21.500 wants to get hold of you, get hold of GBS or 00:45:21.500 --> 00:45:23.960 something that you have to offer them, what's 00:45:23.960 --> 00:45:26.230 the best way for them to get hold of you? Well, 00:45:26.309 --> 00:45:29.250 I like people. Number one is I like getting emails. 00:45:29.389 --> 00:45:31.309 And I don't mind giving my cell phone number 00:45:31.309 --> 00:45:33.409 out. You want the best way to get a hold of me 00:45:33.409 --> 00:45:36.210 is my cell phone. And I respond to everybody. 00:45:36.309 --> 00:45:39.739 I have this little weird. knack of, I don't go 00:45:39.739 --> 00:45:42.159 to bed at night until I clean my entire email 00:45:42.159 --> 00:45:45.000 inbox out. I don't leave stuff in there. That's 00:45:45.000 --> 00:45:48.039 after dinner, I'm just cleaning up the day. I 00:45:48.039 --> 00:45:50.679 will respond to you. So my email is a great place. 00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:52.719 And then even my cell phone number is a great 00:45:52.719 --> 00:45:54.539 place to get ahold of me. I'll put that into 00:45:54.539 --> 00:45:57.019 the show notes. Okay. Okay. People will have 00:45:57.019 --> 00:46:00.139 it. Okay. Great. Jeff, I'm telling you again, 00:46:00.219 --> 00:46:03.059 this was a great, you're a great guest and I 00:46:03.059 --> 00:46:06.110 look forward to talking to you soon. I like talking 00:46:06.110 --> 00:46:07.949 about work all the time. You could call me out. 00:46:07.989 --> 00:46:10.110 I'm a big green egg guy like this weekend. I 00:46:10.110 --> 00:46:11.710 know it's Father's Day, but my kids don't live 00:46:11.710 --> 00:46:14.389 in Ohio, so I won't see them. But I'll be outside 00:46:14.389 --> 00:46:17.329 on my green egg smoking something and talking 00:46:17.329 --> 00:46:19.690 to someone, I'm sure, about whatever. Yeah, that's 00:46:19.690 --> 00:46:24.909 what happens on weekends for me. I'm sure. Okay, 00:46:25.030 --> 00:46:29.010 Jeff, I'll talk soon. I'd like to. Yeah. Happy 00:46:29.010 --> 00:46:31.170 Father's Day to your audience. And Michael, this 00:46:31.170 --> 00:46:33.610 was wonderful. Thank you very much. Thank you. 00:46:36.840 --> 00:46:40.679 Well, hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's 00:46:40.679 --> 00:46:43.900 hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co -founder 00:46:43.900 --> 00:46:47.480 Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission 00:46:47.480 --> 00:46:50.940 to protect children and teens from sexual abuse, 00:46:51.179 --> 00:46:54.699 exploitation, and trafficking. They provide prevention 00:46:54.699 --> 00:46:58.239 training programs for children, teens, and adults. 00:46:58.500 --> 00:47:03.079 To learn more, go to revvedupkids .org. Henry 00:47:03.079 --> 00:47:06.480 Kaplan, Century 21. When it comes to making the 00:47:06.480 --> 00:47:09.460 biggest financial decision of your life, leave 00:47:09.460 --> 00:47:12.139 it in the hands of a proven professional, Henry 00:47:12.139 --> 00:47:15.780 Kaplan. Henry is a global real estate agent with 00:47:15.780 --> 00:47:19.860 Century 21, celebrating his 41st year in business. 00:47:20.320 --> 00:47:22.820 No matter where you're moving, Henry has the 00:47:22.820 --> 00:47:26.039 right connections for you. You can contact Henry 00:47:26.039 --> 00:47:33.159 at 561 -427 -4888. A huge thank you to our guests 00:47:33.159 --> 00:47:36.949 for sharing such insights today. And of course, 00:47:36.949 --> 00:47:39.889 a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners, 00:47:40.110 --> 00:47:42.809 for tuning in and spending your time with us. 00:47:43.070 --> 00:47:46.389 If you're interested in my digital courses, being 00:47:46.389 --> 00:47:49.110 coached or having me come and talk to your company, 00:47:49.349 --> 00:47:52.769 just go to Michael and fill out the request form. 00:47:53.309 --> 00:47:56.610 Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. 00:47:56.849 --> 00:47:59.869 It's about being present. So take what you've 00:47:59.869 --> 00:48:02.710 learned today, get out there and make some meaningful 00:48:02.710 --> 00:48:05.670 connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, 00:48:05.869 --> 00:48:08.809 please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a 00:48:08.809 --> 00:48:11.409 review and share it with someone who could use 00:48:11.409 --> 00:48:14.550 a little networking inspiration. Let's keep the 00:48:14.550 --> 00:48:17.550 conversation going. You can find me on Apple, 00:48:17.690 --> 00:48:22.510 Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website, foreman 00:48:22.510 --> 00:48:24.929 .com slash podcasts.