WEBVTT 00:00:08.680 --> 00:00:12.000 Hey guys, welcome back to Good News York live 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:17.199 at the Great Syracuse Winter Fair here in the 00:00:17.199 --> 00:00:20.140 Expo Center at the State Fairgrounds. This is, 00:00:20.179 --> 00:00:23.690 I love that, I love a fair. in the winter. Nice. 00:00:23.809 --> 00:00:25.670 It really is a brilliant idea. We're all just 00:00:25.670 --> 00:00:27.390 sitting here complaining about how cold it is 00:00:27.390 --> 00:00:30.530 and why are we stuck in New York. But you forget 00:00:30.530 --> 00:00:33.689 about all that. Inside this massive 100 ,000 00:00:33.689 --> 00:00:37.289 square foot shed. We got our buddy Mark O'Donnell 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:40.689 back. Which you guys might remember if you follow 00:00:40.689 --> 00:00:43.969 along this show. We launched this show the first 00:00:43.969 --> 00:00:46.490 time ever at Winter Fair last year. Exactly one 00:00:46.490 --> 00:00:49.890 year ago. And Mark? was one of our very first 00:00:49.890 --> 00:00:52.969 guests. Absolutely. On top of, of course, being 00:00:52.969 --> 00:00:55.649 the host of the Operations Excellence podcast 00:00:55.649 --> 00:00:58.509 that many of you over the past year, I'm sure, 00:00:58.609 --> 00:01:00.170 have followed or checked out or seen the clips 00:01:00.170 --> 00:01:03.049 from. Mark's talking to all kinds of incredible 00:01:03.049 --> 00:01:04.730 business leaders. He's talking about leadership. 00:01:05.049 --> 00:01:09.250 He's talking about entrepreneurial ideas, all 00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:11.909 kinds of crazy stuff. But welcome back to the 00:01:11.909 --> 00:01:14.049 show. Welcome back for the anniversary show. 00:01:14.430 --> 00:01:17.260 Thank you, Matthew. Thank you Michael, I really 00:01:17.260 --> 00:01:19.200 appreciate it and yeah, I was walking in this 00:01:19.200 --> 00:01:21.959 morning and. It kind of hits you in the face 00:01:21.959 --> 00:01:24.200 and all your senses. It's like wow, this is like 00:01:24.200 --> 00:01:26.959 an indoor state fair. Yeah, the smell, the sounds 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:29.239 that I'm remembering and we were reminiscing 00:01:29.239 --> 00:01:31.920 a little bit earlier this morning when I got 00:01:31.920 --> 00:01:35.980 here about last year. One year ago today. Pretty 00:01:35.980 --> 00:01:39.579 much at this time around this time. Here we were 00:01:39.579 --> 00:01:42.700 and we're back and yeah, thank you for the invite. 00:01:42.980 --> 00:01:45.489 It's been a cool year. It really has, you know, 00:01:45.609 --> 00:01:49.549 we recorded this month's session just earlier 00:01:49.549 --> 00:01:52.409 this week, and you're in the process of a big 00:01:52.409 --> 00:01:55.109 move, which I'm so happy for you, right? You 00:01:55.109 --> 00:01:58.689 guys doing great things. But one of the greatest 00:01:58.689 --> 00:02:01.310 compliments I think I've had, we had Joanne Yarrow 00:02:01.310 --> 00:02:04.170 back on, and she was one of my first guests, 00:02:04.230 --> 00:02:09.050 I think in month two. And she said during the 00:02:09.050 --> 00:02:10.870 conversation, she goes, you know, I've been watching 00:02:10.870 --> 00:02:14.250 your podcast. And not that you weren't good at 00:02:14.250 --> 00:02:16.289 the beginning, but like, wow, you're so much 00:02:16.289 --> 00:02:19.629 better now. And I was like, cool. Like that tells 00:02:19.629 --> 00:02:22.430 me I'm learning something and something is going 00:02:22.430 --> 00:02:26.449 right. You were one of our only, not only, but 00:02:26.449 --> 00:02:29.030 you were one of the first clients where we, I 00:02:29.030 --> 00:02:33.180 mean, we didn't have to. Help you along train 00:02:33.180 --> 00:02:35.599 you you you are you have a very natural ability 00:02:35.599 --> 00:02:38.740 on camera and on mic so That's you know that 00:02:38.740 --> 00:02:40.680 that progression is very normal and a lot of 00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:42.240 people right out and tell you your first ones 00:02:42.240 --> 00:02:44.539 are gonna be horrible right I don't know that 00:02:44.539 --> 00:02:46.259 I don't know that anybody's really horrible, 00:02:46.259 --> 00:02:48.659 but no matter what you're always gonna see that 00:02:48.659 --> 00:02:51.639 Look at the difference between you know when 00:02:51.639 --> 00:02:54.039 you and I started even up We've we've grown hundred 00:02:54.039 --> 00:02:56.060 percent which by the way feels good. It's been 00:02:56.060 --> 00:02:57.479 a while since you and I have been on together 00:02:57.479 --> 00:02:59.379 I know it feels good. We've been so busy Mike 00:02:59.379 --> 00:03:02.419 and I've been I watch you guys individually too, 00:03:02.819 --> 00:03:05.020 and you have some incredible guests and have 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:11.020 done some incredible stuff. So has Mike, but 00:03:11.020 --> 00:03:13.479 I also love Mike's take on sports and Mike and 00:03:13.479 --> 00:03:17.159 I are both sports junkies. So every time we're 00:03:17.159 --> 00:03:19.240 connecting, like the initial conversation like 00:03:19.240 --> 00:03:23.500 it was today was about, you know, our NFL teams, 00:03:24.139 --> 00:03:28.099 whatever's going on in the sports. As we move 00:03:28.099 --> 00:03:29.719 into the new place, and we're building our new 00:03:29.719 --> 00:03:32.280 studios in downtown Syracuse, Mike's going to 00:03:32.280 --> 00:03:35.460 have a dedicated GNY sports set. He'll be able 00:03:35.460 --> 00:03:38.020 to do that. I'm so pumped. You got to have me 00:03:38.020 --> 00:03:40.000 on. I want to come talk sports with you. Because 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:42.599 we have a ball. Of course. We can talk about 00:03:42.599 --> 00:03:44.560 everything. Well, we were doing that before Matt 00:03:44.560 --> 00:03:47.340 even decided he wanted to go forward with good 00:03:47.340 --> 00:03:50.819 New York sports. Think about it. You come in 00:03:50.819 --> 00:03:52.620 to record your show, and you and I are just. 00:03:52.810 --> 00:03:54.550 Sitting there, shooting the shit about golf for 00:03:54.550 --> 00:03:55.689 a half hour, and Danny's like, can we start? 00:03:55.689 --> 00:03:57.650 Usually 30 minutes. He's like, yeah, can we get 00:03:57.650 --> 00:04:00.069 going? Danny's like, come on, guys. I got to 00:04:00.069 --> 00:04:03.669 be somewhere. I got stuff to do. But it's been 00:04:03.669 --> 00:04:06.009 great, Mark. And it's been great to have you 00:04:06.009 --> 00:04:07.469 on board from the beginning. I mean, you might 00:04:07.469 --> 00:04:10.110 have been our first sign up, actually, in our 00:04:10.110 --> 00:04:12.689 marketing business, which has been awesome. And 00:04:12.689 --> 00:04:14.930 I love that story, because you didn't have to 00:04:14.930 --> 00:04:17.329 sell me. Yeah. Of course, you and I, I mean, 00:04:17.430 --> 00:04:19.870 God, we've known each other close to four years 00:04:19.870 --> 00:04:21.290 now. Yeah, something like that. Something like 00:04:21.290 --> 00:04:24.709 that. And I feel like, I hope you feel the same 00:04:24.709 --> 00:04:27.870 way, that almost immediately we really had a 00:04:27.870 --> 00:04:30.970 connection. Yeah, absolutely. And a similar way 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:35.670 of approaching a lot of things. Right. But you 00:04:35.670 --> 00:04:39.430 came to me back, what, 15 -ish months ago now, 00:04:40.269 --> 00:04:42.009 and I don't think you finished the whole thought. 00:04:42.189 --> 00:04:43.850 Like, you literally were like, hey, I got this 00:04:43.850 --> 00:04:46.089 idea. And you start talking about, you know, 00:04:46.089 --> 00:04:48.589 I want to do a podcast. I want to set up a professional 00:04:48.589 --> 00:04:51.670 studio. I'm going to hire a professional producer 00:04:51.670 --> 00:04:54.970 and somebody to do the social media side. And 00:04:54.970 --> 00:04:56.470 I'm like, well, how are you going to afford that? 00:04:56.930 --> 00:04:58.610 And you're like, well, I'm going to offer those 00:04:58.610 --> 00:05:01.329 services to my business friends. And before you 00:05:01.329 --> 00:05:03.990 even went further, I'm like, I'm in. I'm in. 00:05:04.149 --> 00:05:06.050 Where do I sign up? That checked out because 00:05:06.050 --> 00:05:08.990 that's exactly how he explained it to me. When 00:05:08.990 --> 00:05:10.769 we had started he goes well we have one client 00:05:10.769 --> 00:05:12.829 that signed on before I even finished the sentence 00:05:12.829 --> 00:05:15.949 I was like well. I love this guy already But 00:05:15.949 --> 00:05:18.730 Matt had been letting me use space at growth 00:05:18.730 --> 00:05:21.889 mode To record some of my own spots, and then 00:05:21.889 --> 00:05:25.529 it transgressed into using some of his equipment 00:05:25.529 --> 00:05:30.350 Yeah, yeah, and they were still You know amateur 00:05:30.350 --> 00:05:32.769 our big time, but you know I was getting some 00:05:32.769 --> 00:05:35.689 stuff out there, and you know then we started 00:05:35.769 --> 00:05:38.430 and he, you know, the more the conversations 00:05:38.430 --> 00:05:40.850 had gone on, he was telling me about, he's like, 00:05:40.870 --> 00:05:43.170 you know, I've done podcasting. And he was doing 00:05:43.170 --> 00:05:45.910 podcasting before it was cool. Yeah. Right? He 00:05:45.910 --> 00:05:50.170 was. So he really was an early adopter. So at 00:05:50.170 --> 00:05:51.790 all, all the pieces just kind of fit together. 00:05:51.790 --> 00:05:54.790 And I'm just, I'm so glad that you thought of 00:05:54.790 --> 00:05:59.350 me and that you approached me. It's been very 00:05:59.350 --> 00:06:03.790 cool. It's been a new experience for me. But, 00:06:03.790 --> 00:06:08.279 but obviously, I love it. And we've had some 00:06:08.279 --> 00:06:11.360 great, I think, some really great guests on. 00:06:11.959 --> 00:06:14.360 A couple months ago we did a panel that you were 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:20.660 part of. I look at just the volume of hits. That 00:06:20.660 --> 00:06:25.160 panel got a tremendous amount of hits. And you 00:06:25.160 --> 00:06:30.519 figure there's five really intelligent individuals 00:06:30.519 --> 00:06:33.310 from different fields. that are bringing their 00:06:33.310 --> 00:06:35.550 own following with them. So there's kind of this 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:39.209 multiplier effect. But you guys touched on something 00:06:39.209 --> 00:06:41.829 else, and the fact that we talked about getting 00:06:41.829 --> 00:06:45.389 better over time. And when you're talking about 00:06:45.389 --> 00:06:47.290 development, which is a large part of what I 00:06:47.290 --> 00:06:49.290 do, whether it's leadership or team building 00:06:49.290 --> 00:06:54.170 or what have you, nobody leaves their house not 00:06:54.170 --> 00:06:56.769 wanting to become the best version of themselves 00:06:56.769 --> 00:06:59.910 that day. Everybody wants to get better. And 00:06:59.910 --> 00:07:02.550 just take leadership, for example. There's no 00:07:02.550 --> 00:07:05.209 arriving. There's no, oh, here's your diploma. 00:07:05.790 --> 00:07:07.350 Now you're the best leader you're ever going 00:07:07.350 --> 00:07:08.889 to be. You're never going to be better than this. 00:07:09.829 --> 00:07:14.730 I wish I knew 20, 30 years ago what I know today. 00:07:14.970 --> 00:07:17.250 But some of that was only going to happen through 00:07:17.250 --> 00:07:23.009 experience. So it's just this natural leadership. 00:07:24.189 --> 00:07:26.879 People, it's a journey. Guess is the message, 00:07:26.879 --> 00:07:29.300 you know, you and I were chatting right about 00:07:29.300 --> 00:07:31.660 your entrepreneurial journey. I mean, you've 00:07:31.660 --> 00:07:35.160 been entrepreneurial, basic an entrepreneur most 00:07:35.160 --> 00:07:38.379 of your adult life. And it's been cool to watch 00:07:38.379 --> 00:07:41.560 your level of success just in the past 12 months. 00:07:41.560 --> 00:07:45.180 But that's not overnight. Like every bit of win 00:07:45.180 --> 00:07:48.079 and loss that you've had over all those years 00:07:48.079 --> 00:07:51.519 has gone into who you are and the opportunities 00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:56.850 that you are experiencing now. True. A lot of 00:07:56.850 --> 00:07:59.069 what we talk about, too, in leadership development 00:07:59.069 --> 00:08:04.209 is, you know, if you're driving continually to 00:08:04.209 --> 00:08:08.910 improve, by definition you will fail. More often 00:08:08.910 --> 00:08:11.610 than you succeed, by the way. Right? Because 00:08:11.610 --> 00:08:14.269 you're going to be trying new things. You're 00:08:14.269 --> 00:08:17.810 in uncharted territory. And so when you try new 00:08:17.810 --> 00:08:20.310 things, if you really are pushing yourself, you're 00:08:20.310 --> 00:08:22.850 going to fail. That's okay. That is literally 00:08:22.850 --> 00:08:25.730 part of the process. And if you can't accept 00:08:25.730 --> 00:08:29.910 that, you won't succeed. Yeah, I learned that. 00:08:30.930 --> 00:08:33.730 I learned that a while ago that, you know, you 00:08:33.730 --> 00:08:36.029 hear that all the time, man. You're going to 00:08:36.029 --> 00:08:39.009 fail. You got to get back up. But it is so true. 00:08:39.370 --> 00:08:41.690 And Matt, I'm sure you can attest. And Mark, 00:08:42.710 --> 00:08:46.629 the things I've learned the most in life came 00:08:46.629 --> 00:08:49.850 from when I failed. You still learn when you 00:08:49.850 --> 00:08:52.370 succeed and when you win. Yep. But you really, 00:08:52.370 --> 00:08:54.870 really learn. when you fail. There's a great 00:08:54.870 --> 00:08:57.970 line I learned a few years back now that goes 00:08:57.970 --> 00:09:00.830 like this, that we literally move at the speed 00:09:00.830 --> 00:09:05.409 of pain. That pain is truly the best motivator 00:09:05.409 --> 00:09:08.629 sometimes, and we learn at the speed of pain. 00:09:09.850 --> 00:09:11.269 And I think there's a lot of truth, and that's 00:09:11.269 --> 00:09:13.470 kind of what you're saying. The greatest lessons 00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:15.809 in my life were the ones where I got smacked 00:09:15.809 --> 00:09:18.730 upside the head. Mark, we should talk about, 00:09:18.730 --> 00:09:20.129 you know, we've been talking about your podcast, 00:09:20.230 --> 00:09:22.230 we've been talking a little bit about what you 00:09:22.230 --> 00:09:24.990 do to some degree. But let's talk about this 00:09:24.990 --> 00:09:26.690 event you've got coming up. This is something 00:09:26.690 --> 00:09:28.830 that's kind of exciting that's happening in a 00:09:28.830 --> 00:09:30.769 couple of weeks. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So we 00:09:30.769 --> 00:09:33.809 had Joanne Yarrow on a few times. She and her 00:09:33.809 --> 00:09:38.450 husband Brad, Brad Beckman, were guests of mine 00:09:38.450 --> 00:09:41.509 back episode two or something. And then Joanne 00:09:41.509 --> 00:09:43.789 was this past plum flitch that will be coming 00:09:43.789 --> 00:09:47.710 out soon. So Joanne and Brad own distinctive 00:09:47.710 --> 00:09:51.279 voices, right? Joanne is also an executive at 00:09:51.279 --> 00:09:53.200 Syracuse stage. She's been in the performing 00:09:53.200 --> 00:09:56.299 arts world for many years her husband Brad Beck 00:09:56.299 --> 00:09:59.779 teaches at Syracuse University and the I believe 00:09:59.779 --> 00:10:02.860 in the drama the department and he's a writer 00:10:02.860 --> 00:10:07.220 and he's a very talented man. So Joanne approached 00:10:07.220 --> 00:10:11.240 me two three months ago and I've worked with 00:10:11.240 --> 00:10:13.240 the two of them helped them build a strategic 00:10:13.240 --> 00:10:15.360 plan and I've done some other work with them 00:10:15.360 --> 00:10:20.379 helping them learn how to monetize their abilities 00:10:20.379 --> 00:10:23.000 better, right, and really build a business around 00:10:23.000 --> 00:10:26.100 it. So she came to me and said, hey, you know, 00:10:26.340 --> 00:10:28.179 this is her talking, she goes, you know, I do 00:10:28.179 --> 00:10:31.559 work with executives, helping them learn how 00:10:31.559 --> 00:10:34.639 to project and better utilize their voice, how 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:37.840 to practice presence in a room, right, and kind 00:10:37.840 --> 00:10:40.720 of own the room, right, because these are all 00:10:40.720 --> 00:10:43.980 concepts from the performing arts world. You 00:10:43.980 --> 00:10:47.769 do, you do. performing arts. So you understand 00:10:47.769 --> 00:10:49.990 these concepts, right? And then the other big 00:10:49.990 --> 00:10:54.929 one that they touched on was storytelling. Well, 00:10:54.970 --> 00:10:57.230 you think of those three things, as a leader 00:10:57.230 --> 00:11:00.149 in any organization, you probably need to be 00:11:00.149 --> 00:11:02.149 pretty good at those. And if you are good at 00:11:02.149 --> 00:11:05.210 those, it's going to help you better lead. So 00:11:05.210 --> 00:11:07.850 she said, what if we did a workshop where we 00:11:07.850 --> 00:11:10.779 combine some of this stuff that they do? in the 00:11:10.779 --> 00:11:13.740 performing arts world with what I do in the more 00:11:13.740 --> 00:11:17.559 classical leadership development, right? So things 00:11:17.559 --> 00:11:21.899 like goal setting, goal alignment, how to build 00:11:21.899 --> 00:11:24.559 a really highly successful culture that values 00:11:24.559 --> 00:11:26.259 people. That's something that you and I have 00:11:26.259 --> 00:11:30.139 workshops on. And also the power of emotional 00:11:30.139 --> 00:11:32.440 intelligence and how that brings all of that 00:11:32.440 --> 00:11:34.620 together. And tied with that, we're going to 00:11:34.620 --> 00:11:37.990 do a piece on communications. I love the adage 00:11:37.990 --> 00:11:40.049 in communications that you've got two ears and 00:11:40.049 --> 00:11:41.809 one mouth. Do you think maybe you better learn 00:11:41.809 --> 00:11:44.470 how to listen a little better? Because people 00:11:44.470 --> 00:11:47.230 hear communications and what do they think? They 00:11:47.230 --> 00:11:50.470 think, oh, that person's a great speaker. Those 00:11:50.470 --> 00:11:54.129 are important. But if you can't listen well and 00:11:54.129 --> 00:11:57.049 really listen, you're not going to connect with 00:11:57.049 --> 00:11:59.129 people. So we're going to combine all that. The 00:11:59.129 --> 00:12:02.990 workshop is going to be held on Tuesday, February 00:12:02.990 --> 00:12:07.539 10th. from 9 a .m. to 1 p .m. at PDO's offices 00:12:07.539 --> 00:12:10.779 on Electronics Parkway right here in Syracuse. 00:12:11.139 --> 00:12:13.740 And the name of the workshop is Executive Presence 00:12:13.740 --> 00:12:16.740 in Creating an Impactful Culture. It's going 00:12:16.740 --> 00:12:19.919 to be co -put on, co -produced by Joanne Yarrow 00:12:19.919 --> 00:12:24.820 and myself. The cost is $535 per person. There's 00:12:24.820 --> 00:12:27.539 some great takeaways. You literally are going 00:12:27.539 --> 00:12:29.500 to walk away with some materials that you'll 00:12:29.500 --> 00:12:32.419 be able to begin implementing what you learn 00:12:32.419 --> 00:12:35.480 in that workshop as soon as you walk away. And 00:12:35.480 --> 00:12:38.500 it's very interactive. We want people to get 00:12:38.500 --> 00:12:40.980 up and move, get the blood flowing, getting people 00:12:40.980 --> 00:12:44.279 engaged. Very hands -on. So it's not going to 00:12:44.279 --> 00:12:47.039 be people sitting in a room being lectured. You 00:12:47.039 --> 00:12:51.000 know what, Mark? There's different things that 00:12:51.000 --> 00:12:52.820 you can do, different programs. They give you 00:12:52.820 --> 00:12:55.179 a lot of aspects of it. Some of that reminds 00:12:55.179 --> 00:12:56.860 me a lot of what you get from, like, the Dale 00:12:56.860 --> 00:13:00.799 Carnegie trainings. Sure. Sure. Those are thousands 00:13:00.799 --> 00:13:04.779 of dollars. And you are providing some of those 00:13:04.779 --> 00:13:08.120 skills in addition to all those other pieces 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:09.980 that put it together to make this full workshop. 00:13:10.259 --> 00:13:12.700 It's an incredible value. This one workshop is 00:13:12.700 --> 00:13:15.299 the point I'm trying to get to here. Really well 00:13:15.299 --> 00:13:19.059 thought out. We think so. You and Joanne's skills 00:13:19.059 --> 00:13:22.059 and presentations are pretty awesome. We think 00:13:22.059 --> 00:13:25.200 so because you know it's also a way to hopefully 00:13:26.379 --> 00:13:30.559 Better introduce Joanne and myself to another 00:13:30.559 --> 00:13:33.139 broader piece of the audience out there in central 00:13:33.139 --> 00:13:36.519 New York Because we both feel like we have this 00:13:36.519 --> 00:13:39.620 mission and the mission is to help people become 00:13:39.620 --> 00:13:42.379 the best version of themselves Right now. Yeah, 00:13:42.440 --> 00:13:45.879 do I make a living doing that? Yeah, but literally 00:13:45.879 --> 00:13:50.399 It's it's a part of my life's purpose to help 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.809 other people become that best version That's 00:13:53.809 --> 00:13:55.769 one thing I noticed about you as soon as I met 00:13:55.769 --> 00:13:58.269 you as you you go on LinkedIn and all you'll 00:13:58.269 --> 00:14:00.169 hear is leadership conference that leadership 00:14:00.169 --> 00:14:03.230 conference this and you know people do that as 00:14:03.230 --> 00:14:06.509 you said as a career But you really embody that 00:14:06.509 --> 00:14:08.389 even when you're not doing that even when I'm 00:14:08.389 --> 00:14:10.649 speaking to you in a normal conversation Yeah, 00:14:10.690 --> 00:14:13.250 you always have words of wisdom and and it's 00:14:13.250 --> 00:14:15.389 it's a it's passion for you It's not something 00:14:15.389 --> 00:14:17.470 you do to collect the paycheck you believe in 00:14:17.470 --> 00:14:20.789 it and you live it, you know 100 % You know, 00:14:20.789 --> 00:14:23.090 it goes back to when I was starting the business, 00:14:23.129 --> 00:14:25.350 and I've shared this story with you, I think. 00:14:26.389 --> 00:14:28.429 Being a good engineer at heart, right, I did 00:14:28.429 --> 00:14:30.909 my homework, right, so I started calling people 00:14:30.909 --> 00:14:33.909 I knew personally who had made the transition 00:14:33.909 --> 00:14:37.570 from corporate world to consulting. And the question 00:14:37.570 --> 00:14:40.070 was, how did you do that? What worked? What should 00:14:40.070 --> 00:14:42.230 I do? Do you have any tips? And I, you know, 00:14:42.230 --> 00:14:43.950 when you ask people those kind of questions, 00:14:44.350 --> 00:14:47.769 they love, most people love help, right? And 00:14:47.769 --> 00:14:50.580 so I got some great input. Some of the best things 00:14:50.580 --> 00:14:55.039 I heard, one of them was this. Figure out what 00:14:55.039 --> 00:14:59.039 you love to do, your passion. Focus on that, 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:01.759 and you'll not only be successful, but you'll 00:15:01.759 --> 00:15:05.240 be really happy doing it. And so I did that. 00:15:05.399 --> 00:15:08.700 I did some real deep dive introspection, and 00:15:08.700 --> 00:15:12.440 I figured out two primary things. The engineer 00:15:12.440 --> 00:15:15.240 in me is always gonna love solving problems. 00:15:16.120 --> 00:15:21.740 I love a challenge. to a fault. Check that box. 00:15:22.960 --> 00:15:24.820 And the more I thought about it, when I've really 00:15:24.820 --> 00:15:28.379 been happiest working in corporate life, is when 00:15:28.379 --> 00:15:30.980 I had the opportunity to mentor and coach other 00:15:30.980 --> 00:15:34.399 people. Well, you put those two things together 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:36.220 and that's what I do. And literally, one of the 00:15:36.220 --> 00:15:38.960 things we do in pretty much every development 00:15:38.960 --> 00:15:43.899 program is coach each individual to draft a life 00:15:43.899 --> 00:15:48.269 purpose statement. And it really is, okay, Picture 00:15:48.269 --> 00:15:50.570 yourself at 80, 85 years old. You're sitting 00:15:50.570 --> 00:15:52.570 on your porch and you're looking back at your 00:15:52.570 --> 00:15:55.409 life. What do you want it to have been all about? 00:15:55.789 --> 00:15:58.990 There's Steve Becker. Man, myth, and legend. 00:16:00.029 --> 00:16:03.850 Right? So, and I did that and coming to find 00:16:03.850 --> 00:16:07.269 out what I want my life purpose to be is really 00:16:07.269 --> 00:16:10.070 about helping other people become the best version 00:16:10.070 --> 00:16:13.309 of themselves. Hello, Mr. Becker. Also known 00:16:13.309 --> 00:16:18.789 as Stereo Steve. So yeah, you're right. It is 00:16:18.789 --> 00:16:24.929 a passion. It's interesting because one of my 00:16:24.929 --> 00:16:28.210 guests, Adam Fack, who you've met, great guy, 00:16:28.490 --> 00:16:31.950 Adam's just a wonderful, wonderful man. But we 00:16:31.950 --> 00:16:34.710 both have the same concept where talking with 00:16:34.710 --> 00:16:37.889 prospective clients and just people, business 00:16:37.889 --> 00:16:41.070 people, even friends, like I don't have any problem 00:16:41.070 --> 00:16:44.980 with prospective clients. giving ideas away like 00:16:44.980 --> 00:16:47.039 literally this is a secret sauce here's how you 00:16:47.039 --> 00:16:50.299 do it because the truth is most people probably 00:16:50.299 --> 00:16:52.000 aren't going to be able to make it operational 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.919 without some real deep dive help but oh by the 00:16:54.919 --> 00:16:58.419 way if they do that's still a win for me yeah 00:16:58.419 --> 00:17:00.700 because guess what they're gonna they're gonna 00:17:00.700 --> 00:17:04.579 get better at X whatever X is and then somebody 00:17:04.579 --> 00:17:07.240 they know is gonna ask them hey you're really 00:17:07.240 --> 00:17:09.900 better at that how'd that happen Hey, you know 00:17:09.900 --> 00:17:12.240 what? This dude told me about this, and let me 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:16.880 tell you about him. That's a strategy that we 00:17:16.880 --> 00:17:19.259 try to employ a lot in the content world, and 00:17:19.259 --> 00:17:21.380 a lot of people, it's counter to what people 00:17:21.380 --> 00:17:23.480 may have been told for all these years. You gotta 00:17:23.480 --> 00:17:25.740 get paid, you gotta get paid. Yeah, like, you 00:17:25.740 --> 00:17:28.519 know, you take a mechanic, for instance, and 00:17:28.519 --> 00:17:32.940 a real high -performing type of video is, here's 00:17:32.940 --> 00:17:34.900 how to do your break so you don't have to hire 00:17:34.900 --> 00:17:43.910 a video. Great! The other side of that is you 00:17:43.910 --> 00:17:46.569 get a considerable number of people going, oh, 00:17:46.569 --> 00:17:48.069 wow, that's a hell of a project. I don't want 00:17:48.069 --> 00:17:49.710 to get into that. I'm bringing it to the professional. 00:17:50.589 --> 00:17:53.210 And by demonstrating that you are the professional 00:17:53.210 --> 00:17:55.349 and you know how to do it, it's one of the best 00:17:55.349 --> 00:17:59.150 advertisements ever. Listen, I'll tell you the 00:17:59.150 --> 00:18:03.430 answer. Give me the $5 first. That's not the 00:18:03.430 --> 00:18:06.230 approach these days. Well, I 100 % agree with 00:18:06.230 --> 00:18:08.009 you. And this is interesting because I was talking 00:18:08.009 --> 00:18:12.710 with, in the past couple weeks, a client in a 00:18:12.710 --> 00:18:15.029 similar conversation with a prospective client 00:18:15.029 --> 00:18:19.390 about this very topic. And the conversations, 00:18:19.569 --> 00:18:21.450 I'm going to totally paraphrase, was kind of 00:18:21.450 --> 00:18:24.970 like this. Like, let's talk about sales, and 00:18:24.970 --> 00:18:29.059 I'm going to tell you. What I believe is the 00:18:29.059 --> 00:18:30.880 sales process and it's not going to sound anything 00:18:30.880 --> 00:18:34.640 like what you probably learned In the sales process 00:18:34.640 --> 00:18:37.440 I use really is about exactly what you're talking 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:41.299 about. It's like Let's talk about you like my 00:18:41.299 --> 00:18:44.960 first intro is hey, how's business? How else 00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:47.539 things going what's working? What's not you know 00:18:47.539 --> 00:18:50.279 and just start? Because guess what people love 00:18:50.279 --> 00:18:52.240 to talk about themselves, and if you're really 00:18:52.240 --> 00:18:54.119 good at listening, and they know you're listening 00:18:54.119 --> 00:18:58.130 They love telling right So I really want to find 00:18:58.130 --> 00:19:01.069 out, hey, is everything great? Super. Or are 00:19:01.069 --> 00:19:04.029 there things that aren't going well? What keeps 00:19:04.029 --> 00:19:06.009 you awake at night? What are your struggles? 00:19:07.210 --> 00:19:10.529 At the end of the conversation, if I can have 00:19:10.529 --> 00:19:14.150 them walk away with some tidbits that may help 00:19:14.150 --> 00:19:19.329 them, I'm happy. Because very likely, they're 00:19:19.329 --> 00:19:22.650 going to realize, hey, this guy knows what he's 00:19:22.650 --> 00:19:25.599 talking about. This guy has value. You know, 00:19:25.599 --> 00:19:28.859 by the way, he's a problem solver. Right? I want 00:19:28.859 --> 00:19:31.619 to be seen as somebody that can help them solve 00:19:31.619 --> 00:19:34.579 their problems. Right? Whether it's getting paid 00:19:34.579 --> 00:19:38.039 for it or not. Because ultimately, they're very 00:19:38.039 --> 00:19:40.500 likely going to engage me if they see me as somebody 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:43.480 that's a problem solver. In one way or another. 00:19:43.839 --> 00:19:46.720 Right? Which is really not... I mean, it kind 00:19:46.720 --> 00:19:49.079 of is. If, you know, we could talk a lot about 00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:54.279 the sales process. But the truth is... I did 00:19:54.279 --> 00:19:56.500 everything except direct selling and marketing 00:19:56.500 --> 00:19:59.720 in the business world, pretty much, before I 00:19:59.720 --> 00:20:01.720 started my own business. So of course, now how 00:20:01.720 --> 00:20:05.279 do I spend a chunk of money? And at the beginning, 00:20:05.559 --> 00:20:07.900 when I got turned down, it was like crushing. 00:20:08.900 --> 00:20:11.240 And you probably remember this, right? It was 00:20:11.240 --> 00:20:17.779 like personal. Why? What did I do wrong? The 00:20:17.779 --> 00:20:20.500 truth is, it's none of those things. It's not 00:20:20.500 --> 00:20:23.940 about me. What I had to come to is, you know 00:20:23.940 --> 00:20:26.759 what, I won't say I don't care. Of course, I 00:20:26.759 --> 00:20:29.059 want to get a sale. But what I'm really after 00:20:29.059 --> 00:20:31.519 is I want to build a relationship. If I make 00:20:31.519 --> 00:20:35.619 a new friend, that's a win. And maybe I never, 00:20:35.619 --> 00:20:40.180 ever make a buck off of that relationship directly. 00:20:40.960 --> 00:20:43.059 But you know what, maybe we can help each other. 00:20:43.380 --> 00:20:46.180 And I've begun to experience this now, starting 00:20:46.180 --> 00:20:50.579 my fourth year, where I help. other associates 00:20:50.579 --> 00:20:52.640 that I've never directly done business with, 00:20:52.819 --> 00:20:55.240 but I have helped their companies find business. 00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:59.160 They've in turn connected me with people who 00:20:59.160 --> 00:21:04.099 may turn into business people, clients. So yeah. 00:21:04.660 --> 00:21:07.460 Your network is the most important thing. 100%. 00:21:07.460 --> 00:21:09.900 I would not agree more. I wouldn't be anywhere 00:21:09.900 --> 00:21:12.759 without the relationships I've built. And it 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:15.319 wasn't like forced building. It wasn't like, 00:21:15.420 --> 00:21:17.240 well, I better befriend this person so I can 00:21:17.240 --> 00:21:20.000 use them later in life. It's just it turns out 00:21:20.000 --> 00:21:23.220 all through life, I need something. I need to 00:21:23.220 --> 00:21:24.779 connect somebody who needs help with this. And 00:21:24.779 --> 00:21:26.839 it's like, oh, wait a minute. These people come 00:21:26.839 --> 00:21:29.059 in and out of your life, back into your life. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:33.200 And it's just so important. And the other thing 00:21:33.200 --> 00:21:34.940 is now I remember what I was going to say earlier, 00:21:34.940 --> 00:21:39.220 which applies, is I always tell people not only 00:21:39.220 --> 00:21:40.900 build relationships, that's important. Build 00:21:40.900 --> 00:21:44.549 your network. But get rid of preconceived notions. 00:21:44.670 --> 00:21:47.410 That was the biggest realization I had over the 00:21:47.410 --> 00:21:50.089 last few years. I used to have this whole plan 00:21:50.089 --> 00:21:52.789 in my head of how things were going to work out 00:21:52.789 --> 00:21:55.309 or what I was going to do. And even if those 00:21:55.309 --> 00:21:58.609 things end up happening, I guarantee you it's 00:21:58.609 --> 00:22:01.170 not going to happen in the exact way you thought 00:22:01.170 --> 00:22:04.369 it was. You've got to get rid of preconceived 00:22:04.369 --> 00:22:07.569 notions because you'd set yourself up for disappointment. 00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:10.940 If I lined up five celebrities or anybody that 00:22:10.940 --> 00:22:14.420 I looked up to in the same industry, all five 00:22:14.420 --> 00:22:17.039 people got there a different way. Great point, 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:19.400 right? And a lot of what I do in development 00:22:19.400 --> 00:22:23.180 work with people is typically a goal achievement 00:22:23.180 --> 00:22:26.299 and goal planning process. And we talk about, 00:22:26.440 --> 00:22:28.960 yeah, make plans, but you can't plan the outcome. 00:22:29.059 --> 00:22:33.339 Right. Right? It's very specific and a very useful 00:22:33.339 --> 00:22:38.709 way to set goals. Right? But you can't. Don't 00:22:38.709 --> 00:22:40.990 predict the outcome right right because you get 00:22:40.990 --> 00:22:43.670 up you're talking about expectations. I want 00:22:43.670 --> 00:22:47.109 to circle back to relationships and At the end 00:22:47.109 --> 00:22:49.410 of the day. I actually had a potential client 00:22:49.410 --> 00:22:52.869 Say to me well. You know you've worked with this 00:22:52.869 --> 00:22:54.789 this and this kind of company How's that relate 00:22:54.789 --> 00:22:57.710 to ours and what we do and I looked them in the 00:22:57.710 --> 00:22:59.849 eye? And I was like doesn't matter what you do 00:22:59.849 --> 00:23:02.250 and frankly I don't want to be rude, but I really 00:23:02.250 --> 00:23:05.049 don't care what you do Because business is about 00:23:05.049 --> 00:23:07.009 one thing and they're kind of looking at me like 00:23:07.009 --> 00:23:10.859 what's that? It's about relationships. I don't 00:23:10.859 --> 00:23:13.839 care if you're an ambulance company, or you're 00:23:13.839 --> 00:23:17.180 a metal heat treating company, or you're a mill 00:23:17.180 --> 00:23:19.920 work company, or you're air conditioning. None 00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:22.200 of that matters. Right? Because at the end of 00:23:22.200 --> 00:23:24.200 the day, to be successful, it is about building 00:23:24.200 --> 00:23:27.400 relationships. 100%. Right? Whether on an individual, 00:23:27.660 --> 00:23:30.339 personal basis. Or business. Or business. You 00:23:30.339 --> 00:23:33.319 know, it's funny, because I'm going to tell you, 00:23:33.319 --> 00:23:38.069 the last three jobs I had, I never technically 00:23:38.069 --> 00:23:41.829 applied for, working for somebody else. Like 00:23:41.829 --> 00:23:45.589 literally, somebody called me and said, hey, 00:23:45.990 --> 00:23:48.049 such and such a company is looking for this role, 00:23:48.089 --> 00:23:52.569 are you interested? Okay, I'll talk, and you 00:23:52.569 --> 00:23:55.630 know, one conversation led to another, and it 00:23:55.630 --> 00:23:57.930 led to an in -person interview or two or three, 00:23:57.990 --> 00:24:00.109 and the next thing I know, they offer me a job. 00:24:01.029 --> 00:24:04.609 So technically, I never applied, you know. That's 00:24:04.609 --> 00:24:06.880 exactly... That's how you... The relationship. 00:24:06.880 --> 00:24:08.420 Matt and I are living proof of that. Right. Matt 00:24:08.420 --> 00:24:10.759 and I met when we grew up in basically the same 00:24:10.759 --> 00:24:13.279 area. Right. We had mutual friends. Right. So 00:24:13.279 --> 00:24:14.779 we would hang out in other social gatherings, 00:24:14.900 --> 00:24:16.400 and we stayed connected over the years. They 00:24:16.400 --> 00:24:18.400 followed him, supported him. Always believed 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.160 in what he was doing. Right. And when he had 00:24:20.160 --> 00:24:23.220 posted about this new gig, I wrote him and said, 00:24:23.279 --> 00:24:25.700 I'm so interested. And he said, buddy, I was 00:24:25.700 --> 00:24:27.559 literally picturing you, but I didn't think you 00:24:27.559 --> 00:24:29.160 were available, which meant the world to me. 00:24:29.160 --> 00:24:31.619 It still does. Yeah. But that would have never 00:24:31.619 --> 00:24:34.980 happened. if you didn't have the relationship. 00:24:35.539 --> 00:24:37.940 You just don't know. And it's not about, you 00:24:37.940 --> 00:24:40.039 don't build these, I want to reiterate, you don't 00:24:40.039 --> 00:24:41.740 build these relationships so that you get a break 00:24:41.740 --> 00:24:43.259 later in life. No. That's not what it's about. 00:24:43.640 --> 00:24:46.460 It's not about what's in it for me. No. No, because 00:24:46.460 --> 00:24:49.099 the other thing that we talk a lot about is true 00:24:49.099 --> 00:24:53.019 relationships, right, are based on a level of 00:24:53.019 --> 00:24:57.220 understanding that requires empathy. Yeah. Right? 00:24:57.339 --> 00:24:59.480 And empathy is totally different than sympathy. 00:24:59.700 --> 00:25:02.750 Empathy is... Empathy is making the effort to 00:25:02.750 --> 00:25:05.849 not only understand how somebody else feels, 00:25:06.589 --> 00:25:09.029 but why they feel that way, without judgment, 00:25:09.890 --> 00:25:12.390 pro or con. Like I may totally disagree with 00:25:12.390 --> 00:25:15.230 how you feel and why you feel that way, but I 00:25:15.230 --> 00:25:18.890 am willing and able to make the effort to understand 00:25:18.890 --> 00:25:22.789 that. That's a level of, because guess what? 00:25:22.890 --> 00:25:25.690 Isn't that at the core of what every human being 00:25:25.690 --> 00:25:28.369 wants from their relationships? We all want to 00:25:28.369 --> 00:25:32.369 be understood. Where we are not where you expect 00:25:32.369 --> 00:25:35.589 me to be that's right, right? And so empathy 00:25:35.589 --> 00:25:38.890 and that goes to EQ emotional intelligence and 00:25:38.890 --> 00:25:42.609 guess what some people develop that naturally 00:25:42.609 --> 00:25:45.650 through life experiences some at relatively early 00:25:45.650 --> 00:25:49.289 ages which is Kind of unique, but those people 00:25:49.289 --> 00:25:52.809 and I've come across a lot of them But you can 00:25:52.809 --> 00:25:55.869 also learn that and develop those things right 00:25:55.869 --> 00:25:58.089 and most people when they hear that go really 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:01.339 You can develop all the aspects of emotional 00:26:01.339 --> 00:26:04.160 intelligence if you are willing to, you have 00:26:04.160 --> 00:26:08.000 a desire to, and you're able and willing to practice 00:26:08.000 --> 00:26:11.299 the discipline to do that. Absolutely. Mark, 00:26:11.539 --> 00:26:14.299 we could go on about this forever. We've got 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.259 to let you enjoy this fair. For sure. I've got 00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:18.519 to get me some food, man. It's smelling good. 00:26:18.700 --> 00:26:20.839 Before we go, let's one more time, let's just 00:26:20.839 --> 00:26:25.319 talk about this, your event, February 10th, 9 00:26:25.319 --> 00:26:27.799 a .m. at TDO, right in Liverpool, right clearly. 00:26:28.160 --> 00:26:30.400 Great off the Thruway exit. Do I bring it to 00:26:30.400 --> 00:26:32.539 the parking lot? Correct. If you take that one 00:26:32.539 --> 00:26:37.079 there for electronics parkway. Great event. It's 00:26:37.079 --> 00:26:40.099 going to be hosted by yourself and Joanne Yarrow. 00:26:40.819 --> 00:26:44.039 Incredible, incredible value, I feel like, once 00:26:44.039 --> 00:26:46.960 you're off in a workshop. Typically these things 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:50.099 are three times what you folks are charged for 00:26:50.099 --> 00:26:54.579 this. I'm excited. Yeah, so are we. We're really 00:26:54.579 --> 00:26:59.710 excited. and Joanne like you is somebody that 00:26:59.710 --> 00:27:02.289 she and I just have a great connection which 00:27:02.289 --> 00:27:04.970 is interesting because it's left brain right 00:27:04.970 --> 00:27:06.910 brain and you know we think very differently 00:27:06.910 --> 00:27:09.950 but she is she is passionate about this like 00:27:09.950 --> 00:27:12.170 I am and very passionate about helping other 00:27:12.170 --> 00:27:16.109 people so yeah come one come all it is a very 00:27:16.109 --> 00:27:19.950 affordable call me reach out to me through the 00:27:19.950 --> 00:27:25.750 website or you can contact Joanne website is 00:27:25.750 --> 00:27:30.069 www .operationsexcellence .com and that is Operations 00:27:30.069 --> 00:27:34.470 Excellence. The E is dropped in excellence only 00:27:34.470 --> 00:27:37.750 because that domain name was already taken. There 00:27:37.750 --> 00:27:42.950 you go. Mark, it's been great, buddy. Thank you, 00:27:42.990 --> 00:27:45.430 partner. Always a pleasure. My friend? You know 00:27:45.430 --> 00:27:46.809 I love you, man. I love you too. Thank you for 00:27:46.809 --> 00:27:49.549 having me back many other times again. Guys, 00:27:49.569 --> 00:27:52.490 we will have more from the Syracuse Winter Fair 00:27:52.490 --> 00:27:53.470 coming up next.