Hey guys, welcome back to Good News York live
at the Great Syracuse Winter Fair here in the
Expo Center at the State Fairgrounds. This is,
I love that, I love a fair. in the winter. Nice.
It really is a brilliant idea. We're all just
sitting here complaining about how cold it is
and why are we stuck in New York. But you forget
about all that. Inside this massive 100 ,000
square foot shed. We got our buddy Mark O'Donnell
back. Which you guys might remember if you follow
along this show. We launched this show the first
time ever at Winter Fair last year. Exactly one
year ago. And Mark? was one of our very first
guests. Absolutely. On top of, of course, being
the host of the Operations Excellence podcast
that many of you over the past year, I'm sure,
have followed or checked out or seen the clips
from. Mark's talking to all kinds of incredible
business leaders. He's talking about leadership.
He's talking about entrepreneurial ideas, all
kinds of crazy stuff. But welcome back to the
show. Welcome back for the anniversary show.
Thank you, Matthew. Thank you Michael, I really
appreciate it and yeah, I was walking in this
morning and. It kind of hits you in the face
and all your senses. It's like wow, this is like
an indoor state fair. Yeah, the smell, the sounds
that I'm remembering and we were reminiscing
a little bit earlier this morning when I got
here about last year. One year ago today. Pretty
much at this time around this time. Here we were
and we're back and yeah, thank you for the invite.
It's been a cool year. It really has, you know,
we recorded this month's session just earlier
this week, and you're in the process of a big
move, which I'm so happy for you, right? You
guys doing great things. But one of the greatest
compliments I think I've had, we had Joanne Yarrow
back on, and she was one of my first guests,
I think in month two. And she said during the
conversation, she goes, you know, I've been watching
your podcast. And not that you weren't good at
the beginning, but like, wow, you're so much
better now. And I was like, cool. Like that tells
me I'm learning something and something is going
right. You were one of our only, not only, but
you were one of the first clients where we, I
mean, we didn't have to. Help you along train
you you you are you have a very natural ability
on camera and on mic so That's you know that
that progression is very normal and a lot of
people right out and tell you your first ones
are gonna be horrible right I don't know that
I don't know that anybody's really horrible,
but no matter what you're always gonna see that
Look at the difference between you know when
you and I started even up We've we've grown hundred
percent which by the way feels good. It's been
a while since you and I have been on together
I know it feels good. We've been so busy Mike
and I've been I watch you guys individually too,
and you have some incredible guests and have
done some incredible stuff. So has Mike, but
I also love Mike's take on sports and Mike and
I are both sports junkies. So every time we're
connecting, like the initial conversation like
it was today was about, you know, our NFL teams,
whatever's going on in the sports. As we move
into the new place, and we're building our new
studios in downtown Syracuse, Mike's going to
have a dedicated GNY sports set. He'll be able
to do that. I'm so pumped. You got to have me
on. I want to come talk sports with you. Because
we have a ball. Of course. We can talk about
everything. Well, we were doing that before Matt
even decided he wanted to go forward with good
New York sports. Think about it. You come in
to record your show, and you and I are just.
Sitting there, shooting the shit about golf for
a half hour, and Danny's like, can we start?
Usually 30 minutes. He's like, yeah, can we get
going? Danny's like, come on, guys. I got to
be somewhere. I got stuff to do. But it's been
great, Mark. And it's been great to have you
on board from the beginning. I mean, you might
have been our first sign up, actually, in our
marketing business, which has been awesome. And
I love that story, because you didn't have to
sell me. Yeah. Of course, you and I, I mean,
God, we've known each other close to four years
now. Yeah, something like that. Something like
that. And I feel like, I hope you feel the same
way, that almost immediately we really had a
connection. Yeah, absolutely. And a similar way
of approaching a lot of things. Right. But you
came to me back, what, 15 -ish months ago now,
and I don't think you finished the whole thought.
Like, you literally were like, hey, I got this
idea. And you start talking about, you know,
I want to do a podcast. I want to set up a professional
studio. I'm going to hire a professional producer
and somebody to do the social media side. And
I'm like, well, how are you going to afford that?
And you're like, well, I'm going to offer those
services to my business friends. And before you
even went further, I'm like, I'm in. I'm in.
Where do I sign up? That checked out because
that's exactly how he explained it to me. When
we had started he goes well we have one client
that signed on before I even finished the sentence
I was like well. I love this guy already But
Matt had been letting me use space at growth
mode To record some of my own spots, and then
it transgressed into using some of his equipment
Yeah, yeah, and they were still You know amateur
our big time, but you know I was getting some
stuff out there, and you know then we started
and he, you know, the more the conversations
had gone on, he was telling me about, he's like,
you know, I've done podcasting. And he was doing
podcasting before it was cool. Yeah. Right? He
was. So he really was an early adopter. So at
all, all the pieces just kind of fit together.
And I'm just, I'm so glad that you thought of
me and that you approached me. It's been very
cool. It's been a new experience for me. But,
but obviously, I love it. And we've had some
great, I think, some really great guests on.
A couple months ago we did a panel that you were
part of. I look at just the volume of hits. That
panel got a tremendous amount of hits. And you
figure there's five really intelligent individuals
from different fields. that are bringing their
own following with them. So there's kind of this
multiplier effect. But you guys touched on something
else, and the fact that we talked about getting
better over time. And when you're talking about
development, which is a large part of what I
do, whether it's leadership or team building
or what have you, nobody leaves their house not
wanting to become the best version of themselves
that day. Everybody wants to get better. And
just take leadership, for example. There's no
arriving. There's no, oh, here's your diploma.
Now you're the best leader you're ever going
to be. You're never going to be better than this.
I wish I knew 20, 30 years ago what I know today.
But some of that was only going to happen through
experience. So it's just this natural leadership.
People, it's a journey. Guess is the message,
you know, you and I were chatting right about
your entrepreneurial journey. I mean, you've
been entrepreneurial, basic an entrepreneur most
of your adult life. And it's been cool to watch
your level of success just in the past 12 months.
But that's not overnight. Like every bit of win
and loss that you've had over all those years
has gone into who you are and the opportunities
that you are experiencing now. True. A lot of
what we talk about, too, in leadership development
is, you know, if you're driving continually to
improve, by definition you will fail. More often
than you succeed, by the way. Right? Because
you're going to be trying new things. You're
in uncharted territory. And so when you try new
things, if you really are pushing yourself, you're
going to fail. That's okay. That is literally
part of the process. And if you can't accept
that, you won't succeed. Yeah, I learned that.
I learned that a while ago that, you know, you
hear that all the time, man. You're going to
fail. You got to get back up. But it is so true.
And Matt, I'm sure you can attest. And Mark,
the things I've learned the most in life came
from when I failed. You still learn when you
succeed and when you win. Yep. But you really,
really learn. when you fail. There's a great
line I learned a few years back now that goes
like this, that we literally move at the speed
of pain. That pain is truly the best motivator
sometimes, and we learn at the speed of pain.
And I think there's a lot of truth, and that's
kind of what you're saying. The greatest lessons
in my life were the ones where I got smacked
upside the head. Mark, we should talk about,
you know, we've been talking about your podcast,
we've been talking a little bit about what you
do to some degree. But let's talk about this
event you've got coming up. This is something
that's kind of exciting that's happening in a
couple of weeks. Yeah, it's pretty cool. So we
had Joanne Yarrow on a few times. She and her
husband Brad, Brad Beckman, were guests of mine
back episode two or something. And then Joanne
was this past plum flitch that will be coming
out soon. So Joanne and Brad own distinctive
voices, right? Joanne is also an executive at
Syracuse stage. She's been in the performing
arts world for many years her husband Brad Beck
teaches at Syracuse University and the I believe
in the drama the department and he's a writer
and he's a very talented man. So Joanne approached
me two three months ago and I've worked with
the two of them helped them build a strategic
plan and I've done some other work with them
helping them learn how to monetize their abilities
better, right, and really build a business around
it. So she came to me and said, hey, you know,
this is her talking, she goes, you know, I do
work with executives, helping them learn how
to project and better utilize their voice, how
to practice presence in a room, right, and kind
of own the room, right, because these are all
concepts from the performing arts world. You
do, you do. performing arts. So you understand
these concepts, right? And then the other big
one that they touched on was storytelling. Well,
you think of those three things, as a leader
in any organization, you probably need to be
pretty good at those. And if you are good at
those, it's going to help you better lead. So
she said, what if we did a workshop where we
combine some of this stuff that they do? in the
performing arts world with what I do in the more
classical leadership development, right? So things
like goal setting, goal alignment, how to build
a really highly successful culture that values
people. That's something that you and I have
workshops on. And also the power of emotional
intelligence and how that brings all of that
together. And tied with that, we're going to
do a piece on communications. I love the adage
in communications that you've got two ears and
one mouth. Do you think maybe you better learn
how to listen a little better? Because people
hear communications and what do they think? They
think, oh, that person's a great speaker. Those
are important. But if you can't listen well and
really listen, you're not going to connect with
people. So we're going to combine all that. The
workshop is going to be held on Tuesday, February
10th. from 9 a .m. to 1 p .m. at PDO's offices
on Electronics Parkway right here in Syracuse.
And the name of the workshop is Executive Presence
in Creating an Impactful Culture. It's going
to be co -put on, co -produced by Joanne Yarrow
and myself. The cost is $535 per person. There's
some great takeaways. You literally are going
to walk away with some materials that you'll
be able to begin implementing what you learn
in that workshop as soon as you walk away. And
it's very interactive. We want people to get
up and move, get the blood flowing, getting people
engaged. Very hands -on. So it's not going to
be people sitting in a room being lectured. You
know what, Mark? There's different things that
you can do, different programs. They give you
a lot of aspects of it. Some of that reminds
me a lot of what you get from, like, the Dale
Carnegie trainings. Sure. Sure. Those are thousands
of dollars. And you are providing some of those
skills in addition to all those other pieces
that put it together to make this full workshop.
It's an incredible value. This one workshop is
the point I'm trying to get to here. Really well
thought out. We think so. You and Joanne's skills
and presentations are pretty awesome. We think
so because you know it's also a way to hopefully
Better introduce Joanne and myself to another
broader piece of the audience out there in central
New York Because we both feel like we have this
mission and the mission is to help people become
the best version of themselves Right now. Yeah,
do I make a living doing that? Yeah, but literally
It's it's a part of my life's purpose to help
other people become that best version That's
one thing I noticed about you as soon as I met
you as you you go on LinkedIn and all you'll
hear is leadership conference that leadership
conference this and you know people do that as
you said as a career But you really embody that
even when you're not doing that even when I'm
speaking to you in a normal conversation Yeah,
you always have words of wisdom and and it's
it's a it's passion for you It's not something
you do to collect the paycheck you believe in
it and you live it, you know 100 % You know,
it goes back to when I was starting the business,
and I've shared this story with you, I think.
Being a good engineer at heart, right, I did
my homework, right, so I started calling people
I knew personally who had made the transition
from corporate world to consulting. And the question
was, how did you do that? What worked? What should
I do? Do you have any tips? And I, you know,
when you ask people those kind of questions,
they love, most people love help, right? And
so I got some great input. Some of the best things
I heard, one of them was this. Figure out what
you love to do, your passion. Focus on that,
and you'll not only be successful, but you'll
be really happy doing it. And so I did that.
I did some real deep dive introspection, and
I figured out two primary things. The engineer
in me is always gonna love solving problems.
I love a challenge. to a fault. Check that box.
And the more I thought about it, when I've really
been happiest working in corporate life, is when
I had the opportunity to mentor and coach other
people. Well, you put those two things together
and that's what I do. And literally, one of the
things we do in pretty much every development
program is coach each individual to draft a life
purpose statement. And it really is, okay, Picture
yourself at 80, 85 years old. You're sitting
on your porch and you're looking back at your
life. What do you want it to have been all about?
There's Steve Becker. Man, myth, and legend.
Right? So, and I did that and coming to find
out what I want my life purpose to be is really
about helping other people become the best version
of themselves. Hello, Mr. Becker. Also known
as Stereo Steve. So yeah, you're right. It is
a passion. It's interesting because one of my
guests, Adam Fack, who you've met, great guy,
Adam's just a wonderful, wonderful man. But we
both have the same concept where talking with
prospective clients and just people, business
people, even friends, like I don't have any problem
with prospective clients. giving ideas away like
literally this is a secret sauce here's how you
do it because the truth is most people probably
aren't going to be able to make it operational
without some real deep dive help but oh by the
way if they do that's still a win for me yeah
because guess what they're gonna they're gonna
get better at X whatever X is and then somebody
they know is gonna ask them hey you're really
better at that how'd that happen Hey, you know
what? This dude told me about this, and let me
tell you about him. That's a strategy that we
try to employ a lot in the content world, and
a lot of people, it's counter to what people
may have been told for all these years. You gotta
get paid, you gotta get paid. Yeah, like, you
know, you take a mechanic, for instance, and
a real high -performing type of video is, here's
how to do your break so you don't have to hire
a video. Great! The other side of that is you
get a considerable number of people going, oh,
wow, that's a hell of a project. I don't want
to get into that. I'm bringing it to the professional.
And by demonstrating that you are the professional
and you know how to do it, it's one of the best
advertisements ever. Listen, I'll tell you the
answer. Give me the $5 first. That's not the
approach these days. Well, I 100 % agree with
you. And this is interesting because I was talking
with, in the past couple weeks, a client in a
similar conversation with a prospective client
about this very topic. And the conversations,
I'm going to totally paraphrase, was kind of
like this. Like, let's talk about sales, and
I'm going to tell you. What I believe is the
sales process and it's not going to sound anything
like what you probably learned In the sales process
I use really is about exactly what you're talking
about. It's like Let's talk about you like my
first intro is hey, how's business? How else
things going what's working? What's not you know
and just start? Because guess what people love
to talk about themselves, and if you're really
good at listening, and they know you're listening
They love telling right So I really want to find
out, hey, is everything great? Super. Or are
there things that aren't going well? What keeps
you awake at night? What are your struggles?
At the end of the conversation, if I can have
them walk away with some tidbits that may help
them, I'm happy. Because very likely, they're
going to realize, hey, this guy knows what he's
talking about. This guy has value. You know,
by the way, he's a problem solver. Right? I want
to be seen as somebody that can help them solve
their problems. Right? Whether it's getting paid
for it or not. Because ultimately, they're very
likely going to engage me if they see me as somebody
that's a problem solver. In one way or another.
Right? Which is really not... I mean, it kind
of is. If, you know, we could talk a lot about
the sales process. But the truth is... I did
everything except direct selling and marketing
in the business world, pretty much, before I
started my own business. So of course, now how
do I spend a chunk of money? And at the beginning,
when I got turned down, it was like crushing.
And you probably remember this, right? It was
like personal. Why? What did I do wrong? The
truth is, it's none of those things. It's not
about me. What I had to come to is, you know
what, I won't say I don't care. Of course, I
want to get a sale. But what I'm really after
is I want to build a relationship. If I make
a new friend, that's a win. And maybe I never,
ever make a buck off of that relationship directly.
But you know what, maybe we can help each other.
And I've begun to experience this now, starting
my fourth year, where I help. other associates
that I've never directly done business with,
but I have helped their companies find business.
They've in turn connected me with people who
may turn into business people, clients. So yeah.
Your network is the most important thing. 100%.
I would not agree more. I wouldn't be anywhere
without the relationships I've built. And it
wasn't like forced building. It wasn't like,
well, I better befriend this person so I can
use them later in life. It's just it turns out
all through life, I need something. I need to
connect somebody who needs help with this. And
it's like, oh, wait a minute. These people come
in and out of your life, back into your life.
And it's just so important. And the other thing
is now I remember what I was going to say earlier,
which applies, is I always tell people not only
build relationships, that's important. Build
your network. But get rid of preconceived notions.
That was the biggest realization I had over the
last few years. I used to have this whole plan
in my head of how things were going to work out
or what I was going to do. And even if those
things end up happening, I guarantee you it's
not going to happen in the exact way you thought
it was. You've got to get rid of preconceived
notions because you'd set yourself up for disappointment.
If I lined up five celebrities or anybody that
I looked up to in the same industry, all five
people got there a different way. Great point,
right? And a lot of what I do in development
work with people is typically a goal achievement
and goal planning process. And we talk about,
yeah, make plans, but you can't plan the outcome.
Right. Right? It's very specific and a very useful
way to set goals. Right? But you can't. Don't
predict the outcome right right because you get
up you're talking about expectations. I want
to circle back to relationships and At the end
of the day. I actually had a potential client
Say to me well. You know you've worked with this
this and this kind of company How's that relate
to ours and what we do and I looked them in the
eye? And I was like doesn't matter what you do
and frankly I don't want to be rude, but I really
don't care what you do Because business is about
one thing and they're kind of looking at me like
what's that? It's about relationships. I don't
care if you're an ambulance company, or you're
a metal heat treating company, or you're a mill
work company, or you're air conditioning. None
of that matters. Right? Because at the end of
the day, to be successful, it is about building
relationships. 100%. Right? Whether on an individual,
personal basis. Or business. Or business. You
know, it's funny, because I'm going to tell you,
the last three jobs I had, I never technically
applied for, working for somebody else. Like
literally, somebody called me and said, hey,
such and such a company is looking for this role,
are you interested? Okay, I'll talk, and you
know, one conversation led to another, and it
led to an in -person interview or two or three,
and the next thing I know, they offer me a job.
So technically, I never applied, you know. That's
exactly... That's how you... The relationship.
Matt and I are living proof of that. Right. Matt
and I met when we grew up in basically the same
area. Right. We had mutual friends. Right. So
we would hang out in other social gatherings,
and we stayed connected over the years. They
followed him, supported him. Always believed
in what he was doing. Right. And when he had
posted about this new gig, I wrote him and said,
I'm so interested. And he said, buddy, I was
literally picturing you, but I didn't think you
were available, which meant the world to me.
It still does. Yeah. But that would have never
happened. if you didn't have the relationship.
You just don't know. And it's not about, you
don't build these, I want to reiterate, you don't
build these relationships so that you get a break
later in life. No. That's not what it's about.
It's not about what's in it for me. No. No, because
the other thing that we talk a lot about is true
relationships, right, are based on a level of
understanding that requires empathy. Yeah. Right?
And empathy is totally different than sympathy.
Empathy is... Empathy is making the effort to
not only understand how somebody else feels,
but why they feel that way, without judgment,
pro or con. Like I may totally disagree with
how you feel and why you feel that way, but I
am willing and able to make the effort to understand
that. That's a level of, because guess what?
Isn't that at the core of what every human being
wants from their relationships? We all want to
be understood. Where we are not where you expect
me to be that's right, right? And so empathy
and that goes to EQ emotional intelligence and
guess what some people develop that naturally
through life experiences some at relatively early
ages which is Kind of unique, but those people
and I've come across a lot of them But you can
also learn that and develop those things right
and most people when they hear that go really
You can develop all the aspects of emotional
intelligence if you are willing to, you have
a desire to, and you're able and willing to practice
the discipline to do that. Absolutely. Mark,
we could go on about this forever. We've got
to let you enjoy this fair. For sure. I've got
to get me some food, man. It's smelling good.
Before we go, let's one more time, let's just
talk about this, your event, February 10th, 9
a .m. at TDO, right in Liverpool, right clearly.
Great off the Thruway exit. Do I bring it to
the parking lot? Correct. If you take that one
there for electronics parkway. Great event. It's
going to be hosted by yourself and Joanne Yarrow.
Incredible, incredible value, I feel like, once
you're off in a workshop. Typically these things
are three times what you folks are charged for
this. I'm excited. Yeah, so are we. We're really
excited. and Joanne like you is somebody that
she and I just have a great connection which
is interesting because it's left brain right
brain and you know we think very differently
but she is she is passionate about this like
I am and very passionate about helping other
people so yeah come one come all it is a very
affordable call me reach out to me through the
website or you can contact Joanne website is
www .operationsexcellence .com and that is Operations
Excellence. The E is dropped in excellence only
because that domain name was already taken. There
you go. Mark, it's been great, buddy. Thank you,
partner. Always a pleasure. My friend? You know
I love you, man. I love you too. Thank you for
having me back many other times again. Guys,
we will have more from the Syracuse Winter Fair
coming up next.