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Welcome to Purpose Project.
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I'm your host, Leslie Pagel In this episode, I sit down with Jim Money, a former President of Automotive Finance Corporation or AFC.
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Jim shares how he led a purpose-driven transformation within the organization by helping employees uncover their why at work.
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His story shows what's possible when leadership goes beyond strategy and takes responsibility for cultivating purpose.
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Let's take a listen.
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Jim, thank you for being an on purpose project.
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I'm looking forward to talking about how purpose shows up in the workplace.
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Alright?
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Yeah, you bet.
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Great to be here.
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Wonderful.
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Before we dive in, tell us a little bit about yourself, both personally and professionally.
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Alright, so, uh, personally, um, I've uh, been married for going on 34 years to, congratulations.
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My best friend, uh, Laurie.
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And we have a son who is, uh, 25.
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He's a Butler grad, so we're both IU grads.
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So, but that was great.
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Uh, I'm in, I love to cook.
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My wife hates to cook so that it works out really well, works out.
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Uh, and I actually found out that on bad days at work, in, in those days that, uh, you know, doing things that required a lot of dicing really came in handy.
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You know, you try to get rid of some of the frustrations, but no.
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I love to cook and, uh, I love to walk.
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I, I used to like to run, but my knees don't like that.
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Uh, love music.
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I would rather listen to music all night than watching a TV show.
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Um, avid reader, um, and, uh, travel quite a bit.
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Nice.
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And actually, you know, the last, this year and last year, we've traveled quite a bit because on April the first, I.
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Retired, or as I like to call it, I entered my second half because retirement sounds so old.
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Um, but, uh, you know, I spent 25 years with a company called Automotive Finance Corporation.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, started out as their, uh, controller, worked my way up to be the, uh, CFO of the organization, and then spent the last eight years as the president.
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A FC is a part of an organization called Open Lane, which is a publicly held company.
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So I've been in that space for the last 25 years.
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And then before that I did a little tour duty.
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It's gonna sound crazy in the toying game business.
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Oh, really?
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CFO there, uh, did a little time in the transportation business up north of West Lafayette.
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Spent some time at Anthem, locally and, and a little time in, uh.
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The, uh, public accounting space.
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Yeah.
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So, uh, so that's me, uh, you know, personally and professionally.
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Yeah.
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So I heard family.
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Mm-hmm.
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I heard a bit of curiosity and wonder and, um, kind of letting, letting your mind wander through walking and through cooking and Oh, yes.
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And things traveling.
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Then it sounds like most of your career in the finance aspect ending as kind of oversight for the, for the entire business.
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Correct.
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I, I, you know, I'm a bean counter by, uh, you know, college as an accountant got my CPA, but I worked like heck to try to stop doing accounting.
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I got bored with it.
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Okay.
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But I, I liked the other side of the business world.
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I, I liked.
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I was really good with numbers.
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Mm-hmm.
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But I liked trying to figure out how do we move the business forward through all of the people in the organization.
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Okay.
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That, that is, that's where I was working towards.
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Right, right.
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I was never a traditional CFO.
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Yeah.
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I was not the guy who lived in the gap and the Fas b pronounce my world.
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I, I wasn't that tech technical guy.
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I was more of the guy thinking about the operations of the business and the strategy and where we're going.
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Uh, and obviously.
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Uh, love doing things from a leadership perspective.
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Mm-hmm.
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Mm-hmm.
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So that makes sense.
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A natural progression to be president Yeah.
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Of the organization.
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That was the goal.
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Yeah.
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Uh, before we dive into purpose in the workplace, a question I ask everyone is whether or not you have a life's purpose.
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You know, I, I do.
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And, and you know, and I'll tell you that, uh, for a big chunk of time, it really was.
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Can, how can I help small businesses be successful?
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Mm-hmm.
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And so thinking so it was very professional.
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Okay.
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Yeah.
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Very much my, and that was a big part of my life, uh, because everything I've done, I've either been serving small businesses or I've been in a small business, so I even know what it means to face the challenges and the failures of, of, of that side of the, the equation.
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Being an entrepreneur.
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So, um, and that's what my dad was, so, and I worked with him, so I got my teeth cut on at a real young age.
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So I just was really in awe of what these people did every single day.
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I mean, I think of entrepreneurs as heroes,
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Uhhuh,
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because they're willing to put everything on the line to chase a dream mm-hmm.
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Of their own.
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And so my thought was, how can I help them?
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Through their quest and so everything, and I didn't really connect the dots until probably 2017.
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Okay.
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That's when I started to connect the dots as, as far as what was, what was kind of going on, and, and, and it led me to understand that that's, that's who I was.
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Yeah.
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Now I get to March of 23 and the business world is starting to probably take a toll on me, and, and I knew that I need to step away.
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I, I need, I need to get out and kind of reenergize.
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Um, and then something happened.
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I'm meeting with a financial advisor and the world's worst thing that they can say is, you know, Jim, you could retire anytime you want.
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And so the light bulb went off.
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Obviously my wife goes, oh, no.
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You know, kind of one of those moments.
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But, uh, you know, I told her I was ready.
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And, and, and, and the time is right.
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I had a great succession plan already in place, already had a guy that was lined up and thank God that that all came to fruition.
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And I, uh, I shifted and, and, and it was, I'm no longer that person.
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I'm now this person that there were things that I've always wanted to do that I've not been able to do, and so.
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I didn't do a real good job of taking care of community opportunities.
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Okay.
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I didn't do a good job of my connections that I have with people and, and I, because I just was always heads down and, and, and I realized that I probably learned a thing or two along the way.
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And so this, this new purpose that evolved in March of 23 was I want to serve what I call my three Cs.
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Okay.
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Which are community connections and council.
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And so, uh, I, I, I do a thing every Friday with my wife, uh, to serve at a local food pantry.
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And there's some other stuff that, that I've thinking about trying to dip my toe into.
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I've been minding my connections, my relationships a lot more than I ever have.
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I'm actually building some new ones, which is really making me feel good, you know, as I'm mentoring kind of those twilight years.
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And then the last thing is counseling.
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And, uh, you know, the things that I've learned throughout my business life.
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How can I share those with others, whether they're in the for-profit sector or the non-profit sector?
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Mm-hmm.
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And, and I have a great opportunity to do something with the local foundation and there's some other stuff that's going on there, so those Nice.
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That's my time is gonna shift into, into doing more serving, not necessarily entrepreneurs now, serving others within my community
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right.
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Yeah.
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So talk a little bit about, you mentioned March, 2023, you, you had this realization, um, and now you've identified these three Cs.
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How did that unfold?
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Uh, well.
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You know, the, the whole process for me was, uh, I, I, I kept it internal for a little while mm-hmm.
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For probably about eight weeks.
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And so it was March when I had the idea that I think the time is right for me.
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And it was early May when I sat down with my wife and I walked her through it.
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Mm-hmm.
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Okay.
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And then it was July when I walked my boss.
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Through it.
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Yeah.
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So I was giving, you know, him a nine month heads up basically.
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Um, and, uh, and through that entire process as I'm going along, I'm, I'm just now realizing that these were the things I always wanted to do and, uh, and, and now I have that time.
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So that just became very natural to me.
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Right.
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But I'm a very, um, uh, detail oriented kind of a guy.
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You know, and then like I tell people, I'm a raging introvert.
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A raging introvert who's very detail oriented.
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And, and so I thought through the entire stage and, and so I already knew what was gonna happen over the next few months.
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A after that.
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I mean, it was always me staying ahead of it.
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And I've always been a perpetual planner, uh, probably, you know, not to the point where, where, where, where I, uh, cause harm to some sort of a project.
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But, but I like to understand where things are going and, and even think about where I could pivot if I have to pivot.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so, uh, I don't like surprises Okay.
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So much.
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Mm-hmm.
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Sometimes surprises are a good thing, but most times surprises can be very challenging.
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And so if I can avoid a challenge like that, I, I'll, I will do that.
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So it was a, it was a well thought out process.
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Yeah.
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It just continued to evolve and evolve and, uh, uh, the, the three Cs, uh, uh, were, were easy to, to come up with.
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And I even used the concept of the three C's when, when I was trying to work people to come back into the office.
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And it wasn't that I wanted to get people back into the, to the office from a, from, from a, a work perspective.
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It was more of from a culture perspective mm-hmm.
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Of, you know, how do we get people two to three days back in, uh, because I really felt, uh, and I use the three Cs at that stage, that they were missing out on collaboration.
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They were missing out on something I called collisions.
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And collisions were, you know, things where you were walking down the hallway and you see Leslie and you go, Hey, I've been meaning to talk to you about something.
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Yeah.
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You can't do that from home.
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Right.
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It doesn't happen real naturally.
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And then the biggie was comradery.
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You know, how do we get everyone back together and to create excitement And as leaders of the company, it was our responsibility to figure out how do we do that outside of just saying, you have to do this.
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Yeah.
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Because at the end of the day, it's so much better when.
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The folks decide I want to be here.
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Mm-hmm.
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You know, I want to be here.
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And, and that's, that's, uh, so the three C's I had the three C's of, of, of return to work, if you wanna call it that.
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And it was easy for me to start thinking about this other stuff and then, you know, it was just percolating.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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It was already probably pre 23 even happening in my mind.
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Okay.
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I knew that.
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Okay.
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Yeah, I knew I'm getting closer and closer.
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I wanted to work till I was 65.
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Um.
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I stopped at 62.
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Yeah, that's good.
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So yeah.
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So were the three Cs.
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Did you feel yourself moving towards the three Cs?
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Is that what was calling you?
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Or did?
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Was it more of like, I feel like my time in the professional world is coming to an end and as you're starting to plan for after that those came?
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Yeah, I mean, I was really, uh.
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I was physically and, and kind of me mentally exhausted.
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Mm-hmm.
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You know, and, and I knew that I need, I need to step aside.
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I think for the, for the health of the organization, I, I felt, I really felt like it was, I needed it for me, but I thought it was, it was time for, uh, someone else to be in there.
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I knew I would've, I would be in roughly eight years.
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And I was like, that's a pretty good run for basically like a CEO type of an individual.
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Mm-hmm.
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Um, and, that was really the gestation of it.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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I, I was, I was ready to go and then transit, you know, thinking about the other stuff, you know, I already knew that there was things like that, that I'd be able to, once I retired, I'd be able to spend more time doing this.
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Right.
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So I already, I was looking forward to, yeah.
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That change of, of pace, and I was really looking forward to the connections.
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Mm-hmm.
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And that was the one that, uh, and shame on me.
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You know, I, I didn't do a real good job.
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I, I was never a good networker.
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Um, you know, I.
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I was, I'm the guy who hangs out against the wall at the party, nursing the drink, and then the extroverts come over and talk to me.
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You know?
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'cause that's just, just, that's not naturally, uh, how I do things.
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Although I talk with people and they go like, how can that be?
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I mean, I've seen you in presentations.
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I'm like, yeah, I could stand in front of two to 500 people and I could talk, but I'm like, that's my job.
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Mm-hmm.
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But in a personal setting, that's not my job.
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But, uh, it's, uh, it's been a good transition.
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Yeah.
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Yeah.
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So thinking back to your career, your professional career mm-hmm.
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And, and maybe just looking across it through the history of it, through the, the tenure of it, how did you see this topic of purpose show up in the workforce?
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Um, I would say that, uh, you know.
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I probably always knew it was there.
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Mm-hmm.
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Uh, but I really didn't connect the dots to it.
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And it wasn't until, um, 2017 when I really started thinking about the purpose.
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So I, I, I rolled into the president's role in, uh, June of 16 and, and I was about 15 months in, and, and I knew I wanted to, to take the.
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The team through a, through a process and, um, because I always felt like this, this inside of me was telling me that I know why I am here.
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Mm-hmm.
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Because I, I, I work in an organization that has 12,000 used car dealers, and they're all small businesses.
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Mm-hmm.
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So I, I get that.
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This is something that attracts me.
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I mean, that, that I can help these, these women and men who are.
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Putting their, their life on the line every single day to just have their own business and have their own say in their world.
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Um, and so I wanted others to try to figure out what, what is it that means something to you?
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And so I sat down with, with, with a good friend who was working for, uh, the, the parent company where I worked Car Global at that time.
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Uh, and someone that you know quite well, Josh Plaskoff.
00:15:27.543 --> 00:15:27.543
Mm-hmm.
00:15:28.408 --> 00:15:30.118
And Josh and I started talking about it and, and.
00:15:30.717 --> 00:15:36.927
And, and I told Josh that I'd like to take people through a discussion of why we exist.
00:15:37.977 --> 00:15:51.177
And so he and I put together a bunch of stuff and, and we rolled some things out in January of 18 and we were able to take our, uh, entire company, which was roughly 600 people through a process.
00:15:51.177 --> 00:15:59.368
I told them it was important to me to have everyone involved, and I understand that we all can't gather and sit in a room for a few weeks and do this.
00:16:00.177 --> 00:16:05.097
There are different aspects of this process that can involve every single person in the company.
00:16:05.097 --> 00:16:05.187
Right.
00:16:05.187 --> 00:16:10.168
And I said, I think it'll be more meaningful, uh, if everyone feels like they have a voice.
00:16:10.258 --> 00:16:10.378
Mm-hmm.
00:16:10.677 --> 00:16:12.177
And, uh, and that's what we did.
00:16:12.687 --> 00:16:29.248
You know, we, we used a, a conference that we do every year in January as the kickoff for it, where I had about 200 people and we got them to roll up their sleeves as part of, uh, their, their time there to, to come up with words and phrases that.
00:16:29.773 --> 00:16:32.383
Meant something to them about AFC.
00:16:32.623 --> 00:16:32.893
Mm-hmm.
00:16:33.133 --> 00:16:39.352
And we used all of their words in these phrases to be the process to start writing purpose statements.
00:16:39.832 --> 00:16:42.533
And we, at the end of the day, we had a small team.
00:16:42.773 --> 00:16:49.133
They took all that stuff that we had gathered, and uh, they came up with five statements that all looked and feel the same.
00:16:50.092 --> 00:16:53.812
And we pushed it out to everyone in the organization saying, you get a vote.
00:16:54.052 --> 00:16:55.763
Which one, which one resonates with you?
00:16:55.763 --> 00:16:57.322
And then I even asked everyone.
00:16:58.658 --> 00:17:05.738
Um, if you do so, put in why you, why you selected the one you did, why, why did it speak to you?
00:17:05.798 --> 00:17:06.157
Right?
00:17:06.548 --> 00:17:12.337
And then I even said, you know, if you're not really good with words, snap a quick video on your iPhone and send it to me.
00:17:12.337 --> 00:17:15.337
And, uh, at the end of the day, we had a clear winner.
00:17:15.968 --> 00:17:21.458
Um, I got 32%, which may sound kinda light, but the second place came in with like 24.
00:17:21.458 --> 00:17:26.228
So be clear, about 115 people provided.
00:17:26.917 --> 00:17:32.798
Comments, which I thought was fairly well, about 25%, 25 people sent videos in.
00:17:34.057 --> 00:17:37.897
And, um, so we had a winner, which you think like, yay, we're done.
00:17:37.897 --> 00:17:38.917
Yeah, we have a winner.
00:17:39.008 --> 00:17:51.188
Uh, I called Josh to my office, uh, and, and, uh, in an act of vulnerability, I told Josh, uh, I said, I got a problem.
00:17:51.938 --> 00:17:54.367
I said, uh, I told everyone in the company that.
00:17:55.403 --> 00:17:57.563
The one you selected is the one we're going with.
00:17:58.133 --> 00:17:59.813
He said, uh, I can't do it.
00:18:01.252 --> 00:18:03.292
I can't support the one everyone wants.
00:18:03.952 --> 00:18:04.012
Oh.
00:18:04.403 --> 00:18:08.363
And Josh was like, whoa, Jim, that's can't do that.
00:18:08.363 --> 00:18:10.012
And I go like, I go, can you hear me out?
00:18:10.012 --> 00:18:11.002
And he goes like, oh, okay.
00:18:12.323 --> 00:18:17.722
I said, the first thing is the one that won, got 32% of the vote.
00:18:17.962 --> 00:18:18.532
He said, yep.
00:18:19.133 --> 00:18:21.682
I said, that means 68% of the people wanted something else.
00:18:21.682 --> 00:18:23.932
He's like, Jim, it's still won.
00:18:24.653 --> 00:18:25.613
That's just the way it is.
00:18:25.613 --> 00:18:26.272
And I'm like, all right.
00:18:27.202 --> 00:18:50.813
I said, but the second one, Josh, you're not gonna have an easy time talking me down from, and I said, uh, I read through all these comments and I watched all these videos, and, uh, I'd see I voted for this one because of X, or I voted for this one, but I wish it would've talked about X.
00:18:50.813 --> 00:18:51.532
Mm-hmm.
00:18:52.627 --> 00:18:54.157
And then I'm watching this video.
00:18:54.758 --> 00:19:01.478
It's a young lady from our Cincinnati office, and she said, I voted for blah, blah, blah, blah in our community.
00:19:02.018 --> 00:19:05.167
And the one that she had mentioned didn't have the word community in it.
00:19:05.587 --> 00:19:13.087
And I started looking and I noticed that only one of the five had the word communities in it, and it's the one that won.
00:19:13.958 --> 00:19:17.528
But there were people that voted for all this, but they were like, I want communities.
00:19:17.528 --> 00:19:19.057
And I realized our goal.
00:19:19.553 --> 00:19:22.492
Was to come up with five statements that felt the same.
00:19:22.913 --> 00:19:25.432
And we left out a critical component, which was communities.
00:19:25.462 --> 00:19:27.803
'cause communities is a very family feeling.
00:19:27.833 --> 00:19:28.012
Mm-hmm.
00:19:28.282 --> 00:19:28.762
Word.
00:19:29.512 --> 00:19:30.682
And it's important to everyone.
00:19:31.792 --> 00:19:33.383
And I said, that's why I can't do it, Josh.
00:19:33.383 --> 00:19:39.202
And he said, uh, you do exactly what you did with me, with all of them and will understand.
00:19:39.563 --> 00:19:40.133
And that's what I did.
00:19:40.133 --> 00:19:44.393
I fell in the proverbial sword and I said, this is, I can't do it.
00:19:44.393 --> 00:19:45.563
This, this is why.
00:19:46.163 --> 00:19:54.262
So what I'd like to do is I'd like to pull together a small group of your peers and have them take all five and make it into one.
00:19:55.313 --> 00:20:01.913
Uh, and uh, I had phone calls, I had texts, I had emails, people dropping by saying, thank you.
00:20:02.482 --> 00:20:07.103
Thank you for listening, and thank you for allowing all of our voices to be heard.
00:20:07.192 --> 00:20:07.613
Right?
00:20:07.792 --> 00:20:10.492
So, uh, you know, uh, that's.
00:20:10.837 --> 00:20:13.357
The process that I used to build this.
00:20:13.357 --> 00:20:20.167
And then it got rounded out by, uh, a group they called themselves the culture collective, led by a guy by the name of Rob Pat Chadley.
00:20:20.948 --> 00:20:34.807
And uh, and they came up with not only the, uh, the final product, which is we fuel the entrepreneurial dream in our community, but they came up with the four core values, which are elevating relationships, being powered by passion, being vision driven, and above all being dedicated to you.
00:20:35.077 --> 00:20:35.198
Mm-hmm.
00:20:35.528 --> 00:20:38.018
Those things are forever embedded in my brain.
00:20:38.018 --> 00:20:38.077
Yeah.
00:20:38.077 --> 00:20:39.307
I can't ever get rid of'em.
00:20:40.163 --> 00:20:52.103
Um, but that purpose process, a lot of, a lot of times people tend to take things like purpose or values, um, their culture.
00:20:52.313 --> 00:20:52.583
Mm-hmm.
00:20:53.363 --> 00:20:55.343
It's like checking the box exercises.
00:20:55.373 --> 00:20:55.853
Mm-hmm.
00:20:56.228 --> 00:20:58.462
And these things are not checking the box, exercise.
00:20:58.492 --> 00:21:04.643
These things have a life of their own and they continue to be nurtured all the time.
00:21:05.093 --> 00:21:06.923
And so I knew that.
00:21:07.583 --> 00:21:10.073
That process of identifying it was just one thing.
00:21:10.073 --> 00:21:14.032
We don't, don't slam'em up on the wall or give everyone a little laminated card.
00:21:14.093 --> 00:21:14.182
Right.
00:21:14.182 --> 00:21:17.903
So they can put on their desk and, and, and it's always in front of them.
00:21:18.323 --> 00:21:21.803
You have to be very, very, I hate to use this word purposeful mm-hmm.
00:21:22.103 --> 00:21:28.522
About getting the purpose out there and making sure that everyone not only sees it every day, they, they live it every day.
00:21:28.522 --> 00:21:28.613
Mm-hmm.
00:21:29.093 --> 00:21:32.452
And the only way they can live it every day is you keep talking about it.
00:21:32.752 --> 00:21:36.833
As my good friend and old boss, Don Gottwald once said.
00:21:37.538 --> 00:21:38.917
Lather, rinse, repeat.
00:21:38.917 --> 00:21:38.948
Okay.
00:21:39.518 --> 00:21:40.238
And that's what it is.
00:21:40.238 --> 00:21:42.607
It is a lather, rinse, repeat exercise.
00:21:42.607 --> 00:21:43.867
It never ends.
00:21:43.867 --> 00:21:48.998
It just keeps going and going and going like that little energizer bunny, and it just goes and goes and goes.
00:21:48.998 --> 00:21:54.278
And, uh, that's the job, uh, of bringing a purpose to life mm-hmm.
00:21:54.548 --> 00:21:55.688
Is, is never stopping.
00:21:56.617 --> 00:21:57.428
Nice.
00:21:58.448 --> 00:22:04.567
So, um, what I hear there is, at some point in your career, you.
00:22:06.788 --> 00:22:10.178
You were determined to really lead with purpose.
00:22:10.178 --> 00:22:10.327
Oh, yes.
00:22:10.327 --> 00:22:12.758
And you had the opportunity to do that.
00:22:12.938 --> 00:22:13.057
Yes.
00:22:13.478 --> 00:22:32.077
And it was important, uh, to hear from everyone and not just like re um, vote, but really hear yes and listen and be thoughtful and intentional because, uh, it was a responsibility, a ha, a big responsibility.
00:22:32.393 --> 00:22:32.452
Yeah.
00:22:32.992 --> 00:22:34.073
That you carried.
00:22:34.403 --> 00:22:34.702
Yeah.
00:22:34.942 --> 00:22:43.673
And, um, you know, and selfishly, you know, I, I, I knew this was gonna be a good exercise.
00:22:44.093 --> 00:22:44.182
Mm-hmm.
00:22:44.512 --> 00:22:50.692
Um, especially for my senior team, I really felt that they would get a lot out of it.
00:22:50.692 --> 00:22:54.323
I mean, they're still carrying that same message today without me being there.
00:22:54.442 --> 00:22:54.593
Right.
00:22:54.803 --> 00:22:57.893
Which, which tells me that it made an impact on them.
00:22:58.522 --> 00:22:59.903
Which, which is, which is great.
00:23:00.022 --> 00:23:02.212
Uh, but I think it made a big impact on.
00:23:02.288 --> 00:23:03.488
On, on a lot of people.
00:23:03.548 --> 00:23:03.968
Yeah.
00:23:04.057 --> 00:23:23.048
I mean, you know, um, the crazy thing is, um, sometimes when you go through a process like this, um, even some challenging things can come out of it and, uh, you know, because there's gonna be people that are naysayers, right.
00:23:23.468 --> 00:23:25.778
That it, it's not that important to them.
00:23:25.803 --> 00:23:26.222
Mm-hmm.
00:23:26.498 --> 00:23:31.837
And, uh, then it becomes a really, really difficult thing when you're a manager.
00:23:32.288 --> 00:23:45.307
Or even a leader in the organization, um, to try to figure out, well then if we've spent the time to identify who we are and we're using purpose in all of our decision making mm-hmm.
00:23:45.847 --> 00:23:48.127
We always shine that light on, is this who we are?
00:23:48.337 --> 00:23:51.577
It becomes a lot easier to say yes or no to something.
00:23:51.758 --> 00:23:54.218
When you think about does this represent who we are?
00:23:54.222 --> 00:23:54.343
Right.
00:23:54.403 --> 00:23:56.107
If it doesn't, then why are we talking about it?
00:23:56.113 --> 00:23:56.262
Yeah.
00:23:56.498 --> 00:23:57.488
Why are we wasting our time on it?
00:23:57.488 --> 00:23:58.778
Why is that part of our strategy?
00:23:59.647 --> 00:24:00.038
Um.
00:24:01.762 --> 00:24:12.863
But if people don't want to align with who we are to steal a line from Jim Collins, they probably don't have a seat on the bus.
00:24:13.103 --> 00:24:13.222
Mm-hmm.
00:24:13.913 --> 00:24:16.163
And you gotta start making some difficult decisions.
00:24:16.883 --> 00:24:20.663
Um, and, and some people have challenge doing that.
00:24:21.563 --> 00:24:28.853
Um, there are, there are people out there that, that we could probably ask to.
00:24:29.468 --> 00:24:38.857
To to step aside because maybe they're not performing or doing things like that, but the ones that are really scary are, are the ones that are performing.
00:24:39.458 --> 00:24:39.607
Yeah.
00:24:39.847 --> 00:24:41.827
They're the ones that, uh, read.
00:24:41.827 --> 00:24:48.758
Ha has Hastings, CEO, founder of, uh, Netflix calls the Brilliant Jerks.
00:24:50.678 --> 00:24:56.228
And the brilliant jerks are the ones who they, they hit their target every year.
00:24:56.347 --> 00:24:58.478
In fact, they blow past it every year.
00:24:59.393 --> 00:25:02.242
They're the, they're the person you can't afford to lose.
00:25:03.262 --> 00:25:09.262
But at the same time, they're the person that will run over their teammate whenever they can.
00:25:10.133 --> 00:25:15.563
They will kick and scream and steal from others.
00:25:15.803 --> 00:25:21.292
They'll do whatever it takes to hit their numbers and to be at the top of the game.
00:25:21.292 --> 00:25:21.532
Right?
00:25:22.103 --> 00:25:24.893
And then people think, I can't afford to lose them.
00:25:24.893 --> 00:25:27.472
'cause look what they do every single year and.
00:25:27.968 --> 00:25:31.928
They don't think about the morale that's being just trashed.
00:25:32.798 --> 00:25:39.968
They, they, they don't think of, uh, the, the other people that they're starting to lose because they don't like working with this individual anymore.
00:25:39.968 --> 00:25:40.778
They can't stand it.
00:25:41.018 --> 00:25:41.978
They're very toxic.
00:25:42.938 --> 00:25:52.718
Uh, so that can be a very detrimental impact of, of, of having a purposes if, if you don't really act honestly towards your purpose, right?
00:25:52.718 --> 00:25:54.788
Because there's, there's fallout from all this.
00:25:54.847 --> 00:25:55.837
'cause there are some people.
00:25:56.557 --> 00:25:58.238
That just leave me alone.
00:25:58.718 --> 00:25:59.857
Let me do my thing.
00:26:00.577 --> 00:26:05.288
Uh, and uh, uh, you do your little purpose thing all day long at school.
00:26:05.377 --> 00:26:11.738
But, uh, I think sometimes you gotta figure out are, are those the people you want in your organization or not?
00:26:11.738 --> 00:26:11.857
Right.
00:26:12.188 --> 00:26:20.107
If you really, truly do believe not only your purpose, but your, your values, and if they don't adhere to them, they really shouldn't be there.
00:26:20.317 --> 00:26:20.587
Right?
00:26:20.587 --> 00:26:20.647
Yeah.
00:26:20.678 --> 00:26:23.198
So it depends A challenging aspect of Right.
00:26:23.407 --> 00:26:24.218
Having a purpose.
00:26:24.248 --> 00:26:24.698
Yeah.
00:26:25.103 --> 00:26:32.722
Well, and what I was thinking about as you were talking is the difference between individual purpose and shared purpose.
00:26:33.143 --> 00:26:33.623
You know?
00:26:33.623 --> 00:26:44.423
And it is, um, it's, it is one thing to just have a purpose and put it up on the wall, but it's another thing to live it out.
00:26:44.573 --> 00:26:54.262
And, and when you're doing that amongst other people towards a shared purpose, it, there's a responsibility of.
00:26:54.788 --> 00:26:57.877
Um, keeping people honest to it.
00:26:57.877 --> 00:26:58.327
Right.
00:26:58.327 --> 00:27:01.057
And, and making the difficult decisions.
00:27:01.087 --> 00:27:01.357
Yeah.
00:27:01.538 --> 00:27:11.917
And, and it's important even for, uh, you know, I hate to like, to use the word the, the staff kind of level people to hold the managers responsible as well.
00:27:12.008 --> 00:27:12.127
Right.
00:27:12.127 --> 00:27:15.157
'cause if they're not living it out, that's a problem.
00:27:15.248 --> 00:27:15.577
Right.
00:27:15.877 --> 00:27:23.107
Um, you, you mentioned, you know, shared company purpose versus individual purpose.
00:27:23.107 --> 00:27:23.198
Mm-hmm.
00:27:23.978 --> 00:27:33.038
I think that to, to me that's probably one of the biggest reasons why you need to have your purpose, uh, alive and kicking, so to speak.
00:27:33.428 --> 00:27:44.167
Uh, and you need to identify it, uh, and live it because more and more people want to know that, am I joining an organization that actually.
00:27:45.817 --> 00:27:47.948
Feels good with me personally mm-hmm.
00:27:48.188 --> 00:27:51.907
That I can, I can support that or do I connect with it perfectly.
00:27:52.028 --> 00:27:52.238
Mm-hmm.
00:27:52.478 --> 00:27:54.008
Which even makes it even a better thing.
00:27:54.008 --> 00:28:03.123
I think if you have the, do the right thing with, with your purpose, it can be a great way in, uh, you know, uh, acquiring new talent in the organization mm-hmm.
00:28:03.343 --> 00:28:05.528
As well as retaining your existing talent.
00:28:06.698 --> 00:28:10.867
Um, but, uh, I, I often felt like.
00:28:11.333 --> 00:28:21.383
In the last, call it seven years to eight years, that when I would interview people, and it wasn't often that I was interviewing someone a little bit lower, but occasionally I got to, to, to go down a little bit lower.
00:28:22.403 --> 00:28:29.272
You know, you always think about a, a as a manager of people that, that you're the one that's in charge of that interview.
00:28:30.292 --> 00:28:33.653
And it was slowly kinda to kind of, to flip a little bit.
00:28:33.772 --> 00:28:37.163
And that is the person who was inter being interviewed.
00:28:37.837 --> 00:28:41.948
They were trying to figure out, is this the place where I wanna spend Right.
00:28:42.097 --> 00:28:45.248
40% of my waking hours each week.
00:28:45.278 --> 00:28:45.367
Mm-hmm.
00:28:45.607 --> 00:28:48.307
Is this where I want to invest my time and my energy?
00:28:48.817 --> 00:28:51.938
And I could start to sense that, that I was being interviewed.
00:28:52.837 --> 00:28:53.048
Okay.
00:28:53.708 --> 00:28:54.637
And I liked that.
00:28:54.758 --> 00:29:01.357
I liked, and so that even helped it, it even made the process of identifying that purpose even more easy because Right.
00:29:02.018 --> 00:29:06.667
That became, became one of the things that I talked about in the interviews was this is who we are.
00:29:06.673 --> 00:29:07.083
Mm-hmm.
00:29:07.252 --> 00:29:10.028
These are the values that, that, that we hold dear to our heart.
00:29:10.688 --> 00:29:11.798
How does that sound to you?
00:29:11.917 --> 00:29:12.278
Yeah.
00:29:12.337 --> 00:29:20.557
You know, and, and basically, you know, uh, getting people to get the light bulb going off, this is a place I want to be, I wanna be a part of this.
00:29:20.678 --> 00:29:21.008
Right.
00:29:21.188 --> 00:29:29.377
And, uh, you know, when you, when you have that strong purpose and, and those core values and, and people can see that you are.
00:29:29.782 --> 00:29:30.442
Honest.
00:29:30.442 --> 00:29:30.833
Mm-hmm.
00:29:31.073 --> 00:29:32.153
And you're living them out.
00:29:32.482 --> 00:29:37.942
Um, it goes a long way in, in, in, in that hiring process.
00:29:38.022 --> 00:29:50.982
You talked about, um, once you had your purpose and the values, that it was more than just putting them on the wall and you said it's about communicating them, like constant communication.
00:29:51.613 --> 00:29:56.353
What were some other ways, uh, maybe with the executive team?
00:29:56.758 --> 00:29:57.627
Let's start there.
00:29:57.627 --> 00:30:05.577
What were some other ways where you made purpose a part of the, the rituals and routines of business?
00:30:06.387 --> 00:30:18.897
Well, uh, I'll tell you, um, one of the simplest ways that I did it, which is gonna sound kind of maybe a little crazy, um, you know, we'd have, you know, meeting agendas,
00:30:19.137 --> 00:30:19.167
Uhhuh.
00:30:19.678 --> 00:30:19.679
Okay.
00:30:20.893 --> 00:30:24.883
And, and right across the bottom of the agendas was the purpose statement and the four values.
00:30:24.883 --> 00:30:28.423
'cause we had the, the values were, uh, they were graphical.
00:30:28.728 --> 00:30:29.018
Okay.
00:30:29.022 --> 00:30:29.383
Okay.
00:30:29.383 --> 00:30:30.643
So they were like little pictures.
00:30:30.702 --> 00:30:30.972
Mm-hmm.
00:30:31.603 --> 00:30:36.133
Uh, and, um, so it was always in front of people.
00:30:36.373 --> 00:30:36.673
Yeah.
00:30:36.702 --> 00:30:42.853
When you started, if you had a presentation, the, the very first slide had the purpose statement.
00:30:42.942 --> 00:30:43.242
Mm-hmm.
00:30:43.573 --> 00:30:47.952
It, it was, I mean, you just, you always just keep it in front of people.
00:30:48.432 --> 00:30:49.692
I, I did an email.
00:30:50.532 --> 00:30:55.692
52 times a year called last week, and it was right on there.
00:30:56.022 --> 00:30:56.323
Okay.
00:30:56.323 --> 00:30:57.492
It was just right on there.
00:30:58.123 --> 00:31:02.863
Um, and, uh, you know, you, you're always calling it out.
00:31:02.863 --> 00:31:02.923
Yeah.
00:31:02.952 --> 00:31:11.057
I hate to say, I'm not trying to, you know, dumbify it or anything like that, but it really was just keep it front and center.
00:31:11.077 --> 00:31:11.498
Mm-hmm.
00:31:11.682 --> 00:31:13.482
And, you know, and then you catch yourself.
00:31:13.873 --> 00:31:15.192
Using the words.
00:31:15.192 --> 00:31:20.833
You know, I, I love it when I would go out and visit people and they would say, well, Sally, over here, she's just power with passion.
00:31:20.833 --> 00:31:23.113
And I'm like, oh gosh, that's just going straight to my heart.
00:31:23.202 --> 00:31:26.712
I'm going like, you know, they weren't being prompted to say that.
00:31:26.712 --> 00:31:28.212
They just were saying it.
00:31:28.212 --> 00:31:28.692
Right.
00:31:29.022 --> 00:31:37.393
And that is because I think it was not ingrained in people, but they always saw it and then they started believing it.
00:31:37.482 --> 00:31:37.633
Mm-hmm.
00:31:37.873 --> 00:31:39.942
Which is, you know, which it was always there.
00:31:40.482 --> 00:31:41.863
Like I told them, I said, I didn't.
00:31:42.732 --> 00:31:46.123
You know, I, I didn't come up with this, this purpose.
00:31:46.123 --> 00:31:47.623
I didn't come up with these values.
00:31:48.373 --> 00:31:50.292
You all always had'em there, right?
00:31:50.292 --> 00:31:52.002
I just shined the light on it.
00:31:52.008 --> 00:31:52.327
Mm-hmm.
00:31:52.647 --> 00:31:54.192
I just brought it to the surface for you.
00:31:54.192 --> 00:31:55.423
This, this is who you are.
00:31:55.482 --> 00:31:55.633
Right.
00:31:55.633 --> 00:31:57.792
Because this, this is what you say every single day.
00:31:58.573 --> 00:32:01.992
Um, and, and our customers, uh, can sense that as well.
00:32:02.022 --> 00:32:02.532
Yeah.
00:32:03.252 --> 00:32:07.663
Well, it's interesting that you say that because in season one.
00:32:08.593 --> 00:32:14.532
Um, I was talking with people that had clarity in their purpose and they were living it out every day.
00:32:15.163 --> 00:32:23.863
And one of the things that I learned is that understanding our purpose is a process of going within.
00:32:23.863 --> 00:32:23.952
Mm-hmm.
00:32:24.222 --> 00:32:26.502
Like it's an intentional process.
00:32:26.803 --> 00:32:30.853
It's not something that just like we slam into, we Right.
00:32:31.498 --> 00:32:34.978
We do that through introspection, through asking questions.
00:32:34.978 --> 00:32:51.928
And it sounds like that's exactly what you did for Shared purpose, is you took the time to say, we're gonna all get together and we're going to take a moment and think about our purpose and, and it's already here within us, but we're gonna be able to articulate it.
00:32:51.958 --> 00:32:52.137
Right.
00:32:53.397 --> 00:32:59.008
And then in terms of the routines and rituals, keeping it in front of people.
00:32:59.607 --> 00:33:13.048
Um, it does, it starts to make it woven into the fabric when you talk about it, when I imagine you're telling stories of people living in purpose or hearing stories, it sounds like.
00:33:13.587 --> 00:33:14.067
Yeah.
00:33:14.067 --> 00:33:14.068
Yeah.
00:33:14.337 --> 00:33:14.488
Yeah.
00:33:14.488 --> 00:33:25.288
And, and so, um, one of the things that, that I did about two years after all of that had kind of been identified.
00:33:25.317 --> 00:33:25.407
Mm-hmm.
00:33:26.907 --> 00:33:45.268
Um, I sat down with a, a lady who worked with me, Devra Callahan, and, and we, she was, um, VP of marketing and, and I told her, I said, you know, there's one thing that that does bug me about our values is that, um, we talk about'em a lot, which is great.
00:33:45.958 --> 00:33:54.417
And I, and I, and I see people that, um, they shake their head, yeah, yeah, that's who we are, you know, and, and sometimes they kind of like, you know, kind of do that.
00:33:54.417 --> 00:33:55.738
And I'm going, like I said.
00:33:56.728 --> 00:34:01.678
Let's try to think about how do you see our, our values in action.
00:34:02.728 --> 00:34:15.867
So, and that's what we did was we came up with, there's about five to six sentences that, that we eventually embedded below it to kind of like, so when someone says, what does power by passion mean now?
00:34:15.867 --> 00:34:20.398
Now they actually have, you know, some examples of what that looks like in action.
00:34:20.398 --> 00:34:22.498
A lot of that's the customer experience.
00:34:22.557 --> 00:34:22.737
Yeah.
00:34:23.038 --> 00:34:23.577
Side of it.
00:34:23.577 --> 00:34:25.047
Or even the people experience side.
00:34:25.753 --> 00:34:34.452
Um, but I, I thought it was important that we, we kind of gave them some, some thoughts, Uhhuh, because sometimes they would, they go, gosh, I just don't see that in action.
00:34:34.452 --> 00:34:38.563
Then when you show that, they go like, okay, now I get it.
00:34:38.652 --> 00:34:39.282
Yes.
00:34:39.313 --> 00:34:39.523
Okay.
00:34:39.523 --> 00:34:40.873
Now I am powered by passion.
00:34:40.963 --> 00:34:41.353
Right?
00:34:42.222 --> 00:34:42.373
Yeah.
00:34:42.373 --> 00:34:42.733
I, yeah, I get it.
00:34:42.733 --> 00:34:43.632
I get vision driven.
00:34:43.632 --> 00:34:44.293
I, I get it.
00:34:44.353 --> 00:34:44.713
Right.
00:34:44.713 --> 00:34:45.012
I am.
00:34:45.342 --> 00:34:52.333
So, I, I think it was really, you know, helpful, uh, to, to, to do that and give them a little bit more insight of.
00:34:53.307 --> 00:34:57.958
Of how they're living them out, even when they can't even sense that they're living it out.
00:34:57.958 --> 00:34:58.047
Right.
00:34:58.047 --> 00:34:58.978
And it's like, no, you are.
00:34:58.983 --> 00:34:59.547
Yeah you are.
00:34:59.547 --> 00:35:01.018
You do this, you do that.
00:35:01.018 --> 00:35:01.438
Look at that.
00:35:01.438 --> 00:35:01.947
And they're like, oh
00:35:02.248 --> 00:35:03.253
yeah, yeah, I do do that.
00:35:03.253 --> 00:35:03.777
And that think it creates a little
00:35:03.777 --> 00:35:05.068
bit more excitement about it.
00:35:05.097 --> 00:35:05.818
Absolutely.
00:35:05.818 --> 00:35:06.387
A purpose.
00:35:06.387 --> 00:35:15.777
You know, another thing that purpose, a really well written purpose statement could, can be, is a very inspirational mm-hmm.
00:35:16.018 --> 00:35:18.237
Uh, wording.
00:35:18.657 --> 00:35:32.487
Uh, creates motivation and, and, uh, it's not that you're, you're, you're, you're, you're trying to be deceitful or anything like that, but, uh, you're saying it in a way that it, you should, you should feel an immense pride in who you are.
00:35:32.998 --> 00:35:33.148
Right.
00:35:33.148 --> 00:35:34.047
This is who we are.
00:35:34.137 --> 00:35:34.438
Right.
00:35:34.438 --> 00:35:35.367
And be prideful of that.
00:35:35.367 --> 00:35:35.907
That's okay.
00:35:36.583 --> 00:35:38.802
And use it for your source of inspiration.
00:35:38.983 --> 00:35:39.132
Mm-hmm.
00:35:39.672 --> 00:35:45.552
If you need to, like, they do it in Notre Dame football, if you have to go up and, you know, slap the, whatever, uhhuh, whatever the little sign is, they have believer.
00:35:45.552 --> 00:35:46.393
Yeah.
00:35:46.393 --> 00:35:46.393
Yeah.
00:35:46.398 --> 00:35:46.782
Thank you.
00:35:46.782 --> 00:35:47.862
I'm, I'm, I'm not a Notre Dame.
00:35:47.922 --> 00:35:48.972
I'm not a gold.
00:35:49.123 --> 00:35:50.623
I'm not sure if that's it, but I'm,
00:35:50.847 --> 00:35:51.347
but yeah.
00:35:51.728 --> 00:35:52.148
But yeah,
00:35:52.842 --> 00:35:54.193
this is, it's the same concept.
00:35:54.193 --> 00:35:55.663
If you need to do that, then do that.
00:35:55.663 --> 00:35:56.083
Right.
00:35:56.262 --> 00:35:56.382
You know?
00:35:56.623 --> 00:35:57.072
Yeah.
00:35:57.702 --> 00:36:00.913
Do you, speaking of, I love the values in action.
00:36:01.288 --> 00:36:09.268
Um, because I do think sometimes people need help making that bridge, you know, the connection to purpose and values.
00:36:09.987 --> 00:36:18.447
Do, did you do any type of, um, did you weave that into performance reviews or self-evaluations or,
00:36:18.958 --> 00:36:26.188
yeah, so we, we, we, they started weaving in the values into the interview process.
00:36:26.338 --> 00:36:26.427
Okay.
00:36:26.577 --> 00:36:27.193
So there would be.
00:36:27.672 --> 00:36:32.112
Questions that were kinda like focused on being powered by passion or elevating relationships.
00:36:32.112 --> 00:36:40.123
So those, and they would even, I think they would even talk like, you know, one of our values is this and how do you go about, you know, doing this
00:36:40.393 --> 00:36:40.422
uhhuh.
00:36:40.873 --> 00:36:49.722
Um, we, we didn't get it all the way we interwoven into the, uh, the review process.
00:36:50.262 --> 00:36:55.182
But the review process was actually, uh, starting to change, which was kind of cool.
00:36:55.182 --> 00:36:56.893
So, you know, went from that, um.
00:36:57.733 --> 00:36:58.963
One pager.
00:36:59.563 --> 00:37:06.132
You do it in February, and then you talk about here's the stuff you did really well, and here's the stuff that we, you can do better.
00:37:06.132 --> 00:37:11.623
You remember, you remember Leslie back in March and I was like, come on, gimme a break.
00:37:12.253 --> 00:37:12.583
You know?
00:37:12.583 --> 00:37:14.262
And I, I hated reviews.
00:37:14.262 --> 00:37:14.802
Mm-hmm.
00:37:15.132 --> 00:37:17.023
I mean, I just, because I'm like.
00:37:17.697 --> 00:37:19.768
Reviews should be immediate feedback.
00:37:19.918 --> 00:37:20.157
Right.
00:37:20.338 --> 00:37:20.608
Okay.
00:37:20.608 --> 00:37:21.177
That should happen.
00:37:21.177 --> 00:37:23.668
A review, a re a review could happen every week.
00:37:23.907 --> 00:37:24.177
Right.
00:37:24.268 --> 00:37:24.958
Exactly.
00:37:24.958 --> 00:37:27.268
You know, and there's no reason to call out stuff.
00:37:27.748 --> 00:37:32.547
But then we, we got to the point at the, when I left, we were down to, we did four check-ins.
00:37:32.697 --> 00:37:33.237
Okay.
00:37:33.237 --> 00:37:37.108
'cause I was a big fan of something I, I called quarterly check-ins.
00:37:37.108 --> 00:37:37.617
Mm-hmm.
00:37:38.152 --> 00:37:40.737
And, and I did it with about 28 people.
00:37:41.547 --> 00:37:44.367
And it was just, I wanted to sit down for 45 minutes.
00:37:44.983 --> 00:37:46.543
You can use up the entire 45 minutes.
00:37:46.543 --> 00:37:48.043
I just wanna know three things.
00:37:48.492 --> 00:37:49.362
What's going well?
00:37:50.413 --> 00:37:53.083
What's not going so well, and how can I help?
00:37:53.922 --> 00:37:54.222
You know?
00:37:54.222 --> 00:38:00.523
And, uh, you know, some people may wonder why did I, why, why did I do it?
00:38:01.182 --> 00:38:07.333
Uh, you know, I wanted to know what you, Leslie, thought you were, was going well, right?
00:38:07.362 --> 00:38:09.402
Because I, there were times where I'd go like, you're right.
00:38:09.402 --> 00:38:10.302
That was incredible.
00:38:10.302 --> 00:38:10.932
Great job.
00:38:11.563 --> 00:38:12.253
Or I would go.
00:38:13.018 --> 00:38:14.068
Why do you think that's going?
00:38:14.068 --> 00:38:17.878
So well help, help me to understand that.
00:38:17.878 --> 00:38:20.608
Or this didn't go well, right?
00:38:20.818 --> 00:38:23.038
And I'm like, why do you think that didn't go well?
00:38:23.307 --> 00:38:34.498
I mean, you know, I wanted people to understand that, that when we make mistakes or when we fail, as long as we're learning from it, I'm like, don't worry about it.
00:38:34.648 --> 00:38:34.918
Right?
00:38:34.947 --> 00:38:36.507
But they would think like, it's the end of the world.
00:38:36.507 --> 00:38:37.467
I made a mistake up all'em.
00:38:37.467 --> 00:38:38.938
Like, did you learn something?
00:38:38.938 --> 00:38:40.137
Oh God, I'm never doing that.
00:38:40.137 --> 00:38:40.407
I'm like.
00:38:41.637 --> 00:38:42.268
Amen.
00:38:42.807 --> 00:38:43.077
Right.
00:38:43.467 --> 00:38:45.597
That's, that's all that needed to happen out of it.
00:38:45.597 --> 00:38:59.847
So, um, uh, that check-in process, uh, that I had, I think maybe had some influence on others and, and how we started kind of maybe changing other stuff with the organization.
00:38:59.853 --> 00:38:59.943
Yeah.
00:39:00.327 --> 00:39:00.987
Hopefully from a spective.
00:39:01.137 --> 00:39:02.188
Yeah, that's great.
00:39:02.188 --> 00:39:04.947
Because I used, I, I used them ad nauseum.
00:39:04.947 --> 00:39:05.847
I, I, I loved him.
00:39:05.847 --> 00:39:07.663
I looked forward to my, my quarterly checkups, Uhhuh.
00:39:08.518 --> 00:39:08.818
Yeah.
00:39:08.818 --> 00:39:09.628
That's awesome.
00:39:09.628 --> 00:39:11.128
It took a lot of time, but, but, but a lot.
00:39:11.128 --> 00:39:11.338
Yeah.
00:39:11.398 --> 00:39:22.288
But it also, I imagine the person that you're meeting with felt valued and important because you're asking and and you're asking how you can help them too.
00:39:22.318 --> 00:39:24.297
'cause you want them to be successful.
00:39:24.987 --> 00:39:25.077
Yeah.
00:39:25.288 --> 00:39:25.827
Yeah.
00:39:26.367 --> 00:39:34.768
So you went through this process of discovering purpose, um, working to weave it into the fabric of the business.
00:39:35.547 --> 00:39:36.358
What changed?
00:39:37.663 --> 00:39:38.172
After
00:39:38.802 --> 00:39:39.432
what changed?
00:39:39.432 --> 00:39:39.822
Yeah.
00:39:40.452 --> 00:39:42.402
What were the outcomes of it or Oh, the outcomes?
00:39:42.402 --> 00:39:47.503
Well, uh, outside of, you know, I, I think, uh, more cohesiveness.
00:39:47.563 --> 00:39:47.652
Mm-hmm.
00:39:47.983 --> 00:39:59.443
Um, I, uh, I can tell you, uh, I, I was having a conversation with, uh, some people at, uh, central Indiana, better Business Bureau Uhhuh, that there,
00:39:59.443 --> 00:39:59.505
you know, Kathy?
00:39:59.510 --> 00:39:59.713
Yeah.
00:39:59.713 --> 00:40:01.182
Kathy was episode one.
00:40:01.182 --> 00:40:01.422
Yeah.
00:40:01.452 --> 00:40:04.753
So, so I was talking with them and, and I even.
00:40:05.742 --> 00:40:10.123
Talking about purpose and, and I go, you know, you might not buy into this purpose thing.
00:40:10.693 --> 00:40:13.242
Uh, so I get it.
00:40:13.242 --> 00:40:14.893
I'm a finance guy, I'm a numbers guy.
00:40:15.072 --> 00:40:20.443
You know, I, I, intangibles are really kind of cool, but I kind of get stuck on the tangibles.
00:40:21.072 --> 00:40:21.913
What did it do?
00:40:22.512 --> 00:40:32.137
And, and I, and you know, I can honestly tell you that where we were as, as a business in 2016, mm-hmm.
00:40:32.847 --> 00:40:35.007
Started rising in 2018.
00:40:35.007 --> 00:40:35.038
Mm.
00:40:35.637 --> 00:40:39.117
And we went off and, and we hit record earnings in 22.
00:40:40.407 --> 00:40:50.217
Uh, but all of our, our metrics that were important were all increasing, uh, minus the, the pandemic, which kind of course kind of threw everyone for over.
00:40:50.217 --> 00:40:50.277
Yeah.
00:40:51.148 --> 00:40:52.797
But, and it's growing back again.
00:40:52.797 --> 00:40:58.438
But, uh, I can honestly tell you that I, I think the reason behind that type of growth that we had.
00:40:59.097 --> 00:41:08.818
That we had an excited workforce and, uh, they were very prideful and, and their goal was always, how can I make my customer extremely happy?
00:41:09.057 --> 00:41:09.297
Yeah.
00:41:09.297 --> 00:41:22.197
Because I always told everyone, listen, at the end of the day, if we can just, if we can just nail the customer experience and we can have really happy customers, it's hard to not win.
00:41:22.527 --> 00:41:22.797
Right?
00:41:22.887 --> 00:41:26.157
I mean, it, it's just really hard to not win.
00:41:26.757 --> 00:41:30.177
When you're doing all that stuff the right way and, uh, and,
00:41:30.177 --> 00:41:30.568
and, uh, show.
00:41:31.467 --> 00:41:40.978
Well, and the, the purpose was all about fueling the entrepreneurial spirit, which was the customer Oh, as the entrepreneur.
00:41:40.983 --> 00:41:41.172
Yeah.
00:41:41.458 --> 00:41:41.938
Yeah.
00:41:42.117 --> 00:41:49.918
We, we, you know, there was, there was nothing better than watching small business evolve over time.
00:41:50.128 --> 00:41:50.458
Mm.
00:41:50.487 --> 00:41:51.237
You know, I mean.
00:41:51.913 --> 00:41:56.472
Um, and, and I've got, I, I have like the outliers, if you wanna call'em the outliers.
00:41:56.472 --> 00:42:05.413
I can still rem Remember someone who started with about a$75,000 line of credit with us, and then when they left us, they had about 16 million.
00:42:05.862 --> 00:42:06.672
Wow.
00:42:07.003 --> 00:42:11.833
Uh, and another guy that was probably, he, he started a little bit before I did.
00:42:11.833 --> 00:42:16.063
So when I knew him, he was about 150 and he was in the mid twenties, 20 million range.
00:42:16.722 --> 00:42:19.152
Both of them left to, to, to go to more.
00:42:19.842 --> 00:42:21.612
What I think of banking relationships,
00:42:21.617 --> 00:42:21.867
Uhhuh,
00:42:22.447 --> 00:42:31.157
um, which is what I always envisioned, was, uh, we're there to help these small businesses, but at some point they're gonna outgrow us Uhhuh, and that's okay.
00:42:31.362 --> 00:42:31.753
Right?
00:42:31.873 --> 00:42:32.443
That's okay.
00:42:32.592 --> 00:42:32.652
Yeah.
00:42:32.652 --> 00:42:32.983
Let's go.
00:42:32.987 --> 00:42:33.668
Let's, that's good.
00:42:33.668 --> 00:42:33.827
Yeah.
00:42:33.827 --> 00:42:37.467
Let's just keep finding more and more people like that to just kind of keep blossoming and growing.
00:42:37.467 --> 00:42:37.827
Mm-hmm.
00:42:38.472 --> 00:42:42.793
And if, if they leave us, they're not leaving us, they're just transitioning onto another place.
00:42:42.822 --> 00:42:43.182
Right.
00:42:43.182 --> 00:42:44.143
They're never gonna leave us.
00:42:44.177 --> 00:42:44.467
Yeah.
00:42:44.773 --> 00:42:45.222
Yeah.
00:42:45.643 --> 00:42:46.632
So yes.
00:42:47.202 --> 00:42:47.862
cause a lot of them.
00:42:48.447 --> 00:42:55.347
Their, their parting gift to us was, I'll make sure that if anyone comes up to me to say, you know, uh, I'm thinking about starting out the business.
00:42:55.347 --> 00:42:55.737
Exactly.
00:42:55.737 --> 00:42:56.967
You need to talk to a FC, right?
00:42:57.057 --> 00:42:57.447
Yeah.
00:42:57.597 --> 00:42:57.958
Okay.
00:42:57.958 --> 00:43:01.467
So you mentioned your numbers guide, tangible outcomes.
00:43:01.498 --> 00:43:04.617
You saw it, but what was it?
00:43:04.617 --> 00:43:09.027
It was 2016, I think that you said when you, what was it?
00:43:09.177 --> 00:43:10.257
And before that.
00:43:11.277 --> 00:43:20.697
It sounded like purpose didn't, it was probably there in your career, but it, it wasn't like a, a wouldn't call out spotlight.
00:43:20.757 --> 00:43:21.237
Yes.
00:43:21.237 --> 00:43:21.297
Yeah.
00:43:21.297 --> 00:43:21.358
It
00:43:21.358 --> 00:43:21.927
really wasn't.
00:43:21.927 --> 00:43:26.728
I mean, it, uh, you know, it was, it was always there.
00:43:27.327 --> 00:43:32.277
We just didn't, uh, call out the purpose statement.
00:43:32.277 --> 00:43:32.338
Yeah.
00:43:32.338 --> 00:43:33.507
There was a mission statement.
00:43:33.568 --> 00:43:33.597
Okay.
00:43:33.597 --> 00:43:38.402
But a mission statement to me is, is very much a, a, a.
00:43:39.597 --> 00:43:44.992
Document that illustrates what, what we do uhhuh.
00:43:45.358 --> 00:43:49.527
And it's really, I think of it as a mission statement, is more short term in nature.
00:43:49.648 --> 00:43:51.717
Okay, so what are we gonna do this year?
00:43:51.777 --> 00:43:52.168
Right?
00:43:52.708 --> 00:43:54.057
This is how we make our money.
00:43:54.418 --> 00:43:58.047
This, this, this is, this is where we're going to serve our customers, et cetera.
00:43:58.467 --> 00:44:02.637
And the vision statement is that aspirational thing, that this is where we, we want to get to.
00:44:02.643 --> 00:44:02.753
Mm-hmm.
00:44:02.833 --> 00:44:04.168
We wanna get to this place.
00:44:04.617 --> 00:44:06.237
You need both a mission and a vision, but.
00:44:07.077 --> 00:44:10.978
I think a purpose statement is what grounds both a mission and a vision statement.
00:44:10.983 --> 00:44:11.182
Mm-hmm.
00:44:11.373 --> 00:44:17.788
Because if my purpose statement and my mission statement don't align one of'em wrong.
00:44:18.117 --> 00:44:18.507
Right.
00:44:18.628 --> 00:44:18.838
Okay.
00:44:18.898 --> 00:44:19.288
Yeah.
00:44:19.498 --> 00:44:20.307
One of'em wrong.
00:44:20.398 --> 00:44:22.168
Same thing with my purpose and my vision.
00:44:22.168 --> 00:44:25.018
If they don't align, one of them's wrong.
00:44:25.023 --> 00:44:25.242
Mm-hmm.
00:44:25.498 --> 00:44:28.617
I'm not saying it's the purpose is is right and the other's wrong.
00:44:28.617 --> 00:44:29.847
I'm just one of'em is wrong.
00:44:29.938 --> 00:44:30.327
Right.
00:44:30.358 --> 00:44:32.788
Because it's very easy to say, this is our purpose.
00:44:33.867 --> 00:44:34.347
Well.
00:44:35.592 --> 00:44:36.552
What's going on?
00:44:36.552 --> 00:44:39.043
It doesn't really feel like that's your purpose.
00:44:39.072 --> 00:44:39.432
Right.
00:44:39.432 --> 00:44:41.472
You might need to take another shot at it, and that's okay.
00:44:41.592 --> 00:44:41.952
Yeah.
00:44:41.952 --> 00:44:42.012
Or
00:44:42.012 --> 00:44:43.992
sometimes purposes they evolve.
00:44:44.023 --> 00:44:44.443
Yeah.
00:44:44.713 --> 00:44:45.043
Yeah.
00:44:45.072 --> 00:44:46.603
But to just stay on top of it.
00:44:46.963 --> 00:44:52.963
So what was it that happened in 2016 or before where you're like, this is missing, or,
00:44:53.233 --> 00:44:54.163
well, 2016.
00:44:55.498 --> 00:44:56.788
I got to make the decisions.
00:44:58.228 --> 00:44:58.498
Okay.
00:44:58.498 --> 00:44:59.938
You were put in the position.
00:44:59.938 --> 00:45:00.027
So I
00:45:00.027 --> 00:45:08.398
was, I was, the position was there and, and I really felt like, like I said before, selfishly, I was like, I think we need this Uhhuh.
00:45:08.878 --> 00:45:17.367
I, you know, and I, I need this uhhuh, I, I need, I need people to understand that.
00:45:18.762 --> 00:45:20.532
This is what I value.
00:45:20.773 --> 00:45:21.043
Mm-hmm.
00:45:21.552 --> 00:45:25.813
In, in, in this, this job that I have, in this organization that I work for.
00:45:26.172 --> 00:45:36.402
You know, I, I want everyone to know that I'm here because, um, I wanna help these women and men have a shot, right.
00:45:36.463 --> 00:45:40.813
I wanna be a part of their trajectory to their successful mm-hmm.
00:45:41.052 --> 00:45:41.293
Path.
00:45:42.132 --> 00:45:46.422
And I want people to know that, but I also wanted them to, to know.
00:45:47.833 --> 00:45:52.123
How would you categorize who we're, so that, for me was extremely important.
00:45:52.152 --> 00:45:55.333
And I was like, you know, I can make the choice.
00:45:55.333 --> 00:45:56.143
And we're, we're doing it.
00:45:56.143 --> 00:45:56.413
Darn it.
00:45:56.447 --> 00:45:56.608
Yeah.
00:45:56.862 --> 00:45:57.523
We're gonna do it.
00:45:57.523 --> 00:45:58.663
We're we're, we're gonna do it.
00:45:58.663 --> 00:46:02.143
And some people may think I'm crazy, but I think it's the right thing to do.
00:46:02.143 --> 00:46:06.972
And I've, I've read enough stuff to, to know that that purpose is extremely important.
00:46:06.978 --> 00:46:07.168
Yeah.
00:46:07.422 --> 00:46:12.282
And I'm like, you know, it's gonna be hard for someone to say, this is a not a, not a, not a good use of time.
00:46:12.777 --> 00:46:14.938
Obviously Josh, Josh was all over it.
00:46:14.943 --> 00:46:21.748
Uhhuh, I mean, he loved it and, and uh, and then others stepped up and yeah, they could really sense that it was important as well.
00:46:21.753 --> 00:46:21.932
Yeah.
00:46:21.958 --> 00:46:22.288
Yeah.
00:46:22.407 --> 00:46:30.268
And then that evolved into something I, I think I shared with you and others within the conscious capitalist organization that I called the Tennis Ball
00:46:30.717 --> 00:46:30.958
Uhhuh.
00:46:31.768 --> 00:46:35.157
And, and that was really what is your personal purpose.
00:46:35.307 --> 00:46:35.398
Mm-hmm.
00:46:35.668 --> 00:46:41.128
And, uh, you know, because that tennis ball, uh, uh, I think it was Drew Houston.
00:46:41.818 --> 00:46:57.898
From, uh, a company called Dropbox was given the commencement address and he was talking about, um, with those seniors that were getting ready to graduate, that if he had a cheat sheet when he graduated, it would've been the greatest thing in the world, what to expect when I enter the real world.
00:46:57.898 --> 00:46:59.427
And he's like, I'm gonna give it to you.
00:47:00.327 --> 00:47:04.768
And he talked about it's only got three things in a tennis ball, a circle, the number 30,000.
00:47:04.768 --> 00:47:08.697
And uh, and I'll go backwards in, uh, a little bit.
00:47:08.938 --> 00:47:10.648
And, uh, the circle was all about.
00:47:11.038 --> 00:47:18.748
Surround yourself by, by a four to five people that can really bring the best out of you.
00:47:18.753 --> 00:47:19.052
Mm-hmm.
00:47:19.443 --> 00:47:20.998
That is something you need.
00:47:21.177 --> 00:47:24.507
Make sure you're not around people that don't pull the best out of you.
00:47:24.507 --> 00:47:24.568
Yeah.
00:47:24.867 --> 00:47:26.757
So, surround yourself with really smart people.
00:47:28.077 --> 00:47:33.088
We only have about 30,000 days in our lives, which is about 80, 82 years of age.
00:47:33.088 --> 00:47:35.277
So time is of the essence.
00:47:35.367 --> 00:47:38.427
Don't waste your time, spend it wisely.
00:47:38.938 --> 00:47:39.958
And the tennis ball.
00:47:40.032 --> 00:47:51.253
He talked about the dog that he had when he was a kid, and the dog could be just lounging on the couch and he could pull that tennis ball out.
00:47:51.253 --> 00:47:52.873
That dog would just come to life.
00:47:53.833 --> 00:47:57.222
Uh, and he would throw the ball and the dog would just chase it, chase and chase it.
00:47:57.222 --> 00:48:04.632
You know, that tennis ball was something to that dog and he's like, find something that really means something to you.
00:48:04.632 --> 00:48:09.163
Find a problem that you're really passionate about solving.
00:48:10.393 --> 00:48:16.992
Or find something that just brings you excitement and do it.
00:48:17.052 --> 00:48:17.862
Yeah, do it.
00:48:17.862 --> 00:48:21.253
Make sure you're doing something that brings you life and that's that's your purpose.
00:48:21.282 --> 00:48:21.342
Yeah.
00:48:21.373 --> 00:48:24.222
So I always ask people what gets you outta bed each day?
00:48:24.402 --> 00:48:30.132
What, what's, what's that tennis ball that makes you decide to want to jump in the shower at six in the morning?
00:48:30.137 --> 00:48:30.387
Mm-hmm.
00:48:30.523 --> 00:48:31.693
Shower, shave.
00:48:32.128 --> 00:48:35.068
Head off to the office or jump on a plane.
00:48:35.338 --> 00:48:35.637
Right.
00:48:35.668 --> 00:48:37.347
Or get in your car and go visit co.
00:48:37.527 --> 00:48:38.547
Why do you want to do that?
00:48:38.637 --> 00:48:39.057
Yeah.
00:48:39.063 --> 00:48:43.018
And, and I, I wanted to know what was your purpose, right?
00:48:43.047 --> 00:48:43.108
Yeah.
00:48:43.108 --> 00:48:45.657
That was my way of asking for your personal purpose.
00:48:45.688 --> 00:48:45.958
Right?
00:48:46.288 --> 00:48:51.538
And then it was about, okay, if that's your personal purpose, think about our purpose.
00:48:51.543 --> 00:48:53.938
Uhhuh, kinda start connecting the dots a little bit.
00:48:54.027 --> 00:48:54.478
Yeah.
00:48:54.838 --> 00:48:55.527
Love that.
00:48:56.038 --> 00:48:59.577
I love the connection to personal purpose in the workplace.
00:48:59.577 --> 00:49:00.717
Why am I getting up?
00:49:01.288 --> 00:49:03.057
And doing this job right.
00:49:03.427 --> 00:49:05.347
How can I get energy out of it?
00:49:05.347 --> 00:49:07.447
How can I get excitement from it?
00:49:07.657 --> 00:49:20.918
Well, you know, um, as I was getting ready for my, my talk with, uh, Kathy's crew, um, I had been looking at, you know, stuff about why is a purpose important.
00:49:21.007 --> 00:49:21.248
Mm-hmm.
00:49:22.597 --> 00:49:25.568
You know, and, uh, I was thinking about the, the people side.
00:49:25.927 --> 00:49:26.737
Hiring side.
00:49:27.938 --> 00:49:34.297
And as I'm looking through a bunch of stuff, like on the internet, you know, I'm kind of looking, uh, I kind of started to see a theme building.
00:49:34.538 --> 00:49:41.932
And this is more of like, you think about like the millennials and, and, and Gen Z, or I mean, so these are the pe these are the people that are kind of like mm-hmm.
00:49:42.458 --> 00:49:44.318
Really getting active in the workforce.
00:49:45.728 --> 00:49:53.137
And there are, they're we predominantly five things that just kept showing up that were really, extremely important to them from a job perspective.
00:49:53.197 --> 00:49:53.557
Mm-hmm.
00:49:53.797 --> 00:49:54.398
And the first one.
00:49:54.862 --> 00:49:56.003
It's like the no-brainer.
00:49:56.632 --> 00:49:58.373
You know, they wanna be paid well, right?
00:49:59.063 --> 00:50:02.958
They wanna be adequately compensated because they all have needs and wants.
00:50:03.018 --> 00:50:03.438
Mm-hmm.
00:50:03.518 --> 00:50:05.753
And so that, you know, that needs to happen.
00:50:06.652 --> 00:50:12.862
The second thing is, uh, and, and it's obvious from the pandemic, they want flexibility.
00:50:12.952 --> 00:50:13.313
Right.
00:50:13.583 --> 00:50:18.172
You know, they, they, they, they want to know that if I'm gonna come in the office, it makes sense.
00:50:18.233 --> 00:50:19.882
Otherwise, why am I commuting?
00:50:20.498 --> 00:50:21.367
Two hours a day.
00:50:21.458 --> 00:50:21.818
Right.
00:50:22.088 --> 00:50:22.507
Et cetera.
00:50:22.507 --> 00:50:23.557
Or I've got kids.
00:50:23.648 --> 00:50:23.768
Mm-hmm.
00:50:24.007 --> 00:50:25.958
How can I, how can I maintain that balance?
00:50:25.958 --> 00:50:27.277
So they want that flexibility.
00:50:28.418 --> 00:50:29.588
They also want recognition.
00:50:29.588 --> 00:50:30.248
Mm-hmm.
00:50:30.697 --> 00:50:33.547
You know, they want to know that when I'm doing a good job.
00:50:34.057 --> 00:50:34.418
Okay.
00:50:34.717 --> 00:50:38.677
At the same time, I think kind of embedded in recognition is they want feedback.
00:50:39.038 --> 00:50:39.487
Yeah.
00:50:39.518 --> 00:50:43.867
Constructive feedback, because they wanna know what, what could I do better?
00:50:43.927 --> 00:50:44.257
Right.
00:50:44.557 --> 00:50:45.878
Because the fourth thing is.
00:50:46.882 --> 00:50:49.103
I wanna do something different in two years.
00:50:49.282 --> 00:50:50.512
So they want career growth.
00:50:50.572 --> 00:50:50.932
Right.
00:50:51.862 --> 00:50:57.983
But the fifth one is they want to know that this is a meaningful job.
00:50:58.342 --> 00:50:58.672
Yeah.
00:50:58.822 --> 00:51:01.552
I'm doing this more than just to make a buck for you.
00:51:01.822 --> 00:51:02.182
Right.
00:51:02.543 --> 00:51:06.202
I'm not doing this just to make you hit your bonus, et cetera, et cetera.
00:51:06.233 --> 00:51:06.353
Mm-hmm.
00:51:06.443 --> 00:51:08.302
I wanna know what I'm doing.
00:51:08.992 --> 00:51:13.733
Working for this organization is meaningful work and.
00:51:14.347 --> 00:51:15.967
Has some higher purpose to it.
00:51:16.057 --> 00:51:16.327
Mm-hmm.
00:51:16.688 --> 00:51:39.217
And I tell you, uh, if people don't believe that having a purpose is a wise thing, the more and more you start interviewing younger people in their twenties, people coming outta college, you're gonna find out that they're gonna be extremely selective and they're even willing probably at times, to forego dollars to have a place that really connects well with them.
00:51:39.338 --> 00:51:39.577
Mm-hmm.
00:51:40.027 --> 00:51:40.802
They're willing to do that.
00:51:41.242 --> 00:51:41.693
Yeah.
00:51:41.932 --> 00:51:42.083
So
00:51:42.083 --> 00:51:43.012
it's extremely important.
00:51:43.253 --> 00:51:43.882
Yes.
00:51:44.213 --> 00:51:44.543
Yeah.
00:51:44.902 --> 00:51:45.952
Thanks for sharing those.
00:51:46.163 --> 00:51:46.342
Yeah.
00:51:47.273 --> 00:51:58.132
Uh, any advice for, let's think of leaders out there who are, um, wanting to, uh, create cohesion in their workforce.
00:51:58.492 --> 00:51:59.018
Any advice for them?
00:51:59.018 --> 00:51:59.418
Well, I
00:51:59.452 --> 00:52:03.052
mean, I, I, I think it could start with like a, like a purpose process.
00:52:03.083 --> 00:52:03.172
Mm-hmm.
00:52:03.413 --> 00:52:07.163
I mean, I think that connects people, but if you're going to do it.
00:52:08.197 --> 00:52:09.367
You know, be ready.
00:52:09.608 --> 00:52:10.507
It doesn't end.
00:52:10.717 --> 00:52:10.958
Yeah.
00:52:11.288 --> 00:52:12.217
It just keeps going.
00:52:12.217 --> 00:52:14.918
And, and, and, and you, you have to be serious about it.
00:52:15.007 --> 00:52:15.427
Yeah.
00:52:15.427 --> 00:52:18.728
You know, because if you're not serious about it, people will see through it.
00:52:18.818 --> 00:52:18.907
Mm-hmm.
00:52:19.867 --> 00:52:24.818
And that there's more damage that can come from that than not even having a purpose.
00:52:25.447 --> 00:52:25.672
Yeah.
00:52:25.679 --> 00:52:25.777
Yeah.
00:52:25.807 --> 00:52:28.088
So, like, if you're not gonna be serious about it, I would say don't do it.
00:52:28.507 --> 00:52:28.838
Yeah.
00:52:28.842 --> 00:52:32.077
Because you, you could create a lot more problems for yourself.
00:52:32.077 --> 00:52:32.137
Yeah.
00:52:32.378 --> 00:52:34.027
So I think that's extremely important.
00:52:34.027 --> 00:52:36.427
And then, um, you know, listen to people.
00:52:37.148 --> 00:52:38.137
I think it's probably the big thing.
00:52:38.378 --> 00:52:38.677
Yeah.
00:52:38.677 --> 00:52:44.887
Just listening to people, you know, getting the temperature from them, you know, um, stuff like that.
00:52:44.918 --> 00:52:45.338
Yeah.
00:52:45.728 --> 00:52:49.177
Anything for a manager that's not in that leadership position?
00:52:49.177 --> 00:52:52.237
Uh, listening obviously applies to that person.
00:52:52.898 --> 00:53:03.878
Yeah, I, I would say, um, uh, from a manager perspective, um, make sure that, that, that you're, uh.
00:53:04.643 --> 00:53:07.882
You know, as, as tight with the purpose as, as you can be as well.
00:53:08.182 --> 00:53:17.963
And, and that you're living out those values because the last thing you want to do is you, you want to, you know, criticize someone else when you know you need to look in the mirror a little bit.
00:53:17.992 --> 00:53:18.052
Yeah.
00:53:18.052 --> 00:53:19.043
So it does get back to that.
00:53:19.342 --> 00:53:20.693
They need to live it as well.
00:53:20.693 --> 00:53:20.693
Mm-hmm.
00:53:20.757 --> 00:53:25.822
Um, I mean, otherwise it's not gonna be seen as, uh, you know, uh, you know, authentic.
00:53:26.032 --> 00:53:26.422
Yeah.
00:53:26.572 --> 00:53:26.902
Yeah.
00:53:27.682 --> 00:53:31.672
Anything else left unsaid on the topic of purpose in the workplace?
00:53:32.393 --> 00:53:32.483
I, um.
00:53:34.373 --> 00:53:36.112
I'm sure there's all kinds of stuff that could be said.
00:53:36.112 --> 00:53:37.313
We could go on for hours.
00:53:37.313 --> 00:53:37.432
I know.
00:53:37.882 --> 00:53:39.652
Yeah, prob probably, probably.
00:53:39.728 --> 00:53:40.498
I've said enough.
00:53:41.123 --> 00:53:53.512
I appreciate you sharing your story and living out purpose every day in your life, whether it's in the workforce or now in retirement through the three Cs, so thank you.
00:53:53.992 --> 00:53:54.052
Yeah.
00:53:54.052 --> 00:53:54.054
Second half.
00:53:55.012 --> 00:53:56.313
Second half that, right?
00:53:56.313 --> 00:53:56.632
Not that old.
00:53:56.663 --> 00:53:57.172
Yes.
00:53:58.043 --> 00:53:59.307
And in your second half?
00:53:59.307 --> 00:53:59.710
That's second half.
00:54:00.202 --> 00:54:00.353
Yeah.
00:54:00.443 --> 00:54:00.952
Appreciate it,
00:54:00.952 --> 00:54:01.373
Leslie.
00:54:01.492 --> 00:54:02.632
It was always great talking with you.
00:54:02.753 --> 00:54:03.623
Thank you.
00:54:04.882 --> 00:54:10.672
Talking with Jim reminded me that purpose in business isn't just about having a mission statement.
00:54:11.032 --> 00:54:16.822
It's about taking responsibility for helping others find meaning in what they do.
00:54:17.543 --> 00:54:21.202
Jim didn't stop at creating a good work environment.
00:54:21.563 --> 00:54:23.213
He went deeper.
00:54:23.422 --> 00:54:39.353
He made a long-term commitment, not to a project, but to the people and to the purpose that would keep the business alive, and maybe most importantly, he was honest about the effort that it takes.
00:54:40.193 --> 00:54:45.563
Purpose isn't always easy, and it's not something that you just do and let it sit.
00:54:46.387 --> 00:54:51.307
It requires ongoing effort and an ongoing commitment.
00:54:52.117 --> 00:54:57.338
Jim, thank you for leading with purpose, and thanks to all of you for listening in.
00:54:57.608 --> 00:55:07.958
I hope this episode inspires you to show up fully committed to your work, to your people, and to the purpose that fuels it all.