رونوشت کامل Run Toward the Storm: Leading a Team Through a Season of Adversity | Quin Hatfield

heart attack and some different things and so they were looking to make a change and Molly Miller came to me late twenty nineteen and and said, Hey, we're looking to make a change. I thought she was gonna say, Hey, do you know anybody? Do you have any recommendations? Yeah, right. I'm looking I'm look I'm looking for somebody. You got any ideas? Yeah, exactly. and man, it was one of those moments where God opens a door, you know, that you really didn't even have in any anywhere, man, remotely close to your vision or even within your periphery, and she said, We think you're the guy. And so here I am, man, at twenty years at a company and I'm at a crossroads. All right. man, I love this game. it's i I felt like I was really being called to do this, but I had a really a great career going, invested a lot of time. There's a lot with that. So took a leap of faith, man. And said, hey, let's let's pursue this. Let's let's go here. Let's do it full time. Go to work at Christchurch, become the head football coach, work in the athletics department and see how this thing goes. So that was in February of twenty twenty. And now here we are in year seven and It's been a it's been an awesome journey. There's certainly been a lot of, highs and lows, but but man, really grateful for the opportunity and it's it's just like I said, man, been one of those things that I didn't have necessarily in my, you know, five to ten year plan, but that's what God does, man. When you say, Hey Mook, your will be done, strap up, man, buckle up, see what's gonna happen. So what what was what was that like when you you made that decision and then you go to your boss at the the previous thing, you said, Hey, look, I I think I'm gonna go pursue this full time football career. Yeah. I'll never forget it, dude. I I I made that call to her. I'm sitting outside the YMCA, okay, on Cleveland Street. I can remember like we just said, worked out over lunch and I'm sitting in my vehicle facing the you know fields out there. I I remember where I was parked and I call her and I said, Hey, I gotta have a conversation with you. generally speaking, these conversations, this is usually something heavy, right? It's like, Hey, hey, you got you got a minute? That's that's what always Hey, you got you got a minute? Can I get five minutes? Yeah, and She said, What's up? And I said, Hey, look, I there's an opportunity that that I just can't turn down. And, I think at first she was probably like, Okay, you're leaving to go to a competitor right in that industry. And I said, here's here's what it is. And she said and she was an awesome false and she said, I get it a hundred percent and I know your story, I know how you're wired and and and this sounds like a great opportunity for you. So it was one of those things where it was good sort of a assurance or reassurance that this is the right thing. You know, people kind of saw it and but it wasn't a it wasn't an easy conversation here. Yeah, yeah. Well no, I c

I can only imagine and obviously just a major pivot. And obviously you're talking to your wife and, friends and family about this and knowing your wiring, right? And and where you've come from, and but also saying, look, man, you got this pretty successful career, you're you're a leader, you're making great money, you're doing all these things, and you're gonna, you're gonna make a complete pivot. Was there was there ever a moment in, in y'all's family or friends, did did did anybody ever say, Hey, dude, I'm I'm not sure this is the right move for you? Or was everybody like, No, I g I get it. this makes perfect sense. And did you did you ever have any doubts? yeah. Yeah, man. For for sure. I tried to really talk to we all have our circle, right? Our sphere of influence and you try to really consult those people. It's not a real big group of people. And I think I here's what helped a lot. We had time. So when I first had that conversation with Molly Miller, it was probably around December the twelfth. And I took the job right around Valentine's Day. So, you're talking about two months to really have conversations, work through it. you know, a lot of just seeking counsel, but also prayer and and just kind of sitting on it. So the the time was a blessing. I'll say that. were there doubts? yeah, man. But but I think the thing that the end of the day that I said and and was like, hey man, I don't want to live with any regrets. And if I take this leap of faith, and let's just say it doesn't work out, right? Let's just say that man, it's it's just wasn't successful. I messed it up, whatever. I s always thought back of my mind I got twenty years of a successful track record of sales, sales leadership connections that I could go back to. Yep. Right. now, like you said, the family piece of that is I mean, Chris, I had to have, I will say the right word, the the blessing of my wife. that was the biggest thing. And and and she, you know, again, we at that time had been married for I guess about eight no, let's see, probably about sixteen years at that point. And and she was she kind of saw how everything played out and saw how the opportunity presented and had been a part of the journey for a while. But there was hesitation there, right? I mean, how's it gonna impact the family and know a lot of things we have to take into consideration, finances and all these different things. she was the last one to kinda come to me and that was the the piece I needed and that probably happened in early February. She was like I never she wrote me a note and she basically said, Where you go I will and and she said, We're in this together. And when I got that, that was the last piece. Let's go. Yeah. and see how this thing goes. It's it's amazing the impact of your wife. we just we've been going through a bunch of stuff here in the here in our company with we've sold a couple of divisions and we've bought a company and just major, major structural shifts. And it's funny, like I've never been somebody that I don't need affirmation and like I don't need people to build me up. Like if if my team comes to thank me for something, I'm always like I like I you know. And which is why the podcast is funny because I'm terrible at self-promotion. I don't I don't enjoy self-promotion, but I'm putting myself out here publicly to talk about this stuff. but it's it's one of those things. But the power of of your spouse, you know, your your wife's buy-in to it, like I I could pass up a hundred people's, you know, affirmation or support or or criticism, and it just doesn't bother me. But but but when having you know Casey have my wife's affirmation, so going through all these challenging times that we've been going through. all all really good, but just hard. It's just hard it's hard work. you know, having her behind me made it made it possible. So I can imagine, you know, these sorts of of career choices that you're going through as well. I mean, you know, major shift, major transition. You're like, Hey, it's all good, but if you're not on board, like I'm I'm not sure I'm ready for this. Yeah, and and going back to like you said, man, that's the that relationship, man, is they know us the best, right? it's we talk about teams and leader that's the most important team we're on, right? The husband and wife team. But then it goes back to, my wife too. all through the years of of of corporate life, man, we moved a lot. I mean, we picked up the family and moved from Greenville to Chicago and before that, Nashville back to Greenville and then Atlanta and then Greenville again and so it just had been a long journey of all of that and and a lot of blessings, but a lot of change too. And then here we are facing another major change and it's like, Okay, I thought we were done with all this kind of stuff, right? Yep. But that's just That's life, man. It comes in and out of left field sometimes. Yeah. Well and and the reality is you're never done. You know what I mean? you just you sit there. I've we've been talking about I'm like, man, as soon as I finish all these things, we'll be things will settle down and then we'll start doing, XYZ and I can I can have some some stability and then sure enough, man, just it just it just it just keeps coming. So well I th what curious curious the not only did you take over as head football coach, but I I I'm kind of I don't really ever talk about COVID or anything, but you also took over into a into a pretty crazy time too, right? So, so I guess thinking about setting the the the vision and the and the and the pace and the tone and for how you're gonna build the program. And you know, do you honor the past, you know, or do you completely focus on on kind of your vision, your message, and then and then obviously trying to communicate during that challenging time. But like what what was that, what was that process like for you and in getting started and getting getting the team bought into who you are and

where you're going. You got coaches that gotta buy into you. You got parents and and faculty. You got you got, new players and so what what was that process like? Yeah, by like you said, the timing was very interesting. took the job in mid February, had one team meeting when everybody was there, right? And then it shut down. so everything became This kind of stuff right here, what we're doing, trying to connect with the players where you really don't have a lot of rapport yet. we were sending workouts out on on on our communication app and we were having phone conversations. So that made it that made it very challenging. but I think on the flip side of that, what I ha I said helped, I mean, coming out of COVID is when we finally got approval to get together in early June. everybody was so eager to do something. Yeah. Right. So your participation, your engagement was was at an all time high because everybody just wanted to be back together in the context of whatever. So that ended up helping. But to answer your question, I think again at that time, like I said, the program, had moved to two A and and and had some struggles, really. And and, you know, there was It was some negativity around just, hey, can we compete at this level? And and some engagement had dropped. And so you certainly I wanted to honor the past. a tremendous track record there in the what two thousand eleven, twelve, thirteen, fourteen. Chris, that it was fifty five game winning streak, man. It's a state record and four state championships in a row and that wasn't too far to distant pass. So you wanna honor that and we still do that. we got guys that come back and speak. We got some of those players on our staff now, which is great. but you needed a we needed a vision. We needed a a different approach. We needed a different vision and and so trying to engage everybody around that to your point players we get the right coaches on board number one. Like do you have the right team around you and then does everybody share that vision and then collectively communicating that which we did and we just Man, it's corny. I've always been a a motto type guy. Even going back to corporate something sticks and and it's still there. you've seen it. We use the word elevate. We've used it from day one. And we said first thing is we've got to elevate our mindset, right? What we think we can accomplish. And that's the first thing. Get it right right here. And then elevate our work ethic, what we're putting into it in the weight room, in practice, how we're doing all these things. And that will lead to an elevation of performance. we were I was sold on that, I was confident in that. If we do these things, start here, work like crazy, be great teammates and our core values, which we can talk about, then we're going to compete and we're gonna have success. Yeah, and I and I love that 'cause I I see, you know, the the the shirts and you know the everything that everybody has, that just that word elevate, and you can use it on so many different levels. So did you Did you have that in your mind or that run up to the the release where you did how did you land on the word elevate? Was that something you'd used in the past or or did it just did it come to you for football? W Yeah. I had not used it in the past. And it's a great question, man. As I've sit here and reflect like where it came from. I feel like it was it was just one of those things is yeah, I was taking a job and I I remember the first talk. In fact, I got my notes, man. From that first point when, I got in front of the parents, I got in front of the team, and it was there then. So it had to be somewhere in that December, January, February, it's coming through. All right, what's the vision? Where do we want to go? And I think that I I remember going to a basketball game in January. And I had not taken the job yet. But I obviously I was in the interview process and working through everything. And I'd never been to a Christchurch basketball game at that point. I'm again I had kids, I had a son there, but I'd never been to a basketball game. And I remember watching the game and I looked up in the rafters. You've been in the gym before, and you see all the state championship banners, right? And I remember seeing the football ones, and I'm like, We're gonna hang another banner. All right. We're gonna elevate it. was like that whole program back. So I it was somewhere around there, man, it all came together. I don't remember exactly. Yeah. And then and then what was the so so you you release you release the vision, there's a there's a level of maturity, I would say, when you're when you're talking to a a parent or maybe a faculty member or a coworker, but then you got a bunch of teenagers, right? You gotta you gotta go to you gotta go to this program of probably, your youngest players, probably what, fourteen, fifteen, all the way up to eighteen, nineteen. And so, how how do you how do you manage the messaging? of of vision seeking and all of this or or or is there a difference? Do you do you speak do you speak to an adult the same way you speak to a a a young man or what's what's h how do you mount I guess meter and and manage your messaging for the way that you communicate between those two? Yeah. I think it's very similar. I I really do, man. I think it's very similar whether you and I are talking and sharing vision or whether, we're talking to a group of parents or or players. the the the communication, maybe the tone is a is a bit different. But I think the thing with with in that situation and even moving forward to now, and we'll get into some of the adversity we had, is you've gotta you've gotta get your your seniors on board, you know, and whether it's the actual seniors or the the seniority, right, of the group. And and I think and that's a two way sort of thing, right? I mean that's casting a vision and getting feedback and trying to tap into where their mindset is. But I

do remember, that group specifically, we called them the thirsty thirteen. We named a seniors every year and and they were just they got to thirsty thirteen because they were just so, man, thirsty or hungry for success. Right. And and there was and there was some talent in there. And they just hadn't had it, but you could tell they were waiting on something, somebody to believe in them and and maybe just a a different approach and so getting those guys on board through phone conversations, through follow up, you know, was instrumental. And that group I still give a lot of credit to. The growth of the program goes back to that that senior group, the Thirsty Thirteen. Well I can imagine you like you j you just think about the one thing that we've talked about internally here is that when we talk about leadership is leadership's not always a title but it's a state of mind, you know, and you're and you're you're leading by example whether you know it or not. Like er somebody's always watching. You know what I mean? It's like a think about you've got the you've got your coaches, you and the coaches and the staff and the parents and you've got to make sure you've got them on board and, communicating the same way and saying the same things and carrying forward the message. But there's something about having, peers, whether to your point they're seniors or or or appearing to be in of more seniority or more experience or more, talent or whatever whatever it is up is It's almost that that's almost probably more important for you than to some extent the coaches because you you would think to some extent the younger guys are gonna look up to and emulate and follow the the the the older guys as opposed to the coaches. And I've seen that with with my own boys and how, I can sit there or or or the coaching staff or anybody can sit there and and and they can take pieces of of what we're teaching them. But but when they see an an older guy or somebody that is is perceived to be, more experienced or have seniority, when they see them displaying those behaviors, I feel like it carries a ten X weight on it. And I've seen I've seen that with my kids. I've seen them talk about the older guys and how they've done this and how they've come up to them on the side and they've said these things. So I can imagine that's probably one of the more important things you gotta do. It it is, man. No doubt. you hit the nail on the head. It's just it's a different level of influence, right? Because Whether it's a connection point or respect, hey, they're in the trenches with me, they get it, or hey, they were freshmen three years ago, just that perspective. Yeah, the best teams are are are or player led or in in the corporate world or, you know, people on the team, you know, the captains, it that's that's leadership, man. That's where really the difference maker comes in. So have you have you seen I'm just curious over the you know, I guess seven seven years, have you seen a a a any

sort of change or shift in obviously you ebb and flow with with the athletes that you have, number of people that you have in the program and but there's probably some consistency in coaching and messaging and getting my older guys on board and all that. Have you seen a shift at all in like the the the youth? Like you know, to your point, you when you first started there's this like pent up excitement and demand and ready to get back out there and, you know, versus like today. Like is Is there any is there any fundamental shift or change that you've seen in in your players? this call it this generation or, you know, how you coach or how you lead, you know, six or seven years later as opposed to when you started? Has it has there been a shift or is it is it pretty consistent? Yeah, I think Man, I'm just thinking back on the the seniors we've had. we've got the biggest senior class we've ever had since I've been there this year. We have fifteen. what's what's what's their name? What's the what's the senior's name this year? Fuel the fuel and fifteen. Fuel and fifteen? Yeah, fuel fifteen. Fuel fifteen, okay. Yeah, it's like this this group's got a lot of energy, right? Like the gas, right? The juice. that's kind of where that came from. man, I I think part of it is, you know, we're we're at Christ Church Episcopal School, right? And I think there's a, you know, our community as a whole and what our kids are exposed to, you know, outside of sports, you know, the the character piece is different, right? Than what a lot of kids are getting is is say, you know, if they've been there since the ten, eleven, twelve years old. So I do think there's a consistency piece of what I'm trying to say. I I do think I've seen a difference. COVID, I think definitely had an impact. we talked about that earlier and what kids had to deal with. So maybe some of the, seniors from five, six years ago t versus now, and maybe a little bit of a difference in maturity. and just again what they've had to deal with. But the other part from a football perspective is man, these early guys that there was there weren't any expectations. Right? it's been like this, right? So it's just trying to get it now. Now you've got guys that are coming in and having to carry on a legacy, the seniors that, hey man, we've been really successful. Now this is our time to take over and there's a I don't know if the right word is pressure, but there's an anticipation that comes with that. Yeah. Yeah, some sort of expectation of the past. I I can't I can't let my class be the one that messes us up or doesn't succeed and So how so how do you, I cut so pivoting just a little bit, so obviously we we've gone from two A to now three A. So we're dealing with much, much larger programs, much larger schools. you know, this has been a tough season for for a variety of for a variety of reasons. Like so, so how do you in that? You've got your seniors that have this expectation of wanting to wanting to leave their legacy. You know, you have your kind of, you know, obviously you and the coaching staff and the school's ambitions of wanting to have a successful program. you've been faced, the program has been faced with adversity just through a lot of these shifts and changes. talk a little bit about how you just generally think about that and how you manage and communicate that to to really everybody that's involved. Yeah. Well, I think it's like you said, I think it's important to kind of level set on what we faced this year. you know, we've we were really successful. We had first couple of years out there, we were two A and we were a play away from being an upper state championship year two. as a two of eight team. Then we dropped the one A and had a great run, back to back state championships. And then we get pushed all the way from one A to four A. And then we had to appeal with the high school league. And and all that came for for the audience here based on the South Carolina High School League implementing a multiplier, which had never happened in the state of South Carolina, meaning any kid that goes to your school outside of your attendance all counts as three. So that really shot us up from, raw enrollment numbers, which it what it was based on the classification, shot us all the way to four A. We appealed with the league. They took us down to three A. So this is our third year of playing in three A. you know, we were six and five in twenty twenty four and we were eight and four last year. Had a really good team, you know, made a run in the playoffs. And to your point, this year, several things have played into this year. First thing is we're already at a already at disadvantage. Let's just call it what it is, and roster size and the differential and and three A. We need to get our roster up to thirty five to thirty eight guys and that's conversation that's happened between myself and athletics leadership and admissions and administration. And so that's part of it. then you run into you've been successful in three A, so it's harder to get teams on schedule that are one and two A teams, right? Well they don't play three A. So you get a lot of scheduling challenges, which we've had a man, we've had a gauntlet. Yeah. we played a as we played a top ten team in the state of Virginia. We played a top ten team in four A, which Hilton Head, the rival this year, right across the the the way there's they got a good team this year. I think they're ranked in the top eight or so two A anyways. All that said, we've had a really tough schedule. and then we get hit with all these injuries that I've never experienced so many injuries this early in the year, which we've tried to evaluate that what we're doing, what we're not doing, if there's you know patterns there that we can disrupt. so we were down eight starters stuff at that game and J went on down to tilt head we lost two guys and ended up having to cancel again which We never had to do before, never

want to do. Took away a Friday night from guys, right? Because we were just so hit hard with injuries. so it's just been a really challenging year with all of those things. However, he said, you know, how do you how do you work through all that? think is what we were talking about. Yeah, I mean how just yeah, 'cause you you you've got that and and you wanna You wanna call it what it is, right? But then you also don't wanna rest on that and and let up 'cause it's an opportunity to learn and to continue to elevate and grow. And so yeah, how do you how do you manage those those those messages with with the your team in particular, to keep keep their spirits high and to keep them pushing and the value the value of of dealing with these levels of adversity. how do you how do you manage that? Yeah, it look, man, it's been challenging. been very challenging. I think it goes back to what we talked about earlier, you leave you lean on your your your your captains, your senior leaders. And I think we've had, just out of I think opportunity, necessity, whatever, we've had more just team meetings where we just sit there and say, let's talk. And what's our mindset? you know, I can I can try to give you a vision and or some of that, right? To keep everybody engaged. Don't get me wrong. We're doing that. But we also need to hear from them. You know, and sometimes guys just need to talk, man. Why is all this happen? All right. And then we don't want to get stuck in that why too long, but we need to we need to allow a place for that to to to to to be addressed. And but I think the biggest thing is, man, and we talked about it yesterday. We have a we have a verse of the week. Every week we use a scripture verse that has something to do with where we are in the seat. And and just yesterday at your practice, we talked about it. It's from Philippians three thirteen. And essentially what Paul is saying is a I know one thing. We're gonna forget what is behind and strain towards what is ahead. Right. And and and you don't you learn from the past, you build on it, but you can't get stuck in it. And we're going into region play. So this is part of how and the guys see this. I mean they they know where we are, that we still got a chance to win the region. We got our first region game. We feel like we can compete when anybody in the region. And one of our goals in the program is for every player that comes through our our our program to win a championship of some nature, right? So four games left are all reason games that carry extra weight. We're at a place where we've got more continuity over the last few weeks with same guys being in practice and not having to move down around that injury. So I feel like we're at a point climbing and we're gonna play our best ball down the down the final stretch here. Yeah, and and I I remember you and I talked about this when we had coffee that one time. It's just you you think about also why why are you doing all this too? And you you

talked about you said that one of the biggest influences in your entire life growing up as a kid was was football, right? And obviously it's it's so much more than than just what happens on the field. And so you you've got this balance of wanting to make sure that you focus the the kids' attention on on on winning and championships and and and performing on the field, but then you you And I and I know you do, right? Is you also have this balance of of of what you're doing this for long term, the the dealing with this level of adversity, winning or losing, working hard, relying on on other people, following or leading other individuals, these are these are skill sets they're gonna have for the rest of their life and we'll carry them into college and and professional career and maybe create, future coaches like yourself. So, how do you in in your mindset as a coach, how do you balance those two things of really focusing on the current season individual team performance, versus the kind of the skill sets that they're building for the future. Yeah. Well, I I think that's one of the the biggest things about this season is the amount of adversity and how you respond to the point you just made. I mean in that life maybe we were talking about it earlier. I mean, you know, we were talking about vehicles messing up to, you know, sometimes you know things in marriage in the workplace, you know How do respond? And and that's that's been the message, you know, that's that's been a lot of focus is resilience and building that skill set and and and relying on each other. but it it's a balance, man. I mean at the end of the day we're trying to win games. There's no doubt about it. But through, you know, the blueprint leadership program that we haven't even talked about, that is that is just skill set that's stuff beyond the the the field, the life skills, the the relationship piece between the verses of the week, between the leadership academy that we do that that that one of your sons is involved in right now. we try to wrap that around as part of the experience. And I personal vision statement, you know, that is the thing at the top. It does say it says we want to be a championship winning team, but we want to create a meaningful experience. Right. And that meaningful experience is making sure I'm being intentional with things that are happening. in the season, in life of the kids, related to through the game of football, but it's certainly important, man. it's certainly important. I mean kids want to win, man. We got kids that work so hard. You know, but that's that's part of it, right? Man, we we you know you know we we we put all this effort into things sometimes and we don't get results that we think we should get or that we want and what do you do with that man? How do you learn from it? Yeah Well, I also think it just especially, one of the great things that we get to do at Christ Church is obviously have the have more of a faith-based conversation and teach that faith-based conversation. And, I'd I I have been recently just trying to just trying to have more faith in the things that that we've been going through, good or bad, right? And just and I've always been more of a mindset of like, all right, I got this, I'm gonna control it, I'm gonna try and do these things and and and you know, it's it's served me well and it hasn't, right? And but then recently just trying to think about there's so many things that are outside of my control, is how do I continue just focus on the things that I can control and then just have faith, put put this at at God's hands and let him guide me and lead me and and help show me the way. And I think that's such a cool thing that we can do as well is, that, for for any of the players or any of the coaches, any of the parents that are going through, success or adversity is what you know, what what is what's God teaching me in this moment that I can that I can learn from and continue to to move and it might be putting me through an experience that's gonna ultimately change the course of the trajectomy of my life, of the rest of the season, of this next game. And so, I know that one thing that and and so my son that it that started in the in the leadership thing, he's he's super excited about it and and and obviously having that next level dialogue. And so I agree with you, man. I think it's just that it's that whole program. You know what I mean? It's it's how how do you develop these young men and and women, 'cause the leadership academy and the blueprint, that's I that's for all the it talk about that just for a second. That's for that's for folks in any of the athletics, right? That's right. Yeah. The Leadership Academy is for junior student athletes at Christchurch. Really that's only the the the requirement is you're a junior and you play a sport. So male, female, the the blueprint program is different and that starts ninth, tenth, eleventh, twelfth and you know, there's curriculum and everything we've built for each class specifically and it builds and that's new. We just kicked that off in July for the first time. We were all some ambassadors on board, former players, some community members to serve in a different leadership capacity to build some relationships and part some wisdom, things like that. So we're just we're still building that as we go, but leadership academy and you've spoken to that academy before has been there for I think about ten years. but again it's all just extra support. different opportunities that we can offer at Christ Church that hopefully creates a different experience and and equips them in a different ma way than maybe they get other places. Yeah. Yeah, no, I love it. I enjoyed speaking that that that day and you got a good you got a good group and it's funny you s you just and this this happens like throughout my entire life. Like sometimes and and and you might feel this way as well. Like a as a leader, sometimes you're and

maybe it's just me, but you're you're just either ignorant or or you just don't you don't account for the impact that you could potentially make on somebody. And and I remember I I listened to a podcast, Andy Stanley does a leadership podcast that I that I love and I've listened to his sermons and stuff before. And you know, he had this one statement around, you know, everybody expects, you know, to do, you know, whatever can do for one, you should do for everyone. Right. So I should, I should, you know, do all these things for all these individual people. And he had this one story about, you know, it's really, it's really Do for one what you can do for everyone and go going deep. And if you, if you impact one person, in in in a meaningful way, the exponential effect of that, as opposed to, I I gotta I gotta do this for everybody and every single thing and spreading yourself too thin. And so what was cool with a cool experience for me was that, you know, that one day I came over and and spoke and I just kinda talked about the things that I that I always talk about. And and so and and you you don't really think about the impact. But then after that I've had players and people come up to me, number one, just to say, Hey, right. And just say, Hey, Mr. Faye, and blah, blah, blah. But then but then also have just said, I love what you said, or that that thing really that thing really hit me hard. Or that that, I was and all of a sudden God, man, actually people people actually listen to this, people actually listen to this. And I think about in our company too. I just 'cause I I have the the same mantras and messaging and and quotes and stuff that we continually use inside of our organization. And Sometimes you feel like it's fallen on deaf ears, but then you have that one individual or two individuals come up to you and they're like, Man, that really resonated. I'm gonna I'm gonna take action on that. It just it's like that fuel that keeps you going as a leader. Say, Okay, what I'm what I'm doing is is is is is for good and it's making an impact and I've gotta continue to do that. I gotta continue to speak these messages and and continue to deliver the same message over and over and reinforce these concepts because it's working, Yeah, I think what you're saying, man, is it's the the power of Just and it's hard because it takes consistency, it takes a lot of endurance as just to show up, right? As a leader, as you're leading your company, as you're leading your family to show up and try to try to be authentic and bring your best. And where I'm going with that, as you were talking, I thought about this. I just read something recently about Bobby Cox, you know, long time manager of the Braves and tremendous success and great baseball knowledge and who knows all the leadership stuff and coaching, but One of his former excuse me, one of his former players, I can't remember which one. They were just talking about leadership lessons from different leaders in their lives. And he said the thing that he took away from Bobby Cox the most, and this really stuck with me, especially during this season, man, that we're in. he said you'd sit down in his office or you'd engage with him, and you would never know by that interaction, by his demeanor, if they were on a five game winning streak. or a five game losing streak because that's just who he was. And the power of showing up, right, and bringing your best because you're gonna set a tone as a leader, right? And everybody's gonna play off of that. Yep. Yeah, and way and and you know, to that point is whether you show up flat or whether you show up fired up, I mean they're gonna follow that. You know, it kind of goes back to that that let leading by example and just, you know, I think about that in in in kind of the way that I carry myself from time to time. And people are always like, Hey, you good? How you doing? I'm I'm I'm all good, man. let's let's keep going. And and just trying to trying to keep that excitement and that momentum alive, and I think that's our our jobs as as the the top the top individuals in our companies or teams or or or programs is and it's a and it's a tough spot too, because sometimes you gotta you gotta put on a vibe or a face or you gotta show up when you don't wanna show up, or you don't wanna have that vibe, you wanna be You wanna feel free to be human and and express disappointment or express, the lack of motivation for that individual day. And so, I I'm I you think about how to how to do that and making sure you've got, you know, an outlet of of somebody to speak to and to share those concerns with you. But, you know, I've always just thought about them, you know, the the way that you carry yourself in front of your team and that's that's that's ultimately what's gonna what's gonna dictate how they follow you. Yeah. I was the other day we were doing a thing in the Leadership Academy and trying to level set on a definition of leadership. it's such a broad topic, right? And where we landed is a person's ability to influence through saying, doing, and being. Okay, yeah, that makes sense. Vocal component, what you say, doing, yeah, you got to lead by example, but this idea of being, and we were talking with the leadership academy members, like, what does that mean? And it's it's simply this. What is it like to be around Chris Fake? what is the vibe you put off? What is your demeanor? And that is a huge level of influence, probably above what you say and what you do, right? So what is it like to be around you as a person, as a leader? Yeah. Yeah. No, I I I love it, man. I think about that. I think about that often, especially, you know, with with young kids and and you know, teenage boys now. And and obviously you got you got one that's in s in in college and one that's still coming up through school and you know, the influence that you have on them. You know what I mean? And the way that you communicate with them. And it's

been really interesting to think about, let's call it three to four years ago. we were in kid stage. You know what I mean? so they're they're they look up to dad, they do whatever dad, says or mom says, and now we're in this more peer environment, a with a seventeen year old and a fifteen year old. And, they're f I'm seeing the the impact of the of the way that I carried myself being influenced in them, both good and bad. Right. You know what I mean? Both good and bad. And so, you see that influence come to life. for sure. Well what so Quint kind of thinking for for you for you individually as a as a leader and and know like where where where where's your head at? You know, kinda what have you learned not only over the past seven years, but like this season, if you were to if you were to kind of think about what you're going through right now, like how has that changed you as a leader? When what what what have what have you learned? What will you carry forward as you think about your your own leadership, your own your own life? Yeah. Well I I I don't know that I have a great answer for that right now. And and I'm I'm kinda stuck in the current moment, right? I hate to we'll we'll talk about it from right now and then over the last seven years, but what you were talking about a moment ago is we're going through some adversity and we asked that question, what what what am I what am I what what is God teaching me right now, right? And sorted out who am I becoming, right? And it's hard to see that when you're in the storm. Right. Right. Which I feel like we're kinda in a storm right now with the season and all the adversity and Story's still being written, which is which is awesome, right? It's not over yet. and and I don't know till we get beyond that and we look back, do we have some kind of lessons and takeaways and you have some, I guess, revelation. but over the last seven years, man, I think the biggest thing for me is it's reminding me, and it's just how I'm wired, man. I'm relationship driven. And whether it was in the corporate world, building relationships with with folks across the organization or people I was working with, or just building relationships with these young men that hopefully go, man, far beyond, the field. And then when they go on in life like this past summer, no, it wasn't summer, last March. I had a really neat thing that happened to me. First time that one of the players that I coached got married and I went and was a part of the of the wedding, right? And being a part of that life. And so it's just it's been a reminder for me that hey, this is where I've called you. This is what it's about, relationships and trying to you know, just just have a make a difference, man. And I think also the thing about it is you know, be willing to take some risk. Right as hard, man. You know, we wanna we wanna we wanna calculate everything. We wanna have everything defined and and that's not real when the when the real stuff happens, right? You gotta get out and step out and and push yourself and be willing to to to to take some leaps, man, of faith and hard to do, but man, that's when the real growth and I feel like the the the real good stuff happens, man. Yeah, it's funny. We we talk about that here. So it's it's all it's all fun and games when it's on a whiteboard. Like you can you craft a you craft a vision and a plan and you're you're like, man, you got, you congratulations. It's like, hey, now it's now it's time to actually put this in action, man. And that that's that's where the stuff goes because nothing's ever gonna go as you expect it to go. And so how do you, how do you get that vision, but then be able to you know, pivot and change and and take risks and and and and grow through the process. And I you know, I think that's been something that's been interesting to learn for me is just to think about, you know, everybody reacts to adversity, change, success differently. You know, they just they just they just react differently. And so, you know, learning about, you know, how people like some of our team, we we're in a technical, a technical business, right? So in the in the software space, you have some people that are very like engineering minded, right? And so they're they have a hard time dealing with change and adversity. And then you have, you know, kind of a sail more sales organization, probably more like more like you and I, leadership sales organization, others, operations folks that that just kinda they're they're good with it. yep, let's go that way. Let's go that way. And so, trying to manage the messages of those of those two individuals and just how how people respond differently. But that's what makes it exciting, man. And that's what makes the relationship building and the leadership and the coaching and all that just so so worth it is to help help navigate that team through whatever whatever season you're going through. storm or sunny skies, man. Yeah. And i man, is it's it's anything we're doing, right? It's We talked about the marriage and the team earlier. You talk about, your organization where I was previously. when you have good people around you, right, and you believe in those people and there's a shared vision, like that's that's that's that's what you want. And when you have that, you can take those risks, right? We can we can pressure test, we can get through the times of adversity, right? And And that's what that's that's where that's where the stuff happens. Yeah. That's awesome, man. Well, Quinn, I can't tell you how much I've I enjoyed you having y'all, man. I I I remember hearing, your messages throughout the years and and honestly, man, just thank you for the impact that you've made on on not only the school, but also my boys. my my two sons that have been in your in your program and have and have been, under your leadership and under your team's leadership and just watching how that's influenced them, man. So I can't tell you how much I appreciate that work that you've done and and definitely here to support you any way that we that we can. Yeah, man. Hey, I appreciate you. Thanks for having me on and go calves. Go calves, man. And hey, look, I'm gonna we're after the season's over, we're gonna do a part B and we're gonna come back and talk about the the learnings. Get get you through the get you through the storm. We talk we talked about be being the buffalo. That was one thing. We had a quick quick story. I had a we had a a a leadership meeting and we asked everybody to bring bring an item with them. And so everybody brought a personal item that had a influence on them and what have you. I I can't I think I brought my hockey jersey or something and but this one guy brought up brought the Buffalo and it was really interesting because he was he was leading our I would say a challenging division, a division that was going through a lot of external pressures and the three D printing and technical space and vendor challenges and all this sort of stuff. And he told the story and I never heard it before, but about you know, about being the Buffalo and when a when a storm comes, the cat the cows and the cattle typically run away from the storm. And so eventually the storm catches them. And as they're running away from the storm, they end up being in the storm a lot longer, because they're going with it. And he said, But the buffalo, when storms come, always run into the storm. And it's, you know, it's it's it's challenging and it's it's hard and it might hit you in the face a little bit harder, but you get through it so much faster. And so he ha he said, his daughter would always give him these little, you know, stuffed animals and stuff like that. And so One of his mantras was to try and be the buffalo. so any challenge he was facing, he's not he's not gonna run away from it, he's gonna run run towards it. So anyway, let that was part parting word, a little story. You've probably heard that before, but I was just I like that. Buffalo something that always I like that. All right, brother. Well, I appreciate your time today, man. That was awesome. Did you did a great job. Thank you, man. Have a good one. All right, brother. Okay, thanks for joining me on Built With Purpose. If you have enjoyed today's episode, subscribe, share, and leave us a review. It helps more bold leaders find the show. For resources and show notes, visit our website and connect with me, Chris Fay, on LinkedIn. Until next time, keep building great companies, cultures, and legacies with Perks.