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Welcome to the Chadco Leadership Insight Podcast.
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I'm thrilled to be able to have Richard Label.
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People don't change because information, they change because of experience.
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And if you can't get an audience to laugh, you'll never get them to truly listen.
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Keeping audiences engaged during high-stakes corporate events is a major challenge for executives.
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My friend and guest, Richard Label, veteran corporate MC, co-founder of the Agility Group, 10-year alumnus of the Chicago Second City, has hosted over a thousand events for Fortune 500 giants like Cisco, SAP, and Pepsi.
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Using applied improvisational, Richard helps leaders and teams master adaptability and transform passive crowds into active participants.
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You know what?
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I love the smile.
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Welcome to the podcast.
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Wow, that is impressive.
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It's it's but just touches the surface.
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You know what I love about it?
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When you can improve, memorized.
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When you could improv, you could say anything you want, and no matter what, it's always right.
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It's always right.
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You can't be yes and a lot of it.
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Yes, and right.
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So you are a professional who understands how to cause and help people laugh, become relaxed, and be open to all the possibilities that are out there.
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It's true, but it's not by telling jokes.
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I I never tell jokes in my job, it's setting up scenarios and being present with the audience, going out and talking to people, having them help me with the humor.
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Humor comes out of the situation and the reality of it.
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So a lot of people that MC meetings are comedians who tell jokes in between speakers.
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I go about it a little different way.
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Some people come out, they thank the last speaker, they tell a joke, introduce the next speaker.
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I come out, thank the last speaker, and then I find something out about the next speaker that's interesting.
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Maybe they went to Mount Kilimanjaro, they have eight kids, they own 12 Harleys, and I bring that person out and we chat for a moment.
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It does a couple of things.
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A, it humanizes them to the audience, and B, it makes them relax on stage so they don't have to come out and start talking right away.
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They've already been in conversation with me.
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Then I ask them, so what are we talking about today?
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And they go over that and I go, ladies and gentlemen, it's a nice hand for Chad Co.
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And they get a round of applause.
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They've already settled into the stage for a couple of minutes.
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The audience has gotten to know them as a human and not just the senior vice president of sales.
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So it's more about being present with that person and really deeply listening to what they said.
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And then that's what I do.
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But when you're in a corporate event, and we're going to get it even into the corporate team building and the structure for the audience, but I find that when I go to a lot of corporate events, there's there's that hyper kind of executives that's nervous, she's there, he's there, and they just speak to speak, but they don't cause emotion to the audience.
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How did you learn that an emotional audience is a better audience for everybody?
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I don't know if I'd go with the word emotional.
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We want the audience to be attentive and we want them to be, I think, emotionally involved.
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If you don't, if you just show a bunch of charts up there, they might as well have sent them a PowerPoint.
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I've seen some people come out with no prompters, no slides, and give the best presentations possible because they were honest.
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They were talking to the people one-on-one, even if there was a thousand people in attendance.
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So there are those people, and hopefully, we've rehearsed with them beforehand.
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Sometimes, if there's a bad speaker and the client knows they're not a great speaker, they'll send me out there with them.
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We'll sit in two chairs and have a conversation.
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There you go.
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Instead of letting that person speak, wouldn't you rather watch a conversation than listen to a speech?
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I would.
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So then every once in a while, if something strikes me funny, I can make a comment or I can play the dumb guy, or I have no idea what you're talking about.
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Gets a big laugh, keeps the audience awake.
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And when I come out, they go, Oh, here's this guy.
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We got to listen to what he says.
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A, I'm running the meeting, and B, I'm I'm making the meeting a little more fun.
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Meetings don't have to be boring.
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Load full transcript
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Let's think about this for a minute.
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How many years ago did you get in and decide comedy and leadership was going to be your focus?
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Oh boy.
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Buckle in.
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Ready?
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Sixth grade.
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Teacher puts a sign up on the window outside the cafeteria and says, theater class starting.
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I sign up for after school and I start improvising.
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It's over 50 years ago.
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I started the first improv troupe in my high school in the 70s.
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I moved on.
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We started an improv troupe in Detroit and then moved to Chicago, where I started the Annoyance Theater, was on the house team of I.O.
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Improv Olympic.
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And eventually Second City hired me.
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While at Second City, we were making$400 a week doing four shows, eight shows.
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It's$50 a show.
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That's all you made, is one of the actors back then.
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One of the producers there said, I want to take some of this out to the community.
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So we started working for Motorola doing interstitial things between their speakers.
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Well, they were paying us$400 a day.
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I'd go out for an afternoon and I'd double my salary.
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Then TV Guide, which was the biggest magazine in the world at the time, says, Hey, would you like to MCR meeting?
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I did that there.
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I made I started out at two grand a day, three grand a day.
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And and it just balled into that.
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Then Hewlett Packard saw me, then SAP saw me at one of those meetings.
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And I never really did any marketing.
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It was just word of mouth or people seeing me saying, Oh, I see what you do.
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You make the meeting run better.
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So that's how I made my living over the last 25-30 years.
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So when you're out there talking to corporate HR and they're setting up meetings, there's a huge difference between stingy and corporate and boring versus being able to bring in a little bit of life.
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Share with me an example of how you converted some of the uptight, angry, nervous HR people or executives into being a little bit more free-flowing and actually coming to you afterward and saying, you know what, this was the best conference we ever had.
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I had a company not want an MC, but the lady called me anyway, and she says, I know, but our CMO hosts our meeting.
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So I said, Well, set up a let me set up a call with him and just chat with him.
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And I asked him, would it be okay if I came in one year and I'll just co-MC with you?
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You and I, we can do it together.
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I said, it'll take some of the onus off of you to prepare, to do some of the stuff.
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You can be out in the audience.
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I know you have users out here, you have other people you could be talking about.
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Otherwise, you're spending the whole time preparing and being on stage.
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And he agreed.
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Came up to me at the end of the meeting.
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He said, You're doing this by yourself next year.
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Wow.
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So that's one of the big things is he says, it takes me two weeks to prepare for this, then a whole week, and I'm not out there talking to the people I need to be talking to.
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I'm backstage getting ready for the next speaker.
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So he that's uh one example.
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I don't know if that's what you were looking for.
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It was, and when you talk to executives and and the people that are leading the corporation, many times they take themselves far too seriously.
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How do you get them to kind of relax and maybe take off the mask of being serious?
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Do you know that's interesting?
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Once you make it that high up on the ladder, the majority of people I find are pretty funny.
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They almost all have a sense of humor.
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But the way I'm talking to you right now is the way I talk to them.
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I don't put on a facade, I don't put on a mask.
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I am always they hire Richard Label because I'm Richard Label.
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I'm Richard Label off stage, on stage, in a meeting room.
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I really never change who I am, or and it's gotten me in trouble, trust me, a couple of times.
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But I am who I am, and I always have been and stayed true to that because it works for me.
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So I think if you talk to somebody on that plane of being even, they either come down to it or come up to it.
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And I usually put people at ease.
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A little humor goes a long way with that as well.
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So you put people at ease.
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I just the way you say it, it just makes it so relaxing.
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And so as we think about putting us at ease, you know, you started, you said in sixth grade, you went into theater and you became a magnet to this whole improv world, second city, working with some of the greats.
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Share with us, if you will, the idea around how improv works with yes and.
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And I think even with improv and yes and personally, I think if you do yes and in your corporate work environment, I think you get promoted quicker and you excel faster.
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So a lot of people think yes and is whatever you say, I'm gonna agree with it and add something to it.
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And my point of view on yes and is yes, I heard you.
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And let's take this, let's go see where this is gonna go.
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I might not necessarily agree with what you say, but the yes is yes, I heard you.
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And by that, you have to be present with them and you have to truly be listening to them, not waiting for them to be done talking so that you can have your say, but to truly be in the moment with that person, to deeply listen to what they're saying.
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Put the other stuff to the side.
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I'm gonna listen to you right now, I'm gonna be with you right here, huh?
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I might not necessarily agree with what you're saying, but let's take a shot at that.
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Let's see where that goes.
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It might go somewhere I had no idea, and it might not.
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But yes, and is the idea of I'm gonna agree with this and we're gonna move forward together right now because I listened to you.
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We started the agility group, and I know this is a little sidetracked.
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About six years ago, a client came to me and said, I need my team, they're not working together, they're not focused on each other, they don't really even know each other.
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So we took the tenets of improvisation, which, like I said, is deep listening, being present, and collaboration.
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Collaboration is a fancy way of saying yes and.
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And we've taken that out to the corporate world, building better teams together so that they have a mutual language to work with and a baseline to work out of.
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Yes, we are really gonna listen to what each other says.
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Yes, we're going to be present at this moment with each other, and we're gonna try to collaborate on whatever ideas people come up with.
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And we do that through exercises.
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So our classes aren't funny, they're fun, but it's not to be funny.
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It's not improv for fun, it's called applied improvisation, and it's used all around the world in all people who use it with Alzheimer's patients, with veterans of war, of um working with the elderly, working with students from kindergarten through high school.
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People are using these improvisational techniques not to find humor out of them, but to make connections and to have them further their abilities of communication.
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So you might not believe this looking at me, but I've been doing improv on and off for maybe 25 years.
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You look like an improviser.
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And I would bring people together to be able to do improv because I found that it loosened people up, it created connection, it created friendship, and there was never a time that people didn't look forward to another improv session.
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Exactly.
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Exactly.
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You're so flying around the country, Richard, to do your agility group.
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Uh-huh.
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We just did Microsoft.
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We have a medical corporate medical company coming up, a group of sales guys at one of the large medical firms.
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Not pharmaceutical, but medical supplies.
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And yeah, we'll go anywhere, we'll go worldwide.
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Hey, if you'll if you'll buy us a plane flight, we're on our way.
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I have a partner, William Hall, who's been doing applied improv for about 30 years now.
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Yeah, if you need a sidekick, by the way, and it's local to my office, I'm happy to get in the car and participate.
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I've never been part of an improv group that I didn't just love the heck out of it.
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I know.
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And it's funny, do you know?
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I I have friends who have their friend group are from kindergarten and and and grade school, and other friends, their high school friends are still their friends.
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Some people have their college or their fraternity are still their friends.
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My group that I found were my improv friends.
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So I still have almost all of my friends from when I came to Chicago in the mid-80s.
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Those are that was my group that I formed.
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I never really high school, college didn't do it for me, but we all we all have that friend group that's been around for a long time.
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And mine are the improv people.
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Are you able to do improv do you think on Zoom?
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Have you tried that, especially during COVID?
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We've done
training on it, and and it does work.
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Boy, I'll tell you, it was tough during COVID to try to host a meeting because you have absolutely no connection with the audience.
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You can't uh if you do say something that's humorous, you don't hear anything.
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You can't interact with anybody from the audience.
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You know, it's funny, like I'll be live uh at an event and the PowerPoint goes down.
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Somebody kicks a cord out there.
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I'll go out into the audience, start talking to people.
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I always have some like fun trivia questions, find somebody in the audience, and it's all just that interplay.
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Remember, Johnny Carson or Letterman would just go out in the audience and talk to people and find the humor where it is.
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That's what one of my clients called me his insurance policy, because no matter what happens, he knows I'm going to be out there to kill time until everything gets fixed.
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Somebody's coming late.
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So it's fantastic.
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I was just at a conference last week, and the the one of the speakers was late by 10 minutes, and the nervous and the stress of the host was was immeasurable.
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And to have someone like you in the room would have been a big relaxer for them.
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Those are those are the moments I wish for.
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I hope they're late so I can go out and have some fun with the attendees.
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Because you're the fun guy, yeah.
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And you know, sometimes there is a speaker who's less than exciting.
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Well, the next speaker who comes up gets needs a fresh audience.
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So instead of just introducing him, let's do something for a couple of minutes.
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Have everybody stand up.
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Well, everybody get in pairs of two, and I want you to tell a one-word, we're gonna come up with a one-word or one word at a time motto with each other.
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You and I can try it right now.
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We do a one word at a time, and we're gonna come up with a life motto.
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I'll start.
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People live where they like a lot.
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Look at that.
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That is just such a great life motto.
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And and and we have people do that and they laugh and they have fun, and then you'll see somebody laugh and we'll take the microphone over.
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What was what was the motto?
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What's your life motto?
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And they do it, and everybody has a nice time, and they you know, it's just like a little fun interstitial thing for a couple of seconds that gets the audience back up.
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They all had a good time, they sit down.
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Oh, here's the next speaker.
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He has a fresh audience.
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So let's continue to move on.
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My question to you would be what's the biggest communication trap that leaders fall into when trying to present a major pivot or change?
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Not being honest.
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So you would say authenticity and honesty.
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If I could put a word in your mouth.
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An example is I was hosted in Lincoln Financial, which I'm gonna be doing my 21st, 24th year in a row for them.
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I call them my annuity.
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They uh that's a there you go, a little financial planner joke for you.
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They the CEO of that came up and he would had a two-hour slot, and he would talk for about 40 minutes about where they've been, where they are, and where they're going.
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And then for the next hour and a quarter, he took questions.
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And I mean, he took questions, hard questions, people that were angry, people that didn't know something, but the guy answered them all right there on stage live.
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And I found that to be so delightful to watch a leader get up there and be honest.
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And he goes, and if he didn't know the answer, he goes, I'm gonna find out about that and I'm gonna write you tomorrow.
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He goes, I can't do it right now.
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And he and I found out he did do that.
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People would be mad at him, and he would stand there and listen to him and let them rant, and he would have conversations.
00:17:39.279 --> 00:17:43.920
Sometimes he'd even get mad back because that person had the wrong information.
00:17:44.079 --> 00:17:47.119
It was so compelling to watch him work.
00:17:48.000 --> 00:17:54.559
He was so present in the room, he truly listened to what those people said, and he was honest with his answers.
00:17:54.720 --> 00:17:56.480
It was really, really impressive.
00:17:56.720 --> 00:17:58.799
Yeah, I think honesty is a big thing.
00:17:58.960 --> 00:18:03.119
And Tony Robbins talks about it like to be honest right now.
00:18:03.519 --> 00:18:07.599
Like, don't wait to be able to tell somebody what you're thinking.
00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:19.680
And by the way, it doesn't mean you're right, it just means you're honest, which then opens up the yes and to more conversation, either with you or against you.
00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:26.880
And you
said something about improv earlier, and and it made me think you know what, we all improvise every single day.
00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:31.200
When I'm when I'm at the grocery store talking to the checkout lady, we're improvising.
00:18:31.279 --> 00:18:32.799
Nobody had a script, right?
00:18:32.960 --> 00:18:35.839
We improvise almost all day, every day.
00:18:36.079 --> 00:18:43.519
At work, at home, you improvise with your kids, your spouse, with the male person, anybody.
00:18:43.759 --> 00:18:44.720
It's just so fun.
00:18:44.960 --> 00:18:53.920
And to to learn those three basic tenets, especially being present and and listening to someone, is is tantama.
00:18:54.160 --> 00:18:55.119
It changes your life.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:02.640
So, as a charity auctioneer for 20 years, it's all about improv because every single time we ask for more money or do anything, it's the improv.
00:19:02.960 --> 00:19:13.599
I shared it with you that I was able to do an auction with Dana Carvey, and we auctioned off a guitar, but his improv was behind me doing the auction where I have a thousand over here now, two would have been two now three.
00:19:13.759 --> 00:19:15.200
He's doing bebop.
00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:24.960
He's beboping on the mic, and which caused me to have a different chant, which caused the audience to bid differently and to be able to have a different kind of feeling.
00:19:25.200 --> 00:19:29.759
And we went on for about six minutes, raised about nine thousand dollars for the guitar he signed.
00:19:29.920 --> 00:19:30.319
Wow.
00:19:30.480 --> 00:19:38.400
But it was all about being in the moment and knowing that there's no mistakes that are allowed, that you can make mistakes, but nobody cares.
00:19:38.480 --> 00:19:39.440
It's it's improv.
00:19:39.759 --> 00:19:42.240
And knowing Dana, he hadn't planned that.
00:19:42.559 --> 00:19:49.519
Oh no, we didn't we didn't let him know for a heartbeat, and and we didn't let him know that the mics, the battery, and the mics were basically dead.
00:19:49.599 --> 00:19:52.799
He had to go through three mics and uh and a few other things.
00:19:52.880 --> 00:19:57.440
But he rode with it like a champion, and at the end of the day, it was it was a great moment.
00:19:57.680 --> 00:19:58.720
He's a real pro.
00:19:58.880 --> 00:19:59.200
Yeah.
00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:01.359
How fun! What a fun memory for you.
00:20:01.599 --> 00:20:01.920
Thank you.
00:20:02.000 --> 00:20:11.039
How do you handle a room full of skeptics where they come in, they don't know from improv, they don't know from comedy, their their performance at the company has been negative.
00:20:11.200 --> 00:20:24.319
So, what do you do to be able to shift them from that negative, don't want to be here frustrated, skeptical attitude, to being a positive spirit and and actually at the end of the day being grateful that they had the conference?
00:20:24.640 --> 00:20:25.279
Wow.
00:20:25.440 --> 00:20:30.240
I'll tell you, to be honest with you, a lot of that does not fall on my shoulders.
00:20:30.559 --> 00:20:37.039
You know, what whatever they're angry with at the company, I can have I can make the meeting more palatable.
00:20:37.279 --> 00:20:42.319
I can make the meeting seem like it didn't last for 24 hours.
00:20:42.559 --> 00:20:56.000
When it, you know, I can go out in the audience and and take questions and lighten up the room a little bit, but I would say a lot of that onus is on what's going on in the corporate culture.
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:08.480
There are incredible corporate cultures out there, and there are very, well, evil is probably not the right word, but angry uh people worried about getting stabbed in the back.
00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:10.640
And boy, I'll tell you, I that's not mine.
00:21:10.720 --> 00:21:11.839
That's not my job.
00:21:12.079 --> 00:21:24.720
My job is to come out there and make the meeting move run smoothly and be as palatable and fun as it can be without overshadowing the messages they want to get across.
00:21:25.039 --> 00:21:30.559
If your team could use one word to describe your communication style, what do you hope it is?
00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:35.599
Honest.
00:21:40.720 --> 00:21:43.680
I sound like a broken record, but it it's just being present.
00:21:43.920 --> 00:21:46.799
Being present, calling out the obvious sometimes.
00:21:47.680 --> 00:21:59.599
One guy, I I was working for TV Guide, and a guy was complaining about them not selling his magazine a lot, and the count world was wrong.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:04.319
And I said, geez, it sounds like people are stealing those.
00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:06.000
And I had no idea.
00:22:06.240 --> 00:22:16.559
And the audience broke out laughing and applauded because I think they had been telling him that and he had been pushing back against it.
00:22:16.720 --> 00:22:17.839
I had no idea.
00:22:17.920 --> 00:22:20.079
I just stated the obvious.
00:22:20.400 --> 00:22:26.799
And I know he gave me the skunk eye, but everybody in the audience gave me a slap on the back afterwards.
00:22:27.119 --> 00:22:36.559
So when it comes to comedy, I think a lot of comedians and a lot of people that go down the path of Second City and Improv had a troubled or an abusive childhood.
00:22:37.039 --> 00:22:39.599
I think that might even turn to drugs and other things.
00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:43.359
When it comes to you personally, was it an easy childhood or a tough one?
00:22:43.759 --> 00:22:44.720
Great childhood.
00:22:44.880 --> 00:22:46.720
Both my parents were teachers.
00:22:47.039 --> 00:22:50.720
I had uh two older sisters, and I was the baby.
00:22:50.960 --> 00:22:54.799
So I I I just I had a I had a wonderful childhood.
00:22:55.119 --> 00:22:58.799
I think the ones that you hear about.
00:23:00.000 --> 00:23:03.279
So right now on my days off, I substitute teach.
00:23:04.160 --> 00:23:10.319
There's probably two kids in every class who get 75% of the attention because they
cause problems.
00:23:10.559 --> 00:23:14.240
You're hearing about those people because they're the ones who cause problems.
00:23:14.480 --> 00:23:16.559
Steve Carell had a great childhood.
00:23:16.720 --> 00:23:19.440
Uh Steve Colbert had a wonderful childhood.
00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:22.319
The people that I know, yeah, I do know the guys.
00:23:22.480 --> 00:23:26.160
Farley had a tough Farley was brought up tough.
00:23:26.400 --> 00:23:29.839
And and and that that's the guy you hear about.
00:23:30.000 --> 00:23:32.720
So you don't hear about Carell's childhood because it wasn't bad.
00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:38.319
You don't hear about mine, but it's those kids that that cause the problems get most of the press.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.680
What makes good press?
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:43.519
That I had a good childhood or that I somebody that did, right?
00:23:43.599 --> 00:23:44.720
They get all the bad press.
00:23:45.039 --> 00:23:55.119
So some of the A-listers that you just rattled off, are you able to still be friendly with the people you worked with at Second City or came through some of the theater and shows that you were at?
00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:56.400
Yeah, absolutely.
00:23:56.559 --> 00:23:58.720
They're some of my best friends still.
00:23:59.039 --> 00:24:02.640
Steve Carell calls me the most famous person you've never heard of.
00:24:02.960 --> 00:24:10.400
So they all went out to LA and New York, which I did, and I just knew I couldn't live in either place.
00:24:10.720 --> 00:24:15.519
New York, the party never ends, and I never like to leave a party till it's over.
00:24:15.759 --> 00:24:19.440
And in LA, I'll give you a tiny quick example.
00:24:19.680 --> 00:24:23.839
I went out and had an audition, and the guy says, That's perfect.
00:24:24.000 --> 00:24:25.759
You're exactly who we're looking for.
00:24:25.839 --> 00:24:26.400
That was great.
00:24:26.480 --> 00:24:27.680
We'll call you.
00:24:27.920 --> 00:24:32.160
I'm new out there, so I basically wait by the phone and nobody calls.
00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:39.519
Chicago, you go for let's say a commercial audition, they go, Hey, you know, you're not exactly who we were looking for.
00:24:39.599 --> 00:24:40.640
We appreciate you coming in.
00:24:40.720 --> 00:24:43.599
You did a great job, but we're looking for somebody this or that.
00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.720
Thanks a lot.
00:24:44.960 --> 00:24:55.200
They I love this town because we're so honest with each other, not to hurt each other's feelings, but I I was like, Go, I can take that.
00:24:55.359 --> 00:24:55.759
Thanks.
00:24:55.920 --> 00:24:56.960
Thanks for letting me know.
00:24:57.200 --> 00:25:00.960
LA and I I talked to a friend and he goes, Yeah, that's just the way it is out here.
00:25:01.119 --> 00:25:02.799
Everybody lies to you, you get used to it.
00:25:02.960 --> 00:25:04.640
And I said, I'll never get used to it.
00:25:04.880 --> 00:25:06.240
I grew up in Michigan.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:15.759
I have those Midwest values that we all share of just being open and honest and and and nice to each other.
00:25:15.920 --> 00:25:18.400
And open, honest, nice.
00:25:18.559 --> 00:25:24.559
It doesn't cost anything to be nice, it doesn't cost or to be honest, you didn't have to, you know, they weren't mean about it.
00:25:24.640 --> 00:25:25.920
You were horrible and blah blah blah.
00:25:26.000 --> 00:25:27.680
They go, Yeah, you're just not who we were looking for.
00:25:27.839 --> 00:25:28.880
We appreciate you coming in.
00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:30.079
Thanks for your time.
00:25:30.319 --> 00:25:31.279
Fine with that.
00:25:31.440 --> 00:25:34.880
To tell me I was great and I made it and then not call me, yeah.
00:25:35.440 --> 00:25:35.920
Not fun.
00:25:36.240 --> 00:25:36.720
Not fun.
00:25:36.960 --> 00:25:44.400
When you think about leadership, what's a defining moment that shaped your philosophy on the honesty, the Midwest values?
00:25:44.559 --> 00:25:45.839
What's a defining moment?
00:25:45.920 --> 00:25:46.640
Do you have one?
00:25:49.680 --> 00:25:51.039
I mean, there's so many.
00:25:51.200 --> 00:25:56.880
I'll give you a couple just a few years ago, I was to interview Michael Phelps.
00:25:58.000 --> 00:26:00.400
I mean, the greatest Olympian of all time.
00:26:00.799 --> 00:26:03.519
I get a sheet of paper and it's got seven questions on it.
00:26:03.599 --> 00:26:04.640
And they said, Mr.
00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:06.079
Phelps has 20 minutes.
00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:12.079
Here's the seven questions you can ask him, and no QA from the audience.
00:26:12.319 --> 00:26:13.039
I said, okay.
00:26:13.680 --> 00:26:15.839
Went backstage to get my microphone on.
00:26:16.000 --> 00:26:18.960
He met each other five minutes before we're going on stage.
00:26:19.039 --> 00:26:20.000
I said to Mr.
00:26:20.079 --> 00:26:21.200
Phelps, he goes, Michael.
00:26:21.279 --> 00:26:25.839
I go, Michael, here's the seven questions they said I could ask you.
00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:27.759
He looked at him, balled him up.
00:26:28.000 --> 00:26:29.759
He goes, you can ask me anything you want.
00:26:29.920 --> 00:26:30.880
I go, anything?
00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:31.680
Anything.
00:26:31.839 --> 00:26:32.480
I said, great.
00:26:32.559 --> 00:26:33.599
I hear you have 20 minutes.
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:35.680
He goes, I got about an hour.
00:26:35.920 --> 00:26:36.720
I said, all right.
00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:37.920
No QA, though, right?
00:26:38.000 --> 00:26:39.599
He goes, Oh, I love QA.
00:26:39.920 --> 00:26:41.759
Everything his handlers told me.
00:26:42.160 --> 00:26:43.279
Totally the opposite.
00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:44.240
We went out there.
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:51.200
I asked him about his drug use, about his eating regime, about his depression.
00:26:51.519 --> 00:27:02.160
He was so honest and answered everything, took audience questions, hard questions, and stood there and honestly answered them.
00:27:02.480 -->
00:27:04.400
I think that's real leadership.
00:27:04.559 --> 00:27:24.559
To go out there to not have those guardrails on you and to answer to state your answers so honestly, that was it was a shining moment in my career, not only to meet him and interview him, but to watch how he he's a leader, obviously, you know.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:25.599
So I don't know.
00:27:26.000 --> 00:27:26.960
Isn't it a shame?
00:27:27.200 --> 00:27:30.240
Well, one leader to another, I do the same thing.
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:37.359
As an auctioneer, I work with some celebrities and some famous people, and there's a lot of rules going into the meeting them.
00:27:37.759 --> 00:27:41.039
And there's a lot of people that don't push back on that.
00:27:41.279 --> 00:27:49.920
And it takes the fun out of it because when you actually meet human beings who are professional, they open up the door to everything you just said.
00:27:50.000 --> 00:27:50.160
Right.
00:27:50.400 --> 00:28:00.240
They throw away the worksheet, they open it up, they want questions, and they actually want to interact and meet and talk to the people in the audience in a respectful manner.
00:28:00.480 --> 00:28:06.799
Terry Bradshaw, we had to introduce him when I was working at Second City, and we I go, you know, this and that.
00:28:06.880 --> 00:28:08.640
He goes, I don't know, you got any other ideas?
00:28:08.799 --> 00:28:15.440
I go, Well, we could do this, you know, we'll have one of the guys go along until he's out of the room and you just toss the ball.
00:28:15.759 --> 00:28:18.799
I mean, it was just, you know, we came up with a funny skit to do together.
00:28:18.960 --> 00:28:20.240
He goes, That sounds great.
00:28:20.400 --> 00:28:23.920
I mean, it was like so fun, so open, so ready to he didn't care.
00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:25.279
I'm here, I'm doing it.
00:28:25.359 --> 00:28:26.079
Let's do whatever.
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:28.000
Let's see if it works, let's have fun.
00:28:28.240 --> 00:28:36.160
So, and and I would say the majority of stars and and celebrities I work with are like that.
00:28:36.559 --> 00:28:38.240
They're they they know their place.
00:28:38.400 --> 00:28:43.440
Jay Leno, I've I've opened for Jay a dozen times out in Las Vegas for shows.
00:28:43.680 --> 00:28:45.839
Jay's always up for something fun.
00:28:46.319 --> 00:28:48.799
So he's also very generous.
00:28:48.960 --> 00:28:57.519
I was at a charity event with him, and he didn't stop just adding more stuff or more, yeah, more more donations and more opportunity to raise money in the arsenal.
00:28:57.680 --> 00:28:58.559
And he's great guy.
00:29:00.000 --> 00:29:00.720
Wasn't he great?
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:02.160
The nicest guy.
00:29:02.319 --> 00:29:02.559
Yeah.
00:29:02.799 --> 00:29:02.960
Yeah.
00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:08.720
On my wall right here, I actually have a picture with him, and it's something that I cherish because I think Jay Leno is one of the good guys.
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:10.319
Yeah, that's fun.
00:29:10.559 --> 00:29:15.119
I have uh, I don't know if you see behind me, those are all photographs I got early on in my career.
00:29:15.200 --> 00:29:17.920
I used to do magic for a living as a little kid.
00:29:18.079 --> 00:29:24.240
I was kind of a well-known kid magician, but the center one, those are all signed to me, is Steve Allen.
00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:29.599
And Steve Allen took me to lunch and spent an hour with me about show business when I was 14.
00:29:30.480 --> 00:29:32.240
So that's pretty fun.
00:29:32.640 --> 00:29:42.160
Who would you say are your one, two, or three biggest influences on how you choose to live your life and how you choose to be the best that you could be?
00:29:42.319 --> 00:29:43.119
Who do you observe?
00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:43.920
Who do you watch?
00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.000
Who do you consider that mentor?
00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:49.039
Johnny Carson and Letterman.
00:29:49.279 --> 00:29:57.119
That that that style of of again being present and and just having fun in the moment.
00:29:57.680 --> 00:30:04.880
My wife, which oddly enough is the person who has made me who I am today, I was wild.
00:30:05.039 --> 00:30:06.640
You know, we were at Second City.
00:30:06.720 --> 00:30:08.240
I was flying with Farley.
00:30:08.319 --> 00:30:10.960
We were having fun, and she focused me.
00:30:11.039 --> 00:30:16.079
And I have a lovely home and beautiful kids and a really nice life.
00:30:16.480 --> 00:30:19.200
And I would say you, Chad, probably you.
00:30:19.359 --> 00:30:23.839
I would think maybe I don't know if you're third, but you're in the top three right now.
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:24.799
Just from what?
00:30:24.960 --> 00:30:29.920
The the fact that we're doing the podcast, or you've observed me over the years being a neighbor.
00:30:30.240 --> 00:30:32.640
I do like who I'm with at the moment.
00:30:33.039 --> 00:30:50.640
So uh so I was just interviewing yesterday uh uh Tom Foster, who uh was the doorman at the Rich Carleton for three years, and his stories include Chris Farley and how genuine and nice and kind he was because he lived next door and what a good human being he was.
00:30:50.720 --> 00:30:53.599
And it was sad for him when Chris passed away.
00:30:53.839 --> 00:30:55.039
It was really sad.
00:30:55.279 --> 00:31:07.599
I remember walking down Michigan Avenue with Chris, and we're just having a conversation like you and I are, and these three young ladies walk up, they go, Oh my god, Chris Farley, and he turned into the Chris that you see on TV.
00:31:07.839 --> 00:31:11.440
Hey, or you know, that he was bigger than life, and this and that.
00:31:11.519 --> 00:31:14.400
And we walk away, and I go, Chris, you know, you don't have to do that.
00:31:14.559 --> 00:31:15.680
And he goes, Yeah, I do.
00:31:15.759 --> 00:31:16.960
That's what they want.
00:31:17.519 --> 00:31:23.759
He had this this belief that he had to give everybody what they wanted all
the time.
00:31:23.839 --> 00:31:27.279
And and I said, You don't, you don't, you can do you know what?
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:31.839
Be Chris, be the Chris that we all like and love and know who you are.
00:31:32.160 --> 00:31:42.720
But uh he was like that in his personal relationships, but outside, and the world's a big place outside to try to make the whole world happy, right, is pretty sad.
00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:43.200
Yeah.
00:31:43.359 --> 00:31:50.720
So, as a man going through life and business and doing the work that you're doing, what do you feel like you're most passionate about right now?
00:31:51.759 --> 00:31:57.519
The training that we're doing, and we're we're seeing real demonstrable results.
00:31:57.759 --> 00:32:03.200
We said a client write us, he goes, our team talks to each other differently.
00:32:03.359 --> 00:32:08.799
He goes, but on top of that, he goes, I'm now talking to my wife and my children differently.
00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:17.839
Because I listen to them, I'm present with them, and he goes, and after 35 years, it's amazing what your workshops did.
00:32:17.920 --> 00:32:29.279
And and to me, it's like, oh, I can't believe people are paying us to do this because it's it's part of that's the reward, is having people say things like that.
00:32:29.839 --> 00:32:32.880
And I want people who are listening today to be able to find you.
00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:42.640
And the way to do that is to go to Richard at Richardlibel.com, which is R-I-C-H-A-R-D, L A I B L E dot com.
00:32:43.119 --> 00:32:56.319
And the agility group is where you go to be able to hire his company to start working with you on the improv space, which is the T H E agility group, A-G-I-L-I-T-Y Group.net.
00:32:56.559 --> 00:33:04.640
So when you go to the agility group.net, you're going to find his company and be able to hire them to be able to work with you on the improv side.
00:33:04.880 --> 00:33:06.400
Or at least have a conversation.
00:33:06.720 --> 00:33:08.000
Which is a wonderful thing to have.
00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:10.319
You're very easy to talk with.
00:33:10.559 --> 00:33:14.960
So a few more questions for you as we kind of come to the end of the podcast.
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:17.839
What's the most important lesson you ever learned?
00:33:19.279 --> 00:33:20.720
Oh my gosh.
00:33:23.440 --> 00:33:26.480
The most important lesson I ever learned.
00:33:32.160 --> 00:33:34.160
I wish you would have given me some uh heads up.
00:33:34.799 --> 00:33:39.200
You're the first person with improv and it's taken their time to answer it.
00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:42.240
But I I'm glad that you're coming up with a thoughtful answer.
00:33:42.799 --> 00:34:01.279
Yeah, I would think my biggest thing ever, I think, is is boy, it sounds so trite, but I'm I'm I'm not a very religious person, but I do think the whole world works on love.
00:34:01.920 --> 00:34:03.759
I think that's what I've learned.
00:34:03.920 --> 00:34:08.239
And and I mean love
of mankind, love of each other, love of myself.
00:34:08.719 --> 00:34:15.519
I I I do really think like if there is a religion and there is a God, it's all about that.
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:16.400
Love.
00:34:16.639 --> 00:34:17.039
Yeah.
00:34:17.280 --> 00:34:18.320
It's a good answer.
00:34:18.559 --> 00:34:19.840
Yeah, thank you.
00:34:20.400 --> 00:34:22.000
Now I have another one that might be a little bit more.
00:34:23.599 --> 00:34:24.639
Now I gotta get now.
00:34:24.719 --> 00:34:25.760
We get it off this call.
00:34:25.840 --> 00:34:27.199
I gotta go think about that a little bit.
00:34:27.360 --> 00:34:28.960
But that's always good to ponder.
00:34:29.039 --> 00:34:29.920
And right?
00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:30.960
Yeah, I think that's it.
00:34:31.199 --> 00:34:32.480
So, what do you think about this question?
00:34:32.639 --> 00:34:36.159
What's the most important financial lesson you have ever learned?
00:34:36.400 --> 00:34:39.920
You know, given that I'm a financial advisor, I take people down paths.
00:34:40.239 --> 00:34:46.719
But what I find interesting is leaders have a tendency to have a financial lesson that others need to hear.
00:34:46.880 --> 00:34:48.159
What is yours?
00:34:49.519 --> 00:34:59.039
To not spend frivolously and put away more for your retirement than you think you'll need.
00:34:59.280 --> 00:35:02.000
We've been very good about that in our marriage.
00:35:02.239 --> 00:35:05.039
I I'm I don't think I'll ever retire.
00:35:05.119 --> 00:35:10.559
As long as I can walk around or be mobile, I can do this kind of training that we're doing.
00:35:10.880 --> 00:35:15.920
But I think I I do want to slow down parts of my business.
00:35:16.400 --> 00:35:21.199
I'm really enjoying substitute teaching, kindergarten to eighth grade.
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:25.840
But I I think, and we're financially set for the future.
00:35:26.000 --> 00:35:31.440
I would say if anybody young is listening to this, put$50 a week away.
00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:38.800
Put put ten dollars a week away, put start putting it away of money you can't touch, and find a good financial planner.
00:35:38.960 --> 00:35:41.280
They'll they'll help you along the way.
00:35:41.440 --> 00:35:43.599
Thank goodness I had one.
00:35:44.000 --> 00:35:44.320
Good.
00:35:44.559 --> 00:35:48.639
And with that, you know, you get hired as a professional, and so do we.
00:35:48.880 --> 00:35:52.880
But what is the process you go through so you don't get taken advantage of?
00:35:53.119 --> 00:35:56.639
Because you're such a nice guy, you're an improv guy, you're a fun guy, right?
00:35:56.719 --> 00:35:57.920
This is what we talked about.
00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:08.480
So when you go through the process to hire a CPA, an attorney, a concierge doctor, what kind of questions or process do you go through to make sure that they're going to be good for you and your family?
00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:16.159
A lot of referrals from people that have had them for a long time or people that we know and trust.
00:36:16.639 --> 00:36:19.199
My financial planner, we had one.
00:36:19.440 --> 00:36:22.880
He absconded a lot of people's money in town.
00:36:23.119 --> 00:36:31.119
We didn't get hit too hard, lost his license to do what you do and his law license.
00:36:31.599 --> 00:36:37.920
My financial planner now I've known since third grade, and his son has taken over the business with him.
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:43.119
And I figure if they screw me out of my money, the world is just over.
00:36:43.440 --> 00:36:47.920
A guy I've known for 60 years, I think I'm gonna have to just trust him.
00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:48.719
Beautiful.
00:36:48.880 --> 00:36:49.840
And I'm a fan of that.
00:36:49.920 --> 00:36:53.039
I'm a fan of second generation when they come into the business.
00:36:53.280 --> 00:36:54.159
Yeah, me too.
00:36:54.320 --> 00:36:58.719
So you're living in a beautiful office and a beautiful house and a great community.
00:36:58.880 --> 00:37:02.320
What does an abundant life look like to someone like yourself?
00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:09.039
That I have a really good, decent bottle of wine and my partner by my side.
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:11.119
I don't need a whole lot.
00:37:11.280 --> 00:37:12.639
We I never have.
00:37:13.280 --> 00:37:16.400
When Tim Meadows, I don't know if you know Tim Meadows is.
00:37:16.639 --> 00:37:19.280
Timmy was on Saturday Night Live, the ladies' man.
00:37:19.599 --> 00:37:21.599
Tim and I moved to Chicago together.
00:37:21.760 --> 00:37:23.280
We got a one-bedroom apartment.
00:37:23.360 --> 00:37:24.559
I lived in the dining room.
00:37:24.639 --> 00:37:26.880
And I'll tell you, it's some of the best times of my life.
00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:31.119
I didn't have a lot of stuff, but boy, we had a full fun life.
00:37:31.280 --> 00:37:37.920
So I think if you have love and fun and a decent bottle of cab, pretty good.
00:37:38.159 --> 00:37:38.960
You're all set.
00:37:39.920 --> 00:37:40.800
I'm a I'm a fan.
00:37:40.880 --> 00:37:42.159
Thank you for sharing that.
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:48.880
Uh, as we wind down, because you had such a great childhood memory, give me one childhood memory that you're fond of.
00:37:50.880 --> 00:38:00.559
Sitting around the dinner table with my mom, dad, and my sisters, and the conversations we had and the lessons we learned.
00:38:00.880 --> 00:38:06.320
And all my grandparents lived in that town and my cousins, Plymouth, Michigan, seven generations.
00:38:06.800 --> 00:38:11.760
And I would ride my bike to this relative or that relative, and it was safe.
00:38:11.920 --> 00:38:14.159
I think it was very bukalic lifestyle.
00:38:14.239 --> 00:38:17.440
I think that's why I like living where I live on the North Shore.
00:38:17.599 --> 00:38:21.679
It's very similar to the way I grew up and not quite as wealthy as it is here.
00:38:21.920 --> 00:38:33.039
It's a little uh gets a little gross here sometimes, but I I I think the the the
beauty and the safety are what I grew up with.
00:38:33.199 --> 00:38:34.559
So Richard, thank you.
00:38:34.639 --> 00:38:36.719
It's been a pleasure to have you on the podcast.
00:38:36.880 --> 00:38:48.159
For everybody that I want to be able to find you, whether it's through LinkedIn or the agility group.net, uh Richard at Richard Libel, l-a i b l.com.
00:38:48.400 --> 00:38:49.280
Yeah, it's labeled.
00:38:49.599 --> 00:38:54.719
So when when two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking, so it's labeled.
00:38:56.239 --> 00:38:57.679
See, both my parents were teachers.
00:38:57.840 --> 00:38:59.360
You learn those kind of crazy things.
00:38:59.599 --> 00:39:00.000
I like that.
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:00.960
Isn't that funny?
00:39:02.239 --> 00:39:08.079
My mom and my dad were teachers, my wife's a teacher, my daughter's a teacher, and my sister was a teacher.
00:39:08.239 --> 00:39:10.159
I think that's why I'm I'm subbing right now.
00:39:10.239 --> 00:39:11.440
It was my turn.
00:39:11.760 --> 00:39:12.400
You know what?
00:39:12.559 --> 00:39:16.239
My mother-in-law subs and they find it very, very rewarding.
00:39:16.480 --> 00:39:17.840
And thank you for doing that.
00:39:18.239 --> 00:39:18.639
So fun.
00:39:18.719 --> 00:39:21.039
Thanks for having me on your uh show today.
00:39:21.360 --> 00:39:22.239
Oh, I'm so happy.
00:39:22.400 --> 00:39:23.519
I'm so happy that you're here.
00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:28.159
Yeah, so as we wrap up, oh, I'm gonna have a list of questions for you if we do this again.
00:39:28.320 --> 00:39:28.480
Okay.
00:39:29.440 --> 00:39:32.239
Bullet bullet you with uh questions you haven't seen.
00:39:32.480 --> 00:39:32.800
Okay.
00:39:33.119 --> 00:39:36.320
You want to do give me one question right now, because you know what we're gonna do, improv.
00:39:36.559 --> 00:39:37.519
Give me one now.
00:39:38.079 --> 00:39:45.039
What what's the if you weren't doing financial planning, what what was your dream job as a kid?
00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:54.960
Owning a flea market and a bingo hall that I opened up in Park Forest when I was 32, and it failed miserably, which caused me to then find a new career.
00:39:55.119 --> 00:39:57.280
But I love the idea of the flea market.
00:39:57.519 --> 00:40:03.840
When I was a kid, I used to go, I used to sell, I was I I just I was dug in and it was in my blood.
00:40:04.159 --> 00:40:06.800
And eventually I outgrew it.
00:40:07.119 --> 00:40:10.079
I'm sorry I wasn't there to help support it and keep it moving.
00:40:10.320 --> 00:40:16.079
Yeah, well, it was in Park Forest, it was it was quite a bit away, but I did have it, and it's something that I cherished while I did.
00:40:16.159 --> 00:40:20.880
I worked very hard, and it just was something that wasn't in the cards to be able to work.
00:40:21.199 --> 00:40:23.280
I wanted to drive an ice cream truck.
00:40:23.840 --> 00:40:24.800
Oh, that's a cool one.
00:40:25.039 --> 00:40:26.159
That would have been a cool one.
00:40:26.320 --> 00:40:26.880
Yeah.
00:40:27.119 --> 00:40:39.519
So when you go to my website, cofinancial.com, I have a book there called Your Financial Dream House, because life's all about dreaming and love, where you could create abundance through smart planning and investing.
00:40:39.760 --> 00:40:41.360
I encourage everyone to go there.
00:40:41.519 --> 00:40:46.639
If you like this podcast, and it looks like a lot of people do, we're at over 18,000 subscribers.
00:40:47.119 --> 00:40:56.480
Please share, please watch some more, and please let me know if you have any great uh viewers or listeners that you would like to have me interview.
00:40:56.559 --> 00:40:58.800
I'm always open to interviewing great guests.
00:40:58.960 --> 00:41:00.960
And again, Richard, you're one of them.
00:41:01.119 --> 00:41:02.559
Thank you so much for being here today.
00:41:02.800 --> 00:41:09.199
If you want the free book, you can go to that QR code right there with your phone and just take a picture there.
00:41:09.760 --> 00:41:10.880
And I love it when people do.
00:41:11.039 --> 00:41:16.000
It's really cool how it works and it pops up, and then the book is right there to be able to download.
00:41:16.159 --> 00:41:16.960
Thank you, everyone.
00:41:17.119 --> 00:41:17.760
Stay tuned.
00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:18.719
Here's the disclosure.
00:41:18.800 --> 00:41:24.719
And while you're looking at the disclosure, I want to thank everyone for listening to the industry leader insight.
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:33.920
I'm Chad Coe with Co-Fanancial Group in Northbrook, Illinois, where fiduciary advisors specializing in Roth conversions and RMD strategies.
00:41:34.079 --> 00:41:36.480
Thank you, everyone, and don't forget to push subscribe.
00:41:36.719 --> 00:41:43.760
Hey, Chad, I want to say of all the podcasts I've done, this has been the most recent, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart.
00:41:44.079 --> 00:41:45.119
The most recent?
00:41:45.280 --> 00:41:45.920
Yeah.
00:41:46.639 --> 00:41:48.639
Okay, I'll I'll take a chuckle at that.
00:41:48.800 --> 00:41:49.039
Thank you.