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Welcome to View from the Top.
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We've got a special episode for you today.
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I'm bringing on one of my dear friends, Ben New Tech.
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For those of you, some of you may recognize his name.
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He's a speaker, he's an author, he's an entrepreneur.
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He also just happens to also be a Super Bowl champion tight end.
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And he has amazing stories about what he's been through, the peaks and the valleys, as he would say, in his life, and what has kept him moving through that.
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We talked a lot about failure and preparation and how to lean on your beliefs, your fundamentals, like the back to the basics when things get hard.
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And I think that message, you know, just in the world we're all in right now, is focus on what you can control, which is the things you know, the things that are innate to you.
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Um, the things that matter most to you are typically the things you have some control over.
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And I think it's a great reminder for all of us as leaders is how to navigate in times of uncertainty and challenge, is we know we'll get through it because we always have.
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And so having that faith that we will get through and having that foundation is a lot of what Ben and I talk about in this podcast.
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So I'm hoping this is a huge inspiration for all of you listening.
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And I hope that you take this podcast and you share it with somebody else that you know needs it.
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I think that's the most important thing is these messages need to be shared, right?
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We need to take them and impact others with it.
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So that's my hope.
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I really hope you enjoy the conversation with Ben.
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Welcome to the view from the top, Ben UTEC.
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Thank you for being here.
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You're welcome, Jamie.
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Anything for you.
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Love it.
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I appreciate that.
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And you really do mean that.
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Anytime I text you, I'm like, I know Ben's up for it.
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I know he'll say yes to I I don't abuse it or ask you to do anything too crazy.
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But thank you for being here again.
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I know you were on the Superpower Success podcast, and you were one of the first people that came to my mind when I was relaunching on just the success that you've had that you're still having, but the honesty and vulnerability and you know, everything that we have talked about about what it means.
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I mean, it's either it's not all highlight reel.
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Oh, right.
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But yet there's beautiful things in all of it.
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So that's what I want to talk about today.
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So I'd love for you to start about, I mean, give us a little bit of background for maybe people who don't know you, where you've been, where you are today.
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And then I want to dive and take a lot of our time and dive into the journey and what that's come right.
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Well, thank you again for having me.
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You know, um, you've been a great mentor over the years, and so I really appreciate, really appreciate everything you've done for me.
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Yeah, what an what an interesting journey.
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I mean, and and and I think that's one of the universal connections between humanity, right?
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Every one of us has uh a story, every one of us has uh our own novel of purpose.
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And and mine started in a small river town in Minnesota, Hastings, Minnesota.
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And my whole life was shared between my passions of of athletics and the arts.
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Um and sports was something that just really took off for me early and was blessed to receive a scholarship to play football at the University of Minnesota and had a great career there as a tight end.
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Uh, and then that continued into fulfilling a dream, which was to play in the NFL.
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Uh again, unbelievably blessed to um become a part of the Indianapolis Colts and win a Super Bowl in 2006.
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King passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and being taught uh how to be a better player and a better man from Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungey.
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You know, kind of one of those things I have to often, even now being out of the league for 16 years, sit back and just pinch myself, like, wow, I got to be on that, on that kind of a field.
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And and that was really such an amazing period of my life because I got to play for Tony Dungey, who was the first to win a Super Bowl built on servant leadership.
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He said if you build better men, you get better football players.
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And that was pretty profound.
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You know, Jamie, he walked in and to that first team meeting, and the very first thing he said to the team was if you're sitting in this room and your entire identity is wrapped up in a sport, you've totally missed the purpose of your life.
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And that was that took the oxygen out of the room.
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It was like, whoa.
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I've never really I've never heard a coach, you know, start a team meeting that way.
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And and that's what his that's what his role was as a coach.
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We have to win.
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We have to win.
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But more importantly, we have to build a family.
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And as I've shared in the past, the acronym for family in football is forget about me, I love you.
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Power of selflessness.
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So that's the kind of environment that I was in, and was so blessed to be uh in the NFL for seven years.
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That was cut short unfortunately due to concussion and uh was a was a big trial period in my life, you know, starting to experience some cognitive issues, and we had just had our first daughter.
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So we decided it was time to my brain and walk away from from football.
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But then that really opened the door to pursue the the passions that I knew I was called towards, which was using my voice.
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And that was as a musician, believe it or not.
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I had signed a record deal.
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I was playing for the Indianapolis Colts, and and so we moved to Nashville to start singing.
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I'd been singing professionally uh since college, and so that was um that was a a lot of fun to to really pour into that passion and calling.
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And then the second, as you know, was is my speaking.
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I knew we wanted to t to tell a story, but I didn't know what the story was until my time with Indianapolis.
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And and that became a story.
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How can you build change culture?
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And that's something obviously you and I are in total alignment on, and probably the most talked-about theme in business.
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And so I began telling that story, and it brought me into you know, just an amazing speaking career, being able to travel the country and speak to, you know, thousands of business leaders and inspire them towards looking at culture objectively, that it can be a product, that it can be materialized, because you're always going to have a culture by design or default.
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So why not design it?
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And that that just caught it caught fire shortly after was invited into the C-suite of a private equity company in Minnesota as their chief culture officer, which gave me the opportunity to be an operationalist, not just an inspirationalist.
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And was in that role for a handful of years and and wrote my first business book, The Champion's Creed, Transform Your Culture through the power of belief, and then just have gone full into speaking, to building products that are designed to help organizations build championship culture.
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I love that.
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And most importantly, I'm a I'm a husband and a father.
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My wife, Karen, I met through fellowship of Christian athletes at the University of Minnesota.
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She was a captain of the women's golf team, Miss Minnesota 2000.
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Well, I married up.
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Awesome.
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Good.
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And she blessed me with four incredible daughters.
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And so I love being a girl dad.
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I'm meant I'm meant to be a girl dad.
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You are meant to be a girl dad.
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Like your girls have no idea how lucky they are.
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And I was we were just talking off about just some amazing things that are coming because you have raised amazing women who work hard, just like you, right?
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But have that solid foundation and beliefs.
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And you know, I think it's interesting.
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I actually hadn't, I don't know if you ever told me the story about the first day that Tony walked in and said that.
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And I could see, right, at that age, and you've got a lot of people who have been told that they're the best their entire lives, right?
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And they've been in under a spotlight, and then you tell them this isn't, this isn't everything, right?
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He he he he shook that loose and you and then you I hear your story and everything you've done, is it's just one more level to your purpose, right?
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None of it is negated anything you did before.
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It's just these stepping stones to get closer and closer and closer to what it is that you were put on this earth to do.
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When you look about, and I know a lot, you didn't list everything you're doing.
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I mean, I know you've got a lot when you say products and other things going on.
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Right now, what's lighting you up the most when it comes to like your purpose?
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Like today, like you're like, this is the thing I'm most excited about.
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I would I would say trans transforming people, honestly.
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I I think that the thing that I have fallen in love with when it comes to culture is that not only can you transform revenue, not only can you improve operational efficiency and improve the the workplace environment, but most importantly, you can build a legacy that is remembered for transforming people.
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And that's a massive responsibility.
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And what a powerful opportunity to use the platform of work to send people out better than when they came in.
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And when you see it happen, even at home, when I see it happen and just my role as a parent, and you see the maturation process and you see people wake up for the first time and grow and develop themselves and reach their potential, man, there's nothing like that.
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Because then they become the storyteller of that culture.
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And that that to me is what gets me lit up.
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That's legacy leadership, right?
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That's leadership that where you're planting trees, you'll never see sit in the shade of, right?
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Kind of thing.
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And I talk to leaders about that.
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Like, are you are you making decisions every day that are leading to that, or are you just making decisions for what maybe feels good or is easiest today?
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And it's hard.
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It's hard if you're not surrounded by that.
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What's one thing, you know, I think it is easy.
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You know, you have had a lot of success.
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And every time I think of the word success, I use quotes.
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You know, and and the highlight reel of your career is pretty cool, right?
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To see and things you can say.
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What's one thing that people maybe wouldn't know about that journey, right?
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Something behind the scenes or just struggles you've had.
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I really struggled with fear.
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I think fear of failure is one of it's one of the most impactful things that happen to the people and hold people back, breaking their potential, right?
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Because most of the things that we are afraid of never happen.
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Most of the things that we worry about never happen, right?
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But I was always one of those athletes and even one of those business leaders today where um I can I can find my mind wandering into some of these places, you know, and I can I can choose to end up listening to a voice that is trying to tear me down, that's telling me I'm gonna be a failure, I'm not gonna make it, you're not gonna be able to provide for your family, which means you're not a good enough father, you're not a good enough husband.
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And and you know, so to just to be totally transparent, like that that was a big problem, you know, that was a big problem that I had to that I had to battle with, you know.
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And I think this is thank you for sharing that.
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Cause I think we all, I mean, you still deal with it, right?
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At times, and I think the openness of like you never get past it.
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What you do is you catch it maybe sooner, right?
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And you have the tools and the the things that can kind of help you get through it, but it's always that voice is always gonna be there.
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And there's some there's some value to that voice a little bit too, right?
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It's there to maybe protect you, but most people don't know how to kind of push through.
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Yeah, and that that's that's where the importance of preparation in sports is so profound because a lot of times I found that the the more I prepared, the more, the more film study, the more on the field training and and preparation that I put into getting ready for an opponent, the more confidence I had, the less I hear that voice.
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Because what I was doing is I was actually embracing the voice of truth in my mind and in my heart.
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And so for me, it was about that preparation for what being prepared for what's to come and utilizing the tools like you, like you talked about that are actually going to speak truth into my life, right?
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So that that other voice gets filtered out.
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I love that.
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Do you remember?
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I call it the climb moment, like a moment where you were like from the outside, everybody thinks my life is glamorous, right?
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Or glorious.
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And on the inside, you know, you were burning out or you were just, you know, it just didn't feel as good on the inside.
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Do you remember a moment in your career?
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But I I can tell you, you know, the the the start of my football career was that moment because I was one of the top tight ends in the country, supposed to be one of the highest drafted players out of the University of Minnesota, and I had a debilitating injury um against Wisconsin at the end of the season, and I ended up tearing my abdominal muscles from the pubic bone on both sides and and getting carted off the field.
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And I went from being a potential first-round draft pick to not getting drafted at all.
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And you know, that was incredibly difficult and challenging because I had I had my degree, but I put all my bags in the football basket.
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Yeah.
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You know, I'll never forget driving up to my agent's office in a rainy Minnesota day after I wasn't drafted, just thinking, listening to that voice saying your career is over, you know, what are you gonna do now?
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And two months before that day, I had a chance to speak at an event on the University of Minnesota campus in front of about 700 alumni.
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Uh, and I got to be the opening speaker for Tony Dungey.
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So I get up in front of all these alumni and I say, Hey coach, he's sitting right in front of me.
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Hey, coach, if you really care about the University of Minnesota, because he was a former gopher.
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So hey, if you if you really care about the University of Minnesota, you're gonna draft me in the upcoming draft.
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Everybody gets freaked out of it.
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He was gracious enough to respond.
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He came to the microphone and he said, You know, Ben, we we know how talented you are.
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We'd love to have you.
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But we drafted a first round player last year.
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And so we're not gonna be looking at tight ends this year.
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And then he stepped away from the podium and he put his hand on his chin as if he was being downloaded something.
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Back to the microphone, and he said, You know what?
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I'm gonna make a promise to you in front of all these people.
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If for some reason you slip through the cracks, if for some reason you don't get drafted, I promise I'll be the first person to call.
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So back forward two months, I get out of the car with my dad, we go into my agent's office.
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My only chance to play in the NFL is the free agent market.
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These are the leftover players, players that rarely make a team.
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Five seconds after the free agent market opens, the phone in the middle of my agent's desk rings and I pick it up.
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And who do you think it was?
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Tony Tonji was the first call.
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Along with Hall of Fame general manager Bill Pullian.
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And they said, Ben, like we didn't think this was gonna happen.
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We know that all of the doctors red flagged you as too much of a health risk, but we've dealt with your injury before.
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So here's what we want to do we want you to be a cult.
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We're gonna send you to the top surgeon in the country, and all we want you to do the first year is get better.
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You don't even have to play, and we'll pay you as though you're a playing rookie.
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That doesn't happen.
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I don't know this story.
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Like of all the stories I've heard, like this is that does not happen.
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Doesn't happen.
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That was they gave me$230,000 that year to recover.
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So that whole period of time, Jamie, I'm going through this, as you can imagine, this emotional roller coaster.
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I went from being at the top to being at the bottom to being awarded this blessing to having surgery.
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And now I have to make this climb out of surgery, fix my body, regain my strength, try to adapt to an NFL environment where these are the top 1% of players in the world to make my dream a reality.
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And so I'm just going through this wave of emotional, you know, crisis over that whole offseason and and and summer.
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So I I I recover, the next year comes around, and the last preseason game, the first round tight end they took the year before me goes down with an injury.
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Dallas Clark?
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Dallas Clark.
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So I get to start Sunday night kickoff, national television against Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens, and I have the game of my life.
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And I get the game ball, I catch a touchdown in the third quarter, they botched the coverage, Peyton saw me, made the catch, ran through the safety to score a touchdown in my very first NFL game.
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And as I look down at the safety who's on the ground, I realize it's Deion Sanders, arguably the greatest defensive back in the history of football.
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And so all that to say, I know that was a long answer, but all that to say, like, you know, we go through those periods in our life where we find ourselves at the summit, and the next moment we find ourselves in the valley.
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And it's about finding the consistency, it's about finding the mean and staying balanced through that whole process, because the balance is what is what helps you sustain an attitude and a mindset that's capable of enduring and persevering through fortitude, right?
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Which is choosing courage in the in the face of adversity.
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Yeah.
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And so that process is what prepared me for the harvest.
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And because I because I kept that balance and because I believed that the outcome, if I put in the work, was going to be fruitful, it would it it happened.
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It was provided.
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And so that's an amazing story.
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I started on that team, you know, for the next for the next three years and and uh, you know, was a starting tender in the Super Bowl.
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So, you know, God has a plan, you know, and I had a purpose and a calling, and I just had to trust that I just stayed, stayed balanced through the fire.
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It really is, and it's such a good message.
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And you answered like so many of my questions in that story.
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So I I actually really love that story of that recovery and transformation and having to just constantly, you know, life is about that.
00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.960
It's not, I mean, we were just talking, we're both, I'm in a valley right now.
00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:53.599
I'll be honest.
00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:00.880
And thank you for saying, you know, I don't know if you're in a valley, but it's like I it's constant, and you don't you can't celebrate the highs if there aren't lows, right?
00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.519
If you don't have that um darkness and light, right, that that goes through your life.
00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:11.279
You've gone through a lot of what I would call identity shifts through all of this.
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:17.599
And I think a lot of successful people get to the top of a mountain and then are like, is this all there is?
00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.279
Like, I don't think this is all there is, right?
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.920
There's got to be more to my life, there's gotta be more to my purpose.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.319
And that moment is an identity shift.
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:29.440
And it's really hard to not just go back to what you know, to not just stay in what feels safe.
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.200
How do you get through, how have you gotten through those identity shifts?
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:36.000
And you know, what what do you lean on during those moments?
00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:37.359
Yeah, it's a good question.
00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:47.039
In sports, whenever a team is struggling with identity, immediately coaching immediately falls back to the fundamentals and techniques, right?
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.599
But those those fundamentals and techniques are not by default, they're chosen.
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.160
They're chosen because they're practiceable.
00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:09.440
And so that has always been my approach to the foundation of belief, which drives values, is that if I don't have my own belief, fundamentals and techniques that I can't fall back on when I'm especially when I'm in the valley, it's on both sides, right?
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.000
When when you're on the summit, it's different, it's different, it's a different form of belief, right?
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.920
That that keeps you from becoming entitled, that keeps you from right.
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:27.039
Uh, when you're in the valley, you know, you're you're accessing beliefs that are designed to strengthen and to uplift and to encourage.
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:39.440
And so for me, I would say that it was important that I had a foundation of belief fundamentals and techniques so that I was going through the fire, I could come back to those, right?
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.240
I could come back to those and I could focus on them.
00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:52.720
That that having that foundation is really what allowed me in those periods of time to not go back to hitting rock bottom, you know, but to landing our rally is not as deep.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:53.519
Exactly.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:54.559
Yeah.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:07.200
And the fact that those beliefs were connected to practiceable exercises that I could tap into in order to kind of develop and and and pull me out of the out of I love that.
00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:07.920
I love that.
00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.400
And so you've talked a lot about beliefs.
00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:18.319
Is there a specific belief you had to unlearn at some point along the way to kind of get you to the next level of success?
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:23.039
Because in my own experience, there are beliefs that are something that aren't sometimes.
00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.319
They are given to you, right?
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:25.119
As children, right?
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:31.279
You absorb beliefs, and then some of us just carry those throughout our entire lives when we don't really even know the source of them.
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:31.599
Yeah.
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:36.000
Is there anything you've had to unlearn or any beliefs that you've had to shift in any way?
00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.799
One that comes to mind is is this idea that we can't reach perfection.
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.759
And I think the word perfect is it's it can be triggering, right?
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.599
Because none of us are perfect.
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:48.160
Right.
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.119
And we all fall short of our potential.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.720
But does that does that mean that the word isn't valuable?
00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:04.880
And that what it means isn't valuable, and that we shouldn't just accept that there's no way that we can be perfect, and then we never actually pursue it.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:13.359
And that was the thing that I learned in Indianapolis is that they were unafraid to claim the expectation of perfection.
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:17.359
Their demand and their expectation was perfection.
00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:39.359
Now, of course, they knew that there were going to be mistakes, of course they knew that there were going to be attitude failures and mental failures and physical failures, but uh they placed the bar at perfection because if we're striving for it, if we're striving to be the absolute best that we can possibly be, we will be better every single day.
00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:39.839
Right.
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:40.640
You know what I mean?
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.400
Shoot for the stars if you land on the moon, right?
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.200
We're still there.
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:46.319
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:59.759
Ways to to say it that your listeners might uh you know uh understand more personally to themselves, but I just thought that that was really, you know, I thought that that was really profound, you know, to to sit in a tiny meeting room.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.039
And have coaches say, no, like this is what we expect.
00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.000
We expect you're gonna take you're gonna take the perfect step.
00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.200
You're gonna play place your hands perfectly where they're supposed to go.
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.319
You're gonna see the defense perfectly as it's designed so that you can make the right decision.
00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:22.240
And and and so that level, especially when you're dealing with the most competitive people in any industry, right?
00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:30.880
When you get that to a competitor, then you've just ignited this quality that is going to go after it.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:31.519
Right.
00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.039
And so that, yeah.
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:38.319
So that was an interesting belief that I think I had to adjust to that level of expectation.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:45.039
But if anything, it's been a part of the trajectory of my life going failure and what I try to apply in anything that I do.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:48.799
How is your definition of success different then?
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.160
Let's just say during your time in Indianapolis versus now, right?
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.319
Life looks very different for you.
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:56.319
How has that definition changed?
00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:12.720
Oh gosh, and I don't know if you've experienced this, but I feel like as as we age, um, you know, I've I've found myself getting more emotional, emotional recently at everything, whether it's I've always been that way, but I love hearing that other people are joining me.
00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:28.240
Whether it's a, you know, it can be a cat video on Instagram or it can be, you know, I'm just finding that my sensitivity to the things that matter most in my life is becoming is becoming deeper.
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:39.119
And and that's mean me, you know, that that's been a process of of really kind of stripping away the materialism and the vanity that exists within my personality.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:40.799
We all face that.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:59.920
And and so what if you're able to realize it, then you have an opportunity, you know, to create new beliefs that can guide your behaviors towards, you know, really reflecting, I think, a more healthy version of what success looks like.
00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:00.319
Yeah.
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:06.960
Because at the end of the at the end of the day, like whatever house I'm in, whatever's in my bank account, all that is gonna go away.
00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:07.759
Right.
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:17.039
And the most important thing to me is that you know, my wife looks back on our marriage and says, Man, what what a blessing he was.
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:26.079
And my daughters look back, and uh, you know, that I know that sounds a little corny, that's a Nicholas Sparks movie, but But I love that.
00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.279
Well, honestly, yeah.
00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.759
You know, materialism i is important.
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:33.440
We need it to live and survive.
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:35.200
We there's nothing wrong with pursuing it.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.400
I it just lessens its grip on us, I think, as we get older.
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:42.240
I'm trying to not make it a part of my identity.
00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.039
Right.
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:43.440
Yeah.
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:52.720
I'm reading a book right now called The Second Mountain, and they talk about the fact that the first mountain is about achievement and challenge and conquering.
00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:57.039
So if you think about, you know, the first part of your career, it's like how many, how far can I go?
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:57.359
Right.
00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.799
And how many things can I collect?
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.960
Right, whether that's achievements or titles or whatever it is.
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:05.839
And the second mountain is around surrender and legacy.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:07.039
And that, right?
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:15.039
You're describing kind of the whole point of this podcast is that it doesn't negate anything you've done up to this point and all the achievements, and you'll have more achievements.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:18.319
It's just not what drives us in the second mountain, right?
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:19.680
It's about something else.
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:22.400
And we can do still do fantastic things.
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.119
Man, that that'll preach right there.
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:27.920
And that's a that's a paradox.
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:39.839
Surrender is a paradox, and it's been a big part of my life because you know, when you hear the word surrender um and you connect it just directly to how the world defines it, it's it's failure.
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.359
It's giving up, waving the white plague, you know, it's putting your hands up.
00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.720
I give up, I give up.
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:56.480
But when it comes to applying that to your life's purpose, to your value, to your significance, surrender is actually the catalyst for winning.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:57.519
Right.
00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:19.920
It's like what surrender is the ability to let go of defining yourself by the outcome and trusting that the purpose of your life, the value of your life, the significance of your life, and your willingness to give everything you have in whatever you do is going to provide.
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:20.559
Right.
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:21.599
Does that make sense?
00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:22.880
100% does.
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:23.119
Okay.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.640
But I think early in your life, early in your career, you don't have that solid foundation.
00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:30.240
No, I mean, I wish I had.
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.599
In fact, that's been the concept we've talked a lot with our girls.
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:44.240
It's probably one, you know, I've had multiple conversations with my oldest daughter, just turned 17, and and it's probably the thing she said has said to me is the hardest to understand.
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:49.359
She's like, I, you know, I think about the power of surrender, but I just don't, I don't know.
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.240
I don't understand.
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:51.599
Like, how do I do it?
00:26:51.759 --> 00:27:03.839
Like, because every time I every time I'm confessing that that's what I need to do, or praying that that's what I need to do, uh, I just automatically go back into to like control, right?
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.039
I want to grab a wheel.
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:05.440
Yeah.
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:05.920
Yeah.
00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.559
And so you're lives are that way.
00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:09.839
And that's okay.
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:18.000
You know, that's where, you know, that's where the process of of pain and suffering and trials and obstacles is so valuable.
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:23.440
And that's another thing to just, as we're talking about this view from the top, like embrace the suck.
00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:23.920
Yes.
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:24.480
Right.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:29.599
Because there are so many silver linings, so many opportunities to grow.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.839
Tony Dungey told this story once.
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.920
He and his wife have an adoption ministry that they are very active in, and they have a very large family.
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.880
It's 10 or 10 or 12 children that they've taken in.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:45.599
Uh, one of their children was diagnosed with a nerve disorder that didn't allow them to feel pain.
00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.200
So, this is the kind of coach I had.
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:52.000
This was a lesson that he was giving to the team about the importance of going through suffering.
00:27:52.240 --> 00:28:07.279
He's telling this story to an NFL team, and he's saying, My three-year-old son walked into the kitchen, reached into a 350-degree oven, pulled out a pan of baking chocolate chip cookies, and began eating them and could not feel any pain.
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.160
And we had to rush him to the emergency room, third-degree burns on his hands and on his face.
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:17.279
My son will never be able to learn through the suffering of pain.
00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:18.960
And it was this powerful moment.
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.519
I kind of get chills here, but it was this powerful moment of like, look, pain is important.
00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.680
Going through the fire is important.
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.839
And it it it teaches us things about ourselves and about our environment that we would never learn in any other situation.
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:34.400
Right.
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:39.200
So that's that's when you lean on the belief of on your belief of endurance.
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.240
That's on your belief of perseverance, right?
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:43.839
That you are capable.
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.640
You are capable of enduring the fire.
00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:53.119
And through that endurance, you will learn things about yourselves that will make you that will make you better.
00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.119
I think it's a beautiful message for the leaders who are listening, right?
00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:01.039
Who are feeling just burnt out, they're empty, right?
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:02.000
Energy-wise.
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:07.920
And I think it the thing I'm getting from this over and over again is just like go back to what you know to be true.
00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:21.440
In those moments of trial, in those moments of dark, I mean, look at what this year so far, right, is like if you have that solid grounding, it doesn't make it easy to go through these times or to go through the hard parts.
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:26.160
It just makes it tolerable and you can see past them sometimes.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.200
I still have to go through them, but I know there's a light on the other side.
00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:37.759
And so that's what I've almost trained in myself to like it's the idea of why is this happening to me and switching it to what is this preparing me for?
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:38.160
Yeah.
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:40.079
There must be something else, right?
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.119
I'm building muscle so that I can take a future challenge.
00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:43.599
Yes.
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:44.079
Yep.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.079
And laying and laying laying that foundation of what you know.
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:48.400
Yeah.
00:29:48.640 --> 00:30:00.640
Um, I mean, that's what that's what you've done in so many companies with culture is you've taken this ethereal scene that everybody talks about that that people don't know what how to put their finger on it.
00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:07.519
And you've come in and you have extracted all those beliefs and all those values and made it into concrete.
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.279
You've actually laid a foundation that they never had before.
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:15.279
So in the past, when they were going through things, they would fall into quicksand.
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:15.519
Yeah.
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:20.160
And now they fall back onto a foundation of truth that they can depend on.
00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:20.559
Right.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:20.880
Right.
00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:24.000
And we have to take that same approach to our lives, right?
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:35.440
So when we're going through burnout as leaders and when we're in the valleys, you know, we have we have actually taken the things that that sustain us and actually materialize them so that we can fall back on.
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:42.240
So that's one exercise that I think all leaders should do is, you know, really clarify, write this stuff down, right?
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:47.359
Write down what you believe, why how you want to behave to reflect those beliefs.
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:57.200
And that alone is going to give you your own personal creed that guide you so that when you fall back, it's like you go to your desk and you put your hands on your face, which I've done so many times.
00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.559
Like, what is going on?
00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:01.839
That I that I can look and find the and find my creed.
00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:06.319
I I can find those objective truths that can pull me out of that.
00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:10.079
Yes, it's a great suggestion, other than reading the champion's creed.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.119
We'll make sure and put info for the book.
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.200
We'll put info on benutech.com, any other, you know, just pieces of how people can connect with you, find you.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:22.640
You are an amazing speaker.
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:27.680
So if people are looking for that inspiration, right, and that storytelling, I think you're one of the best.
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:28.319
Thank you.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:28.799
Yeah.
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.000
Yeah, no, uh just benutechspeech.com.
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:33.680
I'm super accessible on LinkedIn.
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.720
I've I've really enjoyed about a month ago, I started doing these um these culture.
00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:40.240
I love them.
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:41.519
I love them.
00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:46.960
So I I'm I'm doing those every every other day and and just trying to just pour into people.
00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:48.799
Yes, you are so good at that.
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:50.400
And they are they uplift me.
00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.599
I every time I see one pop in my feed, I'm always listening to it.
00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:57.920
Um, I want to go through a few of the bonus round questions, which are just kind of fun for you.
00:31:58.160 --> 00:31:59.440
What's your go-to song?
00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:02.400
When you need to reset your energy, what do you what song do you put on?
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:03.200
Oh my gosh.
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.000
And knowing new, you can hit every note and sing along.
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:10.640
Well, I feel like there's there's different circumstances that pull on different songs.
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:11.039
Yeah.
00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:12.319
You're having a rough day.
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:13.680
You need your energy boost.
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:14.079
What is it?
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.039
Oh, I'm having a rough day.
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:16.319
Need my energy boost.
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:23.200
I'm probably going with um like either you two, it's a beautiful day.
00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:30.559
Or believe it or not, like I go right back to high school football and I play Thunderstruck by ACDT.
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:34.480
Like it gets me, it gets me going, you know.
00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:35.119
Uh-huh.
00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:37.200
I love this.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.880
We're honestly, we're making a playlist for the podcast with everyone's choice of songs, and then we're gonna share it out with people.
00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.640
So we're kind of building the playlist right now.
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.759
So it really does matter.
00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:49.440
I love this because I love both of those songs.
00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:54.640
What's a book or a podcast or something that really changed your perspective, right?
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.079
Had that you had that moment.
00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:59.039
Unreasonable hospitality by Will Gadera.
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:01.279
It just blew my mind.
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:03.440
Yeah.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.519
The humanity of it.
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.559
About the power of intentionality.
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:09.440
Yes.
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:18.960
And his culture of hospitality, his culture of serving people and how to create memorable experiences is on a Disney levy level.
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:20.880
It's on a it's on a Disney level.
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:32.000
And I think that the book is so great because while it is applied to Michelin stars and world-class restaurants, it fits in every single industry in the world.
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:36.400
And I think it fits in just how we treat each other, regardless of industry.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.960
I mean, it's like Yeah, that's a really good point.
00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:39.839
Like, think about that.
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:49.039
If we approached our relationships with that level of intentionality to create uplifting and memorable experiences, how would that change our relationships?
00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:49.519
Right.
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:50.319
It's beautiful.
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:50.960
Yeah.
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:56.160
Um, so you know I'm big on energy, and right to lead well, you need to be well.
00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:00.079
What's one thing that you consistently do to help manage your own energy?
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.920
I read I infrared sauna and cold tub every every morning.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:04.720
Okay.
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.359
I'm at the infrared and I have to Yeah.
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.400
That's the that kind of a you know, that kind of a system is so important, right?
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.840
It's it's forcing myself to get up early.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:23.119
I have my cup of coffee, I do my daily devotional, I work out for 45 to 60 minutes, and then I plunge.
00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:23.519
Yeah.
00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.920
And it's a it's a ritual.
00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:30.559
I'm up, you know, back upstairs, seven o'clock, ready to rock.
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:31.519
Yeah, I love it.
00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:33.440
Okay, so I'm last question.
00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:38.800
I'm gonna give you a billboard on a major highway, and you can put anything on it for leaders to see.
00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:40.159
What would you put on it right now?
00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:40.800
Believe.
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:41.599
Ted Lasso.
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:43.440
I love it.
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:48.480
My second chapter in the book is is is called the Lasso Effect, but it's believe.
00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:54.719
Yeah, the number one word that people use to describe what matters most in their life is belief.
00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:56.480
And I mean, think about it.
00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:05.440
When you when when people are asking you about, you know, family or politics or the religio the things that are like, you know, deeply entrenched, we say, well, I believe that.
00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:11.119
You know, I believe it's it's it's this universal connection between every single human being.
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:13.440
And to me, that that encapsulates it all.
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:21.199
Believe, believe in yourself, believe in the people that you care most about, believe in the purpose of the work that you're doing, right?
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:28.800
That should that should foster, you know, the reason why you why you exist, what it what your calling is, right?
00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:32.159
Like the difference between opportunity and assignment.
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:33.199
Think about that.
00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:50.239
We always say, well, you know, I had this new opportunity or this, but but an assignment is a calling, you know, and to step into work every day, viewing it as an assignment, and that assignment is connecting, connected to impacting, you know, everybody around you.
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:51.440
Yeah, I love it.
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:54.000
Yeah, I love you more every time we come back.
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:55.280
And I really mean this.
00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:01.599
Like you have been such a friend behind the scenes on this journey of entrepreneurship, which you've also been on.
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:03.199
And I just appreciate you.
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.840
I always know you'll show up and you'll tell everything, right?
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.880
You'll be vulnerable.
00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.559
And I just appreciate that about you.
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:11.679
Well, thanks, Jamie.
00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:12.639
Thanks for being here.
00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:13.360
You're welcome.
00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:23.519
And to the listeners, this is I have so many, I don't even know what I'm gonna title this podcast, but like this it's this is about humanity and owning your role in it, right?
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:28.320
And and how do you stay in a good space so you can be that for others?
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:30.400
Because there's a lot of people that need inspiration right now.
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:32.719
And I think this conversation will be that, Ben.
00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:35.280
So I appreciate all of this so much.
00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:36.719
We'll see you guys next time.
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:42.079
Success isn't just about reaching the top, it's about what you discover once you're there.
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:49.280
Here on View from the Top, we explore the stories, the setbacks, and the inner work that redefine what success really means.
00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:54.480
If this episode resonated with you, I'd encourage you to share it with someone who might need it right now.
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:00.000
And to stay connected, make sure and subscribe so you get notified when we release new episodes.
00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:06.000
You can connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit my website at jamytes.com.
00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:08.079
All of the links are in the show notes.
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.639
Thank you for listening to View from the Top.
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:13.679
We'll see you at the top and beyond.
00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:02.399
Welcome to View from the Top.
00:00:02.879 --> 00:00:05.599
We've got a special episode for you today.
00:00:05.919 --> 00:00:08.720
I'm bringing on one of my dear friends, Ben New Tech.
00:00:09.519 --> 00:00:12.000
For those of you, some of you may recognize his name.
00:00:12.080 --> 00:00:14.560
He's a speaker, he's an author, he's an entrepreneur.
00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:18.719
He also just happens to also be a Super Bowl champion tight end.
00:00:19.120 --> 00:00:30.719
And he has amazing stories about what he's been through, the peaks and the valleys, as he would say, in his life, and what has kept him moving through that.
00:00:31.120 --> 00:00:42.079
We talked a lot about failure and preparation and how to lean on your beliefs, your fundamentals, like the back to the basics when things get hard.
00:00:42.399 --> 00:00:53.439
And I think that message, you know, just in the world we're all in right now, is focus on what you can control, which is the things you know, the things that are innate to you.
00:00:53.679 --> 00:00:58.960
Um, the things that matter most to you are typically the things you have some control over.
00:00:59.119 --> 00:01:09.760
And I think it's a great reminder for all of us as leaders is how to navigate in times of uncertainty and challenge, is we know we'll get through it because we always have.
00:01:10.480 --> 00:01:18.480
And so having that faith that we will get through and having that foundation is a lot of what Ben and I talk about in this podcast.
00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:22.719
So I'm hoping this is a huge inspiration for all of you listening.
00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:29.439
And I hope that you take this podcast and you share it with somebody else that you know needs it.
00:01:29.680 --> 00:01:34.640
I think that's the most important thing is these messages need to be shared, right?
00:01:34.799 --> 00:01:37.040
We need to take them and impact others with it.
00:01:37.200 --> 00:01:38.239
So that's my hope.
00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:41.519
I really hope you enjoy the conversation with Ben.
00:01:42.400 --> 00:01:46.159
Welcome to the view from the top, Ben UTEC.
00:01:46.319 --> 00:01:47.200
Thank you for being here.
00:01:47.439 --> 00:01:48.560
You're welcome, Jamie.
00:01:48.719 --> 00:01:49.359
Anything for you.
00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:49.840
Love it.
00:01:50.079 --> 00:01:50.799
I appreciate that.
00:01:50.879 --> 00:01:51.840
And you really do mean that.
00:01:51.920 --> 00:01:54.000
Anytime I text you, I'm like, I know Ben's up for it.
00:01:54.159 --> 00:01:58.560
I know he'll say yes to I I don't abuse it or ask you to do anything too crazy.
00:01:58.719 --> 00:01:59.920
But thank you for being here again.
00:02:00.079 --> 00:02:16.080
I know you were on the Superpower Success podcast, and you were one of the first people that came to my mind when I was relaunching on just the success that you've had that you're still having, but the honesty and vulnerability and you know, everything that we have talked about about what it means.
00:02:16.159 --> 00:02:18.479
I mean, it's either it's not all highlight reel.
00:02:18.719 --> 00:02:19.439
Oh, right.
00:02:20.159 --> 00:02:22.719
But yet there's beautiful things in all of it.
00:02:22.879 --> 00:02:24.400
So that's what I want to talk about today.
00:02:24.479 --> 00:02:31.520
So I'd love for you to start about, I mean, give us a little bit of background for maybe people who don't know you, where you've been, where you are today.
00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.400
And then I want to dive and take a lot of our time and dive into the journey and what that's come right.
00:02:36.719 --> 00:02:38.080
Well, thank you again for having me.
00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:44.719
You know, um, you've been a great mentor over the years, and so I really appreciate, really appreciate everything you've done for me.
00:02:44.960 --> 00:02:46.560
Yeah, what an what an interesting journey.
00:02:46.719 --> 00:02:51.759
I mean, and and and I think that's one of the universal connections between humanity, right?
00:02:52.000 --> 00:02:58.159
Every one of us has uh a story, every one of us has uh our own novel of purpose.
00:02:58.400 --> 00:03:02.960
And and mine started in a small river town in Minnesota, Hastings, Minnesota.
00:03:03.120 --> 00:03:08.960
And my whole life was shared between my passions of of athletics and the arts.
00:03:09.199 --> 00:03:21.439
Um and sports was something that just really took off for me early and was blessed to receive a scholarship to play football at the University of Minnesota and had a great career there as a tight end.
00:03:21.520 --> 00:03:27.520
Uh, and then that continued into fulfilling a dream, which was to play in the NFL.
00:03:27.599 --> 00:03:35.039
Uh again, unbelievably blessed to um become a part of the Indianapolis Colts and win a Super Bowl in 2006.
00:03:35.439 --> 00:03:46.639
King passes from Hall of Fame quarterback Peyton Manning and being taught uh how to be a better player and a better man from Hall of Fame coach Tony Dungey.
00:03:46.800 --> 00:03:56.879
You know, kind of one of those things I have to often, even now being out of the league for 16 years, sit back and just pinch myself, like, wow, I got to be on that, on that kind of a field.
00:03:57.039 --> 00:04:05.919
And and that was really such an amazing period of my life because I got to play for Tony Dungey, who was the first to win a Super Bowl built on servant leadership.
00:04:06.159 --> 00:04:08.639
He said if you build better men, you get better football players.
00:04:08.800 --> 00:04:10.000
And that was pretty profound.
00:04:10.159 --> 00:04:21.519
You know, Jamie, he walked in and to that first team meeting, and the very first thing he said to the team was if you're sitting in this room and your entire identity is wrapped up in a sport, you've totally missed the purpose of your life.
00:04:21.680 --> 00:04:23.600
And that was that took the oxygen out of the room.
00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:24.399
It was like, whoa.
00:04:24.560 --> 00:04:29.600
I've never really I've never heard a coach, you know, start a team meeting that way.
00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:33.199
And and that's what his that's what his role was as a coach.
00:04:33.360 --> 00:04:34.319
We have to win.
00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:35.360
We have to win.
00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:37.759
But more importantly, we have to build a family.
00:04:38.000 --> 00:04:42.480
And as I've shared in the past, the acronym for family in football is forget about me, I love you.
00:04:43.199 --> 00:04:44.480
Power of selflessness.
00:04:44.639 --> 00:04:50.399
So that's the kind of environment that I was in, and was so blessed to be uh in the NFL for seven years.
00:04:50.560 --> 00:05:02.720
That was cut short unfortunately due to concussion and uh was a was a big trial period in my life, you know, starting to experience some cognitive issues, and we had just had our first daughter.
00:05:03.040 --> 00:05:09.279
So we decided it was time to my brain and walk away from from football.
00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:16.560
But then that really opened the door to pursue the the passions that I knew I was called towards, which was using my voice.
00:05:16.720 --> 00:05:18.879
And that was as a musician, believe it or not.
00:05:18.959 --> 00:05:20.240
I had signed a record deal.
00:05:20.319 --> 00:05:24.480
I was playing for the Indianapolis Colts, and and so we moved to Nashville to start singing.
00:05:24.639 --> 00:05:34.160
I'd been singing professionally uh since college, and so that was um that was a a lot of fun to to really pour into that passion and calling.
00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:36.639
And then the second, as you know, was is my speaking.
00:05:36.959 --> 00:05:42.879
I knew we wanted to t to tell a story, but I didn't know what the story was until my time with Indianapolis.
00:05:43.040 --> 00:05:44.399
And and that became a story.
00:05:44.720 --> 00:05:46.720
How can you build change culture?
00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:52.800
And that's something obviously you and I are in total alignment on, and probably the most talked-about theme in business.
00:05:53.040 --> 00:06:15.199
And so I began telling that story, and it brought me into you know, just an amazing speaking career, being able to travel the country and speak to, you know, thousands of business leaders and inspire them towards looking at culture objectively, that it can be a product, that it can be materialized, because you're always going to have a culture by design or default.
00:06:15.439 --> 00:06:16.800
So why not design it?
00:06:16.959 --> 00:06:29.759
And that that just caught it caught fire shortly after was invited into the C-suite of a private equity company in Minnesota as their chief culture officer, which gave me the opportunity to be an operationalist, not just an inspirationalist.
00:06:29.920 --> 00:06:48.000
And was in that role for a handful of years and and wrote my first business book, The Champion's Creed, Transform Your Culture through the power of belief, and then just have gone full into speaking, to building products that are designed to help organizations build championship culture.
00:06:48.240 --> 00:06:48.879
I love that.
00:06:49.040 --> 00:06:52.639
And most importantly, I'm a I'm a husband and a father.
00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.040
My wife, Karen, I met through fellowship of Christian athletes at the University of Minnesota.
00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:00.160
She was a captain of the women's golf team, Miss Minnesota 2000.
00:07:00.319 --> 00:07:01.199
Well, I married up.
00:07:02.399 --> 00:07:02.720
Awesome.
00:07:03.040 --> 00:07:03.360
Good.
00:07:03.680 --> 00:07:06.560
And she blessed me with four incredible daughters.
00:07:06.720 --> 00:07:08.319
And so I love being a girl dad.
00:07:08.399 --> 00:07:09.680
I'm meant I'm meant to be a girl dad.
00:07:09.839 --> 00:07:11.040
You are meant to be a girl dad.
00:07:11.279 --> 00:07:13.439
Like your girls have no idea how lucky they are.
00:07:13.519 --> 00:07:22.160
And I was we were just talking off about just some amazing things that are coming because you have raised amazing women who work hard, just like you, right?
00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:24.800
But have that solid foundation and beliefs.
00:07:25.040 --> 00:07:26.399
And you know, I think it's interesting.
00:07:26.560 --> 00:07:31.839
I actually hadn't, I don't know if you ever told me the story about the first day that Tony walked in and said that.
00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:38.160
And I could see, right, at that age, and you've got a lot of people who have been told that they're the best their entire lives, right?
00:07:38.240 --> 00:07:42.879
And they've been in under a spotlight, and then you tell them this isn't, this isn't everything, right?
00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:51.279
He he he he shook that loose and you and then you I hear your story and everything you've done, is it's just one more level to your purpose, right?
00:07:51.519 --> 00:07:53.920
None of it is negated anything you did before.
00:07:54.079 --> 00:08:00.240
It's just these stepping stones to get closer and closer and closer to what it is that you were put on this earth to do.
00:08:00.399 --> 00:08:04.000
When you look about, and I know a lot, you didn't list everything you're doing.
00:08:04.160 --> 00:08:07.279
I mean, I know you've got a lot when you say products and other things going on.
00:08:07.439 --> 00:08:11.839
Right now, what's lighting you up the most when it comes to like your purpose?
00:08:12.000 --> 00:08:15.199
Like today, like you're like, this is the thing I'm most excited about.
00:08:15.439 --> 00:08:18.800
I would I would say trans transforming people, honestly.
00:08:18.959 --> 00:08:39.759
I I think that the thing that I have fallen in love with when it comes to culture is that not only can you transform revenue, not only can you improve operational efficiency and improve the the workplace environment, but most importantly, you can build a legacy that is remembered for transforming people.
00:08:39.919 --> 00:08:42.399
And that's a massive responsibility.
00:08:42.559 --> 00:08:50.639
And what a powerful opportunity to use the platform of work to send people out better than when they came in.
00:08:50.799 --> 00:09:06.480
And when you see it happen, even at home, when I see it happen and just my role as a parent, and you see the maturation process and you see people wake up for the first time and grow and develop themselves and reach their potential, man, there's nothing like that.
00:09:06.639 --> 00:09:10.960
Because then they become the storyteller of that culture.
00:09:11.039 --> 00:09:13.200
And that that to me is what gets me lit up.
00:09:13.440 --> 00:09:15.039
That's legacy leadership, right?
00:09:15.120 --> 00:09:19.919
That's leadership that where you're planting trees, you'll never see sit in the shade of, right?
00:09:20.000 --> 00:09:20.480
Kind of thing.
00:09:20.639 --> 00:09:22.240
And I talk to leaders about that.
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:31.519
Like, are you are you making decisions every day that are leading to that, or are you just making decisions for what maybe feels good or is easiest today?
00:09:31.600 --> 00:09:32.559
And it's hard.
00:09:32.720 --> 00:09:34.720
It's hard if you're not surrounded by that.
00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:37.440
What's one thing, you know, I think it is easy.
00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:39.440
You know, you have had a lot of success.
00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:42.159
And every time I think of the word success, I use quotes.
00:09:43.360 --> 00:09:47.679
You know, and and the highlight reel of your career is pretty cool, right?
00:09:47.840 --> 00:09:49.279
To see and things you can say.
00:09:49.519 --> 00:09:53.679
What's one thing that people maybe wouldn't know about that journey, right?
00:09:53.840 --> 00:09:56.000
Something behind the scenes or just struggles you've had.
00:09:56.240 --> 00:09:57.759
I really struggled with fear.
00:09:57.919 --> 00:10:08.559
I think fear of failure is one of it's one of the most impactful things that happen to the people and hold people back, breaking their potential, right?
00:10:08.639 --> 00:10:10.960
Because most of the things that we are afraid of never happen.
00:10:11.120 --> 00:10:13.200
Most of the things that we worry about never happen, right?
00:10:13.279 --> 00:10:39.440
But I was always one of those athletes and even one of those business leaders today where um I can I can find my mind wandering into some of these places, you know, and I can I can choose to end up listening to a voice that is trying to tear me down, that's telling me I'm gonna be a failure, I'm not gonna make it, you're not gonna be able to provide for your family, which means you're not a good enough father, you're not a good enough husband.
00:10:39.600 --> 00:10:48.080
And and you know, so to just to be totally transparent, like that that was a big problem, you know, that was a big problem that I had to that I had to battle with, you know.
00:10:48.720 --> 00:10:50.720
And I think this is thank you for sharing that.
00:10:50.799 --> 00:10:53.360
Cause I think we all, I mean, you still deal with it, right?
00:10:53.440 --> 00:10:56.960
At times, and I think the openness of like you never get past it.
00:10:57.120 --> 00:10:59.840
What you do is you catch it maybe sooner, right?
00:10:59.919 --> 00:11:05.840
And you have the tools and the the things that can kind of help you get through it, but it's always that voice is always gonna be there.
00:11:05.919 --> 00:11:09.279
And there's some there's some value to that voice a little bit too, right?
00:11:09.360 --> 00:11:13.200
It's there to maybe protect you, but most people don't know how to kind of push through.
00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:33.200
Yeah, and that that's that's where the importance of preparation in sports is so profound because a lot of times I found that the the more I prepared, the more, the more film study, the more on the field training and and preparation that I put into getting ready for an opponent, the more confidence I had, the less I hear that voice.
00:11:33.279 --> 00:11:38.879
Because what I was doing is I was actually embracing the voice of truth in my mind and in my heart.
00:11:39.039 --> 00:11:50.879
And so for me, it was about that preparation for what being prepared for what's to come and utilizing the tools like you, like you talked about that are actually going to speak truth into my life, right?
00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:53.519
So that that other voice gets filtered out.
00:11:53.759 --> 00:11:54.399
I love that.
00:11:54.639 --> 00:11:55.759
Do you remember?
00:11:55.919 --> 00:12:04.080
I call it the climb moment, like a moment where you were like from the outside, everybody thinks my life is glamorous, right?
00:12:04.159 --> 00:12:04.799
Or glorious.
00:12:04.879 --> 00:12:09.919
And on the inside, you know, you were burning out or you were just, you know, it just didn't feel as good on the inside.
00:12:10.000 --> 00:12:11.600
Do you remember a moment in your career?
00:12:16.639 --> 00:12:44.879
But I I can tell you, you know, the the the start of my football career was that moment because I was one of the top tight ends in the country, supposed to be one of the highest drafted players out of the University of Minnesota, and I had a debilitating injury um against Wisconsin at the end of the season, and I ended up tearing my abdominal muscles from the pubic bone on both sides and and getting carted off the field.
00:12:45.039 --> 00:12:49.840
And I went from being a potential first-round draft pick to not getting drafted at all.
00:12:50.080 --> 00:12:58.720
And you know, that was incredibly difficult and challenging because I had I had my degree, but I put all my bags in the football basket.
00:12:58.960 --> 00:12:59.600
Yeah.
00:13:00.320 --> 00:13:12.960
You know, I'll never forget driving up to my agent's office in a rainy Minnesota day after I wasn't drafted, just thinking, listening to that voice saying your career is over, you know, what are you gonna do now?
00:13:13.200 --> 00:13:22.000
And two months before that day, I had a chance to speak at an event on the University of Minnesota campus in front of about 700 alumni.
00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:24.639
Uh, and I got to be the opening speaker for Tony Dungey.
00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:28.720
So I get up in front of all these alumni and I say, Hey coach, he's sitting right in front of me.
00:13:28.879 --> 00:13:32.559
Hey, coach, if you really care about the University of Minnesota, because he was a former gopher.
00:13:32.799 --> 00:13:37.200
So hey, if you if you really care about the University of Minnesota, you're gonna draft me in the upcoming draft.
00:13:37.360 --> 00:13:38.639
Everybody gets freaked out of it.
00:13:38.799 --> 00:13:40.639
He was gracious enough to respond.
00:13:40.720 --> 00:13:44.879
He came to the microphone and he said, You know, Ben, we we know how talented you are.
00:13:45.039 --> 00:13:45.919
We'd love to have you.
00:13:46.159 --> 00:13:48.799
But we drafted a first round player last year.
00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:51.360
And so we're not gonna be looking at tight ends this year.
00:13:51.519 --> 00:13:57.200
And then he stepped away from the podium and he put his hand on his chin as if he was being downloaded something.
00:13:57.360 --> 00:13:59.360
Back to the microphone, and he said, You know what?
00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:01.360
I'm gonna make a promise to you in front of all these people.
00:14:01.440 --> 00:14:06.720
If for some reason you slip through the cracks, if for some reason you don't get drafted, I promise I'll be the first person to call.
00:14:06.879 --> 00:14:11.759
So back forward two months, I get out of the car with my dad, we go into my agent's office.
00:14:12.000 --> 00:14:15.840
My only chance to play in the NFL is the free agent market.
00:14:15.919 --> 00:14:19.360
These are the leftover players, players that rarely make a team.
00:14:19.519 --> 00:14:24.159
Five seconds after the free agent market opens, the phone in the middle of my agent's desk rings and I pick it up.
00:14:24.240 --> 00:14:25.279
And who do you think it was?
00:14:25.600 --> 00:14:29.279
Tony Tonji was the first call.
00:14:29.519 --> 00:14:32.240
Along with Hall of Fame general manager Bill Pullian.
00:14:32.480 --> 00:14:35.039
And they said, Ben, like we didn't think this was gonna happen.
00:14:35.200 --> 00:14:41.120
We know that all of the doctors red flagged you as too much of a health risk, but we've dealt with your injury before.
00:14:41.200 --> 00:14:43.440
So here's what we want to do we want you to be a cult.
00:14:43.519 --> 00:14:48.720
We're gonna send you to the top surgeon in the country, and all we want you to do the first year is get better.
00:14:48.879 --> 00:14:52.399
You don't even have to play, and we'll pay you as though you're a playing rookie.
00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:53.519
That doesn't happen.
00:14:53.759 --> 00:14:55.039
I don't know this story.
00:14:55.200 --> 00:14:58.320
Like of all the stories I've heard, like this is that does not happen.
00:14:58.639 --> 00:14:59.120
Doesn't happen.
00:14:59.200 --> 00:15:02.879
That was they gave me$230,000 that year to recover.
00:15:03.039 --> 00:15:09.440
So that whole period of time, Jamie, I'm going through this, as you can imagine, this emotional roller coaster.
00:15:09.600 --> 00:15:17.519
I went from being at the top to being at the bottom to being awarded this blessing to having surgery.
00:15:17.600 --> 00:15:33.600
And now I have to make this climb out of surgery, fix my body, regain my strength, try to adapt to an NFL environment where these are the top 1% of players in the world to make my dream a reality.
00:15:33.759 --> 00:15:42.799
And so I'm just going through this wave of emotional, you know, crisis over that whole offseason and and and summer.
00:15:42.960 --> 00:15:53.759
So I I I recover, the next year comes around, and the last preseason game, the first round tight end they took the year before me goes down with an injury.
00:15:54.000 --> 00:15:54.799
Dallas Clark?
00:15:55.039 --> 00:15:56.000
Dallas Clark.
00:15:56.320 --> 00:16:04.080
So I get to start Sunday night kickoff, national television against Ray Lewis and the Baltimore Ravens, and I have the game of my life.
00:16:04.240 --> 00:16:15.759
And I get the game ball, I catch a touchdown in the third quarter, they botched the coverage, Peyton saw me, made the catch, ran through the safety to score a touchdown in my very first NFL game.
00:16:15.919 --> 00:16:24.159
And as I look down at the safety who's on the ground, I realize it's Deion Sanders, arguably the greatest defensive back in the history of football.
00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:36.799
And so all that to say, I know that was a long answer, but all that to say, like, you know, we go through those periods in our life where we find ourselves at the summit, and the next moment we find ourselves in the valley.
00:16:37.039 --> 00:16:56.000
And it's about finding the consistency, it's about finding the mean and staying balanced through that whole process, because the balance is what is what helps you sustain an attitude and a mindset that's capable of enduring and persevering through fortitude, right?
00:16:56.080 --> 00:16:59.279
Which is choosing courage in the in the face of adversity.
00:16:59.440 --> 00:16:59.679
Yeah.
00:17:00.159 --> 00:17:05.519
And so that process is what prepared me for the harvest.
00:17:05.680 --> 00:17:15.759
And because I because I kept that balance and because I believed that the outcome, if I put in the work, was going to be fruitful, it would it it happened.
00:17:15.839 --> 00:17:16.640
It was provided.
00:17:16.799 --> 00:17:19.119
And so that's an amazing story.
00:17:19.519 --> 00:17:26.160
I started on that team, you know, for the next for the next three years and and uh, you know, was a starting tender in the Super Bowl.
00:17:26.319 --> 00:17:35.599
So, you know, God has a plan, you know, and I had a purpose and a calling, and I just had to trust that I just stayed, stayed balanced through the fire.
00:17:36.480 --> 00:17:39.359
It really is, and it's such a good message.
00:17:39.519 --> 00:17:41.920
And you answered like so many of my questions in that story.
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:49.200
So I I actually really love that story of that recovery and transformation and having to just constantly, you know, life is about that.
00:17:49.359 --> 00:17:52.960
It's not, I mean, we were just talking, we're both, I'm in a valley right now.
00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:53.599
I'll be honest.
00:17:53.680 --> 00:18:00.880
And thank you for saying, you know, I don't know if you're in a valley, but it's like I it's constant, and you don't you can't celebrate the highs if there aren't lows, right?
00:18:01.039 --> 00:18:05.519
If you don't have that um darkness and light, right, that that goes through your life.
00:18:05.759 --> 00:18:11.279
You've gone through a lot of what I would call identity shifts through all of this.
00:18:11.519 --> 00:18:17.599
And I think a lot of successful people get to the top of a mountain and then are like, is this all there is?
00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:19.279
Like, I don't think this is all there is, right?
00:18:19.359 --> 00:18:21.920
There's got to be more to my life, there's gotta be more to my purpose.
00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.319
And that moment is an identity shift.
00:18:24.400 --> 00:18:29.440
And it's really hard to not just go back to what you know, to not just stay in what feels safe.
00:18:29.599 --> 00:18:33.200
How do you get through, how have you gotten through those identity shifts?
00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:36.000
And you know, what what do you lean on during those moments?
00:18:36.240 --> 00:18:37.359
Yeah, it's a good question.
00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:47.039
In sports, whenever a team is struggling with identity, immediately coaching immediately falls back to the fundamentals and techniques, right?
00:18:47.200 --> 00:18:51.599
But those those fundamentals and techniques are not by default, they're chosen.
00:18:51.759 --> 00:18:54.160
They're chosen because they're practiceable.
00:18:54.319 --> 00:19:09.440
And so that has always been my approach to the foundation of belief, which drives values, is that if I don't have my own belief, fundamentals and techniques that I can't fall back on when I'm especially when I'm in the valley, it's on both sides, right?
00:19:09.519 --> 00:19:14.000
When when you're on the summit, it's different, it's different, it's a different form of belief, right?
00:19:14.240 --> 00:19:17.920
That that keeps you from becoming entitled, that keeps you from right.
00:19:18.000 --> 00:19:27.039
Uh, when you're in the valley, you know, you're you're accessing beliefs that are designed to strengthen and to uplift and to encourage.
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:39.440
And so for me, I would say that it was important that I had a foundation of belief fundamentals and techniques so that I was going through the fire, I could come back to those, right?
00:19:39.599 --> 00:19:42.240
I could come back to those and I could focus on them.
00:19:42.400 --> 00:19:52.720
That that having that foundation is really what allowed me in those periods of time to not go back to hitting rock bottom, you know, but to landing our rally is not as deep.
00:19:52.960 --> 00:19:53.519
Exactly.
00:19:54.240 --> 00:19:54.559
Yeah.
00:19:54.720 --> 00:20:07.200
And the fact that those beliefs were connected to practiceable exercises that I could tap into in order to kind of develop and and and pull me out of the out of I love that.
00:20:07.359 --> 00:20:07.920
I love that.
00:20:08.079 --> 00:20:10.400
And so you've talked a lot about beliefs.
00:20:10.640 --> 00:20:18.319
Is there a specific belief you had to unlearn at some point along the way to kind of get you to the next level of success?
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:23.039
Because in my own experience, there are beliefs that are something that aren't sometimes.
00:20:23.119 --> 00:20:24.319
They are given to you, right?
00:20:24.400 --> 00:20:25.119
As children, right?
00:20:25.200 --> 00:20:31.279
You absorb beliefs, and then some of us just carry those throughout our entire lives when we don't really even know the source of them.
00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:31.599
Yeah.
00:20:31.839 --> 00:20:36.000
Is there anything you've had to unlearn or any beliefs that you've had to shift in any way?
00:20:36.319 --> 00:20:40.799
One that comes to mind is is this idea that we can't reach perfection.
00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.759
And I think the word perfect is it's it can be triggering, right?
00:20:46.000 --> 00:20:47.599
Because none of us are perfect.
00:20:47.920 --> 00:20:48.160
Right.
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.119
And we all fall short of our potential.
00:20:51.200 --> 00:20:54.720
But does that does that mean that the word isn't valuable?
00:20:54.960 --> 00:21:04.880
And that what it means isn't valuable, and that we shouldn't just accept that there's no way that we can be perfect, and then we never actually pursue it.
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:13.359
And that was the thing that I learned in Indianapolis is that they were unafraid to claim the expectation of perfection.
00:21:13.599 --> 00:21:17.359
Their demand and their expectation was perfection.
00:21:17.519 --> 00:21:39.359
Now, of course, they knew that there were going to be mistakes, of course they knew that there were going to be attitude failures and mental failures and physical failures, but uh they placed the bar at perfection because if we're striving for it, if we're striving to be the absolute best that we can possibly be, we will be better every single day.
00:21:39.680 --> 00:21:39.839
Right.
00:21:40.079 --> 00:21:40.640
You know what I mean?
00:21:42.480 --> 00:21:44.400
Shoot for the stars if you land on the moon, right?
00:21:44.480 --> 00:21:45.200
We're still there.
00:21:45.920 --> 00:21:46.319
Yeah, yeah.
00:21:47.200 --> 00:21:59.759
Ways to to say it that your listeners might uh you know uh understand more personally to themselves, but I just thought that that was really, you know, I thought that that was really profound, you know, to to sit in a tiny meeting room.
00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:03.039
And have coaches say, no, like this is what we expect.
00:22:03.200 --> 00:22:06.000
We expect you're gonna take you're gonna take the perfect step.
00:22:06.160 --> 00:22:09.200
You're gonna play place your hands perfectly where they're supposed to go.
00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:14.319
You're gonna see the defense perfectly as it's designed so that you can make the right decision.
00:22:14.480 --> 00:22:22.240
And and and so that level, especially when you're dealing with the most competitive people in any industry, right?
00:22:22.480 --> 00:22:30.880
When you get that to a competitor, then you've just ignited this quality that is going to go after it.
00:22:31.119 --> 00:22:31.519
Right.
00:22:31.759 --> 00:22:33.039
And so that, yeah.
00:22:33.119 --> 00:22:38.319
So that was an interesting belief that I think I had to adjust to that level of expectation.
00:22:38.480 --> 00:22:45.039
But if anything, it's been a part of the trajectory of my life going failure and what I try to apply in anything that I do.
00:22:45.359 --> 00:22:48.799
How is your definition of success different then?
00:22:48.960 --> 00:22:52.160
Let's just say during your time in Indianapolis versus now, right?
00:22:52.319 --> 00:22:54.319
Life looks very different for you.
00:22:54.480 --> 00:22:56.319
How has that definition changed?
00:22:56.640 --> 00:23:12.720
Oh gosh, and I don't know if you've experienced this, but I feel like as as we age, um, you know, I've I've found myself getting more emotional, emotional recently at everything, whether it's I've always been that way, but I love hearing that other people are joining me.
00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:28.240
Whether it's a, you know, it can be a cat video on Instagram or it can be, you know, I'm just finding that my sensitivity to the things that matter most in my life is becoming is becoming deeper.
00:23:28.400 --> 00:23:39.119
And and that's mean me, you know, that that's been a process of of really kind of stripping away the materialism and the vanity that exists within my personality.
00:23:39.839 --> 00:23:40.799
We all face that.
00:23:41.359 --> 00:23:59.920
And and so what if you're able to realize it, then you have an opportunity, you know, to create new beliefs that can guide your behaviors towards, you know, really reflecting, I think, a more healthy version of what success looks like.
00:24:00.079 --> 00:24:00.319
Yeah.
00:24:00.559 --> 00:24:06.960
Because at the end of the at the end of the day, like whatever house I'm in, whatever's in my bank account, all that is gonna go away.
00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:07.759
Right.
00:24:08.160 --> 00:24:17.039
And the most important thing to me is that you know, my wife looks back on our marriage and says, Man, what what a blessing he was.
00:24:17.200 --> 00:24:26.079
And my daughters look back, and uh, you know, that I know that sounds a little corny, that's a Nicholas Sparks movie, but But I love that.
00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.279
Well, honestly, yeah.
00:24:29.200 --> 00:24:31.759
You know, materialism i is important.
00:24:31.920 --> 00:24:33.440
We need it to live and survive.
00:24:33.519 --> 00:24:35.200
We there's nothing wrong with pursuing it.
00:24:35.279 --> 00:24:38.400
I it just lessens its grip on us, I think, as we get older.
00:24:38.720 --> 00:24:42.240
I'm trying to not make it a part of my identity.
00:24:42.559 --> 00:24:43.039
Right.
00:24:43.200 --> 00:24:43.440
Yeah.
00:24:43.680 --> 00:24:52.720
I'm reading a book right now called The Second Mountain, and they talk about the fact that the first mountain is about achievement and challenge and conquering.
00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:57.039
So if you think about, you know, the first part of your career, it's like how many, how far can I go?
00:24:57.200 --> 00:24:57.359
Right.
00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.799
And how many things can I collect?
00:24:58.960 --> 00:25:02.960
Right, whether that's achievements or titles or whatever it is.
00:25:03.119 --> 00:25:05.839
And the second mountain is around surrender and legacy.
00:25:06.400 --> 00:25:07.039
And that, right?
00:25:07.119 --> 00:25:15.039
You're describing kind of the whole point of this podcast is that it doesn't negate anything you've done up to this point and all the achievements, and you'll have more achievements.
00:25:15.279 --> 00:25:18.319
It's just not what drives us in the second mountain, right?
00:25:18.400 --> 00:25:19.680
It's about something else.
00:25:19.839 --> 00:25:22.400
And we can do still do fantastic things.
00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:25.119
Man, that that'll preach right there.
00:25:26.400 --> 00:25:27.920
And that's a that's a paradox.
00:25:28.079 --> 00:25:39.839
Surrender is a paradox, and it's been a big part of my life because you know, when you hear the word surrender um and you connect it just directly to how the world defines it, it's it's failure.
00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.359
It's giving up, waving the white plague, you know, it's putting your hands up.
00:25:43.519 --> 00:25:44.720
I give up, I give up.
00:25:44.960 --> 00:25:56.480
But when it comes to applying that to your life's purpose, to your value, to your significance, surrender is actually the catalyst for winning.
00:25:57.039 --> 00:25:57.519
Right.
00:25:58.559 --> 00:26:19.920
It's like what surrender is the ability to let go of defining yourself by the outcome and trusting that the purpose of your life, the value of your life, the significance of your life, and your willingness to give everything you have in whatever you do is going to provide.
00:26:20.240 --> 00:26:20.559
Right.
00:26:20.799 --> 00:26:21.599
Does that make sense?
00:26:21.920 --> 00:26:22.880
100% does.
00:26:22.960 --> 00:26:23.119
Okay.
00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:28.640
But I think early in your life, early in your career, you don't have that solid foundation.
00:26:28.799 --> 00:26:30.240
No, I mean, I wish I had.
00:26:30.480 --> 00:26:33.599
In fact, that's been the concept we've talked a lot with our girls.
00:26:33.759 --> 00:26:44.240
It's probably one, you know, I've had multiple conversations with my oldest daughter, just turned 17, and and it's probably the thing she said has said to me is the hardest to understand.
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:49.359
She's like, I, you know, I think about the power of surrender, but I just don't, I don't know.
00:26:49.519 --> 00:26:50.240
I don't understand.
00:26:50.400 --> 00:26:51.599
Like, how do I do it?
00:26:51.759 --> 00:27:03.839
Like, because every time I every time I'm confessing that that's what I need to do, or praying that that's what I need to do, uh, I just automatically go back into to like control, right?
00:27:03.920 --> 00:27:05.039
I want to grab a wheel.
00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:05.440
Yeah.
00:27:05.599 --> 00:27:05.920
Yeah.
00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:08.559
And so you're lives are that way.
00:27:09.119 --> 00:27:09.839
And that's okay.
00:27:10.000 --> 00:27:18.000
You know, that's where, you know, that's where the process of of pain and suffering and trials and obstacles is so valuable.
00:27:18.160 --> 00:27:23.440
And that's another thing to just, as we're talking about this view from the top, like embrace the suck.
00:27:23.599 --> 00:27:23.920
Yes.
00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:24.480
Right.
00:27:24.720 --> 00:27:29.599
Because there are so many silver linings, so many opportunities to grow.
00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.839
Tony Dungey told this story once.
00:27:32.000 --> 00:27:37.920
He and his wife have an adoption ministry that they are very active in, and they have a very large family.
00:27:38.000 --> 00:27:40.880
It's 10 or 10 or 12 children that they've taken in.
00:27:41.039 --> 00:27:45.599
Uh, one of their children was diagnosed with a nerve disorder that didn't allow them to feel pain.
00:27:45.759 --> 00:27:47.200
So, this is the kind of coach I had.
00:27:47.279 --> 00:27:52.000
This was a lesson that he was giving to the team about the importance of going through suffering.
00:27:52.240 --> 00:28:07.279
He's telling this story to an NFL team, and he's saying, My three-year-old son walked into the kitchen, reached into a 350-degree oven, pulled out a pan of baking chocolate chip cookies, and began eating them and could not feel any pain.
00:28:07.440 --> 00:28:12.160
And we had to rush him to the emergency room, third-degree burns on his hands and on his face.
00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:17.279
My son will never be able to learn through the suffering of pain.
00:28:17.440 --> 00:28:18.960
And it was this powerful moment.
00:28:19.039 --> 00:28:23.519
I kind of get chills here, but it was this powerful moment of like, look, pain is important.
00:28:23.680 --> 00:28:25.680
Going through the fire is important.
00:28:26.000 --> 00:28:33.839
And it it it teaches us things about ourselves and about our environment that we would never learn in any other situation.
00:28:34.079 --> 00:28:34.400
Right.
00:28:34.720 --> 00:28:39.200
So that's that's when you lean on the belief of on your belief of endurance.
00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:42.240
That's on your belief of perseverance, right?
00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:43.839
That you are capable.
00:28:44.000 --> 00:28:46.640
You are capable of enduring the fire.
00:28:46.799 --> 00:28:53.119
And through that endurance, you will learn things about yourselves that will make you that will make you better.
00:28:53.359 --> 00:28:57.119
I think it's a beautiful message for the leaders who are listening, right?
00:28:57.279 --> 00:29:01.039
Who are feeling just burnt out, they're empty, right?
00:29:01.200 --> 00:29:02.000
Energy-wise.
00:29:02.160 --> 00:29:07.920
And I think it the thing I'm getting from this over and over again is just like go back to what you know to be true.
00:29:08.160 --> 00:29:21.440
In those moments of trial, in those moments of dark, I mean, look at what this year so far, right, is like if you have that solid grounding, it doesn't make it easy to go through these times or to go through the hard parts.
00:29:21.599 --> 00:29:26.160
It just makes it tolerable and you can see past them sometimes.
00:29:26.319 --> 00:29:29.200
I still have to go through them, but I know there's a light on the other side.
00:29:29.359 --> 00:29:37.759
And so that's what I've almost trained in myself to like it's the idea of why is this happening to me and switching it to what is this preparing me for?
00:29:37.920 --> 00:29:38.160
Yeah.
00:29:38.400 --> 00:29:40.079
There must be something else, right?
00:29:40.160 --> 00:29:43.119
I'm building muscle so that I can take a future challenge.
00:29:43.359 --> 00:29:43.599
Yes.
00:29:43.759 --> 00:29:44.079
Yep.
00:29:44.160 --> 00:29:48.079
And laying and laying laying that foundation of what you know.
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:48.400
Yeah.
00:29:48.640 --> 00:30:00.640
Um, I mean, that's what that's what you've done in so many companies with culture is you've taken this ethereal scene that everybody talks about that that people don't know what how to put their finger on it.
00:30:00.720 --> 00:30:07.519
And you've come in and you have extracted all those beliefs and all those values and made it into concrete.
00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.279
You've actually laid a foundation that they never had before.
00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:15.279
So in the past, when they were going through things, they would fall into quicksand.
00:30:15.359 --> 00:30:15.519
Yeah.
00:30:15.680 --> 00:30:20.160
And now they fall back onto a foundation of truth that they can depend on.
00:30:20.319 --> 00:30:20.559
Right.
00:30:20.720 --> 00:30:20.880
Right.
00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:24.000
And we have to take that same approach to our lives, right?
00:30:24.160 --> 00:30:35.440
So when we're going through burnout as leaders and when we're in the valleys, you know, we have we have actually taken the things that that sustain us and actually materialize them so that we can fall back on.
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:42.240
So that's one exercise that I think all leaders should do is, you know, really clarify, write this stuff down, right?
00:30:42.400 --> 00:30:47.359
Write down what you believe, why how you want to behave to reflect those beliefs.
00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:57.200
And that alone is going to give you your own personal creed that guide you so that when you fall back, it's like you go to your desk and you put your hands on your face, which I've done so many times.
00:30:57.359 --> 00:30:58.559
Like, what is going on?
00:30:58.720 --> 00:31:01.839
That I that I can look and find the and find my creed.
00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:06.319
I I can find those objective truths that can pull me out of that.
00:31:06.640 --> 00:31:10.079
Yes, it's a great suggestion, other than reading the champion's creed.
00:31:13.119 --> 00:31:15.119
We'll make sure and put info for the book.
00:31:15.200 --> 00:31:21.200
We'll put info on benutech.com, any other, you know, just pieces of how people can connect with you, find you.
00:31:21.359 --> 00:31:22.640
You are an amazing speaker.
00:31:22.720 --> 00:31:27.680
So if people are looking for that inspiration, right, and that storytelling, I think you're one of the best.
00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:28.319
Thank you.
00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:28.799
Yeah.
00:31:29.039 --> 00:31:32.000
Yeah, no, uh just benutechspeech.com.
00:31:32.079 --> 00:31:33.680
I'm super accessible on LinkedIn.
00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:38.720
I've I've really enjoyed about a month ago, I started doing these um these culture.
00:31:39.920 --> 00:31:40.240
I love them.
00:31:41.200 --> 00:31:41.519
I love them.
00:31:41.759 --> 00:31:46.960
So I I'm I'm doing those every every other day and and just trying to just pour into people.
00:31:47.279 --> 00:31:48.799
Yes, you are so good at that.
00:31:48.880 --> 00:31:50.400
And they are they uplift me.
00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:53.599
I every time I see one pop in my feed, I'm always listening to it.
00:31:53.759 --> 00:31:57.920
Um, I want to go through a few of the bonus round questions, which are just kind of fun for you.
00:31:58.160 --> 00:31:59.440
What's your go-to song?
00:31:59.599 --> 00:32:02.400
When you need to reset your energy, what do you what song do you put on?
00:32:02.559 --> 00:32:03.200
Oh my gosh.
00:32:03.440 --> 00:32:06.000
And knowing new, you can hit every note and sing along.
00:32:06.480 --> 00:32:10.640
Well, I feel like there's there's different circumstances that pull on different songs.
00:32:10.880 --> 00:32:11.039
Yeah.
00:32:11.200 --> 00:32:12.319
You're having a rough day.
00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:13.680
You need your energy boost.
00:32:13.759 --> 00:32:14.079
What is it?
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:15.039
Oh, I'm having a rough day.
00:32:15.279 --> 00:32:16.319
Need my energy boost.
00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:23.200
I'm probably going with um like either you two, it's a beautiful day.
00:32:24.079 --> 00:32:30.559
Or believe it or not, like I go right back to high school football and I play Thunderstruck by ACDT.
00:32:30.960 --> 00:32:34.480
Like it gets me, it gets me going, you know.
00:32:34.720 --> 00:32:35.119
Uh-huh.
00:32:36.400 --> 00:32:37.200
I love this.
00:32:37.680 --> 00:32:44.880
We're honestly, we're making a playlist for the podcast with everyone's choice of songs, and then we're gonna share it out with people.
00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.640
So we're kind of building the playlist right now.
00:32:46.720 --> 00:32:47.759
So it really does matter.
00:32:47.839 --> 00:32:49.440
I love this because I love both of those songs.
00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:54.640
What's a book or a podcast or something that really changed your perspective, right?
00:32:54.799 --> 00:32:56.079
Had that you had that moment.
00:32:56.400 --> 00:32:59.039
Unreasonable hospitality by Will Gadera.
00:32:59.359 --> 00:33:01.279
It just blew my mind.
00:33:02.880 --> 00:33:03.440
Yeah.
00:33:03.759 --> 00:33:05.519
The humanity of it.
00:33:06.240 --> 00:33:08.559
About the power of intentionality.
00:33:08.799 --> 00:33:09.440
Yes.
00:33:10.240 --> 00:33:18.960
And his culture of hospitality, his culture of serving people and how to create memorable experiences is on a Disney levy level.
00:33:19.200 --> 00:33:20.880
It's on a it's on a Disney level.
00:33:21.039 --> 00:33:32.000
And I think that the book is so great because while it is applied to Michelin stars and world-class restaurants, it fits in every single industry in the world.
00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:36.400
And I think it fits in just how we treat each other, regardless of industry.
00:33:36.559 --> 00:33:38.960
I mean, it's like Yeah, that's a really good point.
00:33:39.119 --> 00:33:39.839
Like, think about that.
00:33:40.160 --> 00:33:49.039
If we approached our relationships with that level of intentionality to create uplifting and memorable experiences, how would that change our relationships?
00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:49.519
Right.
00:33:49.599 --> 00:33:50.319
It's beautiful.
00:33:50.480 --> 00:33:50.960
Yeah.
00:33:51.200 --> 00:33:56.160
Um, so you know I'm big on energy, and right to lead well, you need to be well.
00:33:56.400 --> 00:34:00.079
What's one thing that you consistently do to help manage your own energy?
00:34:00.319 --> 00:34:03.920
I read I infrared sauna and cold tub every every morning.
00:34:04.559 --> 00:34:04.720
Okay.
00:34:04.880 --> 00:34:07.359
I'm at the infrared and I have to Yeah.
00:34:07.680 --> 00:34:12.400
That's the that kind of a you know, that kind of a system is so important, right?
00:34:12.559 --> 00:34:15.840
It's it's forcing myself to get up early.
00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:23.119
I have my cup of coffee, I do my daily devotional, I work out for 45 to 60 minutes, and then I plunge.
00:34:23.280 --> 00:34:23.519
Yeah.
00:34:23.679 --> 00:34:25.920
And it's a it's a ritual.
00:34:27.119 --> 00:34:30.559
I'm up, you know, back upstairs, seven o'clock, ready to rock.
00:34:30.719 --> 00:34:31.519
Yeah, I love it.
00:34:31.679 --> 00:34:33.440
Okay, so I'm last question.
00:34:33.519 --> 00:34:38.800
I'm gonna give you a billboard on a major highway, and you can put anything on it for leaders to see.
00:34:38.880 --> 00:34:40.159
What would you put on it right now?
00:34:40.400 --> 00:34:40.800
Believe.
00:34:40.960 --> 00:34:41.599
Ted Lasso.
00:34:42.880 --> 00:34:43.440
I love it.
00:34:43.760 --> 00:34:48.480
My second chapter in the book is is is called the Lasso Effect, but it's believe.
00:34:48.559 --> 00:34:54.719
Yeah, the number one word that people use to describe what matters most in their life is belief.
00:34:54.960 --> 00:34:56.480
And I mean, think about it.
00:34:56.639 --> 00:35:05.440
When you when when people are asking you about, you know, family or politics or the religio the things that are like, you know, deeply entrenched, we say, well, I believe that.
00:35:05.679 --> 00:35:11.119
You know, I believe it's it's it's this universal connection between every single human being.
00:35:11.280 --> 00:35:13.440
And to me, that that encapsulates it all.
00:35:13.679 --> 00:35:21.199
Believe, believe in yourself, believe in the people that you care most about, believe in the purpose of the work that you're doing, right?
00:35:21.440 --> 00:35:28.800
That should that should foster, you know, the reason why you why you exist, what it what your calling is, right?
00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:32.159
Like the difference between opportunity and assignment.
00:35:32.320 --> 00:35:33.199
Think about that.
00:35:33.360 --> 00:35:50.239
We always say, well, you know, I had this new opportunity or this, but but an assignment is a calling, you know, and to step into work every day, viewing it as an assignment, and that assignment is connecting, connected to impacting, you know, everybody around you.
00:35:50.480 --> 00:35:51.440
Yeah, I love it.
00:35:51.599 --> 00:35:54.000
Yeah, I love you more every time we come back.
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:55.280
And I really mean this.
00:35:55.440 --> 00:36:01.599
Like you have been such a friend behind the scenes on this journey of entrepreneurship, which you've also been on.
00:36:01.679 --> 00:36:03.199
And I just appreciate you.
00:36:03.840 --> 00:36:07.840
I always know you'll show up and you'll tell everything, right?
00:36:07.920 --> 00:36:08.880
You'll be vulnerable.
00:36:09.039 --> 00:36:10.559
And I just appreciate that about you.
00:36:10.800 --> 00:36:11.679
Well, thanks, Jamie.
00:36:11.840 --> 00:36:12.639
Thanks for being here.
00:36:12.800 --> 00:36:13.360
You're welcome.
00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:23.519
And to the listeners, this is I have so many, I don't even know what I'm gonna title this podcast, but like this it's this is about humanity and owning your role in it, right?
00:36:23.679 --> 00:36:28.320
And and how do you stay in a good space so you can be that for others?
00:36:28.400 --> 00:36:30.400
Because there's a lot of people that need inspiration right now.
00:36:30.480 --> 00:36:32.719
And I think this conversation will be that, Ben.
00:36:32.960 --> 00:36:35.280
So I appreciate all of this so much.
00:36:35.519 --> 00:36:36.719
We'll see you guys next time.
00:36:37.039 --> 00:36:42.079
Success isn't just about reaching the top, it's about what you discover once you're there.
00:36:42.320 --> 00:36:49.280
Here on View from the Top, we explore the stories, the setbacks, and the inner work that redefine what success really means.
00:36:49.599 --> 00:36:54.480
If this episode resonated with you, I'd encourage you to share it with someone who might need it right now.
00:36:54.639 --> 00:37:00.000
And to stay connected, make sure and subscribe so you get notified when we release new episodes.
00:37:00.239 --> 00:37:06.000
You can connect with me on Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, or visit my website at jamytes.com.
00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:08.079
All of the links are in the show notes.
00:37:08.239 --> 00:37:10.639
Thank you for listening to View from the Top.
00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:13.679
We'll see you at the top and beyond.
