Shaping Resilient Cultures and Navigating Family Business Dynamics

Embark on a journey of discovery as I, Ron Harvey, alongside my distinguished guest Brent from Midwest Laboratories, guide you through the transformative landscape of leadership. Celebrating a decade of empowering leaders at Global Core Strategies and Consulting, we delve into the core qualities that elevate leadership from a role to a calling, sharing Brent's invaluable insights from his book "Leaders, Look Within." Engage with us as we navigate the emotional complexities of inheriting a family business, and learn how self-reflection and a people-first approach can revolutionize your leadership style.

Transitioning into a leadership role comes with its unique set of hurdles. Brent's experience as a second-generation business owner reveals the profound impact of outside experience and the cultivation of core values. Our conversation highlights the leadership journey as a deeply personal endeavor, where titles fall away to reveal the true essence of guiding and inspiring others. Discover how a commitment to self-awareness and trust can lay the foundation for a resilient business, and join us as we explore the significance of trust-building and solid internal infrastructures.

Cap off this enlightening episode with a heart-to-heart on building a positive organizational culture, where journaling and knowing employees' names fosters connection and growth. Learn how personal stories and vulnerabilities can create an environment of openness and authenticity and why investing in your team's well-being through comprehensive benefits is a testament to true leadership. Please tune in to the Unpacked Podcast every Monday for such authentic conversations as we continue to unravel the stories and wisdom of leaders like Brent, helping us all become more impactful in our leadership journeys.

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Just Make A Difference: Leading Under Pressure by Ron Harvey

“If you don’t have something to measure your growth, you won’t be self-aware or intentional about your growth.”

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this ...

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:01

Welcome to Unpacked Podcast with your host leadership consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron's delighted to have you join us as he unpacks and shares his leadership experience, designed to help you in your leadership journey. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron.

Speaker 2: 0:27

Harvey. Good morning. This is Ron Harvey. I'm the Vice President and the Chief Operating Officer Global Core Strategies and Consulting, which is a leadership firm based out of Columbia, south Carolina. We've been in business now over 10 years. We just had our 10-year mark in 2023.

Speaker 2: 0:41

And my wife and I started this business after retiring from the military. We felt we wanted to give back and be of service to our community. So we really didn't start it to become wealthy or rich. We started because there was a need for leaders and organizations to figure out how do they show up best to provide what the people that they need to do their job do it consistently. So we believe everything for leaders makes a difference in every organization. So we do executive coaching, we do strategic planning, we do talent and team development, we manage crucial conversations and building trust, especially when it's broken. So we cover a lot of the people piece of it which every organization people drive it or people destroy it and we want leaders to be equipped well enough to take care of the workforce that's taking care of their business and their bottom lines and their customers. So everything for us is leadership.

Speaker 2: 1:27

But every single week we pause and I do a recording, and the recording is what people and leaders from around the world, all industries, all walks of life this platform is truly diverse, if you want to consider that we talk to everybody about things that matter, that they're doing, and leaders from around the globe. So I'm super excited, honestly, to have Brent with us this morning, who's out of Nebraska, but I'm going to let him introduce himself and he's going to share. We want to build a relationship with you, but we also want to create an opportunity to do business with either one of us as we talk through the podcast. So we're going to share a lot. Don't know the questions yet. Don't even know what we're going to talk about, except one thing leadership. From there, we can't make you any promises. We're going to uncover and talk about things that sometimes you don't hear in boardrooms, sometimes you don't hear on stages, sometimes it's too difficult to talk about it. We share everything and talk about everything so you can learn from us. So, brent, let me hand you the microphone.

Speaker 3: 2:18

Well, ronald. Thanks, I love that intro man. That's a lot as I was listening to all those things there. Again, what an amazing show. First off, yes, all that resonates with me.

Speaker 3: 2:29

I'm here in Omaha, nebraska, and basically I'm a second generation owner. My father started Midwest Laboratories and we do analytical testing. We do it in three verticals human health, animal health and agriculture and environmental. We're kind of a production lab. We do sample testing on a production basis with large volumes of samples To give you some idea, like soil tests for growers and farmers in the fall after harvest. We'll get anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 soils a day and we'll do testing on that. On the pet food side, we get about 1,000 to 2,000 samples a day and we'll do testing on that. On the pet food side, we get about a thousand to 2000 samples a day from pet food manufacturers across the company. We have a staff of 300. We stayed open during COVID.

Speaker 3: 3:14

I would just say leadership has really changed so much in the last five years.

Speaker 3: 3:19

It's been incredible to watch the growth and basically I kind of wrote a book about that because it is transformational and we as leaders really need to see the growth and basically I kind of wrote a book about that because it is transformational and we as leaders really need to see the impact that we can have on our companies. But it takes a team, again, and it's great. I love listening to leaders from different industries and they're different companies, because we can learn so much from each other on how we can manage our greatest asset, which is people. People first, that's what it's always been the mantra here in the last five years, and you'll go further with people than you will any technology or any process. I'm really convinced of that and again, I wrote a book Leaders, look Within. We can talk a little bit more about that, but I really want this to be a leadership discussion because I think there's so much, so much learning that we can do as leaders and share these great stories.

Speaker 2: 4:09

Yeah, you're spot on. And being in business second generation, I'm sure you've seen a lot, You've learned a lot, You've been exposed to a lot. For people that are listening, let me dive right in. Let me unpack something really really quick, because sometimes we make it look easy. Has it been easy for you on your journey being second generation in the state? I'm sure the bar was really really high from when your father set the business up and getting it going. Is it as easy as it looked to be a really great leader?

Speaker 3: 4:36

No, no, the answer is absolutely not. I started in the business when I was 15, and then I worked through high school, after school, in college, during breaks, and then after college, my dad and I really had a pact with each other and we said he told me, basically, you need to go away. I don't want you in the business right now. You need to go and get some corporate experience. I also did some teaching experience, too, as well, and he was right. I needed to get away. I needed to find it for myself. And then, in 2005, I came back in the marketing side and I got to see my father interact with his two partners, and that was again. I had all these ideas coming from the corporate world that I wanted to implement, but I was told, like, be quiet, you just need to, you need to learn the business you know. So it was really a learning and he was right. There was a learning time, but there's a time when you you know you have your own ideas and you could see things from your experiences outside that you really want to bring in.

Speaker 3: 5:31

Then, in 2016, it was my dad and I. His two partners retired and then my dad, at the age of 80 retired in 2020 during the COVID pandemic and I don't know if he really it was his baby I don't know if he really had didn't know how to leave the company and he had grown such a great company and I'm sure there was all kinds of concerns. There is my still are today. I built this. How does my son continue to build on this? And that's what I want to do to honor my father, build on his legacy, and how do you do that in such a way to continue to grow the company? So that's kind of a quick history of where we've come from, but it's been really five years ago we had a hundred employees. Today we have almost 300. So that's a lot of growth. That's a lot of change in a company.

Speaker 2: 6:17

Yeah, Brent, I mean a lot to unpack there. I mean because there's some lessons learned where I'm sure, when dad said I need you to go away, how that felt versus like how do I embrace that conversation? At that moment it's my dad, Because it can be a struggle where I want you here, I'm ready, but dad says you're not ready. How do you help a leader that thinks they're ready but they just don't know what they don't know? How did you embrace it?

Speaker 3: 6:38

I actually probably was the same way. I probably wanted to get out because I knew if I came back right away I would always be wondering what's on the outside. So I think I in some way had to find that entrepreneurial spirit. And my dad always told me how hard this was, how much you know. And I remember him coming home, bringing work home at night when he first started the company in 75. And my sister and I would watch him. There was a lot of work that he put in, a lot of blood, sweat and tears that he put into the business. I think that was part of it. He didn't know if I was quite ready for that and he really wanted me to just work for somebody else and see if I still had that in my heart, that mantra, that entrepreneurial spirit to really take this over.

Speaker 2: 7:17

Wow. So let's look within. Since you brought up the word heart, I promise everyone I'm always going to use what our guests say and dig a little deeper with that. So you have the book Leaders Look Within, but you also just tap back into it. I had to go out and see if I still had it in my heart. What's it like for leaders to look within? What do you mean when you look at your book and I'm sure we can find it on Amazon and we'll talk about where to find it I hope people purchase it. What did you want us to walk away with when we read your book Leaders Look Within?

Speaker 3: 7:45

Well, I think leadership. I don't know about you and you can't really see from behind me, but I've got thousands of leadership books and management books. 12 Steps to Be an Effective Manager here's all the steps you need to be an effective leader. What I really discovered through that whole process was you really need to look inside. You need to have really strong core values, and I don't know if I really had a strong one In fact, I know I didn't. This book really claimed I thought I did, but I didn't.

Speaker 3: 8:13

And when you have to look within you, really you take a step back and you see, here I am today. How did I get to where I am today? And then, as you're looking at the people you're working with, like the leaders, my dad why is he doing the things that he's doing today and does it still work? I mean, there's a lot of change. I think you've got to stay with the times and then you sort that out yourself. But leadership to me is really personal. I can't tell you who am I to write a leadership book? There's so many out there. You've got to really find it. The premise of the book is you've got to find it yourself. You've got to know what you believe in, what's your strong values, core values that you bring to the table, and how does that all affect the way you lead and work with others? Is that going to be successful or not? And leadership isn't for everyone. I'm really convinced about that. But if you want it, you got to own it.

Speaker 2: 9:00

Yes, I love it because oftentimes, you know, people think the promotion of the title makes a leader and I say no, no, I wish it did, but it doesn't. I know a lot of people with titles that.

Speaker 1: 9:10

I wouldn't follow anywhere.

Speaker 2: 9:11

And I know people that don't have any titles that have the most influence and they're not the CEO, they're not the department head or the VP of the organization, but super, super effective at getting people to get things accomplished and still feel respected. You said look within and find your core values.

Speaker 3: 9:31

How important is it for you to have those, because I understand the danger of not having them. Oh, I did. I had to find my own and I'm thankful. I work with a chief strategy officer, dana, and we were at a conference I'll never forget and she kept asking me what my why is and I kept throwing out answers and she says that's not your why. I know that's not it. And she was just hammering and we were at a conference in Austin and our flight got delayed, so we took an Uber from Austin to Dallas. That's about a three-hour Uber ride For three hours.

Speaker 3: 9:59

She just hit me with these questions and I'll never forget that dialogue. And I got done with the three hours and I was so frustrated because I did not have a why and she knew it and thankfully she did ask me that so I did. I had to end up working. I worked with a coach and I really had to find it myself and my why and I say my how is. I'm a person of faith who coaches people up and leads from the heart, and I have to say that every single day and that's what drives me. But you really you need something strong and effective that you're going to live by every single day. And for years I thought I had something but it never held water or I'd change it or I'd adjust it, and nothing really stuck till I really took the time to really myself look inside and discover it and write it down and really say it over and over. That this is who I am and this is where I want. This is what I get up every single day for.

Speaker 2: 10:52

And I really appreciate when leaders come on and they talk about understanding the why they talk about hey, I want to serve, hey, I have faith. I'm driving all these things For me and my journey. I'm a faith guy as well, so I lean heavily on that guiding me to make sure I make the right choices. And when I think of leadership on the brand and people ask me a really simple definition for me and those that are listening they've heard this before Leadership to me, at the end of the day, is service. What makes it such a challenge is you require the sacrifice. You're going to have to give up something to be an effective leader, whether it's your time or whether it's your resources.

Speaker 2: 11:24

You don't take home the biggest paycheck in these organizations and sometimes you look at these titles and think that they're the ones that's taking home the fat paychecks, and that happens in our society, unfortunately, where CEOs live in lavish lifestyles and people in the organization are probably keeping their lights on. That's not leadership and I want to be really clear. That's not. I think everybody are to live well, eat well and have an equal opportunity to be treated in organizations across society. So it shouldn't just be Brent and I. I totally don't think we should be the ones just looking like life is great, why everybody else is struggling. What are some of the things you've learned on your journey that were hard lessons for you to get to the level you are not as a leader?

Speaker 3: 12:01

She gave me these three words that have always stuck with me People, process and technology. As a leader, she gave me these three words that have always stuck with me people, process and technology. And it has to be in that order People first, then you've got to have processes, You've got to do some things consistently and then you can put on any type of technology to make that better. But it's always people first and that people, process and technology mentality I have maintained. It's just stuck with me, it's just such.

Speaker 3: 12:23

Those three simple words have really helped me put things in perspective, because in the beginning, when I took over with my dad, I wanted to brand new technology. Our technology was old and I thought I'd bring in a company or, and then I thought I'd bring in some great leaders from the outside. I was so super reactive, super reactive. I was going at a hundred miles an hour. I wanted things done fast and quicker and I was destroying the company. I was literally destroying everything that was being built and it really took me to really slow down and just realize I say slow down, slow down and really work with the people first, gain their trust, build a team, and then you can do amazing things when you start and you really have that mindset, versus throwing all this new technology because it's easy to get caught up in that or changing processes on the fly with no structure to it.

Speaker 3: 13:14

So the last four years it's all been about infrastructure. That's our goal infrastructure. Let's build the infrastructure. That doesn't sound very sexy, but that's what it takes and you got to have a strong infrastructure if you're going to continue to grow. So that's what it really showed me People, process technology and building infrastructure.

Speaker 2: 13:31

Absolutely. I love that you're saying that, brent, because when someone wants to build a community, they don't put the houses up first, they build the infrastructure first, so the houses won't crumble during a storm. And so I will tell you that, if you don't want it to crumble during a storm, brent, you're spot on. What's the infrastructure in your company? It can be long lasting, sustainable and you can scale it and grow it. But if you don't build infrastructure the first moment something shows up, like COVID, it crumbles and you got to be really, really mindful. Can you speak to that a little bit where your dad handed it over to you and your company didn't necessarily trust you because they didn't really know you yet how do you gain trust even though the mantle has been handed to you?

Speaker 3: 14:08

Yeah, I think you have to have a strong mission and vision. And again, our company had it, but it was on a sheet of paper and it was in a bookcase. Literally Nobody ever looked at it. And I'm a strong believer in having a strong mission, vision and core values. And so I got with the leaders. At that time I had backstory. I had brought on five or six people from the outside. They had made things so incredibly difficult for our own people that I had our top science person come to me and said there's 10 of us going to walk tomorrow if you don't do something. Wow. So literally I got my attorney with me and she walked out those 10 people and I started all over again. That was really a big lesson for me. To me, that was the first part of trust is like you know what? I'm listening to you guys? You're right, I got build this from within. So we're going to roll up our sleeves. We're going to get a strong mission and vision and core values and it's coming from you guys as leaders.

Speaker 3: 15:02

I pick five people and we sat in a room for three days. We yelled at each other, we talked to each other, we had emotions, all of it. But in the end we all had to come to agreement. This was our mission, this was our vision and these were our core values. And we did it as a team. We had to be unified on that. And then now we see that every town hall, every month, we get everybody together and we talk about what's happening with the company and what's happening with the company, and we see them at every meeting and people know the other part of that being a leader is you've got to bring your a game every single day.

Speaker 3: 15:33

If I come in and walk with a frown, I did not realize the power in that. They look at the leader and they say, oh, he's in a bad mood, what's wrong with the company? And if somebody asks you where the company is going, you better have an answer because you're the person, you're the leader. And I think think the biggest learning for me and all that and I know I'm getting kind of long-winded here, but I saw my dad. He was in the operations his whole life, his whole life with his partners, and I think that's why he didn't know how to leave.

Speaker 3: 16:00

I have such a strong leadership team. They came to me one day and said we need you out of the operations and that was not the easiest thing for me. But they really said we need you. Hey, we're growing so fast, we need a new campus. We need you to look at these things, we need you to look at the strategic pieces, we need you to know where our finances are. But we need you out of the operations. Trust us, we can do it, we can handle this. That was big. That was such a big change, but it was so needed and they were so right.

Speaker 3: 16:28

So you, as a leader, have to trust. You can't be in the day-to-day operations if you're going to strategically lead and answer that question when people ask you where's the company going, and you better have a good answer and you better know those things. So that's where I spend my time, but I'm so thankful I do. I have a rock solid leadership team. We have a line of directors. We didn't have any of that, we were very flat. But when you start to grow and you notice the needs, it changes a lot of things in your infrastructure. Again, you have to have trust with your infrastructure. You can't do it without trust. If you don't have trust, it's going to fall apart, as you said earlier earlier.

Speaker 2: 17:08

Yes, yes, I told you this is called Unpacked, with Ron Harvey, and Brent is doing a phenomenal job, so never get low with it. You're good and perfect. I mean because you're sharing information that people don't hear sometimes because we make it seem like it's all together. We made all the right decisions. You know you brought some people in and people came and said, hey, they were overcomplicating the simple. This is not working. You're going to lose a lot of talent and I'm sure when you're in charge you think you're in charge, but you're really. If you don't listen to your people, you'll lose them and you won't have anybody to be in charge of or company to run. How do you help a leader that's at your level check their ego?

Speaker 3: 17:38

I think as a leader too, especially for me I have to have a daily routine. So my daily routine I have to be mentally alert and mentally fresh every single day, have a mindset. I didn't have that for years. I had to work on myself. I had to lead myself if I was going to lead others. Well, I was so bad that I thought self-care was selfish. I really did. I thought people who did self-care, who worked with a trainer, who went out, they were just selfish, they were just spending their time on themselves. But it's so needed.

Speaker 3: 18:06

Today, when I wake up, I have to do something. Typically I do something outside, but now I didn't tell you this, but on January 3rd this year I thought I was in my twenties and I could play basketball on a team on our company team and I fractured my knee. So if you look down below, I've been six weeks now with a fractured knee. I'm supposed to stay off it, but I typically got outside, walked, just spent some time outside and, strength wise, I have to do that part. I have to do some physical activity to get the heart going. I do wear a whoop. I don't know if you've heard of the whoop.

Speaker 3: 18:37

I have to measure my sleep. Sleep is important. I have to get quality sleep. I measure these things because that's my way of knowing if I'm right, because I was so highly reactive and I didn't know why for a long time, but now I know I have to do these things because I can't be highly reactive. My reactivity was so bad. Like people would come into a meeting and, let's say, people in the meeting say, hey, I think everyone in this room, I think, deserves a 10% salary increase. I would have said what the heck, what's going on? You know, I would have said what the heck, what's going on. I would have just flown off the handle. Today they laugh at me. But I take a deep breath. I take a deep breath process and I say, okay, where is this coming from? What's going on? It's a whole shift in the way we speak.

Speaker 2: 19:22

Yeah, that is so huge, brent. It is huge, I mean, because going from reactionary leadership because it's easy to be reactionary when you're the person running the organization the people go along to get along, but it'll be a fearful organization and it won't open up and talk to you because, like, well, how's he feeling today? What's going on with her today? You know, can we talk to him and can we talk to her? So if you're that leader that people know that you're highly reactive, you're probably not getting real data. They're giving you what's safe and what protects them. And so you got to be really mindful. You know, as Brenda shared with us, he had to manage and change his style and he had to check on his height. He had to check on weight and eating and sleeping and working out things that he had to put in place. So he didn't want to be that person anymore. Define who you need to be, to be the leader that people need you to be, and what do you need to modify.

Speaker 2: 20:11

It amazes me, brent, when I coach a lot of executive leaders and they come to the call well, I'm not changing anything about me, I'm like so why did you bring me in? Because getting better is going to require you to lose something. I don't want you to lose your identity, your DNA, but if your DNA or the way you're behaving is ineffective, I'm going to say this is not healthy for you or the organization. Why are you holding on to it? So, leaders, if you're listening, sometimes we hold on to things just because we are absolutely selfish or we just stuck in our ways and don't want to change anything about it. So if you're that person, what can you change about yourself to be more effective, to take your company to where you want it to go?

Speaker 2: 20:51

It's not about us. Here's what I tell all leaders. It's not about you. Get over you, and the sooner you get over you, the better you become, a better you. So I'm going to ask you a question. But when you think about leaders are struggling with having accountability crucial conversations, if you will like, holding people accountable respectfully and not destroying people and I'm sure you've had some tough conversations how did you manage to have those conversations that are very challenging, but you still want to be respectable, you want to be respected and you want to make sure people walk out fully respected.

Speaker 3: 21:22

I'll give you two things. First, as part of that daily routine, I journal. So I have to write my top three goals. I have to write down what I'm grateful for for the day. I have to list up. I list out my wins every single day I have to wins.

Speaker 3: 21:35

Then the one question I think this is what has helped me with that direct conversation I have to list one thing that I was uncomfortable with yesterday. And so when I do that, when I list that one piece that I was uncomfortable with, I can't tell you the power in that. You write that down and then you get to decide is this worth pursuing? Do I need to talk to somebody about this? Is this really an issue? And if I go, you know, in the past again I would have been highly reactive and I would have flown off or I would have fired off emails or something like that. Now I have to think about that and it gives me time to really process it. Is this really important or do I just and nine times out of 10, I'll tell you those things that I'm uncomfortable with turn into wins later?

Speaker 3: 22:20

The journaling is the first piece. The second piece that has really helped me we've grown from 100 to 300. We were wearing masks. I don't know everybody's name. I think it's so important as a leader that you need to call people by their name, and I'm trying to learn names. So last year I met with every single department in a group setting and I asked questions, like the best question I probably asked each department was everyone in this group here? I want you to tell me one thing about you that nobody in this room knows about you. What I learned through that process was so many of our employees. Well, first off, they have animals. We could probably have a zoo with 300 people.

Speaker 2: 23:04

People love their animals. Yes, yes, they love them.

Speaker 3: 23:06

One lady next to me said I go home to my 38 tarantulas and we just hang out. So you want to be uncomfortable? Really fast. I have never heard the term hanging out with tarantulas. It was crazy. But back to calling people by their name. When you call them by their name, you've really made the conversation personal and you really have their attention and think about it. How many days in the corporate world did we never hear our name called? Seriously, hey you, let's go over here. Let's go over here when you stop and you say I'm really intentional about calling people by their name, because it really does stop people in their tracks and there's something about even when you hear your name called. There's really is something about that. That is so crazy.

Speaker 2: 23:49

It just stops you and you really perk up and you listen more yeah, what happens on that brand is it lets people know that you see them, you appreciate them and you care, because if you take time to learn name, you have to care. Yeah, yeah, because we'll learn p and l, we'll learn mission and vision statement because we care about those things. But the people that actually make those things come to life do you know their names? Do you know what they care about? How is it important for leaders to go first and be vulnerable in that space? Because we want to know everything about our teams, but our teams know very little about us. We were taught that way in corporate America for years Never let them know you, never let them share. Be two different people. I'm a veteran and I can tell you that we were taught that initially and then we started shifting. Like you're going to have to show something in your hand for people to trust you. How important is it for a leaders to go first and be vulnerable?

Speaker 3: 24:41

Well, there's nothing more vulnerable. When we just had our awards banquet a couple of weeks ago and you're walking up there with this big cast on your knee and you have to show everybody you know what's going on there and you have to explain to them what happened there. But no, personally, I mean you do you open the conversation up. People want to know about your family, people want to know a little bit about and I'm open to share those things too. But it does. It brings like I think there's just a safety in that. I think people know it's a safe place, a safe room. They can tell their things.

Speaker 3: 25:13

I said that question. One person said I couldn't get over this said my 17-year-old self shoplifted, but I don't do that anymore today. I didn't know it was going to be a confession type of meeting, but she felt so safe in telling people she wanted really to put something behind. I could just tell. I thought that was just crazy that she would share that with the group. But I think when we set ourselves up like that and we allow our people to really be themselves, we get their true energy, we get their true experience. They want to come to work because they know again it's a safe place.

Speaker 2: 25:48

Yes, yes, a couple of questions. Thank you for sharing that, because you're right, creating a safe space. How did you start developing the culture that you want in your organization and what are some tips that you would share with the audience that are listening? You went from 100 to 300. You had to absorb the organization that your father built and I'm sure you had to also help the culture be what you needed to be as the new person in the organization going forward. How important is the culture and what are you doing to create the culture that you want to outlast you?

Speaker 3: 26:16

Yeah, well, my dad from the day. He said you know we have a huge responsibility with your employees and their families. So our benefit package I think it's incredible. If you're an individual, your health insurance is paid for by the company. We're self-insured. If you're family, your family deductible is $500 for the year. We were told our medical insurance is a great example.

Speaker 3: 26:39

Our costs went up 400% in the last three years. And how do we? We kept going to our brokers and saying, hey, how do we fix this? There's gotta be a way. You know where are the claims, is something happening here? What's going on? And they kept saying, oh, you're just going to have to raise your deductibles. You got to pass these costs to employees. And we kept saying, no, there's got to be a better option, there's got to be a better way to do this to take care of our families.

Speaker 3: 27:11

So what we did? We partnered with a local medical medical company in town and we are bringing doctors and nurses on site. We just opened this three weeks ago. And now that primary care part yes, it was our biggest cost. People were going to the urgent care, they were going to the emergency room at the hospitals and we're paying a big cost for that. But now we brought the medical staff on site so three times a week, during the day and after hours, they can go with themselves and their families and see doctors and get the medical attention that they need.

Speaker 3: 27:38

And we wanted to really flip that and make it a preventive type of care campus and I think by doing that we're really saying to our employees hey, we care about you, we want you to have the best coverage. We know there's a cost to this, but at the same time, this is so important. You've got to take care of yourself, and so we're trying to bring the culture of let's take care of you guys while you're here. This is more than just work. We know this is life, this is your family, these are your kids. We want you to have the best life. And then managing, managing costs how else are we going to manage costs? We can't do it through insurance, we can't do it through brokers. We don't want to pass the cost to you guys. Let's find a better way, let's find the best solution here and we think this is going to take off and work. We're still very early on, but I'm really excited about these things.

Speaker 2: 28:25

I get really excited about these kind of things and taking care of our employees, because I think that's what it's about, yeah, yeah, and the more you keep internal people in to get it done, it does bring down costs. And congratulations on kicking it off three weeks ago and being able to take care of and making sure it's preventive maintenance versus reactionary. You know medical practices, if you will. So congrats to you and your team. Hope it works out really, really well and you're very engaged.

Speaker 2: 28:46

There are a couple of things you said that was super important. I love that you said you're journaling. You know, and most people are like man I say look, actually journaling is really helpful. It helps you capture what took place so you can be grateful, so you can understand the wins and you write down one thing that you were most uncomfortable with, so you can spend time figuring out what do you do with it going forward. So I think, Brent, you dropped a couple of great nuggets for people that are listening. Journaling helps you If you're not journ journaling and don't make it difficult, Don't make it an hour long, make it simple and quick. So what have you found to make journaling easy for you so you can stick with it?

Speaker 3: 29:16

I learned through a process with a notebook with structure. I have it all laid out. I would say, pick those five or six things you want to talk about and just make copies, or go to the printer and just print it off, bind it somehow, just make it yourself. Because if you just write down and say I'm journaling, I'm just write some things down, if you're like me, that's not going to last too long. But if I have those categories and I just have to write into the category what I those things makes it so much faster and it's such a better structure for me I have to do it that way. My journaling now everybody's different but for me that just works. Really, you know what am I grateful for? Three things. What's my top three things today? What was I uncomfortable with yesterday? I don't want to write those questions out each time. I just feel in the box and then I look back. I can actually look back and see oh yeah, I remember that. I remember what happened that day.

Speaker 2: 30:15

Oh yeah, that day. Oh yeah, I'm glad I chose this way and that I didn't spend too much time in that area. I didn't have to. Yes, yes. And journaling is for you. It's for you to get better and invest in yourself. As we begin to wrap up our session, you know, with your phenomenal conversation love that you're showing up. You're the CEO. You've embraced it and taken over from your dad. As you look at your organization and you look at yourself as a leader, what do you hope people say about you as a leader?

Speaker 3: 30:30

I really found, as a leader, that we are more and more and I see it every year that we are becoming coaches. I love athletics. I love teams. Of course, my favorite team won the Super Bowl here the last couple of days. Well, I'm a huge Chiefs fan. But to give you a backstory on that, I think what it really taught me was in 2007,. As a chief, I've been a lifelong chief fan, so I've loved the last five years, obviously.

Speaker 3: 30:55

But in 2007, I told my wife, I said it's in the summer. I said I'm going down to Arrowhead in Kansas City it's three hours away and I said I'm going to a coach's clinic. I want to hear Dick Vermeule. I want to be in the room with Dick Vermeule and those of you who know Dick Vermeule I mean these players loved him and cried all the time. He got teased because he cried.

Speaker 3: 31:17

As a coach, I wrote down some school. I still don't know what school name I called. I just hope they didn't call on me about any football type of thing, but it was all about leadership. I really wanted to see what that was like and being in the room with Dick Vermeule for an hour, I was like crying. I said I see why these guys play for this guy. This guy has it. This is what I want as a leader. I want to be in a team environment where everyone in that room is so respected Doesn't matter where you come from, it doesn't matter who you are and I thought it was just the best environment for me and I'll never forget that moment that I went to that and I took that with me and that was part of who I wanted to be. As a leader is like I love people. Everyone brings a unique gift, a unique talent, and everyone should be valued and respected and called by name, and that's what it's all about for me.

Speaker 3: 32:05

And so I'm so excited about the growth of our company. I haven't even talked about we're building a whole new campus. We're doing that because we've outgrown our 14 buildings and we're trying to do that. So I'm not finished by any means. I want to continue this growth, but I know it's only going to be happening through people and I still think we have the best people. I'll invest in people more than, like you said, technology or anything, but I want to see this thing grow because I think it really can take off and do a lot of things and employees. They have lives outside of work. I want them to experience their dreams. I want their kids to have their dreams, and that's what it is. As an employer, as an owner, I want that culture of that spirit that they have. They can own their own lives and fulfill their own dreams too. So it's exciting.

Speaker 2: 32:51

It is an exciting time to be a leader, absolutely it's exciting to listen to you because I get to watch across the landscape, in all industries, all communities. I was starting to really get nervous about what our kids are seeing from the lens of a leader, because we're getting it wrong in so many places about what leadership is, about how leadership behave and how leadership should take care of people. And I said man, I'm really nervous about what's the example our kids are getting. When I look at television or watch some sports or watch even some religious organizations or watch some nonprofits or watch business owners, entrepreneurs such as ourselves Get it wrong in the boardroom time after time, I look at some school board meetings and I'm really frustrated, like how do we show up and say that we're of faith but we're destructive to our brother and our sister? I really struggle, and so I'm happy to be on this call and listen to you. Where did the seed get planted for you to care about people before profit?

Speaker 3: 33:48

I think it really came from my mom and my dad. I lost my mom to cancer and on her birthday my dad and I were at a conference and we walked into this coffee shop and on this coffee shop board it said how can we pray for you? And I looked at my dad and I said I think mom's trying to tell us something. So if you walk in our main office door right to the left there's a big prayer wall and it says how can we pray for you? And again, I think that spirit of just helping each other. It's not evasive. I'm not forcing any religion on anybody who doesn't again want to be prayed for.

Speaker 3: 34:19

If you've got a concern, here's an outlet. Everyone comes to the table with all kinds of things. We all have our own issues, but we also want the best. We don't also want to go to a place that we have fun, that we see wins and to have success. So building that culture, it takes all those things together and I think the best part as well. And so I get it when people say cancer now.

Speaker 2: 34:43

I've lost so many members of my family to cancer. It's just a struggle when you think about why can't we figure this out? Who's your go-to person as an executive? You're leading the company. It can be lonely at the top. Yeah. Who's your go-to person when you're in that space? And you got to be able to be vulnerable. You give it out and be able to bang the table. And as you look at like they talk about Kansas City, you know when Kelsey went over and got inside the coach's ear and people wanted to destroy him for that and he came back and hugged me and said well, you didn't see the hug, you know so he makes me feel young.

Speaker 2: 35:20

So those images sometimes can send people a picture. Who's your go-to person. What do you do when you're in that place and you some support, some safe space?

Speaker 3: 35:29

I'm so grateful I have Chief Strategy Officer Dana Berkey. I mean, every morning we text each other, we say a prayer for each other, say hey, I know you got this coming up, I know you got this coming up. And at the end of the day we do the same thing. We touch base every day. You know status reports. I don't know if you used to do weekly, monthly it's a long time Okay. At the end of the day I just say hey, what were the big things that happened today? And we have a promise to each other that we have to leave that meeting positive. We can't leave on a negative note. I will tell you, as a leader, we do this update every single day.

Speaker 3: 36:03

Some days, obviously, there's days where we can't or something might happen, but when we do that, I will tell you today, as a leader, being outside the organization or outside the operations, I know more about the company today than I ever did when I was in the operations and it's that dynamic, as you said.

Speaker 3: 36:21

And you get that because I've had a lot of questions asked on different podcasts, but no one has ever asked me that that is the secret sauce, I think, as being effective leaders to have that individual, that second person or whoever you need to, that you can really discuss those things and really be vulnerable. Like you said, be transparent, have that trust and you will know so much more about your company and again, you'll go further, faster with people than anything. And I'm still convinced that is one of the keys to my success and we both love it. I mean, we come together. You know we talk, but we do. We know what's happening every single day, the good things, the bad things but we work through them and we know what's happening and that's how I stay in touch and that's why I can say, yes, I don't want to be one of those out of touch leaders. I don't want to go away for a while, come back. I want to know what's happening, but I don't need to know all the details.

Speaker 2: 37:13

Yes, yes.

Speaker 3: 37:14

I think the.

Speaker 2: 37:15

Thing that you're sharing there, brent, which is super important and I use this analogy for people is that we're so connected that the people closest to us are further away and the people that are far away are so close because of technology. Literally, you can sit in a room and watch people on cell phones next to their spouses or their children and they're not even connected to the people that are sitting right to the left or right, but they're connected to someone that's out of the room, that's in a different city or a different state, and they got more of a connection. They're actually closer to people further away than the people that's right in their own organization. So I love that you're having those one-on-ones, I love that you're having those conversations and that you're keeping the people closest to you closer to you, and I'll tell every leader that's listening I love technology. I think everybody has to have it. Ai is real. We got to have technology, but don't lose contact with the people that's in your immediate space, your immediate circles, in your families, in your communities, in your organizations, and be so close to people that are miles, thousands of miles away. And so, as I watch how our world is changing, we're leveraging technology, but we're disconnecting from people. So please, please, stay in touch with the people that are in your immediate circle, that's, in your organization.

Speaker 2: 38:21

If you're a leader, people are your responsibility. Take care of them and they'll take care of your bottom line. No names, as Brent said. Get to know the names, get to know about their families, share a little bit about who you are, be a little transparent. Don't overshare, because that's unhealthy too. But there's this thing of you got to keep your distance. I don't know if that works today. People want to know who you are. Really quick, brent. How do we find your book? Give us the title again. How do we find it? And We'll ask you to share your contact information.

Speaker 3: 38:48

Leaders. Look Within. You can search by that title or my name on Amazon. There's not too many Bernd Pullmans out there on Amazon. I'm working on a new website, but right now it's CEOofyourheartcom. You can go there as well and learn a little bit more about me. The best way to connect is probably on LinkedIn. I think again, I love listening and sharing and reading about how other leaders are really making an impact in their businesses and in their life in general, so LinkedIn is probably the best resource to on social media. But thanks, this has been an amazing conversation here. I like this.

Speaker 2: 39:24

Thank you so much. You have been a breath of fresh air because you know you want to have conversations with people. Sometimes you get frustrated with what you see on social media or what you see in the news or what's happening across our country. There's so many things happening that we figure out. Are we losing our way? And I will tell you, if we're going to find our way, it's going to take people like you and I that's coming together and say we can figure this out, but we're going to have to work together, hand in hand, to make it work. So thank you for sharing, you know, the thing of being your journey and the gratitude and the wins and talking about what's uncomfortable, you know, and having a coach and someone that's in your corner and depending on your team and knowing that it's not about you or I, it's just the opportunity we get to serve, it's not an obligation that we get to serve, and so I thank you for everything that you're doing. I would love to be able to send you a link out again and continue this conversation, probably another three months, and bring you back on and see how the medical program is going and how is it working out for your healthcare and your organization and what's changing, how much you've grown. But if there's anything that we can do at Global Core Strategies to support you and your organization, or just have a conversation across the board, congratulations to your Kansas City Chiefs. That was big. Everybody like talking. Hey, I was pulling for them to win. So thank you for that.

Speaker 2: 40:34

For everyone that's watching or listening, remember we have Unpacked with Ron Harvey. Every single week we release another episode of a leader from across the country that gets to share and if you know anything about us, we talk about everything and anything. We always talk about leadership. We do bring faith in, because that's important. We bring families in. We talk about taking care of people. So we truly believe that we have one opportunity to make a big impact on someone's life forever. Don't waste that opportunity. So thank y'all for joining us on this podcast. Brennan and I had a wonderful time of sharing and having a real, open, unpacked conversation without any questions prescribed or prescripted. Thank you all for joining us again. Until you join us again on Mondays, we always release a new podcast. This is Ron Harvey signing off with Brent. Thank you for joining us.

Speaker 1: 41:20

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpacked Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron unpacks sound advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are, for the people you serve, because people always matter.