Growing Our Future
Play on the Team or Own the Team
In this episode, Dale Alexander shares insights on leadership and the qualities that make a great leader. He emphasizes the importance of growth, empathy, and humility in leadership. Dale also discusses the power of influence and how leaders can positively impact others. He encourages listeners to surround themselves with the right people and to think like an owner in order to achieve success. The episode concludes with a reminder to focus on the long road and to stay committed to personal and professional growth.
Story Notes:
- The Power of Influence: Leadership Insights
- Growth, Empathy, and Humility: The Qualities of a Great Leader
- Think Like an Owner: Taking Ownership in Leadership
- The Long Road to Success: Perseverance and Commitment
Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org
In this episode, Dale Alexander shares insights on leadership and the qualities that make a great leader. He emphasizes the importance of growth, empathy, and humility in leadership. Dale also discusses the power of influence and how leaders can positively impact others. He encourages listeners to surround themselves with the right people and to think like an owner in order to achieve success. The episode concludes with a reminder to focus on the long road and to stay committed to personal and professional growth.
Story Notes:
- The Power of Influence: Leadership Insights
- Growth, Empathy, and Humility: The Qualities of a Great Leader
- Think Like an Owner: Taking Ownership in Leadership
- The Long Road to Success: Perseverance and Commitment
Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast. In this show, the Texas FFA Foundation will take on a journey of exploration into agricultural science, education, leadership development and insights from subject matter experts and sponsors who provide the fuel to make dreams come true. Here's your host, Aaron Alejandro.
Speaker 2:Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or whenever you may be tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast, you know we appreciate you stopping by and we just enjoy bringing the podcast to you. And if you're looking at your screen right now, you're probably saying, hey, wait a second. I think I've already seen this one. No, you haven't. This is part two. This is the first time we've ever filmed and recorded part two of a podcast, but we were going down this incredible path with Dell Alexander and we said you know what? There's still more to share. Let's keep going. And so, ladies and gentlemen, you are the inaugural group of the part two, growing Our Future podcast. Thank you, dale, thank you for staying on and doing part two.
Speaker 3:Man, this is an honor, the inaugural here we go, here we go.
Speaker 2:Big, I got a hard thing. Let me warn you now, Dale, just so you know, the first Indian that saw this, he's dead.
Speaker 3:I got to go, I got to bring it.
Speaker 2:Sometimes it's not always exciting, but we're going to make it happen. I better bring it All right. So, folks, if you joined us for part one of the growing our future podcast with Dale Alexander, we talked about his background, his books, his philosophy, and we were starting down the path of competitive edge and we were about to get in to some leadership skills. And so, dale, let's pick up there where we left off and walk us through. If you were able to sit in front of young people across the United States which you are, by the way and we put you in those classrooms, what would you share with them about leadership?
Speaker 3:Wow, as John Maxwell says. I'm a big fan of John Maxwell. John Maxwell says leadership is influence. Nothing more, nothing less. It's influence. Let me give you an example.
Speaker 3:I was at the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, georgia, and at the Master at Augusta National. There's a local airport right next to Augusta National and on Wednesday, before they passed, before he passed away, they would let Jack Nicklaus, gary Player and Arnold Palmer play a round together. Very nostalgic to see them playing on Wednesday. And they hit up on the seventh green and I'm standing there. It's a very tight, intimate green. And they hit up and Palmer has on this bright pink shirt and they walk up. Planes are landing, hundreds of planes are landing all day at that local airport next to it. Planes are flying over and so Arnold Palmer goes over and he putts out and he walks over to the side right and I noticed everybody is watching Arnold Palmer as he walks over to the side of the green bright pink shirt and he stands there and this plane is coming overhead. That was really loud, a lot louder than any of the other planes. This small plane was coming overhead and Arnold Palmer's leaning on his putter and he looks up at that plane and I knew what was about to happen. 90% of the people around that green. What did they do? They looked at that airplane.
Speaker 3:That's leadership, that's influence, and it doesn't have to be positive. Think about it. One of the greatest leaders the world if it's influence, one of the greatest leaders the world has ever known is Adolf Hitler, and one of the other greatest leaders the world has ever known is Mother Teresa. It just shows the difference when that influence goes awry. And so all of us have a quality, have leadership inside us, because certainly, if you're in FFA, what is FFA trying to do? It's create positive influence and our young influence.
Speaker 3:You might not think you're at the head of anything you know influentially or leadershiply, but if you influence people, look at you and you're a leader and you don't have to say a word. Some of the greatest leaders I ever had in my education was a bus driver and a cafeteria lady, because they had, they had influence, moral credibility, the credibility you earn by walking your talk. But that's your question of leadership. There's three great leadership traits, skills. Number one is growth. Great leaders are growers and great leaders know that what got them to where they are won't get them to where they want to be.
Speaker 2:Right, that is right. Say that again, say that again, say that again. I want everybody to know.
Speaker 3:Great leaders know that what got them to where they are won't get them to where they want to be. And here you go and they expect others to do the same that are under their leadership. Look, they love people like they are, but they love them too much to leave them like they are. You know, I love, I love my kids like they are, but I love them too much to leave them like they are. That's the essence of growth in leadership. Right? I love you too much to leave you like you are. I'm not going to leave you like you are. You're going to grow and you're going to have to grow. That's why John Maxwell said the more you grow, the more your friends change. It's not being stuck up or arrogant or whatever. He's saying the more you grow, you just want to be around other growers. He's saying the more you grow, you just want to be around other growers.
Speaker 3:The second leadership trait is empathy. Leaders care about those they lead and they want to know how things are going and how they care, and it's the one thing that makes people follow leaders, even if it were voluntary. I was on a team with the head of SunTrust Banks. He's on the board of directors of Coca-Cola, one of the most influential business people in the country. I was on an elder team with him and when he would walk in the first floor of the bank building, everybody in there knew called him by his first name and he'd say hey, tom, how's your wife doing? Hey, linda, how's college going for you? And he called him. They called him by first name and he called them by first name. And that's on the first floor, that's not on the top floor, that's on the first floor, because great leaders have empathy for those they lead.
Speaker 3:And the third, and maybe the most important nugget is great leaders have humility. They're humble. Let me tell you a story and then I'll wrap the lesson around it. There's a restaurant in Atlanta. It was called Dante's Down the Hatch, and Dante was an eccentric man and he would make you. The first day at work. He made everybody wash dishes.
Speaker 3:It doesn't matter what you're applying for. Think about this I'm the chief financial officer of this organization and you're going to make me wash dishes. Now, think about that, because here's the truth about that lesson influence is where you're likely to end up. Look here where you're willing to start out. I'm not doing that. That's below me, that's going to influence where you're going to end up.
Speaker 3:I was in a sermon one time and this pastor said this. I'll never forget this quote. He said if you won't do a job without a title, you'll never have a job with a title. Amen, that's right, that's exactly right. And so many of us think that's. But I'm not doing. I'm not, I don't do that. I don't do that Really. I mean, the greatest among you served you, right, humility.
Speaker 3:Look, grades get you an interview. You're a young adult. Look here, let me tell you something. Grades get you an interview, but after that they mean nothing. On the second day of work, grades mean nothing. Zero, duke and the local community college are all the same. On the second day, no one cares. Right, iq is something, but EQ, emotional Intelligence, quotient is one thing. Emotional quotient EQ gets you the raises. Iq gets you an interview. Eq takes you to the top. You can be brilliant and lazy, you can be smart and stupid, and here's the great thing, the hope for all of us, like me, you can be the lowest in your class, but you can still own the company. Listen, walt Disney was a dropout, and I'm not talking about Bill Gates, that dropped out of Harvard. Walt Disney was a drop high school dropout and things turned out well for the man. There's a basketball player, kevin Durant. He said hard work beats talent when talent fails to work hard. Right, and this is good for all of us. All right, I'll keep talking for days, anyways.
Speaker 2:No, no, no. This is exactly what this podcast is all about. And when you start outlining things like growth and empathy and sharing kind of the foundational wisdom behind why you said it In other words, you know, you give me the concept. But that's one of the things I hope people learn about podcasts. You know, I heard a speaker one time said anytime you hear somebody talk, practice the R2A2. I don't know if you've ever heard of R2A2. A lot of times we say R2A2, people think of Star Wars and I'm like no, no, no, it's not a Star Wars, it's R2A2. Recognize, relate, assimilate and apply. So one of the things that I think is neat about podcasts like this is number one if you listen to these guests like Dale, recognize the concept. He's giving you things. I want you to go. Oh okay, I know what he's talking. I see that. I recognize that. Then the second thing is I want you to relate to it. Oh well, I'm not going to go in, I'm not athletic, but I am going to do this, and it sounds like that still applies. So I'm going to relate to it. The next thing is to assimilate it, and I was like I always like to ask people what does assimilate mean and always tell them it says to take in and to make part of oneself. So I assimilate. So I recognize the concept, I relate to it, I assimilate it and then I need you to apply it, I need you to practice it, I need you to R2A to it. And so listen to what we just got. Now you've got part one, now we got part two. So now, within part two, we've got growth and there's a R2A2. We've got empathy and a bunch of R2A2. And now we got humility R2A2.
Speaker 2:One of our guests that we had on Dale and he was recently on the second part of the Igniting the Next Generation is a guy named Cleo Franklin. In his book Coffee with Cleo, he was a very accomplished basketball player in the Midwest I mean, he's in the Hall of Fame of this university and very, very accomplished. And one of my favorite chapters in one of the stories that I make him tell every time he and I are together is about the day that he didn't like the way the ref was calling the game. And so he had a great game and he was very disappointed in the ref's calling of that game and he let the ref know it. He let the ref know it all through the game. They get out of the locker room and he sees the ref and he wants to continue letting the ref know it. And he follows the ref all the way out to his car and he's given the ref what for. And Cleo tells the story that the ref never lost his cool. He just turned around and told him. He said young man, I called the game the best I could and he said I can tell you two things about that game. He said number one, you're not that good, and number two, I ain't that bad.
Speaker 2:And he wrote a chapter and that's the chapter. Now. His chapter was called Be Humble or Be Humbled, be humble or be humbled, and it deals with that topic of humility. But I love the fact that you laid those out and you gave us a little foundational behind why you laid them out, because that's how, as listeners, we can R2A2 that concept. So thank you for doing that. I mean that's good stuff.
Speaker 3:And you know what? The world is not going to tell us that that's how you make it to the top. The world is not going to tell young adults that humility is, as Jim Collins in Good to Great. Humility is the greatest trait of leaders. The world's not going to tell you that this phone is not going to tell you that Social media is not going to tell you that it's going to say to get more for my own, to keep more for my own, to hoard more for my own and to serve my own and that's how you have success and happiness in this world. And it's not true. Couldn't be further from fault.
Speaker 2:One of the things that I want to share here as we continue our dialogue is that you know I do a. I've got a presentation that I give. I know you give presentations everywhere and there's a slide that I put up everywhere I go. It's a quote that's attributed to Abraham Lincoln. Abraham Lincoln said that the philosophy of the schoolroom in one generation will be the philosophy of government in the next, that the philosophy of what we do here is how we're going to be governed here. So if we don't compete for the minds of kids and we don't compete for the seeds of greatness that can instill things like growth, empathy and humility, then, to your point, they're only going to rely on what they know. And I tell people you know.
Speaker 2:But long before I took the foundation job, I had a. I used to work with at-risk populations. I worked in a prison, had a nationally recognized truancy intervention program, and what I always tell people is in life we do the only thing we know how to do. If we don't learn something else, guess what we do. Just like a computer, we will default to the only thing we know. We will parent the only way we know how to parent. That's how our parents parent. We will be in relationship, the only way we know how, because that's what we saw so unless money handle money, like our parents handled money unless we learn a new skill guess what we do we will default to the only thing we know.
Speaker 2:So the reason why shows like this and opportunities like this and I loved in part one where you talked about automobile you and I'm like you I used to do the same thing. I used to listen to the Zig Ziglars and the Brian Tracys and the Nightingale Connets. I meant I would let them pour into me and I always felt like I said, I meant when you grew up like I did, where we got our dinner out of a garbage can. And now I've been blessed to be in every state in the country except for Alaska, to have known presidents and entertainers and athletes, and all because of the blue and gold jacket. I feel obligated, I feel like I have a responsibility to pour that cup out so somebody else can have even more than what Dale, one of the things I like to share. And then I'm going to shut up and get with our next topic here. But my oldest son his name is Chandler, chandler's kind of named after the man that raised me at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, the guy that put me in ag. I never signed up for ag. Mr Chandler put me in ag anything but an ag job. And he always said you'll never learn anything unless something depends on you. So now, today, when I raise millions of dollars for the FFA, I love to tell the story that in the world of agriculture, if we don't do our job, something dies. Well, I learned that because Mr Chandler gave me a sledgehammer during a blizzard and told me to drive five miles to bust the water trough for the horses. I didn't want to go, I pitched a fit, but I did. Why? Because Mr Chandler said, darling, do you get thirsty when it's cold? I said yes, sir. He said don't you think horses get thirsty too? Sometimes we got to drive through the blizzard so that somebody else can have the blessing. Right, these are just things that we have to do.
Speaker 2:But when we start unpacking that, you know, people say things like you know, aaron, we got to get back to the basics. You know the three R's reading, writing and arithmetic and I like to remind them. I said listen, I agree with you. I think we do need to get back to the basics, but I've worked with boot camp kids, I worked with truant offenders, I worked in the prison, and everybody that I worked with could read, write and do math at a functional level, I said. But you're absolutely right about the three R's. It's not reading, writing and arithmetic, I would argue. It's respect, responsibility and resiliency. If we can teach our young people to respect themselves, their fellow man, to be responsible for themselves, their families, their community, state and country, and learn to get up when you've been knocked down, be resilient Not everybody's going to get a trophy. I learned just as much in ag, getting the gate with my steer, as I did getting a blue ribbon with my pig. I learned just as much at both ends of that training and that, like you said, that second day on the job, gpa didn't mean anything. Nope, you know we work with all these things. Nope, you know we work with all these things.
Speaker 2:When I listened to what you shared in part one and where we're at now with part two, I think about Mr Chandler and I think about my son, chandler, and he was in fourth grade and it was bring your daddy to school day. What does your daddy do? Well, I live in a town with NATO pilots. We have NATO pilots here, doctors and lawyers, and you know, we got a university and then we've got Chandler's daddy. He's a professional development officer. He's a professional beggar.
Speaker 2:You know how do I explain to fourth graders what I do? And so I remember going up to the classroom that day and then I went in and I walked up to their little whiteboard in front of the class and on the whiteboard I drew a little bitty door and I asked the fourth graders. I said how many of you could get through that door? And I asked the fourth graders. I said how many of you could get through that door? And they said no, sir.
Speaker 2:And then I drew a really big door and I said now how many of you could get through that door? And they said oh yeah, we could do that. I said that's what I do I make doors bigger. Wow, what? And so when I think about this podcast and I think about folks like you that come on and share this podcast, and I think about folks like you that come on and share, if folks will listen, what you're hearing here with all of our guests, are people that are saying I've got my hammer and nails here. We're going to make that door bigger for the people that are coming behind us. And that's what you're doing, dale. You're, you're sharing things that are making that door now it doesn't mean that we're going to get everybody through the door. Remember, our job is to create the opportunity. Their job is to determine the outcome. But if they'll follow through on some of these tips that you're given, guess what the odds are better that they're going to have that outcome that they're looking for we can lead that horse to water.
Speaker 3:We can't make them drink, but we can give them salt and make them thirsty. There you go, there you go there, you go.
Speaker 2:Well, keep going with us. Are there other competitive edges or are there other leadership skills? What else would you like to share with our audience?
Speaker 3:So let me say this with our audience. So let me say this If you're looking for opportunities and leadership in the world, let me tell you, young adults, this I ask you one question who's in your circle? We will rise and fall to the average of the five people you spend the most time with. I'm going to tell you I've studied this for 37 years when does your support come from? Look, my inner circle is one of the biggest determinants of encouragement and or despair in my life, and the group that surrounds you has a huge influence on your life. Don't think that it doesn't. Well, they're not that bad. No, no, no, no, no, no. Don't think that it doesn't.
Speaker 3:You are where you are in life primarily due to who you spend the most time with and who you allow into your mind. Look, as a young adult, it was hard for me to realize, but your friends will determine the direction and the quality of your life. Your friends are like elevators They'll either take you up or they will take you down, and if they leave you where they are, they're taking you down. And likewise, are you a friend that, when they get on your elevator, are you taking them up? What's the Bible? So, whoever walks with the wise becomes wise. But a companion of fools suffers harm. There's a statistic I read that if you gain 10 pounds, there's about a 75% probability that you will too. And the people around us and, by the way, that goes opposite as well. But the people around us will influence how we view the world and what we think about. It's why John Maxwell said the more you grow, the more your friends change. I mean, if you had a Kentucky thoroughbred horse for a half million dollars, you're not feeding that thing junk food. You're not going to let it hang out with mules. You're not going to put it in an old nappy, you know field, with holes all in the place and a bunch of pack mules around. You're going to associate that thing with thoroughbreds and you're going to feed it well and you're going to rest it well. You're going to exercise it well. Look, let me put it in FFA language. You will not harvest crops in your future if you do not hang around other farmers. Pay special attention to those people in your life because they will be one of the primary determinants of your future. That and what you allow to pour. What are you reading? What are you studying? I was at a speech one time.
Speaker 3:If you've ever seen that movie the Pursuit of Happiness with Will Smith it was about a guy named Chris Gardner and Chris wanted to become a. He was at one point, homeless and he wanted to be a stockbroker. Chris and I were speaking at an event. We were backstage, and the quote he says is if you want to play on the team, go to the gym. If you want to own the team, go to the library. Wow, and he said Dale, my mama loved me. I'll never forget him saying that my mama loved me. And she said baby, if you want to play on the team, exercise your gifts, exercise your muscles, your talent, but if you want to own the team, baby, exercise your mind.
Speaker 3:What are you reading? What are you studying? Who are you talking to? And if you watch him in that movie, he hung around with those people. He went on to have his own firm, Gardner Rich, and he's worth over $100 million today. You will not harvest crops in your future if you're not hanging around other farmers. Who's in your circle? The next thing I'll keep going. If you want me to keep going Did you have some thoughts?
Speaker 2:No, no, keep going.
Speaker 3:The next thing I would think you young adults think like an owner when you go to work. Think like an owner. You want to raise, you want to get noticed, you want to move up. Think like the owner, because owners that own businesses, they want employees that think about what the company is trying. Because what is, what does the business want to do? Raise money for the people that own the company. That's all you're there for Now. Hopefully you'll be able to participate in some of that and things like that. But everybody wants and here's what I've seen is in my life is everyone wants. Many people want more, but few people want to become more. You don't just naturally get more by not becoming more, aaron. You want a bigger check. You have to solve bigger problems. It's just how business works. And these are things that people go to work and they don't just they don't understand what I work here and I do my job. Think like an owner to get more, you have to solve more. That's just how business works.
Speaker 2:So, if I can jump in there on that one, I actually just recently posted something like that on social media because I was talking about people. If you listen to people, you'll hear people complain. You'll hear people say, well, that's not working and they want to like. They want everybody to feel bad for that moment or feel bad for that that it didn't succeed, like they got you, and I'm like uh-uh, no, and so I put this post up. It said that most people don't want to be part of the process. They just want to be part of the outcome. But it's the process that we figure out who deserves to be part of the outcome. So a lot of times, like you're saying, we need to be problem solvers. You know, I ask people. Now here's something. You know this is a risky one here, because I'm talking to a financial expert, but I'm willing to step out here and take the risk. So I like to ask people why do people spend money? So what do you think? Why do you think people spend money?
Speaker 3:Keep up with everybody else to chase some false thing they think it's going to give them.
Speaker 2:So I thought about this and I thought because I'm a fundraiser right, and I want my businesses, I want our corporate sponsors, I want everybody to be successful, right? So why do people spend money? Well, we spend money because we've got a problem. I'm hungry, so I need groceries.
Speaker 2:I got to go to the grocery store, so I need a car. I got to get across town, so I need fuel. My tooth hurts, so I got to go to the dentist. I'm bored, so I got to be entertained, so I got to buy a book or a movie. But at the end of the day, we spend money to solve a problem. So part of leadership development is exactly what you just described is how can I help solve a problem? How can I help solve somebody's problem where they freely give their resources, because I'm helping solve their problem and in doing so, the company becomes more successful, the organization becomes more successful.
Speaker 2:You know, I know that, like in the state of Texas, you know, I view what we do as a business. I mean, we are a nonprofit. Let me be very clear. We are a 501c, but I view us as a business, and here's what I mean by that. The number one issue facing the state of Texas, with our sponsors and I don't know about Georgia, but I'm willing to bet on this one the number one thing is workforce. There's not a close second, aaron. We need a workforce. We need people that will show up, people that can get along with their peers, people that can communicate in a positive manner. The list goes on and on, and I'm going. We got your audience. We've got exactly who you're looking for. You know we can solve your problem. Thus. They want to become sponsors because they want their brand in front of that audience, because it represents that human capital that they're desiring. So we got to think through exactly what you just said how do we help solve somebody's problem? And in solving that problem, we create margins, and businesses are based on margins.
Speaker 3:That's so good. That is so much in that there's my head's spinning on that. Here's something this morning I was talking, I jotted some notes down and I call it the winner's purse myth the winner's purse, like a purse in a. I was'm talking to a golf, a captain of a college golf team. This morning he called me and it's the winner's purse myth and somebody once told me we were watching a golf tournament and on sunday, when the golf tournament was over, the they held up a check and it was like one and a half million dollars. And somebody said man, that guy just won a million and a half dollars in four days. And I went wait a minute, what?
Speaker 3:And this morning, talking to that college golf captain of the golf team, I brought this up to him and I said what people fail to realize is that he won that golf tournament hitting 3000 balls a day since he was four. Right, we want to win the tournament in four days, but that that'll never happen. It doesn't work that way and this is a great quote I saw. The long road is the shortest path. Think about the long road is the shortest path when we try and cut off the secret of success and make it fast. How many times do you go back and redo it?
Speaker 3:and in business you've lost a client or you've lost a job and you got to go back and restart right the long road, young adults, the hard way is the easy way. The long roads is the shortest path and sometimes success take time doesn't always have to, but most of the time they told told Ray Kroc, the founder of McDonald's. They said what is it like to be an overnight success? What An overnight success, after he had spent decades practicing what he was going to do. If I could quickly read something that I got out of a book, can I read something real quick? This says it was looking at bamboo, bamboo growing. And he said what do you see when you look at this bamboo? And he said nothing. You see absolutely nothing. You keep watering it and watering it, but you continue to see nothing happening for one year, then two years, then three years. You know what happens after three years, john? He said the bamboo tree starts to sprout up out of the ground. Nothing, you see, absolutely nothing. And he shook his head and said I don't understand. And he said what you don't see happening is what's taking place beneath the surface. Right and beneath the surface, a dense foundation of roots is spreading out all throughout the ground to prepare for the rapid growth that the bamboo will experience. Listen to this. So you keep watering it and watering it and eventually, after five years of seeing nothing all happen above the surface, the bamboo tree shoots up to over 90 feet tall in just six weeks. Tree shoots up to over 90 feet tall in just six weeks.
Speaker 3:You see, john, this book said most people want the 90 foot tall bamboo tree without the five years of the process. They want the bamboo to grow to 90 feet tall in six weeks. But without the five years of invisible growth, the bamboo wouldn't have a solid foundation, which is what FFA is doing, and it could never sustain the massive and rapid growth that occurs. You're building roots in these kids For success. It's going to happen in their life, right, and this is why you see people who achieve huge amounts of success end up broke, homeless or divorced. The majority of lottery winners or professional athletes that 75% or 65% of them are bankrupt or homeless or divorced, and the majority of lottery winners or professional athletes that 75 or 65 percent of them are bankrupt or homeless or divorced don't have those roots. That's what you're doing for these kids. You're building those roots, wow, and the long road is a short path.
Speaker 2:I wrote that down, by the way, because I'm going to share that in the world of development. I'm very appreciative that my board of directors understands what you just shared. That's what we call cultivation. You know. Unfortunately, to those on the outside, you only see the cultivation when the cash register rings. But the reality is there's a lot that goes on behind the scenes. That's cultivating that gift and setting those roots in place for that thing to grow and then, once it does, I believe I've always said that success begets success. So if we can teach a young person to be successful, the odds are really good that they can duplicate that success.
Speaker 2:One of the things that you said earlier that I was going to come back to. I like the another. We got another mutual author here that I know. We like John Gordon, and in John's recent book, one Truth, he said something that really got my attention, because I think a lot of times people look at this, you know, and they say, well, this is a new. You know kids aren't the same today. You know this is a distraction. You know kids aren't the same today. You know this is a distraction. And it reminded me.
Speaker 2:I've got a slide in my presentation deck that says it's got a picture of people and it says people don't change. Do you agree or disagree? And I love watching people start unpacking that comment People don't change. And I let it sink in and I finally say listen, it's kind of a trick question. I said people don't change and they never have. I said you can go all the way back to the Bible days and there were pessimists and optimists People don't change. The other one that I have fun with is it shows a bunch of kids on their cell phones and it says technology is making kids antisocial and it looks like a bunch of bobbleheads. Everybody in the audience is going yeah, that's right. And then I show them a picture from the 1930s on a train and it's a black and white photo of all the folks reading their newspapers. And I said really, is this new ground, not new ground? There was a tool back then and I'm sure somebody said that's it. That newspaper's running America. Everybody's got their head buried, nobody's talking. Television came on Uh-oh, nobody's eating supper talking anymore.
Speaker 2:And then I remembered what John Gordon said in his book One Truth, and he talked about distractions. Distractions are not new. Distractions were what folks dealt with in the Bible. They're what folks dealt with in the 20s and the 50s and the 70s. And guess what? It's exactly what our kids and we are dealing with today distractions.
Speaker 2:So if we'll just focus on the truth and we will learn to be discerning and stay focused on the things that are good and build us up, it kind of goes full circle to how we started even part one of this podcast. We talked about pouring in the good things. Don't let the distractions become the seeds that we plant. Let the seeds of greatness be the things that we plant, because those seeds are what change individuals. Those seeds are what keep us focused on the things that don't become distractions. So again, we just wrapped up part two of this Dale already.
Speaker 2:Can you believe that Incredible. We could probably keep going so good. I can't say enough about how much I appreciate what you've shared, all the tools that you've shared. I met Mike Rowe. I remember Mike Rowe was telling me about his great grandfather and he said or his grandfather. And he said the man was a magician. And I said what do you mean? He goes because he could just make things. He was a craftsman and he fixed things and he made things. And when I think about tools. When we think about the opportunity to build the future that we want, we get to be the greatest magicians.
Speaker 1:We get to take just an idea.
Speaker 2:And what is it? Nightingale Conant, or one of them? They always said that every successful venture started as a creative idea. That's right. So hopefully this podcast is just another tool that maybe spurs somebody to think about possibilities and then to have that grit, that tenacity to see it through and not take the short run but take the long way to get there for the long-term success. Dale, thanks again. I'll say thank you again. We've done something here that we've never done before, but I thought it was worth letting the dialogue continue. Thank you.
Speaker 2:And I appreciate you and your willingness to stay on. Thank you, thank you everybody. So for all the listeners again, thank you for stopping by the Growing Our Future podcast. Thank you for being part of our inaugural part two of letting the Growing Our Future Ghosts go on into another episode. We appreciate you stopping by and, like we said last time, we hope that you'll R2A2 what you heard here today. We hope that you'll recognize it, relate to it, assimilate it, apply it and, until we meet again, go out and do something great for somebody. You're going to feel good about it. Go out and do something great for somebody. You're going to feel good about it and, just maybe, along the way we make our homes, our communities, our state and country a better place to live, work and raise our families. Until we meet again, everybody be safe, smile, be hopeful and do something great. Thank you, and do something great.
Speaker 1:Thank you. We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Growing Our Future podcast. This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen agricultural science education so students can develop their potential for personal growth, career success and leadership in a global marketplace. Learn more at mytexasffaorg.