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Welcome to a new Energy Crue - Hot Seat - JP

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What if embracing vulnerability could be your greatest leadership strength? Discover how sharing personal challenges, like divorce and imposter syndrome, can build deeper, more authentic connections within your team. In this episode, we explore the importance of openness in leadership, using real-life experiences and a revealing dinner with a successful acquaintance to demonstrate that even high achievers face self-doubt. You'll learn why being honest about insecurities can foster trust and inspire others to overcome their own challenges.

Speaker 1:

Thanks for watching. Welcome back everyone to energy through and if you're an avid listener I apologize about the hiatus, um, and if you're not, it's uh welcome. Welcome to the show, uh, but previously you know I just keep in podcast going. You have to stay motivated with it. There's a lot of work, there's a lot of redundancy, not in conversations, just kind of in storytelling, and I think, to keep things kind of fun and interesting, it's fun to change things up sometimes. So we're changing the direction of Energy Group Podcast where it's going to be focused more on the growth side, more of the leadership side, career growth, whatever it is.

Speaker 1:

I've been really diving in on the personal development and the coaching side of things setting goals, identifying gap areas, helping with limiting beliefs and really kind of help people get out of their way. So I think you know this whole mentorship and sharing of knowledge and sharing of information, I think it's so crucial um actually uh by one of my companies, um a crew club we host, you know, exclusive um uh networking events for emp operators and um back in december it got to the point where I was thinking, okay, well, this is kind of getting redundant, don't get me wrong, there's so much value and so much uh benefits connections not just unlock an opportunity, but it's deal flow, it's helping people out, it's gaining knowledge through conversation. However, it got to the point where they were unstructured. There was hey, come in and let's just meet on a genuine level, no transactional conversations, and it was very successful. We had, about you know, over a thousand EMP operators attend the events and it was great.

Speaker 1:

However, it got to a point where me personally, I got kind of bored with it and so not bored, that's, that's the wrong term I'm thinking this how about this? Not bored? But we could do more. Right, I could level things up a little bit. So I got my CTA coaching certificate and, you know, I realized I'm asking people to be away from their families and not be away from their homes. Let's level up the conversations. Let's provide some educational conversations at the table, table and um.

Speaker 1:

So I lean in and ask people who just you know whether they sold their company? Um about, hey, come in and lead a conversation about mnas. You know like what strategies work, what, what does it? Um or what's? What are you gonna be doing in the future? We had ai in the oil field. Um, you know what say's uses tomorrow's potential. So interesting um and uh.

Speaker 1:

We've had a lot of different conversations about leadership and that's obviously something that I've been leaning into from getting my coaching certificate, launching exec, as you know, personal branding, linkedin, help, goal setting, sales, communication, energy, insights, networking, how to network properly, how to follow up with people. So it was a great experience. I really enjoy the concept of this growth and development. So, anyway, so back to January I said let's change things up. All right, if we're asking people to be away from their families, let's level up the conversation. So at Veruca, we started introducing the topics here. I just got into that and they've been phenomenal, they've been great. So we had to make a pivot and they've been. So now we had 14 topic series, events and it was over 100, almost 150 EMP operators at our events, 60 plus hours of uninterrupted communication, and it was really amazing to just hear the knowledge go around the table. One cat said it was like. You know, he was like this is just like an MBA style conversation. It was, it was. So I really feel it's kind of cool finding that knowledge sharing and I think this is part of it.

Speaker 1:

This Energy Crew podcast is just an extension of knowledge sharing and this new format. I'd want to take leaders. I want to take people and get on the take them to a hot seat and ask them just rapid-fire questions. Let's find out a little bit about your leadership skills. There's so many podcasts out there and I did this previously where we talked for 45 minutes about someone's you know story and all that stuff, and just right when it got to the point to talk about their current environment or to reflect back, it was it was like okay, well, it's, we're at. We're already at an hour right now. So if anyone's really listening to this now, this is when the juice is really starting. So we're changing things up and we're going to do a little hot seat and so for that, I just pulled up some hot seat questions that I'm going to be the first contestant on this. I'm going to have the rapid fire and that's what it's going to be. It's me, leaders, entrepreneurs or whatever. It is just rapid fire questions, you know, and we want to get straight to the point. There's a lot of distractions, a lot of noise, time's very consumed. It's do more with less. So let's bring the lessons to you quicker, faster and in a more engaging way. So hot seat questions for me. And listen, this might be engaging, this might not be. So. Leadership journey All right, can you share a pivotal moment in your leadership journey that significantly shaped who you are today?

Speaker 1:

Yes, I would say there came a time where certain previous managers weren't on the same page with me, and no fault to them, uh, with me and and then no fault to them. Um, however, uh, it was one of those things where I had to take stock of my personal values and my personal kind of grit and kind of take a bet on myself. I really didn't have a plan, I really didn't have a goal, but I kind of had a belief. I thought that I could do something. I thought there was some sort of power in bringing people together. I thought there was some sort of magic that happens when people start talking like, hey, what do you do, uh, when you're in this situation? Um, not just on the professional side, but also on the personal side. So I really that's kind of taking a bet on myself and stepping out, and, uh, it was kind of a from the hip decision, um, but it was more of a belief that something happened. So, in reality, I'd say it was probably kind of like you know, a lot of people wait to have families, a lot of people wait for this, to do this, or say, hey, once this happens, I'm going to finally be happy, or oh, once I get this title, I'm finally be happy. A lot of times. So, rather than wait for the perfect time or the perfect plan, it was just kind of like bet on yourself. You know, uh, step out, bet on yourself, so all right.

Speaker 1:

Next question how do you approach vulnerability in your role as a leader, and can you share an instance where being vulnerable made a difference A hundred percent? I've found out that a lot of my friendships come from being vulnerable, and I think it's very tough to make friendships these days. I don't know why I'm talking so fast, but I'm excited right now. So, and I'm also very nervous, doing these solo podcasts is very nerve wracking for me, so I think anything makes you uncomfortable. Continue to do and that's what I tell my clients, and so this is one of them so being in the hot seat, so anyway. So being vulnerable, that's where I've made all my friends.

Speaker 1:

I remember when I was going through a rough time in 2015,. I was going through a divorce and it was a very tough time for me. I would just kind of I was going through a divorce and it was a very tough time for me. Um, I would just kind of I wasn't in the mode, I wasn't in the zone, and that's kind of when I learned the, the, the. When it comes to it's the quality of conversations, the quality of people, um, in this industry, and once you just kind of drop that guard and be vulnerable, um, it just creates wonderful things. I remember I'd share this like, hey, sorry, I'm not, I'm kind of going through this, and they'd be like oh man, I understand, I went through that or someone else did, and I gained a lot of friends. I'm just kind of just being, you know, just sharing, kind of like what I was going through at the time, um, most recently, though, um, since starting this company, I've, I've I've really kind of hit imposter syndrome a lot, um, and I know where it comes from.

Speaker 1:

It kind of comes from the lack of being able to feel success, mainly from my parents mom, dad, love you. I'm not saying you do this on purpose, but whenever something good would happen or there would be an achievement, it always be met with a certain level of danger around the core. Hey, that's great that that happened, but you got to watch out for the cliff ahead. You got to watch out for this. You got to watch out for that happen, but you got to watch out for the cliff ahead. You got to watch out for this. You got to watch out for that. So I deal with a lot of imposter syndrome and you know we have a beautiful thing over at Crew Club. We have this beautiful knowledge sharing, people coming together, people talking subjects that are people, really insightful subjects, and it really is another education. And it's just started. I mean, I've only been doing this, not even three years yet, and the feedback and the growth is just tremendous.

Speaker 1:

So lately it's been very difficult to kind of, just because you always want to be three months ahead, you know. You know you believe in what you're, what you're doing, it doesn't be three months ahead, but currently I'm not. So I've had a lot of self-doubt. I've had a lot of um, um, imposter syndrome. I've had a lot of like this is a house of cards, it's going to fall. However, interest in crew club has skyrocketed you a thousand percent in the past three, three weeks. Um, you know, we have new people registering new emp operators. So the data is there to prove that it's not.

Speaker 1:

But everything in my mind, my personal beliefs, is thinking, oh shit, this is not going to work out. So I actually I had dinner with one of probably the top five most interesting and intelligent people that I know, um, who just recently sold a company and they just started a new company and they just made a deal. So, anyway, very successful a person that I hold highly in my eyes, and I just started talking about kind of my personal struggles while I was going through and the self-doubt, the anxiety, like, is this going to work out? Is this smoke and mirrors, and his face kind of reassured, not reassured me, it was shocking but he reassured me that, like, what I am saying and what I personally believe is not the reality of other people's perception, and it's just so interesting how poorly we talk to ourselves and how we are our own worst critic when literally we should probably be pumping ourselves up. And and he kind of shared a moment with me too he's like he's like my imposter syndrome is crippling. He's like I'll be at the table with people and I'm thinking what do you want to hear about from me Like y'all are so smart. I was blown away about it. This person, to me, was probably the most intelligent, most well-read, smartest guys out there, and the fact that he was having these feelings it's just one of those things like it sucks, you know, but it's also reassuring because we all feel the same way. So I would say, I guess, long story short, be vulnerable. Chances are, other people are going through it too and people like talking about that stuff and that also helps bring a connection. We need more connection in this world. All right, next sentence All right, what's a notable failure you experienced and what did you learn from it?

Speaker 1:

So failures happen all the time. Things don't always go as planned, or things don't go always as you want them to, or maybe sometimes things just just fall flat and don't get any traction. I'm currently experiencing that with Crew Club. You know, for the past five months of Crew Club it's been great topic series. We've had a lot of interest, a lot of knowledge sharing, a lot of good conversations.

Speaker 1:

And I shifted, I pivoted last minute and that, I think, confused a lot of people. I pivoted to like, okay, we're going to do these workshop lunches, I want to do these. So, anyway, it was just too jumbled. So I don't know why I did that. And then, literally on the way back from the exec crew of retreat, it was like no, let's stick with what works, let's continue these topics series, but let's have that lunch. And so that's kind of been one of those things where it's like sometimes like I react and I and I and I move forward without seeing things through my wife knows this, um and for me it's one of those things where it's like the lesson I've learned is stay consistent. Stay consistent and realize that even though if you want to be three months ahead, it's going to take you six months to feel that three months, whether that makes sense or not, it's going to take longer to be where you want to be than you initially thought.

Speaker 1:

So I would say there is a lot of failures, but for me it's the belief that, hey, this is, this is going to pan out. Right, it's gotta know, but it is going to pan out, um, because this it's, it's just so unique and the feedback and the not and the, the, the interest has skyrocketed. So, listen, there's all these failures that that occur, but it's one of those things where it's like it's okay, like, at the end of the day, no one's gonna remember your failures, no one remembers your successes. They're remember how you make them feel. So again, uh, failures happen, it's, it's. They don't define you, though, and that's, that's so true, and they shouldn't stick with you.

Speaker 1:

And I think a good way, when you do have a failure, is number one identify it, see, check in on how you feel about it and try to learn from it. Try to learn from it, you know, think the experience and rise above it. So that's kind of it. So, okay, how do I cultivate, cultivate a growth mindset within your business and myself? That's another hot seat question. Um, I would say number one surrounding myself with a good circle to kind of elevate, that want to see me succeed, that want to see me challenge myself. So I would say number one be around inspiring people. I think you're the average of the people you hang out with, and so, literally being around fruit club tables and even being around the exec, fruit mastermind and the retreats we're going to start doing, it's enlightening to be around those people because ideas flow, ideas flow, inspiration flows and you kind of start. So, again, fostering growth mindset is really kind of being around people I say they're smarter than me that have experienced this before.

Speaker 1:

Another way is kind of go easy on yourself and realize that this is. You started this to connect people and enjoy those connections and enlighten people. And once you start once I started moving away from that and gotten to like the more, like I don't know the more serious aspect of it. That's not what brings people together, that's not the energy that kind of brings people together. So I would say, realizing that you don't control a lot, and just kind of go with the flow a little bit and just try to take on what you can, try to take care of the actions that you can do to get to that goal and literally, just I'm not going to say, don't worry about the rest, but understand, if you've done the actions to get the outcome that you want, then the rest is just kind of it's not, it's not in your control, just enjoy it. Um, another way to get a good growth mindset I would say just have fun, like literally sometimes, have fun and, um, just don't push things too much, all right.

Speaker 1:

Next hot seat question mentorship. Who has been a significant mentor in your career and what's the best piece of advice they've given you. Well, I've had several mentors in my career. First off, I think it's all. I think mentorship is phenomenal. So the first mentor I had was, uh, karet payton and kirk akison, over at noble drilling, very kind, very knowledgeable, always wanted me to learn um, took time out of their day. And don't get me wrong, I've probably touched base with hundreds of mentors throughout my career, but the ones that stand out for the sake of time, I'm going to talk about Kirk Atkinson just very kind people, smart people that wanted me to succeed and also didn't cut me a lot of slack. They actually increased my personal expectations, um, bubba Smith.

Speaker 1:

Bubba Smith, um, he was um, my mentor for about seven and a half years, or a penergy and man. He, just he, he, he got it. He understood the, the, the, the, the human side of things. He, he understood the relationships he understood about empathy and caring and and and and, just really um, he was very smart in his ways on um, how to connect with people. Um, and honestly, I think I think a good um advice that I got recently was from Bill Knox. Um, he, uh, I was dealing with something where it was uh, I felt like it was uh, not support from uh, from some, some people, and, um, there was, you know, some some feedback that got back to me.

Speaker 1:

Obviously, when you step out on your own, there's many people that support you, that want you to succeed, and there's people that probably don't want you to succeed, and this was from one of those groups and people groups, whatever. And um, he said you know what JP he said stuff like that always comes from below, never from above. So just remember that whenever you hear something like that negative, that's never from above you, it's never from the people that you inspire to be, it's always from below. So I think that was really a great way to put to frame, I guess, the haters out there, if you will. So, um, yeah, so again, I think, um, I mean, just mentorship could be one person, be a lot of people, I think, surrounding yourself with people that just want to see you succeed and challenge you on things I think is crucial to career development, especially in this hyper connected but disconnected world we live in, uh, today. All right, um, all right. What else we got?

Speaker 1:

How do you handle criticism, both from your peers and your employer? Well, I'm very defensive and I think that's ego that gets in the way of that. I think whenever my wife or someone chimes in on kind of a suggestion or improvement, I'm very and this is a flaw. I understand that this is definitely a flaw in me I'm very defensive. Well, it's like this for a reason, or well, I did that for a reason. I have to like justify my action. So, um, I think a moment there to learn, uh, personally, is like whenever I do start feeling like that defensive mechanism in me, I have to realize that the person that's telling me this probably wants to see me improve and probably wants to see the experience improve or whatever improve, and I need to thank them for that, versus kind of sticking my guns and my ego. It's like, well, I did that for a reason. So I think just kind of being appreciative of that it's a practice. I'm still trying to learn All right Vision and goals how do you effectively communicate your vision and goals to ensure everyone in your business is aligned?

Speaker 1:

Okay, well, actually this is going to be the topic of the subject of the podcast I was going to do before, this hot seat stuff. I've learned that the best way that a business owner or whoever, or sales, whoever it is, a business development person can talk about their product, service or company is literally keep it simple, break it down to a kindergarten level, because there's a lot of noise, a lot of distractions. And again, this is a book I'm reading. It's called like the Stand by. The book is called Building a Story Brand and it's changed me Even at the retreat we did.

Speaker 1:

We did a men's retreat at ExecFru. It was really one of those things. They're like JP, stop, what do you do? And that was an entire exercise for me to take a step back and really break it down, really simplify what I do. What is Crew Club? That's connections, that's growth, that's knowledge and that's access that's what it is to the E&P community. So it's one of those things where it's like before, like, oh well, we host these, this, we do engineering, we also have this thing, oh, we also do this. That's a lot of stuff. That's a lot of stuff to to digest as someone when, especially when you don't have their attention for that long. So again, I advise everyone out there, even even certain business owners that I know whenever they do start talking about their product or company, it is very much, is very much, so like it's so high level and it's so detailed and intricate it's like break it down. I'm not even following you and I'm your friend, so I would say be clear. Just be clear and simple. Like kiss the situation, keep it simple, stupid.

Speaker 1:

How do you foster an environment that embraces innovation and change within your business? Well, I think change is always all around us. So I think, first off, identifying that you can't really control the tide is extremely important. But I would also say just me personally, and this is something I'm trying to learn is that it's okay to go with the flow, it's okay to kind of release control and be okay with change. If you have to make a change, things don't really have to be. Don't miss greatness for perfection. I guess that's one of the things. And also, honestly, innovation, like I would say, just continue to have fun. I mean, if you're having fun, if you're pushing things, that's going to keep you engaged, that's going to keep you engaged, which also, which will translate to innovation, all right.

Speaker 1:

What strategies have you found most effective for growing your business Value? I would say probably focusing on value. I think, as a business, it's one of those things where you can kind of get off the wheeze offer this offer, that offer that, at the end of the day, it's slowing down, focusing on the value that you can provide. Before, crew clubs start off as an unstructured private event where people would come together and generally connect, however, the focus shifted to how do we make this valuable for everyone in the room? How do we make this valuable for people that are away from their families? How do we make this valuable for the people that are sponsors, that are members of this organization, how do we just level this up? So we introduced you know, obviously we're doing these knowledge sharing events, these industry insights, where you're part of the conversation, you know you're just not a number in the crowd. Then we're doing okay, let's capture this information, let's distribute this knowledge, let's distribute what's going on in the minds and mouths of the operators and the service companies around the table. Let's share this knowledge, let's make, let's improve the industry by sharing this knowledge. So what else? Growth? So now we're incorporating some professional growth opportunities as well. So again, it's tacking on value.

Speaker 1:

What can make you? Why would someone utilize your company over another company? Why would someone change from who they're currently using, who they're currently comfortable with, to utilizing you? Currently using who they're currently comfortable with to utilizing you. So, I think, pulling back, reframing things and and, um, really asking yourself the questions of this, and if you don't have an answer for that, maybe that that that's your gap challenge right there, um, and I, I, I like working with people that do have that, uh, gap analysis that, well, I don't have an answer for that. Well, okay, let's dive into that a little more. I enjoy doing that because it allows people to kind of pull out their own personal value, the value of the company, and communicate that. So, again, that's it. So I want to thank everyone out there for tuning into Energy Crew Podcast. It's been about 23 minutes of your time. I want to thank you and hope you enjoyed this. And again, we're going to be getting some industry leaders on this to talk about their experience, their advice, their counsel. So, again, I want to thank everyone out there.

Speaker 1:

And if you are looking to kind of grow and kind of get out of your own way, you know, I just I advise often tell people, get clear with your goals and whenever you do put your goals down, don't put your outcome out there, out there. So, for example, oh, my goal is to sell a million dollars of a widget. That's not a goal, that's an outcome. What are the things in your control that can get you there? Well, I can set up this many meetings, I can contact these people, I can surround, you, can do actionable things to get yourself to that goal. So, um, again, that's kind of one of the things that I'm I'm, I'm digging about this the, the, the coaching and the personal growth side is helping people get out of their way. So, um, thank you all for tuning in to energy crew. I look forward to talking to you soon and thank you for listening. Thank you.