Imagine a world where work-life balance isn't just an elusive concept, but a reality. This is the vision of our special guest, Robert Padron, Chief Growth Officer at Arise Virtual Solutions, who passionately advocates for a new way of working - one that offers flexibility, autonomy, and the freedom to prioritize personal life alongside professional commitments. From highlighting the potential of virtual solutions in aiding work-life harmony to discussing its unique advantages for fundraising within nonprofit organizations, Robert's insights are a treasure trove for leaders navigating the evolving work landscape.
Switching gears, we also unearth the untapped potential of volunteers in nonprofits and present practical strategies to align their unique skills and interests with organizational needs - a crucial step in making the most of this often overlooked resource. Moreover, Robert generously shares his personal leadership experiences, highlighting the significant role of culture and team-building in actualizing an organization's mission and vision. From the nuances of leading volunteers to fostering a positive culture, our conversation with Robert offers a fresh perspective on effective leadership in nonprofits.
Lastly, we bring you practical wisdom on time management. Robert shares his own strategies that help him juggle multiple roles, shedding light on the importance of prioritizing tasks, the power of saying 'no', and the game-changing potential of modern technologies such as AI in boosting efficiency. This episode is an invigorating blend of profound insights, practical tips, and intriguing conversations - a must-listen for anyone in nonprofit leadership.
Shownotes
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Imagine a world where work-life balance isn't just an elusive concept, but a reality. This is the vision of our special guest, Robert Padron, Chief Growth Officer at Arise Virtual Solutions, who passionately advocates for a new way of working - one that offers flexibility, autonomy, and the freedom to prioritize personal life alongside professional commitments. From highlighting the potential of virtual solutions in aiding work-life harmony to discussing its unique advantages for fundraising within nonprofit organizations, Robert's insights are a treasure trove for leaders navigating the evolving work landscape.
Switching gears, we also unearth the untapped potential of volunteers in nonprofits and present practical strategies to align their unique skills and interests with organizational needs - a crucial step in making the most of this often overlooked resource. Moreover, Robert generously shares his personal leadership experiences, highlighting the significant role of culture and team-building in actualizing an organization's mission and vision. From the nuances of leading volunteers to fostering a positive culture, our conversation with Robert offers a fresh perspective on effective leadership in nonprofits.
Lastly, we bring you practical wisdom on time management. Robert shares his own strategies that help him juggle multiple roles, shedding light on the importance of prioritizing tasks, the power of saying 'no', and the game-changing potential of modern technologies such as AI in boosting efficiency. This episode is an invigorating blend of profound insights, practical tips, and intriguing conversations - a must-listen for anyone in nonprofit leadership.
Shownotes
The Nonprofit Renaissance is Powered by Vers Creative. An award winning creative agency trusted by global brands and businesses.
Follow @collinhoke
Follow @heredes
Follow @vers_creative
Work with Vers
Ladies and gentlemen, once again we're back. Where are we?
Speaker 2:back, colin. We're back on the nonprofit Renaissance, where we have leaders go further and grow faster.
Speaker 1:How's it going? Have you been growing further or been growing faster?
Speaker 2:I've been growing, growing. We always get this mixed up. I've been doing it all. I'm growing further and growing further. That's it, that's what matters.
Speaker 1:That's what we're going to do today, right here. We're going to get right to it, right to it. I've known for a long time A special guest, a special guest. It's going to be hard to make fun of his name today because it's kind of straightforward, but we'll still try to butcher it.
Speaker 2:We always have us.
Speaker 3:We always have us, we always have us.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know, known as the Gig CX guy man. What a LinkedIn freaking mastermind number one, but executive vice president at Arise Virtual Solutions, chief growth officer, customer manager. There's so much. He's an artist, he's a leader of leaders and I've seen him in his element for many years. Now we're going to talk about it, but, ladies and gentlemen, put your hands together, your virtual hands together, unless you're driving to the one and only Robert Padrone. Robert, how are you doing? Robert, I'm good. How are you guys? Oh, great, oh, this is well. Now how do I want to see Colin? Colin is from from where Colin is pronounced, his name, it's a Spanish style name.
Speaker 2:Yeah, this one's so much easier than I thought, like his mom intended it to be. Oh, like his Robert Padrone.
Speaker 4:Okay.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's, that's the exact reaction I'm going for.
Speaker 4:Is there a boo effect? There probably is, my mom is directly from America, so she has never pronounced my name with a Spanish accent.
Speaker 2:So I feel set up here.
Speaker 1:I feel set up Just a little bit, and now it's not Roberto.
Speaker 4:Robert, Robert, Robert, there there are. There are a few people that call me Rob. Very few people, and I prefer Robert, but thanks for asking, Don.
Speaker 1:Robert.
Speaker 4:I'm going to go further and faster.
Speaker 1:Right, let's go. Let's go. But, robert, tell us, I've known you for a while. But our listeners, who don't tell us, give us a little glimpse of who is Robert and what is a rise. What do you do and what's happening there?
Speaker 4:Yeah, who was? Who was Robert? Luckily, I know the answer to that.
Speaker 4:Nowadays I'm a servant leader and people ask me what I do for a living and have the opportunity to lead people.
Speaker 4:I just happen to do it at a firm called arise virtual solutions, which is the pre preeminent provider of gig CX customer service to major enterprise clients across the world, and we've got over 70,000 agents on our platform today, and what I love about the firm that I work with today and what I evangelize is the fact that these are people are choosing to have life revolve around work, versus the other way around. They're really changing the way the world works, creating opportunities for folks to pick their own schedules every single week, so they can be a present parent in their child's lives, or because they have some form of disability that requires them to work from home and they need to have a schedule that works around their doctor appointments, or it's a military spouse that needs to be portable with her, his or her partner, who's moving regularly. So it's powerful to be able to bring work to folks like those, and that's the great work that we had arise to every single day.
Speaker 1:Robert, so indirectly said 70,000 people 70,000 across the. Us today. That's incredible and life around work right Hot topic and work life balance and figuring that out Get a little bit just to mean we're not here to plug arise I want to talk about what.
Speaker 1:I've seen you be a servant leader in for years and we want to get into that because, if you're listening, robert's been the ideal volunteer leader. He's that guy that every organization, he's like the dream recruit. And I want to know what caught your attention in the places you've served, the places you've given to, the places your family has served in, and just to help nonprofits, your organizations that are with us. But before we get to that, tell us a hot life around work. What is it exactly that allows for that? Is there a space for nonprofits to learn or to even leverage a service?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it's a great question, H Listen, I think the nonprofit space is one that absolutely could leverage a group of users on a platform like arise.
Speaker 4:These are folks that pick the work they do and they pick their schedule right. So, even as you think about nonprofits from a fundraising perspective, there's no doubt that there are key times during the day for that outreach to occur when people are going to be more readily available to take the call right or to answer the phone and making sure you're applying your resources at the time when individuals are most likely going to be available. Without question, it's going to increase your contact rate and allow for you the opportunity to potentially increase your fundraising output. So I think there's always an element when you think about nonprofits and the importance around raising funds in capital to make sure they can do the great work that they've set out to do every single day. To make sure that they're being really tactical about how they're spending their dollars and cents or their volunteer hours, if you will. To make sure they're getting the best bang for either that volunteer's time or the money that they're spending for that particular exercise.
Speaker 1:And we'll put some links. But how can the leaders listening find out more work in the visit? How can they reach you about a lot of things.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'm available on LinkedIn. Just check me out, robert Padrone. There's not many of us on there. I'm the guy with the funny hand signals, and or don't hesitate to reach out to arizzeworkfromhomecom or arizzcom for more info.
Speaker 1:Love it, love it, love it. Now call it a jump in, because we've talked about this. I've seen Robert in action. Actually, he's an artist as well, which is a fun fact. Should we link to some clips man, to some musical clips?
Speaker 4:Do it, yeah, do it. It'll go viral, man, but only the funny videos, like me tripping over myself or dropping a mic. Blooper reel. That's what people really want to see.
Speaker 1:Blooper reel. But I've seen I've talked to Colin about this and talking about like well, who is Robert Right, I've seen him in action. It does feel like you manage your time well and you manage your priorities well and obviously you've learned that over the years. But you've been kind of that dream recruit for organizations where you're willing to serve, volunteer, serve volunteer, give your time, give your resources and specifically financially even. I've seen that you go above and beyond with your family and include all of them, not just you, and you're not trying to just make a name and get your name out there.
Speaker 1:You see, surely what? So, for those listening, what does it take to attract and retain? I'm going to be specific and put you on the spot, and you didn't ask for this. You're not like your humble piecom guy here, Like, but Go for it, yeah. So what does it take to attract a guy like you? If I'm trying to recruit you and I see the capacity you have, what and what's done it in the past in the places you've been a part of, what does it take?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I mean, I think obviously first of all, like I as an individual, have to have a desire right to do something right, so that first of all, you sometimes have to find a way to create desire in someone.
Speaker 4:But when someone has that desire, I think what's always been important to me, as a leader myself, is like clarity and purpose, like specifically, like what is the organization attempting to achieve or to accomplish? Like, do they have a clear mission, do they have a clear vision, something that I can get behind and be part of, or right? The other element is, you know, is it a potential organization where I can see that there is a gap that my capabilities can fill, so that I can feel like I'm actively contributing to the purpose and or mission of that organization? So I think you know a clarity on purpose and then b right as an individual, making sure that I could find a way to fit into solving for a gap that an organization might have. That, based on my breadth of experience, I feel like it can facilitate on behalf of that organization as a volunteer.
Speaker 2:That's good. Yeah, that's great. You talked about obviously there's got to be a desire and you know you can kind of cross your fingers and hope that you find people that align with that. But you also mentioned creating a desire. Any tips or even examples where you found an org that has done that for you or done that for somebody else? If they want to go about, like how would I even start to think about what does it look like to create a desire for somebody that aligns with our mission?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think a lot of times it sits untapped within many of the organizations, right. So I think it's really taking stock and inventory of you know, as an example, in the church sitting, like who your congregation is, right, like really understanding the skills and capabilities of the individuals in the congregation, right, more than you know, more than individual kind of sitting in a seat every Sunday, right, like who are these people? What capabilities do they have? Like where might it make sense to plug in? And then you can create really specific campaigns to align individuals' interests with like needs that the organization might have. And I think the same holds true for, like more broadly across nonprofits. If you think about nonprofits focused on, let's say, you know something as you know relevant, as like the American Heart Association, right, if you can tap into folks who have had experiences with you know some form of heart disease or an issue with a family member that they've seen individuals go through. Like just tapping into the emotions, psyche, right, and capabilities of the individual.
Speaker 4:I think a lot of times organizations don't do effective job just taking the opportunity that sits in front of them every single weekend, right, or every single time that they choose to give, and just use that separate from like finding new individuals to come in. Obviously, you know, people tend to associate with people like themselves. I'm not like that. I like to be with people who aren't exactly like me, because I think you grow from that. That's where you grow. But a lot of people hang out with folks that are like them right. So if you're tapping into someone in the organization that maybe isn't utilized all their giftings aren't utilized then they may bring in other people that are like them who can continue to build in this area of strength that you're looking to kind of help solve, for that might be a gap in the firm today. I like that.
Speaker 1:Robert, tell me about getting really specific and drill down the ask, the ask, the actual big ask. Make sure you guys say the, pronounce that correctly. It's important. Some leaders forget, they go, they may even inspire and they get to a place where now you have some purpose or clarity, but they don't ask or they don't go. What have you seen in that realm? What has worked, what hasn't? What's your expectation? What triggers you? What motivates you? What is there like a cringe? Talk to me.
Speaker 4:Yeah, you know, I think the cringe for me is always I'll start there and maybe work my way backwards. The cringe for me always is like you have someone sitting in front of you that can do these three things that your organization needs and you yourself like as, let's say, the leader, in that circumstance like, just continue to, to continue to try and do it yourself. When you've got someone in the corner, that's like, hey, put me in, coach, like I got this for you. But so many times I find leaders are uncomfortable deferring responsibility or deferring accountability, because there's this power desire that many leaders have when they get to a level of leadership and that kind of deferral of accountability or responsibility that is like, oh, am I less powerful now? When the reality of the situation is, if you let the player in the game, you yourself, as a leader, are way more capable and way more equipped because you have just a much wider net and more diverse net of capability that you're putting in the game to win the game, and I think that's critical. You should find people as a leader who have strength that you don't and surround yourself with them, because that's gonna help you be stronger, that's gonna help the team be stronger. So it's cringy for me when people don't recognize how simple it is to do that and, honestly, how it makes your job as a leader even easier when you're surrounded by expertise.
Speaker 4:I think the simplest thing for leaders to do is like just make the ask right. Just ask the person hey, you know, it looks like you have amazing capabilities in the following area. Like I'd love for you to jump in and do why for us at the organization? And just making that simple ask. So many times we're afraid to ask the question because we fear the no. But so many times if you really understand the person, you've gotten the opportunity to know them. Their answer is gonna be yes, because people just wanna be. People in general want to feel wanted, needed, part of something. So just make the ask. You'll be surprised how many times you'll get a yes.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and so let's even go to the other side of that, and maybe you've seen this, maybe you've been a part of it, but how would you? You know, what would you say to an org who wants to do that but doesn't maybe want to overstep or doesn't wanna go too far? You know, cause you've got someone who's so willing, and a lot of times it's a volunteer capacity. So how do they navigate? Giving that opportunity but not taking advantage, not doing too much.
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think that's why it's important to I always say, like the first thing a leader should do is get to know someone, and I think, in the context of working with volunteers, like you really have to know, inclusive of like like, how much time do you have in a week? You know what I mean. Like for you to live out your purpose every single week, get your full-time job done, actively spend time with your family, like, how much time are you willing to invest in this volunteer activity every single week? And I think you know, if they say, hey, I've got like four hours a week, right, start them at two, like start them in two, just so they can figure out how that works within the context of their life.
Speaker 4:Cause I think sometimes what you know organizations that are really dependent upon volunteers do is like they'll take all the four hours in the beginning and then the person gets burned out because, like they aspirationally wanna say they can do more than they can actually do, but then they start serving four hours a week and then, hey, there's potentially problems at home cause they're not spending enough time with the kids or they're not spending as much time as work if they need to, because they wanna give that four hours and then over time they end up giving nothing. When, if you just start them, maybe at 50% of what they say they're available to do, and then work them up from there, then they've got the confidence that they can actually give this time and do so successfully with all the priorities they have in their life. That's great.
Speaker 1:Robert, what has made you drop it? Just run away, just run away, run away. And you were committed, you were in, but it just and again this is just for just helping organizations that may be doing this and not even knowing they're doing Anything. What sends out? Give me some tips.
Speaker 4:I think I think two things. And then maybe they're tied to the first thing like crappy leadership, just like crappy leadership, right, and leadership that then kind of over-utilizes volunteers, like. So it's kind of like, hey, we've got this group of volunteers Like I know I can depend on them all the time, so like I don't have to worry so much about continuing to build the team, I'm just gonna lean on this time team really really, really hard to the point that they get, you know, overutilized. I find I think it's actually one of the interesting things about at least in my experience now about nonprofits is you join or you get into that field because you're passionate about what that not-profit's about, right. So in the church, saying like I'm passionate about Jesus, so like I'm gonna be a pastor, like I'm gonna work at a church, like that's the passion, right. But what I think, what I have found many times, is many of those folks are great advocates for the word but ill-equipped as leaders, and what I mean by that.
Speaker 1:That'll preach, that'll preach. Say that again, say that again.
Speaker 4:They're powerful advocates for the word but ill-equipped as leaders, right? So I think what that then happens is is you then try to drive the organization as an advocate for the word, and the word has many lessons about leadership, right? Like I'm a fan of Maxwell's, like 21 Laws of Leadership and like that's the Bible that I use. You know what I mean? Just because there's good leadership context, so there's a lot in there, but there aren't many times, aren't real lessons or practical lessons around, like how do you lead this, like as an organization? How do you grow people? How do you develop people? How do you build culture? How do you define mission, vision, purpose, goals, right? How do you get people around that?
Speaker 4:And I think that that a lot of times, organizations might say, oh, like practically, like I'm smart enough to recognize, like I need vision, mission and goals, but I'm not equipped to then translate that mission, vision and goals into, like practical application with the team. So then what happens is you end up getting this mismatch of like my mission statement is the following, but I don't see that acted out in real life anywhere throughout the organization, and that's just, I think, a real challenge from what I've seen in many organizations that really are differentiated in ability to grow versus ability to get to a certain point in plateau.
Speaker 1:That's good, that's good.
Speaker 2:Yeah, you know, it sounds like you're talking about the difference of, you know, having a mission statement, having a vision, but then being able to actually build a culture around that that reflects it and that represents it. You know, talk about good and bad. What are some scenarios, what are some examples of when you've seen really bad culture but then you've seen really good culture? What are each of those look like?
Speaker 1:And name all the names please. Yeah, exactly All the names. Yeah, we'll give links to you, We'll censor, we'll bleep it out. We had a button here Name all the names. Well, first of all, I'll start with here it is.
Speaker 4:Acme widgets.
Speaker 1:Oh, okay, acme widgets.
Speaker 4:So it's always a great company to use. In context, there may be a firm called Acme widgets and I'm always like crashing them. Is that from TinyTunes? I have no idea.
Speaker 1:I remember watching cartoon Acme yeah.
Speaker 2:The Angle of Fall. Yeah, they do big hammers.
Speaker 4:If you're listening to this and you have an organization named Acme, I'm sorry.
Speaker 1:Sponsored by. That's our sponsor, bro, which is lots of sponsors, yeah.
Speaker 4:Rename your company, it's too basic.
Speaker 2:It's time for rebranding.
Speaker 3:There you go.
Speaker 4:I think practically just a couple of things is I think about good culture versus bad culture. I think good culture is one where everyone in the organization actively participates. Bad culture is one in which the leadership believes they define the culture and everyone else has to follow it. Right? Typically, there are more workers, if you will, or volunteers, than leaders in an organization. So to think for a minute that they're not part of developing the culture of the nonprofit or the firm, frankly it's just inaccurate, right? So you obviously need to have in a good culture. You're gonna have champions for culture, right? You may even have someone that's like the chief culture person. You know what I mean.
Speaker 4:Their job is to make sure it's sustained in every facet of the organization. That we talk about it, right. That we measure it, that we ask people whether or not they would rate the culture as positive or negative, like you can even use a point scale for that, right. But to think that, to think that the entire universe of people volunteering and or employed in a nonprofit aren't part of the culture, is just ignorant. So I think the ability to make sure that you're rooting out individuals who aren't aligned with what the culture of the organization is or should be. Rooting those individuals out quickly is really critical because a single individual can have an immediate impact or a detrimental impact on culture or firms. So figuring out those I would describe as bad hires or maybe people who aren't ready to actually really serve in a volunteer capacity, is really really important.
Speaker 1:All right. So, robert, you hit on something here that's very relevant Currently everywhere. Let's assume Colin over here is a volunteer, signed up, did a good job for a month or two. It's just not responding. Can you fire a volunteer? You're not paying them. They agree to something. Let's do a case study. Let them go right now. Fire Colin, right now. Robert, how would you do that?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think it's a great like. Here's how I play it out, like you know, I think first of all is, you know, I'd attempt to do some outreach to Colin, right, like, just get a sense of, like, what's going on in life, right, like volunteers, like their version of money, like receipt from an organization right, it's clearly not money. Right, Like it's like it's the value of the time that they're putting into the organization. Like what, when am I extracting out of it? Right, so there could be other things pulling on Colin's time. So, like you know, I'd want to understand like, hey, Colin, like, like you know, oh my goodness, like you were always signing up, you know, at least twice a week, to do the following, to do the following job.
Speaker 4:Looks like it's been tough for you to to kind of continue that commitment. Like you know what's going on in life, man, like anything we can help with, anything I can talk to you about. Like you know, are there other ways we can get you plugged in? Right, so, giving him an opportunity to kind of talk about, like, what's preventing it, and or giving him an outlet to potentially do something different, right, where he may be like, well, this is the only thing they're going to ask me to do here. Well, maybe that's the only thing he wants to do, so let's find out why he's not doing it. Or, conversely, maybe there's something else that he wants to do, right, and we just need to create that opportunity for him. Number one, right. But if Colin continues to commit, right, like, and, let's say, accepts the planning center request of every single weekend, right and just well, people do that, they click.
Speaker 2:Yes, People do that, People people people also click yes right.
Speaker 4:And my favorites are my favorites are the one that never click anything Like just like, just tell me one way or the other.
Speaker 2:Just text me. Oh no, I was always better, always better than I know.
Speaker 4:No, it's always better. But I think, in the context of like the yes and not showing up, then I think it's okay to have like what I would consider to be like the accountability conversation with the individual, right? No-transcript. Hey Colin, I see you accept every single week, but I don't see you then show up right or put in the work right, and so there may be things going on that I'm here for you, man, like I'm ready to talk to you about those things.
Speaker 4:But my take is that there are things going on in your life that are preventing you from doing that, and maybe this is a season in your life where you just need to sit and take in. Like maybe that's the message you're sending is like you just want to sit in that chair and take in. I don't want you to know that. That's okay, right, when you're ready to come back, like you, let us know. Like you, let me know and we'll plug you right back in. But my sense, unless you tell me different, is now is the time that you can't plug in and that's okay, but still taken. You may not be able to plug in, but still take in.
Speaker 2:That's great. That's great, and I'm gonna say it right now. That's a clip right there. Because, well, no, because what I love is that you know, like you can fire them, but but still have their like that's just great leadership. You can still have their best interest in mind, you can still have an understanding of. This is where you're at, or this is, you know, because you're still worried about. Okay, I'm not just trying to get rid of you, I'm trying to say what is the most helpful thing for you right now to get you to a place where you're growing and that's just going to help everything else grow. That's such a great thing.
Speaker 4:And I think the key column right is, like I always say, like this leadership is about like winning hearts and minds. I think that's the same. And when you know whether or not it's like for profit business or not profit business, right. And you're talking about people, like people. People, I genuinely believe people want to do a good job in whatever capacity. It is right, their, their employment, their volunteerhood. If not, they wouldn't have, like, said, hey, put me in, right. But if you're investing enough in individuals, like especially volunteers, if you're actively engaged in knowing who they are, you're actively invested in them, right. And you're filling, filling their emotional piggy bank, as I like to describe it, with, like you know, just really positive stuff. When it's time to have that conversation, or let's say the difficult conversation where you're making a withdrawal versus a deposit, you're not leaving them emotionally bankrupt because you've invested so much in them. They can handle that difficult conversation because they're so 90% full in their bank account.
Speaker 1:That's great, Robert. So you talk about winning minds and hearts. Love that. We are obviously creative agency, marketing agency that you know, serves nonprofits, churches.
Speaker 1:speak to that. What, what has done it for you? What are some tools, what are some techniques, what are some things that aren't, you know, well done or neglected in doing that job? Because I think that the job of creativity, solution to solve a problem, to tell a story, et cetera. But what comes to your mind when you look at winning minds and hearts and how creativity or an agency or a team in the house, outsource can help do exactly that?
Speaker 4:Listen, I think in nonprofit, like more than more than for profit even though I say in for profit, like if you can find a way to connect to hearts and minds, might be a little more difficult, right, but in nonprofit, like it's, it's more than anything about building the connection that's going to last with that. You know individual, right, who's getting some form of service from your nonprofit, right? Like so it's all about winning hearts and minds. So I think, creatively, like you know visually, like you know age, you've done great work over the years from my perspective around like really connecting the feeling that a person is having to, like a visual representation of what that like internal feeling might look like, through whether or not it's kind of video, or you know the way that you might set up a worship set or like whatever it might be.
Speaker 4:So I think, the more that you can creatively utilize that to elicit an emotion from an individual, that then helps them get connected to what it is that you're you're you're nonprofits attempting to accomplish, and more so it even validates for you that that you're nonprofits actually making that connection. Connection because you can physically see someone potentially having an emotion, whether or not it's like a tear or anger in certain scenarios right From some people. Just something's going on emotionally for them. So I think that's super critical at the end of the day, to just to make sure, like all of that creativity is centered around. Like, how do I, how do I elicit a response, how do I elicit emotion? Like, how do I create a feeling that causes that individual to be like, oh my goodness, this is exactly what I need to hear today. Or, oh my goodness, that's the exact point which causes me to be connected.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's the old, the old saying, right, that people may not or won't remember what you said, but they'll remember how you made them feel. Totally, Robert we were talking about not too long ago. We remember us talking kind of discussing the, the Florida Publix or the Publix commercials, and for profit, obviously, but how they do such a great job and making grocery shopping, buying your milk, but how they elicit an emotion that you're like, dude, it is a stinking pleasure. You're making this a pleasure, right.
Speaker 4:Totally, I'm waiting for the Thanksgiving commercials are going to bring out, because I'm just like that's it.
Speaker 2:I'm going to cry Like I'm just going to cry Get the box of tissues ready.
Speaker 1:That's it. That's it, and Robert, thanks, you know. Thanks for making the time. Man. I've seen your schedule. I've seen how you're flying, you're traveling. You're a master. You're a trusted voice on LinkedIn, on social, you're serving around the clock. I see it through the organizations you serve and give to. How do you do it from a leadership perspective? Give me some life hacks, give me some things. Is it fake it till you make it, or is there some practical things here? Right, give it, give it, give the leaders some.
Speaker 4:I think there are some days where it's fake it till you make it Like cause, life happens, right. But I do believe that you fundamentally can make time for whatever is important to you, right. So I'm at the point in my life and I think you know I'm always like man, I should have got there sooner. But I'm at the point in my life now where it's really clear to me like what is important. So then I schedule accordingly, right. And I think when I say schedule accordingly like, I mean like be practical about that, like you know my entire.
Speaker 4:For me, what helps me be efficient from a time management perspective is like everything that I'm going to spend time on I have scheduled right. So even little things like during the day, like you can, you can work a full day and like like the way schedules and people throw stuff on your calendar. Today you could work through lunch, like you could physically not take lunch, right. But even practical things about like no, like I've got lunch scheduled, even if it's like 30 or 15 minutes, like that's my time, I'm going to take it. And I think the same thing holds true for for everyone. I mean crap I have like on my crap. Well, that's an interesting use of word, but I think the end I said crappy earlier too. It's the word of the day, lovely bit so.
Speaker 3:I think, the.
Speaker 4:I think the key thing is, like, even simple things, like I use, like my calendar, even to remind myself to make sure. Like I send a text to my kids every day saying like, hey, how much I love them, but I remind myself like, hey, it's time for my 15 minutes with God, right? Or hey, remind yourself to tell your wife, your lover, because the day will move so quickly. So for me, I just need that like single repository of like do this right, so I think you'll make time for what's important to you and how you schedule that. Listen, like I use my calendar, right. Other people might use a notebook, right. Other people might create a to-do list, but just find some practical way to make sure that you can fit those things into. You know, this thing we call life.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's awesome, and, you know, I think a lot of times in this talk of like how do I be more productive. We talk a lot about like well, do this, do this, do this. I imagine a lot of that, though, is the things that you say no to, or, like you said, the time that you set aside to be able to recharge Just for fun. Robert, what are some of those things for you? What helps you be able to step out of that a little bit recharge?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I'll tell you like. Interestingly enough, like, I do get like my volunteer work, no doubt. Like is a recharge for me, you know, I mean like. One of the reasons I'm passionate about Like even serving like in worship, is because, like, that's a recharge for me. Like connects my creativity to things that I'm joyful about, both, like you know, from a musician perspective, but also like, just like you know, the ability to kind of lead people in a different capacity than I do every single day. So that's that's absolutely a recharge for me. Like, or get recharged by exercise, you know I mean like those like, whatever it is, just find your thing and just make sure you you have at least time for that Every single week. But I love your point calling around no like.
Speaker 4:We talk a lot in my organization about like in order to say yes to things that we should be doing.
Speaker 4:We have to say no to things that might be nice to do or fun to do, but don't directly correlate to like the mission and the journey that we're on. There's a great methodology by by Harvard professors, like in the Harvard business review, and talks about like playing to win. It's a really specific strat way to build strategy that enables you and equips your firm to kind of say like so, because this is so clear, this particular activity doesn't fit into anything related to our strategy, so we shouldn't be spending any time on it, right, um? And I think you know nonprofits can benefit from that as well. Like, specifically, what are we not going to do? I say no to a lot, and that's okay, right, or I reallocate time to do something at a later date, um, but I do that because I'm really clear on, like, where I should be spending my time Versus where I shouldn't be. So it's a great call out calling. You got to be able to say no to things.
Speaker 1:Any tech tools, any innovation, any AI you've been using lately that, uh, you would suggest to leaders?
Speaker 4:listening. Listen, people need to get around chat gbt right and generous AI like there's no doubt, especially in the, in the, I would say in the sales and marketing function. It's definitely changing the way that organizations are are Are working. I think the speed with which you can create content, Um is much different than it ever was before. I always say then you're gonna have a good copywriter because you know, chat gbt clearly claims that you know, but what I tell you maybe you know awfully inaccurate, right, so you've got to have some copywriters to validate it. Yes, but it definitely reduces the time frame to build content that then ties to a blog or ties to potential topics on a podcast or you know. I even asked chat gbt to write like a 15 minute speech for me the other day and I was like, wow, that's actually not that bad, just use that Um. So I think it's a balance that you're gonna have to do, but I think there's no doubt, like chat gbt, everyone's talking about it, um.
Speaker 4:I think it's overplayed right now and there's specific use cases, well, where it will be impactful. But what I heard an analyst say one day is that the the reason things like chat gbt and generative AI will actually have a profound impact versus things like RPA, robotics, process automation and other things. Where they didn't is because consumers are using chat, gbt today, like they're, you know, students are going in and saying, well, maybe they shouldn't, but students are going and saying like, hey, write this paper for me. You know, I mean like stuff like that's happening, it's just easy to use. So, as a byproduct, you know nonprofits and for-profits, right, are gonna have consumers that are used to engaging with that type of technology. So, as a byproduct, like, there'll be much greater adoption than there has been and maybe other areas in the past.
Speaker 1:I absolutely. It's like my kids growing up. They, if it's not a touchscreen, it's old right and they grow up with an iPhone, so it's native. So you know, next gen is growing up with AI as native to their language, to their stuff. So it's impossible to ignore and it's the acceleration is scary.
Speaker 1:But I think we need to be brave and bold and and and learn and and and fight the learning curve and and go for it, but Um, I love that real quick on the same topic, and then we're going to wrap up here. Gameification and technology. You're wearing the arise gaming t-shirt, so not a plug not sponsored.
Speaker 3:Unless there's an interest, we can talk but tell me about, tell me about arise gaming.
Speaker 1:What's the exploration and the the, the, the lane there.
Speaker 4:Yeah, listen, I, there's no doubt that, like the, the online gaming space continues to be a growing, you know, multi-billion dollar Global enterprise. Right, I think they're um, you know there are many studies about, like, the actual increase in individuals aptitude from an early age from gaming, now, type of game is always important, right, so I totally go by the, the rating systems there. But you know, to your earlier point, like you can use technology for good, right, and you know, with the advent of things, like you know, you know coding schools for young children, like there's no doubt that this gaming community will continue to grow and and increase. So for us, at arise, you know, people are passionate about gaming. Like they, they're gamers, like they spend a lot of time gaming. That's like that's, maybe that's how they recharge After a busy day.
Speaker 4:So what that means is, you know you could have a gamer, you know talking or engaging with a gamer of that exact same game, right, so you're just building community trust and safety, all that fun stuff. So you know that's a place for us. But you know, I think it's also a place where, as you think about gamification, right, like you know, people also love winning. Like there's practical examples of, like you know, using men as an example, like we're naturally competitive, like we, we naturally want to win, like we're bred in that particular way. So you've been finding ways to kind of gamifying. You know what your outreach is can become really important for for profit. There's a number of ways that you can facilitate that.
Speaker 1:I love that. So we're going to end with a game. We're going to play a little combat, Mortal combat no.
Speaker 4:I don't know.
Speaker 1:What was your game? I'm not a gamer. I have games in my life Rock paper, scissors. What do you have? A game?
Speaker 4:that we, if you, if you game listen, I'm not a gamer. I attempt to play Super Mario Brothers with my kid but, because I'm competitive, I don't because I just I always lose. He's got way more expertise than me in that case, so I just don't game. Maybe, Candyland, I don't know, and it was it. You know what?
Speaker 2:your kid growing up being like yeah, I used to get spanked, not cause I was in trouble, just cause I kept beating my dad at video games. More real part yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Totally Same. We do more. Robert, thank you so much. I look at you, know your office. You have hustle, you've got grind, you've got all the value you know and I see that. But I also love that. I see good vibes only right, and I think there's a you definitely you know manifest express, live that out and I appreciate the vibes you put off online in person to your team. Keep it up, man, keep going and reach out If you guys want to keep. If you need to bring Robert to your organization and or partner with you know his company and what he's doing, I highly recommend it. We'll put all the links so you can stay in touch. Any final thoughts, mr Padron, before we wrap up today?
Speaker 4:And just thanks each from a some other. Respect for you, Colin, good to meet you. Great conversation. Keep doing what you guys do every single day. I would love to see nonprofits find incremental ways to take lessons from for-profit organizations, insert them into nonprofit organizations and just allow those types of organizations to see exponential growth.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's what we're trying to do help people grow further, grow faster. So, hey, if you're listening, if you like what you hear, go ahead like, subscribe, share it with somebody else. We are so grateful to have you here and again, robert, we're grateful to have you with us today. Thank you so much for listening. We will see you next time on the nonprofit Renaissance.
Speaker 3:Thanks again for listening to the nonprofit Renaissance. We hope it ignites a Renaissance in you and helps you go further and grow faster. Be sure to share, rate and subscribe, and if you'd like to recommend or be a guest on our show, send us an email at podcastatfirstcreativecom.