Ep. 104 - Success Starts with Showing Up

Success in your first job isn't what most people think. Forget the conventional wisdom about comprehensive benefits packages, comfortable working hours, and clearly defined job descriptions. The real path to professional achievement requires a fundamental shift in mindset that most career advisors never mention.

In this eye-opening discussion, we challenge the pervasive belief that success comes from finding the right company with the best benefits. Instead, we reveal how truly successful professionals view their early careers as investment opportunities, not transactional relationships where they expect immediate returns for their efforts. This mentality difference separates rising stars from those who remain stagnant throughout their careers.

We explore why high-growth companies, though potentially offering fewer traditional benefits, provide exponentially more valuable opportunities for career advancement. When you join a company experiencing rapid expansion, you'll likely handle responsibilities far beyond your official role, creating skills, connections, and experiences that simply aren't available in more structured environments. As we point out, "The visibility of value is instantaneous and recognizable, not only to your boss and peers, but to the community and clients you serve."

Many young professionals unknowingly carry an unconscious suspicion toward employers, constantly looking for evidence they're being exploited. This confirmation bias becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy that undermines relationships and limits opportunities. We offer practical strategies for overcoming this mindset, including being responsive to communication, developing strong writing skills, seeking mentorship, and networking throughout your organization.

Whether you're just starting your career or looking to accelerate your professional growth, this episode provides a roadmap for success that challenges conventional wisdom while offering actionable insights. The path to exceptional achievement isn't about finding the perfect job; it's about bringing the perfect mindset to whatever opportunity comes your way.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Two or two other things I just want to bring up.
When it talks about, you know,when we talk about success in
the first job, One of them is beon time People who are not on
time for meetings, showing upfor work whatever, repeatedly
they're out.
It's a bad, bad sign.
Most of the time I get thereearly.

Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good morning folks.
It's not even morning.
It could be evening for you, itcould be 2 am for you, right?

Speaker 1 (00:38):
now, because you woke up in a cold sweat thinking
about work.
You know what I did have to getup last night in the middle of
the night a couple times.
Yeah, my wife, she needed me tohelp her out.
She was having some kind of aweird like it's almost like a
diabetic reaction where she'sgot to have sugar.
Oh, really yeah, it's relatedto long COVID, Really yeah, but

(01:01):
she mostly has it all undercontrol now.
So many different doctors andso many different things, but
anyway.
So, yeah, we were up last nightand I was doing some work.
Hell yeah, I got two.
Hell yeah, and then at five andat six I think I got out of my
jammies by maybe 7.30.

Speaker 3 (01:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (01:20):
Yeah, I had to get dressed.
I had to drop my computer offat Megabyte Should be a sponsor
of this show, by the way,speaking of sponsors, megabyte
Computer Center and Rogers.

Speaker 3 (01:31):
Right.

Speaker 1 (01:33):
And then they provide IT support to SY Group.
And then I had a meeting withone of my former students who's
a woman entrepreneur.
Just doing so many things, itjust blows me away.

Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's awesome.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
I mean, she is something else, getting ready to
start a new development project.
She is Right, very excitingconcept for what they're going
to do.
Just going and getting it.
Huh, just making it happen.
Yeah, man, just digging it,making it happen, reaching out,
doing it.

Speaker 2 (02:04):
Yep, not fooling around, advancing, moving ahead,
that's right man hearing theword no and keep going.

Speaker 1 (02:12):
It's all it takes it does it really does, it's just
so much.
Of entrepreneurship is actionversus planning you know?

Speaker 2 (02:22):
no, it was.
I was actually having a meetingthis morning with another
entrepreneur, and I would saythat he was.
You know, we can at times, evenas entrepreneurs, start
believing in the greatertheories that are put out there
in business, those being youknow, like there's some specific

(02:45):
way to do something or that youshould work your way out of
your business and you know blah,blah, blah, all these other
types of things.
But you get confused because youknew at one time you dogged it
out, worked just relentlessly,yeah.
And then you grow the companyand then you start kind of
feeling like there's thispattern that you need to go by

(03:07):
because you're in more unchartedterritory.
And then you start losing thegrip on stuff and you're like
well, how do I advance?
I mean, it's always the sameanswer yeah, get back in the
trenches, just work harder.
Yeah, you know, I always tellmy team, you know you can work
harder, you can work longer, youcan work smarter and you can

(03:28):
work faster.

Speaker 1 (03:29):
How about?
Do all four?
Yeah, five.
Do all five?
Yeah, that's the answer.
Exactly, it's always the answer.
It's not one.
Or it's like I work smarter, Idon't want to work harder.
No, how about work?
Smarter and harder, it's sotrue.

Speaker 3 (03:41):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (03:42):
I like the, you know, like we hear some of the big
entrepreneurs out there, thelittle famous ones, you know
they're like.
You know they calculate it If Iwork 60 hours a week.
You know, over the year's timeI've worked another half year
than you.
If I've worked 80, I've donethe same amount you have in one
year.
I've done two times more thanyou Exactly.

(04:04):
You compound that over fiveyears like I've worked an extra
five years than you have in fiveyears yeah, and that makes a
big difference.

Speaker 1 (04:12):
It's, it's, it's really true.
It's funny.
I remember Dale Carlton, who'smy real estate broker and he's
also an attorney.
He's done every transactionI've ever done here in Northwest
Arkansas I did with Dale he's areally good friend too, but he
likes to tell the story aboutwhen he was working.
He was going through law schooland he was working for Lindsay
and Jim Lindsay calls him in hisoffice and says hey, dale,

(04:34):
how's it going?
He goes, it's going good.
He goes, you know he goes, Ijust wanted to check up on you.
And he goes, you think you canmake it working in this business
halftime.
And Dale's like well, you know,I mean I'm working a lot while
I go to school or whatever.
And Jim's like he goes, yeah,and you know he goes 84 hours a

(04:58):
week.
You know there's only so muchyou can get done.

Speaker 3 (04:59):
Halftime, 12 hours a day, seven days a week.
That's his definition ofhalftime, right yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:05):
No wonder.
Jim Lindsay ended up.
You know, today they've gotlike 50,000 apartment units.
I mean it's mind boggling, buthey, this we got to come out
with the introduction.
We haven't done it yet.
This is another episode of BigTalk about small business, and
today we've got a really goodtopic, of course, we always you

(05:29):
and I start talking about beforewe get in this room.

Speaker 2 (05:32):
Yeah, no, yeah.

Speaker 1 (05:33):
You know and it's hard to save it because we're so
excited about it how to findsuccess in your first job.

Speaker 2 (05:39):
Hmm, it's a pretty easy work.
It's a pretty easy work.

Speaker 1 (05:51):
I mean, yeah, I really think this is critical.

Speaker 2 (05:52):
I'm going to bust out some of these Sour Patch kids
while we're talking.
Is that okay?

Speaker 1 (05:56):
Okay, be my guest.

Speaker 2 (05:57):
Yeah, they have an office right above us here.

Speaker 1 (05:59):
Do they really?
Yeah, is that the brand?
It's the brand.
Is it a Sour Patch brand?

Speaker 2 (06:05):
Yeah, they, you know like owned by nestle or
something I don't, I don't know,I don't know who actually owns
them.
I mean, I bet that tells you onthe back I can't read.

Speaker 1 (06:13):
It says it's distributed by mandala's global
monthly.
Yeah, so their office is rightabove us.
It's an engineered food andcontains a bio-engineered food
ingredient hey, I don't know, isthat good?

Speaker 2 (06:26):
I can tell you it tastes great, it does it's
fantastic.

Speaker 1 (06:29):
Yeah, it's great.
We're going to plug Sour PatchKids.
I love Sour Patch Kids.
They're so good, they are.
I love all that stuff.
You know, not being a bigdrinker or anything, I've got to
get my sugar some other way.

Speaker 2 (06:44):
You're the same way.
I don big drinker or anything.
I've got to get my sugar someother way.
You're the same way.
Yeah, I don't drink much at all.

Speaker 1 (06:47):
Yeah, so we get it through.
The candy, all the other stuff,some of my favorite I love,
like snow caps.

Speaker 2 (06:56):
Yeah, Do you like those?
Oh yeah.

Speaker 1 (06:58):
Those are so good Sugar babies.

Speaker 2 (07:01):
Yeah, fantastic.
All of it's so good.
It's all good.

Speaker 1 (07:04):
I was in the McBride distributing box here at the
Razorback game this weekend andthey had Starburst in.
There I was just shovelingthose things in.
I was like the only guy, youknow, I'm the only one.
They're all drinking theirAnheuser-Busch products and
you're just killing it.

Speaker 2 (07:22):
Because it has Starburst.
Getting yourself into a sugarcoma, just ruining your body, is
great.
Yeah, it's good stuff.

Speaker 3 (07:30):
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Speaker 1 (07:45):
So, anyway, though, let's get it back.
We don't need to talk about myhorrible diet, which always
comes up in these.
Let's talk about how to findsuccess in your first job.
What advice do you give youngpeople when you, I mean, you've
got kids, they've got friends,you have young people working

(08:07):
for you who are still students.
What do you tell them?

Speaker 2 (08:10):
Man, I'll tell you, the first thing is to kind of
wake up.
This is really this islegitimately even talking to my
kids.
There is this overarching ideathat there's a proper way to go
into the workforce that we'vebeen taught for so long and it's

(08:31):
been patterned, you know, and Ithink that it's absolutely the
most detrimental to people thatwant to be successful, because
you think that you have toqualify your way up to being
great or successful, that youhave to what do you mean by that
?
like you have to follow a veryspecific process, mm-hmm, or
that it takes an you know asignificant amount of time, or

(08:54):
right, or that you're you know.
And then when you come in, likewhat are your expectations?
Like what is a good job?
That's one of the big problemsnumber one.
This expectation of what's agood job Well, a good job you
know in a way that you're goingto be successful in life is that
you go work for a really goodcompany and that really good
company is a good companybecause they have benefits and

(09:15):
they have all these, you know,they have insurance and 401ks
and IRAs and all these types ofthings that they match and great
health care plan great.

Speaker 1 (09:24):
Never thought about any of that in any job I ever
had no, I haven't either okay.
I'll be honest, I haven'teither, and actually never even
occurred to me.
I never.

Speaker 2 (09:32):
I didn't even have health care until probably my
mid-30s.

Speaker 1 (09:37):
Wow, Number one.
I never went without it, everWell like health insurance.

Speaker 2 (09:42):
Yeah, I understand.
I did not have a savings.
I didn't have a dollar insavings until I was 45.

Speaker 1 (09:52):
Sure that doesn't shock me.
Yeah, If you had any money,you're going to deploy?
You're only going to live onwhat you need to and you're
going to deploy the rest in away that hopefully makes you
money.

Speaker 2 (10:01):
That's right, yeah, so as a business owner, that's
always one of my, you know.

Speaker 1 (10:06):
It's like you should have six months worth of
operating capital or living orwhatever Totally unrealistic.
If I had six months worth ofmoney sitting there, I'm going
to deploy it in a way I makemore money A hundred percent.

Speaker 2 (10:16):
And I think that if you're like and you don't have
to be necessarily anentrepreneur, right, I think
that like, but if you, but ifyou're reinvesting in yourself,
you're advancing yourself, youkeep, you know, like if you did
make good money, like, can youinvest that?
And how do you improve and getbetter at your own career and

(10:38):
your own career?
path, whether that's learninggoing to more trade shows, you
know whatever it is, that ormore networking and more I mean
like there's so much you can door taking your money and and
investing it in real estate orinvesting it in classic cars
that go up in value orwhatever, whatever you're into,
yeah, just keep pouring in, yeah, but I think that a lot of

(10:58):
folks that I have seen and mykids too this mentality that
when you go to a job they oweyou something, yeah, no, they
don't owe you anything.
Well, the problem is that theythink that and then the company

(11:19):
a lot of times thinks that theyowe you and they weren't trying
to, but, but that that kind ofeliminates the whole success
ambition and it disguisessuccess into being.
Successful is that you have ajob that you show up to at nine
and you leave at five and youtake an hour lunch break and you
get 45 minute break here andthen there's a great culture and

(11:42):
you can take PTO and you cantake all a day and long extended
paternity times and greathealth care plans and a good
savings account.
All these things wind up to bewhat a success looks like and
all the you're going to capyourself those are tethers in a
way.
Yeah, that's what you're saying.

Speaker 1 (11:59):
They kind of hold you down.

Speaker 2 (12:02):
They hold you down instead of walking in with the
mentality of like I don't care,success to me is an opportunity,
right, and so if I go into thisjob as an opportunity, so if I
go into this job is it anopportunity, can I see that this
is where I want to invest?
Myself into yeah, and notlooking and expecting some

(12:28):
payback, being that I get PTO orI get another salary raise.
But how can I invest into thatto where I can see myself
growing and becoming successful?
Sure, and so I think that that'sa that's a stumbling block
because, to be honest with you,well, here's the problem.
I see a company like mine.
That's that's a really startupphase.
It's in an innovative spacelike you're, trailblazing right.
If you want to be successful,this is the place to be sure I

(12:51):
agree.

Speaker 1 (12:53):
You said it.
I mean, you started out withsort of the conventional wisdom
on what a good company is.
To me, a good company is agrowth company.
Yes, Okay, the higher thegrowth rate, the better it is.
And the reason for that is I'mgoing to get a chance to do jobs
as an employee in that company.
I'd never get if I workedsomewhere else.

(13:13):
Right, okay, why?
Because the needs are expanding.
All right, they can'tpigeonhole me into doing one
little micro thing.
There's 10,000 different things.
There's new things that areemerging every day that give me
an opportunity as an employee tostep up.

Speaker 2 (13:32):
Okay, that's it, and I'll say another thing to that.

Speaker 3 (13:35):
Yep.

Speaker 2 (13:38):
The visibility of value is instantaneous and
recognizable, but not only yourboss and your peers, but the
community, the clients that youserve.
Like I mean, if you try to dothat at a bigger organization
that you thought was asuccessful job being in a big
company, you get put into themix and you're in like this

(14:00):
whole idea of being valued andfeeling value.
That's why a lot of like theyounger generation don't?
They have problems with fittinginto that, because they don't
feel that value, because it'shard to be recognized when
you're in part of such a biggroup but a small.
But they can't take the biggroup benefits and try to apply
it to a startup where they canget a lot of recognition, a lot

(14:23):
of value.

Speaker 1 (14:24):
They can see, well, and they're dealing with the
owner directly a lot of timesand the founder, the owner, is
so much different than somebodywho's a manager working for
another manager working foranother manager, working for
another manager working foranother manager.
Okay, you're so insulated fromthe top people in the
decision-making.

Speaker 2 (14:41):
I'll tell you.
Here's a case in point.
Let's take my company right now.
If I have a team member thatgoes and brings success, to this
company monetarily.
I will directly reward that.
Of course that goes and bringssuccess to this company
monetarily Right.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
I will directly reward that, of course.
Why wouldn't you?

Speaker 2 (15:00):
And if they keep bringing it, I'll keep bringing
it back.
Sure, 100%.
The problem is that's the cloudI'm talking about, Because I
feel like a lot of the team inmost circumstances that I've
experienced in my life.
They don't believe that becausethey think that they put.

(15:23):
They put a governor is a goodanalogy they put a governor on
themselves somewhere along theway that if you put, don't ever
put out more than what youreceive, yeah, that's not the
way it goes.
It's not, but I think thatthat's the problem.

Speaker 1 (15:39):
Well, and you know what that attitude manifests
itself in this need for a quote.
Job description Okay.
Because, then I'll do what's inmy job description, and if I do
that, then I'm doing a greatjob, right, okay?
Whereas we all know that's nota great job is going above and

(16:04):
beyond, it's reaching out, it'staking on new things, it's
solving problems that maybeweren't in your domain.
That's right, okay, so I mean,I hate job descriptions.
I'll be honest with you.
I've worked with a lot ofpeople, though, as employees who
want job descriptions.

Speaker 2 (16:21):
Yeah, every one of them, all of them want them.

Speaker 1 (16:23):
I mean and you know I can see the side of it Well,
you know, people need to know,like, what they're responsible
for.
But that's a minimumexpectation for but that's a
minimum expectation, that's not.
That's not.
The maximum expectation isfulfilling your job description
at all.
Your opportunity as an employeeis going above and beyond that.

(16:46):
I never really wanted to have ajob description.
I'll be honest with you.

Speaker 2 (16:49):
I don't like.

Speaker 1 (16:50):
You put me in a box.
Exactly, I don't want to be putin a box.
I've got a lot of.
I can contribute to a lot ofthings, okay every time, anytime
you talk to me, I'mcontributing yeah, I mean I, at
least I think I can.
You know I'm trying to right.
Do I not know anything aboutthat?
It's not going to stop me hell.

Speaker 2 (17:10):
No, I'm going to contribute but, but you know.

Speaker 1 (17:14):
So I think what you're saying, though it sort of
all goes in concert.
You know, defining a box,letting the strings of the
benefits and the working hoursand all that sort of sets up a
lot of constraints, notinvesting more?
not pouring more in yeah, unlessyou are being compensated for

(17:39):
that investment, but you can'tdo that A lot of people
listening to this maybe they'reyounger people they're like oh
yeah, here again it's the man.
Okay, the man wants to exploitme Right To get me to do things
that I'm not getting paid for.
It's like anything else, it'slike a relationship.
It's not all transactional.

Speaker 2 (18:00):
That's right.

Speaker 1 (18:01):
OK that's right, it's not I do this, you give me that
it's.
Maybe I extend myself tosomebody as a friend, yeah, and
help them out, and lo and behold, then we are friends and then
they help me.
Think about your boss and youremployer, kind of the same way
100, isn't it?

Speaker 2 (18:19):
it's not a direct linear thing.

Speaker 1 (18:22):
No, who's gonna put out first?
Right, okay, you know.

Speaker 2 (18:28):
no, it's 100, and I think and it's funny how fearful
we are to do that I think thatthe fear is of being taken
advantage of.

Speaker 1 (18:39):
Yeah, I think that's it.
I think that's at the core ofit, this fear I'll be exploited.

Speaker 2 (18:45):
Yes Again pop culture works against us.

Speaker 1 (18:49):
I mean, look at how bosses are portrayed in movies
and TV shows.
They're idiots.
They expect people to do thingsthat are completely
unreasonable right, and then theemployee rebels against that,
or they conform or whatever, andthey're unhappy.
It's sort of how it's portrayedin culture.

(19:09):
There's a natural suspicionthat people have for their boss
or their employer and it'sunfortunate.

Speaker 2 (19:17):
I've worked around and near and with some extremely
you know, some high upexecutives to senior level folks
at some major companies yeah,you know, and I can tell you.
There is one common thread thatI've seen across all those
folks they are relentlessly hardworkers.

(19:39):
Like they're all in, and somaybe there is a difference
between those folks that arethere in those higher positions
and the folks that are not inthose higher positions, because
the ones that are not in thehigher positions are not going
to invest like those people have.

Speaker 1 (19:55):
Yeah, I mean it's like Doug McMillan, for example.
I mean you think Doug McMillangot to be CEO of Walmart by
being a guy who defined how muchhe works?
I guarantee you there's nopossible way, Okay.

Speaker 2 (20:07):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (20:09):
There's just no possible way.
Now people could say, well,that's wrong.
You know, well is it?
I mean, look at how successfulhe's been, look at what he can
do for his family, Look at whathe can do for the community,
look at all the ways they giveback.
I mean, you know all the jobsthat depend on, all the jobs
created by their success as acompany, all the companies they

(20:31):
help out, who are theirsuppliers I mean it just goes
down the line every day yeah, itjust goes to.
So, yeah, I mean, let's, let'sgo back to this though success
in the first job.
I I hear a lot of this.
Of course, I've got students,and my students are generally
juniors and seniors that aregetting ready to graduate, and
so I always tell them two thingsto start with.

(20:53):
Okay, just to sort of step awayfrom this for a minute, and it
was kind of reinforced Lastnight I had Gary Head as a
speaker and you know Gary, he'sfounder of Signature Bank and
chairman he's been on the showbefore Been on the show and Gary
understands that a great dealof his success was based on the

(21:16):
relationships he had.
Like he knew Sam Walton and heworked for Jim Walton and JB
Hunt was his friend, and DonTyson All these people that he
knew, part of his network, andmany, many, many more, are a big
part of the reason why he wassuccessful.
Now he grew up in this area andhe stayed here his whole life.

(21:37):
Okay, so my point is whenpeople ask me for my advice, the
thing I say to them is thinkabout where you want to live and
go there.
That's right, because thesooner you start establishing
relationships there, the betteroff you're going to be.
Okay, huge advantage.

Speaker 3 (21:55):
Huge advantage.

Speaker 1 (21:56):
Huge advantage.
And then couple that with whatindustry you want to be a part
of.
Yeah, because it's the samething there the relationships.
They may be international, butyou know, an industry is like a
community in itself, right.
So go where you want to live,get into the industry that you
want to be part of.
Don't worry so much about whatyour role is.

(22:18):
100% Get in there and startlearning about that industry and
see what things you can do.
If you do that, I mean I neverhad to switch industries in my
career.
I mean I have later.
I never had to, though.
I've always had this primarything, of course working with
architects and engineers, allright.

(22:39):
And so you know I was lucky,because every time you change
industries, you step back.
Every time you relocate, youstep back, you lose a lot of
network that could bebeneficialers, lawyers, friends
yeah, okay.
So think that's what firstthing I say is go where you want

(23:00):
to live.
I don't care how expensive itis, you'll survive there.
When you got nothing, yeah,right, yeah, you'll figure out a
way.
Yeah, you know, I told astudent of mine he's like I
really like to be in la orwhatever.
I'm like, go there.
Yeah, you know, find threeother dudes and rent a shitty
apartment excuse me and livecheap and do your thing in LA.
Get established.

Speaker 2 (23:21):
Invest yourself into the place.

Speaker 1 (23:23):
Exactly.
So you know.
That's where I think it startsis the location and the industry
.
Now, what's it going to take tobe successful?
Then we start looking at whatkind of you know we want to be
in the industry, we want to bein this location.
Now we look for the companiesthat are the high growth
companies.
I oftentimes advise my studentsto do things like get the local

(23:47):
business journal lists out.
Start looking at what companiesthey're talking about.
Who are the best?
Okay, that student.
He wants to be a real estateagent.
Who's the best real estateagent in Northwest Arkansas?
There's a list put out by theNorthwest Arkansas Business
Journal.
See if you can intern with them.
Wouldn't you learn somethingfrom that?
Yes, instead of like well,there's an internship listed in

(24:10):
the career center to go to workfor this firm.
Now, they're 50th in theranking of real estate firms in
the area, but that's where thelisting is.
Forget that, bypass all that.
So look for the growthorganization.
Now you're there.
Okay, now what you're saying iswork your ass off.

Speaker 2 (24:32):
Yeah invest yourself.
Because here's what I would say.
I remember in college I wouldwork at the Jonesboro Sun and I
worked at this other photostudio lab, yeah, and I worked
for it for free.
I went and I would.
I've got on a regular schedule.
I'd spend three or four hours aday there, sure, but I did it

(24:55):
because I was wanting to learnexactly, get better.
Yeah, you don't look that.
I think one of the big problemsI see is like oh, I can do that
.
How much am I gonna get paidfor that?
Yeah, that's not the point, Iknow, but I think that that's
the looming problem with a lotof folks right is that I?
agree and they block their ownsuccess because they're looking,

(25:16):
they have taught themselves andthey put this expectation on
themselves that they're going toget taken advantage of if they
work for free.
No, you're taking.
You are actually more than thedriver's wheel.

Speaker 1 (25:31):
You're taking advantage of company yeah when
you go in there and you learnyeah, they don't necessarily
want to spend time with you.
No, I mean, it's a hassle forthem, right?

Speaker 2 (25:41):
yeah, yeah, I think that, like, I think there's also
that conception too,misconception of where, if
you're, if you're starting outin a job like the, the employer
not only pays you money but theyinvest their time into you and
resources.
A lot of people have noperspective, like if I hire
somebody and they come and workwith me for a month or even six

(26:05):
months and then they leave,that's a big cost.

Speaker 1 (26:09):
It is a huge, huge cost, sure, and they can't be
lost.

Speaker 2 (26:13):
But if you don't have that respect or that awareness,
like whenever, if I came to youfor a job and I was like you
said, I was going to stay here.
I'm interested in your industry.

Speaker 3 (26:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (26:24):
And you're an industry veteran.
Right and I'm going to learnfrom you Right, then I am going
to invest my time and I'm goingto soak it up.
It's, you know, the, the, Ithink, one of the best things
that that really tie this wedon't do it anymore but our
apprenticeships.

Speaker 1 (26:40):
Yeah, oh, I know.

Speaker 2 (26:41):
Like back in the day, that's what you did.

Speaker 1 (26:43):
You're absolutely right.

Speaker 2 (26:45):
We don't do that anymore.

Speaker 1 (26:46):
Yeah, it's a shame, it really.
Well, that's one of the thingsunions do.
Actually, you know, people arelike union construction, bad or
whatever.
They provide apprenticeships topeople.
So if I want to be a carpenterand I'm a union carpenter I've
got to go through anapprenticeship where I get
trained by somebody who actuallyknows what they're doing, and

(27:07):
that is a valuable function.
You're right, I mean.
But again, I think you've hitthe nail on the head and we
didn't even talk about thisbefore we got in this room.
The distrust that exists, theI'm being exploited culture.

Speaker 2 (27:27):
Yeah, the company's the bad person.
Yes.

Speaker 1 (27:29):
They're evil, they're greedy, they want to exploit me
and use me, and if that's yourbasic attitude, you're sunk yeah
you won't be successful.

Speaker 2 (27:41):
You will not be successful Now that you say that
, yeah, I have yet to meet, inall my entire career, anybody,
anyone that's had that type ofmentality, that has achieved any
level of success more or less,has really found themselves in a

(28:04):
stable scenario.
Most of the times are like theones that I have experienced,
like that they don't last longin positions and jobs.

Speaker 1 (28:12):
That's true.

Speaker 2 (28:13):
They bounce around, they lose their network.
They lose their network.
They lose their connections.
They think that they're doingthe rest of their peers a favor,
but they really don't.
They're toxic, they're negative.

Speaker 3 (28:28):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (28:29):
And they just spread that around and they cannot
shake it.
And the older you get and asyou and you don't check yourself
on that, the less chancesyou're going to have a success,
unless you have some sort ofmajor revelation one day.

Speaker 1 (28:43):
You know it's interesting.
This morning, when I was upearly, I got on to glass door
yeah because you know, I getthese emails from glass door
yeah, you ever look at that yeah, yeah, yeah for For like
employee feedback.
Yeah, it's employee feedback oncompanies, but they have a
really.
There's all kinds of otherstuff in there where people like
put questions and then otherpeople respond, and there was

(29:07):
somebody on there who wastalking about the fact that the
company they worked for did notuse the pronouns that they
wanted for them.
They wanted to be called they,them.

Speaker 2 (29:19):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:20):
Okay instead of he or she, and the boss doesn't do
that, right, and that was agreat sign of disrespect, and
then it's a bad place to work.
Right, okay, right, and youknow I could say, okay, I
understand that point of view,but truthfully I think that's BS
.

Speaker 2 (29:39):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (29:40):
Okay, the boss might be an older person.
Maybe they don't understand.
You know the variations ofgender on the scale, whatever it
is okay.
That doesn't mean they're a badperson.
It doesn't mean they don'trespect you as an individual.
It's just not part of what theydo.

(30:01):
So what am I going to do?
Completely judge them and saynow it's not a good place to
work because they don't call methey.
Okay, that's.
I think it's stupid.
Yeah, okay, you're just cutyourself off now you have From
an opportunity, because youcan't get past that as an
individual.

(30:21):
Okay.

Speaker 2 (30:23):
You ever heard of the word, the term confirmation
bias?
Yeah, of course.
Yeah, so it's prettyinteresting when you become
aware of that.
Oh it's, it's a real problem,it's a big deal.
I feel like that.
What you're talking about iscomfort, is having your right
nation bias.

Speaker 1 (30:38):
It's like, oh, they're bad because they do that
.

Speaker 2 (30:41):
People who do that are bad people, that a lot of
times folks walk into companieslooking, looking for how they're
going to get screwed over, yeah.
How they're going to bemistreated, yes.

Speaker 1 (30:54):
And that is so and then they find examples of it.
Oh, 100% or they hear ofsomebody that has an example of
it and then it's off to theraces.

Speaker 2 (31:03):
I think what we're trying to say to folks here if
you're listening to this showand you're wanting to be
successful you're wanting to besuccessful you need to check
yourself before you wreckyourself.
What is your mentality, what isyour vision, what are your,
what's your purpose and yourintent of when and where you're
going to go work and why you'redoing, why you're there?

(31:24):
Because if you're going in andyou already have a mentality
that companies are to mostlyscrew people over, companies
don't care about their people.
Owners are super money-hungry,greedy folks.
Yep, the managers and top-levelmanagers got there because of
some sort of favoritism.

Speaker 1 (31:43):
Yeah, they're good ass-kissers.
Good ass-kissers Not becausethey're good at what they do.

Speaker 2 (31:47):
They know somebody, whatever it might be, right,
yeah, and you're walking inbecause you've been told that a
good company will get you a 401kmatch plus paid time, holidays
and all these other benefits.
And if they don't have that,don't accept that, because
there's something better for youout there.

Speaker 1 (32:04):
Oh, dude man.

Speaker 2 (32:05):
You're like painting a picture.
I mean, if you walk into yourprofessional life like that,
here's the saddest thing aboutit, mark.
I honestly, out of a lot offolks that I've met in my career
, a lot of people have thatmentality.
I would say overwhelmingmajority of people come into
work that mentality.
The saddest thing is is that, Iwould say, the majority of

(32:28):
those people don't realize thatthey even have that mentality I
think you're right and they aretherefore self-sabotaging
themselves.

Speaker 1 (32:39):
My first boss out of grad school was a guy named Mike
Lattice.
He constantly had all thesehomilies and stories that he
told over and over and over.
You talk about a guy who wasrepetitive.
Mike was probably the mostrepetitive person If I talk with
anybody I work with in 1980,they'll start spouting these

(32:59):
things back 45 years later.
But Mike Lattice used to love totell this story about somebody
who's interviewing with acompany and the interviewer
asked that person like well, howdid you like your last job?
Or how did you like your lastboss?
Well, my last job sucked.
You know, my boss was an S, youknow, never really appreciated

(33:20):
what I did, yada, yada, yada.
And the manager's like you'llfind that we're pretty much the
same.
Okay, yeah.
Then somebody else comes in.
How did you know tell, what didyou like about your life?
It was great.
They were really nice people.
They seemed like they caredabout me, they they gave me an
opportunity to do stuff that I II wouldn't have gotten had I

(33:43):
been somewhere else.
And the manager says, well,you'll probably find this place.

Speaker 2 (33:47):
It's like that, exactly so it's, it's exactly
what you're saying.
Yeah, it's, because it's whatyou're bringing to the table.

Speaker 1 (33:54):
Yeah, you control this so much more than you
realize.

Speaker 2 (33:59):
100% it's meant.
When I look at a company, it isliterally just I mean, maybe it
took some time for me to seethis, I guess the older I got.
But you know, a company isnothing other than a bunch of
people that are working togetherfor a common goal, trying to
achieve something right and ifthere's a broken link in any of

(34:19):
that.
It stalls progress.

Speaker 1 (34:22):
Of course it does.
It's a team.
You're only as good as theweakest teammate.

Speaker 2 (34:26):
And it's just like, it's so bad, like we're just
like.
But, if you can, in the mostoccasions on the you know
there's only a few percentage ofthe people that are really
driving and carrying the weightof this, this other negative
perspectives.

Speaker 1 (34:42):
You know that's true.
Now I'm not going to say youcan't go to work for a bad
company there are some out therethat are bad places to work.
Okay, so you got to make achange.

Speaker 2 (34:51):
And it was a lot different in the late 1880s,
yeah, 1800s right, you got tomake a change, okay, that's okay
, it's dangerous.

Speaker 1 (34:57):
Or if you find that you're not, if you could have
multiple experiences and youfind that they don't meet your
needs, or whatever, you canalways start your own business.
100% Right, yeah, nobody'sstopping you from that, if
that's what you want to do.

Speaker 2 (35:13):
Yeah, but you should be able to align yourself with
what you said.
I love that pathway.
Where do you want to live?
What industry do you want to bein?
Look at the growing companies,yeah.

Speaker 1 (35:24):
And then put out, and then put out Without
expectations.

Speaker 2 (35:27):
Without expectations, and then I out and then put out
Without expectation Withoutexpectations and then, I would
say Immediate payoff, andanother thing to that is like
invest the time that it takesLike look.

Speaker 3 (35:34):
Of course.

Speaker 1 (35:35):
This isn't a microwave world right.

Speaker 2 (35:37):
The instant gratification doesn't come, like
I know in my lifetime.
It took a while for me to getto where I was even taken
seriously when I meet with aclient.
More or less really gettingpaid well for it.

Speaker 3 (35:49):
Right, and I think we all started that way.
Absolutely.

Speaker 2 (35:51):
It's just like the apprentice thing right A lot of
people think that they can juststep into a career.

Speaker 1 (35:55):
Yeah, because they have a degree or something.
Oh yeah, oh yeah, okay.
Well, I liken it to.
It's the same thing, like go toclass, do your work and get
grades right.
That's one way to do it.
Or you could say I'm going togo listen to this guest speaker.

(36:18):
I'm going to sit in on mybuddy's class because he's
talking about his professors.
Really got you know somethinggoing on.
I'm going to do theseinternships that I don't get
paid for.
Like I have one student.
He sought me out as a freshman.
I've never been my student.
He's a senior now.
He's had six internships withcompanies in different places in

(36:40):
the country VCs, private equitybanks All right, His experience
now is fantastic.

Speaker 2 (36:48):
Did you connect me with?
Did I meet him, just likerecently?
Did you connect me with him?

Speaker 1 (36:52):
I may have.

Speaker 2 (36:53):
I just met with somebody, that one of your
students.
Yeah, are you talking about big, tall guy?

Speaker 1 (36:57):
Yeah.

Speaker 3 (36:58):
Yeah, that's him, that's him.

Speaker 1 (36:59):
Yeah, that's him Hungry.
He's hungry.
I mean he is going to be verysuccessful, but I'm just saying
so, his experience.
When he looks back on it, hecould have somebody else that
just they went to class, theygot their degree, boom, his so
far ahead.

Speaker 2 (37:15):
I got this degree.
I'm old.
This and this is what myprofessor said that I need to be
making Right.
This is the way the ship movesversus somebody like that.
It reminds me when I was incollege and I found the industry
that I love that.
It reminds me when I was incollege and I found the industry
that I love.

Speaker 1 (37:32):
Like dude, I just spent all my time in the dark
room developing right images.
Yeah, that's what you that wasyour passion.

Speaker 2 (37:37):
It was what I was doing, yeah, and then I was
talking to the uh, to the labtechnician.
I was talking to the newspaper.
You know, editors, I wastalking to everyone, I was
hungry, yeah.

Speaker 1 (37:47):
And then you integrated that with your
interest in outdoor activitiesand you ended up with a magazine
with photography and dealingwith outdoor activities.

Speaker 2 (37:57):
Right, yeah, I was just intrigued and I knew
everybody in that college I hadeverybody knew who I was.
I've invested myself Right, andyou know, what's crazy is that
you and I, some old-timers here,when we find somebody like that
student you're just talkingabout, or we find somebody that
works with us.
I got quite a few of them hereat my company, fortunately.
I mean, it is the mostrewarding, gratifying,

(38:22):
encouraging thing that I canhave is to have some of my
teammates, my teammates that arehungry, that are pushing
forward, and it's not just andit is not just about me getting
paid, it's about seeing it givesme hope.

Speaker 1 (38:37):
Yes, gives me hope.
See, that's the thing.
Like I look at my students, solet's just say that guy's in the
minority right, they're not alllike that right most of them
aren't.
Some are, though, the few thatare.
They're not all like that Mostof them aren't.
Some are, though the few thatare.
That's what motivates me, okay,that's what gets me excited.

Speaker 2 (38:57):
You know why I'm motivated?
It's because you know what.
You have a high confidence thatthey're going to be what?
Successful Exactly, and so,therefore, I don't want to
invest my time into somethingthat's unfruitful and
unsuccessful.
It is, but I'm happy.
That's the what do you call it?

(39:18):
That's the inertia, that's thevirtuous cycle.

Speaker 1 (39:21):
Yeah, it is, yeah, yeah.

Speaker 2 (39:24):
Once you start demonstrating your desire for
success, start pouring insuccess yes to you.

Speaker 1 (39:30):
They want to see you because the more that it's
compounding interest of courseit is, so let's talk about some
other things that people coulddo to be successful in their
first job well, let's.

Speaker 2 (39:43):
Can we go back to the job description thing, real
quick, because I do have a pointwith that like I think that one
of the one of the other bigproblems with job descriptions.
I feel like that it's a, it's a,it is a written, formalized
documentation and even legal,that can say that that wasn't my
fault.
Yeah, that's part of theproblem.

(40:03):
It's like, hey, look, thiswhole thing crashed down.
It's like, hey, look, thiswhole thing crashed down.
But my job description, as youcan see, I did that and I went
to my quarterly review and myboss said, according to what I
was hired to do in mydescription, said I was doing a
good job.

(40:27):
So, therefore it's your fault,it's your fault and I had
nothing to do with that problem,right?
That is so non-successfulmentality Like that, that is
self-protection, that isisolation, I mean it's
everything opposite of teamworkand camaraderie and you know
tribal mentality of winningtogether.

Speaker 1 (40:49):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (40:51):
It's, you know it's bad.
And so I think that if you'relooking for a job and you want a
really good job description,because somebody told you that's
what you're supposed to do tobe successful in some sort of
class, or some peer told youthat, be very cautious of that
because really to your point,don't put me in a box I'm coming

(41:12):
out to.
I'm going to eat anything thatI can.

Speaker 1 (41:15):
I'm going to help any way I can, any way that I can,
yeah.

Speaker 2 (41:19):
Okay, so my title like really my title should be
kind of my understanding of myminimal job description.
If I'm hired into the salesright and.
I'm a sales associate that Ineed to sell right, but I also
need to take care of thecustomer.
I also need to shoot moreemails for marketing.

Speaker 1 (41:39):
I may be given the product people advice on what my
customers are telling me theywant, right, yeah?

Speaker 2 (41:45):
yeah, but the person is like it's not my job
description, that's your problemparts people.
I hear you they're not going tobe successful.

Speaker 1 (41:54):
We're not talking about good people.

Speaker 2 (41:55):
We're not talking about you not making a living.
We're talking about if you wantto be successful.

Speaker 1 (42:01):
Yes, and that means you're accelerating at a faster
rate.
Yeah, let's take a look at afew other things.
And again, at the risk of beingrepetitive, being responsive is
so, so critical.
So I work in a company whereI'm one of the investors and I'm

(42:21):
involved in a daily basis withit, and I have somebody who
reports to me in my functionaljob there, who is extremely
capable, technically,understands what we're trying to
do as a company on a macrolevel, and yet does not respond
promptly to emails or texts.

(42:44):
That's not good.
Huh it it.
It's the most frustrating thingin the world.
It may be the thing that makesme look for somebody else.
To be honest, unless that canbe addressed, because business

(43:04):
had things move fast and ifyou're going to be a good
business, you need to beresponsive to everybody inside
and outside the organization,and when you don't respond to me
, that is disrespectful and itmakes you a bad teammate because
we're relying on that.

Speaker 2 (43:24):
Yeah, okay, it stumbles progress.

Speaker 1 (43:28):
Exactly so.
Quick response to me it's likeif you shift out on Friday and
you don't look at your email allweekend, even though you're not
quote paid to work on theweekend, you're not going to be
on the fast track in my book.
I'm sorry if that makes mesound horrible.

Speaker 2 (43:48):
No, I don't think it makes you sound horrible, I
really am, or if you're onvacation, I'll say the same
thing Shifting out completely,but I think that statement about
the weekends, the vacations, isagain some sort of social cloud
and expectation that peoplehave developed.

(44:10):
That is not in the right, isnot in the vein of success.
There's a difference betweenbeing successful and having a
job that you make your ends meet.
It's not true, you can't haveyour cake and eat it too.

Speaker 1 (44:25):
Yeah, I mean I guess some people do, maybe Like I
don't know who, I don't know ofanybody, I don't know who they
are.

Speaker 2 (44:32):
I mean maybe some like if you're an heir to some
sort of fortune, but I mean like, but that's like so small and
few in between.
And, by the way, most of thosefolks don't really like like.

Speaker 1 (44:46):
I don't know how that they, a lot of them, end up
superbly gratified or have.
Yeah, no kidding I.

Speaker 2 (44:49):
I mean, it's true, they're not, and there's some
that that take that responselike we we've seen them around
our area that that take thatopportunity and turn it into
something that's extremelycontributing to everyone else.

Speaker 1 (45:02):
Well, the Lewis boys, fourth generation, I mean,
believe me, I mean, matt LewisWorks like a dog.
That dude is a driven dude.
Yeah, okay, yeah, he made ithappen.

Speaker 2 (45:12):
He does and he still and he contributes, right, and I
mean it's such a huge deal.

Speaker 1 (45:17):
Yeah, it's only.
I think like three or 4% ofcompanies make it to the fourth
generation family businesses.

Speaker 3 (45:23):
Yeah.

Speaker 1 (45:24):
The rest don't, but yeah.
So being responsive, I thinkthat's really critical.
Another thing I do think iscritical is learning to be a
good communicator.
Yeah Right, whether it'sverbally or in writing, people
judge you on that.
Are you succinct, are you clear, or do you put out emails and

(45:48):
everybody goes what the heckdoes this say?
You've got to master these softskills.

Speaker 2 (45:57):
I'm going to talk about that real quick.
There is something reallysimple to that, and I've
realized that a lot of folksdon't practice this very simple
technique, and maybe I learnedit in journalism because I was
in journalism school.
Do you remember the.

Speaker 1 (46:14):
Gunning Fog Index, huh, where you'd run it on your
writing and it would tell youwhat grade level it was, and we
were supposed to write somewherearound the 8 or ninth grade
level.
Anyway.
You could take any writing andanalyzes it for, like how long
are your sentences, how manysyllables?
Are, in your words, what didyou call it gunning fog index?
they taught us that fog indexgfi in in journalism school oh,

(46:38):
yeah, no no, I never heard ofthat anyway, I didn't mean to
jump on you, but journalism doesteach you to write succinctly
as opposed to like english ohyeah, no, 100, totally different
, I think.

Speaker 2 (46:47):
What it taught me, though, and maybe even english,
is just reread what you wrotebefore you just freaking, sent
it no, but it's so simple it is.
It's the simplest thing in theworld and I would, and I've
trained to some some folks thatwould send me an email or copy
me and include a client.
And I'm like man, you need toreread.
A simple read over what youjust wrote would have prevented

(47:11):
that ignorant mistake that nowmakes us look incompetent to a
client that's trying to pay hismoney and makes you look
incompetent as the author 100%Right, people judge you 100%.

Speaker 1 (47:22):
It's the moral as the author.
100% Right, people judge you.
100%.
It's the moral of the story,based on how you write and how
you communicate, okay, or if youjust constantly misuse the
language, yep, if people youknow you may be extremely
intelligent, but you don't comeoff that way, right right, and
you know people are veryjudgmental.
Let's face it.

(47:43):
It's just the reality of it.
It's just human nature.

Speaker 2 (47:45):
It is Like humans.
We've been communicating sinceday one.

Speaker 3 (47:49):
Yeah.

Speaker 2 (47:50):
You know that's like our fundamental.

Speaker 1 (47:54):
Grunt it.
We gestured, but the way thatyou grunt and how you look when
you grunt makes a big deal.

Speaker 2 (48:00):
Right, you, but the way that you grunt and how you
look when you grunt makes a bigdeal, right, you know.
But I mean, like we're alwaysgoing to be that way and
whenever you're in a meeting oryou know, like knowing when to
speak and when not to speak, andhow to speak and what to say
and how much to say and how muchnot to say, you know.
All those things, like in allthose communication things, are

(48:24):
areas that you need to practice.
That's a learned yes and askquestions.

Speaker 1 (48:30):
You know.
I'm glad you brought that upbecause I think it's a great
example.
In my own experience I had somementors who gave me feedback.
Now, why did I have mentors?
Because you were looking forthem.
I was looking for them and Idemonstrated I was worth
mentoring.
I listened, I took their adviceokay and tried to apply it.

(48:52):
I mean, I can just remember thefirst board meetings I was in
in the second no third company.
I worked in post-grad school.
I'd been out there for a while.
Right, I had two other jobs,responsible jobs.
I'm successful.
The guy who was executive vicepresident of the company it's

(49:14):
one of the larger shareholders.
He, like I'll never forget wehad a board meeting.
Afterward he calls me in hey.

Speaker 3 (49:19):
Mark, you know.

Speaker 1 (49:20):
It's that everybody's gone.
We're still there.
Of course I'm putting myFaceTime in.
I can admit it, all right,because it was important to them
.
He goes Mark, come on in, sitdown, shut the door.
If you ever do that again, I amso.
It's so dumb, okay, that guy isgoing to hate you the way you

(49:45):
treated him and work against you.
Yeah, okay.
And then after he rails, how'sSue doing Everybody?

Speaker 3 (49:53):
okay, you know what I mean.
Have a good night.
He gave me the honest feedback.

Speaker 1 (49:58):
I needed to change my communication style to not
alienate somebody.
Okay, which is a criticalelement in my ultimate success,
or whatever you want to call it.

Speaker 2 (50:14):
Yep.
So the mentors are critical.
Well, you did the same thingfor me and a couple of things I
can remember just off the top ofmy head when it comes to
communication.
Number one I remember one timeI've given you something.
When you're you're, you know mydirect report.
I gave you some financialsabout an event or something, or
marketing plan, and youimmediately was like, hey, redo

(50:35):
this, don't you have to.
You cannot center justifiednumbers on a spreadsheet.
They, they all, must be rightjustified.
And you're like, if you don'tdo that, it's confusing.
I can't follow the numbers down.
But ever since then I've alwaysright justified and it's made
all my communication skills fromthat time period when I

(50:56):
communicate any kind of numberor budget.
It's made it so much better andmore competent.
I don't look like an idiot.
And recently, not too long ago,I saw somebody do some standard
justifications on their numbersand I'm like God what an?
idiot, don't do that.

Speaker 1 (51:11):
The test results got to line up, dude, they got to
line up.

Speaker 2 (51:14):
And the other thing was it's like we're writing
marketing copy one time and youreally taught me like the
difference in in using bulletpoint like short sentences to
articulate a point you know inin the marketing columns and
I've taken that with me in everyform of communication.

Speaker 3 (51:34):
I mean even emails or anything if I email it if I
email it in a sec, sec.

Speaker 2 (51:39):
I know it'll be really short, to the point and
you know what A 150 word emailis about a hundred times harder
than writing some long email.

Speaker 1 (51:49):
Oh, it is.
Yeah, no question, beingconcise takes time.
It really does.
It's crazy.
Do you remember, though, injournalism school, they taught
us clarity and brevity.
Do you remember that?
Yeah, it was just pounded intowhat I mean, because I had went
through journalism too, same asyou.
But I mean again back onmentors.
I are, you know, and yourmentor, maybe your direct

(52:12):
supervisor, or maybe it's not,but the point everybody wants to
have a mentor.
I get called by students allthat well, you mentor me, or
whatever, but if they don'tlisten, yeah, then it doesn't.
After a while, it's like it'snot worth it.
I'm not.
I don't expect you to do everysingle thing.
I tell you right, you know,some things aren't going to be

(52:32):
like a strict order.

Speaker 2 (52:33):
It might just be if you thought about this, or this
is a suggestion dude, speakinglike you know this all falls
back in line with, with, with,with being successful right,
there has been lots of peoplethat I have mentored or that are
looking, and I mean there'scertain folks I just won't even
go have coffee with anymorebecause it's a complete waste of
my time.

(52:53):
Exactly Because they havedemonstrated nothing other than
victimization, negativity.

Speaker 1 (53:02):
Yes.

Speaker 2 (53:03):
And they're like lost puppies in a world that's
beaten them up and they're sadabout it and they want to know
my advice on how to get out ofit.
And I give them the same thingevery time, but they don't
listen.
Order, they don't listen, theydon't listen.
And so I feel, like the people,that there has been one person

(53:24):
I can't say that one, butthere's one I remember that
always sticks in my brain thisguy.
He took mentorship to itsmaximum.
The dude would sit there, hewould ask for a mentor meeting,
he would listen to you, comeprepared with questions Right,
write down what you're saying,write down what you're saying.
And he'd write down what you'resaying, yeah, and I would, lo
and behold, the dude would turnaround the next day and be

(53:47):
acting upon it and grow, and itwas the most beautiful thing.
It is, it's like you know, andI would hire him in a second
Exactly.

Speaker 1 (53:55):
I mean it's like I can't.
I've got students right and youknow some of them reach out.
Yeah, they want help or adviceor input.
And then I've got other peoplewho aren't even my students, who
seek me out.
I last night I had, you know,one of the reasons why they have
me over there at the waltoncollege is I spend a lot of time

(54:17):
with my students, and not justmy students, other students who
reach out.
I had this guy.
He came to our meeting.
He had freaking like four pagesof notes.
I met him at our our waltoncollege block party a couple
weeks before.
Yeah, he had four pages ofquestions.
He's writing everything down.

(54:38):
He's setting up follow-upmeetings.
I I'm giving him numbers andnames of people to call.
Okay, and it's like that guy.
I know that guy's going to besuccessful.
It's all I can say is I knowthat guy's going to be
successful.

Speaker 2 (54:52):
And here's the thing, like we kind of mentioned it
earlier.
But if you find somebody likethat and they're starting their
career or whatever, you're goingto reach out to your
connections because you canentrust that that person is
going to represent me well,exactly, I'm not going to waste
their time and so that's themomentum of the success

(55:14):
mentality.
You're right, versus.
Would you send somebody to methat's always talked to you
about what it's like to have areally successful job at a big
company making 175 000?

Speaker 1 (55:25):
when you start working having paid time off and
you want to make sure you getall the benefits and all these
things in place, like this or Iwant to be self employed because
I really like golf and I wantto spend all my time in the golf
course, it's like no, it ain'tgonna happen.
So so, yeah, I think, know.
And one other thing I think,when we're trying to, or two

(55:47):
other things I just want tobring up, when it talks about,
you know, when we talk aboutsuccess in the first job, one of
them is be on time.
People who are not on time formeetings, showing up for work,
whatever, repeatedly they're out.
It's a bad, bad sign.
Most of the time I get thereearly.
Yeah, okay, 100%.
I mean just yesterday againwith the guy I told you about,

(56:10):
he got there like 15 minutesearly.
I was there like 20 minutesearly.
Yeah, we're both early.
Yeah, good sign, yeah.
And the other thing isnetworking within the
organization that you work in.
You cannot just rely on yourboss.
That's right.
You've got to haverelationships with other people.
Now there will be the negativepeople in the business or

(56:32):
organization who say, oh, eric'sjust an ass kisser, brown noser
, whatever.
That's why he's over theretalking to the boss's boss.
That's stupid.

Speaker 2 (56:43):
That's stupid.
It is stupid.
And if I saw somebody, if I seea teammate that is rallying the
rest of the team to drive tosuccess with them, I mean, man,
that's a beautiful thing rightthere.

Speaker 1 (57:00):
Right, but what if they don't report to you
directly?
You got somebody down in theranks who works for one of your
managers.
Do you like send them away?
No, you're going to talk tothem, right?
Yeah, 100%.

Speaker 2 (57:15):
Exactly.
Everybody wants to be aroundpositive, building things.

Speaker 1 (57:21):
Or they want to be around the negative, degrading
things.

Speaker 2 (57:24):
yeah, and if somebody I'm, I'm in the business myself
of building things and growingthings and making positive
outcomes, not in the business ofneutrality or negativity, and I
think that that's what any andevery business leader has.
I mean, even in majorcorporations, everybody's

(57:45):
looking for rising stars.
They want to be part of arising star team, they want to
be in the champion club, becausethey're usually champions
themselves.
And if you come walking in as aneutral, victimized or negative
being, that's why you're notsuccessful.

Speaker 1 (58:00):
So true, that's why you're not successful, so true.
So hopefully, people willlisten to us, hopefully, and
take our advice.
Yeah, okay, don't think we'rejust exploiter types, no, who
only want to suck the life forceout of people and spit them out

(58:20):
in our to to further our owngreedy goals.
So far from the truth, agreedso well, great episode man time
we got to wrap it up, buddy yepand uh, sour patches were great.
Today coca-cola wonderful andthe Aquafina.

(58:42):
Aquafina is great.
Hero's Coffee right next door,right next door To podcast
videos, an amazing place.
Every time I go in there it's ahub.

Speaker 2 (58:53):
The first person I'm gonna make a deal, the first
person that emails us throughour website, they get a free
gift card to Heroes Coffee.
Oh, isn't that nice.

Speaker 1 (59:04):
It is nice, all right , I just got a gift card from
one of our prior guests.
Yeah, that's nice.
I mean, I can't believe it.
He did that.
It was very sweet, it wasreally nice.
What a considerate guy.
No wonder he's successfulselling stuff.
He's networking.
You got it.

Speaker 3 (59:34):
All right.
Great episode of Big Talk aboutSmall Business.
Thanks for tuning into thisepisode.
Your questions answered on theshow.
Stay connected with us onLinkedIn at Big Talk About Small

(59:54):
Business and be sure to headover to our website to read
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