March 24, 2025 • 23 mins
Show Notes:
- Early Leadership Lessons: How Fred’s natural ability to connect with others shaped his leadership style from a young age.
- Mentorship Impact: The influence of a key mentor who taught Fred the value of listening and understanding the people you lead.
- Team Building: The importance of assembling diverse, high-performing teams and the key traits that make them successful.
- Facing Challenges: Balancing family life with a demanding career and navigating the ever-changing business landscape.
- The Role of Vulnerability in Leadership: Why being authentic and transparent is crucial for personal and professional growth.
- Advice for Emerging Leaders: Fred shares valuable tips on how to become an effective leader, including the importance of objectivity, vulnerability, and having a trusted support system.
About Fred Lutz
Fred Lutz is a senior operations executive with extensive leadership experience both domestically and internationally. With a proven track record in reorganization and consolidation, Fred has been recruited by various firms to lead operations and improve performance in complex, multicultural, and competitive markets. He has worked in both public and private sectors, specializing in labor relations, union negotiations, and culture transformation.
Fred’s expertise spans operational integration, turnaround management, and niche business sector creation and growth. He also brings valuable international experience, having worked in the Middle East, navigating labor complexities and fostering cross-cultural collaboration. Fred’s leadership philosophy emphasizes the power of listening, building diverse, high-performing teams, and creating environments where people thrive and succeed.
With a career dedicated to solving complex challenges, Fred continues to mentor and empower the next generation of leaders.
Connect with Fred Lutz:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/fredlutz1
Company Website: https://www.baiconnect.com/
Stay Connected
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:06):
Welcome
to biz dev titans,
where we uncover the secrets that make biz
dev a game changer.
We are going to cover strategies
and dive into the mindset and tactics
that get you results.
Get ready for conversations that reveal what truly
works
for biz devs like you.
(00:28):
Here is your host,
Barns
Lamb.
Welcome to today's episode, where we dive into
a dynamic world of leadership and operation excellence
with none other than mister Fred Luz,
(00:48):
a seasoned operations
executive with a flare of transformation and growth.
Fred is currently the CEO
at BAI Connect in Los Angeles, California,
where he has led this team since February
2022.
With a rich history of leadership roles,
Fred has honed his skills in operation turnaround
(01:11):
and situation leadership,
Make him a sought after figure in the
industry.
Hello, Fred. Happy New Year. How are you?
Doing well, Barnes. Thanks. Appreciate you having me.
Yep. You're welcome.
Fred, I'm not gonna waste your time, so
I'm gonna jump jump right into
the interview. Again, I wanna thank you for
coming in today.
(01:32):
So, Fred, number one questions.
I look at your LinkedIn profile
as
amazing is not the right word. Colorful is
not the right word.
Rich tapestry,
like, you have bringing so many different aspect
of it. And
the my my question in my mind or
in my listening mind is that,
(01:52):
can you share some insight
into your role as a CEO at b
a iConnect
and how your previous
experiences
have prepared you for this position?
Sure. I look back
at my
leadership career
and
early on in in athletics,
I was always in leadership
(02:14):
positions in in high school, middle school, and
different sports that I played.
And
I think I got there as I reflect
back on it, not because I necessarily wanted
it, but because it grab people seem to
gravitate towards me and listen to me and
whether I was trying to be funny or
influential or effective or what have you. And
so,
(02:35):
that probably is where
the leadership
characteristics
started to evolve in me
as a very young person.
And then,
after I got
college,
I had an opportunity
to work for a telecommunications
company, one of the biggest at the time,
cable company called Telecommunications Inc,
(02:55):
and
was in a management training program.
And I was fortunate
to
get assigned in this program to a mentor
who
no longer is living now. But he was
super influential
in my development as a leader,
and learning to be a listener,
and understand
(03:15):
the componentry
of all of the different
attributes of people
that when you're a leader you have to
understand. It is not I have never been
a leader that has used a p and
l
statement to drive decisions.
But I have been a leader that is
have become a better listener, I think, as
(03:38):
I've grown older.
But also have been able to be disciplined
in all the different situations that I was
put into.
And able to to be surrounded and privileged
to lead
different teams at different times,
composed of a lot of of different people.
And the teams that I've I look back
(03:59):
on and reflect on that were were most
effective were were the most diverse teams.
Not only from a gender perspective,
but from a background perspective,
culture.
And so
that gave me
life as a learning lab, the way I
think about it. And that gave me different
opportunities to learn in different situations.
(04:19):
All,
as you mentioned in that outlook,
situational turnaround or turn up situations.
I just have always found that
fixing things has been something that I'm interested
in, and that's good and bad. That's why
I've moved around a lot because every three
or four, ultimately, you fix it or get
(04:40):
it into a sort of maintenance mode, let's
call it. And that is not where I'm
very good, maintenance mode.
I don't think, and I've been told. And
so,
I've had to move around because I've been
able to resolve situations or consolidate things or,
and that's what I like doing.
Been fortunate,
as I mentioned, to be surrounded by great
(05:02):
teams to do that with.
And so,
that's what has sort of been the been
the foundation of enabling me to to do
what I've done,
and and enjoy it along the way. And
now I'm at a point where I like
to sort of pay it forward to what
I've what I've learned,
pay it forward what I was taught, and
and given the opportunities to learn from, and
(05:24):
to others that I'm working with now. That's
fantastic. I think this is exactly
why you make me so unique in the
leadership role and what how you share your
experiences at and see
and I encourage our listener to check out
your profile and see the composition
how you actually bring everything all together.
As I mentioned is that I read your
(05:45):
LinkedIn profile
and you have very colorful yet culturally diverse
experience
and you took many different yet challenging roles.
You work in Middle East and was it
an assignment or was it something that you're
short term or did you have to move
the family over?
I did not move my family over. It
was in we had call centers that were
in Pakistan, in Lahore and Karachi,
(06:08):
a publicly traded company based in they're out
of London.
So I would go
for
two weeks at a time, and and so
it was immersive enough enough. And the other
thing was that, what was kind of nice
is it was
twelve hours difference. So I never would take
my clock because I go and work in
the middle of the night over there, and
so never really
(06:29):
jet lag. I was in London that I
had going to Pakistan.
Yeah. I can tell that you you experienced
that jet lag. I totally with you on
that. Reflect on your career,
what do you consider
your most significant
achievement?
And what lesson did you learn from it
that you continues to apply today?
(06:50):
My wife tells
me, and it's important,
the ability, the privilege, but the ability
of assembling
highly performing,
engaging
teams
has been
the largest achievement.
It's not
a certain
assignment or a certain location,
although there have been interesting and fun turnarounds
(07:12):
in different locations. But what I hope you
have done and what I think I've done
is assembled teams and been able to cultivate
environment
and empower those teams to succeed
and get fulfillment out of those various situations.
And and so, I think that that's
the biggest thing in my mind
(07:33):
that I've been able to do.
It's not always been smooth, but I I
think, you know, as I talk to people
that I've worked with in the the past
twenty five or thirty years,
the common thread is, gosh, we just enjoyed
that situation and that team and that opportunity
and that success or that failure even. But
not always Mhmm. It wasn't always
(07:54):
successful.
But at the end of the day,
it was successful
insofar
as a team
was authentic and transparent,
and worked together
collaboratively
to achieve what we sought out to do
and were aligned around.
That's the most important theme that's been throughout
all of the different ecosystem.
(08:15):
Yeah. I think that is something that
is a gift.
And you cannot train.
And for somebody who can pick the right
team, how to managing them, you know, all
different people around them, it's definitely something
that I I I picked, like a lot
of us, I've I've picked some wrong ones.
Hey. And And It can't be always right,
you know. It can be always right. But
(08:36):
in those situations, I have had
team members that were willing and able to
tell me that I was wrong. And I
was fortunate enough to listen to them to
fix it. So That's great. That's something that
not everyone has it. During your journey so
far,
what are some of the most
challenging hurdles
that you have to overcome
(08:58):
to succeed in what who you are today?
Well, I think there's a few.
As I was saying earlier, I've got two
wonderful children, 23 and 24.
We moved around a lot when they were
growing up.
That was on my mind.
The opportunities,
my wife,
my husband, terrific and awesome at that because
(09:18):
I would go to these various
locations and plug immediately into an operation and
a team and work. And in the meantime,
she's gotta figure out doctors and schools and
do all of the real work. And so,
obviously, a lot more challenging. But but also
so there was that sort of family
aspect of it that that was challenging. But
(09:39):
our children will say today, and they're old
enough now to do it, is that those
experiences all provided them experiences.
And so
on one side, it was
moving every once in a while and friendships
and moving to a new school and all
that. But that that has clearly been an
aspect
of equipping them
to be
fundamentally
(09:59):
confident
in what they do every day today.
So that's been a challenging one. I think
the other aspect from just a purely business
perspective as I think back to different different
situations was,
there's a regulatory environment to a business. And
so, throughout the telecommunications
(10:20):
business in the last twenty five years, there
has been ebb and flow of reregulation
or deregulation.
And so,
navigating through those various situations
is always a little tricky.
And then, probably the most important piece of
it all, regardless of technology advancement
or not, and there's been a ton of
(10:41):
it, is the people piece. And people are
people.
And
built having the
the grit to be steadfast on creating environment
for various skill sets and personalities
to excel in is something that hasn't changed.
And so
that has been foremost in my mind wherever
(11:04):
I've been
to be able to think through.
Yes. There's
a job to do here,
and
specifically
financially or whatever it was. But at the
end of the day,
it's not about me. It's about a team,
and it's about providing an environment and tools,
and being efficient and effective and all that.
But recognizing and listening that the people make
(11:26):
it happen.
And
if they're not happy or they're not equipped
or they're not driven
or they're not listened to,
then it's gonna be a lot harder to
to get anything done. So
that's kind of the way I I think
about the hurdles. And it it
it's people are people, and
they're human and life happens, and you gotta
listen to them and respect that. And that's
(11:48):
always sort of been a fun challenge is
is assembling a team, and you can think
about it like a sports analogy, you know,
it's athletes get traded and whatever, but knowing
when to put the this person in or
that person in, and when they're peaking, or
when they're hurt, or when they're not, or
when they're
mentally, they have a lot going on. I
mean, all those different things are are part
of leadership too. Right. And you gotta respect
(12:10):
those things and be patient,
with people and and listen to them, and
and that's been an an important
piece of Yeah. Yeah. I think that you
you mentioned earlier in the part of the
interview, listening skill is is key, and I
can see that how you shape
the way you mentor the team,
you lead the team, and use problem solving.
(12:33):
I think that is it's not someone every
everyone can do the same thing. Right? Not
going to do that. If you have to
say
three tips
that make you successful in what you do
every day. Listening is I I'm sure that
you probably listen to all listening and all
this stuff, but what are three tips that
you you talk to about our listener
to make fresh successful
(12:54):
leading an organization such as BAI Connect?
Listening is key, but I I think you
gotta think about
you gotta love what you do.
If you don't like it, it then you're
not gonna be passionate about it, and it's
gonna be harder work. And
so, my daughter's a nurse, and she was
new nurse. She's got a nursing school, and
(13:14):
she was telling me, I just love going
to work. And I I was like, it
doesn't matter what you're making or what, but
that's insinuating it. The fact that you love
what you do, you're going to be better
at it.
Finding that is tricky, I think, for some
people,
but you really do have to love it.
Everyone
really just needs that for fulfillment,
(13:34):
regardless of their economic situation or sociolect whatever
situation they're in. Really have a passion for
it, will reveal your real
characteristics and ability to change the situation. So
I think you gotta love what you do.
You gotta be committed
and have some skill
behind it.
So that it's not just at work, but
(13:55):
it's part of your life
outside of that. And then I think another
piece of it that is important, and this
isn't necessarily work life balance necessarily per se.
Mhmm. But you have to be able
to remove yourself
from time to time so that you can
have objective thinking. Because if you're all work
(14:16):
all the time,
you're not, I don't think, going to be
able to be objective enough
when you need to be. And so,
some of us like to work more than
others and all that.
I get it. That's various characteristics, personalities. But
I think for leaders to be really effective
in what they do at a peak level,
(14:37):
They have to be able to have a
hobby or some way of getting them out,
maybe golf or skiing or whatever it is.
Getting them out so that they can just
clean off their perspective a little bit and
hold themselves accountable
for the decisions that they're making in the
grind of the day to day.
So were you facing problems? Can I put
(14:58):
it in in a context a little bit?
You know, if I were listening to you
and try to learn something from you, is
definitely,
if I have problem with my wife, I
just need to go outside and just take
a walk. I don't think it's gonna work.
I don't think it's gonna work, but all
true by sight all true by sight. So
I'm sure that in your day to day
life,
and you come across a lot of different
(15:20):
challenges.
And what do you do? You, you know,
you go for a walk or for a
bike or what exactly do you do? To
find a new way to solve this or
different perspective,
And you're listening all your adviser, everybody telling
you all the story cannot be done, all
this stuff.
And you pay
us 18 holes golf. You come back and
(15:41):
say, yeah, I'm distressed. I love everything I
do, 18 holes, but how do you give
the perspective of it? Can you give some
give some give some highlight of that? I
think our customer our our listener would be
love to hear, hey. I wanna do the
same thing what Fred is doing. It's gonna
work. Well, I mean, it's worked for me,
but I don't think the same thing works
(16:02):
for everybody else. For me personally, I mean,
I'm a man of faith, and so that's
been growing piece of my life
since I was very young. And so that
that's an important piece of it. Probably gets
more important every day. I think another thing
that I have, again, have the privilege of
is, I have a sort of, what I
think about kinda like a kitchen cabinet of
(16:23):
people that I can rely on
and call and talk to
in when I have a situation that I
need some help on. And so, having people
in your life
that you can call in a difficult situation
or really whatever the situation is. Doesn't necessarily
have to be difficult And be authentic and
transparent too, that you trust
(16:44):
is key. Because we can all
we all have an ego. And if we
let that guide everything, and don't have someone
that can check our ego and tell us
authentically and transparently, that could be a spouse,
could be a sibling, could be a friend,
could be a colleague. But having that, as
I said, that kitchen cabinet, that group
of four or five people that you can
(17:06):
call and and you're, you know, it's just
it's unvarnished
feedback
of, am I thinking about this the right
way? Or how might you think about this?
And and they may not even know your
business.
They may be something else, but just, they
get they know you and they and you
trust them enough to listen to them. I
think that's great.
Okay. Thank you so much. This is
(17:28):
a go to Nuckus for this whole interview.
I think I I learned a lot from
it. Thank you, Fred.
So
I promise you I won't take you too
much of your time. Last two questions, I
I promise.
Fred,
you have accomplished
so much. You have done so much in
your life, and
what is your goal and aspiration in 02/2025
and beyond? I mean, you have done everything.
(17:50):
You have two beautiful grown children, and
you're a CEO now,
and you're you're fixings and, you know, your
curiosity mind
drive you to
figure out that you're a people person because
you lead teams to fix problem.
You assemble a high performance team.
So if you
I'm sure you have I do.
(18:12):
I always at the end of the year,
I always say to myself, what do I
wanna accomplish this year? What a personal and
objective you know, what what is yours?
You have done I mean, yeah, you know,
I want to spend less spend less time
at work and more time
distressing
all this stuff. That's okay. So what's it
for you, Fred?
Well, I it's a few things. I mean,
that there's a business component. Right? Depending on
(18:34):
where you are in your life cycle of
doing a, you know, acquisition or
any kind of a business transaction. So there's
the component of that that's important. I think,
it probably maybe more importantly is the personal
piece. And as you've mentioned, you know, our
children are out of the home and they
now have their own lives, and it's more
difficult to get together than it was when
they were living at home. And so,
(18:55):
I thought long and hard about how do
we, as a family, how do I get
to spend that quality time that I just
trickier to get to because they have their
own
work schedules and what have you. So that's
a goal. It's figuring out
being committed to that and figuring that out
and and being flexible.
And then I always there's always a self,
sort of self help piece physically and mentally
(19:18):
that I try to get better at each
year. And especially as I get older,
interestingly,
I know I like to ski.
So I'm mindful of not falling because the
healing component is
trickier every year we age. Yeah. But being
able to just ski and stay
physically fit has always been something that, you
know, I like to get up in the
(19:38):
morning every day and work out. And so
that but that helps my
mind.
And
so ensuring that I continue to stitch together
those important components of my daily life,
physically and mentally, to keep me stimulated so
I can help others.
Those are that's what I thought about for
2025.
Awesome. Thank you.
Absolutely last questions.
(20:00):
And this is something for our listener who
started with a career,
working in similar shoes
from University of Kentucky, you know, coming out
and looking at your career.
And
if you want to give some tips
about your younger self,
like, maybe thirty years ago,
graduate
from university. What are the tips that you
(20:21):
will
say to yourself
back then that,
I wish I know this. I wish I
would do this better.
Well, I wish I'd been a better listener
then.
I had obviously confidence in what I could
do and wanted to do, but I but
I'm sure listening,
you can never listen enough.
And it's free to listen, I like to
(20:41):
tell my team. So that's one thing. I
think the other thing is,
this is tricky, but
being authentic and vulnerable
is something that is
very important characteristic for everybody.
Easier to say now at 55 years old
than having done what I've done and been
at experience that I've had.
(21:02):
But I think it's okay to be transparent,
authentic, and and vulnerable. And so
I think that's a trait
that a young Fred,
had I been that those things more,
would have helped me
maybe not face some of the challenges that
I faced, or maybe had
smoother path to getting something done.
(21:24):
But I would say those who are transparent,
authentic, and and vulnerable are are critical to
to being a happier, better person. And if
you are, then you're gonna accomplish more personally
and professionally and
and everywhere everything else. So that's what I
think about it. Thank you, Fred. This is
a true golden nuggets that my listener love
(21:44):
to hear. And I wanna thank you again
for your time today.
And I think that, one thing really strike
me, Fred, is is that
now
when you look at your profile, it's like,
wow. Yeah. This guy accomplished much.
And you kinda figured out what make him
super successful,
why he has that quality
(22:05):
that can go everywhere
and can solve problems,
different type of problems.
That's a uniqueness about you. It's just that
you can go in a situation that you
know exactly.
It may not have a skill set, but
you're you're able to dissect it and solve
the problem.
I think that it's you know, not a
lot of CEOs today
because they are hoping to one particular skill,
(22:26):
as I mentioned earlier, but you definitely have
that
human side or aspect of it where you
listen,
you
understand, you make mistakes,
and then you execute what you believe at
maybe after 18 holes of golf course, you
come back and say, okay. Now I know
what to do next. But I wanna thank
you from the bottom of my heart, and
(22:46):
this is a true honor to have
you. I wanna thank you again on behalf
of my listener.
And some of you probably wondering,
well, I wanna listen again. I wanna talk
call Fred. Please do. And he is very
open. And in terms of sharing life learning,
I'm learning to this hour, just hopping out
to listen to it. And I have a
(23:06):
note taker, and I'm going to just read
through it and tell my children. These are
things that you need to know, today.
But, anyway,
Brett, thank you so much for your time.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you, Marsh. Appreciate it and enjoyed it.
Take care. Take care.
Thank you for listening to the Biz Dev
(23:27):
Titans.
If you enjoyed this episode,
don't forget to subscribe and leave us a
review
so that we get to meet and interview
more amazing leaders like you.
To download the extended show notes with all
the extra tips on the topic we covered
today,
head over to bizdevtitans.com.
Welcome
to biz dev titans,
where we uncover the secrets that make biz
dev a game changer.
We are going to cover strategies
and dive into the mindset and tactics
that get you results.
Get ready for conversations that reveal what truly
works
for biz devs like you.
(00:28):
Here is your host,
Barns
Lamb.
Welcome to today's episode, where we dive into
a dynamic world of leadership and operation excellence
with none other than mister Fred Luz,
(00:48):
a seasoned operations
executive with a flare of transformation and growth.
Fred is currently the CEO
at BAI Connect in Los Angeles, California,
where he has led this team since February
2022.
With a rich history of leadership roles,
Fred has honed his skills in operation turnaround
(01:11):
and situation leadership,
Make him a sought after figure in the
industry.
Hello, Fred. Happy New Year. How are you?
Doing well, Barnes. Thanks. Appreciate you having me.
Yep. You're welcome.
Fred, I'm not gonna waste your time, so
I'm gonna jump jump right into
the interview. Again, I wanna thank you for
coming in today.
(01:32):
So, Fred, number one questions.
I look at your LinkedIn profile
as
amazing is not the right word. Colorful is
not the right word.
Rich tapestry,
like, you have bringing so many different aspect
of it. And
the my my question in my mind or
in my listening mind is that,
(01:52):
can you share some insight
into your role as a CEO at b
a iConnect
and how your previous
experiences
have prepared you for this position?
Sure. I look back
at my
leadership career
and
early on in in athletics,
I was always in leadership
(02:14):
positions in in high school, middle school, and
different sports that I played.
And
I think I got there as I reflect
back on it, not because I necessarily wanted
it, but because it grab people seem to
gravitate towards me and listen to me and
whether I was trying to be funny or
influential or effective or what have you. And
so,
(02:35):
that probably is where
the leadership
characteristics
started to evolve in me
as a very young person.
And then,
after I got
college,
I had an opportunity
to work for a telecommunications
company, one of the biggest at the time,
cable company called Telecommunications Inc,
(02:55):
and
was in a management training program.
And I was fortunate
to
get assigned in this program to a mentor
who
no longer is living now. But he was
super influential
in my development as a leader,
and learning to be a listener,
and understand
(03:15):
the componentry
of all of the different
attributes of people
that when you're a leader you have to
understand. It is not I have never been
a leader that has used a p and
l
statement to drive decisions.
But I have been a leader that is
have become a better listener, I think, as
(03:38):
I've grown older.
But also have been able to be disciplined
in all the different situations that I was
put into.
And able to to be surrounded and privileged
to lead
different teams at different times,
composed of a lot of of different people.
And the teams that I've I look back
(03:59):
on and reflect on that were were most
effective were were the most diverse teams.
Not only from a gender perspective,
but from a background perspective,
culture.
And so
that gave me
life as a learning lab, the way I
think about it. And that gave me different
opportunities to learn in different situations.
(04:19):
All,
as you mentioned in that outlook,
situational turnaround or turn up situations.
I just have always found that
fixing things has been something that I'm interested
in, and that's good and bad. That's why
I've moved around a lot because every three
or four, ultimately, you fix it or get
(04:40):
it into a sort of maintenance mode, let's
call it. And that is not where I'm
very good, maintenance mode.
I don't think, and I've been told. And
so,
I've had to move around because I've been
able to resolve situations or consolidate things or,
and that's what I like doing.
Been fortunate,
as I mentioned, to be surrounded by great
(05:02):
teams to do that with.
And so,
that's what has sort of been the been
the foundation of enabling me to to do
what I've done,
and and enjoy it along the way. And
now I'm at a point where I like
to sort of pay it forward to what
I've what I've learned,
pay it forward what I was taught, and
and given the opportunities to learn from, and
(05:24):
to others that I'm working with now. That's
fantastic. I think this is exactly
why you make me so unique in the
leadership role and what how you share your
experiences at and see
and I encourage our listener to check out
your profile and see the composition
how you actually bring everything all together.
As I mentioned is that I read your
(05:45):
LinkedIn profile
and you have very colorful yet culturally diverse
experience
and you took many different yet challenging roles.
You work in Middle East and was it
an assignment or was it something that you're
short term or did you have to move
the family over?
I did not move my family over. It
was in we had call centers that were
in Pakistan, in Lahore and Karachi,
(06:08):
a publicly traded company based in they're out
of London.
So I would go
for
two weeks at a time, and and so
it was immersive enough enough. And the other
thing was that, what was kind of nice
is it was
twelve hours difference. So I never would take
my clock because I go and work in
the middle of the night over there, and
so never really
(06:29):
jet lag. I was in London that I
had going to Pakistan.
Yeah. I can tell that you you experienced
that jet lag. I totally with you on
that. Reflect on your career,
what do you consider
your most significant
achievement?
And what lesson did you learn from it
that you continues to apply today?
(06:50):
My wife tells
me, and it's important,
the ability, the privilege, but the ability
of assembling
highly performing,
engaging
teams
has been
the largest achievement.
It's not
a certain
assignment or a certain location,
although there have been interesting and fun turnarounds
(07:12):
in different locations. But what I hope you
have done and what I think I've done
is assembled teams and been able to cultivate
environment
and empower those teams to succeed
and get fulfillment out of those various situations.
And and so, I think that that's
the biggest thing in my mind
(07:33):
that I've been able to do.
It's not always been smooth, but I I
think, you know, as I talk to people
that I've worked with in the the past
twenty five or thirty years,
the common thread is, gosh, we just enjoyed
that situation and that team and that opportunity
and that success or that failure even. But
not always Mhmm. It wasn't always
(07:54):
successful.
But at the end of the day,
it was successful
insofar
as a team
was authentic and transparent,
and worked together
collaboratively
to achieve what we sought out to do
and were aligned around.
That's the most important theme that's been throughout
all of the different ecosystem.
(08:15):
Yeah. I think that is something that
is a gift.
And you cannot train.
And for somebody who can pick the right
team, how to managing them, you know, all
different people around them, it's definitely something
that I I I picked, like a lot
of us, I've I've picked some wrong ones.
Hey. And And It can't be always right,
you know. It can be always right. But
(08:36):
in those situations, I have had
team members that were willing and able to
tell me that I was wrong. And I
was fortunate enough to listen to them to
fix it. So That's great. That's something that
not everyone has it. During your journey so
far,
what are some of the most
challenging hurdles
that you have to overcome
(08:58):
to succeed in what who you are today?
Well, I think there's a few.
As I was saying earlier, I've got two
wonderful children, 23 and 24.
We moved around a lot when they were
growing up.
That was on my mind.
The opportunities,
my wife,
my husband, terrific and awesome at that because
(09:18):
I would go to these various
locations and plug immediately into an operation and
a team and work. And in the meantime,
she's gotta figure out doctors and schools and
do all of the real work. And so,
obviously, a lot more challenging. But but also
so there was that sort of family
aspect of it that that was challenging. But
(09:39):
our children will say today, and they're old
enough now to do it, is that those
experiences all provided them experiences.
And so
on one side, it was
moving every once in a while and friendships
and moving to a new school and all
that. But that that has clearly been an
aspect
of equipping them
to be
fundamentally
(09:59):
confident
in what they do every day today.
So that's been a challenging one. I think
the other aspect from just a purely business
perspective as I think back to different different
situations was,
there's a regulatory environment to a business. And
so, throughout the telecommunications
(10:20):
business in the last twenty five years, there
has been ebb and flow of reregulation
or deregulation.
And so,
navigating through those various situations
is always a little tricky.
And then, probably the most important piece of
it all, regardless of technology advancement
or not, and there's been a ton of
(10:41):
it, is the people piece. And people are
people.
And
built having the
the grit to be steadfast on creating environment
for various skill sets and personalities
to excel in is something that hasn't changed.
And so
that has been foremost in my mind wherever
(11:04):
I've been
to be able to think through.
Yes. There's
a job to do here,
and
specifically
financially or whatever it was. But at the
end of the day,
it's not about me. It's about a team,
and it's about providing an environment and tools,
and being efficient and effective and all that.
But recognizing and listening that the people make
(11:26):
it happen.
And
if they're not happy or they're not equipped
or they're not driven
or they're not listened to,
then it's gonna be a lot harder to
to get anything done. So
that's kind of the way I I think
about the hurdles. And it it
it's people are people, and
they're human and life happens, and you gotta
listen to them and respect that. And that's
(11:48):
always sort of been a fun challenge is
is assembling a team, and you can think
about it like a sports analogy, you know,
it's athletes get traded and whatever, but knowing
when to put the this person in or
that person in, and when they're peaking, or
when they're hurt, or when they're not, or
when they're
mentally, they have a lot going on. I
mean, all those different things are are part
of leadership too. Right. And you gotta respect
(12:10):
those things and be patient,
with people and and listen to them, and
and that's been an an important
piece of Yeah. Yeah. I think that you
you mentioned earlier in the part of the
interview, listening skill is is key, and I
can see that how you shape
the way you mentor the team,
you lead the team, and use problem solving.
(12:33):
I think that is it's not someone every
everyone can do the same thing. Right? Not
going to do that. If you have to
say
three tips
that make you successful in what you do
every day. Listening is I I'm sure that
you probably listen to all listening and all
this stuff, but what are three tips that
you you talk to about our listener
to make fresh successful
(12:54):
leading an organization such as BAI Connect?
Listening is key, but I I think you
gotta think about
you gotta love what you do.
If you don't like it, it then you're
not gonna be passionate about it, and it's
gonna be harder work. And
so, my daughter's a nurse, and she was
new nurse. She's got a nursing school, and
(13:14):
she was telling me, I just love going
to work. And I I was like, it
doesn't matter what you're making or what, but
that's insinuating it. The fact that you love
what you do, you're going to be better
at it.
Finding that is tricky, I think, for some
people,
but you really do have to love it.
Everyone
really just needs that for fulfillment,
(13:34):
regardless of their economic situation or sociolect whatever
situation they're in. Really have a passion for
it, will reveal your real
characteristics and ability to change the situation. So
I think you gotta love what you do.
You gotta be committed
and have some skill
behind it.
So that it's not just at work, but
(13:55):
it's part of your life
outside of that. And then I think another
piece of it that is important, and this
isn't necessarily work life balance necessarily per se.
Mhmm. But you have to be able
to remove yourself
from time to time so that you can
have objective thinking. Because if you're all work
(14:16):
all the time,
you're not, I don't think, going to be
able to be objective enough
when you need to be. And so,
some of us like to work more than
others and all that.
I get it. That's various characteristics, personalities. But
I think for leaders to be really effective
in what they do at a peak level,
(14:37):
They have to be able to have a
hobby or some way of getting them out,
maybe golf or skiing or whatever it is.
Getting them out so that they can just
clean off their perspective a little bit and
hold themselves accountable
for the decisions that they're making in the
grind of the day to day.
So were you facing problems? Can I put
(14:58):
it in in a context a little bit?
You know, if I were listening to you
and try to learn something from you, is
definitely,
if I have problem with my wife, I
just need to go outside and just take
a walk. I don't think it's gonna work.
I don't think it's gonna work, but all
true by sight all true by sight. So
I'm sure that in your day to day
life,
and you come across a lot of different
(15:20):
challenges.
And what do you do? You, you know,
you go for a walk or for a
bike or what exactly do you do? To
find a new way to solve this or
different perspective,
And you're listening all your adviser, everybody telling
you all the story cannot be done, all
this stuff.
And you pay
us 18 holes golf. You come back and
(15:41):
say, yeah, I'm distressed. I love everything I
do, 18 holes, but how do you give
the perspective of it? Can you give some
give some give some highlight of that? I
think our customer our our listener would be
love to hear, hey. I wanna do the
same thing what Fred is doing. It's gonna
work. Well, I mean, it's worked for me,
but I don't think the same thing works
(16:02):
for everybody else. For me personally, I mean,
I'm a man of faith, and so that's
been growing piece of my life
since I was very young. And so that
that's an important piece of it. Probably gets
more important every day. I think another thing
that I have, again, have the privilege of
is, I have a sort of, what I
think about kinda like a kitchen cabinet of
(16:23):
people that I can rely on
and call and talk to
in when I have a situation that I
need some help on. And so, having people
in your life
that you can call in a difficult situation
or really whatever the situation is. Doesn't necessarily
have to be difficult And be authentic and
transparent too, that you trust
(16:44):
is key. Because we can all
we all have an ego. And if we
let that guide everything, and don't have someone
that can check our ego and tell us
authentically and transparently, that could be a spouse,
could be a sibling, could be a friend,
could be a colleague. But having that, as
I said, that kitchen cabinet, that group
of four or five people that you can
(17:06):
call and and you're, you know, it's just
it's unvarnished
feedback
of, am I thinking about this the right
way? Or how might you think about this?
And and they may not even know your
business.
They may be something else, but just, they
get they know you and they and you
trust them enough to listen to them. I
think that's great.
Okay. Thank you so much. This is
(17:28):
a go to Nuckus for this whole interview.
I think I I learned a lot from
it. Thank you, Fred.
So
I promise you I won't take you too
much of your time. Last two questions, I
I promise.
Fred,
you have accomplished
so much. You have done so much in
your life, and
what is your goal and aspiration in 02/2025
and beyond? I mean, you have done everything.
(17:50):
You have two beautiful grown children, and
you're a CEO now,
and you're you're fixings and, you know, your
curiosity mind
drive you to
figure out that you're a people person because
you lead teams to fix problem.
You assemble a high performance team.
So if you
I'm sure you have I do.
(18:12):
I always at the end of the year,
I always say to myself, what do I
wanna accomplish this year? What a personal and
objective you know, what what is yours?
You have done I mean, yeah, you know,
I want to spend less spend less time
at work and more time
distressing
all this stuff. That's okay. So what's it
for you, Fred?
Well, I it's a few things. I mean,
that there's a business component. Right? Depending on
(18:34):
where you are in your life cycle of
doing a, you know, acquisition or
any kind of a business transaction. So there's
the component of that that's important. I think,
it probably maybe more importantly is the personal
piece. And as you've mentioned, you know, our
children are out of the home and they
now have their own lives, and it's more
difficult to get together than it was when
they were living at home. And so,
(18:55):
I thought long and hard about how do
we, as a family, how do I get
to spend that quality time that I just
trickier to get to because they have their
own
work schedules and what have you. So that's
a goal. It's figuring out
being committed to that and figuring that out
and and being flexible.
And then I always there's always a self,
sort of self help piece physically and mentally
(19:18):
that I try to get better at each
year. And especially as I get older,
interestingly,
I know I like to ski.
So I'm mindful of not falling because the
healing component is
trickier every year we age. Yeah. But being
able to just ski and stay
physically fit has always been something that, you
know, I like to get up in the
(19:38):
morning every day and work out. And so
that but that helps my
mind.
And
so ensuring that I continue to stitch together
those important components of my daily life,
physically and mentally, to keep me stimulated so
I can help others.
Those are that's what I thought about for
2025.
Awesome. Thank you.
Absolutely last questions.
(20:00):
And this is something for our listener who
started with a career,
working in similar shoes
from University of Kentucky, you know, coming out
and looking at your career.
And
if you want to give some tips
about your younger self,
like, maybe thirty years ago,
graduate
from university. What are the tips that you
(20:21):
will
say to yourself
back then that,
I wish I know this. I wish I
would do this better.
Well, I wish I'd been a better listener
then.
I had obviously confidence in what I could
do and wanted to do, but I but
I'm sure listening,
you can never listen enough.
And it's free to listen, I like to
(20:41):
tell my team. So that's one thing. I
think the other thing is,
this is tricky, but
being authentic and vulnerable
is something that is
very important characteristic for everybody.
Easier to say now at 55 years old
than having done what I've done and been
at experience that I've had.
(21:02):
But I think it's okay to be transparent,
authentic, and and vulnerable. And so
I think that's a trait
that a young Fred,
had I been that those things more,
would have helped me
maybe not face some of the challenges that
I faced, or maybe had
smoother path to getting something done.
(21:24):
But I would say those who are transparent,
authentic, and and vulnerable are are critical to
to being a happier, better person. And if
you are, then you're gonna accomplish more personally
and professionally and
and everywhere everything else. So that's what I
think about it. Thank you, Fred. This is
a true golden nuggets that my listener love
(21:44):
to hear. And I wanna thank you again
for your time today.
And I think that, one thing really strike
me, Fred, is is that
now
when you look at your profile, it's like,
wow. Yeah. This guy accomplished much.
And you kinda figured out what make him
super successful,
why he has that quality
(22:05):
that can go everywhere
and can solve problems,
different type of problems.
That's a uniqueness about you. It's just that
you can go in a situation that you
know exactly.
It may not have a skill set, but
you're you're able to dissect it and solve
the problem.
I think that it's you know, not a
lot of CEOs today
because they are hoping to one particular skill,
(22:26):
as I mentioned earlier, but you definitely have
that
human side or aspect of it where you
listen,
you
understand, you make mistakes,
and then you execute what you believe at
maybe after 18 holes of golf course, you
come back and say, okay. Now I know
what to do next. But I wanna thank
you from the bottom of my heart, and
(22:46):
this is a true honor to have
you. I wanna thank you again on behalf
of my listener.
And some of you probably wondering,
well, I wanna listen again. I wanna talk
call Fred. Please do. And he is very
open. And in terms of sharing life learning,
I'm learning to this hour, just hopping out
to listen to it. And I have a
(23:06):
note taker, and I'm going to just read
through it and tell my children. These are
things that you need to know, today.
But, anyway,
Brett, thank you so much for your time.
Really appreciate it.
Thank you, Marsh. Appreciate it and enjoyed it.
Take care. Take care.
Thank you for listening to the Biz Dev
(23:27):
Titans.
If you enjoyed this episode,
don't forget to subscribe and leave us a
review
so that we get to meet and interview
more amazing leaders like you.
To download the extended show notes with all
the extra tips on the topic we covered
today,
head over to bizdevtitans.com.
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