July 1, 2024 • 27 mins
Zeigler Auto Group Sales Manager Ben Coopes joins Sam D'Arc, Mike Van Ryn, and others to discuss a recent Gold Medal Strategies leadership session featuring Hockey Olympic Gold Medalist Jim Craig. Hear key takeaways and join the discussion today.
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Karolee (00:05):
Writing them down, talking about them, and actually
bringing those things outside ofyour own mind is a big
Sam D'Arc (00:13):
step. Welcome everyone to the Driving Vision
Podcast brought to you by theZigler Auto Group. And here with
me, Auto Group director oftalent development, Mike Van
Ryn. Welcome, Mike. Hey.
Thanks, Sam. Be sure tosubscribe to the podcast. Like
it if you do, and leave acomment. Hey, everybody. Welcome
(00:33):
to the special edition of thedriving vision future of Zag
Today podcast.
So here today, we're in studiowith a bunch of people. So with
me, Ben Coops, sales managerhere at the Kalamazoo Campus.
Ben, welcome. Thank
Ben Coopes (00:45):
you. Thanks for having me.
Sam D'Arc (00:47):
And we're gonna actually introduce our other 2
guests. But first, we're gonnago to Mike Van Ryn, VP of Talent
Development. Mike, welcome.Thank you, Sam. So, Mike, we're
here to talk about last week, wetalked about how Ziegler has won
6 years in a a row, the nationalbest and brightest companies to
work for recognition.
It's a huge recognition andculture plays, into that
(01:10):
recognition. We're super pumpedto have achieved that. 1 of the
things we talked about last weekis Jim Craig leadership training
sessions. Mike, tell us who theheck is Jim Craig, and what the
heck are these leadershiptraining sessions, and why do
they play such an important partinto our culture?
Mike Van Ryn (01:27):
Well, Jim Craig is somebody that, team Ziegler,
we've we've been working withfor probably over 10 years now,
Sam. And, Jim is the 1980Miracle on Ice goalie, that
received a gold medal, USOlympics. So honored to work
with him. And at Ziegler, we'reall about continuous improvement
through Ziegler University,training development, and this
(01:50):
is a leadership workshop that wedo with individuals from across
the ZAG.
Sam D'Arc (01:56):
Alright. And how long have we been doing these
training sessions with theOlympic hockey gold medalist,
Jim Craig, winner of the Miracleon Ice. He helped make the
Disney show. How long have webeen doing these for?
Mike Van Ryn (02:09):
We've been doing these, for over 10 years with
Jim Craig.
Sam D'Arc (02:12):
Which is incredible. It's been an important part of
our culture. Right? So everysession where he's live with us,
he obviously provides somefeedback, but there's a
sponsored facilitator thatstands up in the room. It's a
big room.
How many people are theretypically every session?
Mike Van Ryn (02:30):
Usually, I have about 25 people in those
sessions. And just in the lastfew years, Sam, we've taken a
individual that, we've wanted toreally help grow and develop in
their leadership, and thatindividual has worked to prepare
the workshop behind the scenesand then facilitate it with Jim
in person.
Sam D'Arc (02:46):
So it's a big room full of people. Jim Craig is
there, and there's a facilitatorthat's in the room. Mike, how
does team Ziegler choose thefacilitator for each session?
Mike Van Ryn (02:56):
Well, we look across the group and we select
individuals that wannacontinually grow and learn and,
in their leadership and get outof their comfort zone. So that's
something that, definitelyhappens. There's a ton of
preparation going into theseworkshops, Sam. They're
basically creating the whole 3hour workshop and facilitating
it with Jim Craig.
Sam D'Arc (03:15):
So how does that get you out of your comfort zone? As
a salesperson or a sales manageror general manager or someone
else, manager, how does leadinga leadership session with an
Olympic Olympic hockey goldmedalist get you out of your
comfort zone?
Ben Coopes (03:30):
Well, let me tell you.
Sam D'Arc (03:31):
Actually, let's go to Ben. So, Ben, this week, you
were, selected to be thefacilitator last week.
Ben Coopes (03:38):
Yes, sir.
Sam D'Arc (03:38):
Were you uncomfortable doing it?
Ben Coopes (03:40):
Yes. Yeah.
Sam D'Arc (03:41):
What made you uncomfortable?
Ben Coopes (03:42):
I think talking to a lot of people, you know, no 1 no
1 is all, I shouldn't say no 1,but not many people are very
comfortable, you know, doing anysort of public speaking or, you
know, at least for me. I'm notI've never been comfortable
doing public speaking. I'drather sing
Mike Van Ryn (03:58):
to a
Ben Coopes (03:59):
to a group.
Sam D'Arc (03:59):
By the way, people singers. Well, thanks.
Ben Coopes (04:01):
I'd rather sing to a group of people than, get up
there and and have to talk forsome reason. So that was the
first kind of step into theuncomfort zone. But then you're
also dealing with, you know, youknow, all the higher up.
Sam D'Arc (04:13):
Right? You're
Ben Coopes (04:14):
dealing with, you know, Mike who's done every
single 1 of these workshops.Yeah. So I'm worried that I'm
not He
Sam D'Arc (04:18):
knows what he's doing. Right? So he's
Ben Coopes (04:20):
he's he's higher up than that.
Mike Van Ryn (04:21):
You're you're,
Ben Coopes (04:22):
obviously working right alongside Jim Craig who
does this for a living. So he'sjudging me as well. So, yeah, I
think of it as kind of like atryout.
Sam D'Arc (04:31):
Yeah. And and 1 of Jim Craig's trademarks is he
doesn't mix messages. If you doa great job, he'll tell you. If
you don't, he'll be very honest.Like, 1 of the things we value
at team Ziegler is honest candidfeedback, and he'll provide
that.
What kind of feedback did youget as you were going through
the session?
Ben Coopes (04:50):
1 thing that Jim did, and I was fortunate enough
to have a phone call with himright before the day of the
class, which I was excited. Iwas hoping that it was gonna
boost my confidence, but heactually started throwing a
couple different curve balls mydirection.
Sam D'Arc (05:05):
Oh, no.
Ben Coopes (05:05):
A couple different slides
Sam D'Arc (05:06):
that he changed it up.
Ben Coopes (05:07):
He wanted switched up, and I was just like, oh,
okay. So that's what I thinkhe's really good at is even if
he is going to push yourboundaries a little bit and make
you think different, you walkaway from a a conversation with
Jim Craig feeling feelingbetter.
Sam D'Arc (05:22):
Yeah. Well, and and isn't it interesting in life and
in business, we have to pivot.Right? So right now, we're
coming to you live on day, what,5 of our CDK shutdown. So Right.
We as a team for the past 5 dayshave had to pivot. Like, we
thought the message was gonna be1 thing. We thought we'd show up
today and write ROs and bills ofsale in a system. That was taken
(05:45):
away from us, but we stilldeliver to our customers. Right?
That's kinda
Ben Coopes (05:48):
what happened to you. You were throwing
Sam D'Arc (05:50):
a curveball and you adapted. Right?
Ben Coopes (05:51):
Yeah. And that's the cool thing too with the
workshops is that you canprepare all you want, and that
was I'm very mister prepare whenit comes to things Yeah. Whether
or not it's work or or personal.
Sam D'Arc (06:02):
But you still
Ben Coopes (06:02):
have to pivot. But you still have to be able to
ready you have to be ready topivot Yeah. When life throws you
those curve balls. Balls.
Sam D'Arc (06:07):
Alright. So also with us today is Cara Lee, service
manager at Subaru Lafayette.Welcome, Cara Lee. Excited to
have you here.
Karolee (06:15):
Hello.
Sam D'Arc (06:16):
And then Cassandra Cassandra, I don't even know
what your title is. Like,Zigglers Motorsports, track
house restaurant would not existwere it not for you, Cassandra.
Cassandra (06:28):
My title is track house general manager.
Sam D'Arc (06:31):
Perfect. TrackHouse GM. We're super pumped to have
you here. So both of you were atthe leadership session last
week. How did Ben do at, puttingon this session with
Ben Coopes (06:40):
And you gotta be honest.
Sam D'Arc (06:42):
And you gotta be honest. But Jim Craig would be
honest too. Right?
Karolee (06:45):
I I would say Ben did a a phenomenal job. This was
actually my 2nd Jim Craigworkshop. I think I would assume
they're all pretty darn good,but I I was definitely really
impressed with, how Benapproached the the subject, that
we discussed and and that theclass was focused on. But I I
also feel like not only did yougo into into it with a lot of
(07:07):
confidence, I think that you dida really great job of getting
people engaged. Everything feltvery relevant.
It was it was a great workshop,really.
Sam D'Arc (07:16):
Been in a good job. Alright. Cassandra, before I ask
you what your favorite takeawayfrom this session was, Mike,
will you just give us anoverview of what the topic was?
Mike Van Ryn (07:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Sam D'Arc (07:27):
Or should I ask Ben? Ben, what was our topic?
Ben Coopes (07:29):
Yeah. So the topic was developing and aligning your
personal and your professionaldreams.
Sam D'Arc (07:37):
Oh. So I Developing and aligning your personal Yep.
And professional dreams. Yep.Interesting.
Ben Coopes (07:44):
So, I mean, 1 of the things obviously, everyone
should be good at talking aboutthemselves. Right? You should be
an expert at talking aboutyourself. Yeah. But it's funny,
though.
Myself included, I try not to bevery selfish. So it it takes
some some deep thought when youstart thinking about your, you
know, developing and aligningyour personal and professional
dreams. So
Sam D'Arc (08:05):
Like, when you talk to other people or for yourself?
Ben Coopes (08:09):
Yeah. So I I think not many I don't think many
people actually take the time,and that's something that we
actually talked about in thisworkshop is I don't think many
people take the time to actuallythink about what their dreams
are and then how to make theirdream become a reality.
Sam D'Arc (08:25):
Wow.
Ben Coopes (08:27):
So, yeah, we it was a pretty deep workshop. I I'd
say we got we got pretty deepwhen we got out of the
Mike Van Ryn (08:32):
You did some research, Ben. You gotta tell
the audience what the researchwas that you did on that.
Ben Coopes (08:37):
Yeah. Yep. So I I did some, some research myself.
I, I asked 10, close friends andfamily members of mine if they
could give me just 1 just 1 oftheir personal or professional
dreams. Okay?
And I and I started the class byasking them, a lot of them, you
know, who can guess how manypeople out of the 10 were able
(08:59):
to give me an answer? And I gotsome good guesses. The, the
answer is is I only got 3 thatcould actually give me an
answer. And even the 3 that gaveme an answer, they hemmed and
hawed, and they tried to jokearound and deflect and just
didn't feel all that comfortableanswering. So it is something
that, that not a lot of peoplelike to talk about.
Sam D'Arc (09:20):
Interesting. Cassandra, biggest takeaway from
the session or when we talkabout these dreams
professionally and personally?
Cassandra (09:28):
As far as the workshop goes, this is probably
the perfect 1 for me because Ihave very big dreams. I learned
there are steps to get there,and he was very helpful on
giving me a direction, astarting point, if you will. And
that that for me was a huge ahuge thing for me to learn.
Sam D'Arc (09:48):
Wait. You have big will you share 1 with us? I love
that when somebody lights up.You lit up when you said I have
big dreams. That's awesome.
Cassandra (09:56):
Or personal? I mean, it just kinda depends.
Sam D'Arc (09:59):
You take your pick. If you're comfortable sharing, I
yeah. Obviously, you gotta becomfortable.
Cassandra (10:04):
Yeah. Absolutely. And what I learned from this
workshop was to be comfortablein sharing it with the right
people. Yes. Professional, my mygoal is a food truck for the
Sam D'Arc (10:15):
crack house.
Karolee (10:16):
Oh,
Cassandra (10:16):
wow. So for all of the big events Zingler does, I
would like to be the people youguys go to to get food, to get
our name out there. And it hasme thinking of what my next step
is to start to get thishappening.
Sam D'Arc (10:32):
That's a cool idea, by the way. You think about the
Ziggler Kalamazoo Marathon. Howcool would it be to have a food
truck at the marathon that saysZiggler, you know, track house
on there? Spread the Zieglername. How did you tell them the
right people to how did you getinspired to have that be your
dream and vision?
Nobody told you this would begreat. Chris didn't come to you
and say, hey. I wanna see us atmore events. What what inspired
(10:54):
you to that vision? A biggervision than anyone in the
organization might currentlyhave.
Cassandra (10:59):
I've been in the restaurant industry a long time.
And when I started here, I justI started thinking about ways to
get our name out there becauseon Sprinkle Road, we're we're
not in the the hub of all thethe parties and everything like
that. We are a bar and grill. SoI was just thinking of ways to
get our name out there, get somecatering going on, a good way to
(11:22):
say, hey. We're over here, andget our food out there and for
people to taste it and go, I Ithink I need to eat there.
And a food truck is a huge newerthing. People are using them for
weddings, for events, and Iwanna be the people the 1 people
call.
Sam D'Arc (11:38):
That's awesome. What's something our listening
audience out there, podcastworld, could help you with to
achieve and accomplish that? Doyou need the truck? What do you
need? What's your next step?
Cassandra (11:48):
So I talked to the my next step was talking to the
health inspector, and I did thatthe day after this workshop.
Mike Van Ryn (11:55):
Nice. Oh, good. Look at you. That's awesome.
Ben Coopes (11:58):
Alright. Taking action.
Cassandra (12:00):
But, yes, I need I would need to find a truck to
pull a food trailer or find thefood truck. That would be my
next step in figuring out thetype of menu and everything we'd
like to hold in there and howthis how we set it up.
Sam D'Arc (12:12):
Well, Cassandra, I I hate to tell you this, but we
are a car dealership group. Sowhen it comes time to finding
the truck to tow the trailer,the truck should not be the
problem. The trailer is probablythe, the more, challenging part.
That's awesome. Cassandra, we'regonna come back to you after
Carolee and ask you what thepersonal goal was.
But, Carolee, what's yourbiggest takeaway from the
(12:33):
session last week?
Karolee (12:34):
I think for me, really just, I I think it was mostly
enlightening, I guess. I I thinka lot of people can think in
their own minds of all the thedreams and the goals that they
have, but when you're asked to,like, really think about it out
loud, right, and and share thoseideas with other people, you
kind of find yourself, like,stopping for a second and, like,
okay. Maybe I wanna growprofessionally, but what exactly
(12:56):
does that look like? Right? Whatdoes growing Yeah.
Actually mean for me, and howdoes that play part in in
personal dreams and goals? So II think it's definitely walking
away from the workshop kind ofleft me realizing I probably
need to think a little bit more,about exactly what my goals are.
Not only big picture thinking,but what are the little steps
(13:18):
along the way, to to help me getthere. Like I said, it's easy to
look big picture perspective atat at what you want to
accomplish, but what does thatmean in in your day to day,
which, like I said, it wasenlightening for me for sure.
Sam D'Arc (13:32):
So was there anything from a goal perspective or a
vision perspective for you,whether personal or
professional, that inspired youas you sat in the session or you
thought, hey, this is excitingto me.
Karolee (13:43):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think, you know, like I said, I
think the workshop as a wholewas really great. You know,
again, we can go back to lookingat my goals professionally. You
know, it's like, okay.
Maybe I want to eventuallyoversee more than 1 service
department, or maybe I wannalearn the size of the store.
Right? Sales, finance, parts.But how do I get there? Right?
(14:05):
I I think the key in all thisand me just 5 hour, 4 and a half
hour drive home, I'm thinkinglike, okay. You know, for me to
get anywhere else, I I think Ithink about my people a lot.
Right? But, like, truly, how amI gonna help grow and develop
the people around me so that Ican make these next steps?
Sam D'Arc (14:22):
Here's something I always find interesting about
every session. I wasn't able tobe at this last Jim Craig
session that killed me because Ilove these. There's a moment in
the session usually, and this isfor Mike and Ben, where people
think about the problem or thetopic in a different way, and
everybody kinda has a collectiveSo to Mike and Ben, what was
(14:43):
there that moment in this pastsession? What was it? And what
did everybody kind of seedifferently as a result of the
question and the approach to thetopic?
Ben Coopes (14:51):
You know, the first thing that comes to mind, the
biggest standout and the biggestthing that I wanted the to be
for the class was you are goingto become what you think about
most of the time. Okay.
Sam D'Arc (15:05):
What you think about, you bring about. I had to use
that because it's a silly tiredslogan probably, but you hear it
all the time.
Ben Coopes (15:12):
Yeah. Exactly. It's true. So we talked a lot about
vision boards and writing thingsdown.
Sam D'Arc (15:16):
With Cheryl and her team, Orland Park, they've got
incredible vision boards. Yeah.
Ben Coopes (15:20):
Yeah. And how you can set, like, the background of
your phone or the background ofyour computer, or you can print
it out and put it up and post itsomewhere so that you're always
seeing what this goal and whatthis this vision is that you
have.
Sam D'Arc (15:31):
Yeah. So that was that was kind
Ben Coopes (15:33):
of, like, the biggest thing that I wanted to
pass pass along.
Sam D'Arc (15:36):
So why do you think if it's as easy as thinking
about it, there's another wordfor what you're talking about.
It's intentional. What is itabout human nature that if we
have these inspiring big goals,what is it about these inspiring
goals that's so difficultsometimes to be so intentional
Ben Coopes (15:54):
with? That's a great question.
Sam D'Arc (15:56):
And that's open to Cassandra, Carol Lee, Mike,
anybody. You have these in youbefore you walked into the
session. Cassandra, what was itabout that block of time that
inspired you to go out and talkto the food permit guy?
Cassandra (16:10):
I had asked a question, and it the question
was, what do you do if you don'thave support for your dreams?
And every single person and Ithink it was like a 10 minute
long question of getting answersfrom every person in there, and
it showed me that there issupport everywhere. You just
(16:30):
have to look at the rightplaces. So for me, I was, like,
just in this room of 20, 25people, they're rooting me on
whether they know what my dreamis or not. So for me, it was
that.
It was I do have a good back abacking, and they're gonna help
push me.
Sam D'Arc (16:45):
Yeah. The biggest obstacle to that backing, in
fact, Cassandra, it reminds meof Jimmy Urie in the singing we
learned from our last speakerseries. The biggest obstacle to
that backing is ourcommunicating the goal, right,
and connecting with others onwhat we're trying to achieve and
accomplish. Carol Lee, was theresomething business or per
professional that you wereinspired to go achieve?
(17:07):
Actually, I already asked youthat, but, was there something
that you became more intentionalabout as a result of the
session?
Karolee (17:15):
You know, III think you know, again, just going back to
all the ideas you have in yourhead, they seem organized.
Right? And they seem like inyour mind, you think I show up
to work every day, and I workhard. And, unfortunately, I I
don't I don't I think it has tobe a lot more intentional than
that. Right?
And I think Aaron even made agood point, during the workshop
(17:37):
around how, you know, his at 1point, he had a goal to do x in
sales or gross profit or orwhatever it was. And he got
there, and then it was like,well, where where do we go next?
Right?
Sam D'Arc (17:49):
Yeah.
Karolee (17:49):
And at some point in between, you accidentally met a
goal that you weren't It's ait's a goal when it happens
because, like, oh, this isgreat. We grew, but was it
actually a goal? And I I thinkwhen you're being intentional
intentional about, you know,going after the the things you
wanna accomplish, how much morecan you do that way opposed to
(18:10):
just by waking up day to day,working hard, committing to
whatever it is you're doing, andthen just sort of waiting to see
what accomplishments, you know,you you can you can bring out of
it. The the intentional side ofit makes a big difference, and I
I think that, again, thoughts inin your mind, your goals in your
mind seem so organized, and Iknow I wanna do this eventually.
(18:31):
But like Ben said, writing themdown, talking about them, and
actually bringing those thingsoutside of your own mind, I
think, is a big step.
Yeah. You surround yourself withthese things. Right? You make it
intentional
Sam D'Arc (18:38):
by making it by making it, physical almost. We
what we think about, we bringabout. So, Cassandra, personal
goal. We know the business goal.It's the food truck, anything on
the personal side that you dareshare.
Cassandra (18:57):
I I have a couple, but, the 1 that I'm trying to
right now is I'm looking for ahouse with some acreage, and I
wanna get a nice house and anacreage for my family. I'm built
I'm growing my family. I'mgetting married in September. So
we're Congratulations. Thankyou.
(19:17):
Thank you.
Ben Coopes (19:18):
I didn't know that.
Cassandra (19:20):
So we're we're try we're trying to that's our big
dream right now personally, andit it's our dream. It's my
family's dream. So that's whatwe're working towards really
hard right now.
Sam D'Arc (19:30):
The magic with what we do at work is that they're so
tightly related. You know? Asyou expand into the food truck
and expand the empire that isthe restaurant at motorsports,
that actually helps enable youin your personal goal. It's
cool. What does it mean to youto be able to see that
(19:52):
connection between the personaland the business goal and how
achieving 1 helps with theother?
Ben Coopes (19:57):
Well, what comes to mind to me, Sam, is something
that I wanted to to bring up inthe in the workshop as well,
which is, you know, thinkingabout it in a Venn diagram kind
Sam D'Arc (20:07):
of way. So we talked about What's a Venn diagram?
Ben Coopes (20:10):
I don't know what that is. The 2 circles that
overlap 1 another. Okay. Okay.
Karolee (20:14):
Okay.
Ben Coopes (20:14):
So you can have your personal on 1 side. Yep. Yep.
Circle. You can have yourprofessional on 1 side Yeah.
In 1 circle. But when theyoverlap, the things in the
middle, those are the thingsthat actually happen. Those are
the things when they canoverlap, when they can align
like that
Sam D'Arc (20:29):
Yeah.
Ben Coopes (20:30):
And have your personal and your professional
align, it's gonna happen. Yeah.It's what you think about.
Mike Van Ryn (20:35):
And it ties in with, a quote from 1 of our
favorites. Right? Tom Izzo. Doyou like what you do, live what
love what you do, or live whatyou do. Right?
And that that living part of itjust ties in so nicely.
Sam D'Arc (20:46):
That's awesome. So 1 of the things, Ben, you had some
things you wanted to bring outas points because you studied
this material and you just youknew it forward and backward. 1
of the other interesting upmoments in a lot of these
sessions is what, as afacilitator, you discovered
during the session that youdidn't know before. Was there
(21:08):
something that came out that waskind of and I'm asking this
because I wasn't there. So a lotof times I can call it if we're
there, but was there somethingthat a realization you had as a
result or the class had that youdidn't think would be had?
Ben Coopes (21:22):
Well, there are there are some critiques that,
that Jim is gonna have duringthese workshops that you just
have to be ready for. You know,you you try to prepare and you
try to be ready
Sam D'Arc (21:32):
for him, but at the
Ben Coopes (21:32):
same time, you don't know what he's gonna say. So you
just have to be able to pivot.So the I was maybe 3 minutes in,
and all of a sudden, he juststops everything and is saying,
Ben, you're gonna have to speakup a little bit louder. And so,
like, oh, okay. You know?
So it's like, alright. We'realready starting with with that.
But, again, like I say, theseare all things that Jim is gonna
be the type of guy that is, veryhonest with you.
Sam D'Arc (21:53):
Mhmm.
Ben Coopes (21:54):
He he was very complimentary about how the, the
workshop went. But it's thoselittle things that are gonna
make you better, those littlecritiques that you might feel
uncomfortable at the time, butYeah. You're glad that he says
something. So
Mike Van Ryn (22:06):
That's awesome.
Ben Coopes (22:06):
But, I mean, I can't Mike, is there anything that you
can think about, as far as,like, moments with the with the
workshop?
Mike Van Ryn (22:14):
That was a great 1 that you just mentioned. The
other 1 was in preparation forthe thing. Like, your biggest
worry was I'm not gonna haveenough content, enough material.
But in essence, it it was a flipside of the coin. Right?
We had so much content andmaterial, and the workshop
flowed so nicely. I was reallyproud of you, Ben. You did a
great job.
Sam D'Arc (22:31):
Thank you. Mike, any personal or business goals you
thought of that you becameintentional with, that you
thought about in a different waylast week in the session? Yeah.
Mike Van Ryn (22:40):
You know, I wrote down a quote that Jimmy said. He
said, how you perceive your goalor dream as a tool, and it kinda
ties in with what Cassandrasaid. So it kinda how you
perceive that goal or dreamyourself, but also others. If
you have some naysayers that youyou can use that as a tool for
fuel to fuel you forward. Right?
So, 1 of my big, goalspersonally is to publish a
(23:02):
children's book and share thatwith schools across the United
States. So I'm excited aboutthat. We're, we're close on it,
close on it. That's cool.
Sam D'Arc (23:12):
You know, 1 of the neat things about this is we've
had a short conversation. Andthen in that short period of
time, we have a sense of eachother's goals. We have a sense
of what everyone's workingtowards, whether it's a food
truck or helping to leadmultiple service departments or
acreage or leading a Jim Craigsession or writing a book. Real
(23:34):
quick, this is part of our life.
Ben Coopes (23:36):
Yeah. That's it.
Sam D'Arc (23:36):
Oh, I don't know about mine. I I didn't come into
this prepared
Ben Coopes (23:39):
to talk about that. Love it. A few.
Sam D'Arc (23:41):
Love it. I think, darn it,
Ben Coopes (23:43):
As a group, don't you guys? We should hear
something from Sam. You should.We gotta hear him. We gotta
hear.
Let's let him choose, eitherpersonal or professional.
Sam D'Arc (23:50):
Personal or professional. Well, actually,
I'll give you a a good personal1. So my second oldest son right
now is getting married in AugustOh, no. Which is crazy.
Ben Coopes (23:59):
That's awesome.
Sam D'Arc (24:00):
And I'm trying to, a, be there because as busy as work
is, you all know that I it'shalf joke, but half not. My goal
is to be there to be incrediblypresent, as present as I can be
in that incredible moment andhelp support him in every way he
needs as he begins this new lifewith, you know, creating AAA
family of his own. I'm way tooyoung to have kids who are often
(24:22):
getting married, but with 3 kidsin college, like, I think it
happens quick. So we've been,over the past several weeks,
spending time helping them finda place and figure out wedding
plans. And, like, it's a wholearea I've never even, thought
of, considered, or knownanything about.
So it's kind of a very shortterm, and it popped up out of
(24:43):
nowhere, but that's an intensepersonal pursuit for the moment,
I suppose.
Ben Coopes (24:47):
That's awesome.
Sam D'Arc (24:48):
Does that pass? That passes.
Ben Coopes (24:49):
Thank you.
Sam D'Arc (24:50):
Thank goodness.
Ben Coopes (24:50):
Thanks for sharing.
Sam D'Arc (24:52):
But it is neat how and thank you for calling me out
because it would be ridiculousif you didn't. It's neat how
these things we're working on inbusiness and personally, they
they bring us together and theyconnect us somehow, don't they?
Why why is that, Cassandra? Whydo these goals connect us? And
then Mike.
Cassandra (25:11):
I think it makes us human, and every it shows that
everybody has something they areworking towards. And whether I
mean, Aaron got up in theworkshop and told us some of his
goals. And for I I think for meand a lot of people, that was
really cool to connect with himin that in that moment when he
was telling us, I got goals.I've got big goals, and they are
(25:35):
huge, and I
Karolee (25:36):
love it.
Cassandra (25:36):
And so for me, it was it makes us all human, and we're
all the same. We're a team.
Sam D'Arc (25:41):
Yeah. Mike, what is it about goals that connect us?
Mike Van Ryn (25:45):
Well, I think it's, you find commonalities
with people, and they may haveaccomplished a goal that you're
trying to accomplish. So thatthen people wanna help people.
So back to that commentCassandra made. Right? The human
nature of it.
People wanna help people. Andthat's that's what makes us who
we are. Right? So and the otherpart is vulnerability. Like,
(26:05):
Sam, you you hesitate a littlebit
Sam D'Arc (26:07):
I did.
Mike Van Ryn (26:07):
On sharing a couple of those.
Sam D'Arc (26:08):
I have nothing on my mind. I shoulda shame on you. I
shoulda known the topic and beenready.
Mike Van Ryn (26:13):
You you also you also were a little bit
vulnerable when you shared that,right, about your son getting
married. Yeah. And thatvulnerability, though, connects
us, right, as humans.
Sam D'Arc (26:21):
Carol Lee, Cassandra, Ben, Mike, what an incredible
conversation. What a greatsession. Mike or Ben, props to
you for leading as well as youdid. You join a tradition of of
many people across the ZiglerAuto Group over the past decade
that have done these sessions.And from everything I've heard,
you did an incredible job.
Mike Thank you. Let's turn it toyou for the last word as we wrap
(26:42):
up today.
Mike Van Ryn (26:43):
Well, team Ziegler, thanks for listening
in. And if you wanna be part ofthe future leadership workshop
or lead a phone call orworkshop, just reach out to us.
Have a
Sam D'Arc (26:54):
great day. A special thanks to all who contributed to
this episode. Until next week,how are you driving vision
Ben Coopes (27:05):
today?
Writing them down, talking about them, and actually
bringing those things outside ofyour own mind is a big
Sam D'Arc (00:13):
step. Welcome everyone to the Driving Vision
Podcast brought to you by theZigler Auto Group. And here with
me, Auto Group director oftalent development, Mike Van
Ryn. Welcome, Mike. Hey.
Thanks, Sam. Be sure tosubscribe to the podcast. Like
it if you do, and leave acomment. Hey, everybody. Welcome
(00:33):
to the special edition of thedriving vision future of Zag
Today podcast.
So here today, we're in studiowith a bunch of people. So with
me, Ben Coops, sales managerhere at the Kalamazoo Campus.
Ben, welcome. Thank
Ben Coopes (00:45):
you. Thanks for having me.
Sam D'Arc (00:47):
And we're gonna actually introduce our other 2
guests. But first, we're gonnago to Mike Van Ryn, VP of Talent
Development. Mike, welcome.Thank you, Sam. So, Mike, we're
here to talk about last week, wetalked about how Ziegler has won
6 years in a a row, the nationalbest and brightest companies to
work for recognition.
It's a huge recognition andculture plays, into that
(01:10):
recognition. We're super pumpedto have achieved that. 1 of the
things we talked about last weekis Jim Craig leadership training
sessions. Mike, tell us who theheck is Jim Craig, and what the
heck are these leadershiptraining sessions, and why do
they play such an important partinto our culture?
Mike Van Ryn (01:27):
Well, Jim Craig is somebody that, team Ziegler,
we've we've been working withfor probably over 10 years now,
Sam. And, Jim is the 1980Miracle on Ice goalie, that
received a gold medal, USOlympics. So honored to work
with him. And at Ziegler, we'reall about continuous improvement
through Ziegler University,training development, and this
(01:50):
is a leadership workshop that wedo with individuals from across
the ZAG.
Sam D'Arc (01:56):
Alright. And how long have we been doing these
training sessions with theOlympic hockey gold medalist,
Jim Craig, winner of the Miracleon Ice. He helped make the
Disney show. How long have webeen doing these for?
Mike Van Ryn (02:09):
We've been doing these, for over 10 years with
Jim Craig.
Sam D'Arc (02:12):
Which is incredible. It's been an important part of
our culture. Right? So everysession where he's live with us,
he obviously provides somefeedback, but there's a
sponsored facilitator thatstands up in the room. It's a
big room.
How many people are theretypically every session?
Mike Van Ryn (02:30):
Usually, I have about 25 people in those
sessions. And just in the lastfew years, Sam, we've taken a
individual that, we've wanted toreally help grow and develop in
their leadership, and thatindividual has worked to prepare
the workshop behind the scenesand then facilitate it with Jim
in person.
Sam D'Arc (02:46):
So it's a big room full of people. Jim Craig is
there, and there's a facilitatorthat's in the room. Mike, how
does team Ziegler choose thefacilitator for each session?
Mike Van Ryn (02:56):
Well, we look across the group and we select
individuals that wannacontinually grow and learn and,
in their leadership and get outof their comfort zone. So that's
something that, definitelyhappens. There's a ton of
preparation going into theseworkshops, Sam. They're
basically creating the whole 3hour workshop and facilitating
it with Jim Craig.
Sam D'Arc (03:15):
So how does that get you out of your comfort zone? As
a salesperson or a sales manageror general manager or someone
else, manager, how does leadinga leadership session with an
Olympic Olympic hockey goldmedalist get you out of your
comfort zone?
Ben Coopes (03:30):
Well, let me tell you.
Sam D'Arc (03:31):
Actually, let's go to Ben. So, Ben, this week, you
were, selected to be thefacilitator last week.
Ben Coopes (03:38):
Yes, sir.
Sam D'Arc (03:38):
Were you uncomfortable doing it?
Ben Coopes (03:40):
Yes. Yeah.
Sam D'Arc (03:41):
What made you uncomfortable?
Ben Coopes (03:42):
I think talking to a lot of people, you know, no 1 no
1 is all, I shouldn't say no 1,but not many people are very
comfortable, you know, doing anysort of public speaking or, you
know, at least for me. I'm notI've never been comfortable
doing public speaking. I'drather sing
Mike Van Ryn (03:58):
to a
Ben Coopes (03:59):
to a group.
Sam D'Arc (03:59):
By the way, people singers. Well, thanks.
Ben Coopes (04:01):
I'd rather sing to a group of people than, get up
there and and have to talk forsome reason. So that was the
first kind of step into theuncomfort zone. But then you're
also dealing with, you know, youknow, all the higher up.
Sam D'Arc (04:13):
Right? You're
Ben Coopes (04:14):
dealing with, you know, Mike who's done every
single 1 of these workshops.Yeah. So I'm worried that I'm
not He
Sam D'Arc (04:18):
knows what he's doing. Right? So he's
Ben Coopes (04:20):
he's he's higher up than that.
Mike Van Ryn (04:21):
You're you're,
Ben Coopes (04:22):
obviously working right alongside Jim Craig who
does this for a living. So he'sjudging me as well. So, yeah, I
think of it as kind of like atryout.
Sam D'Arc (04:31):
Yeah. And and 1 of Jim Craig's trademarks is he
doesn't mix messages. If you doa great job, he'll tell you. If
you don't, he'll be very honest.Like, 1 of the things we value
at team Ziegler is honest candidfeedback, and he'll provide
that.
What kind of feedback did youget as you were going through
the session?
Ben Coopes (04:50):
1 thing that Jim did, and I was fortunate enough
to have a phone call with himright before the day of the
class, which I was excited. Iwas hoping that it was gonna
boost my confidence, but heactually started throwing a
couple different curve balls mydirection.
Sam D'Arc (05:05):
Oh, no.
Ben Coopes (05:05):
A couple different slides
Sam D'Arc (05:06):
that he changed it up.
Ben Coopes (05:07):
He wanted switched up, and I was just like, oh,
okay. So that's what I thinkhe's really good at is even if
he is going to push yourboundaries a little bit and make
you think different, you walkaway from a a conversation with
Jim Craig feeling feelingbetter.
Sam D'Arc (05:22):
Yeah. Well, and and isn't it interesting in life and
in business, we have to pivot.Right? So right now, we're
coming to you live on day, what,5 of our CDK shutdown. So Right.
We as a team for the past 5 dayshave had to pivot. Like, we
thought the message was gonna be1 thing. We thought we'd show up
today and write ROs and bills ofsale in a system. That was taken
(05:45):
away from us, but we stilldeliver to our customers. Right?
That's kinda
Ben Coopes (05:48):
what happened to you. You were throwing
Sam D'Arc (05:50):
a curveball and you adapted. Right?
Ben Coopes (05:51):
Yeah. And that's the cool thing too with the
workshops is that you canprepare all you want, and that
was I'm very mister prepare whenit comes to things Yeah. Whether
or not it's work or or personal.
Sam D'Arc (06:02):
But you still
Ben Coopes (06:02):
have to pivot. But you still have to be able to
ready you have to be ready topivot Yeah. When life throws you
those curve balls. Balls.
Sam D'Arc (06:07):
Alright. So also with us today is Cara Lee, service
manager at Subaru Lafayette.Welcome, Cara Lee. Excited to
have you here.
Karolee (06:15):
Hello.
Sam D'Arc (06:16):
And then Cassandra Cassandra, I don't even know
what your title is. Like,Zigglers Motorsports, track
house restaurant would not existwere it not for you, Cassandra.
Cassandra (06:28):
My title is track house general manager.
Sam D'Arc (06:31):
Perfect. TrackHouse GM. We're super pumped to have
you here. So both of you were atthe leadership session last
week. How did Ben do at, puttingon this session with
Ben Coopes (06:40):
And you gotta be honest.
Sam D'Arc (06:42):
And you gotta be honest. But Jim Craig would be
honest too. Right?
Karolee (06:45):
I I would say Ben did a a phenomenal job. This was
actually my 2nd Jim Craigworkshop. I think I would assume
they're all pretty darn good,but I I was definitely really
impressed with, how Benapproached the the subject, that
we discussed and and that theclass was focused on. But I I
also feel like not only did yougo into into it with a lot of
(07:07):
confidence, I think that you dida really great job of getting
people engaged. Everything feltvery relevant.
It was it was a great workshop,really.
Sam D'Arc (07:16):
Been in a good job. Alright. Cassandra, before I ask
you what your favorite takeawayfrom this session was, Mike,
will you just give us anoverview of what the topic was?
Mike Van Ryn (07:25):
Yeah. Absolutely.
Sam D'Arc (07:27):
Or should I ask Ben? Ben, what was our topic?
Ben Coopes (07:29):
Yeah. So the topic was developing and aligning your
personal and your professionaldreams.
Sam D'Arc (07:37):
Oh. So I Developing and aligning your personal Yep.
And professional dreams. Yep.Interesting.
Ben Coopes (07:44):
So, I mean, 1 of the things obviously, everyone
should be good at talking aboutthemselves. Right? You should be
an expert at talking aboutyourself. Yeah. But it's funny,
though.
Myself included, I try not to bevery selfish. So it it takes
some some deep thought when youstart thinking about your, you
know, developing and aligningyour personal and professional
dreams. So
Sam D'Arc (08:05):
Like, when you talk to other people or for yourself?
Ben Coopes (08:09):
Yeah. So I I think not many I don't think many
people actually take the time,and that's something that we
actually talked about in thisworkshop is I don't think many
people take the time to actuallythink about what their dreams
are and then how to make theirdream become a reality.
Sam D'Arc (08:25):
Wow.
Ben Coopes (08:27):
So, yeah, we it was a pretty deep workshop. I I'd
say we got we got pretty deepwhen we got out of the
Mike Van Ryn (08:32):
You did some research, Ben. You gotta tell
the audience what the researchwas that you did on that.
Ben Coopes (08:37):
Yeah. Yep. So I I did some, some research myself.
I, I asked 10, close friends andfamily members of mine if they
could give me just 1 just 1 oftheir personal or professional
dreams. Okay?
And I and I started the class byasking them, a lot of them, you
know, who can guess how manypeople out of the 10 were able
(08:59):
to give me an answer? And I gotsome good guesses. The, the
answer is is I only got 3 thatcould actually give me an
answer. And even the 3 that gaveme an answer, they hemmed and
hawed, and they tried to jokearound and deflect and just
didn't feel all that comfortableanswering. So it is something
that, that not a lot of peoplelike to talk about.
Sam D'Arc (09:20):
Interesting. Cassandra, biggest takeaway from
the session or when we talkabout these dreams
professionally and personally?
Cassandra (09:28):
As far as the workshop goes, this is probably
the perfect 1 for me because Ihave very big dreams. I learned
there are steps to get there,and he was very helpful on
giving me a direction, astarting point, if you will. And
that that for me was a huge ahuge thing for me to learn.
Sam D'Arc (09:48):
Wait. You have big will you share 1 with us? I love
that when somebody lights up.You lit up when you said I have
big dreams. That's awesome.
Cassandra (09:56):
Or personal? I mean, it just kinda depends.
Sam D'Arc (09:59):
You take your pick. If you're comfortable sharing, I
yeah. Obviously, you gotta becomfortable.
Cassandra (10:04):
Yeah. Absolutely. And what I learned from this
workshop was to be comfortablein sharing it with the right
people. Yes. Professional, my mygoal is a food truck for the
Sam D'Arc (10:15):
crack house.
Karolee (10:16):
Oh,
Cassandra (10:16):
wow. So for all of the big events Zingler does, I
would like to be the people youguys go to to get food, to get
our name out there. And it hasme thinking of what my next step
is to start to get thishappening.
Sam D'Arc (10:32):
That's a cool idea, by the way. You think about the
Ziggler Kalamazoo Marathon. Howcool would it be to have a food
truck at the marathon that saysZiggler, you know, track house
on there? Spread the Zieglername. How did you tell them the
right people to how did you getinspired to have that be your
dream and vision?
Nobody told you this would begreat. Chris didn't come to you
and say, hey. I wanna see us atmore events. What what inspired
(10:54):
you to that vision? A biggervision than anyone in the
organization might currentlyhave.
Cassandra (10:59):
I've been in the restaurant industry a long time.
And when I started here, I justI started thinking about ways to
get our name out there becauseon Sprinkle Road, we're we're
not in the the hub of all thethe parties and everything like
that. We are a bar and grill. SoI was just thinking of ways to
get our name out there, get somecatering going on, a good way to
(11:22):
say, hey. We're over here, andget our food out there and for
people to taste it and go, I Ithink I need to eat there.
And a food truck is a huge newerthing. People are using them for
weddings, for events, and Iwanna be the people the 1 people
call.
Sam D'Arc (11:38):
That's awesome. What's something our listening
audience out there, podcastworld, could help you with to
achieve and accomplish that? Doyou need the truck? What do you
need? What's your next step?
Cassandra (11:48):
So I talked to the my next step was talking to the
health inspector, and I did thatthe day after this workshop.
Mike Van Ryn (11:55):
Nice. Oh, good. Look at you. That's awesome.
Ben Coopes (11:58):
Alright. Taking action.
Cassandra (12:00):
But, yes, I need I would need to find a truck to
pull a food trailer or find thefood truck. That would be my
next step in figuring out thetype of menu and everything we'd
like to hold in there and howthis how we set it up.
Sam D'Arc (12:12):
Well, Cassandra, I I hate to tell you this, but we
are a car dealership group. Sowhen it comes time to finding
the truck to tow the trailer,the truck should not be the
problem. The trailer is probablythe, the more, challenging part.
That's awesome. Cassandra, we'regonna come back to you after
Carolee and ask you what thepersonal goal was.
But, Carolee, what's yourbiggest takeaway from the
(12:33):
session last week?
Karolee (12:34):
I think for me, really just, I I think it was mostly
enlightening, I guess. I I thinka lot of people can think in
their own minds of all the thedreams and the goals that they
have, but when you're asked to,like, really think about it out
loud, right, and and share thoseideas with other people, you
kind of find yourself, like,stopping for a second and, like,
okay. Maybe I wanna growprofessionally, but what exactly
(12:56):
does that look like? Right? Whatdoes growing Yeah.
Actually mean for me, and howdoes that play part in in
personal dreams and goals? So II think it's definitely walking
away from the workshop kind ofleft me realizing I probably
need to think a little bit more,about exactly what my goals are.
Not only big picture thinking,but what are the little steps
(13:18):
along the way, to to help me getthere. Like I said, it's easy to
look big picture perspective atat at what you want to
accomplish, but what does thatmean in in your day to day,
which, like I said, it wasenlightening for me for sure.
Sam D'Arc (13:32):
So was there anything from a goal perspective or a
vision perspective for you,whether personal or
professional, that inspired youas you sat in the session or you
thought, hey, this is excitingto me.
Karolee (13:43):
Yeah. Absolutely. I think, you know, like I said, I
think the workshop as a wholewas really great. You know,
again, we can go back to lookingat my goals professionally. You
know, it's like, okay.
Maybe I want to eventuallyoversee more than 1 service
department, or maybe I wannalearn the size of the store.
Right? Sales, finance, parts.But how do I get there? Right?
(14:05):
I I think the key in all thisand me just 5 hour, 4 and a half
hour drive home, I'm thinkinglike, okay. You know, for me to
get anywhere else, I I think Ithink about my people a lot.
Right? But, like, truly, how amI gonna help grow and develop
the people around me so that Ican make these next steps?
Sam D'Arc (14:22):
Here's something I always find interesting about
every session. I wasn't able tobe at this last Jim Craig
session that killed me because Ilove these. There's a moment in
the session usually, and this isfor Mike and Ben, where people
think about the problem or thetopic in a different way, and
everybody kinda has a collectiveSo to Mike and Ben, what was
(14:43):
there that moment in this pastsession? What was it? And what
did everybody kind of seedifferently as a result of the
question and the approach to thetopic?
Ben Coopes (14:51):
You know, the first thing that comes to mind, the
biggest standout and the biggestthing that I wanted the to be
for the class was you are goingto become what you think about
most of the time. Okay.
Sam D'Arc (15:05):
What you think about, you bring about. I had to use
that because it's a silly tiredslogan probably, but you hear it
all the time.
Ben Coopes (15:12):
Yeah. Exactly. It's true. So we talked a lot about
vision boards and writing thingsdown.
Sam D'Arc (15:16):
With Cheryl and her team, Orland Park, they've got
incredible vision boards. Yeah.
Ben Coopes (15:20):
Yeah. And how you can set, like, the background of
your phone or the background ofyour computer, or you can print
it out and put it up and post itsomewhere so that you're always
seeing what this goal and whatthis this vision is that you
have.
Sam D'Arc (15:31):
Yeah. So that was that was kind
Ben Coopes (15:33):
of, like, the biggest thing that I wanted to
pass pass along.
Sam D'Arc (15:36):
So why do you think if it's as easy as thinking
about it, there's another wordfor what you're talking about.
It's intentional. What is itabout human nature that if we
have these inspiring big goals,what is it about these inspiring
goals that's so difficultsometimes to be so intentional
Ben Coopes (15:54):
with? That's a great question.
Sam D'Arc (15:56):
And that's open to Cassandra, Carol Lee, Mike,
anybody. You have these in youbefore you walked into the
session. Cassandra, what was itabout that block of time that
inspired you to go out and talkto the food permit guy?
Cassandra (16:10):
I had asked a question, and it the question
was, what do you do if you don'thave support for your dreams?
And every single person and Ithink it was like a 10 minute
long question of getting answersfrom every person in there, and
it showed me that there issupport everywhere. You just
(16:30):
have to look at the rightplaces. So for me, I was, like,
just in this room of 20, 25people, they're rooting me on
whether they know what my dreamis or not. So for me, it was
that.
It was I do have a good back abacking, and they're gonna help
push me.
Sam D'Arc (16:45):
Yeah. The biggest obstacle to that backing, in
fact, Cassandra, it reminds meof Jimmy Urie in the singing we
learned from our last speakerseries. The biggest obstacle to
that backing is ourcommunicating the goal, right,
and connecting with others onwhat we're trying to achieve and
accomplish. Carol Lee, was theresomething business or per
professional that you wereinspired to go achieve?
(17:07):
Actually, I already asked youthat, but, was there something
that you became more intentionalabout as a result of the
session?
Karolee (17:15):
You know, III think you know, again, just going back to
all the ideas you have in yourhead, they seem organized.
Right? And they seem like inyour mind, you think I show up
to work every day, and I workhard. And, unfortunately, I I
don't I don't I think it has tobe a lot more intentional than
that. Right?
And I think Aaron even made agood point, during the workshop
(17:37):
around how, you know, his at 1point, he had a goal to do x in
sales or gross profit or orwhatever it was. And he got
there, and then it was like,well, where where do we go next?
Right?
Sam D'Arc (17:49):
Yeah.
Karolee (17:49):
And at some point in between, you accidentally met a
goal that you weren't It's ait's a goal when it happens
because, like, oh, this isgreat. We grew, but was it
actually a goal? And I I thinkwhen you're being intentional
intentional about, you know,going after the the things you
wanna accomplish, how much morecan you do that way opposed to
(18:10):
just by waking up day to day,working hard, committing to
whatever it is you're doing, andthen just sort of waiting to see
what accomplishments, you know,you you can you can bring out of
it. The the intentional side ofit makes a big difference, and I
I think that, again, thoughts inin your mind, your goals in your
mind seem so organized, and Iknow I wanna do this eventually.
(18:31):
But like Ben said, writing themdown, talking about them, and
actually bringing those thingsoutside of your own mind, I
think, is a big step.
Yeah. You surround yourself withthese things. Right? You make it
intentional
Sam D'Arc (18:38):
by making it by making it, physical almost. We
what we think about, we bringabout. So, Cassandra, personal
goal. We know the business goal.It's the food truck, anything on
the personal side that you dareshare.
Cassandra (18:57):
I I have a couple, but, the 1 that I'm trying to
right now is I'm looking for ahouse with some acreage, and I
wanna get a nice house and anacreage for my family. I'm built
I'm growing my family. I'mgetting married in September. So
we're Congratulations. Thankyou.
(19:17):
Thank you.
Ben Coopes (19:18):
I didn't know that.
Cassandra (19:20):
So we're we're try we're trying to that's our big
dream right now personally, andit it's our dream. It's my
family's dream. So that's whatwe're working towards really
hard right now.
Sam D'Arc (19:30):
The magic with what we do at work is that they're so
tightly related. You know? Asyou expand into the food truck
and expand the empire that isthe restaurant at motorsports,
that actually helps enable youin your personal goal. It's
cool. What does it mean to youto be able to see that
(19:52):
connection between the personaland the business goal and how
achieving 1 helps with theother?
Ben Coopes (19:57):
Well, what comes to mind to me, Sam, is something
that I wanted to to bring up inthe in the workshop as well,
which is, you know, thinkingabout it in a Venn diagram kind
Sam D'Arc (20:07):
of way. So we talked about What's a Venn diagram?
Ben Coopes (20:10):
I don't know what that is. The 2 circles that
overlap 1 another. Okay. Okay.
Karolee (20:14):
Okay.
Ben Coopes (20:14):
So you can have your personal on 1 side. Yep. Yep.
Circle. You can have yourprofessional on 1 side Yeah.
In 1 circle. But when theyoverlap, the things in the
middle, those are the thingsthat actually happen. Those are
the things when they canoverlap, when they can align
like that
Sam D'Arc (20:29):
Yeah.
Ben Coopes (20:30):
And have your personal and your professional
align, it's gonna happen. Yeah.It's what you think about.
Mike Van Ryn (20:35):
And it ties in with, a quote from 1 of our
favorites. Right? Tom Izzo. Doyou like what you do, live what
love what you do, or live whatyou do. Right?
And that that living part of itjust ties in so nicely.
Sam D'Arc (20:46):
That's awesome. So 1 of the things, Ben, you had some
things you wanted to bring outas points because you studied
this material and you just youknew it forward and backward. 1
of the other interesting upmoments in a lot of these
sessions is what, as afacilitator, you discovered
during the session that youdidn't know before. Was there
(21:08):
something that came out that waskind of and I'm asking this
because I wasn't there. So a lotof times I can call it if we're
there, but was there somethingthat a realization you had as a
result or the class had that youdidn't think would be had?
Ben Coopes (21:22):
Well, there are there are some critiques that,
that Jim is gonna have duringthese workshops that you just
have to be ready for. You know,you you try to prepare and you
try to be ready
Sam D'Arc (21:32):
for him, but at the
Ben Coopes (21:32):
same time, you don't know what he's gonna say. So you
just have to be able to pivot.So the I was maybe 3 minutes in,
and all of a sudden, he juststops everything and is saying,
Ben, you're gonna have to speakup a little bit louder. And so,
like, oh, okay. You know?
So it's like, alright. We'realready starting with with that.
But, again, like I say, theseare all things that Jim is gonna
be the type of guy that is, veryhonest with you.
Sam D'Arc (21:53):
Mhmm.
Ben Coopes (21:54):
He he was very complimentary about how the, the
workshop went. But it's thoselittle things that are gonna
make you better, those littlecritiques that you might feel
uncomfortable at the time, butYeah. You're glad that he says
something. So
Mike Van Ryn (22:06):
That's awesome.
Ben Coopes (22:06):
But, I mean, I can't Mike, is there anything that you
can think about, as far as,like, moments with the with the
workshop?
Mike Van Ryn (22:14):
That was a great 1 that you just mentioned. The
other 1 was in preparation forthe thing. Like, your biggest
worry was I'm not gonna haveenough content, enough material.
But in essence, it it was a flipside of the coin. Right?
We had so much content andmaterial, and the workshop
flowed so nicely. I was reallyproud of you, Ben. You did a
great job.
Sam D'Arc (22:31):
Thank you. Mike, any personal or business goals you
thought of that you becameintentional with, that you
thought about in a different waylast week in the session? Yeah.
Mike Van Ryn (22:40):
You know, I wrote down a quote that Jimmy said. He
said, how you perceive your goalor dream as a tool, and it kinda
ties in with what Cassandrasaid. So it kinda how you
perceive that goal or dreamyourself, but also others. If
you have some naysayers that youyou can use that as a tool for
fuel to fuel you forward. Right?
So, 1 of my big, goalspersonally is to publish a
(23:02):
children's book and share thatwith schools across the United
States. So I'm excited aboutthat. We're, we're close on it,
close on it. That's cool.
Sam D'Arc (23:12):
You know, 1 of the neat things about this is we've
had a short conversation. Andthen in that short period of
time, we have a sense of eachother's goals. We have a sense
of what everyone's workingtowards, whether it's a food
truck or helping to leadmultiple service departments or
acreage or leading a Jim Craigsession or writing a book. Real
(23:34):
quick, this is part of our life.
Ben Coopes (23:36):
Yeah. That's it.
Sam D'Arc (23:36):
Oh, I don't know about mine. I I didn't come into
this prepared
Ben Coopes (23:39):
to talk about that. Love it. A few.
Sam D'Arc (23:41):
Love it. I think, darn it,
Ben Coopes (23:43):
As a group, don't you guys? We should hear
something from Sam. You should.We gotta hear him. We gotta
hear.
Let's let him choose, eitherpersonal or professional.
Sam D'Arc (23:50):
Personal or professional. Well, actually,
I'll give you a a good personal1. So my second oldest son right
now is getting married in AugustOh, no. Which is crazy.
Ben Coopes (23:59):
That's awesome.
Sam D'Arc (24:00):
And I'm trying to, a, be there because as busy as work
is, you all know that I it'shalf joke, but half not. My goal
is to be there to be incrediblypresent, as present as I can be
in that incredible moment andhelp support him in every way he
needs as he begins this new lifewith, you know, creating AAA
family of his own. I'm way tooyoung to have kids who are often
(24:22):
getting married, but with 3 kidsin college, like, I think it
happens quick. So we've been,over the past several weeks,
spending time helping them finda place and figure out wedding
plans. And, like, it's a wholearea I've never even, thought
of, considered, or knownanything about.
So it's kind of a very shortterm, and it popped up out of
(24:43):
nowhere, but that's an intensepersonal pursuit for the moment,
I suppose.
Ben Coopes (24:47):
That's awesome.
Sam D'Arc (24:48):
Does that pass? That passes.
Ben Coopes (24:49):
Thank you.
Sam D'Arc (24:50):
Thank goodness.
Ben Coopes (24:50):
Thanks for sharing.
Sam D'Arc (24:52):
But it is neat how and thank you for calling me out
because it would be ridiculousif you didn't. It's neat how
these things we're working on inbusiness and personally, they
they bring us together and theyconnect us somehow, don't they?
Why why is that, Cassandra? Whydo these goals connect us? And
then Mike.
Cassandra (25:11):
I think it makes us human, and every it shows that
everybody has something they areworking towards. And whether I
mean, Aaron got up in theworkshop and told us some of his
goals. And for I I think for meand a lot of people, that was
really cool to connect with himin that in that moment when he
was telling us, I got goals.I've got big goals, and they are
(25:35):
huge, and I
Karolee (25:36):
love it.
Cassandra (25:36):
And so for me, it was it makes us all human, and we're
all the same. We're a team.
Sam D'Arc (25:41):
Yeah. Mike, what is it about goals that connect us?
Mike Van Ryn (25:45):
Well, I think it's, you find commonalities
with people, and they may haveaccomplished a goal that you're
trying to accomplish. So thatthen people wanna help people.
So back to that commentCassandra made. Right? The human
nature of it.
People wanna help people. Andthat's that's what makes us who
we are. Right? So and the otherpart is vulnerability. Like,
(26:05):
Sam, you you hesitate a littlebit
Sam D'Arc (26:07):
I did.
Mike Van Ryn (26:07):
On sharing a couple of those.
Sam D'Arc (26:08):
I have nothing on my mind. I shoulda shame on you. I
shoulda known the topic and beenready.
Mike Van Ryn (26:13):
You you also you also were a little bit
vulnerable when you shared that,right, about your son getting
married. Yeah. And thatvulnerability, though, connects
us, right, as humans.
Sam D'Arc (26:21):
Carol Lee, Cassandra, Ben, Mike, what an incredible
conversation. What a greatsession. Mike or Ben, props to
you for leading as well as youdid. You join a tradition of of
many people across the ZiglerAuto Group over the past decade
that have done these sessions.And from everything I've heard,
you did an incredible job.
Mike Thank you. Let's turn it toyou for the last word as we wrap
(26:42):
up today.
Mike Van Ryn (26:43):
Well, team Ziegler, thanks for listening
in. And if you wanna be part ofthe future leadership workshop
or lead a phone call orworkshop, just reach out to us.
Have a
Sam D'Arc (26:54):
great day. A special thanks to all who contributed to
this episode. Until next week,how are you driving vision
Ben Coopes (27:05):
today?
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