September 16, 2025 • 37 mins
Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Follow The Brand! We hope you enjoyed learning about the latest trends and strategies in Personal Branding, Business and Career Development, Financial Empowerment, Technology Innovation, and Executive Presence. To keep up with the latest insights and updates, visit 5starbdm.com
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And don’t miss Grant McGaugh’s new book, First Light — a powerful guide to igniting your purpose and building a BRAVE brand that stands out in a changing world. - https://5starbdm.com/brave-masterclass/
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:09):
All right, how are you doing?
S Lewis Campbell?
We finally got here.
We have produced First Light.
You have been with me on thisjourney for months, if not years
, if I really think back at itfor months, if not years, if I
really think back at it.
But I want to have a bookdiscussion because you have
(00:30):
written, you know, you've helpedme produce the book.
You have read the book severaldifferent times.
I felt it would be a reallygood, cool thing to do,
especially for our audience, foryou to interview me and ask me
questions around the book thatyou felt the audience would
truly like.
So let's get us started.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you.
Well, I'm feeling good, and I'mfeeling good about this.
I am very proud of how faryou've come in the journey.
To be honest with you, grant,and when I think about where we
started with this, this book hasbeen in production probably
about, I would say, more thantwo years, and I would say
probably maybe three to four inso long.
(01:30):
But what is it about the bookthat has brought it to this sort
of production over that courseof time for you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
That's a great question and it always reflects
back on my own life, my ownjourney, where I have been.
I'm currently now in my early60s and so when I take a look at
this particular piece of workis really, as you stated, it's
been over decades.
Really, it is my career as ithas been now put into light of
(02:00):
what I have learned people.
I've engaged with some of theprinciples that I have put in
place, whether conscious orunconscious, that have gotten me
to the next level as someonewho has been had a career in
business development, alwaysengaging in the sales process.
For me that's always been likea it's a professional sport,
(02:23):
basically what I would say aboutprofessional sales or business
development.
In that respect, you learn a lotof things, you engage with a
lot of people.
You see people when they're upand they're down.
You find the ways to keep goingeven when the light is very,
very dim.
This is what brave is all aboutbeing brave.
(02:46):
That's my blueprint strategy.
So first slide is when youreally get that first
enlightenment to continue tomove forward when the odds are
against you.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I can.
I think we can definitelyrelate to that and I think,
whilst we're talking about theBRAVE strategy, which you have
trademarked, you know and iscopywritten, I think we should
really talk about.
You know what the BRAVEblueprint strategy actually
stands for.
So, just to ensure that I getthis correctly, I want to sort
(03:20):
of confirm that it stands forboldness, resilience,
authenticity, vision andexecution, and these five
elements form the braveblueprint strategy from the path
that leaders walk if they wantto create sort of real impact,
you know, with their work andtheir vision for what they're
(03:42):
doing their work and theirvision for what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Absolutely, you've got to be brave to accomplish a
worthy goal.
When I work with individualsand a lot of people that have
come and taken me up on theoffer to engage with me on
professional coaching from acareer development or business
development standpoint A lot ofpeople know me for personal
branding.
Personal branding is all aboutwhere do you want to go?
(04:13):
Are you looking to accomplish acareer, a new promotion, let's
just say, are you looking tocreate more business
opportunities?
You need to have a framework, aprocess that is a proven
process, and people that havegone through my particular
coursework have about a 90%probability of reaching their
(04:35):
North Star.
That's the main point.
So, as the book starts out andI bring this to most of the
people that I work with meaning,we first have to work with your
current state right, and I askthem to meet me at base camp.
Right At base camp is mostimportant because I need to put
(04:56):
you in a frame of mind outsideof your normal state and then
begin to query you about whereyou have been before you got to
this point, almost like what youjust asked me.
Like, hey, grant, you've beendoing this for four years.
What were you doing before yougot to this point?
We need to understand ourselvesand, looking at different
(05:21):
origins or points of pivots inour life, where were you five
years ago?
That has now led you to thispoint, right, once you get a
better understanding of whatthat looks like, you begin to
craft that first part of thebrand bold identity.
I call that the brand identity,or being bold.
(05:45):
You can't be bold until youbegin to understand what you
truly want to achieve and whatyou've already achieved up to
this point.
Now in the book you're going tofind out once that has been
identified In our character inour book.
He wants a promotion.
He says, yes, I'm ready for apromotion.
You want a promotion, wants apromotion.
(06:06):
He says, yes, I'm ready for apromotion, you want a promotion.
The first thing you find out isthat you're going to have to
embrace your fear.
It's very, very important.
There is a fear that is there.
It has probably been with youfor a very long time.
It don't masquerade at a lot ofdifferent levels.
Some people call it impostersyndrome.
You know you feel uncomfortablein the role.
That syndrome, you know youfeel uncomfortable in the role
that you're in or you feeluncomfortable about achieving
(06:30):
the goal that you've said youaspire to, but are you really
aspiring and do you have what ittakes to get there?
All of these elements worktogether, and what was taught to
me by one of what I call one ofmy mentors when I first started
out is that these things haveto be done in the right order.
I may have your phone numberright, but on my phone, if I
(06:56):
don't dial the exact numbersexactly right, I will not get
you on the phone, and that iswhat's most important.
If you don't follow thisprocess exactly right, I will
not get you on the phone, andthat is what's most important.
If you don't follow thisprocess exactly right, you will
not achieve your desired outcome.
So this is very important whenwe look at this framework, that
(07:17):
it's not.
Yes, it's a beautiful piece ofwork.
I think when people read theactual book, like, wow, that was
a great scene, it's awesome.
We also have a lot in the bookabout what this means for you
and the journey that you're on.
Most people are on some kind ofjourney, whether they realize
or not, because of thechallenges that they have.
(07:39):
Like, wow, why am I beingchallenged so much.
These challenges are usually infront of you because it leads
to a higher path, the desiredpath that you want to go.
But if you don't climb thatmountain, if you don't face
those fears, you're never goingto achieve the goal that you
have in mind.
And if you don't have a guidethat can take you through it and
(08:01):
a lot of people, they struggle,they're like well, I don't need
a gun, maybe I'll just do itmyself.
You can do certain thingsyourself.
You can learn to write or builda house by looking at YouTube.
Youtube will take you throughthe whole thing and you can
build a house.
But I think you might find outalong the way of building a
house it's not that easy thatyou do need professional help,
(08:26):
that you might have some of thecomponents of building that
house, but the know-how, theexperience someone has did it
before they know those littlenuances, the, the precise
elements that are needed.
That is what this book is allabout, and I love how you coined
this a field guide.
I first heard that really thisa field guide.
I first heard that really, thisis your field guide, so it's not
a quick reading, it's not goingto read it right.
(08:49):
It's like you know what.
That was great and put it aside.
No, you got to pick this up,especially as you begin to track
up that mountain to the goalthat you set for yourself.
And it takes time to getthrough these things, but you've
got to know you are along thesepaths.
So I hope I've answered some ofthat question for you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I think you have, and I like the way that you put it.
You know about the differentstages is like where you kind of
are pivoting, isn't it?
You know, as you're reachingthese, as you're making your way
towards these goals, and you'regoing from one part of the
journey or one part of thestrategy, you're moving through
one part to another, and I likethe fact as well that you look
at it as a destination.
(09:30):
You know it's like a climb, youknow that's where that vision
comes from.
I also like what I love aboutthe book as well is not only is
it a guide, it's very much ahandbook.
You know, just like, forinstance, if you, you know, back
in the day before we had sortof like the technology that we
have today, people would walkaround with like dictionaries
(09:51):
and things like that.
You know, certain referenceguides.
You know, shows my age.
You know I heard you mentionroughly how old you are and I'm
not far off, you know, kind ofthing.
So I do remember when we usedto walk around with big bags and
have all our textbooks in therebecause, you know, we wanted to
write a letter.
We wouldn't just be able to geton a computer and have all this
information available to us, wewould need to go away and do
(10:15):
that work and that study.
And that's what's so greatabout the book it is a handbook,
a reference guide that you canalways go back to and see where
you are on the journey.
Another great dimension aboutthe book that I really, really
have enjoyed and I think this ismy favorite bit because I speak
to you about it often andthat's about the wolf and the
mountain and where you show thevulnerableness, about where you
(10:37):
actually strip the person back,you know, to themselves at that
very base point, like youmentioned, and I find that a lot
of books that talk aboutleadership or just talk about
anything informative to helpothers, never really talks about
that moment.
You know they talk about thedestination, they focus on that,
(10:57):
but we can't get to thedestination if we don't know
where the start is.
So talk to me, or talk to me,and also, um, for the viewers,
um, and for the readers as well,you know, when they start to
look into this book in a bitmore detail and start reading it
for themselves, what made youcome up with that concept?
And just to say as well that,the reason why I love it even
(11:20):
more so is the wolf is my mostfavorite animal in the world.
Always has been Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, yeah, and you know, wolves have been with
mankind for a long time, whetheras friend or foe.
But as we encounter thesethings and this is an allegory,
and going back to what I wastalking about earlier you may
have a goal in mind and justlike if you're in a great
(11:47):
wilderness and you are taking astroll, let's just say a hike up
a mountain, and you don't knowexactly what you may or may not
encounter.
Now you're out in thewilderness, you can encounter a
lot of different things.
Typically, we think like well,we're just going to get to the
top of this mountain, we'regoing to have a great view.
You will have some challengesat some point in your journey.
(12:09):
It's going to happen right.
How that happens, you don'treally know how it's going to
jump out at you when it happens.
Now this is called I'm jumpingback over to the business world
but it's going to jump out atyou that all of a sudden, you
lose certain people that haveguided you along your way.
This happens a lot.
You may have somebody that's aconfidant, someone who's looked
(12:30):
out for you, or a mentor for youor an advocate for you.
All of a sudden, they move froma different department or
they've gone to a different roleat a different organization,
entirely Big shakeup or the jobitself.
I had this happen in my ownlife.
I've been gone through what youcall layoffs, right Force
(12:51):
management reductions, I thinkthey call them and sometimes you
see this coming, sometimes youdon't.
So over time, I think you startto develop some type of inner
fear that you have about takingon, either taking that next step
in your evolution and this iswhat we're really talking about
(13:12):
Right, are you prepared, notonly mentally or your
capabilities, your skill sets,but are you prepared emotionally
to truly take on thisresponsibility?
Are you accountable for thistype of thing?
As you go through the book, thebook will give you choices and
(13:35):
that very first scene, thatscene, is so powerful because
you encounter the fearimmediately when you weren't
really ready for it.
It's there, it's coming, it'sreal and you have to act.
Some people don't.
I don't want to give away someof the greatest, I think, points
of the book as you read throughit, but you will start to see
(13:58):
that some people don't get pastthis point.
You don't get past it becauseif you cannot engage with fear
and fear is an internal thing,not really external right If you
cannot get past your fear andyou're pretending that you are,
as you were learning to.
You think you are, but you'renot.
(14:21):
I remember one time I had theopportunity to go skydiving and
I had a fear of jumping out ofan airplane, you know, and
thinking through that like whyam I going to do that?
Right, but the person I waswith this is a true story.
The person I was with showed mea videotape of them skydiving
(14:43):
and they jumped out of the planeand said hey, that doesn't look
like you're actually falling.
My inner fear said you'refalling out of a plane, you know
, and you're going to drop those2,000 feet.
But that's really not the case.
But the real case is that, yes,you're going to, you know, fall
out of the plane immediately,but then you're buoyed by the
air.
You don't feel like you'regoing to.
You know, uh, fall out of theplane immediately, but then
(15:04):
you're buoyed by the air.
You don't feel like you'refalling, you actually feel like
it's floating.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, yeah, it's a totally you know you've put that
so well.
Yeah, you, you said that very,very well.
And I and you know what and Irealize that's actually one of
your strengths is how you'reable to kind of explain things,
because to me, I never, when Ithink about the wolf within
(15:31):
itself and I hear what you'resaying, it's like you're out
there in the wilderness, aren'tyou?
You know, with this very, verylack of a vision, even though
you know what the end goal is,you've not thought about the
steps in between, which arethat's what you need?
Is that understanding in orderto get to the end goal?
Is you've not thought about thesteps in between, which are
that's what you need?
Is that understanding in orderto get to the end goal?
So I do agree with you.
It's like you know, I neverreally thought of the wolf in
(15:51):
that way.
To me, when I think about thewolf, I always and I see this in
the book I think about probablythe most strongest and
courageous, you know, animal,you know.
But now, having read the bookseveral times, like I've
mentioned, I understand why thewolf is such a good depiction
(16:13):
for this, because the wolfusually works from a place of
fear, you know.
That's their whole makeup.
However, they're the mostcourageous as well, you know,
because they're willing to putthemselves out there on that
limb, you know, in order tocreate their pack, create their
force, and even without one,they can still be a very, very
(16:34):
strong force within themselves.
You know, because we know thatwolves roam in packs.
But I've spent a lot of time,as you can probably tell, over
the years researching andwatching programs about wolves,
as I love them so much and tosee that the way that and I've
seen them, you know operate ontheir own, you know, and be a
(16:54):
part of a pack as well, you knowkind of thing and what that
dynamic is like.
And so, yeah, I found that very, very important.
And so, yeah, I found that very, very important.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
So, in terms, of the brave blueprint and the strategy
within itself.
How did you come up with that?
Oh, that's a great question andit's a story behind that as
well.
Brave, in its essence, actuallycame from my father, who I've
talked about a lot as far as Ilost him early in my life
through a health care mishap.
But he had a company that hehad.
It was called A Braver Way.
(17:32):
I thought that was really cool.
That was the name of hiscompany and I utilize that as
part of the framework for braveitself.
So in essence, it's pretty muchsomething that I got from my
father.
And going back to the wolf,you've got to be brave.
(17:54):
See, when you overcome yourfear like I overcame my fear of
skydiving by actually doing itand once you conquer that fear,
you can overcome that fear, yougain.
It empowers you.
So in the very first part ofthe book, the point of that
scene is I have to empower you,because if you don't feel that
(18:18):
you can actually achieve thisgoal, then we're wasting our
time, because you will put a lotof excuses in the way.
This goal, then we're wastingour time Because you will put a
lot of excuses in the way.
Things get, you know, no longerit falls down in the priority
level.
Right, I can do other thingsand face this fear.
You know, I got better thingsto do to go skydiving, right.
(18:42):
We're talking about things thatare self-limiting to you and to
a point again, I also need toput the realism into what you
want to achieve.
So that's that next level I dois skills gap analysis.
Let's take a look, because ifyou're a base mount, or the base
(19:03):
camp as I call it, you're abase camp.
I have to assess yourcapabilities to getting up to
the top of the mountain.
I truly have to assess that.
So, as we go through the wolfscene right now, we've got to go
through a skills gap analysis,because one of the biggest
problems that people have whenthey start on a trek toward a
(19:26):
goal is they underestimate whatit takes to achieve that goal.
You underestimate what'shappening on.
I call on the other side of theball, right, you may say you
know what I was great.
Let's just say in high schoolfootball, you know I was great,
just to say, in high schoolfootball.
You know, here in the UnitedStates we play football.
(19:46):
Football is going on right nowand I was great and I said I'm
going to play pro football.
But first you've got to playcollege football, usually when
it happens right and then youwant to play at that level.
When you begin to find out, thethings that you were able to do
at the high school level aren'tthe same things you can do at
the collegiate level andcertainly not the same things
(20:07):
you can do at the professionallevel.
But if someone doesn't bringthat to your attention, you're
going to be, you're going tohave delusions and you might
make because of that uh, uhillusion that you have and then,
when you fall into that, youshriek or you shirk back from
trying anything else.
Yeah, maybe you failed at thecollegiate level and you gave up
(20:28):
your goal of doing professionalfootball.
Let's just say, right, we needto understand, like why aren't
you at where you want to be inthe first place?
What's what's limiting you?
Is this something that isfanciful for you or something
you're really going to dedicateyourself to and understand what
it truly takes to get there?
(20:49):
And are you willing to put inthe work.
That's very, very important.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I agree and I think also as well, learning more
about because I know you do.
In the book, you do refer toyour father and so forth, and I
am very sorry for your loss,which I mentioned before.
However, I do think it's awonderful way to you know, think
about your father, you know,and actually have him form part
(21:18):
of the book as well.
You know, considering that hewas the one who actually started
, you know this framework, as itwere, and thinking about how
brave he has been, you know, inhis own journey, and that you're
being able to sort of utilizethis book in a way as an
extension of that is even morepowerful to me, actually, and
(21:40):
gives the book even greatermeaning.
And I like what you said aswell.
You know about greater meaningand I like what you said as well
.
You know about overcoming fear,and I hear what you said, even
with about the football element.
So one thing that we are big on, just like you're big on
football there we use the sameword for it.
Here you call it somethingslightly different, which is
soccer, and you know I'm big onthe game.
(22:01):
You know I don't have as muchtime, unfortunately, these days
to be as involved.
But I will say to you that Ihave played soccer for a very,
very long time.
You know it's probably why Iwas suffering with a bit of
cramp.
You know, as I played manyyears before, years before and
even when I was living inAustralia, I played
(22:22):
semi-professional for at my age,my grand age for a women's team
in Australia for four years andI hear what you say again about
the delusions of grandeur.
You know I had to retirebecause I realized that, you
know, while I was out there Iwas good and I was doing it more
(22:44):
for fitness, you know, whereasothers was taking it more
seriously.
And whilst, when you're playingabroad, you have a very
different set of rules than youhave here, because obviously, if
I'm hurt or injured, I can goand get it fixed.
If I'm over there and I'm hurtand I'm injured, it's not the
same.
You know, as we've talked aboutwhen we've been in our previous
podcast health series before,you know, the treatment globally
(23:08):
is very significantly different.
So you know and that brings metowards it's how you discover, I
think, in a way is when youcombat your fear, is how you
discover your own authenticity,you know, and which leads onto
that actually in the book andwhy that's so important in terms
of leadership.
(23:28):
So please do talk to me aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
That's very important .
We can always tell each otherstories.
I can tell you stories.
You have a choice whetheryou're going to believe them or
not, but I know the truth behindthat story.
I know the truth and thensometimes I think we tell
ourselves stories and we beginto believe our own stories
instead of believing our owntruth.
You've got to be authentic inwhat you want to achieve and
(23:57):
truly see yourself as you are.
It's not that simple, becauseeven when you look at a mirror,
you're only seeing 180 degreesat best of yourself.
You're not seeing 350 degrees,and that is why you need other
eyes on you, of itself, to beable to see that full circle of
(24:19):
who you are.
Brave is about being bold.
Once I empower you, you beginto feel some of that boldness,
right.
And then resilience, becausenow you want something.
You can see it.
Right, you can see, like youknow, what I can play at that
level.
You begin to understand it andwhat it takes to get there.
And now you're going to beresilient, because the winds,
(24:43):
those headwinds, are going tocome toward you, right, but
you've got to be resilient inwhat you want to accomplish and
you're using that empowermentthat you have now to then take
on these challenges and getthrough the game right, like in
soccer.
You've got to kick the ball,you've got to run, you've got
people running or flying at youand you want to get to that goal
(25:05):
and you want to score.
Right.
You're like I'm ready to score.
You want to get to that goaland you want to score.
Right.
You're like I'm ready to score.
You want to do whatever ittakes to score, even though they
knock you down, they go left,it goes right.
You got to get out there.
That's why I like soccer.
It's a great, great analogy,right.
(25:31):
But then you get to that nextlevel, which is being authentic.
This is when you've got toreally assess your assets.
You've got to look at what Ihave, in this case, to be able
to accomplish the goal.
A lot of times in the book, I'mtaking you through this entire
levels of just self-awarenessfirst, before we even get to the
playing field.
That's what authenticity is allabout and that's recognizing
your strengths, your weaknesses,the opportunity.
That's the self-swan analysisof who you are, what you have,
(25:56):
not just in jazz.
We got to peel back some layers, we got to get deep in it
Because, remember, you are truly, on a mountain and you're a
quarter of the way up, halfwayup.
This is not time to sugarcoatanything.
You are either going to be ableto progress toward the peak or
(26:19):
you're going to find yourselffrozen on that mountain in your
fears or your incapabilities,because you haven't pulled out
the different assets that youneed to accomplish the goal.
There'll be a point in timethat you're like, wow, I needed
that big coat.
Let's just say, wow, there wasa time that I needed to be able
(26:42):
to face whatever obstacle was inmy way.
That's being authentic, and youhave to understand what your
weaknesses truly, truly, trulyare, and that you're carrying
them with you up the mountain.
They can either be your bestfriend or they can become your
worst enemy, because you will beexposed in that way.
(27:05):
Your authentic self, even thoughyou think no one else can see
it, but you, others do see it.
They may not see it completely,but it's there.
You don't embrace thingsyourself.
Your true, authentic self.
Right Now you're living in thatworld that you want to be in,
that we call imposter syndrome,because you're not being your
(27:26):
true self.
So I teach you how to be thatauthentic self, empower you to
be that authentic self.
So then you can begin to treadfurther up the mountain I agree,
and it's it's.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
It's so important as well because what you're
describing to me just keepshitting me.
Every time you've been speakingabout it's about self-discovery
.
Isn't it really working outwhether you've actually got the
skills to do this, or is it justa brain wave, as it were, and
and and and, even if, even ifyou feel that it is something
that you can do, are youprepared to, to make the effort
(28:03):
you know to in order to see itcome true?
And I like the idea about theself-discovery and you need to
really start with that beforeyou take on any sort of project,
vision, desire, as it were, toreally find out if it's for you.
Because what we both know, themain aspect about self-discovery
(28:25):
is, is that, as you're going onthis path, you're going to find
out that you are not the personyou actually thought you were.
You know, as you start goingthrough some of these things,
because what I have found outabout myself is is that I'm open
to change, because I'm alwayslearning.
You know about the skills,keeping up to date with things.
(28:45):
You know the networking, thereading.
You know education, as it were.
You know educating myself, soas I'm learning more and more
about various things that are ofinterest to me.
I'm learning that I'm alsochanging as well in the way that
I think, in the way that interms of my mindfulness and in
(29:09):
terms of my path as well, thatmay even change.
And, for instance, the businessthat we had when I first started
.
There's definitely still someelements of that there, like our
core parts of that business.
That may never change, but itwill always improve.
But our business has changedover the years as well, where we
were able to give a moreprofessional service, a more
(29:32):
improved service.
You know, because whilst we'regoing away and we're, we're
publishing for you and we'republishing for others, we are
also developing that skillwithin itself.
You know that, the skill thatwe enjoy, that we want to to
know more about and be and notbe perfect at, because I don't
think that gives you room tolearn, um, but it helps you to
(29:53):
sort of be the very best thatyou can be whilst doing it, and
there's always room forimprovement.
So talk to me about the vision.
You know how can we stand out,you know, in terms of being
visionaries in the fields thatwe're in.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Now, this is a very important part of the process.
You've gotten the bold.
We've defined that a little bitfor you.
The resilience very importantthe authenticity.
This is all the inner work.
The internal Vision is external.
Vision is not all.
Right, now I'm going to applymy skill set toward my goal.
(30:31):
This is the application.
This is when you become visible.
This is the visibility of valueand this is when you're
engaging not just with yourself-beliefs, you're engaging
with the beliefs of others.
Branding is not so much aboutwhat you think about yourself as
what others think about you.
What have you built within theperception of others?
(30:54):
Is your brand?
Right At the point where youget to what I call the mountain
of visibility.
This is when you are on thefield.
Going back to our socceranalogy, our football analogy,
this is when you take the field.
This is when it counts.
You got to be ready.
You got to go out there andface whatever it is that you
(31:19):
want to accomplish on this fieldand you're bringing everything
to bear.
You're starting to understandwhat it takes to do.
You have the right velocity, doyou have the right volume, do
you have the right synchronicityto get this done right?
(31:41):
Your vision is when you bringeverything that's been a plan
now and you're starting toactually come out with it.
We have now launched FirstLight.
This is the visibility phase ofmy book.
This is when it's meeting theaudience.
Am I ready?
Is the audience ready Like huh?
(32:01):
What does he bring into thetable that's going to up my game
, that's going to bring value tome in what I'm looking to
accomplish and can I validatewhat's going on?
So this is when reality takesplace of what you're looking to
accomplish and you are doingwhat you need to do to make it
(32:24):
real.
Now we're short on time, butwe're going to begin to unpack a
lot of these things through ourtalks as we launch this book.
But I wanted to really definethat visibility phase.
This is when, instead of beinga singular type path, when it
becomes multiplicity, meaning ifyou're operating within a
(32:47):
business, you're operating withthe operations people, the
marketing people, the financepeople.
You're operating with salespeople, the marketing people.
Then you're operating in thebusiness world.
This is starting to become very, very visible of who you are
and what you are looking toaccomplish in your goals, of who
(33:08):
you are and what you arelooking to accomplish in your
goals I agree and how you wantto be seen by people.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
What is the message you're putting out there?
You know, so to speak, and, asyou say, we're very short on
time, so please tell us aboutthat execution.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Well, executing is when you are on the field,
you're actually playing the game, but then it's almost like
think about this, like almostlike halftime, you get a little
break.
Right, you have to assesswhat's going on.
The evaluation phase Am I oncourse to achieve my goal?
Am I on the best course?
(33:42):
Is this the fastest way?
Is this the hardest way?
You've got to evaluate whatyou're doing and then you
execute boldly upon your goal.
This is a moment where, if youhave to switch gears this is
when you switch gears becauseyou're visible in the market.
You have to evaluate whatyou're doing.
Is it on target to reach thegoal?
(34:05):
If it isn't, you need to havethe metrics.
You have to be able to evaluateall those things.
You have to see the rippleeffects of what's happening and
make those pivots where youcontinue to move forward.
And do you have the rightmechanisms in place?
In the business world, theytalk about it all the time.
You can't manage what you can'tmeasure.
Make sure that whatever you'remaking visible is measurable.
(34:28):
Right, so that you can executeupon all these different goals.
You should be ready right atthis point.
Right, you know yourself, youknow your strength, you're bold,
you're resilient, you'reauthentic, you have a vision and
now you're executing.
This is what's important, andthis is why this book is a field
manual for those that are inthe field and looking to score
(34:51):
and win big.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I agree, and you know .
You know the book is just soimportant and I'm so glad that
we've done this today, becauseunless you read that book,
you've got no hope in being aneffective and sustainable leader
with longevity it's just notgoing to happen for you and
moving forward.
If anyone wants to have adiscussion with me about
(35:14):
leadership, please come to meafter you've read the book,
because then we can have a realdetailed discussion.
It's a book that you're goingto need to refer to every time
you've got a new goal to achieve, you know.
So I wish you every successwith it, grant.
You know, please do keep usupdated, you know, with how it's
going, you know, and how thebook's journey has impacted your
(35:37):
own life as well and the goalsthat you may have as well.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely.
We've launched the book.
We've got plenty of pre-ordersalready.
Thank everybody for orderingthe book.
Now it's available on a massscale so anyone can go to Amazon
.
On the Kindle platform.
You can type in my name, grantMcGaugh.
You can type in First Light theBrave Path to Authentic
(36:00):
Leadership.
It'll come right up.
Looking forward to it, we'regoing to have a special hardback
book that'll be'll be, you know, signature by the author.
I'm going to get one out to youout there in london as well,
and that when I do my um, actualin-person events, I'll have
that particular book setavailable.
You're going to want.
This is going to be a beautiful, beautiful cover and please
(36:22):
contact brown for a copy a lottime.
So next, when we do our nextpodcast about the book, we're
going to talk about some of thecontributors to the book who
actually made it very special.
They got first dibs on a lot ofthe work and they brought their
(36:44):
game to the table and reallytook it to another level.
So we'll talk about that.
But I want to thank you againfor being with us today.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You're most welcome Thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
You're welcome.
Every leader's journey beginsbefore the sun rises.
In the quiet moments when doubtwhispers and the path ahead is
unclear, at First Light BrandLeadership.
We believe that every shadowholds a lesson and every
challenge is a chance to grow.
Here we walk the brave pathboldness, resilience,
authenticity, vision andexecution, transforming stories
(37:17):
into strategies and uncertaintyinto opportunity.
Leadership isn't about a titleor a role.
It's about the light you chooseto carry and the impact you
leave behind.
Are you ready to step out ofthe shadows and begin your climb
?
All right, how are you doing?
S Lewis Campbell?
We finally got here.
We have produced First Light.
You have been with me on thisjourney for months, if not years
, if I really think back at itfor months, if not years, if I
really think back at it.
But I want to have a bookdiscussion because you have
(00:30):
written, you know, you've helpedme produce the book.
You have read the book severaldifferent times.
I felt it would be a reallygood, cool thing to do,
especially for our audience, foryou to interview me and ask me
questions around the book thatyou felt the audience would
truly like.
So let's get us started.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Thank you.
Well, I'm feeling good, and I'mfeeling good about this.
I am very proud of how faryou've come in the journey.
To be honest with you, grant,and when I think about where we
started with this, this book hasbeen in production probably
about, I would say, more thantwo years, and I would say
probably maybe three to four inso long.
(01:30):
But what is it about the bookthat has brought it to this sort
of production over that courseof time for you?
Speaker 1 (01:34):
That's a great question and it always reflects
back on my own life, my ownjourney, where I have been.
I'm currently now in my early60s and so when I take a look at
this particular piece of workis really, as you stated, it's
been over decades.
Really, it is my career as ithas been now put into light of
(02:00):
what I have learned people.
I've engaged with some of theprinciples that I have put in
place, whether conscious orunconscious, that have gotten me
to the next level as someonewho has been had a career in
business development, alwaysengaging in the sales process.
For me that's always been likea it's a professional sport,
(02:23):
basically what I would say aboutprofessional sales or business
development.
In that respect, you learn a lotof things, you engage with a
lot of people.
You see people when they're upand they're down.
You find the ways to keep goingeven when the light is very,
very dim.
This is what brave is all aboutbeing brave.
(02:46):
That's my blueprint strategy.
So first slide is when youreally get that first
enlightenment to continue tomove forward when the odds are
against you.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
Yeah, I can.
I think we can definitelyrelate to that and I think,
whilst we're talking about theBRAVE strategy, which you have
trademarked, you know and iscopywritten, I think we should
really talk about.
You know what the BRAVEblueprint strategy actually
stands for.
So, just to ensure that I getthis correctly, I want to sort
(03:20):
of confirm that it stands forboldness, resilience,
authenticity, vision andexecution, and these five
elements form the braveblueprint strategy from the path
that leaders walk if they wantto create sort of real impact,
you know, with their work andtheir vision for what they're
(03:42):
doing their work and theirvision for what they're doing.
Speaker 1 (03:52):
Absolutely, you've got to be brave to accomplish a
worthy goal.
When I work with individualsand a lot of people that have
come and taken me up on theoffer to engage with me on
professional coaching from acareer development or business
development standpoint A lot ofpeople know me for personal
branding.
Personal branding is all aboutwhere do you want to go?
(04:13):
Are you looking to accomplish acareer, a new promotion, let's
just say, are you looking tocreate more business
opportunities?
You need to have a framework, aprocess that is a proven
process, and people that havegone through my particular
coursework have about a 90%probability of reaching their
(04:35):
North Star.
That's the main point.
So, as the book starts out andI bring this to most of the
people that I work with meaning,we first have to work with your
current state right, and I askthem to meet me at base camp.
Right At base camp is mostimportant because I need to put
(04:56):
you in a frame of mind outsideof your normal state and then
begin to query you about whereyou have been before you got to
this point, almost like what youjust asked me.
Like, hey, grant, you've beendoing this for four years.
What were you doing before yougot to this point?
We need to understand ourselvesand, looking at different
(05:21):
origins or points of pivots inour life, where were you five
years ago?
That has now led you to thispoint, right, once you get a
better understanding of whatthat looks like, you begin to
craft that first part of thebrand bold identity.
I call that the brand identity,or being bold.
(05:45):
You can't be bold until youbegin to understand what you
truly want to achieve and whatyou've already achieved up to
this point.
Now in the book you're going tofind out once that has been
identified In our character inour book.
He wants a promotion.
He says, yes, I'm ready for apromotion.
You want a promotion, wants apromotion.
(06:06):
He says, yes, I'm ready for apromotion, you want a promotion.
The first thing you find out isthat you're going to have to
embrace your fear.
It's very, very important.
There is a fear that is there.
It has probably been with youfor a very long time.
It don't masquerade at a lot ofdifferent levels.
Some people call it impostersyndrome.
You know you feel uncomfortablein the role.
That syndrome, you know youfeel uncomfortable in the role
that you're in or you feeluncomfortable about achieving
(06:30):
the goal that you've said youaspire to, but are you really
aspiring and do you have what ittakes to get there?
All of these elements worktogether, and what was taught to
me by one of what I call one ofmy mentors when I first started
out is that these things haveto be done in the right order.
I may have your phone numberright, but on my phone, if I
(06:56):
don't dial the exact numbersexactly right, I will not get
you on the phone, and that iswhat's most important.
If you don't follow thisprocess exactly right, I will
not get you on the phone, andthat is what's most important.
If you don't follow thisprocess exactly right, you will
not achieve your desired outcome.
So this is very important whenwe look at this framework, that
(07:17):
it's not.
Yes, it's a beautiful piece ofwork.
I think when people read theactual book, like, wow, that was
a great scene, it's awesome.
We also have a lot in the bookabout what this means for you
and the journey that you're on.
Most people are on some kind ofjourney, whether they realize
or not, because of thechallenges that they have.
(07:39):
Like, wow, why am I beingchallenged so much.
These challenges are usually infront of you because it leads
to a higher path, the desiredpath that you want to go.
But if you don't climb thatmountain, if you don't face
those fears, you're never goingto achieve the goal that you
have in mind.
And if you don't have a guidethat can take you through it and
(08:01):
a lot of people, they struggle,they're like well, I don't need
a gun, maybe I'll just do itmyself.
You can do certain thingsyourself.
You can learn to write or builda house by looking at YouTube.
Youtube will take you throughthe whole thing and you can
build a house.
But I think you might find outalong the way of building a
house it's not that easy thatyou do need professional help,
(08:26):
that you might have some of thecomponents of building that
house, but the know-how, theexperience someone has did it
before they know those littlenuances, the, the precise
elements that are needed.
That is what this book is allabout, and I love how you coined
this a field guide.
I first heard that really thisa field guide.
I first heard that really, thisis your field guide, so it's not
a quick reading, it's not goingto read it right.
(08:49):
It's like you know what.
That was great and put it aside.
No, you got to pick this up,especially as you begin to track
up that mountain to the goalthat you set for yourself.
And it takes time to getthrough these things, but you've
got to know you are along thesepaths.
So I hope I've answered some ofthat question for you.
Speaker 2 (09:09):
I think you have, and I like the way that you put it.
You know about the differentstages is like where you kind of
are pivoting, isn't it?
You know, as you're reachingthese, as you're making your way
towards these goals, and you'regoing from one part of the
journey or one part of thestrategy, you're moving through
one part to another, and I likethe fact as well that you look
at it as a destination.
(09:30):
You know it's like a climb, youknow that's where that vision
comes from.
I also like what I love aboutthe book as well is not only is
it a guide, it's very much ahandbook.
You know, just like, forinstance, if you, you know, back
in the day before we had sortof like the technology that we
have today, people would walkaround with like dictionaries
(09:51):
and things like that.
You know, certain referenceguides.
You know, shows my age.
You know I heard you mentionroughly how old you are and I'm
not far off, you know, kind ofthing.
So I do remember when we usedto walk around with big bags and
have all our textbooks in therebecause, you know, we wanted to
write a letter.
We wouldn't just be able to geton a computer and have all this
information available to us, wewould need to go away and do
(10:15):
that work and that study.
And that's what's so greatabout the book it is a handbook,
a reference guide that you canalways go back to and see where
you are on the journey.
Another great dimension aboutthe book that I really, really
have enjoyed and I think this ismy favorite bit because I speak
to you about it often andthat's about the wolf and the
mountain and where you show thevulnerableness, about where you
(10:37):
actually strip the person back,you know, to themselves at that
very base point, like youmentioned, and I find that a lot
of books that talk aboutleadership or just talk about
anything informative to helpothers, never really talks about
that moment.
You know they talk about thedestination, they focus on that,
(10:57):
but we can't get to thedestination if we don't know
where the start is.
So talk to me, or talk to me,and also, um, for the viewers,
um, and for the readers as well,you know, when they start to
look into this book in a bitmore detail and start reading it
for themselves, what made youcome up with that concept?
And just to say as well that,the reason why I love it even
(11:20):
more so is the wolf is my mostfavorite animal in the world.
Always has been Go ahead.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yes, yeah, and you know, wolves have been with
mankind for a long time, whetheras friend or foe.
But as we encounter thesethings and this is an allegory,
and going back to what I wastalking about earlier you may
have a goal in mind and justlike if you're in a great
(11:47):
wilderness and you are taking astroll, let's just say a hike up
a mountain, and you don't knowexactly what you may or may not
encounter.
Now you're out in thewilderness, you can encounter a
lot of different things.
Typically, we think like well,we're just going to get to the
top of this mountain, we'regoing to have a great view.
You will have some challengesat some point in your journey.
(12:09):
It's going to happen right.
How that happens, you don'treally know how it's going to
jump out at you when it happens.
Now this is called I'm jumpingback over to the business world
but it's going to jump out atyou that all of a sudden, you
lose certain people that haveguided you along your way.
This happens a lot.
You may have somebody that's aconfidant, someone who's looked
(12:30):
out for you, or a mentor for youor an advocate for you.
All of a sudden, they move froma different department or
they've gone to a different roleat a different organization,
entirely Big shakeup or the jobitself.
I had this happen in my ownlife.
I've been gone through what youcall layoffs, right Force
(12:51):
management reductions, I thinkthey call them and sometimes you
see this coming, sometimes youdon't.
So over time, I think you startto develop some type of inner
fear that you have about takingon, either taking that next step
in your evolution and this iswhat we're really talking about
(13:12):
Right, are you prepared, notonly mentally or your
capabilities, your skill sets,but are you prepared emotionally
to truly take on thisresponsibility?
Are you accountable for thistype of thing?
As you go through the book, thebook will give you choices and
(13:35):
that very first scene, thatscene, is so powerful because
you encounter the fearimmediately when you weren't
really ready for it.
It's there, it's coming, it'sreal and you have to act.
Some people don't.
I don't want to give away someof the greatest, I think, points
of the book as you read throughit, but you will start to see
(13:58):
that some people don't get pastthis point.
You don't get past it becauseif you cannot engage with fear
and fear is an internal thing,not really external right If you
cannot get past your fear andyou're pretending that you are,
as you were learning to.
You think you are, but you'renot.
(14:21):
I remember one time I had theopportunity to go skydiving and
I had a fear of jumping out ofan airplane, you know, and
thinking through that like whyam I going to do that?
Right, but the person I waswith this is a true story.
The person I was with showed mea videotape of them skydiving
(14:43):
and they jumped out of the planeand said hey, that doesn't look
like you're actually falling.
My inner fear said you'refalling out of a plane, you know
, and you're going to drop those2,000 feet.
But that's really not the case.
But the real case is that, yes,you're going to, you know, fall
out of the plane immediately,but then you're buoyed by the
air.
You don't feel like you'regoing to.
You know, uh, fall out of theplane immediately, but then
(15:04):
you're buoyed by the air.
You don't feel like you'refalling, you actually feel like
it's floating.
Speaker 2 (15:11):
Yeah, yeah, it's a totally you know you've put that
so well.
Yeah, you, you said that very,very well.
And I and you know what and Irealize that's actually one of
your strengths is how you'reable to kind of explain things,
because to me, I never, when Ithink about the wolf within
(15:31):
itself and I hear what you'resaying, it's like you're out
there in the wilderness, aren'tyou?
You know, with this very, verylack of a vision, even though
you know what the end goal is,you've not thought about the
steps in between, which arethat's what you need?
Is that understanding in orderto get to the end goal?
Is you've not thought about thesteps in between, which are
that's what you need?
Is that understanding in orderto get to the end goal?
So I do agree with you.
It's like you know, I neverreally thought of the wolf in
(15:51):
that way.
To me, when I think about thewolf, I always and I see this in
the book I think about probablythe most strongest and
courageous, you know, animal,you know.
But now, having read the bookseveral times, like I've
mentioned, I understand why thewolf is such a good depiction
(16:13):
for this, because the wolfusually works from a place of
fear, you know.
That's their whole makeup.
However, they're the mostcourageous as well, you know,
because they're willing to putthemselves out there on that
limb, you know, in order tocreate their pack, create their
force, and even without one,they can still be a very, very
(16:34):
strong force within themselves.
You know, because we know thatwolves roam in packs.
But I've spent a lot of time,as you can probably tell, over
the years researching andwatching programs about wolves,
as I love them so much and tosee that the way that and I've
seen them, you know operate ontheir own, you know, and be a
(16:54):
part of a pack as well, you knowkind of thing and what that
dynamic is like.
And so, yeah, I found that very, very important.
And so, yeah, I found that very, very important.
Speaker 1 (17:12):
So, in terms, of the brave blueprint and the strategy
within itself.
How did you come up with that?
Oh, that's a great question andit's a story behind that as
well.
Brave, in its essence, actuallycame from my father, who I've
talked about a lot as far as Ilost him early in my life
through a health care mishap.
But he had a company that hehad.
It was called A Braver Way.
(17:32):
I thought that was really cool.
That was the name of hiscompany and I utilize that as
part of the framework for braveitself.
So in essence, it's pretty muchsomething that I got from my
father.
And going back to the wolf,you've got to be brave.
(17:54):
See, when you overcome yourfear like I overcame my fear of
skydiving by actually doing itand once you conquer that fear,
you can overcome that fear, yougain.
It empowers you.
So in the very first part ofthe book, the point of that
scene is I have to empower you,because if you don't feel that
(18:18):
you can actually achieve thisgoal, then we're wasting our
time, because you will put a lotof excuses in the way.
This goal, then we're wastingour time Because you will put a
lot of excuses in the way.
Things get, you know, no longerit falls down in the priority
level.
Right, I can do other thingsand face this fear.
You know, I got better thingsto do to go skydiving, right.
(18:42):
We're talking about things thatare self-limiting to you and to
a point again, I also need toput the realism into what you
want to achieve.
So that's that next level I dois skills gap analysis.
Let's take a look, because ifyou're a base mount, or the base
(19:03):
camp as I call it, you're abase camp.
I have to assess yourcapabilities to getting up to
the top of the mountain.
I truly have to assess that.
So, as we go through the wolfscene right now, we've got to go
through a skills gap analysis,because one of the biggest
problems that people have whenthey start on a trek toward a
(19:26):
goal is they underestimate whatit takes to achieve that goal.
You underestimate what'shappening on.
I call on the other side of theball, right, you may say you
know what I was great.
Let's just say in high schoolfootball, you know I was great,
just to say, in high schoolfootball.
You know, here in the UnitedStates we play football.
(19:46):
Football is going on right nowand I was great and I said I'm
going to play pro football.
But first you've got to playcollege football, usually when
it happens right and then youwant to play at that level.
When you begin to find out, thethings that you were able to do
at the high school level aren'tthe same things you can do at
the collegiate level andcertainly not the same things
(20:07):
you can do at the professionallevel.
But if someone doesn't bringthat to your attention, you're
going to be, you're going tohave delusions and you might
make because of that uh, uhillusion that you have and then,
when you fall into that, youshriek or you shirk back from
trying anything else.
Yeah, maybe you failed at thecollegiate level and you gave up
(20:28):
your goal of doing professionalfootball.
Let's just say, right, we needto understand, like why aren't
you at where you want to be inthe first place?
What's what's limiting you?
Is this something that isfanciful for you or something
you're really going to dedicateyourself to and understand what
it truly takes to get there?
(20:49):
And are you willing to put inthe work.
That's very, very important.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
I agree and I think also as well, learning more
about because I know you do.
In the book, you do refer toyour father and so forth, and I
am very sorry for your loss,which I mentioned before.
However, I do think it's awonderful way to you know, think
about your father, you know,and actually have him form part
(21:18):
of the book as well.
You know, considering that hewas the one who actually started
, you know this framework, as itwere, and thinking about how
brave he has been, you know, inhis own journey, and that you're
being able to sort of utilizethis book in a way as an
extension of that is even morepowerful to me, actually, and
(21:40):
gives the book even greatermeaning.
And I like what you said aswell.
You know about greater meaningand I like what you said as well
.
You know about overcoming fear,and I hear what you said, even
with about the football element.
So one thing that we are big on, just like you're big on
football there we use the sameword for it.
Here you call it somethingslightly different, which is
soccer, and you know I'm big onthe game.
(22:01):
You know I don't have as muchtime, unfortunately, these days
to be as involved.
But I will say to you that Ihave played soccer for a very,
very long time.
You know it's probably why Iwas suffering with a bit of
cramp.
You know, as I played manyyears before, years before and
even when I was living inAustralia, I played
(22:22):
semi-professional for at my age,my grand age for a women's team
in Australia for four years andI hear what you say again about
the delusions of grandeur.
You know I had to retirebecause I realized that, you
know, while I was out there Iwas good and I was doing it more
(22:44):
for fitness, you know, whereasothers was taking it more
seriously.
And whilst, when you're playingabroad, you have a very
different set of rules than youhave here, because obviously, if
I'm hurt or injured, I can goand get it fixed.
If I'm over there and I'm hurtand I'm injured, it's not the
same.
You know, as we've talked aboutwhen we've been in our previous
podcast health series before,you know, the treatment globally
(23:08):
is very significantly different.
So you know and that brings metowards it's how you discover, I
think, in a way is when youcombat your fear, is how you
discover your own authenticity,you know, and which leads onto
that actually in the book andwhy that's so important in terms
of leadership.
(23:28):
So please do talk to me aboutthat.
Speaker 1 (23:32):
That's very important .
We can always tell each otherstories.
I can tell you stories.
You have a choice whetheryou're going to believe them or
not, but I know the truth behindthat story.
I know the truth and thensometimes I think we tell
ourselves stories and we beginto believe our own stories
instead of believing our owntruth.
You've got to be authentic inwhat you want to achieve and
(23:57):
truly see yourself as you are.
It's not that simple, becauseeven when you look at a mirror,
you're only seeing 180 degreesat best of yourself.
You're not seeing 350 degrees,and that is why you need other
eyes on you, of itself, to beable to see that full circle of
(24:19):
who you are.
Brave is about being bold.
Once I empower you, you beginto feel some of that boldness,
right.
And then resilience, becausenow you want something.
You can see it.
Right, you can see, like youknow, what I can play at that
level.
You begin to understand it andwhat it takes to get there.
And now you're going to beresilient, because the winds,
(24:43):
those headwinds, are going tocome toward you, right, but
you've got to be resilient inwhat you want to accomplish and
you're using that empowermentthat you have now to then take
on these challenges and getthrough the game right, like in
soccer.
You've got to kick the ball,you've got to run, you've got
people running or flying at youand you want to get to that goal
(25:05):
and you want to score.
Right.
You're like I'm ready to score.
You want to get to that goaland you want to score.
Right.
You're like I'm ready to score.
You want to do whatever ittakes to score, even though they
knock you down, they go left,it goes right.
You got to get out there.
That's why I like soccer.
It's a great, great analogy,right.
(25:31):
But then you get to that nextlevel, which is being authentic.
This is when you've got toreally assess your assets.
You've got to look at what Ihave, in this case, to be able
to accomplish the goal.
A lot of times in the book, I'mtaking you through this entire
levels of just self-awarenessfirst, before we even get to the
playing field.
That's what authenticity is allabout and that's recognizing
your strengths, your weaknesses,the opportunity.
That's the self-swan analysisof who you are, what you have,
(25:56):
not just in jazz.
We got to peel back some layers, we got to get deep in it
Because, remember, you are truly, on a mountain and you're a
quarter of the way up, halfwayup.
This is not time to sugarcoatanything.
You are either going to be ableto progress toward the peak or
(26:19):
you're going to find yourselffrozen on that mountain in your
fears or your incapabilities,because you haven't pulled out
the different assets that youneed to accomplish the goal.
There'll be a point in timethat you're like, wow, I needed
that big coat.
Let's just say, wow, there wasa time that I needed to be able
(26:42):
to face whatever obstacle was inmy way.
That's being authentic, and youhave to understand what your
weaknesses truly, truly, trulyare, and that you're carrying
them with you up the mountain.
They can either be your bestfriend or they can become your
worst enemy, because you will beexposed in that way.
(27:05):
Your authentic self, even thoughyou think no one else can see
it, but you, others do see it.
They may not see it completely,but it's there.
You don't embrace thingsyourself.
Your true, authentic self.
Right Now you're living in thatworld that you want to be in,
that we call imposter syndrome,because you're not being your
(27:26):
true self.
So I teach you how to be thatauthentic self, empower you to
be that authentic self.
So then you can begin to treadfurther up the mountain I agree,
and it's it's.
Speaker 2 (27:40):
It's so important as well because what you're
describing to me just keepshitting me.
Every time you've been speakingabout it's about self-discovery
.
Isn't it really working outwhether you've actually got the
skills to do this, or is it justa brain wave, as it were, and
and and and, even if, even ifyou feel that it is something
that you can do, are youprepared to, to make the effort
(28:03):
you know to in order to see itcome true?
And I like the idea about theself-discovery and you need to
really start with that beforeyou take on any sort of project,
vision, desire, as it were, toreally find out if it's for you.
Because what we both know, themain aspect about self-discovery
(28:25):
is, is that, as you're going onthis path, you're going to find
out that you are not the personyou actually thought you were.
You know, as you start goingthrough some of these things,
because what I have found outabout myself is is that I'm open
to change, because I'm alwayslearning.
You know about the skills,keeping up to date with things.
(28:45):
You know the networking, thereading.
You know education, as it were.
You know educating myself, soas I'm learning more and more
about various things that are ofinterest to me.
I'm learning that I'm alsochanging as well in the way that
I think, in the way that interms of my mindfulness and in
(29:09):
terms of my path as well, thatmay even change.
And, for instance, the businessthat we had when I first started
.
There's definitely still someelements of that there, like our
core parts of that business.
That may never change, but itwill always improve.
But our business has changedover the years as well, where we
were able to give a moreprofessional service, a more
(29:32):
improved service.
You know, because whilst we'regoing away and we're, we're
publishing for you and we'republishing for others, we are
also developing that skillwithin itself.
You know that, the skill thatwe enjoy, that we want to to
know more about and be and notbe perfect at, because I don't
think that gives you room tolearn, um, but it helps you to
(29:53):
sort of be the very best thatyou can be whilst doing it, and
there's always room forimprovement.
So talk to me about the vision.
You know how can we stand out,you know, in terms of being
visionaries in the fields thatwe're in.
Speaker 1 (30:06):
Now, this is a very important part of the process.
You've gotten the bold.
We've defined that a little bitfor you.
The resilience very importantthe authenticity.
This is all the inner work.
The internal Vision is external.
Vision is not all.
Right, now I'm going to applymy skill set toward my goal.
(30:31):
This is the application.
This is when you become visible.
This is the visibility of valueand this is when you're
engaging not just with yourself-beliefs, you're engaging
with the beliefs of others.
Branding is not so much aboutwhat you think about yourself as
what others think about you.
What have you built within theperception of others?
(30:54):
Is your brand?
Right At the point where youget to what I call the mountain
of visibility.
This is when you are on thefield.
Going back to our socceranalogy, our football analogy,
this is when you take the field.
This is when it counts.
You got to be ready.
You got to go out there andface whatever it is that you
(31:19):
want to accomplish on this fieldand you're bringing everything
to bear.
You're starting to understandwhat it takes to do.
You have the right velocity, doyou have the right volume, do
you have the right synchronicityto get this done right?
(31:41):
Your vision is when you bringeverything that's been a plan
now and you're starting toactually come out with it.
We have now launched FirstLight.
This is the visibility phase ofmy book.
This is when it's meeting theaudience.
Am I ready?
Is the audience ready Like huh?
(32:01):
What does he bring into thetable that's going to up my game
, that's going to bring value tome in what I'm looking to
accomplish and can I validatewhat's going on?
So this is when reality takesplace of what you're looking to
accomplish and you are doingwhat you need to do to make it
(32:24):
real.
Now we're short on time, butwe're going to begin to unpack a
lot of these things through ourtalks as we launch this book.
But I wanted to really definethat visibility phase.
This is when, instead of beinga singular type path, when it
becomes multiplicity, meaning ifyou're operating within a
(32:47):
business, you're operating withthe operations people, the
marketing people, the financepeople.
You're operating with salespeople, the marketing people.
Then you're operating in thebusiness world.
This is starting to become very, very visible of who you are
and what you are looking toaccomplish in your goals, of who
(33:08):
you are and what you arelooking to accomplish in your
goals I agree and how you wantto be seen by people.
Speaker 2 (33:12):
What is the message you're putting out there?
You know, so to speak, and, asyou say, we're very short on
time, so please tell us aboutthat execution.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
Well, executing is when you are on the field,
you're actually playing the game, but then it's almost like
think about this, like almostlike halftime, you get a little
break.
Right, you have to assesswhat's going on.
The evaluation phase Am I oncourse to achieve my goal?
Am I on the best course?
(33:42):
Is this the fastest way?
Is this the hardest way?
You've got to evaluate whatyou're doing and then you
execute boldly upon your goal.
This is a moment where, if youhave to switch gears this is
when you switch gears becauseyou're visible in the market.
You have to evaluate whatyou're doing.
Is it on target to reach thegoal?
(34:05):
If it isn't, you need to havethe metrics.
You have to be able to evaluateall those things.
You have to see the rippleeffects of what's happening and
make those pivots where youcontinue to move forward.
And do you have the rightmechanisms in place?
In the business world, theytalk about it all the time.
You can't manage what you can'tmeasure.
Make sure that whatever you'remaking visible is measurable.
(34:28):
Right, so that you can executeupon all these different goals.
You should be ready right atthis point.
Right, you know yourself, youknow your strength, you're bold,
you're resilient, you'reauthentic, you have a vision and
now you're executing.
This is what's important, andthis is why this book is a field
manual for those that are inthe field and looking to score
(34:51):
and win big.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
I agree, and you know .
You know the book is just soimportant and I'm so glad that
we've done this today, becauseunless you read that book,
you've got no hope in being aneffective and sustainable leader
with longevity it's just notgoing to happen for you and
moving forward.
If anyone wants to have adiscussion with me about
(35:14):
leadership, please come to meafter you've read the book,
because then we can have a realdetailed discussion.
It's a book that you're goingto need to refer to every time
you've got a new goal to achieve, you know.
So I wish you every successwith it, grant.
You know, please do keep usupdated, you know, with how it's
going, you know, and how thebook's journey has impacted your
(35:37):
own life as well and the goalsthat you may have as well.
Speaker 1 (35:40):
Absolutely.
We've launched the book.
We've got plenty of pre-ordersalready.
Thank everybody for orderingthe book.
Now it's available on a massscale so anyone can go to Amazon
.
On the Kindle platform.
You can type in my name, grantMcGaugh.
You can type in First Light theBrave Path to Authentic
(36:00):
Leadership.
It'll come right up.
Looking forward to it, we'regoing to have a special hardback
book that'll be'll be, you know, signature by the author.
I'm going to get one out to youout there in london as well,
and that when I do my um, actualin-person events, I'll have
that particular book setavailable.
You're going to want.
This is going to be a beautiful, beautiful cover and please
(36:22):
contact brown for a copy a lottime.
So next, when we do our nextpodcast about the book, we're
going to talk about some of thecontributors to the book who
actually made it very special.
They got first dibs on a lot ofthe work and they brought their
(36:44):
game to the table and reallytook it to another level.
So we'll talk about that.
But I want to thank you againfor being with us today.
Speaker 2 (36:50):
You're most welcome Thank you.
Speaker 3 (36:54):
You're welcome.
Every leader's journey beginsbefore the sun rises.
In the quiet moments when doubtwhispers and the path ahead is
unclear, at First Light BrandLeadership.
We believe that every shadowholds a lesson and every
challenge is a chance to grow.
Here we walk the brave pathboldness, resilience,
authenticity, vision andexecution, transforming stories
(37:17):
into strategies and uncertaintyinto opportunity.
Leadership isn't about a titleor a role.
It's about the light you chooseto carry and the impact you
leave behind.
Are you ready to step out ofthe shadows and begin your climb
?
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