April 28, 2025 • 44 mins
Ep. 76 From Command to Culture: How One Leader Changed an Organization Ft. Bill Coughlin
Leadership isn't just a professional endeavor—it's a deeply personal journey of growth, adaptation, and self-discovery. In this revealing conversation with Bill Coughlin, we explore the remarkable evolution of a leader who transformed from an ambitious young manager focused solely on climbing the corporate ladder to becoming an empathetic, people-centered leader with lasting impact.
Bill's candid reflection on his "horrible" early leadership style sets the stage for a powerful story of transformation. The turning point came through his 25-year mentorship with Joe Gillum, who delivered the wake-up call that would forever change Bill's approach: "You're going to drop like a rock when you reach the top because of how you treat people."
The conversation takes us through Bill's extraordinary experience during 9/11 as part of United Airlines' response team. Being on the only civilian aircraft in American skies the day after the attacks, escorted by military jets to Newark, and spending 21 days at Ground Zero working with grieving families profoundly shaped his perspective on leadership and humanity.
Perhaps most fascinating is Bill's central role in transforming Lippert's corporate culture. Walking into an environment where a vice president's greeting was "go out there and F-ing lead," Bill helped establish core values and shift from command-control management to trust-based leadership. His philosophy—creating workplaces where people "get to" rather than "have to" work—offers practical wisdom for leaders at any level.
Throughout our discussion, Bill weaves together professional insights with personal values, showing how his Irish Catholic upbringing in a family of 14 children, his faith during crisis, and his 40-year marriage provide the foundation for his leadership principles. His approach to balancing high-stress careers with intentional family time offers a refreshing perspective for today's busy professionals.
Whether you're an aspiring leader or a seasoned executive, Bill's journey reminds us that leadership excellence comes not from titles or achievements but from earning trust, maintaining integrity, and focusing on what people do right rather than wrong. Subscribe now and join our community of leaders committed to making a positive difference in both business and life.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Yeah, one of my roles at United I was on what we call
a go team.
So anytime there was anaircraft incident, there was a
certain number of people 13people that would go to that
incident.
Right, and we would work withfamily members and we would so.
But 9-11 was very different forus.
We had two aircrafts that wentdown, one in the tower, one in
Shanksville, pennsylvania, andwhat was so different is that
(00:23):
back then, if you think about it, we had pagers.
We didn't have cell phones thatwe walked around with, so you
had a pager with you when yougot that 911, we always had to
have a bag with us and you'd goto the airport and you'd get on
the airplane and off you'd go tothe incident.
Well, at 9-11, everything wasgrounded and so we were out of
Chicago and we had to takewhoever right thought that they
(00:44):
could handle it and come with us.
And we had to build a differentteam and we got on an airplane.
The day after, on 9-12, 8o'clock in the morning, we were
the only airplane in the sky.
You guys and we were off toNewark to go meet with family
members and we were surroundedas we left O'Hare and got over
Lake Michigan, we weresurrounded by four aircraft,
four military aircraft thatescorted us right to Newark
(01:05):
Airport.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Welcome back to the Go All In podcast.
I'm Jake Fine and I'm BraxtonCave and, as promised, we are
bringing you guys anotherspecial guest and here today.
I am not going to go too deepinto his introduction and bio,
because we're going to let himwalk us through that.
To go too deep into hisintroduction and bio, because
we're going to let him walk usthrough that.
But this man has been, over thelast 10 years, a great mentor
to me, a colleague, a businesspartner, but, most importantly,
(01:53):
over the last 10 years, it'sbeen really cool to call him
friend.
And so, without further ado, mrBill Coughlin, welcome to the
podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Thank you, Brax.
Jake, good to be here.
Glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
So tell us a little bit about Bill.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
So a little bit about Bill.
So Bill currently is married tomy wife, lisa.
We're going to celebrate 40years this year, so pretty
excited about that.
We have five wonderful kids andthree of those children are
married a couple grandkids andone on the way.
So just had four of our fivekids home for Easter, so it was
(02:34):
fun to have them in the house.
And yeah, I've worked currentlyat Lippert here out of South
Bend, but I've spent time withUnited Airlines 22 years with
United Airlines.
Um, spent eight years with acompany called Mossberg and
company with was a commercialsheet fed printer in South Bend
(02:55):
and, uh, joined Lippert 11 yearsago and it's been a it's just
been a fun ride for the last 11years.
So I grew up in the Chicagolandarea with 13 brothers and
sisters.
Mom and dad had 14 kids in 16years.
So the oldest, my oldestbrother, jim, was 16 when my
youngest sisters were born.
The last ones were identicaltwins and my dad said when they
(03:16):
started to come in twos, it'stime to shut that thing down.
So yeah, it's how we grew upBig family, big Irish Catholic
family and just a lot of fun,still super close.
And so, yeah, it's how we grewup Big family, big Irish
Catholic family and just a lotof fun.
Still super close and so, yeah,family is super important to us
.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, and so you know Bill's daughter, rose, and I
went to school together.
We were the same class and soI've known Bill for a long time
and have always thought sohighly of him a long time, um,
and I've always thought sohighly of them.
And then once I got theopportunity to really get to
know him when I started workingat Lipper um, it's just been an
incredible 10 years for me andand, uh, you know a lot of
(03:55):
people talk about you know wetalk a lot on this podcast about
leadership and what that lookslike and and you know the
different fronts whether it'sfamily business you know Bill's
done it at a high level for along time, and so I'd love to
hear you walk us through thatjourney, starting at United
Airlines and kind of your paththere.
(04:15):
I know you work in multipledifferent roles and then also,
while you're on that, tell usabout your mentor that you had
while you were coming up.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, I spent like I said.
I spent 22 years at UnitedAirlines and I changed jobs
every two years at United.
But, to be honest, I was ahorrible leader early on.
To me it was about moving up inthe company as fast as I could,
making as much money as I can,trying to support right.
I was newly married, knew wewanted to have kids, I wanted to
support my family and um, and Iwas fortunate because United
saw some potential in me butalso saw that I was going down a
(04:52):
bad path.
So, because I would push people, I mean I would.
I was going to get by everyone,so I would step over whoever I
was.
It was all about me.
And so so I was introduced to agentleman by the name of Joe
Gillum, and Joe Gillum was anoutside consultant to United and
he took me under his wing andthe first time I had to sit with
him he asked me what's yourgoals?
And I said well, my goals areto move up, make as much money
(05:15):
as I can.
He goes, good for you.
Where are you going to get to?
I said to the top man, I'm notgoing to stop till I get to the
top.
And he goes oh, good, good, Ithink you'll get there.
I go well, good for you, I'msure I will get there.
And then he said you knowwhat's going to happen to you
when you get there.
I said what's that?
He said you're going to droplike a rock.
And I said why would you saythat?
And he said it's because of howyou treat people.
He said it's all about you.
And then in those difficulttimes you'll be fortunate that
(05:38):
in difficult times people willhold you up.
They won't walk away and watchyou drop.
And so I worked with Joe Gillumfor 25 years.
He knew my wife, he knew mykids, I knew his family.
I mean, we had a great, great,great relationship.
And the only reason I tell youit was only for 25 years is
(06:01):
after 25 years Joe was out inNorth Carolina to do a speaking
engagement and didn't show upand he had died in his sleep the
night before.
And it was right then that Idecided I wanted to take all the
things that he had taught meand I was going to go in and
just share the same message witheveryone I could.
And so that's how I got myselfinto leadership development.
(06:23):
So my ride at United I wassuccessful because I had a guy
like that that constantly workedwith me, right, and I could
pick up a phone at any giventime and call Joe and ask him
what do you think of this, whatdo you think of that?
And he would gut, check me orhe would say, well, go try it
and then come back and tell mehow it went right, he didn't sit
there and give me answers, hewould just challenge my own
(06:44):
thought process.
So and many times you realizethat a good coach doesn't give
you the answers, he just asksyou a lot of questions.
You have the answers, right.
So so, yeah, he was a, yeah, agreat, great guy, right.
So, and I would say, anotherleader for me is obviously my
parents.
I mean my parents.
When you have a house full ofkids like that, everyone had
(07:07):
jobs, everyone worked together,your family members were your
best friends.
I mean, that's the way we wereraised and it was all about
working hard, right, put yourhead down and just go to work.
So I've had a great career and,yeah, a lot of it because of
people like that that right justgave to me yeah, so so two
decades united airlines.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
You, you know, we all lived through 9-11.
You really lived through it.
I lived through, yeah can you?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
tell us through, walk us through that story and what
your role was at that time yeah,one of my roles at um, at
united I was on what we call ago team.
So anytime there was anaircraft incident, there was a
certain number of people 13people that would go to that
incident.
Right, and we would work withfamily members and we would so.
But 9-11 was very different forus.
(07:54):
We had two aircrafts that wentdown, one in the tower, one in
Shanksville, pennsylvania, andwhat was so different is that
back then, if you think about it, we had pagers.
We didn't have cell phones thatwe walked around with, so you
had a pager with you and whenyou got that 911, we always had
to have a bag with us and you'dgo to the airport and you'd get
on the airplane and off you'd goto the incident.
Well, at 9-11, everything wasgrounded and so we were out of
(08:17):
Chicago and we had to takewhoever thought that they could
handle it and come with us.
And we had to build a differentteam and we got on an airplane
the day after, on 9-12, 8o'clock in the morning, we were
the only airplane in the sky.
You guys and we were off toNewark to go meet with family
members and we were surroundedas we left O'Hare and got over
(08:38):
Lake Michigan, we weresurrounded by four aircraft,
four military aircraft thatescorted us right to Newark
Airport.
That was a life-changing event.
We got on the ground.
There were people all over withright, ak-47s and everything
strapped to them.
You didn't know what washappening.
Next, we set up at a Hiltonright outside the airport and we
(08:59):
started to meet with familymembers.
Right that came.
There were a couple of us thatwent to Ground Zero just because
we had an aircraft there and atthat time you didn't know what
was really left or what they had.
And it was, yeah, it's an eventthat you would never forget,
right, if you were there.
And I worked with a lot ofdifferent family members, right,
(09:19):
that lost loved ones, and itwas very different because
usually we would.
Either it was an aircraft issuethat we had, it was a problem
where it was pilot error, and inthis obviously everyone knew
before we even got there thatright they were hijacked and
they didn't have a shot.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So, and you were there.
You were at ground zero.
For how long?
Speaker 1 (09:39):
21 days.
21 days I was there.
I was one of the guys that wasthere the longest.
So there were some people, likeI told you, we grabbed some
others that thought they couldhelp and wanted to go work with
families, but when they gotthere and saw the devastation
and then and then you meet withsomeone just lost a loved one,
it's, it's.
You have to be skilled at it,right, and you don't have to
(10:01):
have answers, but you have to bea darn good listener, right,
and have a lot of empathy forpeople.
So, so we had team members thatwere there to work with family
members that we ended up sayingjust go in your hotel room and
don't come back out.
There was no way to send themback home, but there was no way
you could put them in front offamily members, right?
So that was, um, it was crazytime, yep, still to.
(10:24):
Still to this day, all theseyears later, on 9-11, I still
hear right from friends of minethat were right in New York with
me, right at Ground Zero.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So yeah, and then shortly after, that is when you
transitioned away from Unitedright From.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
United, right, yeah, yeah, to be honest, it was right
.
After that, when I was out inNew York, I got a call because I
had been in South Bend for acouple of years working for
United.
And here in South Bend I sat onan advisory board for the
Center for the Homeless and Imet a gentleman, a local guy,
that owned a business here, andhe had called me after 9-11 and
asked if I would come and workat his company.
And I told him I was at groundzero, working with families, and
(11:04):
he said, hey, give me a calllater.
And so when I got back off thatairplane after 21 days, I was on
a team of 13 people that waslooking at the industry, looking
future of United Airlines, andI was met by my boss and told,
as I got off the airplane beforeI even got home and saw my wife
, hey, your job's beeneliminated, we'll find something
(11:24):
for you, but you're not goingto be doing that job any longer.
And I was like, all right, I'mgoing to go home.
And then Bob was one of theguys that I called and said, hey
, how serious were you aboutthat opportunity?
And so, shortly after 9-11, Ileft, I joined a company here
and I moved right back to SouthBend.
I joined a company here and Imoved right back to South Bend.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
What was the transition like from working
United Airlines kind of a highstress, especially in the end,
very high stress totransitioning to Mossberg?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
What was that like?
So there was a transition there.
There was another company thatI worked with called Corporate
Services, and I worked with themfor two years and that was
setting up a care center forthem, a call center.
They were a fulfillment companyhere, local, and so I helped
them set up a call center.
After two years of doing that,united called me back and said,
hey, would you come back andwork with us?
So I went back to United forfive years and ran five
(12:19):
different call centers for them,and then it was after that that
I left Because those callcenters for them.
And then it was after that thatI I left because those call
centers they had unionized.
And after they unionized,united actually shipped the work
out.
It went to India and it went tothe Philippines, and so we shut
down.
Out of 17 call centers that wehad, we shut down 15 and we only
had two left.
They wanted us to move back toChicago and my wife and I four
(12:42):
of our kids were in high schoolat that time and we said, no, we
weren't going to move once theywere in high school.
So so then that's when I wentto work for Mossberg.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So yeah, so you know, you and I we just get to start
working together, and at thattime, you know you were the what
we like to call the OG when itcomes to leadership development
at Lippert.
And so talk to us about, whenyou came over to Lippert, what
(13:12):
your role looked like.
What did the company look likeat that time as compared to
where we're at today?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
You can't even compare what Lippert was like 11
years ago to what it is today.
Honestly.
I mean, when I came in, it wastruly to work on leadership
development and we had agentleman there, a guy by the
name of Mike Gardy, who was aone-man show at that time, and
so he brought me into thisdivision and he introduced me
(13:40):
and I'm not sure if I can, but Ithink I can say it on here.
So I go into this room andthere was a vice president
sitting there and two generalmanagers and I was introduced.
Hey, this is Bill, and he'sgoing to be your leadership
director, right?
And this VP looked and he saidoh, you're going to be a
leadership director, huh, well,go out there and F and lead.
And he pointed out to the plantand I looked at this guy and I
(14:05):
was like.
So I walked up to his desk andI put my hand out to shake his
hand.
He looked at me and he saidwhat are you doing?
I said well, usually when Imeet someone, they stand up and
shake my hand.
This guy grabbed my hand, shookit like I was a three-year-old
kid and threw it to the side.
He goes no, like I told you goout there and F and lead and I
was like, oh my gosh, what am Idoing here?
Long story short, that guy overthe years ended up being just
(14:25):
right, great friends.
But that's where we started,right.
And now you would never seethat at our company.
It's unbelievable, right.
People buy into what we'retrying to do and where we're
trying to go and the communityservice that we give.
But it was tough sledding atthe beginning.
Right for our company and youreally.
Honestly, you just had to lookat who were those early adapters
(14:48):
, who were the people thatwanted to buy in, who knew that
there was a better way to leadthan just a command and control
screaming at people right andit's not that they were bad
people.
It's just that's how they gotresponses.
They got people to do what theywanted them to do.
So it was, yeah, those weresome pretty crazy times early on
.
So I mean, back then we didn't,we didn't have what we call
(15:11):
core values, we didn't have amission statement.
I asked.
I asked the COO at that time, onmy second day in the company.
I said do you have a missionstatement or a vision statement?
He goes what I said like amission statement.
He goes well, I can tell youwe're on a mission.
I go oh good, what is it?
He goes to make as much moneyas we can.
I was like that's not what I'mlooking for, right?
(15:31):
So then I talked about valuesystem.
I said do you have any corevalues?
He goes I can tell you what wevalue.
I said what's that?
He goes making as much money aswe can.
But at United we had core values.
At Mossberg they had corevalues and I just gave them as
samples of them and I said hey,this is what I'm talking about,
and the timing was pretty cool,because the executive team had
(15:53):
gone to Chicago to do astrategic planning meeting and
they came back after four daysand that COO threw a sheet of
paper out in front of Mike and Iand said hey, these are our
five core values.
I don't know what you guys aregoing to do with them, but there
they are.
And to this day, those arestill the five core values,
right, of our company and people.
They know them, they live bythem.
So it was right.
(16:13):
It's been a pretty cool journeythat we didn't change and get
rid of things and reshuffle thedeck.
I mean, it's still how itstarted.
It started.
So it's crazy when you havethose words written down yeah,
you just live by them.
And you know, jake, it's funnybecause at the beginning there
was no definition around them.
Like one of our core values waspassionate about winning.
Well, if I talk to the four ofus, what's winning?
(16:36):
We all might say somethingdifferent right.
I might say getting home to myfamily on time.
You might say making sure myteam members are, you know, safe
.
Brax might say making money.
Right.
So every one of us in heremight say passion about winning.
Winning is different.
So, but once we got definitionbehind it, then people started
(16:56):
to buy in and they understood itRight.
So, and that was with all ofour core values.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
So yeah, and I I've told the story on the podcast
before about how, you know,obviously there was a lot of
skepticism when this firstkicked off and you had to live
through.
You know you're moving a shipat this point right and that
takes a long time and you know,I felt like, you know, I was,
(17:20):
you know, a year and a halfafter, kind of when this all
kind of kicked off.
You know, a year and a halfafter, kind of when once this
all kind of kicked off, and so I, you know I wasn't there from
day one of the culture journey,I would say, but very early and
I've told this story before Ifeel like we really noticed the
culture shift and change whenour CEO really dug his heels in
(17:42):
and said, hey, this is, this isreal, we're going to live by
this.
And when we had senior levelleaders say nope, yeah, and he
said okay, then it's time foryou to move on, absolutely that
opened so many eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Oh yeah, he made tough calls at the highest level
of the organization and thenpeople knew, ooh, I better get
on board.
This is serious and many timesthat's what you need to change
culture or to really get amessage point to people.
Lead by example.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So building culture.
What does culture really meanto you?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, what does culture really mean to me?
I think there's a lot ofdifferent.
There's right ways to dobusiness and wrong ways to do
business, and I say it and it'snot a tagline, but I want people
to come to work because I getto go to work there, not I have
to go to work, and I believethere's so many people that wake
up every day feeling like theyhave to do it, and you don't get
(18:41):
the best out of people whenthey feel that way.
So you have to build anenvironment to me, that values
people, makes sure they feelthat they're trusted, they can
trust their leadership.
I mean, we changed names of.
We don't have employees, wehave team members, because if I
say that you're my employee,it's like I own a piece of you,
right.
But if I say we're team members, it's like we're in this thing
together, right, and everyonejust has a different role to
(19:03):
play on the team.
So so culture to me isdesigning an organization where,
where people feel valued,appreciated and they want to
come in, they want to do theirbest, and I believe that's most
people want to, right.
But but many times we miss themark on letting them know how
much we appreciate what theybring to the table.
Right and I also feel this inmany organizations we don't hold
(19:25):
people accountable the way weshould, right?
We say, man, I want to tellBrax Right what's wrong with him
, but he can't handle it.
No, maybe it's me that can'thandle Right Having a difficult
conversation.
So, as leaders, number onefailure of any leader and Joe
taught me a long time ago is notholding people accountable.
That's when you start to fail.
(19:45):
Yeah, so that's, you know?
That's sort of a snapshot ofhow I see a culture yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So I mean and bill and I have learned this together
it's.
It is extremely hard to changeculture and no matter how well
you think you're doing at it andmaking the right decisions,
like you know, people are peopleand everyone has their own view
of what is a good work,environment or culture, and so
you try your best and I thinkthe biggest thing is just being
(20:14):
consistent every day and notflip flopping all over the place
and the flavor of the week andthis and that, because we've
seen that as well.
But we've seen it and witnessedfirsthand it is really hard to
change culture.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I feel like you have to find the right person too.
Can you build the person intothe culture?
Are they willing to do the work, or is it finding the right
person that'll do it?
You know what I mean, right?
So it's just like first form,how he built, how they built
that culture right um, you know,with your guys's core values.
(20:50):
You know they have the corevalues in in the room.
You know morning meetings, theygo over all of them.
So but what you guys are doing,it's I mean you, you stamp that
.
You see, those core values, man, it's like when you go in the
bathroom you have somethingwritten down in your mirror and
you, you know your goals it'sjust like that so.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And you have to live them too.
Yeah so talk's cheap, but youhave to walk the talk.
So, and it it's difficult, Imean we've had ups and we've had
downs too.
So, plenty of them.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So yeah, looking back over your last you know, let's
just use your Lippert careeryour last 11 years, is there one
leadership decision that youcan think of, that you're most
proud of, or a leadership moment?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think if I had to, I would say probably during
COVID was a game changer.
During COVID we shut down a lotof facilities.
I mean, people were going home,right, certain people didn't
want to come back into work.
We changed right, you had tohave a mask and you had to right
all the different things.
I didn't work on the leadershipside.
(22:01):
Then I went back to the floor.
They needed people to right, goback and do the work.
And so I think, being humble anddoing what you need to do to
help the organization out, Imean a couple of times in my
career at Lippert, when I wasasked to go help out in a
certain area, check your titleat the door.
I mean, just roll your sleevesup and go to work.
(22:22):
And so I think that was itgives you a lot of credibility.
People were like, hang on,you're doing what you told us
right.
Because many times I would meetin meetings and talk to people
just about right leadership andhow do you engage people and how
do you, and then to actually,when you're doing it, people
took notice and were like, hangon, dude, you're actually doing
what you said you would do.
And I was like, yeah, so I alsotalked about that VP right
(22:49):
early on in my career.
A game changer was for me wasone day when I went to his
office and slammed the door andsort of met him at his level and
he was like because I was justpassionate and I was so
frustrated how he was talking toteam members and he was like,
dude, settle down.
But it turned for us at thatpoint All of a sudden, sudden we
became peers and not he wasright, he had his title.
(23:10):
So that was a, yeah, big change.
Right For that relationship.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, so flipping from from business world to more
of the, you know family faith.
You know the real lifeleadership, we'll call it.
You know you've been marriedalmost 40 years, yep, five
kiddos.
How would you say you balancebeing present at home with your
(23:36):
wife, kids, high stress job.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
What did that look like for you?
You know, I would tell you thisno-transcript took care of the
(24:13):
family and took care of the kids.
When I was with united airlines, my first 10 years, I was on
midnights and in our first fiveyears of marriage we had four of
our kids, four out of our fivekids in the first five years.
So imagine me coming home at 8o'clock in the morning after
working all night, right, andthose kids are up and they're
like, right, wow.
And Lisa was like, oh boy, herewe go.
And that was for 10 years.
(24:34):
So, and here's the other thingI would tell you, lisa and I I
married my wife.
Our ultimate goal was to raiseour kids and see our kids leave
right life.
Our ultimate goal was to raiseour kids and see our kids leave
right, and so we wanted, we madesure we did date nights, we
made sure that, right, once aweek we had our time, because I
never wanted to end up havingour kids leave and then not
(24:56):
knowing each other, and so so tothis day, we're empty nesters.
We've been empty nesters forquite a while now and, um, yeah,
we're, we're looking at thatnext stage now, of right, what
do we do in retirement, where dowe want to go?
Yeah, we're looking at thatnext stage now of right what do
we do in retirement, where do wewant to go?
And we're on the same page.
So I think it's having balanceand understanding, right, what
your role is too, but you haveto talk about those things as
well.
So sometimes people say thattheir child is their best friend
(25:19):
, and I'm like no, they're not,they're my kid right, they're my
child.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
My best friend is my wife.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I sleep with her, right, I mean that's just.
And then she would tell you thesame thing if she was sitting
here right now, I think too.
So, yeah, and there's and it's.
We've had some challenges, youknow, with with different jobs
that I've had, with we've moveda couple of times and moved our
kids, and that was not easy.
You know, when you pick up andand move to a different state
(25:45):
and you have five kids and theycome into a new place, a new
school, no friends have to buildthose friends, and then a year
later you move again.
I mean we had some challengesthere as well.
So, but we're on the same pageand it works out right.
You just keep going.
So yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I know you.
You and Lisa are, you know,faithful people.
What?
What role has faith played inyour leadership journey?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Yeah, faith is a huge piece of who we are and what we
are.
We've been very active in ourchurch.
You know I told you I'm IrishCatholic, lisa and I.
That's how we raised our kidsright In the Catholic faith we
we have.
We're very close with ourpriest in the last church.
We're at very close.
We did a lot of things right inthe Catholic faith.
We're very close with ourpriest in the last church.
We were at very close.
We did a lot of things right.
We taught some CCD on Sundays,right, and we were in the crazy
(26:33):
choirs and things like that.
I mean, we were very involvedand our kids were involved,
right, and that's what we drawon in difficult times and in
great times, right, we draw onour faith.
So, yeah, and that's the way wewere raised.
We were raised both of us, andthat's the way we raised our
kids.
(26:54):
I mean so listen, if I wasn't abeliever, I don't know how I
would have gotten through someof the things that I've gotten
through.
You know, you talked about 9-11earlier and this is just an
example of how I sort of see theworld.
There was a priest that had alittle mass, non-denominational
mass for all of us that had beenworking with these families,
(27:15):
and so he opened it up towardsthe end and he said how are you
guys doing?
And this one gal that was there, she said well, I have to be
honest with you, she goes.
I'm not even sure why I'msitting here with you, because I
don't know if there is a God,and when I see all this
destruction and all this deathand all she goes, I don't get it
.
Why would he let that happen?
And the priest that was theresaid wow, I see it a little bit
(27:37):
differently.
So what I see is look at allthe people that came to help
these people out.
Look at all the firemen.
Look at all the police officers.
Look at yourselves, look at allthe love, look at the people
now that don't see color, thatjust see human beings and are
helping each other.
And so it's your perspective,right, how do you see the world?
And so so to me, but that comesfrom your faith too.
So, or at least for me, that'swhere it comes from.
(27:58):
So so that's an example of youknow sort of how I try and live.
And am I perfect?
Absolutely not, but I don'tbelieve any of us are perfect
right.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
So, yeah, I mean, I tell people often it's like, as
a believer, it's one of thebiggest you know places of
tension, at least in my lifepersonally, of I want to live a
life.
You know that god has set outfor me.
And then you bring in the humanaspect and you know you always
want to live a life.
You know that God has set outfor me, and then you bring in
(28:28):
the human aspect and you knowyou always want to try and do
the right thing and thetemptation of, you know, just
being a human Right, it's sodifficult, yeah, right, and it's
the when you're, when you'retrying to lead people who may
not see the world the way you do, finding common ground with
them.
I think, as always, like that'sthe sweet spot of leadership.
You can find common ground withanyone.
(28:50):
But, yeah, faith, faith is a bigone especially you know, in our
company itself, I think, isit's a, it's a layer of
foundation.
I would say we're, you know,the only company that I know of
in the area, with two, twocompany chaplains and, you know,
a leadership development teamof I don't even know what we're
at now 11, 14, something likethat, more and more.
(29:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
I think all in there's 20 plus people that work
on the culture side, right Ofphilanthropy, of giving back to
the community of two chaplainsat a publicly traded company.
I mean, where do you hear that?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah Right, it's unheard of.
I mean, where do you hear that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Right, it's unheard of, yeah Right.
And then there are all theseleadership directors and
leadership coordinators thatwork with people to just try and
help them out and, just right,give them ideas and walk them
through the difficult things.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
What advice would you give young leaders who are also
trying to be, you know, greathusbands or great wives?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I would say my advice stay humble, be honest, earn
the trust, earn the trust ofyour people.
Make sure you have integrity,whether someone's watching you
or not.
Right, and I think it's so easy.
There's so many things outthere that can take us off of
our mark right now.
(30:04):
Right, look at social media,look at cell phones.
I mean there's so many thingsthat are sitting out there that
can always pull us away.
I mean there's so many thingsthat are sitting out there, that
can always pull us away, and sosometimes it's just having that
space of just silence, of justgetting rid of the noise for a
while.
I'm a big reader.
I never used to be a big reader, but Joe Gillum taught me to
(30:25):
pick books up.
Like he said, if you don't putanything up here in your head,
you have nothing else to sharewith people.
So true leaders are lifetimelearners.
So I would tell others what arethose things that you're
reading, to grow and tochallenge yourself, and just
like you guys are doing righthere, looking, how do you become
that 1%?
(30:46):
How do you challenge yourself?
It's easy to just float andjust get by, but if you want to
be the best of the best, you'vegot to do something about it,
right, so take some action.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So something that popped in my head um earlier,
when bill was talking about theintentional time that him and
lisa make for one another.
I mean that I I see that in himreal life, um, you know there's
.
You know work can be a grindyou know, especially in in the
role that bill plays.
You know it's a a high stress.
A lot of people, um, I canalways tell when, when he's, you
(31:21):
know, burning it there and himand lisa aren't getting their
time because he'll call me, belike, hey, I'm taking my bride
out of town, I'll let you, youknow when I'm back.
I'm like do your thing, man.
You got to keep mama happy.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, I have those break points, right, where, yeah
, all of a sudden, and manytimes it's her that will remind
me hey, look, guess what, we'regetting out of here for a few
days, right, because you're likeout of your mind and I'm like,
all right, let's go tell her ohreally, I'm out of my mind.
Well, I got to go to work then,just right, so yeah, so it's,
yeah, it's that balance.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
From the business perspective.
You know, obviously you'vewatched, you know the leadership
role evolve over time,especially with the different
generations coming up.
What would you say is you knowone piece of advice that you
would give the next generationof leaders?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
You know, put your head down and work hard.
That's what I would say.
Right, I think there's, I thinkthere's a lot of leaders these
days that just think theydeserve it, they should just get
it, should just come to themright, and and they don't want
to put in the hard work, theydon't want to put in the extra
hours.
I get it.
There's a balance between goingto work and being with your
(32:36):
family.
But I look at work as that'sthe way I support my family and
so to me, yeah, go do the workright.
There's a reason we say goingto work right, it's not easy.
So to me, as a young leader,don't have it in your head that
(32:57):
it's an easy ride, that it'sgoing to be easy.
You have to understand that ifyou really want to get it,
you've got to put in the work.
So, yeah, that's advice I wouldgive them.
Right, go get it.
So don't wait for someone tohand it to you.
Yeah, go get it, so don't waitfor someone to hand it to you
yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
You know, here's a deeper, maybe a deeper level
question.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
But what's one truth you've learned that took you
decades to fully embrace?
I would probably say earningsomeone's trust and then keeping
it.
You work your tail off to earnsomeone's trust, but you can
lose it in a heartbeat.
And you can lose it becausethey hear something about you,
or they hear something on therumor mill or whatever, and all
(33:50):
of a sudden they because we'reso quick to just buy someone's
story.
So, yeah, to me it's anever-ending battle to earn the
trust of your people and thenhang on to it, and it's
frustrating at times, for me too, right, because it's almost
like you're almost trying todefend yourself.
And so I would say another thingthat for me that's important is
(34:10):
know who you are.
I don't sometimes worry whatpeople think of me.
I mean, I care, I don't want tobe known as a jerk, but yet I
know who I am too right, and youhave to be okay with who you
are, because there's plenty ofpeople that right have their own
opinion of us and they don'teven they've never spent any
time with us to know us, right.
(34:30):
So so I would also say that,right, at a certain stage, young
in my career, I would tell you,and many times even sometimes
at this stage in my career Ihear people that don't buy in or
right or add some hearsay aboutme and it frustrates me and
then I go hang on.
I know who I am, I know wheremy heart's at, I know what my
(34:51):
intentions, true intentions, are.
So you have to let some of thatstuff go too right.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So I mean, you and I just had a conversation about
this a couple weeks ago.
Right, you know you earn trustin drops and you lose it in
buckets, yep, yep.
And it couldn't be more true.
And you know there are timeswhen it's something that you
have no control over.
Right, the rumor mill.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
It's a thing, it's real.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
It is real.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Yes, Yep.
So final question from me.
But so when everything elsefades, the VP title is gone, the
achievements over the years,the applause for the great
things what do you hope peopleclosest to you say about the way
you led, the way you loved andthe way you lived?
Speaker 1 (35:47):
What do I hope they say?
Well, one I hope that it right.
My family sees me as right, agreat husband, great dad, a
provider, right someone thatright took care of them.
I would hope people that I workwith not miss me but almost
(36:11):
like I do to Joe.
Joe had such an influence on meI mean, he never worked for the
same company that I did but hehad such an influence of just
being honest and someone ofintegrity and someone that would
hold me accountable and someonethat would tell me what I
needed to hear not always what Iwanted to hear, right and so I
hope someday people that I'veimpacted say, hey, you changed
(36:32):
the way I thought, or you helpedme out in difficult times, or
you gave me some advice that Istill use today or I pass on to
others.
So, yeah, I hope that I'mleaving some nuggets out there
somewhere where someone else cantake it and reuse it, because
that's what I did with that guy.
I reused a lot of his materialright, because it worked,
(36:52):
because I knew that it right, ithelped me.
So, yeah, that's what I hopehappens.
Time will tell right, time willtell, time will tell hopefully
not too soon.
Yeah, hopefully not too soon Imean not real soon, but right
jake you got anything before weclose out.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Well, he said he's an avid reader.
Now um, one of my questions Ido have is what book or books
has made the biggest impact onyou that you've read?
Speaker 1 (37:24):
I would um on the leadership side.
Yeah, the master coach, I think, is one of the greatest, right?
Um?
Greg thompson that wrote thatbook.
Um, he just, he gives 60different questions throughout
that book.
That um, that challenge you andcan challenge others, right?
He?
Um, he always talks about notgiving any answers but just
(37:46):
asking a lot of questions.
Um, I love the stuff thatmatthew out with.
I really enjoy Matthew Kelly,patrick Lencioni.
I think he's just wonderful.
I mean, there's some of myfavorites.
I can tell you I have probably500 books at my house that I've
read.
I mean, my kids are grown andat the house and they still are
like Dad, seriously, anotherleadership book.
(38:07):
I mean, what the hell's thematter with you?
I mean, look at that wall.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So I just have.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
There's so many.
There's a.
There's a great book called thesilent alarm.
Um, yeah, silent alarm is agreat, great book about not to
kill the story, but it's aboutpeople that right Are always
going to work and it's all aboutwork and it's all about right
there title and everything, andand um, and they find out they
have an accident and it's awake-up call.
That was the silent alarm thatwoke them up to say what's it
really all about?
Because their whole family wasleaving them while they were so
(38:38):
focused on work and they thoughtthey were doing a great job
trying to support their family.
So that was a great book for meto go hey, slow down, and you
better make sure you take careof home, right?
So yeah, Okay.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yeah, I mean for anyone that's in the.
You know the service industry.
Within the last handful ofmonths, bill and I both have
read Unreasonable Hospitality,which was phenomenal, and then
also the Pursuit of HappinessYep, happiness Advantage.
Yeah, that's what it was, sean.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Aker is yeah, he's.
That's a great.
It changes your mindset tofocus on what's right and what's
positive versus what's negative, and we're bombarded with
things that are negative.
Right, oh yeah, turn on thenews and I mean, that's all you
hear.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Right there.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
But in the last 30 seconds I guarantee you.
Watch tonight the last 30seconds.
You'll get one right After thatlast commercial.
One nice little story and thenboom, you're done.
But you've already been justbarraged with what's bad about
the world, people, everything.
So I stay away from it.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Shut the news off, right on yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Yeah, seriously, yep, yeah, I like to you know my
leadership philosophy to youguys is really centered around
what you do right, not what youdo wrong.
It's not that I don't want youto improve, but I would tell you
this If I continue to tell youwhat you're doing wrong,
eventually you will get themindset that I can't please that
(39:57):
guy and you'll just give up.
Right, you'll just be statusquo, you'll just get by.
But if I, if I, focus on whatyou're doing right, right, you
will long for more of thatrecognition and you will raise
the bar right Because it feelsgood, and so it doesn't mean not
holding people accountable andnot coaching them up when they
need it.
But I focus more on what you'redoing right versus wrong, and
(40:22):
I've seen many times in myorganization it just continues.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
That's huge, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean I get the privilege tosit in on in a lot of Bill's
meetings that he has with hiscore team and it's a constant
conversation of hey, let's catchpeople doing the right thing
versus the wrong thing.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, it's easy to point blame to people and it's
even easier, honestly, if you'relooking for it, to find good
things about them.
And man, it was funny when Ifirst got into our care center
that we have right now.
I'm a big believer that Ilisten to phone calls, right.
We get phone calls fromcustomers, right, and usually
(41:01):
they're calling becausesomething's not right, and so I
would listen to that call.
And then I would call a teammember and I'd say, hey, I just
listened to your call.
Oh, why are you listening to mycall?
What am I doing wrong?
What are you trying to find?
What am I doing wrong?
What are you trying to find?
What am I?
I was like whoa, whoa, whoa, youdid a great job on that call,
right, and you defused thatperson and, by the way, you took
care of him and it was awesomeand I just wanted to thank you
for doing that.
And they're like really, I waslike yeah, oh, okay, Thanks.
(41:23):
And after a while people wouldnow come up to me and they'd go
dude, did you hear that call Ijust had?
It was unbelievable, Dude, yougot to listen to my call.
So at first they were like stayaway from my calls and now
they're like dude, you shouldcheck this one out.
It's pretty good and I'm like,okay, I'll check it out.
So it works right.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah you flip a switch, yeah, yeah.
So I think society is just,it's trained.
So Management, yeah, right, notleadership, no.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Management.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
To catch people doing wrong.
Yep, yep, and it's just theabsolute wrong way to go about
it.
Yeah, yep, it's not leadership.
No, no, it's not.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Well, Bill, this has been awesome.
Oh yeah, I appreciate you, yourlegacy, your leadership.
You are impacting more peoplethan you know every day and I
appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Thank you, yep, thank you.
Yeah, you have to stay humble,right, and hopefully it keeps
going.
So I'm not perfect, I don'tright, never seen myself as
being perfect, but I keep tryingto swing the bat right and help
people out.
So, yeah, it's fun.
Thanks for having me, you guys.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
I'm glad you came Appreciate you you bet, and if
anyone's searching for Bill onInstagram, you can find him.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
He's on Instagram.
He is on Instagram.
Oh, we need your IG handle.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
I am on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I can put his IG handle on Magic Bill.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Really.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
It's one of his many talents.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
Bill is a magician as well, so what is your Instagram
Magic?
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Is that all?
It is Magic, bill, or there'ssome numbers in there?
I think there's some numbers inthere.
Seven.
I don't know, I'll pitch it inthere.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
He sends me reels all the time.
Yeah, it's in there.
He knows how to send andreceive.
That's about where it ends.
That is pretty close.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
There's a lot of good things on there though, like I
said, I've designed my searchfeed where I can learn from
things on there instead of thebull crap that's on there.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
It's like TikTok's the same way it's all in what
you're looking for I don't havea tiktok, yeah instagram's a lot
better, I feel yeah, you see, Idon't even know how to figure
out, how to find it.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
I'll show you I'll put it in there.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Awesome thanks for listening guys.
If you got guys, If you foundvalue in this, please tag us,
share it, reach out withquestions.
We'd love to continue impactingeverybody that's listening and
we're thankful for all of you.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Oh yeah, for sure, till next time See you, We'll
see you.
Yeah, one of my roles at United I was on what we call
a go team.
So anytime there was anaircraft incident, there was a
certain number of people 13people that would go to that
incident.
Right, and we would work withfamily members and we would so.
But 9-11 was very different forus.
We had two aircrafts that wentdown, one in the tower, one in
Shanksville, pennsylvania, andwhat was so different is that
(00:23):
back then, if you think about it, we had pagers.
We didn't have cell phones thatwe walked around with, so you
had a pager with you when yougot that 911, we always had to
have a bag with us and you'd goto the airport and you'd get on
the airplane and off you'd go tothe incident.
Well, at 9-11, everything wasgrounded and so we were out of
Chicago and we had to takewhoever right thought that they
(00:44):
could handle it and come with us.
And we had to build a differentteam and we got on an airplane.
The day after, on 9-12, 8o'clock in the morning, we were
the only airplane in the sky.
You guys and we were off toNewark to go meet with family
members and we were surroundedas we left O'Hare and got over
Lake Michigan, we weresurrounded by four aircraft,
four military aircraft thatescorted us right to Newark
(01:05):
Airport.
Speaker 3 (01:31):
Welcome back to the Go All In podcast.
I'm Jake Fine and I'm BraxtonCave and, as promised, we are
bringing you guys anotherspecial guest and here today.
I am not going to go too deepinto his introduction and bio,
because we're going to let himwalk us through that.
To go too deep into hisintroduction and bio, because
we're going to let him walk usthrough that.
But this man has been, over thelast 10 years, a great mentor
to me, a colleague, a businesspartner, but, most importantly,
(01:53):
over the last 10 years, it'sbeen really cool to call him
friend.
And so, without further ado, mrBill Coughlin, welcome to the
podcast.
Speaker 1 (02:02):
Thank you, Brax.
Jake, good to be here.
Glad you're here.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
So tell us a little bit about Bill.
Speaker 1 (02:10):
So a little bit about Bill.
So Bill currently is married tomy wife, lisa.
We're going to celebrate 40years this year, so pretty
excited about that.
We have five wonderful kids andthree of those children are
married a couple grandkids andone on the way.
So just had four of our fivekids home for Easter, so it was
(02:34):
fun to have them in the house.
And yeah, I've worked currentlyat Lippert here out of South
Bend, but I've spent time withUnited Airlines 22 years with
United Airlines.
Um, spent eight years with acompany called Mossberg and
company with was a commercialsheet fed printer in South Bend
(02:55):
and, uh, joined Lippert 11 yearsago and it's been a it's just
been a fun ride for the last 11years.
So I grew up in the Chicagolandarea with 13 brothers and
sisters.
Mom and dad had 14 kids in 16years.
So the oldest, my oldestbrother, jim, was 16 when my
youngest sisters were born.
The last ones were identicaltwins and my dad said when they
(03:16):
started to come in twos, it'stime to shut that thing down.
So yeah, it's how we grew upBig family, big Irish Catholic
family and just a lot of fun,still super close.
And so, yeah, it's how we grewup Big family, big Irish
Catholic family and just a lotof fun.
Still super close and so, yeah,family is super important to us
.
Speaker 3 (03:30):
Yeah, and so you know Bill's daughter, rose, and I
went to school together.
We were the same class and soI've known Bill for a long time
and have always thought sohighly of him a long time, um,
and I've always thought sohighly of them.
And then once I got theopportunity to really get to
know him when I started workingat Lipper um, it's just been an
incredible 10 years for me andand, uh, you know a lot of
(03:55):
people talk about you know wetalk a lot on this podcast about
leadership and what that lookslike and and you know the
different fronts whether it'sfamily business you know Bill's
done it at a high level for along time, and so I'd love to
hear you walk us through thatjourney, starting at United
Airlines and kind of your paththere.
(04:15):
I know you work in multipledifferent roles and then also,
while you're on that, tell usabout your mentor that you had
while you were coming up.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
Yeah, I spent like I said.
I spent 22 years at UnitedAirlines and I changed jobs
every two years at United.
But, to be honest, I was ahorrible leader early on.
To me it was about moving up inthe company as fast as I could,
making as much money as I can,trying to support right.
I was newly married, knew wewanted to have kids, I wanted to
support my family and um, and Iwas fortunate because United
saw some potential in me butalso saw that I was going down a
(04:52):
bad path.
So, because I would push people, I mean I would.
I was going to get by everyone,so I would step over whoever I
was.
It was all about me.
And so so I was introduced to agentleman by the name of Joe
Gillum, and Joe Gillum was anoutside consultant to United and
he took me under his wing andthe first time I had to sit with
him he asked me what's yourgoals?
And I said well, my goals areto move up, make as much money
(05:15):
as I can.
He goes, good for you.
Where are you going to get to?
I said to the top man, I'm notgoing to stop till I get to the
top.
And he goes oh, good, good, Ithink you'll get there.
I go well, good for you, I'msure I will get there.
And then he said you knowwhat's going to happen to you
when you get there.
I said what's that?
He said you're going to droplike a rock.
And I said why would you saythat?
And he said it's because of howyou treat people.
He said it's all about you.
And then in those difficulttimes you'll be fortunate that
(05:38):
in difficult times people willhold you up.
They won't walk away and watchyou drop.
And so I worked with Joe Gillumfor 25 years.
He knew my wife, he knew mykids, I knew his family.
I mean, we had a great, great,great relationship.
And the only reason I tell youit was only for 25 years is
(06:01):
after 25 years Joe was out inNorth Carolina to do a speaking
engagement and didn't show upand he had died in his sleep the
night before.
And it was right then that Idecided I wanted to take all the
things that he had taught meand I was going to go in and
just share the same message witheveryone I could.
And so that's how I got myselfinto leadership development.
(06:23):
So my ride at United I wassuccessful because I had a guy
like that that constantly workedwith me, right, and I could
pick up a phone at any giventime and call Joe and ask him
what do you think of this, whatdo you think of that?
And he would gut, check me orhe would say, well, go try it
and then come back and tell mehow it went right, he didn't sit
there and give me answers, hewould just challenge my own
(06:44):
thought process.
So and many times you realizethat a good coach doesn't give
you the answers, he just asksyou a lot of questions.
You have the answers, right.
So so, yeah, he was a, yeah, agreat, great guy, right.
So, and I would say, anotherleader for me is obviously my
parents.
I mean my parents.
When you have a house full ofkids like that, everyone had
(07:07):
jobs, everyone worked together,your family members were your
best friends.
I mean, that's the way we wereraised and it was all about
working hard, right, put yourhead down and just go to work.
So I've had a great career and,yeah, a lot of it because of
people like that that right justgave to me yeah, so so two
decades united airlines.
Speaker 3 (07:27):
You, you know, we all lived through 9-11.
You really lived through it.
I lived through, yeah can you?
Speaker 1 (07:33):
tell us through, walk us through that story and what
your role was at that time yeah,one of my roles at um, at
united I was on what we call ago team.
So anytime there was anaircraft incident, there was a
certain number of people 13people that would go to that
incident.
Right, and we would work withfamily members and we would so.
But 9-11 was very different forus.
(07:54):
We had two aircrafts that wentdown, one in the tower, one in
Shanksville, pennsylvania, andwhat was so different is that
back then, if you think about it, we had pagers.
We didn't have cell phones thatwe walked around with, so you
had a pager with you and whenyou got that 911, we always had
to have a bag with us and you'dgo to the airport and you'd get
on the airplane and off you'd goto the incident.
Well, at 9-11, everything wasgrounded and so we were out of
(08:17):
Chicago and we had to takewhoever thought that they could
handle it and come with us.
And we had to build a differentteam and we got on an airplane
the day after, on 9-12, 8o'clock in the morning, we were
the only airplane in the sky.
You guys and we were off toNewark to go meet with family
members and we were surroundedas we left O'Hare and got over
(08:38):
Lake Michigan, we weresurrounded by four aircraft,
four military aircraft thatescorted us right to Newark
Airport.
That was a life-changing event.
We got on the ground.
There were people all over withright, ak-47s and everything
strapped to them.
You didn't know what washappening.
Next, we set up at a Hiltonright outside the airport and we
(08:59):
started to meet with familymembers.
Right that came.
There were a couple of us thatwent to Ground Zero just because
we had an aircraft there and atthat time you didn't know what
was really left or what they had.
And it was, yeah, it's an eventthat you would never forget,
right, if you were there.
And I worked with a lot ofdifferent family members, right,
(09:19):
that lost loved ones, and itwas very different because
usually we would.
Either it was an aircraft issuethat we had, it was a problem
where it was pilot error, and inthis obviously everyone knew
before we even got there thatright they were hijacked and
they didn't have a shot.
Speaker 3 (09:36):
So, and you were there.
You were at ground zero.
For how long?
Speaker 1 (09:39):
21 days.
21 days I was there.
I was one of the guys that wasthere the longest.
So there were some people, likeI told you, we grabbed some
others that thought they couldhelp and wanted to go work with
families, but when they gotthere and saw the devastation
and then and then you meet withsomeone just lost a loved one,
it's, it's.
You have to be skilled at it,right, and you don't have to
(10:01):
have answers, but you have to bea darn good listener, right,
and have a lot of empathy forpeople.
So, so we had team members thatwere there to work with family
members that we ended up sayingjust go in your hotel room and
don't come back out.
There was no way to send themback home, but there was no way
you could put them in front offamily members, right?
So that was, um, it was crazytime, yep, still to.
(10:24):
Still to this day, all theseyears later, on 9-11, I still
hear right from friends of minethat were right in New York with
me, right at Ground Zero.
Speaker 3 (10:34):
So yeah, and then shortly after, that is when you
transitioned away from Unitedright From.
Speaker 1 (10:41):
United, right, yeah, yeah, to be honest, it was right
.
After that, when I was out inNew York, I got a call because I
had been in South Bend for acouple of years working for
United.
And here in South Bend I sat onan advisory board for the
Center for the Homeless and Imet a gentleman, a local guy,
that owned a business here, andhe had called me after 9-11 and
asked if I would come and workat his company.
And I told him I was at groundzero, working with families, and
(11:04):
he said, hey, give me a calllater.
And so when I got back off thatairplane after 21 days, I was on
a team of 13 people that waslooking at the industry, looking
future of United Airlines, andI was met by my boss and told,
as I got off the airplane beforeI even got home and saw my wife
, hey, your job's beeneliminated, we'll find something
(11:24):
for you, but you're not goingto be doing that job any longer.
And I was like, all right, I'mgoing to go home.
And then Bob was one of theguys that I called and said, hey
, how serious were you aboutthat opportunity?
And so, shortly after 9-11, Ileft, I joined a company here
and I moved right back to SouthBend.
I joined a company here and Imoved right back to South Bend.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
What was the transition like from working
United Airlines kind of a highstress, especially in the end,
very high stress totransitioning to Mossberg?
Speaker 1 (11:56):
What was that like?
So there was a transition there.
There was another company thatI worked with called Corporate
Services, and I worked with themfor two years and that was
setting up a care center forthem, a call center.
They were a fulfillment companyhere, local, and so I helped
them set up a call center.
After two years of doing that,united called me back and said,
hey, would you come back andwork with us?
So I went back to United forfive years and ran five
(12:19):
different call centers for them,and then it was after that that
I left Because those callcenters for them.
And then it was after that thatI I left because those call
centers they had unionized.
And after they unionized,united actually shipped the work
out.
It went to India and it went tothe Philippines, and so we shut
down.
Out of 17 call centers that wehad, we shut down 15 and we only
had two left.
They wanted us to move back toChicago and my wife and I four
(12:42):
of our kids were in high schoolat that time and we said, no, we
weren't going to move once theywere in high school.
So so then that's when I wentto work for Mossberg.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
So yeah, so you know, you and I we just get to start
working together, and at thattime, you know you were the what
we like to call the OG when itcomes to leadership development
at Lippert.
And so talk to us about, whenyou came over to Lippert, what
(13:12):
your role looked like.
What did the company look likeat that time as compared to
where we're at today?
Speaker 1 (13:18):
You can't even compare what Lippert was like 11
years ago to what it is today.
Honestly.
I mean, when I came in, it wastruly to work on leadership
development and we had agentleman there, a guy by the
name of Mike Gardy, who was aone-man show at that time, and
so he brought me into thisdivision and he introduced me
(13:40):
and I'm not sure if I can, but Ithink I can say it on here.
So I go into this room andthere was a vice president
sitting there and two generalmanagers and I was introduced.
Hey, this is Bill, and he'sgoing to be your leadership
director, right?
And this VP looked and he saidoh, you're going to be a
leadership director, huh, well,go out there and F and lead.
And he pointed out to the plantand I looked at this guy and I
(14:05):
was like.
So I walked up to his desk andI put my hand out to shake his
hand.
He looked at me and he saidwhat are you doing?
I said well, usually when Imeet someone, they stand up and
shake my hand.
This guy grabbed my hand, shookit like I was a three-year-old
kid and threw it to the side.
He goes no, like I told you goout there and F and lead and I
was like, oh my gosh, what am Idoing here?
Long story short, that guy overthe years ended up being just
(14:25):
right, great friends.
But that's where we started,right.
And now you would never seethat at our company.
It's unbelievable, right.
People buy into what we'retrying to do and where we're
trying to go and the communityservice that we give.
But it was tough sledding atthe beginning.
Right for our company and youreally.
Honestly, you just had to lookat who were those early adapters
(14:48):
, who were the people thatwanted to buy in, who knew that
there was a better way to leadthan just a command and control
screaming at people right andit's not that they were bad
people.
It's just that's how they gotresponses.
They got people to do what theywanted them to do.
So it was, yeah, those weresome pretty crazy times early on
.
So I mean, back then we didn't,we didn't have what we call
(15:11):
core values, we didn't have amission statement.
I asked.
I asked the COO at that time, onmy second day in the company.
I said do you have a missionstatement or a vision statement?
He goes what I said like amission statement.
He goes well, I can tell youwe're on a mission.
I go oh good, what is it?
He goes to make as much moneyas we can.
I was like that's not what I'mlooking for, right?
(15:31):
So then I talked about valuesystem.
I said do you have any corevalues?
He goes I can tell you what wevalue.
I said what's that?
He goes making as much money aswe can.
But at United we had core values.
At Mossberg they had corevalues and I just gave them as
samples of them and I said hey,this is what I'm talking about,
and the timing was pretty cool,because the executive team had
(15:53):
gone to Chicago to do astrategic planning meeting and
they came back after four daysand that COO threw a sheet of
paper out in front of Mike and Iand said hey, these are our
five core values.
I don't know what you guys aregoing to do with them, but there
they are.
And to this day, those arestill the five core values,
right, of our company and people.
They know them, they live bythem.
So it was right.
(16:13):
It's been a pretty cool journeythat we didn't change and get
rid of things and reshuffle thedeck.
I mean, it's still how itstarted.
It started.
So it's crazy when you havethose words written down yeah,
you just live by them.
And you know, jake, it's funnybecause at the beginning there
was no definition around them.
Like one of our core values waspassionate about winning.
Well, if I talk to the four ofus, what's winning?
(16:36):
We all might say somethingdifferent right.
I might say getting home to myfamily on time.
You might say making sure myteam members are, you know, safe
.
Brax might say making money.
Right.
So every one of us in heremight say passion about winning.
Winning is different.
So, but once we got definitionbehind it, then people started
(16:56):
to buy in and they understood itRight.
So, and that was with all ofour core values.
Speaker 3 (16:59):
So yeah, and I I've told the story on the podcast
before about how, you know,obviously there was a lot of
skepticism when this firstkicked off and you had to live
through.
You know you're moving a shipat this point right and that
takes a long time and you know,I felt like, you know, I was,
(17:20):
you know, a year and a halfafter, kind of when this all
kind of kicked off.
You know, a year and a halfafter, kind of when once this
all kind of kicked off, and so I, you know I wasn't there from
day one of the culture journey,I would say, but very early and
I've told this story before Ifeel like we really noticed the
culture shift and change whenour CEO really dug his heels in
(17:42):
and said, hey, this is, this isreal, we're going to live by
this.
And when we had senior levelleaders say nope, yeah, and he
said okay, then it's time foryou to move on, absolutely that
opened so many eyes.
Speaker 1 (17:58):
Oh yeah, he made tough calls at the highest level
of the organization and thenpeople knew, ooh, I better get
on board.
This is serious and many timesthat's what you need to change
culture or to really get amessage point to people.
Lead by example.
Speaker 2 (18:14):
Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (18:16):
So building culture.
What does culture really meanto you?
Speaker 1 (18:19):
Yeah, what does culture really mean to me?
I think there's a lot ofdifferent.
There's right ways to dobusiness and wrong ways to do
business, and I say it and it'snot a tagline, but I want people
to come to work because I getto go to work there, not I have
to go to work, and I believethere's so many people that wake
up every day feeling like theyhave to do it, and you don't get
(18:41):
the best out of people whenthey feel that way.
So you have to build anenvironment to me, that values
people, makes sure they feelthat they're trusted, they can
trust their leadership.
I mean, we changed names of.
We don't have employees, wehave team members, because if I
say that you're my employee,it's like I own a piece of you,
right.
But if I say we're team members, it's like we're in this thing
together, right, and everyonejust has a different role to
(19:03):
play on the team.
So so culture to me isdesigning an organization where,
where people feel valued,appreciated and they want to
come in, they want to do theirbest, and I believe that's most
people want to, right.
But but many times we miss themark on letting them know how
much we appreciate what theybring to the table.
Right and I also feel this inmany organizations we don't hold
(19:25):
people accountable the way weshould, right?
We say, man, I want to tellBrax Right what's wrong with him
, but he can't handle it.
No, maybe it's me that can'thandle Right Having a difficult
conversation.
So, as leaders, number onefailure of any leader and Joe
taught me a long time ago is notholding people accountable.
That's when you start to fail.
(19:45):
Yeah, so that's, you know?
That's sort of a snapshot ofhow I see a culture yeah, right.
Speaker 3 (19:52):
So I mean and bill and I have learned this together
it's.
It is extremely hard to changeculture and no matter how well
you think you're doing at it andmaking the right decisions,
like you know, people are peopleand everyone has their own view
of what is a good work,environment or culture, and so
you try your best and I thinkthe biggest thing is just being
(20:14):
consistent every day and notflip flopping all over the place
and the flavor of the week andthis and that, because we've
seen that as well.
But we've seen it and witnessedfirsthand it is really hard to
change culture.
Speaker 2 (20:30):
I feel like you have to find the right person too.
Can you build the person intothe culture?
Are they willing to do the work, or is it finding the right
person that'll do it?
You know what I mean, right?
So it's just like first form,how he built, how they built
that culture right um, you know,with your guys's core values.
(20:50):
You know they have the corevalues in in the room.
You know morning meetings, theygo over all of them.
So but what you guys are doing,it's I mean you, you stamp that
.
You see, those core values, man, it's like when you go in the
bathroom you have somethingwritten down in your mirror and
you, you know your goals it'sjust like that so.
Speaker 1 (21:09):
And you have to live them too.
Yeah so talk's cheap, but youhave to walk the talk.
So, and it it's difficult, Imean we've had ups and we've had
downs too.
So, plenty of them.
Speaker 3 (21:22):
So yeah, looking back over your last you know, let's
just use your Lippert careeryour last 11 years, is there one
leadership decision that youcan think of, that you're most
proud of, or a leadership moment?
Speaker 1 (21:39):
I think if I had to, I would say probably during
COVID was a game changer.
During COVID we shut down a lotof facilities.
I mean, people were going home,right, certain people didn't
want to come back into work.
We changed right, you had tohave a mask and you had to right
all the different things.
I didn't work on the leadershipside.
(22:01):
Then I went back to the floor.
They needed people to right, goback and do the work.
And so I think, being humble anddoing what you need to do to
help the organization out, Imean a couple of times in my
career at Lippert, when I wasasked to go help out in a
certain area, check your titleat the door.
I mean, just roll your sleevesup and go to work.
(22:22):
And so I think that was itgives you a lot of credibility.
People were like, hang on,you're doing what you told us
right.
Because many times I would meetin meetings and talk to people
just about right leadership andhow do you engage people and how
do you, and then to actually,when you're doing it, people
took notice and were like, hangon, dude, you're actually doing
what you said you would do.
And I was like, yeah, so I alsotalked about that VP right
(22:49):
early on in my career.
A game changer was for me wasone day when I went to his
office and slammed the door andsort of met him at his level and
he was like because I was justpassionate and I was so
frustrated how he was talking toteam members and he was like,
dude, settle down.
But it turned for us at thatpoint All of a sudden, sudden we
became peers and not he wasright, he had his title.
(23:10):
So that was a, yeah, big change.
Right For that relationship.
Speaker 3 (23:15):
Yeah, so flipping from from business world to more
of the, you know family faith.
You know the real lifeleadership, we'll call it.
You know you've been marriedalmost 40 years, yep, five
kiddos.
How would you say you balancebeing present at home with your
(23:36):
wife, kids, high stress job.
Speaker 1 (23:41):
What did that look like for you?
You know, I would tell you thisno-transcript took care of the
(24:13):
family and took care of the kids.
When I was with united airlines, my first 10 years, I was on
midnights and in our first fiveyears of marriage we had four of
our kids, four out of our fivekids in the first five years.
So imagine me coming home at 8o'clock in the morning after
working all night, right, andthose kids are up and they're
like, right, wow.
And Lisa was like, oh boy, herewe go.
And that was for 10 years.
(24:34):
So, and here's the other thingI would tell you, lisa and I I
married my wife.
Our ultimate goal was to raiseour kids and see our kids leave
right life.
Our ultimate goal was to raiseour kids and see our kids leave
right, and so we wanted, we madesure we did date nights, we
made sure that, right, once aweek we had our time, because I
never wanted to end up havingour kids leave and then not
(24:56):
knowing each other, and so so tothis day, we're empty nesters.
We've been empty nesters forquite a while now and, um, yeah,
we're, we're looking at thatnext stage now, of right, what
do we do in retirement, where dowe want to go?
Yeah, we're looking at thatnext stage now of right what do
we do in retirement, where do wewant to go?
And we're on the same page.
So I think it's having balanceand understanding, right, what
your role is too, but you haveto talk about those things as
well.
So sometimes people say thattheir child is their best friend
(25:19):
, and I'm like no, they're not,they're my kid right, they're my
child.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
My best friend is my wife.
Speaker 1 (25:25):
I sleep with her, right, I mean that's just.
And then she would tell you thesame thing if she was sitting
here right now, I think too.
So, yeah, and there's and it's.
We've had some challenges, youknow, with with different jobs
that I've had, with we've moveda couple of times and moved our
kids, and that was not easy.
You know, when you pick up andand move to a different state
(25:45):
and you have five kids and theycome into a new place, a new
school, no friends have to buildthose friends, and then a year
later you move again.
I mean we had some challengesthere as well.
So, but we're on the same pageand it works out right.
You just keep going.
So yeah, you know.
Speaker 3 (26:02):
I know you.
You and Lisa are, you know,faithful people.
What?
What role has faith played inyour leadership journey?
Speaker 1 (26:10):
Yeah, faith is a huge piece of who we are and what we
are.
We've been very active in ourchurch.
You know I told you I'm IrishCatholic, lisa and I.
That's how we raised our kidsright In the Catholic faith we
we have.
We're very close with ourpriest in the last church.
We're at very close.
We did a lot of things right inthe Catholic faith.
We're very close with ourpriest in the last church.
We were at very close.
We did a lot of things right.
We taught some CCD on Sundays,right, and we were in the crazy
(26:33):
choirs and things like that.
I mean, we were very involvedand our kids were involved,
right, and that's what we drawon in difficult times and in
great times, right, we draw onour faith.
So, yeah, and that's the way wewere raised.
We were raised both of us, andthat's the way we raised our
kids.
(26:54):
I mean so listen, if I wasn't abeliever, I don't know how I
would have gotten through someof the things that I've gotten
through.
You know, you talked about 9-11earlier and this is just an
example of how I sort of see theworld.
There was a priest that had alittle mass, non-denominational
mass for all of us that had beenworking with these families,
(27:15):
and so he opened it up towardsthe end and he said how are you
guys doing?
And this one gal that was there, she said well, I have to be
honest with you, she goes.
I'm not even sure why I'msitting here with you, because I
don't know if there is a God,and when I see all this
destruction and all this deathand all she goes, I don't get it
.
Why would he let that happen?
And the priest that was theresaid wow, I see it a little bit
(27:37):
differently.
So what I see is look at allthe people that came to help
these people out.
Look at all the firemen.
Look at all the police officers.
Look at yourselves, look at allthe love, look at the people
now that don't see color, thatjust see human beings and are
helping each other.
And so it's your perspective,right, how do you see the world?
And so so to me, but that comesfrom your faith too.
So, or at least for me, that'swhere it comes from.
(27:58):
So so that's an example of youknow sort of how I try and live.
And am I perfect?
Absolutely not, but I don'tbelieve any of us are perfect
right.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
So, yeah, I mean, I tell people often it's like, as
a believer, it's one of thebiggest you know places of
tension, at least in my lifepersonally, of I want to live a
life.
You know that god has set outfor me.
And then you bring in the humanaspect and you know you always
want to live a life.
You know that God has set outfor me, and then you bring in
(28:28):
the human aspect and you knowyou always want to try and do
the right thing and thetemptation of, you know, just
being a human Right, it's sodifficult, yeah, right, and it's
the when you're, when you'retrying to lead people who may
not see the world the way you do, finding common ground with
them.
I think, as always, like that'sthe sweet spot of leadership.
You can find common ground withanyone.
(28:50):
But, yeah, faith, faith is a bigone especially you know, in our
company itself, I think, isit's a, it's a layer of
foundation.
I would say we're, you know,the only company that I know of
in the area, with two, twocompany chaplains and, you know,
a leadership development teamof I don't even know what we're
at now 11, 14, something likethat, more and more.
(29:11):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (29:11):
I think all in there's 20 plus people that work
on the culture side, right Ofphilanthropy, of giving back to
the community of two chaplainsat a publicly traded company.
I mean, where do you hear that?
Speaker 2 (29:21):
Yeah Right, it's unheard of.
I mean, where do you hear that?
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (29:23):
Right, it's unheard of, yeah Right.
And then there are all theseleadership directors and
leadership coordinators thatwork with people to just try and
help them out and, just right,give them ideas and walk them
through the difficult things.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
So yeah, yeah.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
What advice would you give young leaders who are also
trying to be, you know, greathusbands or great wives?
Speaker 1 (29:44):
I would say my advice stay humble, be honest, earn
the trust, earn the trust ofyour people.
Make sure you have integrity,whether someone's watching you
or not.
Right, and I think it's so easy.
There's so many things outthere that can take us off of
our mark right now.
(30:04):
Right, look at social media,look at cell phones.
I mean there's so many thingsthat are sitting out there that
can always pull us away.
I mean there's so many thingsthat are sitting out there, that
can always pull us away, and sosometimes it's just having that
space of just silence, of justgetting rid of the noise for a
while.
I'm a big reader.
I never used to be a big reader, but Joe Gillum taught me to
(30:25):
pick books up.
Like he said, if you don't putanything up here in your head,
you have nothing else to sharewith people.
So true leaders are lifetimelearners.
So I would tell others what arethose things that you're
reading, to grow and tochallenge yourself, and just
like you guys are doing righthere, looking, how do you become
that 1%?
(30:46):
How do you challenge yourself?
It's easy to just float andjust get by, but if you want to
be the best of the best, you'vegot to do something about it,
right, so take some action.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
So something that popped in my head um earlier,
when bill was talking about theintentional time that him and
lisa make for one another.
I mean that I I see that in himreal life, um, you know there's
.
You know work can be a grindyou know, especially in in the
role that bill plays.
You know it's a a high stress.
A lot of people, um, I canalways tell when, when he's, you
(31:21):
know, burning it there and himand lisa aren't getting their
time because he'll call me, belike, hey, I'm taking my bride
out of town, I'll let you, youknow when I'm back.
I'm like do your thing, man.
You got to keep mama happy.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
Yeah, I have those break points, right, where, yeah
, all of a sudden, and manytimes it's her that will remind
me hey, look, guess what, we'regetting out of here for a few
days, right, because you're likeout of your mind and I'm like,
all right, let's go tell her ohreally, I'm out of my mind.
Well, I got to go to work then,just right, so yeah, so it's,
yeah, it's that balance.
Speaker 3 (31:59):
From the business perspective.
You know, obviously you'vewatched, you know the leadership
role evolve over time,especially with the different
generations coming up.
What would you say is you knowone piece of advice that you
would give the next generationof leaders?
Speaker 1 (32:16):
You know, put your head down and work hard.
That's what I would say.
Right, I think there's, I thinkthere's a lot of leaders these
days that just think theydeserve it, they should just get
it, should just come to themright, and and they don't want
to put in the hard work, theydon't want to put in the extra
hours.
I get it.
There's a balance between goingto work and being with your
(32:36):
family.
But I look at work as that'sthe way I support my family and
so to me, yeah, go do the workright.
There's a reason we say goingto work right, it's not easy.
So to me, as a young leader,don't have it in your head that
(32:57):
it's an easy ride, that it'sgoing to be easy.
You have to understand that ifyou really want to get it,
you've got to put in the work.
So, yeah, that's advice I wouldgive them.
Right, go get it.
So don't wait for someone tohand it to you.
Yeah, go get it, so don't waitfor someone to hand it to you
yeah.
Speaker 3 (33:13):
You know, here's a deeper, maybe a deeper level
question.
Speaker 1 (33:25):
But what's one truth you've learned that took you
decades to fully embrace?
I would probably say earningsomeone's trust and then keeping
it.
You work your tail off to earnsomeone's trust, but you can
lose it in a heartbeat.
And you can lose it becausethey hear something about you,
or they hear something on therumor mill or whatever, and all
(33:50):
of a sudden they because we'reso quick to just buy someone's
story.
So, yeah, to me it's anever-ending battle to earn the
trust of your people and thenhang on to it, and it's
frustrating at times, for me too, right, because it's almost
like you're almost trying todefend yourself.
And so I would say another thingthat for me that's important is
(34:10):
know who you are.
I don't sometimes worry whatpeople think of me.
I mean, I care, I don't want tobe known as a jerk, but yet I
know who I am too right, and youhave to be okay with who you
are, because there's plenty ofpeople that right have their own
opinion of us and they don'teven they've never spent any
time with us to know us, right.
(34:30):
So so I would also say that,right, at a certain stage, young
in my career, I would tell you,and many times even sometimes
at this stage in my career Ihear people that don't buy in or
right or add some hearsay aboutme and it frustrates me and
then I go hang on.
I know who I am, I know wheremy heart's at, I know what my
(34:51):
intentions, true intentions, are.
So you have to let some of thatstuff go too right.
Speaker 3 (34:56):
So I mean, you and I just had a conversation about
this a couple weeks ago.
Right, you know you earn trustin drops and you lose it in
buckets, yep, yep.
And it couldn't be more true.
And you know there are timeswhen it's something that you
have no control over.
Right, the rumor mill.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (35:15):
It's a thing, it's real.
Speaker 1 (35:16):
It is real.
Speaker 3 (35:17):
Yes, Yep.
So final question from me.
But so when everything elsefades, the VP title is gone, the
achievements over the years,the applause for the great
things what do you hope peopleclosest to you say about the way
you led, the way you loved andthe way you lived?
Speaker 1 (35:47):
What do I hope they say?
Well, one I hope that it right.
My family sees me as right, agreat husband, great dad, a
provider, right someone thatright took care of them.
I would hope people that I workwith not miss me but almost
(36:11):
like I do to Joe.
Joe had such an influence on meI mean, he never worked for the
same company that I did but hehad such an influence of just
being honest and someone ofintegrity and someone that would
hold me accountable and someonethat would tell me what I
needed to hear not always what Iwanted to hear, right and so I
hope someday people that I'veimpacted say, hey, you changed
(36:32):
the way I thought, or you helpedme out in difficult times, or
you gave me some advice that Istill use today or I pass on to
others.
So, yeah, I hope that I'mleaving some nuggets out there
somewhere where someone else cantake it and reuse it, because
that's what I did with that guy.
I reused a lot of his materialright, because it worked,
(36:52):
because I knew that it right, ithelped me.
So, yeah, that's what I hopehappens.
Time will tell right, time willtell, time will tell hopefully
not too soon.
Yeah, hopefully not too soon Imean not real soon, but right
jake you got anything before weclose out.
Speaker 2 (37:14):
Well, he said he's an avid reader.
Now um, one of my questions Ido have is what book or books
has made the biggest impact onyou that you've read?
Speaker 1 (37:24):
I would um on the leadership side.
Yeah, the master coach, I think, is one of the greatest, right?
Um?
Greg thompson that wrote thatbook.
Um, he just, he gives 60different questions throughout
that book.
That um, that challenge you andcan challenge others, right?
He?
Um, he always talks about notgiving any answers but just
(37:46):
asking a lot of questions.
Um, I love the stuff thatmatthew out with.
I really enjoy Matthew Kelly,patrick Lencioni.
I think he's just wonderful.
I mean, there's some of myfavorites.
I can tell you I have probably500 books at my house that I've
read.
I mean, my kids are grown andat the house and they still are
like Dad, seriously, anotherleadership book.
(38:07):
I mean, what the hell's thematter with you?
I mean, look at that wall.
Speaker 2 (38:17):
So I just have.
Speaker 1 (38:17):
There's so many.
There's a.
There's a great book called thesilent alarm.
Um, yeah, silent alarm is agreat, great book about not to
kill the story, but it's aboutpeople that right Are always
going to work and it's all aboutwork and it's all about right
there title and everything, andand um, and they find out they
have an accident and it's awake-up call.
That was the silent alarm thatwoke them up to say what's it
really all about?
Because their whole family wasleaving them while they were so
(38:38):
focused on work and they thoughtthey were doing a great job
trying to support their family.
So that was a great book for meto go hey, slow down, and you
better make sure you take careof home, right?
So yeah, Okay.
Speaker 3 (38:49):
Yeah, I mean for anyone that's in the.
You know the service industry.
Within the last handful ofmonths, bill and I both have
read Unreasonable Hospitality,which was phenomenal, and then
also the Pursuit of HappinessYep, happiness Advantage.
Yeah, that's what it was, sean.
Speaker 1 (39:06):
Aker is yeah, he's.
That's a great.
It changes your mindset tofocus on what's right and what's
positive versus what's negative, and we're bombarded with
things that are negative.
Right, oh yeah, turn on thenews and I mean, that's all you
hear.
Speaker 2 (39:17):
Right there.
Speaker 1 (39:18):
But in the last 30 seconds I guarantee you.
Watch tonight the last 30seconds.
You'll get one right After thatlast commercial.
One nice little story and thenboom, you're done.
But you've already been justbarraged with what's bad about
the world, people, everything.
So I stay away from it.
Speaker 2 (39:34):
Shut the news off, right on yeah.
Speaker 1 (39:36):
Yeah, seriously, yep, yeah, I like to you know my
leadership philosophy to youguys is really centered around
what you do right, not what youdo wrong.
It's not that I don't want youto improve, but I would tell you
this If I continue to tell youwhat you're doing wrong,
eventually you will get themindset that I can't please that
(39:57):
guy and you'll just give up.
Right, you'll just be statusquo, you'll just get by.
But if I, if I, focus on whatyou're doing right, right, you
will long for more of thatrecognition and you will raise
the bar right Because it feelsgood, and so it doesn't mean not
holding people accountable andnot coaching them up when they
need it.
But I focus more on what you'redoing right versus wrong, and
(40:22):
I've seen many times in myorganization it just continues.
Speaker 3 (40:26):
That's huge, yeah, yeah, yeah.
I mean I get the privilege tosit in on in a lot of Bill's
meetings that he has with hiscore team and it's a constant
conversation of hey, let's catchpeople doing the right thing
versus the wrong thing.
Speaker 1 (40:39):
Yeah, it's easy to point blame to people and it's
even easier, honestly, if you'relooking for it, to find good
things about them.
And man, it was funny when Ifirst got into our care center
that we have right now.
I'm a big believer that Ilisten to phone calls, right.
We get phone calls fromcustomers, right, and usually
(41:01):
they're calling becausesomething's not right, and so I
would listen to that call.
And then I would call a teammember and I'd say, hey, I just
listened to your call.
Oh, why are you listening to mycall?
What am I doing wrong?
What are you trying to find?
What am I doing wrong?
What are you trying to find?
What am I?
I was like whoa, whoa, whoa, youdid a great job on that call,
right, and you defused thatperson and, by the way, you took
care of him and it was awesomeand I just wanted to thank you
for doing that.
And they're like really, I waslike yeah, oh, okay, Thanks.
(41:23):
And after a while people wouldnow come up to me and they'd go
dude, did you hear that call Ijust had?
It was unbelievable, Dude, yougot to listen to my call.
So at first they were like stayaway from my calls and now
they're like dude, you shouldcheck this one out.
It's pretty good and I'm like,okay, I'll check it out.
So it works right.
Speaker 3 (41:40):
Yeah you flip a switch, yeah, yeah.
So I think society is just,it's trained.
So Management, yeah, right, notleadership, no.
Speaker 2 (41:50):
Management.
Speaker 3 (41:51):
To catch people doing wrong.
Yep, yep, and it's just theabsolute wrong way to go about
it.
Yeah, yep, it's not leadership.
No, no, it's not.
Speaker 1 (42:02):
Yep.
Speaker 3 (42:04):
Well, Bill, this has been awesome.
Oh yeah, I appreciate you, yourlegacy, your leadership.
You are impacting more peoplethan you know every day and I
appreciate you.
Speaker 1 (42:18):
Thank you, yep, thank you.
Yeah, you have to stay humble,right, and hopefully it keeps
going.
So I'm not perfect, I don'tright, never seen myself as
being perfect, but I keep tryingto swing the bat right and help
people out.
So, yeah, it's fun.
Thanks for having me, you guys.
Speaker 3 (42:37):
I'm glad you came Appreciate you you bet, and if
anyone's searching for Bill onInstagram, you can find him.
Speaker 2 (42:44):
He's on Instagram.
He is on Instagram.
Oh, we need your IG handle.
Speaker 1 (42:48):
I am on Instagram.
Speaker 2 (42:49):
I can put his IG handle on Magic Bill.
Speaker 3 (42:53):
Really.
Speaker 2 (42:54):
It's one of his many talents.
Oh yeah.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
Bill is a magician as well, so what is your Instagram
Magic?
Speaker 1 (43:02):
Bill.
Speaker 2 (43:03):
Is that all?
It is Magic, bill, or there'ssome numbers in there?
I think there's some numbers inthere.
Seven.
I don't know, I'll pitch it inthere.
Speaker 3 (43:11):
He sends me reels all the time.
Yeah, it's in there.
He knows how to send andreceive.
That's about where it ends.
That is pretty close.
Speaker 2 (43:20):
There's a lot of good things on there though, like I
said, I've designed my searchfeed where I can learn from
things on there instead of thebull crap that's on there.
Speaker 1 (43:31):
It's like TikTok's the same way it's all in what
you're looking for I don't havea tiktok, yeah instagram's a lot
better, I feel yeah, you see, Idon't even know how to figure
out, how to find it.
Speaker 2 (43:43):
I'll show you I'll put it in there.
Speaker 3 (43:47):
Awesome thanks for listening guys.
If you got guys, If you foundvalue in this, please tag us,
share it, reach out withquestions.
We'd love to continue impactingeverybody that's listening and
we're thankful for all of you.
Speaker 2 (44:02):
Oh yeah, for sure, till next time See you, We'll
see you.
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