February 11, 2025 • 13 mins
Welcome to Grit Nation.
I’m Joe Cadwell the host of the show, and in this episode, I have the pleasure of speaking with jobsite foreman, self-taught communication expert and author of two books on construction leadership, Brian Lousy.
Brian landed on the literary scene with a thud in early 2016 with his book, The Mind-Readers Guide to Supervision, in which he introduced the practice of managing construction projects by intentionally holding back production goals and expectations from his crews.
In this book Brian promotes a supervisory style that requires workers to use their ability to mindread or guess what their foreman or supervisor’s thoughts are, in order to get their work done.
Now after selling nearly a half- dozen copies, he is back with his second work titled,
Git-er Did Dummy: A Guide to Leadership the Lousy Way.
In Git-er Did Dummy, Brian again introduces a unique and unconventional style of leadership, by claiming that a crew’s loyalty and respect can be achieved by using the hazing, belittling, and dismissive behavior techniques taught in his book.
We’ll open our conversation by learning why Brian wanted to write Get-er Did and the philosophy behind it.
Next, we’ll discuss why Brian feels most leadership programs are a waste of time and why he invented the acronym R.A.G.E to deal with conflict resolution on the jobsite and at home.
Brian will then explain why effective leadership communication shouldn’t rely so much on calm, rational and respectful discourse, but more on the volume of your voice.
And we end our conversation by learning why Brian believes derogatory name calling on the job can be an effective tool in inspiring others to reach their fullest potential.
And in case you're still wondering if this is real. It's not. Happy April 1st
The Show Notes
Below are links to leadership programs that may actually help your career.
Breslin Strategies
https://breslin.biz/
Inspire Your People
https://www.inspireyourpeople.com/
Walk the Talk
https://www.walkthetalk.com/
Innovators of nano-technology self drive construction fasteners
Union Home Plus
Union Home Plus helps union members save money when they buy, sell, or finance their home.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Joe Cadwell (00:00):
Welcome to Grit Nation. I'm Joe Cadwell, the
(00:10):
host of the show, and in thisepisode I have the pleasure of
speaking with jobsite foreman,self taught communication expert
and author of two books onconstruction leadership, Brian
Lousy. Brian landed on theliterary scene with a thud in
early 2016. With his book a mindreader's guide to supervision,
in which he introduced thepractice of managing
construction projects byintentionally holding back
(00:31):
production goals andexpectations from his crew. In
his book, Brian promoted ussupervisory style that required
workers to use their ability tomind reader guess what their
foreman or supervisors thoughtswork in order to get their work
done. Now, after selling nearlya half a dozen copies he's back
with a second work titled Get'erDid Dummy - A Guide to
Leadership The Lousy Way. WithGet'er Did Dummy, Brian again
(00:54):
introduces a unique andunconventional style of
leadership by claiming thataccrues loyalty and respect can
be achieved by using his hazing,belittling and dismissive
behavior techniques taught inhis book will open our
conversation by learning whyBrian wanted to write and get
her did and the philosophybehind it. Next we'll discuss
why Brian feels most leadershipprograms are a waste of time,
(01:15):
and why he invented the acronymrage to deal with conflict
resolution on the job site andat home. Brian will then explain
why effective leadershipcommunication shouldn't rely so
much on calm, rational andrespectful discourse more on the
volume of your voice, and willenter Congress conversation by
learning why Brian believesderogatory name calling on the
job can be an effective tool andinspiring others to reach their
(01:38):
fullest potential. After thisepisode, be sure to visit the
show notes to find resourcesthat will actually help you get
ahead in your career. And now onto the show. Brian lousy Welcome
to Grit Nation.
Brian Lousy (01:55):
Hang on a second there, Jim. I put in a fresh
dip.
Joe Cadwell (02:00):
Yeah, sure. No worries, Brian. And by the way,
it said Joe.
Brian Lousy (02:03):
Oh, yeah, sure.
Were you ready to get this thinggoing? Or what?
Joe Cadwell (02:08):
Yeah, yeah, you bet. You're Brian. So again,
thank you so much for takingyour time to be on the show
today. I'm really excited totalk with you about your books
and the new leadership programyou've started. I understand you
developed it to mirror your ownexperiences in the trades. So
what can you tell our listenersabout why you started lousy
leadership? Well, John, Hey,Brian, it's it's Joe.
Brian Lousy (02:28):
Oh, okay. Sorry. So Joe, it's like this. You know,
over the past 30 years, I gaineda lot of experience in
construction. I saw the industrychanged dramatically in my time,
opportunities opened up for allsorts of people to make a decent
living doing what they loved.
Yeah, I
Joe Cadwell (02:43):
agree. It's a totally different world than
when we started.
Brian Lousy (02:47):
Yeah, it is. Some of its good. Some of its not so
good. You know what I mean? Butwith all that change, you know,
some things just didn't need tochange really like what, what's
the way they're treating eachother out on the job, they're
just not giving each otherenough crap nowadays, there's
not enough yelling or namecalling anymore. You know, heck,
even hazing has gone away. So,you know, I said enough's
enough. And I decided to changethat.
Joe Cadwell (03:08):
And that's why you started the Brian lousy
Leadership Program.
Brian Lousy (03:12):
I'm sure it is. You see, there's a lot of programs
out there that claim to teachleadership, but none of them
teach you what it's like in thereal world. You know, these
other programs want you to teachcommunication and collaboration
and blah, blah, blah, but notmine. Brian lousy, teaches
leadership, the lousy way.
Joe Cadwell (03:28):
That's an interesting point you got there,
Brian. You know, it pretty muchgoes against the grain of modern
day leadership philosophy,though.
Brian Lousy (03:36):
Philosophy. And you see that that's the problem. The
nice thing about my program isthere's no philosophy. You
either figure it out, or I findsomeone else who can in the real
world, we don't philosophize. Wepoint we grant and we expect
people to catch on. It's thatsimple.
Joe Cadwell (03:50):
Oh, that sounds kind of like the premise of your
first book the mind reader'sguide to supervision.
Brian Lousy (03:54):
Yeah, sure is, you know, I wrote that book to
counter what I felt was goingwrong in the industry.
Joe Cadwell (03:59):
Gotcha rebuttal to clear, concise, respectful
communication and leadership.
That's interesting. I understandthat book didn't sell too. Well.
Why do you think that is?
Brian Lousy (04:09):
You don't have that. What's that? Your coffee?
Don't a cup?
Joe Cadwell (04:13):
Actually, I'm still using it. Why I need something
to spit him. Dude, you got a cupright to your right, grab that
instead. Alright, so again, yourbook didn't sell too. Well.
Brian, why do you think that is?
Brian Lousy (04:25):
I think maybe it had too many words.
Joe Cadwell (04:27):
Yeah. Okay. So so now let's get into your second
book. Get her did dummy. Thisbook definitely took a different
direction from the norm. Why didyou write a follow up book and
where did you do your researchfor this
Brian Lousy (04:39):
one? There is no research. It's like philosophy.
I wanted to create a book thatdrew up on my experience of what
it was like when I was coming upin the trades, and people
treated me like crap. Iremembered that and I wrote
Joe Cadwell (04:50):
it down. Alright, that's interesting. So go on.
You see,
Brian Lousy (04:54):
I learned the hard way for some real hard asses.
You know, for men who didn'tgive two hoots if you caught on
it Not, you know, like I saidearlier, I had to keep up or
they'd find someone else whowould get her did is my attempt
to pass down that kind ofknowledge. It's not this kumbaya
nonsense.
Joe Cadwell (05:09):
Hey, Brian, I'm gonna have to disagree with you
there. I mean, sure, a lot haschanged in the trades over the
years. But I think one of themost significant shifts has been
the attention given towardsdeveloping real leaders, people
can not only get the job done,but are good at communicating
and motivating their people. Ihate to say it, but your book
seems to be perpetuating somepretty old school attitudes.
Brian Lousy (05:29):
bull puppy, you know, I checked out those other
programs to one to lead gentlystir fry Breslin. None of them
made any sense. There's too manywords, there's not enough real
action.
Joe Cadwell (05:40):
Well, you do got a point there. I mean, most
communication training does usea lot of words. It's kind of the
point. I mean, how we use wordscan be the difference between
building someone up or tearingthem down.
Brian Lousy (05:50):
Exactly. That's why I try not to use them. You know,
I'll let you know what I'mthinking. When I'm getting
ready. You screw up, you'regonna know about it.
Joe Cadwell (05:59):
Yeah, I kind of get that from looking through your
book. I noticed it's pretty muchfilled with pictures of you
yelling.
Brian Lousy (06:06):
You damn right. It is a picture, as they say is
worth 1000 words. Need I saymore?
Joe Cadwell (06:12):
Yeah, but I mean, how does that really teach
anyone about leadership? I mean,seriously, here's a picture of
you yelling at a fence post.
What's that about?
Brian Lousy (06:19):
Oh, that's me practicing vocal projection.
Lousy leadership relies heavilyon your pipes. I believe the
louder you get, the more respectyou get. And that's pretty much
the core of my program.
Joe Cadwell (06:29):
Yelling is the core audio program.
Brian Lousy (06:32):
It works great.
Joe Cadwell (06:33):
Man. Once again, I hate to say I'm gonna disagree
with you. I mean, seriously,I've worked with a lot of folks
whose default was yelling. It'snever helped. It's always made
things a lot worse.
Brian Lousy (06:46):
I'm not sure I'm following. You know, yelling is
a great motivational tool forme. I love seeing people pop
tall when I get pissed. It'skind of a power trip.
Joe Cadwell (06:53):
And that Brian seems to be the problem. I mean,
putting people on edge does notmake them perform better. Your
book even has something calledrage in it. What is rage about?
Brian Lousy (07:04):
Well, thanks for asking Jeff. You see, rage is an
acronym, our ag E. It's atechnique I created to deal with
conflict resolution.
Joe Cadwell (07:13):
Alright, so now it sounds like we're actually
getting to something useful. Sowhat's the R stands for in rage?
Hold
Brian Lousy (07:18):
on, hold on, hold on. You got to ease into rage.
Joe Cadwell (07:22):
What do you mean?
Brian Lousy (07:23):
Well, here's the deal. Rage is used to deal with
conflict, right? Sure. So first,you need to find some conflict.
Pick a topic to discuss worksports politics, it doesn't
really matter. Eventually,someone's going to say something
you don't agree with. That'swhen you rage.
Joe Cadwell (07:38):
So let me get this straight. You use rage when
someone has a point of viewthat's different than your own
Brian Lousy (07:44):
zactly. Now you're getting other people's thoughts.
Just get in the way. Who's gottime for that? So to answer your
question, the R is for React.
Don't worry about listeninganymore. Forget about counting
to 10 or taking a deep breathjust react.
Joe Cadwell (07:59):
It's that simple.
So seriously, that's the er,yeah,
Brian Lousy (08:02):
see reacting is just the first step. Then it's
time to amp up.
Joe Cadwell (08:06):
And that's the A and rage. Sure.
Brian Lousy (08:09):
I mean, if someone's not agreeing with you,
things are about to get real.
Therefore you need to get amped
Joe Cadwell (08:14):
it sounds like amping up is escalating the
situation. I thought this wassupposed to be conflict
resolution. I hate to ask butwhat's the G stands for get a
gun? G
Brian Lousy (08:25):
means get close.
Closer, the better get right upin their face. You need to let
whoever you're dealing with knowthat you mean business buddy.
Joe Cadwell (08:34):
Holy smokes. That doesn't sound too smart. To me.
It's almost like you're lookingfor a fight.
Brian Lousy (08:39):
Well, funny. You should say that because I want
to try to rage on my kids karateinstructor and that didn't go
too well. Yeah, imagine that.
Kind of change the E up after
Joe Cadwell (08:48):
that. So let me guess. After that conflict, you
must have changed the E tosomething like engage in
respectful conversation.
Brian Lousy (08:56):
Are you kidding me?
No way. He means time toexplode.
Joe Cadwell (09:01):
Seriously, you change the E to explode. What
was it before?
Brian Lousy (09:06):
It doesn't matter?
What does matter is that you'renow in full Rage Mode.
Joe Cadwell (09:11):
Brian, that's about the dumbest advice I've ever
heard to deal with conflictresolution.
Brian Lousy (09:15):
Well, I'll count to 10 and consider your point of
view there. Jeff.
Joe Cadwell (09:19):
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Changing the way the worldscrews itself up since 2016. And
now back to the show. Brian,let's get back to this newest
(10:26):
book of yours the title Gatordid dummy. Don't you think
that's a bit derogatory?
Brian Lousy (10:30):
No. I mean, not at all on the job. I use funny
nicknames for folks all daylong. Especially the
apprentices, Hammerhead boxrocks. Hey, lunch box. It's all
in good fun. They love it.
Joe Cadwell (10:43):
Well, once again, guess what? I'm gonna disagree
with you there. I mean, namecalling. That's a thing of the
past. We need to be better thanthat as leaders.
Brian Lousy (10:52):
Look, you know, I call it like I see it. If a
first timer makes a boneheadedmistake, they should carry a
name of shame around for awhile. That's my style.
Joe Cadwell (11:01):
Trust me here. I mean, people look up to the
foremen and supervisors to setthe tone on the job site. If you
set a low bar, it's going tohave a negative impact on the
whole crew. I mean, as leaders,we need to be better than that.
Brian Lousy (11:13):
And that's why I started lousy leadership. That's
not the way it is out there.
People need to feel like crapabout themselves to do their
best.
Joe Cadwell (11:20):
Look, I'm not advocating holding anyone's
hand. I'm just saying ourdefault shouldn't be to always
put people down. It's got to beto help them up. I mean,
belittlement name calling. It'slazy and weak, taking the time
to teach folks to do things theright way. That's where the hard
work begins.
Brian Lousy (11:36):
Yeah, well, you might have a point there. I
never really thought about it
Joe Cadwell (11:40):
that way. You mean we actually agree upon
something? Mm. Well,
Brian Lousy (11:44):
yeah, maybe I guess we do. You know, like I said,
things have changed over theyears in construction. Safety is
a big deal. Now. You know, thezero tolerance for drugs and
alcohol anymore. This newleadership thing may not be such
a bad idea after all.
Joe Cadwell (11:58):
Yeah, I mean, I get it. You know, old ways are hard
to break, but we got to try. Youknow, I mean, treating
apprentices like real people,it's not the worst thing. I
know, I made my fair share ofmistakes. I know you must have
made yours to
Brian Lousy (12:11):
never. But you know, you're right. We all got
families to feed. And being inthe trades is pretty damn hard
as it is. And I reckon we don'tneed to make it harder by being
jerks.
Joe Cadwell (12:22):
Wow, that was pretty well said, Brian. Thanks.
So Brian, lousy. What's next foryou and lousy leadership?
Brian Lousy (12:30):
Hmm. Well, you know, sitting here and talking.
I think I just found theinspiration from a new book.
Really? What aboutTransformative Leadership?
Joe Cadwell (12:38):
Wow, that sounds pretty cool. What do you think
you'd call it?
Brian Lousy (12:43):
Huh? Yeah, I think I'll call it pull your head out
of your rear and get yourleadership into gear.
Joe Cadwell (12:50):
I love it. Pull your head out of your rear and
get your leadership into gear.
Brian louses has been afantastic conversation. I want
to thank you for taking yourtime to be on the show. And for
everyone who's listening. HappyApril Fool's Day. I guess this
has been Brian Lausen, author ofbitter dead dummy a guide to
lousy leadership. For moreinformation about leadership
strategies that actually work ormartial arts instructors near
(13:12):
you. Be sure to visit the shownotes for this episode. And also
visit the grit nation website atwww grit nation. podcast.com at
grit nation podcast.com Tillnext time, Joe Cadwell reminding
you the work safe, work smartand stay union strong. Thanks
again for taking your time to beon the show and Happy April
(13:32):
Fool's, everybody. We'll work onthat one when we're done. Let's
go and we're pretty good though.
Welcome to Grit Nation. I'm Joe Cadwell, the
(00:10):
host of the show, and in thisepisode I have the pleasure of
speaking with jobsite foreman,self taught communication expert
and author of two books onconstruction leadership, Brian
Lousy. Brian landed on theliterary scene with a thud in
early 2016. With his book a mindreader's guide to supervision,
in which he introduced thepractice of managing
construction projects byintentionally holding back
(00:31):
production goals andexpectations from his crew. In
his book, Brian promoted ussupervisory style that required
workers to use their ability tomind reader guess what their
foreman or supervisors thoughtswork in order to get their work
done. Now, after selling nearlya half a dozen copies he's back
with a second work titled Get'erDid Dummy - A Guide to
Leadership The Lousy Way. WithGet'er Did Dummy, Brian again
(00:54):
introduces a unique andunconventional style of
leadership by claiming thataccrues loyalty and respect can
be achieved by using his hazing,belittling and dismissive
behavior techniques taught inhis book will open our
conversation by learning whyBrian wanted to write and get
her did and the philosophybehind it. Next we'll discuss
why Brian feels most leadershipprograms are a waste of time,
(01:15):
and why he invented the acronymrage to deal with conflict
resolution on the job site andat home. Brian will then explain
why effective leadershipcommunication shouldn't rely so
much on calm, rational andrespectful discourse more on the
volume of your voice, and willenter Congress conversation by
learning why Brian believesderogatory name calling on the
job can be an effective tool andinspiring others to reach their
(01:38):
fullest potential. After thisepisode, be sure to visit the
show notes to find resourcesthat will actually help you get
ahead in your career. And now onto the show. Brian lousy Welcome
to Grit Nation.
Brian Lousy (01:55):
Hang on a second there, Jim. I put in a fresh
dip.
Joe Cadwell (02:00):
Yeah, sure. No worries, Brian. And by the way,
it said Joe.
Brian Lousy (02:03):
Oh, yeah, sure.
Were you ready to get this thinggoing? Or what?
Joe Cadwell (02:08):
Yeah, yeah, you bet. You're Brian. So again,
thank you so much for takingyour time to be on the show
today. I'm really excited totalk with you about your books
and the new leadership programyou've started. I understand you
developed it to mirror your ownexperiences in the trades. So
what can you tell our listenersabout why you started lousy
leadership? Well, John, Hey,Brian, it's it's Joe.
Brian Lousy (02:28):
Oh, okay. Sorry. So Joe, it's like this. You know,
over the past 30 years, I gaineda lot of experience in
construction. I saw the industrychanged dramatically in my time,
opportunities opened up for allsorts of people to make a decent
living doing what they loved.
Yeah, I
Joe Cadwell (02:43):
agree. It's a totally different world than
when we started.
Brian Lousy (02:47):
Yeah, it is. Some of its good. Some of its not so
good. You know what I mean? Butwith all that change, you know,
some things just didn't need tochange really like what, what's
the way they're treating eachother out on the job, they're
just not giving each otherenough crap nowadays, there's
not enough yelling or namecalling anymore. You know, heck,
even hazing has gone away. So,you know, I said enough's
enough. And I decided to changethat.
Joe Cadwell (03:08):
And that's why you started the Brian lousy
Leadership Program.
Brian Lousy (03:12):
I'm sure it is. You see, there's a lot of programs
out there that claim to teachleadership, but none of them
teach you what it's like in thereal world. You know, these
other programs want you to teachcommunication and collaboration
and blah, blah, blah, but notmine. Brian lousy, teaches
leadership, the lousy way.
Joe Cadwell (03:28):
That's an interesting point you got there,
Brian. You know, it pretty muchgoes against the grain of modern
day leadership philosophy,though.
Brian Lousy (03:36):
Philosophy. And you see that that's the problem. The
nice thing about my program isthere's no philosophy. You
either figure it out, or I findsomeone else who can in the real
world, we don't philosophize. Wepoint we grant and we expect
people to catch on. It's thatsimple.
Joe Cadwell (03:50):
Oh, that sounds kind of like the premise of your
first book the mind reader'sguide to supervision.
Brian Lousy (03:54):
Yeah, sure is, you know, I wrote that book to
counter what I felt was goingwrong in the industry.
Joe Cadwell (03:59):
Gotcha rebuttal to clear, concise, respectful
communication and leadership.
That's interesting. I understandthat book didn't sell too. Well.
Why do you think that is?
Brian Lousy (04:09):
You don't have that. What's that? Your coffee?
Don't a cup?
Joe Cadwell (04:13):
Actually, I'm still using it. Why I need something
to spit him. Dude, you got a cupright to your right, grab that
instead. Alright, so again, yourbook didn't sell too. Well.
Brian, why do you think that is?
Brian Lousy (04:25):
I think maybe it had too many words.
Joe Cadwell (04:27):
Yeah. Okay. So so now let's get into your second
book. Get her did dummy. Thisbook definitely took a different
direction from the norm. Why didyou write a follow up book and
where did you do your researchfor this
Brian Lousy (04:39):
one? There is no research. It's like philosophy.
I wanted to create a book thatdrew up on my experience of what
it was like when I was coming upin the trades, and people
treated me like crap. Iremembered that and I wrote
Joe Cadwell (04:50):
it down. Alright, that's interesting. So go on.
You see,
Brian Lousy (04:54):
I learned the hard way for some real hard asses.
You know, for men who didn'tgive two hoots if you caught on
it Not, you know, like I saidearlier, I had to keep up or
they'd find someone else whowould get her did is my attempt
to pass down that kind ofknowledge. It's not this kumbaya
nonsense.
Joe Cadwell (05:09):
Hey, Brian, I'm gonna have to disagree with you
there. I mean, sure, a lot haschanged in the trades over the
years. But I think one of themost significant shifts has been
the attention given towardsdeveloping real leaders, people
can not only get the job done,but are good at communicating
and motivating their people. Ihate to say it, but your book
seems to be perpetuating somepretty old school attitudes.
Brian Lousy (05:29):
bull puppy, you know, I checked out those other
programs to one to lead gentlystir fry Breslin. None of them
made any sense. There's too manywords, there's not enough real
action.
Joe Cadwell (05:40):
Well, you do got a point there. I mean, most
communication training does usea lot of words. It's kind of the
point. I mean, how we use wordscan be the difference between
building someone up or tearingthem down.
Brian Lousy (05:50):
Exactly. That's why I try not to use them. You know,
I'll let you know what I'mthinking. When I'm getting
ready. You screw up, you'regonna know about it.
Joe Cadwell (05:59):
Yeah, I kind of get that from looking through your
book. I noticed it's pretty muchfilled with pictures of you
yelling.
Brian Lousy (06:06):
You damn right. It is a picture, as they say is
worth 1000 words. Need I saymore?
Joe Cadwell (06:12):
Yeah, but I mean, how does that really teach
anyone about leadership? I mean,seriously, here's a picture of
you yelling at a fence post.
What's that about?
Brian Lousy (06:19):
Oh, that's me practicing vocal projection.
Lousy leadership relies heavilyon your pipes. I believe the
louder you get, the more respectyou get. And that's pretty much
the core of my program.
Joe Cadwell (06:29):
Yelling is the core audio program.
Brian Lousy (06:32):
It works great.
Joe Cadwell (06:33):
Man. Once again, I hate to say I'm gonna disagree
with you. I mean, seriously,I've worked with a lot of folks
whose default was yelling. It'snever helped. It's always made
things a lot worse.
Brian Lousy (06:46):
I'm not sure I'm following. You know, yelling is
a great motivational tool forme. I love seeing people pop
tall when I get pissed. It'skind of a power trip.
Joe Cadwell (06:53):
And that Brian seems to be the problem. I mean,
putting people on edge does notmake them perform better. Your
book even has something calledrage in it. What is rage about?
Brian Lousy (07:04):
Well, thanks for asking Jeff. You see, rage is an
acronym, our ag E. It's atechnique I created to deal with
conflict resolution.
Joe Cadwell (07:13):
Alright, so now it sounds like we're actually
getting to something useful. Sowhat's the R stands for in rage?
Hold
Brian Lousy (07:18):
on, hold on, hold on. You got to ease into rage.
Joe Cadwell (07:22):
What do you mean?
Brian Lousy (07:23):
Well, here's the deal. Rage is used to deal with
conflict, right? Sure. So first,you need to find some conflict.
Pick a topic to discuss worksports politics, it doesn't
really matter. Eventually,someone's going to say something
you don't agree with. That'swhen you rage.
Joe Cadwell (07:38):
So let me get this straight. You use rage when
someone has a point of viewthat's different than your own
Brian Lousy (07:44):
zactly. Now you're getting other people's thoughts.
Just get in the way. Who's gottime for that? So to answer your
question, the R is for React.
Don't worry about listeninganymore. Forget about counting
to 10 or taking a deep breathjust react.
Joe Cadwell (07:59):
It's that simple.
So seriously, that's the er,yeah,
Brian Lousy (08:02):
see reacting is just the first step. Then it's
time to amp up.
Joe Cadwell (08:06):
And that's the A and rage. Sure.
Brian Lousy (08:09):
I mean, if someone's not agreeing with you,
things are about to get real.
Therefore you need to get amped
Joe Cadwell (08:14):
it sounds like amping up is escalating the
situation. I thought this wassupposed to be conflict
resolution. I hate to ask butwhat's the G stands for get a
gun? G
Brian Lousy (08:25):
means get close.
Closer, the better get right upin their face. You need to let
whoever you're dealing with knowthat you mean business buddy.
Joe Cadwell (08:34):
Holy smokes. That doesn't sound too smart. To me.
It's almost like you're lookingfor a fight.
Brian Lousy (08:39):
Well, funny. You should say that because I want
to try to rage on my kids karateinstructor and that didn't go
too well. Yeah, imagine that.
Kind of change the E up after
Joe Cadwell (08:48):
that. So let me guess. After that conflict, you
must have changed the E tosomething like engage in
respectful conversation.
Brian Lousy (08:56):
Are you kidding me?
No way. He means time toexplode.
Joe Cadwell (09:01):
Seriously, you change the E to explode. What
was it before?
Brian Lousy (09:06):
It doesn't matter?
What does matter is that you'renow in full Rage Mode.
Joe Cadwell (09:11):
Brian, that's about the dumbest advice I've ever
heard to deal with conflictresolution.
Brian Lousy (09:15):
Well, I'll count to 10 and consider your point of
view there. Jeff.
Joe Cadwell (09:19):
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Changing the way the worldscrews itself up since 2016. And
now back to the show. Brian,let's get back to this newest
(10:26):
book of yours the title Gatordid dummy. Don't you think
that's a bit derogatory?
Brian Lousy (10:30):
No. I mean, not at all on the job. I use funny
nicknames for folks all daylong. Especially the
apprentices, Hammerhead boxrocks. Hey, lunch box. It's all
in good fun. They love it.
Joe Cadwell (10:43):
Well, once again, guess what? I'm gonna disagree
with you there. I mean, namecalling. That's a thing of the
past. We need to be better thanthat as leaders.
Brian Lousy (10:52):
Look, you know, I call it like I see it. If a
first timer makes a boneheadedmistake, they should carry a
name of shame around for awhile. That's my style.
Joe Cadwell (11:01):
Trust me here. I mean, people look up to the
foremen and supervisors to setthe tone on the job site. If you
set a low bar, it's going tohave a negative impact on the
whole crew. I mean, as leaders,we need to be better than that.
Brian Lousy (11:13):
And that's why I started lousy leadership. That's
not the way it is out there.
People need to feel like crapabout themselves to do their
best.
Joe Cadwell (11:20):
Look, I'm not advocating holding anyone's
hand. I'm just saying ourdefault shouldn't be to always
put people down. It's got to beto help them up. I mean,
belittlement name calling. It'slazy and weak, taking the time
to teach folks to do things theright way. That's where the hard
work begins.
Brian Lousy (11:36):
Yeah, well, you might have a point there. I
never really thought about it
Joe Cadwell (11:40):
that way. You mean we actually agree upon
something? Mm. Well,
Brian Lousy (11:44):
yeah, maybe I guess we do. You know, like I said,
things have changed over theyears in construction. Safety is
a big deal. Now. You know, thezero tolerance for drugs and
alcohol anymore. This newleadership thing may not be such
a bad idea after all.
Joe Cadwell (11:58):
Yeah, I mean, I get it. You know, old ways are hard
to break, but we got to try. Youknow, I mean, treating
apprentices like real people,it's not the worst thing. I
know, I made my fair share ofmistakes. I know you must have
made yours to
Brian Lousy (12:11):
never. But you know, you're right. We all got
families to feed. And being inthe trades is pretty damn hard
as it is. And I reckon we don'tneed to make it harder by being
jerks.
Joe Cadwell (12:22):
Wow, that was pretty well said, Brian. Thanks.
So Brian, lousy. What's next foryou and lousy leadership?
Brian Lousy (12:30):
Hmm. Well, you know, sitting here and talking.
I think I just found theinspiration from a new book.
Really? What aboutTransformative Leadership?
Joe Cadwell (12:38):
Wow, that sounds pretty cool. What do you think
you'd call it?
Brian Lousy (12:43):
Huh? Yeah, I think I'll call it pull your head out
of your rear and get yourleadership into gear.
Joe Cadwell (12:50):
I love it. Pull your head out of your rear and
get your leadership into gear.
Brian louses has been afantastic conversation. I want
to thank you for taking yourtime to be on the show. And for
everyone who's listening. HappyApril Fool's Day. I guess this
has been Brian Lausen, author ofbitter dead dummy a guide to
lousy leadership. For moreinformation about leadership
strategies that actually work ormartial arts instructors near
(13:12):
you. Be sure to visit the shownotes for this episode. And also
visit the grit nation website atwww grit nation. podcast.com at
grit nation podcast.com Tillnext time, Joe Cadwell reminding
you the work safe, work smartand stay union strong. Thanks
again for taking your time to beon the show and Happy April
(13:32):
Fool's, everybody. We'll work onthat one when we're done. Let's
go and we're pretty good though.
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