June 28, 2024 • 40 mins
In this episode, Dale Alexander shares insights on leadership and the qualities that make a great leader. He emphasizes the importance of growth, empathy, and humility in leadership. Dale also discusses the power of influence and how leaders can positively impact others. He encourages listeners to surround themselves with the right people and to think like an owner in order to achieve success. The episode concludes with a reminder to focus on the long road and to stay committed to personal and professional growth.
Story Notes:
- The Power of Influence: Leadership Insights
- Growth, Empathy, and Humility: The Qualities of a Great Leader
- Think Like an Owner: Taking Ownership in Leadership
- The Long Road to Success: Perseverance and Commitment
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:02):
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
you know we appreciate youstopping by and we just enjoy
bringing the podcast to you.
And if you're looking at yourscreen right now, you're
probably saying, hey, wait asecond.
I think I've already seen thisone.
(00:50):
No, you haven't.
This is part two.
This is the first time we'veever filmed and recorded part
two of a podcast, but we weregoing down this incredible path
with Dell Alexander and we saidyou know what?
There's still more to share.
Let's keep going.
And so, ladies and gentlemen,you are the inaugural group of
(01:11):
the part two, growing Our Futurepodcast.
Thank you, dale, thank you forstaying on and doing part two.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Man, this is an honor , the inaugural here we go, here
we go.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Big, I got a hard thing.
Let me warn you now, Dale, justso you know, the first Indian
that saw this, he's dead.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I got to go, I got to bring it.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sometimes it's not always exciting, but we're going
to make it happen.
I better bring it All right.
So, folks, if you joined us forpart one of the growing our
future podcast with DaleAlexander, we talked about his
background, his books, hisphilosophy, and we were starting
down the path of competitiveedge and we were about to get in
to some leadership skills.
(01:58):
And so, dale, let's pick upthere where we left off and walk
us through.
If you were able to sit infront of young people across the
United States which you are, bythe way and we put you in those
classrooms, what would youshare with them about leadership
?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wow, as John Maxwell says.
I'm a big fan of John Maxwell.
John Maxwell says leadership isinfluence.
Nothing more, nothing less.
It's influence.
Let me give you an example.
I was at the Masters GolfTournament in Augusta, georgia,
and at the Master at AugustaNational.
There's a local airport rightnext to Augusta National and on
(02:40):
Wednesday, before they passed,before he passed away, they
would let Jack Nicklaus, garyPlayer and Arnold Palmer play a
round together.
Very nostalgic to see themplaying on Wednesday.
And they hit up on the seventhgreen and I'm standing there.
It's a very tight, intimategreen.
And they hit up and Palmer hason this bright pink shirt and
they walk up.
Planes are landing, hundreds ofplanes are landing all day at
(03:04):
that local airport next to it.
Planes are flying over and soArnold Palmer goes over and he
putts out and he walks over tothe side right and I noticed
everybody is watching ArnoldPalmer as he walks over to the
side of the green bright pinkshirt and he stands there and
this plane is coming overhead.
That was really loud, a lotlouder than any of the other
(03:25):
planes.
This small plane was comingoverhead and Arnold Palmer's
leaning on his putter and helooks up at that plane and I
knew what was about to happen.
90% of the people around thatgreen.
What did they do?
They looked at that airplane.
That's leadership, that'sinfluence, and it doesn't have
(03:48):
to be positive.
Think about it.
One of the greatest leaders theworld if it's influence, one of
the greatest leaders the worldhas ever known is Adolf Hitler,
and one of the other greatestleaders the world has ever known
is Mother Teresa.
It just shows the differencewhen that influence goes awry.
(04:08):
And so all of us have a quality, have leadership inside us,
because certainly, if you're inFFA, what is FFA trying to do?
It's create positive influenceand our young influence.
You might not think you're atthe head of anything you know
(04:28):
influentially or leadershiply,but if you influence people,
look at you and you're a leaderand you don't have to say a word
.
Some of the greatest leaders Iever had in my education was a
bus driver and a cafeteria lady,because they had, they had
influence, moral credibility,the credibility you earn by
(04:49):
walking your talk.
But that's your question ofleadership.
There's three great leadershiptraits, skills.
Number one is growth.
Great leaders are growers andgreat leaders know that what got
them to where they are won'tget them to where they want to
be.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Right, that is right.
Say that again, say that again,say that again.
I want everybody to know.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Great leaders know that what got them to where they
are won't get them to wherethey want to be.
And here you go and they expectothers to do the same that are
under their leadership.
Look, they love people likethey are, but they love them too
much to leave them like theyare.
You know, I love, I love mykids like they are, but I love
(05:37):
them too much to leave them likethey are.
That's the essence of growth inleadership.
Right?
I love you too much to leaveyou like you are.
I'm not going to leave you likeyou are.
You're going to grow and you'regoing to have to grow.
That's why John Maxwell saidthe more you grow, the more your
friends change.
It's not being stuck up orarrogant or whatever.
(06:00):
He's saying the more you grow,you just want to be around other
growers.
He's saying the more you grow,you just want to be around other
growers.
The second leadership trait isempathy.
Leaders care about those theylead and they want to know how
things are going and how theycare, and it's the one thing
that makes people follow leaders, even if it were voluntary.
(06:22):
I was on a team with the headof SunTrust Banks.
He's on the board of directorsof Coca-Cola, one of the most
influential business people inthe country.
I was on an elder team with himand when he would walk in the
first floor of the bank building, everybody in there knew called
him by his first name and he'dsay hey, tom, how's your wife
(06:42):
doing?
Hey, linda, how's college goingfor you?
And he called him.
They called him by first nameand he called them by first name
.
And that's on the first floor,that's not on the top floor,
that's on the first floor,because great leaders have
empathy for those they lead.
And the third, and maybe themost important nugget is great
(07:03):
leaders have humility.
They're humble.
Let me tell you a story andthen I'll wrap the lesson around
it.
There's a restaurant in Atlanta.
It was called Dante's Down theHatch, and Dante was an
eccentric man and he would makeyou.
The first day at work.
He made everybody wash dishes.
It doesn't matter what you'reapplying for.
Think about this I'm the chieffinancial officer of this
(07:26):
organization and you're going tomake me wash dishes.
Now, think about that, becausehere's the truth about that
lesson influence is where you'relikely to end up.
Look here where you're willingto start out.
(07:46):
I'm not doing that.
That's below me, that's goingto influence where you're going
to end up.
I was in a sermon one time andthis pastor said this.
I'll never forget this quote.
He said if you won't do a jobwithout a title, you'll never
have a job with a title.
Amen, that's right, that'sexactly right.
(08:12):
And so many of us think that's.
But I'm not doing.
I'm not, I don't do that.
I don't do that Really.
I mean, the greatest among youserved you, right, humility.
Look, grades get you aninterview.
You're a young adult.
Look here, let me tell yousomething.
Grades get you an interview,but after that they mean nothing
.
On the second day of work,grades mean nothing.
(08:36):
Zero, duke and the localcommunity college are all the
same.
On the second day, no one cares.
Right, iq is something, but EQ,emotional Intelligence,
quotient is one thing.
Emotional quotient EQ gets youthe raises.
Iq gets you an interview.
(08:56):
Eq takes you to the top.
You can be brilliant and lazy,you can be smart and stupid, and
here's the great thing, thehope for all of us, like me, you
can be the lowest in your class, but you can still own the
company.
Listen, walt Disney was adropout, and I'm not talking
about Bill Gates, that droppedout of Harvard.
(09:16):
Walt Disney was a drop highschool dropout and things turned
out well for the man.
There's a basketball player,kevin Durant.
He said hard work beats talentwhen talent fails to work hard.
Right, and this is good for allof us.
All right, I'll keep talkingfor days, anyways.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, no, no.
This is exactly what thispodcast is all about.
And when you start outliningthings like growth and empathy
and sharing kind of thefoundational wisdom behind why
you said it In other words, youknow, you give me the concept.
But that's one of the things Ihope people learn about podcasts
(10:00):
.
You know, I heard a speaker onetime said anytime you hear
somebody talk, practice the R2A2.
I don't know if you've everheard of R2A2.
A lot of times we say R2A2,people think of Star Wars and
I'm like no, no, no, it's not aStar Wars, it's R2A2.
Recognize, relate, assimilateand apply.
(10:21):
So one of the things that Ithink is neat about podcasts
like this is number one if youlisten to these guests like Dale
, recognize the concept.
He's giving you things.
I want you to go.
Oh okay, I know what he'stalking.
I see that.
I recognize that.
Then the second thing is I wantyou to relate to it.
(10:41):
Oh well, I'm not going to go in, I'm not athletic, but I am
going to do this, and it soundslike that still applies.
So I'm going to relate to it.
The next thing is to assimilateit, and I was like I always
like to ask people what doesassimilate mean and always tell
them it says to take in and tomake part of oneself.
(11:03):
So I assimilate.
So I recognize the concept, Irelate to it, I assimilate it
and then I need you to apply it,I need you to practice it, I
need you to R2A to it.
And so listen to what we justgot.
Now you've got part one, now wegot part two.
(11:24):
So now, within part two, we'vegot growth and there's a R2A2.
We've got empathy and a bunchof R2A2.
And now we got humility R2A2.
One of our guests that we had onDale and he was recently on the
second part of the Igniting theNext Generation is a guy named
(11:45):
Cleo Franklin.
In his book Coffee with Cleo,he was a very accomplished
basketball player in the MidwestI mean, he's in the Hall of
Fame of this university and very, very accomplished.
And one of my favorite chaptersin one of the stories that I
make him tell every time he andI are together is about the day
(12:06):
that he didn't like the way theref was calling the game.
And so he had a great game andhe was very disappointed in the
ref's calling of that game andhe let the ref know it.
He let the ref know it allthrough the game.
They get out of the locker roomand he sees the ref and he
wants to continue letting theref know it.
And he follows the ref all theway out to his car and he's
(12:30):
given the ref what for.
And Cleo tells the story thatthe ref never lost his cool.
He just turned around and toldhim.
He said young man, I called thegame the best I could and he
said I can tell you two thingsabout that game.
He said number one, you're notthat good, and number two, I
(12:55):
ain't that bad.
And he wrote a chapter andthat's the chapter.
Now.
His chapter was called BeHumble or Be Humbled, be humble
or be humbled, and it deals withthat topic of humility.
But I love the fact that youlaid those out and you gave us a
(13:16):
little foundational behind whyyou laid them out, because
that's how, as listeners, we canR2A2 that concept.
So thank you for doing that.
I mean that's good stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you know what?
The world is not going to tellus that that's how you make it
to the top.
The world is not going to tellyoung adults that humility is,
as Jim Collins in Good to Great.
Humility is the greatest traitof leaders.
The world's not going to tellyou that this phone is not going
(13:51):
to tell you that Social mediais not going to tell you that
it's going to say to get morefor my own, to keep more for my
own, to hoard more for my ownand to serve my own and that's
how you have success andhappiness in this world.
And it's not true.
Couldn't be further from fault.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
One of the things that I want to share here as we
continue our dialogue is thatyou know I do a.
I've got a presentation that Igive.
I know you give presentationseverywhere and there's a slide
that I put up everywhere I go.
It's a quote that's attributedto Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln said that thephilosophy of the schoolroom in
one generation will be thephilosophy of government in the
(14:30):
next, that the philosophy ofwhat we do here is how we're
going to be governed here.
So if we don't compete for theminds of kids and we don't
compete for the seeds ofgreatness that can instill
things like growth, empathy andhumility, then, to your point,
they're only going to rely onwhat they know.
(14:51):
And I tell people you know.
But long before I took thefoundation job, I had a.
I used to work with at-riskpopulations.
I worked in a prison, had anationally recognized truancy
intervention program, and what Ialways tell people is in life
we do the only thing we know howto do.
If we don't learn somethingelse, guess what we do.
(15:12):
Just like a computer, we willdefault to the only thing we
know.
We will parent the only way weknow how to parent.
That's how our parents parent.
We will be in relationship, theonly way we know how, because
that's what we saw so unlessmoney handle money, like our
parents handled money unless welearn a new skill guess what we
(15:32):
do we will default to the onlything we know.
So the reason why shows likethis and opportunities like this
and I loved in part one whereyou talked about automobile you
and I'm like you I used to dothe same thing.
I used to listen to the ZigZiglars and the Brian Tracys and
the Nightingale Connets.
(15:52):
I meant I would let them pourinto me and I always felt like I
said, I meant when you grew uplike I did, where we got our
dinner out of a garbage can.
And now I've been blessed to bein every state in the country
except for Alaska, to have knownpresidents and entertainers and
(16:14):
athletes, and all because ofthe blue and gold jacket.
I feel obligated, I feel like Ihave a responsibility to pour
that cup out so somebody elsecan have even more than what
Dale, one of the things I liketo share.
And then I'm going to shut upand get with our next topic here
.
But my oldest son his name isChandler, chandler's kind of
(16:41):
named after the man that raisedme at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch,
the guy that put me in ag.
I never signed up for ag.
Mr Chandler put me in aganything but an ag job.
And he always said you'll neverlearn anything unless something
(17:01):
depends on you.
So now, today, when I raisemillions of dollars for the FFA,
I love to tell the story thatin the world of agriculture, if
we don't do our job, somethingdies.
Well, I learned that because MrChandler gave me a sledgehammer
during a blizzard and told meto drive five miles to bust the
water trough for the horses.
I didn't want to go, I pitcheda fit, but I did.
(17:24):
Why?
Because Mr Chandler said,darling, do you get thirsty when
it's cold?
I said yes, sir.
He said don't you think horsesget thirsty too?
Sometimes we got to drivethrough the blizzard so that
somebody else can have theblessing.
Right, these are just thingsthat we have to do.
(17:45):
But when we start unpacking that, you know, people say things
like you know, aaron, we got toget back to the basics.
You know the three R's reading,writing and arithmetic and I
like to remind them.
I said listen, I agree with you.
I think we do need to get backto the basics, but I've worked
with boot camp kids, I workedwith truant offenders, I worked
(18:06):
in the prison, and everybodythat I worked with could read,
write and do math at afunctional level, I said.
But you're absolutely rightabout the three R's.
It's not reading, writing andarithmetic, I would argue.
It's respect, responsibilityand resiliency.
If we can teach our youngpeople to respect themselves,
their fellow man, to beresponsible for themselves,
(18:28):
their families, their community,state and country, and learn to
get up when you've been knockeddown, be resilient Not
everybody's going to get atrophy.
I learned just as much in ag,getting the gate with my steer,
as I did getting a blue ribbonwith my pig.
I learned just as much at bothends of that training and that,
(18:49):
like you said, that second dayon the job, gpa didn't mean
anything.
Nope, you know we work with allthese things.
Nope, you know we work with allthese things.
When I listened to what youshared in part one and where
we're at now with part two, Ithink about Mr Chandler and I
think about my son, chandler,and he was in fourth grade and
(19:13):
it was bring your daddy toschool day.
What does your daddy do?
Well, I live in a town withNATO pilots.
We have NATO pilots here,doctors and lawyers, and you
know, we got a university andthen we've got Chandler's daddy.
He's a professional developmentofficer.
He's a professional beggar.
(19:35):
You know how do I explain tofourth graders what I do?
And so I remember going up tothe classroom that day and then
I went in and I walked up totheir little whiteboard in front
of the class and on thewhiteboard I drew a little bitty
door and I asked the fourthgraders.
(19:56):
I said how many of you couldget through that door?
And I asked the fourth graders.
I said how many of you couldget through that door?
And they said no, sir.
And then I drew a really bigdoor and I said now how many of
you could get through that door?
And they said oh yeah, we coulddo that.
I said that's what I do I makedoors bigger.
Wow, what?
And so when I think about thispodcast and I think about folks
(20:17):
like you that come on and sharethis podcast, and I think about
folks like you that come on andshare, if folks will listen,
what you're hearing here withall of our guests, are people
that are saying I've got myhammer and nails here.
We're going to make that doorbigger for the people that are
coming behind us.
And that's what you're doing,dale.
You're, you're sharing thingsthat are making that door now it
(20:38):
doesn't mean that we're goingto get everybody through the
door.
Remember, our job is to createthe opportunity.
Their job is to determine theoutcome.
But if they'll follow throughon some of these tips that
you're given, guess what theodds are better that they're
going to have that outcome thatthey're looking for we can lead
(20:58):
that horse to water.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
We can't make them drink, but we can give them salt
and make them thirsty.
There you go, there you gothere, you go.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Well, keep going with us.
Are there other competitiveedges or are there other
leadership skills?
What else would you like toshare with our audience?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
So let me say this with our audience.
So let me say this If you'relooking for opportunities and
leadership in the world, let metell you, young adults, this I
ask you one question who's inyour circle?
We will rise and fall to theaverage of the five people you
spend the most time with.
I'm going to tell you I'vestudied this for 37 years when
(21:41):
does your support come from?
Look, my inner circle is one ofthe biggest determinants of
encouragement and or despair inmy life, and the group that
surrounds you has a hugeinfluence on your life.
(22:02):
Don't think that it doesn't.
Well, they're not that bad.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Don't think that it doesn't.
You are where you are in lifeprimarily due to who you spend
the most time with and who youallow into your mind.
Look, as a young adult, it washard for me to realize, but your
(22:24):
friends will determine thedirection and the quality of
your life.
Your friends are like elevatorsThey'll either take you up or
they will take you down, and ifthey leave you where they are,
they're taking you down.
And likewise, are you a friendthat, when they get on your
elevator, are you taking them up?
(22:44):
What's the Bible?
So, whoever walks with the wisebecomes wise.
But a companion of foolssuffers harm.
There's a statistic I read thatif you gain 10 pounds, there's
about a 75% probability that youwill too.
And the people around us and,by the way, that goes opposite
(23:11):
as well.
But the people around us willinfluence how we view the world
and what we think about.
It's why John Maxwell said themore you grow, the more your
friends change.
I mean, if you had a Kentuckythoroughbred horse for a half
(23:32):
million dollars, you're notfeeding that thing junk food.
You're not going to let it hangout with mules.
You're not going to put it inan old nappy, you know field,
with holes all in the place anda bunch of pack mules around.
You're going to associate thatthing with thoroughbreds and
you're going to feed it well andyou're going to rest it well.
(23:52):
You're going to exercise itwell.
Look, let me put it in FFAlanguage.
You will not harvest crops inyour future if you do not hang
around other farmers.
Pay special attention to thosepeople in your life because they
will be one of the primarydeterminants of your future.
That and what you allow to pour.
(24:13):
What are you reading?
What are you studying?
I was at a speech one time.
If you've ever seen that moviethe Pursuit of Happiness with
Will Smith it was about a guynamed Chris Gardner and Chris
wanted to become a.
He was at one point, homelessand he wanted to be a
stockbroker.
Chris and I were speaking at anevent.
We were backstage, and thequote he says is if you want to
(24:37):
play on the team, go to the gym.
If you want to own the team, goto the library.
Wow, and he said Dale, my mamaloved me.
I'll never forget him sayingthat my mama loved me.
And she said baby, if you wantto play on the team, exercise
your gifts, exercise yourmuscles, your talent, but if you
want to own the team, baby,exercise your mind.
What are you reading?
What are you studying?
(24:58):
Who are you talking to?
And if you watch him in thatmovie, he hung around with those
people.
He went on to have his own firm, Gardner Rich, and he's worth
over $100 million today.
You will not harvest crops inyour future if you're not
hanging around other farmers.
Who's in your circle?
The next thing I'll keep going.
If you want me to keep goingDid you have some thoughts?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
No, no, keep going.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
The next thing I would think you young adults
think like an owner when you goto work.
Think like an owner.
You want to raise, you want toget noticed, you want to move up
.
Think like the owner, becauseowners that own businesses, they
want employees that think aboutwhat the company is trying.
(25:42):
Because what is, what does thebusiness want to do?
Raise money for the people thatown the company.
That's all you're there for Now.
Hopefully you'll be able toparticipate in some of that and
things like that.
But everybody wants and here'swhat I've seen is in my life is
everyone wants.
Many people want more, but fewpeople want to become more.
(26:04):
You don't just naturally getmore by not becoming more, aaron
.
You want a bigger check.
You have to solve biggerproblems.
It's just how business works.
And these are things thatpeople go to work and they don't
just they don't understand whatI work here and I do my job.
Think like an owner to get more, you have to solve more.
(26:27):
That's just how business works.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
So, if I can jump in there on that one, I actually
just recently posted somethinglike that on social media
because I was talking aboutpeople.
If you listen to people, you'llhear people complain.
You'll hear people say, well,that's not working and they want
to like.
They want everybody to feel badfor that moment or feel bad for
(26:50):
that that it didn't succeed,like they got you, and I'm like
uh-uh, no, and so I put thispost up.
It said that most people don'twant to be part of the process.
They just want to be part ofthe outcome.
But it's the process that wefigure out who deserves to be
part of the outcome.
So a lot of times, like you'resaying, we need to be problem
(27:16):
solvers.
You know, I ask people.
Now here's something.
You know this is a risky onehere, because I'm talking to a
financial expert, but I'mwilling to step out here and
take the risk.
So I like to ask people why dopeople spend money?
So what do you think?
Why do you think people spendmoney?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Keep up with everybody else to chase some
false thing they think it'sgoing to give them.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I thought about this and I thought because I'm a
fundraiser right, and I want mybusinesses, I want our
corporate sponsors, I wanteverybody to be successful,
right?
So why do people spend money?
Well, we spend money becausewe've got a problem.
I'm hungry, so I need groceries.
I got to go to the grocery store, so I need a car.
(28:05):
I got to get across town, so Ineed fuel.
My tooth hurts, so I got to goto the dentist.
I'm bored, so I got to beentertained, so I got to buy a
book or a movie.
But at the end of the day, wespend money to solve a problem.
So part of leadershipdevelopment is exactly what you
(28:27):
just described is how can I helpsolve a problem?
How can I help solve somebody'sproblem where they freely give
their resources, because I'mhelping solve their problem and
in doing so, the company becomesmore successful, the
organization becomes moresuccessful.
You know, I know that, like inthe state of Texas, you know, I
(28:50):
view what we do as a business.
I mean, we are a nonprofit.
Let me be very clear.
We are a 501c, but I view us asa business, and here's what I
mean by that.
The number one issue facing thestate of Texas, with our
sponsors and I don't know aboutGeorgia, but I'm willing to bet
on this one the number one thingis workforce.
There's not a close second,aaron.
(29:11):
We need a workforce.
We need people that will showup, people that can get along
with their peers, people thatcan communicate in a positive
manner.
The list goes on and on, andI'm going.
We got your audience.
We've got exactly who you'relooking for.
You know we can solve yourproblem.
Thus.
They want to become sponsorsbecause they want their brand in
(29:33):
front of that audience, becauseit represents that human
capital that they're desiring.
So we got to think throughexactly what you just said how
do we help solve somebody'sproblem?
And in solving that problem, wecreate margins, and businesses
are based on margins.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
That's so good.
That is so much in that there'smy head's spinning on that.
Here's something this morning Iwas talking, I jotted some
notes down and I call it thewinner's purse myth the winner's
purse, like a purse in a.
(30:15):
I was'm talking to a golf, acaptain of a college golf team.
This morning he called me andit's the winner's purse myth and
somebody once told me we werewatching a golf tournament and
on sunday, when the golftournament was over, the they
held up a check and it was likeone and a half million dollars.
And somebody said man, that guyjust won a million and a half
(30:39):
dollars in four days.
And I went wait a minute, what?
And this morning, talking tothat college golf captain of the
golf team, I brought this up tohim and I said what people fail
to realize is that he won thatgolf tournament hitting 3000
(31:01):
balls a day since he was four.
Right, we want to win thetournament in four days, but
that that'll never happen.
It doesn't work that way andthis is a great quote I saw.
The long road is the shortestpath.
Think about the long road isthe shortest path when we try
(31:27):
and cut off the secret ofsuccess and make it fast.
How many times do you go backand redo it?
and in business you've lost aclient or you've lost a job and
you got to go back and restartright the long road, young
adults, the hard way is the easyway.
(31:50):
The long roads is the shortestpath and sometimes success take
time doesn't always have to, butmost of the time they told told
Ray Kroc, the founder ofMcDonald's.
They said what is it like to bean overnight success?
What An overnight success,after he had spent decades
practicing what he was going todo.
If I could quickly readsomething that I got out of a
(32:13):
book, can I read something realquick?
This says it was looking atbamboo, bamboo growing.
And he said what do you seewhen you look at this bamboo?
And he said nothing.
You see absolutely nothing.
You keep watering it andwatering it, but you continue to
see nothing happening for oneyear, then two years, then three
(32:36):
years.
You know what happens afterthree years, john?
He said the bamboo tree startsto sprout up out of the ground.
Nothing, you see, absolutelynothing.
And he shook his head and saidI don't understand.
And he said what you don't seehappening is what's taking place
beneath the surface.
Right and beneath the surface,a dense foundation of roots is
(32:57):
spreading out all throughout theground to prepare for the rapid
growth that the bamboo willexperience.
Listen to this.
So you keep watering it andwatering it and eventually,
after five years of seeingnothing all happen above the
surface, the bamboo tree shootsup to over 90 feet tall in just
six weeks.
(33:17):
Tree shoots up to over 90 feettall in just six weeks.
You see, john, this book saidmost people want the 90 foot
tall bamboo tree without thefive years of the process.
They want the bamboo to grow to90 feet tall in six weeks.
But without the five years ofinvisible growth, the bamboo
wouldn't have a solid foundation, which is what FFA is doing,
(33:37):
and it could never sustain themassive and rapid growth that
occurs.
You're building roots in thesekids For success.
It's going to happen in theirlife, right, and this is why you
see people who achieve hugeamounts of success end up broke,
homeless or divorced.
The majority of lottery winnersor professional athletes that
75% or 65% of them are bankruptor homeless or divorced, and the
(33:58):
majority of lottery winners orprofessional athletes that 75 or
65 percent of them are bankruptor homeless or divorced don't
have those roots.
That's what you're doing forthese kids.
You're building those roots,wow, and the long road is a
short path.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I wrote that down, by the way, because I'm going to
share that in the world ofdevelopment.
I'm very appreciative that myboard of directors understands
what you just shared.
That's what we call cultivation.
You know.
Unfortunately, to those on theoutside, you only see the
cultivation when the cashregister rings.
But the reality is there's alot that goes on behind the
(34:31):
scenes.
That's cultivating that giftand setting those roots in place
for that thing to grow and then, once it does, I believe I've
always said that success begetssuccess.
So if we can teach a youngperson to be successful, the
odds are really good that theycan duplicate that success.
(34:51):
One of the things that you saidearlier that I was going to come
back to.
I like the another.
We got another mutual authorhere that I know.
We like John Gordon, and inJohn's recent book, one Truth,
he said something that reallygot my attention, because I
think a lot of times people lookat this, you know, and they say
, well, this is a new.
(35:12):
You know kids aren't the sametoday.
You know this is a distraction.
You know kids aren't the sametoday.
You know this is a distraction.
And it reminded me.
I've got a slide in mypresentation deck that says it's
(35:33):
got a picture of people and itsays people don't change.
Do you agree or disagree?
And I love watching peoplestart unpacking that comment
People don't change.
And I let it sink in and Ifinally say listen, it's kind of
a trick question.
I said people don't change andthey never have.
I said you can go all the wayback to the Bible days and there
were pessimists and optimistsPeople don't change.
The other one that I have funwith is it shows a bunch of kids
(35:57):
on their cell phones and itsays technology is making kids
antisocial and it looks like abunch of bobbleheads.
Everybody in the audience isgoing yeah, that's right.
And then I show them a picturefrom the 1930s on a train and
it's a black and white photo ofall the folks reading their
newspapers.
(36:17):
And I said really, is this newground, not new ground?
There was a tool back then andI'm sure somebody said that's it
.
That newspaper's runningAmerica.
Everybody's got their headburied, nobody's talking.
Television came on Uh-oh,nobody's eating supper talking
(36:38):
anymore.
And then I remembered what JohnGordon said in his book One
Truth, and he talked aboutdistractions.
Distractions are not new.
Distractions were what folksdealt with in the Bible.
They're what folks dealt within the 20s and the 50s and the
70s.
And guess what?
It's exactly what our kids andwe are dealing with today
(37:03):
distractions.
So if we'll just focus on thetruth and we will learn to be
discerning and stay focused onthe things that are good and
build us up, it kind of goesfull circle to how we started
even part one of this podcast.
We talked about pouring in thegood things.
Don't let the distractionsbecome the seeds that we plant.
(37:27):
Let the seeds of greatness bethe things that we plant,
because those seeds are whatchange individuals.
Those seeds are what keep usfocused on the things that don't
become distractions.
So again, we just wrapped uppart two of this Dale already.
(37:49):
Can you believe that Incredible.
We could probably keep going sogood.
I can't say enough about howmuch I appreciate what you've
shared, all the tools thatyou've shared.
I met Mike Rowe.
I remember Mike Rowe wastelling me about his great
(38:09):
grandfather and he said or hisgrandfather.
And he said the man was amagician.
And I said what do you mean?
He goes because he could justmake things.
He was a craftsman and he fixedthings and he made things.
And when I think about tools.
When we think about theopportunity to build the future
(38:32):
that we want, we get to be thegreatest magicians.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
We get to take just an idea.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
And what is it?
Nightingale Conant, or one ofthem?
They always said that everysuccessful venture started as a
creative idea.
That's right.
So hopefully this podcast isjust another tool that maybe
spurs somebody to think aboutpossibilities and then to have
that grit, that tenacity to seeit through and not take the
(39:01):
short run but take the long wayto get there for the long-term
success.
Dale, thanks again.
I'll say thank you again.
We've done something here thatwe've never done before, but I
thought it was worth letting thedialogue continue.
Thank you.
And I appreciate you and yourwillingness to stay on.
(39:23):
Thank you, thank you everybody.
So for all the listeners again,thank you for stopping by the
Growing Our Future podcast.
Thank you for being part of ourinaugural part two of letting
the Growing Our Future Ghosts goon into another episode.
We appreciate you stopping byand, like we said last time, we
(39:43):
hope that you'll R2A2 what youheard here today.
We hope that you'll recognizeit, relate to it, assimilate it,
apply it and, until we meetagain, go out and do something
great for somebody.
You're going to feel good aboutit.
Go out and do something greatfor somebody.
You're going to feel good aboutit and, just maybe, along the
(40:04):
way we make our homes, ourcommunities, our state and
country a better place to live,work and raise our families.
Until we meet again, everybodybe safe, smile, be hopeful and
do something great.
Thank you, and do somethinggreat.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Thank you.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of the Growing Our
Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
Welcome to the Growing Our Future podcast.
In this show, the Texas FFAFoundation will take on a
journey of exploration intoagricultural science, education,
leadership development andinsights from subject matter
experts and sponsors who providethe fuel to make dreams come
true.
Here's your host, AaronAlejandro.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening or
whenever you may be tuning in tothe Growing Our Future podcast,
you know we appreciate youstopping by and we just enjoy
bringing the podcast to you.
And if you're looking at yourscreen right now, you're
probably saying, hey, wait asecond.
I think I've already seen thisone.
(00:50):
No, you haven't.
This is part two.
This is the first time we'veever filmed and recorded part
two of a podcast, but we weregoing down this incredible path
with Dell Alexander and we saidyou know what?
There's still more to share.
Let's keep going.
And so, ladies and gentlemen,you are the inaugural group of
(01:11):
the part two, growing Our Futurepodcast.
Thank you, dale, thank you forstaying on and doing part two.
Speaker 3 (01:19):
Man, this is an honor , the inaugural here we go, here
we go.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
Big, I got a hard thing.
Let me warn you now, Dale, justso you know, the first Indian
that saw this, he's dead.
Speaker 3 (01:34):
I got to go, I got to bring it.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Sometimes it's not always exciting, but we're going
to make it happen.
I better bring it All right.
So, folks, if you joined us forpart one of the growing our
future podcast with DaleAlexander, we talked about his
background, his books, hisphilosophy, and we were starting
down the path of competitiveedge and we were about to get in
to some leadership skills.
(01:58):
And so, dale, let's pick upthere where we left off and walk
us through.
If you were able to sit infront of young people across the
United States which you are, bythe way and we put you in those
classrooms, what would youshare with them about leadership
?
Speaker 3 (02:17):
Wow, as John Maxwell says.
I'm a big fan of John Maxwell.
John Maxwell says leadership isinfluence.
Nothing more, nothing less.
It's influence.
Let me give you an example.
I was at the Masters GolfTournament in Augusta, georgia,
and at the Master at AugustaNational.
There's a local airport rightnext to Augusta National and on
(02:40):
Wednesday, before they passed,before he passed away, they
would let Jack Nicklaus, garyPlayer and Arnold Palmer play a
round together.
Very nostalgic to see themplaying on Wednesday.
And they hit up on the seventhgreen and I'm standing there.
It's a very tight, intimategreen.
And they hit up and Palmer hason this bright pink shirt and
they walk up.
Planes are landing, hundreds ofplanes are landing all day at
(03:04):
that local airport next to it.
Planes are flying over and soArnold Palmer goes over and he
putts out and he walks over tothe side right and I noticed
everybody is watching ArnoldPalmer as he walks over to the
side of the green bright pinkshirt and he stands there and
this plane is coming overhead.
That was really loud, a lotlouder than any of the other
(03:25):
planes.
This small plane was comingoverhead and Arnold Palmer's
leaning on his putter and helooks up at that plane and I
knew what was about to happen.
90% of the people around thatgreen.
What did they do?
They looked at that airplane.
That's leadership, that'sinfluence, and it doesn't have
(03:48):
to be positive.
Think about it.
One of the greatest leaders theworld if it's influence, one of
the greatest leaders the worldhas ever known is Adolf Hitler,
and one of the other greatestleaders the world has ever known
is Mother Teresa.
It just shows the differencewhen that influence goes awry.
(04:08):
And so all of us have a quality, have leadership inside us,
because certainly, if you're inFFA, what is FFA trying to do?
It's create positive influenceand our young influence.
You might not think you're atthe head of anything you know
(04:28):
influentially or leadershiply,but if you influence people,
look at you and you're a leaderand you don't have to say a word
.
Some of the greatest leaders Iever had in my education was a
bus driver and a cafeteria lady,because they had, they had
influence, moral credibility,the credibility you earn by
(04:49):
walking your talk.
But that's your question ofleadership.
There's three great leadershiptraits, skills.
Number one is growth.
Great leaders are growers andgreat leaders know that what got
them to where they are won'tget them to where they want to
be.
Speaker 2 (05:08):
Right, that is right.
Say that again, say that again,say that again.
I want everybody to know.
Speaker 3 (05:14):
Great leaders know that what got them to where they
are won't get them to wherethey want to be.
And here you go and they expectothers to do the same that are
under their leadership.
Look, they love people likethey are, but they love them too
much to leave them like theyare.
You know, I love, I love mykids like they are, but I love
(05:37):
them too much to leave them likethey are.
That's the essence of growth inleadership.
Right?
I love you too much to leaveyou like you are.
I'm not going to leave you likeyou are.
You're going to grow and you'regoing to have to grow.
That's why John Maxwell saidthe more you grow, the more your
friends change.
It's not being stuck up orarrogant or whatever.
(06:00):
He's saying the more you grow,you just want to be around other
growers.
He's saying the more you grow,you just want to be around other
growers.
The second leadership trait isempathy.
Leaders care about those theylead and they want to know how
things are going and how theycare, and it's the one thing
that makes people follow leaders, even if it were voluntary.
(06:22):
I was on a team with the headof SunTrust Banks.
He's on the board of directorsof Coca-Cola, one of the most
influential business people inthe country.
I was on an elder team with himand when he would walk in the
first floor of the bank building, everybody in there knew called
him by his first name and he'dsay hey, tom, how's your wife
(06:42):
doing?
Hey, linda, how's college goingfor you?
And he called him.
They called him by first nameand he called them by first name
.
And that's on the first floor,that's not on the top floor,
that's on the first floor,because great leaders have
empathy for those they lead.
And the third, and maybe themost important nugget is great
(07:03):
leaders have humility.
They're humble.
Let me tell you a story andthen I'll wrap the lesson around
it.
There's a restaurant in Atlanta.
It was called Dante's Down theHatch, and Dante was an
eccentric man and he would makeyou.
The first day at work.
He made everybody wash dishes.
It doesn't matter what you'reapplying for.
Think about this I'm the chieffinancial officer of this
(07:26):
organization and you're going tomake me wash dishes.
Now, think about that, becausehere's the truth about that
lesson influence is where you'relikely to end up.
Look here where you're willingto start out.
(07:46):
I'm not doing that.
That's below me, that's goingto influence where you're going
to end up.
I was in a sermon one time andthis pastor said this.
I'll never forget this quote.
He said if you won't do a jobwithout a title, you'll never
have a job with a title.
Amen, that's right, that'sexactly right.
(08:12):
And so many of us think that's.
But I'm not doing.
I'm not, I don't do that.
I don't do that Really.
I mean, the greatest among youserved you, right, humility.
Look, grades get you aninterview.
You're a young adult.
Look here, let me tell yousomething.
Grades get you an interview,but after that they mean nothing
.
On the second day of work,grades mean nothing.
(08:36):
Zero, duke and the localcommunity college are all the
same.
On the second day, no one cares.
Right, iq is something, but EQ,emotional Intelligence,
quotient is one thing.
Emotional quotient EQ gets youthe raises.
Iq gets you an interview.
(08:56):
Eq takes you to the top.
You can be brilliant and lazy,you can be smart and stupid, and
here's the great thing, thehope for all of us, like me, you
can be the lowest in your class, but you can still own the
company.
Listen, walt Disney was adropout, and I'm not talking
about Bill Gates, that droppedout of Harvard.
(09:16):
Walt Disney was a drop highschool dropout and things turned
out well for the man.
There's a basketball player,kevin Durant.
He said hard work beats talentwhen talent fails to work hard.
Right, and this is good for allof us.
All right, I'll keep talkingfor days, anyways.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
No, no, no.
This is exactly what thispodcast is all about.
And when you start outliningthings like growth and empathy
and sharing kind of thefoundational wisdom behind why
you said it In other words, youknow, you give me the concept.
But that's one of the things Ihope people learn about podcasts
(10:00):
.
You know, I heard a speaker onetime said anytime you hear
somebody talk, practice the R2A2.
I don't know if you've everheard of R2A2.
A lot of times we say R2A2,people think of Star Wars and
I'm like no, no, no, it's not aStar Wars, it's R2A2.
Recognize, relate, assimilateand apply.
(10:21):
So one of the things that Ithink is neat about podcasts
like this is number one if youlisten to these guests like Dale
, recognize the concept.
He's giving you things.
I want you to go.
Oh okay, I know what he'stalking.
I see that.
I recognize that.
Then the second thing is I wantyou to relate to it.
(10:41):
Oh well, I'm not going to go in, I'm not athletic, but I am
going to do this, and it soundslike that still applies.
So I'm going to relate to it.
The next thing is to assimilateit, and I was like I always
like to ask people what doesassimilate mean and always tell
them it says to take in and tomake part of oneself.
(11:03):
So I assimilate.
So I recognize the concept, Irelate to it, I assimilate it
and then I need you to apply it,I need you to practice it, I
need you to R2A to it.
And so listen to what we justgot.
Now you've got part one, now wegot part two.
(11:24):
So now, within part two, we'vegot growth and there's a R2A2.
We've got empathy and a bunchof R2A2.
And now we got humility R2A2.
One of our guests that we had onDale and he was recently on the
second part of the Igniting theNext Generation is a guy named
(11:45):
Cleo Franklin.
In his book Coffee with Cleo,he was a very accomplished
basketball player in the MidwestI mean, he's in the Hall of
Fame of this university and very, very accomplished.
And one of my favorite chaptersin one of the stories that I
make him tell every time he andI are together is about the day
(12:06):
that he didn't like the way theref was calling the game.
And so he had a great game andhe was very disappointed in the
ref's calling of that game andhe let the ref know it.
He let the ref know it allthrough the game.
They get out of the locker roomand he sees the ref and he
wants to continue letting theref know it.
And he follows the ref all theway out to his car and he's
(12:30):
given the ref what for.
And Cleo tells the story thatthe ref never lost his cool.
He just turned around and toldhim.
He said young man, I called thegame the best I could and he
said I can tell you two thingsabout that game.
He said number one, you're notthat good, and number two, I
(12:55):
ain't that bad.
And he wrote a chapter andthat's the chapter.
Now.
His chapter was called BeHumble or Be Humbled, be humble
or be humbled, and it deals withthat topic of humility.
But I love the fact that youlaid those out and you gave us a
(13:16):
little foundational behind whyyou laid them out, because
that's how, as listeners, we canR2A2 that concept.
So thank you for doing that.
I mean that's good stuff.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
And you know what?
The world is not going to tellus that that's how you make it
to the top.
The world is not going to tellyoung adults that humility is,
as Jim Collins in Good to Great.
Humility is the greatest traitof leaders.
The world's not going to tellyou that this phone is not going
(13:51):
to tell you that Social mediais not going to tell you that
it's going to say to get morefor my own, to keep more for my
own, to hoard more for my ownand to serve my own and that's
how you have success andhappiness in this world.
And it's not true.
Couldn't be further from fault.
Speaker 2 (14:08):
One of the things that I want to share here as we
continue our dialogue is thatyou know I do a.
I've got a presentation that Igive.
I know you give presentationseverywhere and there's a slide
that I put up everywhere I go.
It's a quote that's attributedto Abraham Lincoln.
Abraham Lincoln said that thephilosophy of the schoolroom in
one generation will be thephilosophy of government in the
(14:30):
next, that the philosophy ofwhat we do here is how we're
going to be governed here.
So if we don't compete for theminds of kids and we don't
compete for the seeds ofgreatness that can instill
things like growth, empathy andhumility, then, to your point,
they're only going to rely onwhat they know.
(14:51):
And I tell people you know.
But long before I took thefoundation job, I had a.
I used to work with at-riskpopulations.
I worked in a prison, had anationally recognized truancy
intervention program, and what Ialways tell people is in life
we do the only thing we know howto do.
If we don't learn somethingelse, guess what we do.
(15:12):
Just like a computer, we willdefault to the only thing we
know.
We will parent the only way weknow how to parent.
That's how our parents parent.
We will be in relationship, theonly way we know how, because
that's what we saw so unlessmoney handle money, like our
parents handled money unless welearn a new skill guess what we
(15:32):
do we will default to the onlything we know.
So the reason why shows likethis and opportunities like this
and I loved in part one whereyou talked about automobile you
and I'm like you I used to dothe same thing.
I used to listen to the ZigZiglars and the Brian Tracys and
the Nightingale Connets.
(15:52):
I meant I would let them pourinto me and I always felt like I
said, I meant when you grew uplike I did, where we got our
dinner out of a garbage can.
And now I've been blessed to bein every state in the country
except for Alaska, to have knownpresidents and entertainers and
(16:14):
athletes, and all because ofthe blue and gold jacket.
I feel obligated, I feel like Ihave a responsibility to pour
that cup out so somebody elsecan have even more than what
Dale, one of the things I liketo share.
And then I'm going to shut upand get with our next topic here
.
But my oldest son his name isChandler, chandler's kind of
(16:41):
named after the man that raisedme at Cal Farley's Boys Ranch,
the guy that put me in ag.
I never signed up for ag.
Mr Chandler put me in aganything but an ag job.
And he always said you'll neverlearn anything unless something
(17:01):
depends on you.
So now, today, when I raisemillions of dollars for the FFA,
I love to tell the story thatin the world of agriculture, if
we don't do our job, somethingdies.
Well, I learned that because MrChandler gave me a sledgehammer
during a blizzard and told meto drive five miles to bust the
water trough for the horses.
I didn't want to go, I pitcheda fit, but I did.
(17:24):
Why?
Because Mr Chandler said,darling, do you get thirsty when
it's cold?
I said yes, sir.
He said don't you think horsesget thirsty too?
Sometimes we got to drivethrough the blizzard so that
somebody else can have theblessing.
Right, these are just thingsthat we have to do.
(17:45):
But when we start unpacking that, you know, people say things
like you know, aaron, we got toget back to the basics.
You know the three R's reading,writing and arithmetic and I
like to remind them.
I said listen, I agree with you.
I think we do need to get backto the basics, but I've worked
with boot camp kids, I workedwith truant offenders, I worked
(18:06):
in the prison, and everybodythat I worked with could read,
write and do math at afunctional level, I said.
But you're absolutely rightabout the three R's.
It's not reading, writing andarithmetic, I would argue.
It's respect, responsibilityand resiliency.
If we can teach our youngpeople to respect themselves,
their fellow man, to beresponsible for themselves,
(18:28):
their families, their community,state and country, and learn to
get up when you've been knockeddown, be resilient Not
everybody's going to get atrophy.
I learned just as much in ag,getting the gate with my steer,
as I did getting a blue ribbonwith my pig.
I learned just as much at bothends of that training and that,
(18:49):
like you said, that second dayon the job, gpa didn't mean
anything.
Nope, you know we work with allthese things.
Nope, you know we work with allthese things.
When I listened to what youshared in part one and where
we're at now with part two, Ithink about Mr Chandler and I
think about my son, chandler,and he was in fourth grade and
(19:13):
it was bring your daddy toschool day.
What does your daddy do?
Well, I live in a town withNATO pilots.
We have NATO pilots here,doctors and lawyers, and you
know, we got a university andthen we've got Chandler's daddy.
He's a professional developmentofficer.
He's a professional beggar.
(19:35):
You know how do I explain tofourth graders what I do?
And so I remember going up tothe classroom that day and then
I went in and I walked up totheir little whiteboard in front
of the class and on thewhiteboard I drew a little bitty
door and I asked the fourthgraders.
(19:56):
I said how many of you couldget through that door?
And I asked the fourth graders.
I said how many of you couldget through that door?
And they said no, sir.
And then I drew a really bigdoor and I said now how many of
you could get through that door?
And they said oh yeah, we coulddo that.
I said that's what I do I makedoors bigger.
Wow, what?
And so when I think about thispodcast and I think about folks
(20:17):
like you that come on and sharethis podcast, and I think about
folks like you that come on andshare, if folks will listen,
what you're hearing here withall of our guests, are people
that are saying I've got myhammer and nails here.
We're going to make that doorbigger for the people that are
coming behind us.
And that's what you're doing,dale.
You're, you're sharing thingsthat are making that door now it
(20:38):
doesn't mean that we're goingto get everybody through the
door.
Remember, our job is to createthe opportunity.
Their job is to determine theoutcome.
But if they'll follow throughon some of these tips that
you're given, guess what theodds are better that they're
going to have that outcome thatthey're looking for we can lead
(20:58):
that horse to water.
Speaker 3 (20:59):
We can't make them drink, but we can give them salt
and make them thirsty.
There you go, there you gothere, you go.
Speaker 2 (21:06):
Well, keep going with us.
Are there other competitiveedges or are there other
leadership skills?
What else would you like toshare with our audience?
Speaker 3 (21:15):
So let me say this with our audience.
So let me say this If you'relooking for opportunities and
leadership in the world, let metell you, young adults, this I
ask you one question who's inyour circle?
We will rise and fall to theaverage of the five people you
spend the most time with.
I'm going to tell you I'vestudied this for 37 years when
(21:41):
does your support come from?
Look, my inner circle is one ofthe biggest determinants of
encouragement and or despair inmy life, and the group that
surrounds you has a hugeinfluence on your life.
(22:02):
Don't think that it doesn't.
Well, they're not that bad.
No, no, no, no, no, no.
Don't think that it doesn't.
You are where you are in lifeprimarily due to who you spend
the most time with and who youallow into your mind.
Look, as a young adult, it washard for me to realize, but your
(22:24):
friends will determine thedirection and the quality of
your life.
Your friends are like elevatorsThey'll either take you up or
they will take you down, and ifthey leave you where they are,
they're taking you down.
And likewise, are you a friendthat, when they get on your
elevator, are you taking them up?
(22:44):
What's the Bible?
So, whoever walks with the wisebecomes wise.
But a companion of foolssuffers harm.
There's a statistic I read thatif you gain 10 pounds, there's
about a 75% probability that youwill too.
And the people around us and,by the way, that goes opposite
(23:11):
as well.
But the people around us willinfluence how we view the world
and what we think about.
It's why John Maxwell said themore you grow, the more your
friends change.
I mean, if you had a Kentuckythoroughbred horse for a half
(23:32):
million dollars, you're notfeeding that thing junk food.
You're not going to let it hangout with mules.
You're not going to put it inan old nappy, you know field,
with holes all in the place anda bunch of pack mules around.
You're going to associate thatthing with thoroughbreds and
you're going to feed it well andyou're going to rest it well.
(23:52):
You're going to exercise itwell.
Look, let me put it in FFAlanguage.
You will not harvest crops inyour future if you do not hang
around other farmers.
Pay special attention to thosepeople in your life because they
will be one of the primarydeterminants of your future.
That and what you allow to pour.
(24:13):
What are you reading?
What are you studying?
I was at a speech one time.
If you've ever seen that moviethe Pursuit of Happiness with
Will Smith it was about a guynamed Chris Gardner and Chris
wanted to become a.
He was at one point, homelessand he wanted to be a
stockbroker.
Chris and I were speaking at anevent.
We were backstage, and thequote he says is if you want to
(24:37):
play on the team, go to the gym.
If you want to own the team, goto the library.
Wow, and he said Dale, my mamaloved me.
I'll never forget him sayingthat my mama loved me.
And she said baby, if you wantto play on the team, exercise
your gifts, exercise yourmuscles, your talent, but if you
want to own the team, baby,exercise your mind.
What are you reading?
What are you studying?
(24:58):
Who are you talking to?
And if you watch him in thatmovie, he hung around with those
people.
He went on to have his own firm, Gardner Rich, and he's worth
over $100 million today.
You will not harvest crops inyour future if you're not
hanging around other farmers.
Who's in your circle?
The next thing I'll keep going.
If you want me to keep goingDid you have some thoughts?
Speaker 2 (25:20):
No, no, keep going.
Speaker 3 (25:22):
The next thing I would think you young adults
think like an owner when you goto work.
Think like an owner.
You want to raise, you want toget noticed, you want to move up
.
Think like the owner, becauseowners that own businesses, they
want employees that think aboutwhat the company is trying.
(25:42):
Because what is, what does thebusiness want to do?
Raise money for the people thatown the company.
That's all you're there for Now.
Hopefully you'll be able toparticipate in some of that and
things like that.
But everybody wants and here'swhat I've seen is in my life is
everyone wants.
Many people want more, but fewpeople want to become more.
(26:04):
You don't just naturally getmore by not becoming more, aaron
.
You want a bigger check.
You have to solve biggerproblems.
It's just how business works.
And these are things thatpeople go to work and they don't
just they don't understand whatI work here and I do my job.
Think like an owner to get more, you have to solve more.
(26:27):
That's just how business works.
Speaker 2 (26:29):
So, if I can jump in there on that one, I actually
just recently posted somethinglike that on social media
because I was talking aboutpeople.
If you listen to people, you'llhear people complain.
You'll hear people say, well,that's not working and they want
to like.
They want everybody to feel badfor that moment or feel bad for
(26:50):
that that it didn't succeed,like they got you, and I'm like
uh-uh, no, and so I put thispost up.
It said that most people don'twant to be part of the process.
They just want to be part ofthe outcome.
But it's the process that wefigure out who deserves to be
part of the outcome.
So a lot of times, like you'resaying, we need to be problem
(27:16):
solvers.
You know, I ask people.
Now here's something.
You know this is a risky onehere, because I'm talking to a
financial expert, but I'mwilling to step out here and
take the risk.
So I like to ask people why dopeople spend money?
So what do you think?
Why do you think people spendmoney?
Speaker 3 (27:36):
Keep up with everybody else to chase some
false thing they think it'sgoing to give them.
Speaker 2 (27:43):
So I thought about this and I thought because I'm a
fundraiser right, and I want mybusinesses, I want our
corporate sponsors, I wanteverybody to be successful,
right?
So why do people spend money?
Well, we spend money becausewe've got a problem.
I'm hungry, so I need groceries.
I got to go to the grocery store, so I need a car.
(28:05):
I got to get across town, so Ineed fuel.
My tooth hurts, so I got to goto the dentist.
I'm bored, so I got to beentertained, so I got to buy a
book or a movie.
But at the end of the day, wespend money to solve a problem.
So part of leadershipdevelopment is exactly what you
(28:27):
just described is how can I helpsolve a problem?
How can I help solve somebody'sproblem where they freely give
their resources, because I'mhelping solve their problem and
in doing so, the company becomesmore successful, the
organization becomes moresuccessful.
You know, I know that, like inthe state of Texas, you know, I
(28:50):
view what we do as a business.
I mean, we are a nonprofit.
Let me be very clear.
We are a 501c, but I view us asa business, and here's what I
mean by that.
The number one issue facing thestate of Texas, with our
sponsors and I don't know aboutGeorgia, but I'm willing to bet
on this one the number one thingis workforce.
There's not a close second,aaron.
(29:11):
We need a workforce.
We need people that will showup, people that can get along
with their peers, people thatcan communicate in a positive
manner.
The list goes on and on, andI'm going.
We got your audience.
We've got exactly who you'relooking for.
You know we can solve yourproblem.
Thus.
They want to become sponsorsbecause they want their brand in
(29:33):
front of that audience, becauseit represents that human
capital that they're desiring.
So we got to think throughexactly what you just said how
do we help solve somebody'sproblem?
And in solving that problem, wecreate margins, and businesses
are based on margins.
Speaker 3 (29:54):
That's so good.
That is so much in that there'smy head's spinning on that.
Here's something this morning Iwas talking, I jotted some
notes down and I call it thewinner's purse myth the winner's
purse, like a purse in a.
(30:15):
I was'm talking to a golf, acaptain of a college golf team.
This morning he called me andit's the winner's purse myth and
somebody once told me we werewatching a golf tournament and
on sunday, when the golftournament was over, the they
held up a check and it was likeone and a half million dollars.
And somebody said man, that guyjust won a million and a half
(30:39):
dollars in four days.
And I went wait a minute, what?
And this morning, talking tothat college golf captain of the
golf team, I brought this up tohim and I said what people fail
to realize is that he won thatgolf tournament hitting 3000
(31:01):
balls a day since he was four.
Right, we want to win thetournament in four days, but
that that'll never happen.
It doesn't work that way andthis is a great quote I saw.
The long road is the shortestpath.
Think about the long road isthe shortest path when we try
(31:27):
and cut off the secret ofsuccess and make it fast.
How many times do you go backand redo it?
and in business you've lost aclient or you've lost a job and
you got to go back and restartright the long road, young
adults, the hard way is the easyway.
(31:50):
The long roads is the shortestpath and sometimes success take
time doesn't always have to, butmost of the time they told told
Ray Kroc, the founder ofMcDonald's.
They said what is it like to bean overnight success?
What An overnight success,after he had spent decades
practicing what he was going todo.
If I could quickly readsomething that I got out of a
(32:13):
book, can I read something realquick?
This says it was looking atbamboo, bamboo growing.
And he said what do you seewhen you look at this bamboo?
And he said nothing.
You see absolutely nothing.
You keep watering it andwatering it, but you continue to
see nothing happening for oneyear, then two years, then three
(32:36):
years.
You know what happens afterthree years, john?
He said the bamboo tree startsto sprout up out of the ground.
Nothing, you see, absolutelynothing.
And he shook his head and saidI don't understand.
And he said what you don't seehappening is what's taking place
beneath the surface.
Right and beneath the surface,a dense foundation of roots is
(32:57):
spreading out all throughout theground to prepare for the rapid
growth that the bamboo willexperience.
Listen to this.
So you keep watering it andwatering it and eventually,
after five years of seeingnothing all happen above the
surface, the bamboo tree shootsup to over 90 feet tall in just
six weeks.
(33:17):
Tree shoots up to over 90 feettall in just six weeks.
You see, john, this book saidmost people want the 90 foot
tall bamboo tree without thefive years of the process.
They want the bamboo to grow to90 feet tall in six weeks.
But without the five years ofinvisible growth, the bamboo
wouldn't have a solid foundation, which is what FFA is doing,
(33:37):
and it could never sustain themassive and rapid growth that
occurs.
You're building roots in thesekids For success.
It's going to happen in theirlife, right, and this is why you
see people who achieve hugeamounts of success end up broke,
homeless or divorced.
The majority of lottery winnersor professional athletes that
75% or 65% of them are bankruptor homeless or divorced, and the
(33:58):
majority of lottery winners orprofessional athletes that 75 or
65 percent of them are bankruptor homeless or divorced don't
have those roots.
That's what you're doing forthese kids.
You're building those roots,wow, and the long road is a
short path.
Speaker 2 (34:10):
I wrote that down, by the way, because I'm going to
share that in the world ofdevelopment.
I'm very appreciative that myboard of directors understands
what you just shared.
That's what we call cultivation.
You know.
Unfortunately, to those on theoutside, you only see the
cultivation when the cashregister rings.
But the reality is there's alot that goes on behind the
(34:31):
scenes.
That's cultivating that giftand setting those roots in place
for that thing to grow and then, once it does, I believe I've
always said that success begetssuccess.
So if we can teach a youngperson to be successful, the
odds are really good that theycan duplicate that success.
(34:51):
One of the things that you saidearlier that I was going to come
back to.
I like the another.
We got another mutual authorhere that I know.
We like John Gordon, and inJohn's recent book, one Truth,
he said something that reallygot my attention, because I
think a lot of times people lookat this, you know, and they say
, well, this is a new.
(35:12):
You know kids aren't the sametoday.
You know this is a distraction.
You know kids aren't the sametoday.
You know this is a distraction.
And it reminded me.
I've got a slide in mypresentation deck that says it's
(35:33):
got a picture of people and itsays people don't change.
Do you agree or disagree?
And I love watching peoplestart unpacking that comment
People don't change.
And I let it sink in and Ifinally say listen, it's kind of
a trick question.
I said people don't change andthey never have.
I said you can go all the wayback to the Bible days and there
were pessimists and optimistsPeople don't change.
The other one that I have funwith is it shows a bunch of kids
(35:57):
on their cell phones and itsays technology is making kids
antisocial and it looks like abunch of bobbleheads.
Everybody in the audience isgoing yeah, that's right.
And then I show them a picturefrom the 1930s on a train and
it's a black and white photo ofall the folks reading their
newspapers.
(36:17):
And I said really, is this newground, not new ground?
There was a tool back then andI'm sure somebody said that's it
.
That newspaper's runningAmerica.
Everybody's got their headburied, nobody's talking.
Television came on Uh-oh,nobody's eating supper talking
(36:38):
anymore.
And then I remembered what JohnGordon said in his book One
Truth, and he talked aboutdistractions.
Distractions are not new.
Distractions were what folksdealt with in the Bible.
They're what folks dealt within the 20s and the 50s and the
70s.
And guess what?
It's exactly what our kids andwe are dealing with today
(37:03):
distractions.
So if we'll just focus on thetruth and we will learn to be
discerning and stay focused onthe things that are good and
build us up, it kind of goesfull circle to how we started
even part one of this podcast.
We talked about pouring in thegood things.
Don't let the distractionsbecome the seeds that we plant.
(37:27):
Let the seeds of greatness bethe things that we plant,
because those seeds are whatchange individuals.
Those seeds are what keep usfocused on the things that don't
become distractions.
So again, we just wrapped uppart two of this Dale already.
(37:49):
Can you believe that Incredible.
We could probably keep going sogood.
I can't say enough about howmuch I appreciate what you've
shared, all the tools thatyou've shared.
I met Mike Rowe.
I remember Mike Rowe wastelling me about his great
(38:09):
grandfather and he said or hisgrandfather.
And he said the man was amagician.
And I said what do you mean?
He goes because he could justmake things.
He was a craftsman and he fixedthings and he made things.
And when I think about tools.
When we think about theopportunity to build the future
(38:32):
that we want, we get to be thegreatest magicians.
Speaker 1 (38:35):
We get to take just an idea.
Speaker 2 (38:39):
And what is it?
Nightingale Conant, or one ofthem?
They always said that everysuccessful venture started as a
creative idea.
That's right.
So hopefully this podcast isjust another tool that maybe
spurs somebody to think aboutpossibilities and then to have
that grit, that tenacity to seeit through and not take the
(39:01):
short run but take the long wayto get there for the long-term
success.
Dale, thanks again.
I'll say thank you again.
We've done something here thatwe've never done before, but I
thought it was worth letting thedialogue continue.
Thank you.
And I appreciate you and yourwillingness to stay on.
(39:23):
Thank you, thank you everybody.
So for all the listeners again,thank you for stopping by the
Growing Our Future podcast.
Thank you for being part of ourinaugural part two of letting
the Growing Our Future Ghosts goon into another episode.
We appreciate you stopping byand, like we said last time, we
(39:43):
hope that you'll R2A2 what youheard here today.
We hope that you'll recognizeit, relate to it, assimilate it,
apply it and, until we meetagain, go out and do something
great for somebody.
You're going to feel good aboutit.
Go out and do something greatfor somebody.
You're going to feel good aboutit and, just maybe, along the
(40:04):
way we make our homes, ourcommunities, our state and
country a better place to live,work and raise our families.
Until we meet again, everybodybe safe, smile, be hopeful and
do something great.
Thank you, and do somethinggreat.
Speaker 1 (40:20):
Thank you.
We hope you've enjoyed thisepisode of the Growing Our
Future podcast.
This show is sponsored by theTexas FFA Foundation, whose
mission is to strengthenagricultural science education
so students can develop theirpotential for personal growth,
career success and leadership ina global marketplace.
Learn more at mytexasffaorg.
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