December 11, 2024 • 33 mins
Could mentorship be the key to unlocking your leadership potential? Ryan Smith, the visionary behind Unearth Coaching, joins us to shed light on his journey from aimless business graduate to a beacon for leadership development in Peterborough, Ontario. Ryan's story is about resilience and transformation, and he shares how a serendipitous encounter with a mentor not only changed his career path but also ignited his passion for public speaking and coaching. Despite the pandemic's challenges, Ryan's determination led him to continue his mission independently, illustrating the strength in adaptability during career transitions.
Ryan's insights highlight the profound impact of mentors and the nuanced concept of personal success. Through his narrative, we explore how seeking guidance from accomplished individuals can offer varied perspectives and accountability. Ryan emphasizes the importance of defining success on one's terms, sharing anecdotes of mentors who challenge and inspire growth by revealing personal blind spots. This dialogue invites listeners to reconsider their existing networks and explore new communities that align with their passions and values, illustrating the transformative power of mentorship.
We also venture into the intricate balance between faith and leadership, presenting a fresh perspective on integrating spiritual insights into professional growth. Ryan discusses how leaders can draw strength from faith to overcome insecurities and foster a more empathetic, less controlling approach. This episode also introduces the Leader Impact community, offering resources like a free leadership assessment and insights from Brayden Douglas's book, "Becoming a Leader of Impact." Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting, this conversation provides valuable tools and encouragement for your leadership journey.
Thanks for listening!
Click here to take the LeaderImpact Assessment and to receive the first chapter of Becoming a Leader of Impact by Braden Douglas.
Remember, impact starts with you!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Lisa Peters (00:07):
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders,so if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions to makethe show even better, please let
us know.
(00:27):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.
ca or on social at Leader Impact.
If you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpactcom.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Ryan Smith.
Ryan is the founder of UnearthCoaching, based in Peterborough,
Ontario, in Canada.
He specializes in refiningleadership and interpersonal
(00:49):
skills to tackle commonorganizational challenges such
as miscommunication,unproductive conflict,
leadership gaps, employeedisengagement, and siloed teams
and departments.
Ryan holds a Bachelor ofBusiness degree from Trent
University with certification asan everything disc trainer.
Born and raised in Peterborough, Ryan is passionate about his
(01:10):
hometown, where he currentlyresides with his wife.
When he's not coaching, you canfind him indulging in his love
of basketball, strumming hisguitar and maintaining his
impeccable beard.
Welcome to the show, Ryan.
And that is an impeccable beard.
Ryan Smith (01:25):
Thank you, Lisa.
It's good to be a part and,yeah, for anyone who's listening
they might not be able to seeyou have to catch the video on
that but make sure that it wouldbe good.
So I, you know, probably putmore work into that than even.
Lisa Peters (01:39):
I appreciate it.
Your bio and if anyone'slooking, I don't know if we can
tell how tall we are, but itsays you have a love of
basketball.
We have a lot.
I have a love of basketball aswell, so did you go on to play
anywhere else, like past highschool?
Ryan Smith (01:55):
Yeah, I went on to play some college basketball for
a couple years, so I enjoyedthat a lot and eventually I
switched universities because Iwas doing a change of degree and
the new school I went to didnot have a team, unfortunately.
Lisa Peters (02:10):
But are you playing men's now?
Ryan Smith (02:13):
Yeah, I always try to stay active, right.
Lisa Peters (02:17):
Good for yo u.
All right.
Well, we want our listeners tolearn more about you.
You've got a great resume, soI'm right.
Well, intro.
So I'm excited to learn moreabout your professional story
and how you got to where you aretoday, and really we're looking
for those pivotal moments thatmoved you along your journey.
So jump in.
Ryan Smith (02:34):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
So I'm a business grad bybackground and it's funny going
through didn't really know whatI wanted to do with it.
I had just gotten some advicefrom people close to me of, hey,
business is a good area to getinvolved in, can provide you
with some good opportunitiesmoving forward.
(02:54):
And so I finished my degree andwas kind of bouncing around
from job to job just trying tofind what would be that next
significant career move, if youwill.
And I had moved out of myhometown, spent some time in
Toronto, came back home and thena good friend and mentor of
mine he approached me, wantingme to work for him.
(03:15):
He had actually started up hisown company in the industry and
so he brought me in just as kindof like a marketing admin
background role to support him.
And that I actually didn't evenknow what coaching was as a
field, like you know, comingfrom sports background.
(03:35):
The moment someone said that, Isaid you mean like athletics or
something like that, and littledid I know that that had been a
term in business circles thathad been popular for quite a
while.
And so he kind of introduced meto what leadership coaching was
, and so I was working with himfor a few years and then over
time he saw that I was reallygood at certain parts of the job
(03:58):
, specifically the publicspeaking side of it.
So I started taking overworkshops and leading those.
And I really kind of fell inlove with the industry.
I loved the opportunity to godeep with people.
I loved not just in terms ofperformance and helping
organizations, but especiallyrelationships.
And there was something aboutcreating a workplace that people
(04:23):
love to be a part of, where somany people they might come home
from work and just feelexhausted or feel like they're
constantly having to deal withdifficult people all day.
And there was something veryrewarding about, you know,
helping people find theirpassion again, so to speak, and
actually getting to come to work, thinking of it that way,
(04:45):
rather than I have to come towork.
So I approached him and said,hey, like I'd really love to
learn the one on one coachingside of the job.
So he started mentoring me upin that and I started getting
some more certification,learning and growing my skill
sets.
And then I'd say a big pivotalmoment, of course, was the
(05:05):
pandemic that happened with thatand so much of what we did was
in-person workshops, and soovernight, probably around 70%
of our revenue just got wipedoff the books when the lockdowns
happened.
And of course, I didn't want tolet my mind go there, but I
(05:27):
could kind of see it written onthe wall that eventually he had
to really kind of scale back thecompany, and that meant letting
me and all the other employeesgo.
Where he would just kind offocus really he was getting
close to retirement anyways, sohe was just focusing on the the
armchair kind of work, if youwill.
And so that was a very kind ofscary time for me, because it
(05:51):
felt like the company had beendoing well, I'd been doing well
in the role.
Didn't really know where to goat that point.
And then, after that happened,another HR company who we'd done
a lot of work with.
They had referred clients to us.
The owner reached out to me andhe said hey, Ryan, I'd love to
(06:11):
bring on your service that youoffer.
I'm not looking at havingemployees though, so do you want
to work with me as anindependent contractor?
That was kind of a scary stepbecause I was, you know, kind of
new out of school, very used tothe stability of a salaried
position and wasn't sure Iwanted to go that route.
But I had some good people inmy corner encouraging me that
(06:34):
this could be a greatopportunity.
So went off, worked with himfor a couple of years, did very
well, continued to grow, andthen there was a moment where it
would have been a little over ayear now that I received a text
(06:54):
from the owner of this HRcompany out of nowhere, telling
me that he was going to have toclose down the company.
And there's some details I can'tget into why that happened, but
it was not planned on his end.
And that once again left me inthis similar predicament that I
was in years before that of okay, where's the next step, what am
(07:18):
I doing with this?
And it was kind of having tomove quickly because we had
clients that were, you know,expecting a certain level of
service.
We didn't want to havedisruptions towards that and
they were really kind of leftout, you know, with their, with
their hands out to dry, likewhat are we going to do?
Who's going to fill this, thisgap for us?
And so I decided to pull thetrigger and start my own company
(07:41):
and had to move very quickly onthat Because, like I said, we
had a certain you know we hadsome bigger corporate clients.
We had clients that you know wealready had work on the books
for them and so I all of asudden had to scramble and get
(08:02):
this together.
But it was so great.
Some of the clients we had weresuper supportive, um, and
encouraging to me and yeah, it'snow marked one year in October
since I started the company.
Lisa Peters (08:14):
So our last podcast we did with
Olga and we talked a lot aboutresilience and just when
something happens to you and youtalk about, you had to move
quickly, you know cause you canrevel or you can sit in the
madness.
You know, but it's making thosedecisions.
Do you ever think that when youreflect back on your life and
you think, as a basketballplayer, you know?
(08:35):
So, number one, you're abasketball player.
You didn't learn to playbasketball alone, you had a
coach.
So I loved how you thought, oh,coaching Is that like athletics
I'm a huge advocate for as wegrow, you still need a coach.
You know, for certain things inyour life how do you attribute
(08:59):
team sports toyou know, being coached to where
you are today?
It often I, because I have sucha love of sports and kind of
experience with it growing up.
I often think of differentmetaphors in terms of sports
analogies, and so, for example,one thing when I'm talking with
leadership, with my clients, isI'll make the big distinction
between, you know, highperformers or individual
(09:21):
contributors and leaders that Ilook at the star player versus
the coach.
And so you know, anyone who's afan of sports will know, that
the best players rarely makegood coaches or executives and
often it's, you know, playerswho sat on the bench or were?
fairly obscure.
All of a sudden they get tothis realm of coaching or an
(09:42):
executive position and they doreally really well.
Sudden they get to this realmof coaching or an executive
position and they do reallyreally well.
And so I make that distinctionthat, hey, it's not about how
much you contribute individually, but it's about how well you
can leverage people and pullkind of the gold out of them
right and put them in a place tosucceed.
And it was funny because, yes, Ididn't understand what the
(10:04):
industry was, but in a way I did, because growing up I was
always someone who, whatever Icould learn, I would just go
straight to the person who didit well and I would have no
reservations about asking them.
Maybe sometimes I should have,because I was maybe too forward,
sometimes with people,sometimes with people, but
(10:25):
because I was the person who wasoften willing to ask where a
lot of others weren't, I learnedthat often these successful
people, they want to give awaytheir, their expertise, their
knowledge.
They're just looking forsomeone willing to listen.
And so, um, I was able to kindof build relationships with.
You know, successful peoplelearn from them.
I was just hungry all the time.
Ryan Smith (10:44):
So I learned, oh, this is what I've always been
doing, so to speak.
This is what I've always beenpassionate about.
It's just now, there's aframework for it in a business
context, and I think it's superimportant, because a lot of
times people think it's whatknowledge or skills can they
(11:04):
give me, which is good, butthere's something about having
simply an outside perspectivethat keeps you grounded, someone
who's built that relationshipwith you.
They know you, they know whatyour blind spots are and what
ditches you tend to fall in, soto speak, so they can guide you
away from those, and I thinkthat's just invaluable when it
(11:28):
comes to to growing, because wewe all have those different
blind spots, those differenthabits that we have, and it's
hard to pull ourselves out fromthat.
So, for me, having a number ofdifferent mentors who I really
trust and built thatrelationship with, who can hold
(11:50):
me accountable, who can providethat outside perspective
perspective, and then also justthe accountability side, just
make sure that that I'mfollowing through on things that
I've said are important to me.
Lisa Peters (12:04):
Yeah, um, what advice?
So I mean, you're obviouslythat type of personality.
Right, you reached out, you gota question, you're going to the
right, you go to the personthat probably has the answers.
You know, bull in a china shop,whatever you did it, what
advice would you give?
And I'm sure you coach people.
It's like I don't know anybody,I don't know where to go.
You know, and I think they do,they just haven't opened it, you
(12:26):
know.
You know I'll step back and letyou answer, but you know yeah,
it's.
Ryan Smith (12:42):
That's a great question Because, yeah,
sometimes people they're like Ireally want to mentor.
I don't know where to look.
And the first obvious thing isjust look at the circles you're
in right now.
Are you, you know, part of achurch, a sports team, a club,
your school work, you know what?
Think about the immediatespheres where you're, where
you're doing life.
Think about the immediatespheres where you're doing life,
and if you find you don't havetoo many of those circles, then
it's simply get out and try toget involved in groups.
(13:03):
And that's where someself-reflection can come in, in
the sense of what am I good at,what am I passionate about, what
is energizing for me?
Things that just maybe otherpeople might feel like they're
work, but they don't feel likework to me, and how can I find
other people moving in thoselanes?
What are my values?
(13:23):
Those are all really important.
So that's where self-awareness,self-reflection, is also really
important.
After you've done that initialscan of kind of your immediate
environment.
And another way as well that Ithink of in finding those people
(13:45):
if maybe you are involved andplugged in and no one stands out
to you is what I would think ofis is there anyone who you
really admire, who you look atthe values they exude or the way
they carry themselves andyou're like I really want that
or I like that.
Or is there anyone that, whenyou spend time with them, you
just almost feel something ruboff on you positive, so to speak
(14:08):
.
You either walk away feelingmore relaxed, you walk away
feeling inspired, you, you know,you, you feel some kind of
energy that you were able todraw off of you.
I, I have various mentors likethat.
There's one in particular rightnow that he just has this way
about him that every time wespend time together, I just I
(14:28):
walk away feeling relaxed,feeling like everything's going
to be okay, like the journey ofan entrepreneur is can be very
stressful at times and somehow,like I'll bring him these
problems of like what am I goingto do about this?
I don't have the answers, Idon't know what to do about this
.
And he just has this way abouthim that I always walk away
feeling like I can do this.
(14:48):
It's not, you know, the sky isnot falling, it's not going to
be as big a problem.
Or, you know, I have another.
I had another mentor who wasjust so creative and such a big
thinker and every time I walkedaway I'm like I'm thinking way
too small on things like how canI stretch myself?
(15:09):
So those kinds of people,that's what I would start to
think about in the people youwant to reach out to, and from
there it's just buildingrelationship to the point where
you can make that ask.
Lisa Peters (15:24):
Good advice, yeah, who are your people?
Start there.
We'll move on to our secondquestion.
We usually talk about the bestprinciple of success if you have
one and if you have a storythat can illustrate that.
Ryan Smith (15:37):
Yeah, it's a great question.
There's a few that would jumpto mind for me that are all
great, but I think if I was topick one of the best, I would
and it might sound a littlecliche, but I'd say that you
really have to define successfor yourself.
So a great example of that withone of my mentors is I met with
(15:57):
him recently and he wasencouraging me to think about
where you want the business togo.
You know, what do you foresee?
Have you thought about that,ryan?
And so funny.
And it's not even me.
But my mind instantly went to atransactional place of like oh
yeah, I'd love to be making thismuch money.
He said no, no, no, ryan, Idon't worry about that.
(16:18):
He's like but what do you wantthe business to do for you?
How do you want it to functionin your life?
What kind of quality of lifewould you like to be living?
And it got me thinking aboutall those things.
Because he said you know,finances are great, but that's
just a vehicle to something Likewhat are you hoping to do with
that?
(16:38):
And that's the real answer thatyou're after.
And it's funny because, nomatter how much I've known some
of these things.
But when we don't definesuccess clearly for ourselves,
something else will come in andfill that clearly for ourselves.
Something else will come in andfill that, and usually it's a
(16:59):
fear or a comparison type ofthing that will take room.
It's like what is everyone elsedoing, that's what I should be
doing, or what am I afraid oflosing?
And if you haven't clearlydefined what success looks like
for yourself, you'll fall intothose little traps little traps
and and you won't own, takeownership of your life because
it will always feel like you'refollowing something else.
Lisa Peters (17:21):
Yeah, have you ever fell in fell.
Have you ever fallen into fearor um afraid of losing?
Ryan Smith (17:29):
Absolutely.
There's times where in myprofessional journey where I can
see different behaviors thatI've engaged in, where that was
really kind of a poverty mindsetor that was yeah, that was me
trying to protect somethingrather than thinking about what.
Where you know, what am Itrying to achieve?
Where am I trying to advance inmy life?
(17:51):
And, like I said, I think it'sa trap we all can fall into in
my life.
And, like I said, I think it'sa trap we all can fall into.
And that's even another areawhere having a coach or having
mentors in your life is helpful,because it helps you step out
of that first person perspectiveand look at the situation more
objectively.
Lisa Peters (18:10):
Good, All right.
I'm thinking you have some goodmoving along into failures and
mistakes, because I think we allhave some and you're sounding
like you're willing to share.
I think we all know we learnmore from our failures and our
mistakes than our successes.
So if you're willing to shareone of them and maybe what you
learned from it, yeah, andactually, based on what we were
(18:31):
just talking about, this leadsperfectly into that.
Ryan Smith (18:36):
Based on what we were just talking about, this
leads perfectly into that, into,sometimes, where you let fear
or or um, you know that kind ofdrive your decisions.
There was, um one client inparticular where we were
planning to do a workshoptogether and they were, um, they
were very picky about thedetails, very, um, yeah, very
particular about what theywanted.
And you know, I was kind ofoutlining what you know, what
(18:58):
this product is about, what theservice is about, and here's
what you can expect.
And they had a lot of thingsthey wanted included.
And not that I won't evercustomize things, but as we kept
going back and forth and okay,well, I'll change this, I'll
change that, something in my gutfelt like this was off, like
this wasn't me, and I didn'trealize that I had compromised
(19:20):
it so much in order toaccommodate what this client
wanted that it was no longer theproduct I designed, it was no
longer even a product that I wasbest equipped to deliver and it
did not go very well and it diddamage the relationship with
that client.
There was a lot of difficulttalks we had to have after that
(19:44):
and you know there were somethings on both sides that were
going on there.
But really I think the fear ofwhat if I, you know I need to
make this sale or you knowthey'll be upset if I tell them
no off the beginning, that Ican't do that and I ended up
making all these compromisesthat I look back and it made me
(20:05):
realize the importance ofstaying true to those values and
yourself, and that that willresonate with the right people
and that that will resonate withthe right people.
Lisa Peters (20:17):
You know I have a similar situation and mine was.
When it was all done, the eventactually went incredibly well,
but it was not something Iwanted to be involved, it was
not my values, but it wentreally well.
So everyone saw, and when I hadto report on it to someone who
actually saw the numbers and sawthe budget and went, what
happened here, I was humiliated.
(20:38):
And I was humiliated becausethis was not how I wanted to run
my business and I was reportingto someone who cared about me
and said you know, this is fine,the event was good and here's
some, here's some suggestionsfor you.
I was very thankful buthumiliated to begin with because
(21:00):
the gut feeling I let it go.
I let it happen, the event wentoff, but when something so good
happens from the event, you go.
It's okay, you know.
Ryan Smith (21:08):
Yeah.
Lisa Peters (21:09):
But it's not.
It's because all I thought wasdo I want another client like
this one, like, right, you'regoing to build your business on?
So I thank you for sharing thatbecause it just makes me.
You know.
I look at them as learningexperiences, right, like that's
what we learn from our failuresand mistakes, so thank you for
sharing.
So in Leader Impact we want togrow personally, professionally
(21:30):
and spiritually to increaseimpact.
So I'm wondering if you have astory that you can share of how
the spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
leader and I understand that youare actually a lead pastor or
associate pastor.
Ryan Smith (21:46):
Yes, yes, so good story.
And it's.
It's funny though because it'sit's well.
That definitely, of course, hasa lot of spiritual involvement
in it.
It's easy to confuse the twowith you know the work of doing
ministry, so to speak, and youractual spiritual journey and
(22:11):
your spiritual walk that you doevery day, and so it can really.
Yeah, I think pastors sometimesneed to be particularly careful
because it's like you're aroundthat environment so much that
you can sometimes mistake that.
And then all of a sudden youstart experiencing challenges in
your own life that you realize,oh, like, maybe I've gotten
(22:34):
away from my personal, thatconnection that I have with God
and with my own walk.
And so when it comes to as aleader, like personally and
professionally, I think one ofthe most important things is it
keeps me grounded, especially inrealizing there are things I
(22:54):
can't control.
So you know, one time I heardit put a really good way of
living from your stances ratherthan your circumstances, and you
know, even that relates to thedefining success for yourself,
right.
But typically I have aninteresting perspective on this,
especially in my business.
Typically, leaders and highperforming people, society we
(23:19):
reward them for being impatient,harsh, insensitive, and we call
that being a strong leader orlook at how confident they are,
and there's almost anexpectation that those kinds of
behaviors are going to be there.
But what's interesting is Italk to these kinds of leaders
every day.
That's the cool thing is I getto spend all my day around high
(23:41):
performing people and verysuccessful people and you see
that there's actually a lot offears and insecurities there and
anxieties, and a lot of it isthis need to be in control that
drives them to sometimes lackempathy with their people,
because they're just trying todrive a result and push for a
(24:02):
certain outcome or goal.
That causes them to micromanage, because they just can't rest
until they for sure know thatit's all been done the way they
want and it it's.
It's hard to find that balancebecause even I'm, when I'm
working with leaders and tryingto help them that way, but I
think my faith helps me speak tothem in a way.
(24:24):
I don't always get toexplicitly put it out that way.
There are some clients that Iget to to share my faith and
beliefs in that way, but I knowit's coming through anyways in
the work that I do with them andmy perspective and that they're
hearing a perspective that'svery rare for the workplace.
(24:46):
It's so different in a churchwhere I can completely and
openly talk about it that way,but nonetheless I I know that
they're receiving of that insome way, directly or indirectly
, when I'm working withbusinesses on it, and so for me
it reminds me, and evenpersonally in my own business
cause I have to put my um myselfin their shoes about the fears
(25:09):
of of oh like you know what'sgoing to happen with payroll
next, next month, and you knowall that stuff that that comes
with running a business andrealizing that all I can do is
come to work each day, do mybest kind of partner with God
and pray that he'd give me thestrength, the wisdom to make
(25:31):
good decisions for the businessand then trust that the seed is
planted and all I can do rightis water it.
But I really can't directlycontrol when it's going to grow,
how much it's going to grow,and so there's, there is a piece
in that, but it helps you stayreally present and not get too
(25:56):
focused on you know what's, youknow what's going to happen
tomorrow, and so I think that'sone of the most important things
in grounding me personally, andalso the way I get to share a
message, so to speak, thattypically isn't present in many,
in many workspaces.
Lisa Peters (26:19):
Mm.
Hmm, I find listening to youinteresting.
When you talk about plantingseeds as a coach, you said
sometimes you can, sometimesyour faith will come out, and I
think for some clients itdoesn't, and I appreciate that.
I had a coach once say to me ifyou believe in that stuff, and
(26:40):
I'm like, okay, we're good,we're done.
And I haven't seen her since.
My coaches have faith, they arefollowers of Jesus and I go out
for that.
When I went to your website Ihad to ask you.
I knew by the language you wereusing that you were a Christian
and I came right out and askedyou.
And then you come up and I'm anassociate pastor and so I
(27:01):
always think of the language andoffending people as a coach.
I'm not sure.
Are you careful?
Is that on your mind or do youjust slowly drip, or is there?
You know?
Ryan Smith (27:17):
Yeah, and it is on my mind, especially because
they're trusting me with a lot,and so not only and you've
probably experienced things likethis, where you know you may be
working with a client andthey're expecting certain things
like, oh, we're going toespecially with me, we're going
to talk about, you know, myemployees, performance and my
(27:38):
leadership habits and all thatstuff, but then it divulges into
personal stuff or into morevulnerable things, and so I've
had clients share veryvulnerable things about their
personal lives with me, um, andI also know what's moving in the
background and that right inthe in the space that helps with
that, um.
But you know they've trusted mea lot and so at that point, it's
(28:02):
me, um, really having to listento, to Holy Spirit and what I
sense and be like is now a goodtime to share this and trying to
be strategic about it.
And you know, my experience hasnot even necessarily been that
people get offended per se aboutit, but you know there might be
(28:25):
certain assumptions they have,and so I want them one, I want
to build that trust and I wantthem to know that I understand
and that I'm not looking at themin any particular way, because
it's so funny.
I heard this one time.
Human beings, we're so worriedabout what other people think of
(28:46):
us and most of the time they'rethinking about what we think
about them and and so you knowit's, but but you know I, I am
very open about you know, mostclients.
they, they know my, my faith,they, you know they.
(29:07):
They may not actually know I'man associate pastor, but they
know you know my church, theyknow you know my involvement
with it and from there, you knowthose are kind of ways that I
plant seed and I know thatthey're going to sense
something's different when we,when we have those times, yeah,
(29:28):
um, and so then I've had clientsjust ask me right after that,
after a while, when we've builtthat trust.
But it's um, even talking tothem about their business issues
is sometimes takes a fewsessions to build up that much
where I can confront them onthings.
So I, I think, you know, Ithink if we were all honest,
there's always a little bit offear over that Don't want to
(29:50):
offend people and there's alwaysa bit of a wrestling.
We do right.
Is now the right time, is itnot?
And that's where we all kind oflearn right, Because even on
that end I've also had maybewouldn't call it necessarily a
failure, but I've had timeswhere I've shared and it wasn't
the right moment.
Maybe I wouldn't call itnecessarily a failure, but I've
(30:11):
had times where I've shared andit wasn't the right moment and
it did affect my level ofinfluence into the person, into
what I could speak, into theirlife moving on, yeah, yeah.
Lisa Peters (30:19):
And maybe it was the right time.
We don't see it.
You don't see the big picture,right?
We're in the moment of ooh,that wasn't the right time, but
actually it could have been'llthe rewards will be seen later.
Yeah, all right, ryan.
Um, we've almost come to theend.
I just want to thank you forspending this time.
So I got one more question foryou is what brings you the
(30:41):
greatest joy?
Ryan Smith (30:42):
Greatest joy.
So I, I actually am a prettyintroverted person and so for me
there is nothing more amazingthan a good cup of coffee, you
know, alone in my living roomwith a good book on, you know,
on a Saturday afternoon.
I absolutely love that.
(31:02):
I also love movie night with mywife.
She's more of an extrovert thanI am.
Movie night with my wife she'smore of an extrovert than I am,
but we both really do enjoythose moments and we will be
very intentional with getting abunch of snacks, that sort of
thing.
And then I also just love verydeep conversations.
I love to geek out on differentthings.
(31:23):
I love when me and a friend canjust really dive into a certain
certain topic that we love,whether it be sports, whether it
be, um, the, a TV show thatwe've been watching, whether it
be theology and things about ourfaith, Um, so for me, those,
those are some of my bestmoments that I really love.
Lisa Peters (31:43):
Ah well, next time you're in my town we'll invite
you over for coffee.
You can strum guitars with myhusband.
We will, um, and you can, guys,talk about your beards, we'll
invite you over for coffee.
Ryan Smith (31:51):
You can strum guitars with my husband we will,
and you can, guys, talk aboutyour beards.
Lisa Peters (31:53):
We'll do all of it, we'll do all of it In one event
.
That's perfect.
Ryan Smith (31:55):
Just a whole lot of joy going on, ryan, yeah, yeah.
Lisa Peters (31:57):
All right.
Well, I want to thank you justfor spending the last half hour
with us.
It was a pleasure to meet youand I love when people put us
onto two great people doinggreat things in our country and
to meet you it was just apleasure.
Thank you, ryan.
Ryan Smith (32:10):
Thank you.
Lisa Peters (32:11):
So if anyone wants to find you, maybe engage with
you later.
What is the best way to findyou?
Ryan Smith (32:18):
Yeah, so I am on LinkedIn, ryan Smith, and also,
if you want to visit my website,unearth-coachingca.
Lisa Peters (32:27):
All right.
Well, I was going to say RyanSmith is a very common name, I'm
not sure how many on LinkedIn.
So Ryan Smith Unearthed.
Ryan Smith (32:34):
Yes, yes.
If Ryan Smith and then you findUnearthed Coaching, that'll be
it Awesome.
Lisa Peters (32:41):
Well, thank you again, Ryan.
Ryan Smith (32:43):
Thank you.
Lisa Peters (32:44):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpactca and check out our
free leadership assessment.
You'll also find on our webpagechapter one of Brayden
Douglas's book Becoming a Leaderof Impact.
(33:04):
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
leaderimpactca or, if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outleaderimpactcom or get in touch
with us by email info atleaderimpactca and we will
connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
(33:25):
Thank you for engaging with usand remember impact starts with
you.
Welcome to the Leader Impact Podcast.
We are a community of leaderswith a network in over 350
cities around the worlddedicated to optimizing our
personal, professional andspiritual lives to have impact.
This show is where we have achance to listen and engage with
leaders who are living this out.
We love talking with leaders,so if you have any questions,
comments or suggestions to makethe show even better, please let
us know.
(00:27):
The best way to stay connectedin Canada is through our
newsletter at leaderimpact.
ca or on social at Leader Impact.
If you're listening fromoutside of Canada, check out our
website at leaderimpactcom.
I'm your host, Lisa Peters, andour guest today is Ryan Smith.
Ryan is the founder of UnearthCoaching, based in Peterborough,
Ontario, in Canada.
He specializes in refiningleadership and interpersonal
(00:49):
skills to tackle commonorganizational challenges such
as miscommunication,unproductive conflict,
leadership gaps, employeedisengagement, and siloed teams
and departments.
Ryan holds a Bachelor ofBusiness degree from Trent
University with certification asan everything disc trainer.
Born and raised in Peterborough, Ryan is passionate about his
(01:10):
hometown, where he currentlyresides with his wife.
When he's not coaching, you canfind him indulging in his love
of basketball, strumming hisguitar and maintaining his
impeccable beard.
Welcome to the show, Ryan.
And that is an impeccable beard.
Ryan Smith (01:25):
Thank you, Lisa.
It's good to be a part and,yeah, for anyone who's listening
they might not be able to seeyou have to catch the video on
that but make sure that it wouldbe good.
So I, you know, probably putmore work into that than even.
Lisa Peters (01:39):
I appreciate it.
Your bio and if anyone'slooking, I don't know if we can
tell how tall we are, but itsays you have a love of
basketball.
We have a lot.
I have a love of basketball aswell, so did you go on to play
anywhere else, like past highschool?
Ryan Smith (01:55):
Yeah, I went on to play some college basketball for
a couple years, so I enjoyedthat a lot and eventually I
switched universities because Iwas doing a change of degree and
the new school I went to didnot have a team, unfortunately.
Lisa Peters (02:10):
But are you playing men's now?
Ryan Smith (02:13):
Yeah, I always try to stay active, right.
Lisa Peters (02:17):
Good for yo u.
All right.
Well, we want our listeners tolearn more about you.
You've got a great resume, soI'm right.
Well, intro.
So I'm excited to learn moreabout your professional story
and how you got to where you aretoday, and really we're looking
for those pivotal moments thatmoved you along your journey.
So jump in.
Ryan Smith (02:34):
Yeah, yeah, totally.
So I'm a business grad bybackground and it's funny going
through didn't really know whatI wanted to do with it.
I had just gotten some advicefrom people close to me of, hey,
business is a good area to getinvolved in, can provide you
with some good opportunitiesmoving forward.
(02:54):
And so I finished my degree andwas kind of bouncing around
from job to job just trying tofind what would be that next
significant career move, if youwill.
And I had moved out of myhometown, spent some time in
Toronto, came back home and thena good friend and mentor of
mine he approached me, wantingme to work for him.
(03:15):
He had actually started up hisown company in the industry and
so he brought me in just as kindof like a marketing admin
background role to support him.
And that I actually didn't evenknow what coaching was as a
field, like you know, comingfrom sports background.
(03:35):
The moment someone said that, Isaid you mean like athletics or
something like that, and littledid I know that that had been a
term in business circles thathad been popular for quite a
while.
And so he kind of introduced meto what leadership coaching was
, and so I was working with himfor a few years and then over
time he saw that I was reallygood at certain parts of the job
(03:58):
, specifically the publicspeaking side of it.
So I started taking overworkshops and leading those.
And I really kind of fell inlove with the industry.
I loved the opportunity to godeep with people.
I loved not just in terms ofperformance and helping
organizations, but especiallyrelationships.
And there was something aboutcreating a workplace that people
(04:23):
love to be a part of, where somany people they might come home
from work and just feelexhausted or feel like they're
constantly having to deal withdifficult people all day.
And there was something veryrewarding about, you know,
helping people find theirpassion again, so to speak, and
actually getting to come to work, thinking of it that way,
(04:45):
rather than I have to come towork.
So I approached him and said,hey, like I'd really love to
learn the one on one coachingside of the job.
So he started mentoring me upin that and I started getting
some more certification,learning and growing my skill
sets.
And then I'd say a big pivotalmoment, of course, was the
(05:05):
pandemic that happened with thatand so much of what we did was
in-person workshops, and soovernight, probably around 70%
of our revenue just got wipedoff the books when the lockdowns
happened.
And of course, I didn't want tolet my mind go there, but I
(05:27):
could kind of see it written onthe wall that eventually he had
to really kind of scale back thecompany, and that meant letting
me and all the other employeesgo.
Where he would just kind offocus really he was getting
close to retirement anyways, sohe was just focusing on the the
armchair kind of work, if youwill.
And so that was a very kind ofscary time for me, because it
(05:51):
felt like the company had beendoing well, I'd been doing well
in the role.
Didn't really know where to goat that point.
And then, after that happened,another HR company who we'd done
a lot of work with.
They had referred clients to us.
The owner reached out to me andhe said hey, Ryan, I'd love to
(06:11):
bring on your service that youoffer.
I'm not looking at havingemployees though, so do you want
to work with me as anindependent contractor?
That was kind of a scary stepbecause I was, you know, kind of
new out of school, very used tothe stability of a salaried
position and wasn't sure Iwanted to go that route.
But I had some good people inmy corner encouraging me that
(06:34):
this could be a greatopportunity.
So went off, worked with himfor a couple of years, did very
well, continued to grow, andthen there was a moment where it
would have been a little over ayear now that I received a text
(06:54):
from the owner of this HRcompany out of nowhere, telling
me that he was going to have toclose down the company.
And there's some details I can'tget into why that happened, but
it was not planned on his end.
And that once again left me inthis similar predicament that I
was in years before that of okay, where's the next step, what am
(07:18):
I doing with this?
And it was kind of having tomove quickly because we had
clients that were, you know,expecting a certain level of
service.
We didn't want to havedisruptions towards that and
they were really kind of leftout, you know, with their, with
their hands out to dry, likewhat are we going to do?
Who's going to fill this, thisgap for us?
And so I decided to pull thetrigger and start my own company
(07:41):
and had to move very quickly onthat Because, like I said, we
had a certain you know we hadsome bigger corporate clients.
We had clients that you know wealready had work on the books
for them and so I all of asudden had to scramble and get
(08:02):
this together.
But it was so great.
Some of the clients we had weresuper supportive, um, and
encouraging to me and yeah, it'snow marked one year in October
since I started the company.
Lisa Peters (08:14):
So our last podcast we did with
Olga and we talked a lot aboutresilience and just when
something happens to you and youtalk about, you had to move
quickly, you know cause you canrevel or you can sit in the
madness.
You know, but it's making thosedecisions.
Do you ever think that when youreflect back on your life and
you think, as a basketballplayer, you know?
(08:35):
So, number one, you're abasketball player.
You didn't learn to playbasketball alone, you had a
coach.
So I loved how you thought, oh,coaching Is that like athletics
I'm a huge advocate for as wegrow, you still need a coach.
You know, for certain things inyour life how do you attribute
(08:59):
team sports toyou know, being coached to where
you are today?
It often I, because I have sucha love of sports and kind of
experience with it growing up.
I often think of differentmetaphors in terms of sports
analogies, and so, for example,one thing when I'm talking with
leadership, with my clients, isI'll make the big distinction
between, you know, highperformers or individual
(09:21):
contributors and leaders that Ilook at the star player versus
the coach.
And so you know, anyone who's afan of sports will know, that
the best players rarely makegood coaches or executives and
often it's, you know, playerswho sat on the bench or were?
fairly obscure.
All of a sudden they get tothis realm of coaching or an
(09:42):
executive position and they doreally really well.
Sudden they get to this realmof coaching or an executive
position and they do reallyreally well.
And so I make that distinctionthat, hey, it's not about how
much you contribute individually, but it's about how well you
can leverage people and pullkind of the gold out of them
right and put them in a place tosucceed.
And it was funny because, yes, Ididn't understand what the
(10:04):
industry was, but in a way I did, because growing up I was
always someone who, whatever Icould learn, I would just go
straight to the person who didit well and I would have no
reservations about asking them.
Maybe sometimes I should have,because I was maybe too forward,
sometimes with people,sometimes with people, but
(10:25):
because I was the person who wasoften willing to ask where a
lot of others weren't, I learnedthat often these successful
people, they want to give awaytheir, their expertise, their
knowledge.
They're just looking forsomeone willing to listen.
And so, um, I was able to kindof build relationships with.
You know, successful peoplelearn from them.
I was just hungry all the time.
Ryan Smith (10:44):
So I learned, oh, this is what I've always been
doing, so to speak.
This is what I've always beenpassionate about.
It's just now, there's aframework for it in a business
context, and I think it's superimportant, because a lot of
times people think it's whatknowledge or skills can they
(11:04):
give me, which is good, butthere's something about having
simply an outside perspectivethat keeps you grounded, someone
who's built that relationshipwith you.
They know you, they know whatyour blind spots are and what
ditches you tend to fall in, soto speak, so they can guide you
away from those, and I thinkthat's just invaluable when it
(11:28):
comes to to growing, because wewe all have those different
blind spots, those differenthabits that we have, and it's
hard to pull ourselves out fromthat.
So, for me, having a number ofdifferent mentors who I really
trust and built thatrelationship with, who can hold
(11:50):
me accountable, who can providethat outside perspective
perspective, and then also justthe accountability side, just
make sure that that I'mfollowing through on things that
I've said are important to me.
Lisa Peters (12:04):
Yeah, um, what advice?
So I mean, you're obviouslythat type of personality.
Right, you reached out, you gota question, you're going to the
right, you go to the personthat probably has the answers.
You know, bull in a china shop,whatever you did it, what
advice would you give?
And I'm sure you coach people.
It's like I don't know anybody,I don't know where to go.
You know, and I think they do,they just haven't opened it, you
(12:26):
know.
You know I'll step back and letyou answer, but you know yeah,
it's.
Ryan Smith (12:42):
That's a great question Because, yeah,
sometimes people they're like Ireally want to mentor.
I don't know where to look.
And the first obvious thing isjust look at the circles you're
in right now.
Are you, you know, part of achurch, a sports team, a club,
your school work, you know what?
Think about the immediatespheres where you're, where
you're doing life.
Think about the immediatespheres where you're doing life,
and if you find you don't havetoo many of those circles, then
it's simply get out and try toget involved in groups.
(13:03):
And that's where someself-reflection can come in, in
the sense of what am I good at,what am I passionate about, what
is energizing for me?
Things that just maybe otherpeople might feel like they're
work, but they don't feel likework to me, and how can I find
other people moving in thoselanes?
What are my values?
(13:23):
Those are all really important.
So that's where self-awareness,self-reflection, is also really
important.
After you've done that initialscan of kind of your immediate
environment.
And another way as well that Ithink of in finding those people
(13:45):
if maybe you are involved andplugged in and no one stands out
to you is what I would think ofis is there anyone who you
really admire, who you look atthe values they exude or the way
they carry themselves andyou're like I really want that
or I like that.
Or is there anyone that, whenyou spend time with them, you
just almost feel something ruboff on you positive, so to speak
(14:08):
.
You either walk away feelingmore relaxed, you walk away
feeling inspired, you, you know,you, you feel some kind of
energy that you were able todraw off of you.
I, I have various mentors likethat.
There's one in particular rightnow that he just has this way
about him that every time wespend time together, I just I
(14:28):
walk away feeling relaxed,feeling like everything's going
to be okay, like the journey ofan entrepreneur is can be very
stressful at times and somehow,like I'll bring him these
problems of like what am I goingto do about this?
I don't have the answers, Idon't know what to do about this
.
And he just has this way abouthim that I always walk away
feeling like I can do this.
(14:48):
It's not, you know, the sky isnot falling, it's not going to
be as big a problem.
Or, you know, I have another.
I had another mentor who wasjust so creative and such a big
thinker and every time I walkedaway I'm like I'm thinking way
too small on things like how canI stretch myself?
(15:09):
So those kinds of people,that's what I would start to
think about in the people youwant to reach out to, and from
there it's just buildingrelationship to the point where
you can make that ask.
Lisa Peters (15:24):
Good advice, yeah, who are your people?
Start there.
We'll move on to our secondquestion.
We usually talk about the bestprinciple of success if you have
one and if you have a storythat can illustrate that.
Ryan Smith (15:37):
Yeah, it's a great question.
There's a few that would jumpto mind for me that are all
great, but I think if I was topick one of the best, I would
and it might sound a littlecliche, but I'd say that you
really have to define successfor yourself.
So a great example of that withone of my mentors is I met with
(15:57):
him recently and he wasencouraging me to think about
where you want the business togo.
You know, what do you foresee?
Have you thought about that,ryan?
And so funny.
And it's not even me.
But my mind instantly went to atransactional place of like oh
yeah, I'd love to be making thismuch money.
He said no, no, no, ryan, Idon't worry about that.
(16:18):
He's like but what do you wantthe business to do for you?
How do you want it to functionin your life?
What kind of quality of lifewould you like to be living?
And it got me thinking aboutall those things.
Because he said you know,finances are great, but that's
just a vehicle to something Likewhat are you hoping to do with
that?
(16:38):
And that's the real answer thatyou're after.
And it's funny because, nomatter how much I've known some
of these things.
But when we don't definesuccess clearly for ourselves,
something else will come in andfill that clearly for ourselves.
Something else will come in andfill that, and usually it's a
(16:59):
fear or a comparison type ofthing that will take room.
It's like what is everyone elsedoing, that's what I should be
doing, or what am I afraid oflosing?
And if you haven't clearlydefined what success looks like
for yourself, you'll fall intothose little traps little traps
and and you won't own, takeownership of your life because
it will always feel like you'refollowing something else.
Lisa Peters (17:21):
Yeah, have you ever fell in fell.
Have you ever fallen into fearor um afraid of losing?
Ryan Smith (17:29):
Absolutely.
There's times where in myprofessional journey where I can
see different behaviors thatI've engaged in, where that was
really kind of a poverty mindsetor that was yeah, that was me
trying to protect somethingrather than thinking about what.
Where you know, what am Itrying to achieve?
Where am I trying to advance inmy life?
(17:51):
And, like I said, I think it'sa trap we all can fall into in
my life.
And, like I said, I think it'sa trap we all can fall into.
And that's even another areawhere having a coach or having
mentors in your life is helpful,because it helps you step out
of that first person perspectiveand look at the situation more
objectively.
Lisa Peters (18:10):
Good, All right.
I'm thinking you have some goodmoving along into failures and
mistakes, because I think we allhave some and you're sounding
like you're willing to share.
I think we all know we learnmore from our failures and our
mistakes than our successes.
So if you're willing to shareone of them and maybe what you
learned from it, yeah, andactually, based on what we were
(18:31):
just talking about, this leadsperfectly into that.
Ryan Smith (18:36):
Based on what we were just talking about, this
leads perfectly into that, into,sometimes, where you let fear
or or um, you know that kind ofdrive your decisions.
There was, um one client inparticular where we were
planning to do a workshoptogether and they were, um, they
were very picky about thedetails, very, um, yeah, very
particular about what theywanted.
And you know, I was kind ofoutlining what you know, what
(18:58):
this product is about, what theservice is about, and here's
what you can expect.
And they had a lot of thingsthey wanted included.
And not that I won't evercustomize things, but as we kept
going back and forth and okay,well, I'll change this, I'll
change that, something in my gutfelt like this was off, like
this wasn't me, and I didn'trealize that I had compromised
(19:20):
it so much in order toaccommodate what this client
wanted that it was no longer theproduct I designed, it was no
longer even a product that I wasbest equipped to deliver and it
did not go very well and it diddamage the relationship with
that client.
There was a lot of difficulttalks we had to have after that
(19:44):
and you know there were somethings on both sides that were
going on there.
But really I think the fear ofwhat if I, you know I need to
make this sale or you knowthey'll be upset if I tell them
no off the beginning, that Ican't do that and I ended up
making all these compromisesthat I look back and it made me
(20:05):
realize the importance ofstaying true to those values and
yourself, and that that willresonate with the right people
and that that will resonate withthe right people.
Lisa Peters (20:17):
You know I have a similar situation and mine was.
When it was all done, the eventactually went incredibly well,
but it was not something Iwanted to be involved, it was
not my values, but it wentreally well.
So everyone saw, and when I hadto report on it to someone who
actually saw the numbers and sawthe budget and went, what
happened here, I was humiliated.
(20:38):
And I was humiliated becausethis was not how I wanted to run
my business and I was reportingto someone who cared about me
and said you know, this is fine,the event was good and here's
some, here's some suggestionsfor you.
I was very thankful buthumiliated to begin with because
(21:00):
the gut feeling I let it go.
I let it happen, the event wentoff, but when something so good
happens from the event, you go.
It's okay, you know.
Ryan Smith (21:08):
Yeah.
Lisa Peters (21:09):
But it's not.
It's because all I thought wasdo I want another client like
this one, like, right, you'regoing to build your business on?
So I thank you for sharing thatbecause it just makes me.
You know.
I look at them as learningexperiences, right, like that's
what we learn from our failuresand mistakes, so thank you for
sharing.
So in Leader Impact we want togrow personally, professionally
(21:30):
and spiritually to increaseimpact.
So I'm wondering if you have astory that you can share of how
the spiritual makes a practicaldifference in your life as a
leader and I understand that youare actually a lead pastor or
associate pastor.
Ryan Smith (21:46):
Yes, yes, so good story.
And it's.
It's funny though because it'sit's well.
That definitely, of course, hasa lot of spiritual involvement
in it.
It's easy to confuse the twowith you know the work of doing
ministry, so to speak, and youractual spiritual journey and
(22:11):
your spiritual walk that you doevery day, and so it can really.
Yeah, I think pastors sometimesneed to be particularly careful
because it's like you're aroundthat environment so much that
you can sometimes mistake that.
And then all of a sudden youstart experiencing challenges in
your own life that you realize,oh, like, maybe I've gotten
(22:34):
away from my personal, thatconnection that I have with God
and with my own walk.
And so when it comes to as aleader, like personally and
professionally, I think one ofthe most important things is it
keeps me grounded, especially inrealizing there are things I
(22:54):
can't control.
So you know, one time I heardit put a really good way of
living from your stances ratherthan your circumstances, and you
know, even that relates to thedefining success for yourself,
right.
But typically I have aninteresting perspective on this,
especially in my business.
Typically, leaders and highperforming people, society we
(23:19):
reward them for being impatient,harsh, insensitive, and we call
that being a strong leader orlook at how confident they are,
and there's almost anexpectation that those kinds of
behaviors are going to be there.
But what's interesting is Italk to these kinds of leaders
every day.
That's the cool thing is I getto spend all my day around high
(23:41):
performing people and verysuccessful people and you see
that there's actually a lot offears and insecurities there and
anxieties, and a lot of it isthis need to be in control that
drives them to sometimes lackempathy with their people,
because they're just trying todrive a result and push for a
(24:02):
certain outcome or goal.
That causes them to micromanage, because they just can't rest
until they for sure know thatit's all been done the way they
want and it it's.
It's hard to find that balancebecause even I'm, when I'm
working with leaders and tryingto help them that way, but I
think my faith helps me speak tothem in a way.
(24:24):
I don't always get toexplicitly put it out that way.
There are some clients that Iget to to share my faith and
beliefs in that way, but I knowit's coming through anyways in
the work that I do with them andmy perspective and that they're
hearing a perspective that'svery rare for the workplace.
(24:46):
It's so different in a churchwhere I can completely and
openly talk about it that way,but nonetheless I I know that
they're receiving of that insome way, directly or indirectly
, when I'm working withbusinesses on it, and so for me
it reminds me, and evenpersonally in my own business
cause I have to put my um myselfin their shoes about the fears
(25:09):
of of oh like you know what'sgoing to happen with payroll
next, next month, and you knowall that stuff that that comes
with running a business andrealizing that all I can do is
come to work each day, do mybest kind of partner with God
and pray that he'd give me thestrength, the wisdom to make
(25:31):
good decisions for the businessand then trust that the seed is
planted and all I can do rightis water it.
But I really can't directlycontrol when it's going to grow,
how much it's going to grow,and so there's, there is a piece
in that, but it helps you stayreally present and not get too
(25:56):
focused on you know what's, youknow what's going to happen
tomorrow, and so I think that'sone of the most important things
in grounding me personally, andalso the way I get to share a
message, so to speak, thattypically isn't present in many,
in many workspaces.
Lisa Peters (26:19):
Mm.
Hmm, I find listening to youinteresting.
When you talk about plantingseeds as a coach, you said
sometimes you can, sometimesyour faith will come out, and I
think for some clients itdoesn't, and I appreciate that.
I had a coach once say to me ifyou believe in that stuff, and
(26:40):
I'm like, okay, we're good,we're done.
And I haven't seen her since.
My coaches have faith, they arefollowers of Jesus and I go out
for that.
When I went to your website Ihad to ask you.
I knew by the language you wereusing that you were a Christian
and I came right out and askedyou.
And then you come up and I'm anassociate pastor and so I
(27:01):
always think of the language andoffending people as a coach.
I'm not sure.
Are you careful?
Is that on your mind or do youjust slowly drip, or is there?
You know?
Ryan Smith (27:17):
Yeah, and it is on my mind, especially because
they're trusting me with a lot,and so not only and you've
probably experienced things likethis, where you know you may be
working with a client andthey're expecting certain things
like, oh, we're going toespecially with me, we're going
to talk about, you know, myemployees, performance and my
(27:38):
leadership habits and all thatstuff, but then it divulges into
personal stuff or into morevulnerable things, and so I've
had clients share veryvulnerable things about their
personal lives with me, um, andI also know what's moving in the
background and that right inthe in the space that helps with
that, um.
But you know they've trusted mea lot and so at that point, it's
(28:02):
me, um, really having to listento, to Holy Spirit and what I
sense and be like is now a goodtime to share this and trying to
be strategic about it.
And you know, my experience hasnot even necessarily been that
people get offended per se aboutit, but you know there might be
(28:25):
certain assumptions they have,and so I want them one, I want
to build that trust and I wantthem to know that I understand
and that I'm not looking at themin any particular way, because
it's so funny.
I heard this one time.
Human beings, we're so worriedabout what other people think of
(28:46):
us and most of the time they'rethinking about what we think
about them and and so you knowit's, but but you know I, I am
very open about you know, mostclients.
they, they know my, my faith,they, you know they.
(29:07):
They may not actually know I'man associate pastor, but they
know you know my church, theyknow you know my involvement
with it and from there, you knowthose are kind of ways that I
plant seed and I know thatthey're going to sense
something's different when we,when we have those times, yeah,
(29:28):
um, and so then I've had clientsjust ask me right after that,
after a while, when we've builtthat trust.
But it's um, even talking tothem about their business issues
is sometimes takes a fewsessions to build up that much
where I can confront them onthings.
So I, I think, you know, Ithink if we were all honest,
there's always a little bit offear over that Don't want to
(29:50):
offend people and there's alwaysa bit of a wrestling.
We do right.
Is now the right time, is itnot?
And that's where we all kind oflearn right, Because even on
that end I've also had maybewouldn't call it necessarily a
failure, but I've had timeswhere I've shared and it wasn't
the right moment.
Maybe I wouldn't call itnecessarily a failure, but I've
(30:11):
had times where I've shared andit wasn't the right moment and
it did affect my level ofinfluence into the person, into
what I could speak, into theirlife moving on, yeah, yeah.
Lisa Peters (30:19):
And maybe it was the right time.
We don't see it.
You don't see the big picture,right?
We're in the moment of ooh,that wasn't the right time, but
actually it could have been'llthe rewards will be seen later.
Yeah, all right, ryan.
Um, we've almost come to theend.
I just want to thank you forspending this time.
So I got one more question foryou is what brings you the
(30:41):
greatest joy?
Ryan Smith (30:42):
Greatest joy.
So I, I actually am a prettyintroverted person and so for me
there is nothing more amazingthan a good cup of coffee, you
know, alone in my living roomwith a good book on, you know,
on a Saturday afternoon.
I absolutely love that.
(31:02):
I also love movie night with mywife.
She's more of an extrovert thanI am.
Movie night with my wife she'smore of an extrovert than I am,
but we both really do enjoythose moments and we will be
very intentional with getting abunch of snacks, that sort of
thing.
And then I also just love verydeep conversations.
I love to geek out on differentthings.
(31:23):
I love when me and a friend canjust really dive into a certain
certain topic that we love,whether it be sports, whether it
be, um, the, a TV show thatwe've been watching, whether it
be theology and things about ourfaith, Um, so for me, those,
those are some of my bestmoments that I really love.
Lisa Peters (31:43):
Ah well, next time you're in my town we'll invite
you over for coffee.
You can strum guitars with myhusband.
We will, um, and you can, guys,talk about your beards, we'll
invite you over for coffee.
Ryan Smith (31:51):
You can strum guitars with my husband we will,
and you can, guys, talk aboutyour beards.
Lisa Peters (31:53):
We'll do all of it, we'll do all of it In one event
.
That's perfect.
Ryan Smith (31:55):
Just a whole lot of joy going on, ryan, yeah, yeah.
Lisa Peters (31:57):
All right.
Well, I want to thank you justfor spending the last half hour
with us.
It was a pleasure to meet youand I love when people put us
onto two great people doinggreat things in our country and
to meet you it was just apleasure.
Thank you, ryan.
Ryan Smith (32:10):
Thank you.
Lisa Peters (32:11):
So if anyone wants to find you, maybe engage with
you later.
What is the best way to findyou?
Ryan Smith (32:18):
Yeah, so I am on LinkedIn, ryan Smith, and also,
if you want to visit my website,unearth-coachingca.
Lisa Peters (32:27):
All right.
Well, I was going to say RyanSmith is a very common name, I'm
not sure how many on LinkedIn.
So Ryan Smith Unearthed.
Ryan Smith (32:34):
Yes, yes.
If Ryan Smith and then you findUnearthed Coaching, that'll be
it Awesome.
Lisa Peters (32:41):
Well, thank you again, Ryan.
Ryan Smith (32:43):
Thank you.
Lisa Peters (32:44):
All right.
Well, if you're part of LeaderImpact, you can always discuss
or share this podcast with yourgroup.
And if you are not yet part ofLeader Impact and would like to
find out more and grow yourleadership, find our podcast
page on our website atleaderimpactca and check out our
free leadership assessment.
You'll also find on our webpagechapter one of Brayden
Douglas's book Becoming a Leaderof Impact.
(33:04):
You can also check out groupsavailable in Canada at
leaderimpactca or, if you'relistening from anywhere else in
the world, check outleaderimpactcom or get in touch
with us by email info atleaderimpactca and we will
connect you.
And if you like this podcast,please leave us a comment, give
us a rating or review.
This will help other globalleaders find our podcast.
(33:25):
Thank you for engaging with usand remember impact starts with
you.
Popular Podcasts
NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal
Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.
On Purpose with Jay Shetty
I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com