December 30, 2020 • 55 mins
10 ICONIC Lessons of 2020
Episode #10
Without a doubt 2020 has been a year of unsuspected turns and sudden surprises. This year has been draining, overwhelming and exhausting, uncertain and worrisome. But, on the flip side of the coin, this tumultuous year has also been an exciting, full of growth and learning opportunities, and plenty of adrenaline to survive on.
To close out the year and in commemoration of our 10th podcast episode, John and Calvin have put together a list of 10 ICONIC Lessons of 2020. And a special thanks to our listeners for their continued support and listenership. You’re all unequivocally ICONIC!
- 0:01:18 - Intro: Thank you, Listeners!
- 0:04:41 - Lesson #10: Trust Your Team
- 0:08:02 - Lesson #9: Leaders Emerge During Turbulent Times
- 0:12:57 - Lesson #8: Lead with Empathy
- 0:17:55 - Lesson #7: The Illusion of Control
- 0:21:52 - Lesson #6: Have a Plan B
- 0:28:50 - Lesson #5: Failure Breeds Creativity
- 0:32:28 - Lesson #4: Never Give Up
- 0:38:21 - Lesson #3: Get Comfortable with the Unknown and Ambiguity
- 0:41:54 - Lesson #2: Community is Everything
- 0:46:54 - Lesson #1: Mindset is Everything
- 0:50:25 - ICONIC Points
To learn more about John Avola and Calvin Stovall, visit iconicpresentations.net. All The ICONIC Mindset episodes can be downloaded at theiconicmindset.com. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please subscribe to our show. Remember to select a star rating and/or write a review for The ICONIC Mindset podcast.
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- John Avola: @johnavola (Twitter) and LinkedIn
- Calvin Stovall: @ICONICspeaker (Twitter), Facebook and LinkedIn
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Don't just be, Be ICONIC!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Introduction (00:07):
Welcome to the iconic mindset podcast with John
Avola and Calvin Stovall.
This is the only place thatuncovers the multiple levels of
iconic businesses and brands.
Every episode reveals thesecrets behind what it takes to
make your business idea ormovement iconic.
(00:27):
Now, here are John and Calvin.
John Avola (00:35):
Hey Calvin.
We have an exciting episodetoday, don't we?
Calvin Stovall (00:41):
We do, sir! We are on number 10.
I cannot believe it, John.
This is just so awesome.
John Avola (00:51):
Absolutely.
10 episodes.
Who would have thought back inMay, when we started out.
Do you remember our firstepisode?
The good, the bad, and the ugly,COVID-19 iconic businesses.
Remember that?
Calvin Stovall (01:08):
I do remember that.
It actually was funny.
That was actually our mostpopular episode.
So just on behalf of John, I'msure John's going to say the
same thing, we want to say thankyou to everybody out there who
has been riding with us on thisjourney.
We're really looking forward tocontinuing to do this into the
upcoming year, and I'm justexcited to be on our 10th
(01:30):
episode, but we couldn't havedone it without you.
Thank you very much fordownloading us.
Just super appreciative of youloving that iconic mindset.
John Avola (01:38):
Absolutely.
Couldn't say it any better,Calvin.
You're absolutely right.
Without our listeners, therewould be no point to having this
podcast.
So we are so appreciative of ourlisteners.
We have those dedicated ones aswell that we all know, and we're
all very, very appreciative ofyou listening to us.
Calvin Stovall (01:53):
That's right.
So we dedicate this one, number10, to you out there.
So today, John, talk about acrazy year, right?
Without a doubt, this has been ayear of unsuspected turns,
sudden surprises.
We still have a lot of peoplethat are out there dealing with
(02:14):
some challenging situations.
A lot of people are stillunemployed, John.
I know we're in the holidayseason and I was supposed to be
positive, but I think somepeople are still dealing with
stuff that we still need to bemindful of.
Some people are still dealingwith some tough stuff.
Honestly, it's just been tough.
John Avola (02:34):
A tough year of challenges.
But we've got to also saythere's a vaccine on the way.
And I think things are turningaround, right?
2021 is a couple of weeks away.
So there is a light at the endof that tunnel.
Calvin Stovall (02:46):
Absolutely.
And so today this is going to bean iconic episode because we're
going to talk about 10 lessonsthat you and I have learned
during the year, which is greatbecause this is called the
iconic podcast.
So the thing is, I think you andI will agree that to make it
through a tumultuous year, likethis one, i t's all about
(03:09):
mindset, i n how you approachthings.
Today we want to talk about someof the lessons that both you and
I learned.
John Avola (03:18):
We've learned a lot, you know, and I think that's
what keeps us moving.
It keeps us motivated.
It's always learning, it'sgrowing, it's understanding,
it's accepting.
And, we will talk a lot aboutthat today.
Calvin Stovall (03:29):
About the vaccine.
There are some positives.
I think there are even somepositives that may have happened
through COVID.
Again, it's been a year ofexcitement, full of growth and
learning opportunities and a lotof adrenaline that we can live
on.
But I think you and I also agreea lot of the stuff that happened
was outside of our control.
(03:50):
But despite that, we can focuson the things we can control.
And I think a lot of the thingswe're going to talk about today
are around things that you canactually manage or improve or
scale on.
These are things that arecertainly not out of reach for
anyone.
So, again, first of all, you'vejust got to shift your mindset
(04:10):
and be flexible and adapt alittle bit.
This is going to be a good one.
So let's get into it.
John Avola (04:16):
Let's kick it off.
So the top 10 iconic lessons of2020.
Who's up first?
Calvin Stovall (04:22):
Why don't you start, John?
John Avola (04:24):
All right.
I will kick it off with thenumber 10 lesson.
Similar to other countdownswe've done, we just want to
restate that just because we arelisting them in order from 10 to
one doesn't necessarily mean oneis more important than the
others.
They're all equal.
So the first lesson, Calvin, of2020 is trust your team.
(04:47):
Let me explain a little bit herewhat I mean by trusting your
team.
So pre COVID, there was alwaysthat assumption that working
from home creates more of adistraction, right?
You'd have your manager that yourequest that work from home day
and they kind of raised aneyebrow at you.
However, a recent report fromFreedom Dynamics found that it's
(05:12):
actually quite the opposite.
This study revealed that workingfrom home actually showed less
distractions than there were inthe office.
The majority of respondentsfound themselves to be more
productive in their homeenvironment without
interruptions.
And they were able to work ontheir own schedule and
accomplish more without being ina physical setting.
(05:35):
So I wanted to talk a little bitmore about trust and what that
means.
As a leader, as a manager,you've got to trust your team,
whether you're physically withthem, in a building or an office
setting or they're workingremotely.
And looking at a team withouttrust, it really isn't a team at
all.
You can't half trust your team.
You can't trust them in theoffice and not trust them at
(05:59):
home.
And the lesson learned here wasthat regardless of the
environment, it has made theteam stronger, more efficient.
We've found productivity hasincreased.
And those meaningful goals arebeing achieved.
Trusting someone really meansrelying on them to follow
through with theirresponsibilities.
And COVID has taught us thattrust isn't entirely dependent
(06:22):
on the behavior of theindividual.
It's brought to the forefrontthat it's our own responses and
interactions with thosebehaviors and how we contribute
to trusting them.
So it's not necessarily only onthe person, but it's also on the
leader and that perception ofthe individual.
One of those responses we cancontrol is not letting our own
physical work environment alterour trust in teams.
(06:45):
To go back to that report for aminute, I'm excited to share
that the majority of leadershave found that working remotely
has actually increased trust.
And they found that, I think itwas more than half the
respondents, expressed thatthey're trusting and empowering
more employees today than theywere pre COVID.
Calvin Stovall (07:03):
That's a positive thing.
And so I look at that as youshould have been trusting your
team in the beginning beforeCOVID protocol, but as you said,
this environment has kind offorced you to have to trust
them.
You mentioned empowerment andI'm going to add autonomy.
(07:28):
Accountability.
All of those things, your teamhas to feel that you trust them
and you have to give them thatfreedom and know that they're
going to get their jobs done.
Why even have people on yourteam, if you feel like you've
got to do everything anyway?
That's the waste.
(07:49):
It's a waste.
I love it.
And like you said, I think a lotof the things we're going to
talk about today, John, COVIDhas made better.
Great lesson.
All right, here we go.
Number nine for me.
Real leadership, or I'm going tosay leaders who emerged during
(08:11):
turbulent times.
Let me elaborate on that.
What I mean by that is this.
When things are beautiful andeverything's going well, yes,
you have to have skills to be agood leader.
But your leadership will betested and how well you lead
(08:31):
your team is going to be testedwhen things go awry or when you
have chaos or when you don'tknow what to do, or when you
can't predict what to do next.
Being able to lead your teamthrough a crisis will really
test how good you are inleadership.
(08:51):
And I think this year, if youhad a team of direct reports,
I'm sure you know exactly whatI'm talking about.
Because I think sometimes as aleader, I think as human beings,
we like routine and our brainscrave routine.
And I think when you've beensuccessful as a leader during
(09:11):
good times, you get a little bitcomfortable.
And in a situation when youcan't predict what's going to
happen, that's when you have tolearn how to get comfortable
stepping out of your comfortzone.
And being open to new ideas anddiversity of thought, because
what worked in the past probablyis not going to work in an
(09:35):
environment like this one.
So, I think one of the biggestlessons for me was getting
comfortable with beinguncomfortable.
I kind of talk about that alittle bit more, but that's when
real leadership emerges.
Are you going to improve yourlevel of communication with your
team?
Because a lot of people had towork remotely.
If you really want to keep yourteam engaged, you have to
(10:00):
communicate more.
And I think right now, if youdid this right, John, you should
know your team better than everbefore, because you were on Zoom
calls.
And I think we talked about thisbefore, you're in their living
rooms, you have the cat walkacross, you have the kid walking
into the room.
You had all that stuff.
If you were a good leader, yourlevel of communication should
(10:27):
have amped up.
And you should now be morecomfortable stepping out of your
comfort zone and doing things alittle bit more differently as a
leader.
So, again, a plus for COVID.
I truly believe this, when youfeel comfortable, that's when
(10:49):
you should be most fearful,because that means you're not
going beyond your horizon alittle bit more.
Taking steps that are going tohelp you rise and thrive.
And that's where I'm at onnumber nine.
John Avola (11:03):
And you touched a little bit on complacency.
If you're feeling comfortable,don't get complacent, right?
These challenging times separatereal leaders from the rest.
It's that extra step.
You look back at history.
Those leaders that you think ofthat come to mind, those are the
(11:23):
ones that have acted in the faceof challenging times.
Calvin Stovall (11:28):
So get out of your comfort zone.
That's my number nine.
And I know sometimes peoplefreak out when we say get out of
your comfort zone.
Some people were jumping out ofa plane.
No, that's not what we'resaying.
All we're saying is, shift alittle bit more from a place of
(11:53):
comfort or where you know what'sgoing to happen.
It's taking a leap of faith alittle bit and just trying to do
things a little bit different.
And if it's difficult for you todo that, sometimes if you have a
colleague or a mentor that canhelp you do that better, I
encourage you to do that.
They can actually help you dothat and keep you from slipping
(12:15):
back into that routine again.
Get people to help you along theway, if you need that, that's
cool.
John Avola (12:22):
You want to practice being comfortable in an
uncomfortable situation.
Calvin Stovall (12:30):
Well, this situation, we hope that it never
comes back, but ambiguity anduncertainty is always going to
happen in our lives.
So the better you're able tohandle that going forward, the
better type of person orindividual you're going to be,
whether you're leading your teamat work or your family.
John Avola (12:48):
Lesson number eight.
You ready?
This one, I think you're goingto agree with wholeheartedly
because we've talked about thisbefore, and that is leading with
empathy.
One of those characteristicsthat were once seen as weak now
is brought to the forefront asone of the most important
(13:09):
qualities a leader can have.
I think this lesson was reallybrought to life with the onset
of COVID.
We talked about how people'slives were flipped upside down,
literally overnight.
And as a leader, you have toempathize with your team.
Each member, as we've talked,has a unique situation.
We're all in different boats.
Just because it's the same stormdoesn't mean we're all
(13:30):
weathering it the same way.
Leading with empathy is one ofthose leadership skills that is
a genuine concern for others.
You're naturally motivated tohelp them thrive.
It's something you can work onand develop over time.
And specifically at a time whenlife is uncertain and fear is
(13:52):
running high, empathy iscrucial.
If people don't think or findthat you care about them during
turbulent times, they definitelyaren't going to believe you care
about them during non-turbulenttimes.
Going back to what you just saidabout leaders standing out in
turbulent times, the same thingwith empathy.
If you can't empathize during asituation that's most crucial to
(14:14):
an individual, they're not goingto believe you have it in a
regular natural environment.
But on a positive note, I thinkCOVID has shown leaders the
importance of being deeplyconnected to the emotional
landscape of their teams.
Leaders must be able to speak tounspoken concerns, rein in
fears, and all the while fuelingoptimism at the same time.
(14:35):
And letting people know thatthere's going to be a better
side of this situation.
Treating employees as realpeople is another key point, not
as numbers or costs on a balancesheet.
And so as an empathetic leader,I had a few points I just wanted
to quickly share for those thatare trying to work on practicing
(14:56):
being more empathetic towardyour team.
The first one is investing timeto understand concerns, spoken
or unspoken.
This builds a sense of trust andstrengthens relationships, leads
to better collaboration andimproved productivity.
The second point is promotingconnection and belonging by
reinforcing that everyone'shealth and well-being matter.
(15:18):
Hosting those team huddles,those virtual happy hours, those
skip levels, the one-on-ones,the games, just showing that
connection, that inclusivity,the belonging, making sure that
everyone on your teamunderstands that you're all in
this together.
And the third, which I think ismost important, is active
(15:39):
listening.
It's complete focus on theperson or the thing in front of
you.
Don't be easily distracted bysomething else.
Listen more and talk less.
Calvin Stovall (15:49):
All of those things.
Again, I think pre- COVID, youshould have been doing this all
the time, but now that we'rehere, I'm glad to see it's
(16:10):
happening more.
I was thinking the other day,Gallup did the American
Workplace Report.
It said 70% of employees weredisengaged at work.
They talk about the cost ofAmerican economy.
Between 450 and$550 billion ayear in lost productivity
(16:35):
because these disengagedemployees are not being
productive.
They're totally disengaged fromtheir workplace.
This was pre COVID.
Talking 70% of people.
Now they're at the office.
They're disengaged.
So now you have people that arecompletely separated from the
office, working from home.
(17:00):
So I think in my mind, how manypeople, if you already were at
70% pre COVID, what happened tothat level of engagement when
they went home?
Now I know statistics say peopleare more productive at home, but
there is still an element offeeling disconnected from the
(17:21):
organization, its culture, andall of that.
So all of the things that youjust talked about are even more
important, super important.
And you've got to think aboutthat as a leader.
Hey, okay, we're already at 70%.
You're hoping that's not yourorganization, but the numbers
speak for themselves.
But as John Maxwell says, peopledon't care how much you know,
(17:43):
until they know how much youcare.
You've got to care about youremployees' well- being and all
of that good stuff.
I thought that was awesome.
Excellent.
Number seven.
This was a big one for me, ahuge one for me, John.
And that is the illusion ofhaving control.
(18:06):
I bet people that are listeningright now, all the
self-proclaimed control freaksin the world know exactly what
I'm talking about in thisillusion of control because it
is an illusion.
A person that likes to controlthings, they put things in
compartments and think this isgoing to happen.
This is going to happen.
(18:26):
This is going to happen.
And this is going to happen.
But in this environment, whenyou didn't know what was going
to happen next, this was a verydifficult time for people like
myself.
Because it is an illusion and Italk about this all the time.
I think in one of our otherprevious podcasts, when I said
that COVID-19 threw a plot twiston our laps.
(18:51):
And again, we love movies withplot twists, but we don't like
them when they happen in ourlives.
And so that unpredictabilitydrives us bananas.
The illusion of control was alearning lesson for me and I'm
sure for a lot of other peopleout there, because nobody could
have ever predicted we'd bewhere we are globally right now.
(19:14):
No one could have ever known.
What I had to learn is, okay,Calvin, the meetings business
has changed.
The speaking business haschanged.
All of this has changed.
Those things are outside of yourcontrol.
What can you do to focus on thethings that you can?
(19:34):
And I'm here.
And I think even this podcastevolved out of that as well.
It was shifting your mindsetagain, and focusing on the
things that you can control,like your optimism, as you
mentioned earlier, becauseoptimism is a force multiplier.
(19:55):
And without it companies willfall into these varying states
of paralysis.
So you need that.
But I focused on my inputs,which is what I took in, like
what I watched on television,like news, what I was reading,
what I was watching, the socialmedia.
(20:17):
And even the people I wassurrounded with.
You've got to be careful becausethose people can also either add
optimism to you or fear.
All of those things.
All of that stuff controls yourthoughts and that will drive
your emotions and that willcontrol your actions and then
your actions make your results.
(20:38):
And so if you want differentresults, I could start thinking
about, what am I putting insidemy head?
You just have to learn that.
And I think as a leader, onceyou make the decision to focus
on those things that mattermost, going back to the
framework, be consistent.
Focus on what matters most anddeal with that.
And then you can thrive in anenvironment like this and make
(21:01):
it to the next level.
John Avola (21:03):
Really well said, Calvin.
Control's a tough one.
It's hard because there is theillusion of control as you said.
And then you have the acceptanceof the situation, too, so I
think that's a limiter ofcontrol.
You can't really control evenyour mindset until you accept
(21:27):
what's happening.
And you've got to accept that tobegin controlling that mindset
in order to better yourself formoving forward.
There's that push and pull thereas well.
A lot is uncertainty oruncontrolled, but the illusion
(21:47):
of control is an excellent,excellent lesson.
All right.
Lesson number six.
Ready?
Have a plan B and C and D.
(22:11):
All right.
So I think, and you willprobably agree, that this lesson
can resonate with everybody.
Calvin Stovall (22:17):
Yes sir.
Yes it can.
John Avola (22:21):
We all learned, thank you, COVID, not to put all
our eggs in one basket.
As cliché as that old saying is,it has never been brought to
light as much as it has beenover these last nine months,
because if you are one of thoseindividuals that had all your
eggs in one basket, you quicklyrealized that you had a problem
(22:44):
on your hands.
Especially those that did nothave a contingency plan in place
and did not have that plan Bready to activate, come an
unforeseen or uncontrollablesituation.
Plan B doesn't necessarily meanthat you need to completely have
(23:06):
a different approach to yourbusiness, right?
If you're in retail, you don'thave to add a gas station to
your company.
You don't have to completelyalternate or jump ship to a
completely different industry.
But it does mean that you haveto have something that can
contribute to your originalplan.
(23:26):
Maybe it's an addition or anexpansion.
Having multiple alternatives cansave you from that devastation
if plan A doesn't work outaccordingly.
Contingency plans are importantas well.
Having an opportunity to writeup a disaster relief recovery
effort, doing your best toprevent risks, minimize
(23:49):
disruption, ensuring everyone'ssafety, letting your employees
know that you have a plan incase something doesn't work out
as it's intended to, having abackup plan helps you prepare
for the worst in the bestpossible way, provides you
better flexibility, allows forquick reaction.
And most importantly, it candrastically minimize losses.
(24:11):
Calvin, I know you have a fewexamples on the hospitality
industry, the restaurantindustry.
These were some industries thatwere hit the hardest by COVID.
They were completely forced toshift their working business
models.
In some cases they were forcedto redo their business
practices.
A lot of brands had to reinventthemselves, had to find new
(24:33):
channels to interact withcustomers, new marketing
opportunities, new marketopportunities, modifying even
their facilities.
We had some restaurants drillingholes in their wall to add a
drive through as a modificationto keep the doors open.
We've talked about a lot ofthose examples in our first
episode.
We talked about Nike convertingsome portions of their factory
(24:58):
for PPE.
We talked about how Uberextended their meal delivery
service, restaurants openingcurbside.
I'm going there, Calvin! Ourlittle dumpling company, they
changed their entire businessmodel to same day delivery
(25:19):
service.
You had so much opportunity thatcame out of this for those that
were able to adapt and moveforward and try something new.
And those plans B, C, D werereally a leading effort behind a
lot of those new initiatives andinnovations that we saw.
Calvin Stovall (25:39):
Wow, John, that is an awesome one.
And you are right, that in thisenvironment people, they had to
make some changes or you'regoing to die.
What is the song?
Only the Strongest Survive.
(26:01):
I always have some kind of musicin my head, but that's true
though.
And you mentioned thehospitality industry.
That's an industry near and dearto my heart and yes, the
hospitality and serviceindustries have suffered the
(26:25):
most, but I have seen someamazing things happen.
I mean, some iconic moves weremade by some of these hotel
companies and they've shiftedand done some wonderful things.
I was on another hotel cast TVearlier this week and one of the
participants, his name wasDavid.
(26:47):
He talked about, which I thoughtwas so awesome, was he talked
about the advantage of thatsmaller team and them having to,
including himself, having tocross train and learn other
areas of the hotel.
(27:07):
So you might've had someone thatmight've worked in sales and had
to work the front desk, himselfhaving to work the front desk
sometimes.
Somebody in housekeeping havingto learn something different so
that the hotel can continue tobe profitable.
But, when you look at that,those are growth learning
(27:30):
opportunities for the personthemselves, and particularly
when you're thinking about theyounger generation, millennials,
they're looking for growth andlearning opportunities.
So again, they have to adapt,but they use ways where you
could still continue to keepyour employees engaged and still
be able to move forward as abusiness.
I think that's just awesome.
John Avola (27:47):
Think of the advantages of cross training
your staff.
So you have, let's just say afront desk person out, you can
pull someone from another areaand fill in that spot without
missing a beat.
That cross training is soimportant.
Really that's cool.
I didn't think of that.
Calvin Stovall (28:06):
John, I know you're in the e-marketing space.
How many businesses had to ampup their online customer
experience because of COVID?
Some people would have waitedfor years to invest, but you
didn't have time for that.
If you didn't do it, you wereleft behind.
(28:29):
And so many people startedputting money into the customer
experience to improve t heironline experience.
I think that was great.
Have a plan B, have a plan C, and man, what a lesson.
All right, let's go to numberfive.
(28:50):
Failure breeds creativity.
I'm going to say that one moretime.
Failure breeds creativity.
And what I mean by that, thisalmost kind of ties into the
real leadership one e mergingduring turbulent times, which
is, I just believe sometimes wecan become so comfortable in
life that we can become afraidto do something new.
(29:13):
And I just believe the numberone reason or driver of us
getting comfortable o r thestatus quo or complacency,
because the comfort one drawsfrom knowing how things are
done, creates a n i mpenetrablearmor of fear.
And so fear for the unknown,fear of failure.
(29:35):
And what keeps us from steppingout of that comfort zone is
fear, because we don't want tofail.
I call FEAR an acronym--falseevidence appearing real--because
it appears real, even though itmay have no real substance at
all.
We always talk about, we cancreate, we're architects in our
(29:55):
mind, and we can create the mostawesome scenarios in our heads
that never even come tofruition.
And one of the biggest things we become fearful of is failure.
And so sometimes in environmentslike these, you have to be able
to take some r isks and be ableto do things that may have never
(30:16):
been done before.
Because if you stay socomfortable, like I said before,
the things that you used to domay not work today.
And so you have to take somerisks, but you have to also be
able to embrace your failuresand your setbacks.
I'm not saying you have to lovethem, but you embrace them,
focus on the learning that you gain through your failures.
The chips, they may not alwaysfall where you want them to, but
(30:39):
if you understand that realitygoing in, J ohn, you can be
prepared to bring the most valueout of the experience, no matter
what the outcome is, because Ithink when situations like this
h appen, some people will freezeand then you have some people
that will take a risk despite ifit fails or not.
They're stuck.
It's like if you're a record,you j ust k eep skipping.
John Avola (31:02):
Then you take that record that's skipping and you
become a DJ.
You innovate!
Calvin Stovall (31:12):
Exactly.
But it does.
We know, back up against thewall, you're going to crash or
you're going to make somethinghappen.
I think failure, nothing willteach you how creative you are,
how resilient you are, howstrong minded, how motivated,
(31:32):
how intelligent you are.
Good times don't do that foryou, or when things are
complacent.
Only failure can do that foryou.
John Avola (31:39):
That's good.
Say that again.
Calvin Stovall (31:44):
Good times really don't show you how
resilient, how purposeful, howdetermined, how creative, how
strong minded, how resourcefulyou are or intelligent you are.
Only failure can do that.
John Avola (31:57):
That's good.
Calvin, I don't even think Ihave anything to add to that.
Calvin Stovall (32:08):
I liked the DJ comment.
John Avola (32:12):
I'm going to head on to lesson four if it's good for
you.
That was awesome.
And I got a couple of goodlaughs in there too.
All right.
All right.
So here we go.
Lesson number four.
Never give up or what we like tosay, don't lose the beat!
Calvin Stovall (32:34):
One of my favorites.
Never lose the beat.
I have a never lose the beatpost on LinkedIn right now, kind
of in that realm.
And it's the most popular postI've ever done.
I think it actually is, I can'tremember the exact quote, it's a
picture actually from one of mykeynotes and I can't remember.
(32:56):
I think the company was Avenair.
I had everybody do a Soul Trainline.
John Avola (33:02):
Okay.
Okay.
Calvin Stovall (33:05):
All the people out there, that don't know what
the Soul Train line is, well,let me school you.
So back in the day, like theseventies, eighties, a guy named
Don Cornelius had a show calledSoul Train, and it was a very
popular show and I watched it.
(33:26):
They would come on Saturdaymornings and they would have
black artists who would come onthere all the time.
And then they expanded to makemore diverse musicians come on
there, but it was primarily forblack audiences and it was a
show where they would performand then they would have all the
dancers.
It was kind of like, some peoplemay even remember, American
Bandstand with Dick Clark.
(33:47):
That was more of a white versionof Soul Train.
But it was good too.
I'm not saying it wasn't good.
It was good.
But with Soul Train, DonCornelius, he had this big Afro,
just a great personality.
And so they would do this SoulTrain line.
(34:07):
And basically you would have menon one side, women on the other
side, and they would come in andwalk up.
It would be an aisle and youwould come through the aisle,
man, woman, and you would dancethrough the aisle and come from
one end to the other.
And that's when you had theopportunity to show your stuff.
John Avola (34:23):
Okay.
Calvin Stovall (34:26):
So, the Soul Train line, I did one at a
conference and I do have adream.
This is my dream, one day tohave the largest Soul Train line
ever done at a conference.
So, for people out there whohire me to speak, you may be
that conference and I'm going todo it one day.
But back to the relevancy here.
(34:50):
That post had a picture of mewalking through the Soul Train
line.
And I think it's something like,while we can't control the music
life plays for us, we cancontrol how we dance to it.
That's been the most popularpost I've ever had.
So it's been very cool.
And I think people areresonating with it, and why I
(35:11):
said that is because it's reallyaround this, never lose the
beat.
That's cool.
I hijacked your lesson.
Sorry!
John Avola (35:18):
No, that ties in perfectly to what I'm about to
say, which is when times aretough, it's difficult to keep
dancing, but it's also hard tonot let go of what's going on
around you.
Don't let that keep you frommoving forward.
(35:40):
As a leader, you must remainfocused.
Keep your eye on the prize.
Never give up.
99% of all failures come fromquitting too soon.
As an iconic leader, COVID hastaught us to develop
perseverance and commit to nevergiving up.
(36:03):
I also like to reference thatoxygen mask analogy.
You're instructed to put youroxygen mask on first because if
you don't, you can't helpsomeone else.
It's the same thing as a leader.
If you're giving up or you'regasping for air, you won't be
able to effectively motivateyour team to fly forward, to
(36:23):
reach that next destination.
COVID has taught us to bethankful for adversity.
When you face adversity, youmust use your full potential,
become more creative.
You become more intense, morefocused, more confident in
moving forward.
And I think, as we were talkingearlier, those dance moves.
I think there are a few dancemoves that we can all practice
(36:46):
to keep from never losing thebeat.
Those dance moves, real quick.
They're nothing difficult.
It's something that the mostskilled dancer or the least
skilled dancer can pull off.
That first one is persistence,not giving up in the possibility
(37:06):
of defeat.
Second is p atience.
Success is a long process.
It's not going to happenovernight, but stick with it.
The third dance move is pride in knowing that you can succeed
and you will reach your fullpotential.
The fourth is courage.
Take risks, achieve your goals.
(37:28):
And last, but definitely notleast, this is the dance move
that brings it home.
This is when the Soul Trainclears out and t here's one man
in the middle.
That is commitment.
Dedicate time and resources tofulfill your passion.
Calvin Stovall (37:45):
Wow.
Love that.
The dance moves.
Give me the moves one more timequickly.
What were the moves?
John Avola (37:54):
Persistence, patience, pride, courage, and
commitment.
Calvin Stovall (38:00):
I love those dance moves.
Everybody out there, write downthe dance moves so you could do
your own Soul Train line.
That's awesome.
All right.
I don't have anything to add tothat.
And so I'm going to go to three.
I can't believe we're down tothe final three.
(38:21):
Get comfortable with the unknownand ambiguity.
It's almost like knowing what todo when you don't know what to
do.
It's something you have to getcomfortable doing.
I think that comes withcuriosity too.
You have to be naturallycurious, asking questions often.
(38:44):
I think that offsets some of thefears for people, when you're
naturally curious.
So what I want to say is alwaysremain curious and teachable.
Because sometimes I think wefeel like we have to have all o
f the answers and we don't.
You just don't have to have allthe a nswers.
I always tell people, it doesn'tmatter how long you've been
(39:06):
doing something.
All of us can use a c heckupfrom the neck up every now and
then.
And we all do that.
And the truth is you don't haveto have all the answers.
Albert Einstein had a famousquote.
I have no special talent.
I'm only passionately curious.
And I think we have to be thatway and be h umble enough to
(39:27):
know that you need otherpeople's insight, thoughts, and
nature.
I t's a humility thing.
You can't know everything.
In fact, it's impossible.
It's impossible.
I don't think you can, becausethings change too rapidly
anyway.
What worked yesterday is notguaranteed to work tomorrow.
And in this age of disruptionand uncertainty, leaders are
(39:51):
actually increasingly beingsought out, not for having all
the right answers, but forasking the right questions.
Curiosity is the perfectcounterweight to fear and
anxiety.
And so learn to focus on that.
Just a sk questions.
Focus on those positives.
(40:13):
I just think that helps.
And, look deeper.
You've got to make a choice.
Look deeper into everyday thingsand seeing t hat true
significance.
I think sometimes we have torealize there's much to learn
from everyone in everything.
John Avola (40:27):
I agree.
I've always found thatuncertainty has a tendency to
make you reflect on your ownchallenges.
It kind of takes you away fromwhat's going on and puts it in a
little bit more of a real orpersonal mindset when you look
at uncertainty and the unknown.
Start using your talents to helppeople, make positive impacts,
(40:47):
participate in virtualvolunteering events, get out
there and be part of thecommunity.
That may be a segue into numbertwo.
You'll find that this will leadto the solutions you're looking
for.
Calvin Stovall (41:02):
It doesn't have to be big.
Start small.
Read a book in a genre youusually avoid.
Or go to an art gallery ormuseum you wouldn't normally go
to.
These simple activities willopen your mind to new points of
view.
That's all we're saying.
We talked about that hole wecreate for ourselves.
We like to hang with people thatare like us.
(41:23):
Remember that episode?
We talked about that.
You want to know kids that areraised like our kids and all of
that.
And we get comfortable withthat.
You've got to start inviting newpeople in the circle.
Get different perspectives.
John Avola (41:36):
And be open to those perspectives.
Calvin Stovall (41:44):
Right.
You want to listen, right?
All right.
Number two!
John Avola (41:52):
Number two, or the second lesson, is community is
everything.
Wanted to just bring up thepoint, how important community
is.
I think COVID has taught us abig lesson in the importance of
community.
Being part of a communityprovides that sense of
belonging.
It enables us to share andrelate to each other.
(42:13):
In a time like this we'vesupported each other.
Whether it's your neighbor downthe street, a peer, a coworker,
a colleague, a friend, a familymember, there's so much
opportunity to support oneanother to get through this time
that we're all in.
Community adds that feeling thatwe're part of something bigger
than ourselves.
It's the foundation when dealingwith uncertainty, as we just
(42:35):
talked about, the backbone thatkeeps us together.
The lesson also involves theimportance of networking,
joking, but maybe not joking,aside being six feet apart
should not limit ourselves fromdeveloping a network.
You should still be buildingupon and maintaining your
network, making sure that yournetwork's there when you need it
(42:56):
the most, using your network toreach out to people you care
about.
Send someone a note, send theman IM, or an instant message, or
direct message.
Let them know you're thinkingabout them.
Use your network as anopportunity to connect and
share.
You'll quickly find you're notalone.
We've talked about that too.
You're not by yourself.
(43:18):
Your network can help drive you,motivate you, push you through
those difficult times, reinforceyour purpose.
I think the COVID itself, goingback to some of the positive
that it's brought out, it'sbrought out so many important
aspects of how being a part of acommunity will help you with
that support.
The influence, the sharing, thereinforcement, being a part of
that connection, even that wholestaying together while we're
(43:42):
apart mentality.
Communities give us that sharedspace, a place to be inspired,
solve problems, congratulateeach other on achievements.
With so many common beliefs,trust and togetherness, there's
really no limit to whatcommunities can do for ourselves
and each other.
Calvin, I think I want to just,if you're okay with it, get
(44:02):
personal for a moment.
Just talking about you and I.
COVID was tough on us both.
We both became teachers andcaretakers overnight and we had
to balance a 40, 40 hour plusweek job with our children, with
our significant others, family,friends.
Times were tough.
(44:23):
And there were points where wewould get on the phone and we
wanted to throw in that iconictowel.
We were hitting some lows.
We were hitting some pointswhere I don't think if we
weren't able to keep ourcommunity, our continuous calls
and our friendship, there mayhave been times where iconic
(44:45):
presentations may not be inexistence today.
We may not be recording our 10thepisode, if it wasn't for the
trust that we've built betweeneach other.
We've made a difference.
We know that our community needsus.
We've been giving now 10episodes of iconic business
strategies and tips andresources.
(45:07):
I can tell, I think we're makinga big, big difference in the
communities that we're serving.
And as we started this podcast,we've got to thank our listeners
and our community for supportingus.
Calvin Stovall (45:18):
Absolutely.
John, I couldn't have said thatany better.
Hey, listen, you're right.
The iconic towel was....
I've had moments where I hadthat white flag.
We're here.
We talked to each other, wehelped each other.
(45:40):
I'm a big purpose person andmaking sure I have clarity of
purpose.
And I'm clear why I'm here.
But what COVID and situationslike that will do to you, it
will make your purpose a littleblurry, cloudy, altering things,
(46:00):
and then that compiled with yourmind and how you think and all
of that stuff going on aroundyou, it can cause you to start
questioning your purpose.
John Avola (46:17):
Not a good place.
Calvin Stovall (46:17):
Not a good place to be.
I understand if you're dealingwith it and you're trying to
figure out exactly where youwant to go or pivot, that's
fine, but your purpose is yourpurpose.
And once you realize, and you'reclear on why you're here, you
might have to make somealterations, but you've got to
be clear on why you're here.
(46:37):
And once you focus on that, andonce I focus on that, then we
know, okay, we've still got topress forward.
John Avola (46:45):
All right, Calvin, I think that brings us down to
number one.
Calvin Stovall (46:48):
Oh, this is number one.
Ladies and gentlemen, numberone.
Mindset is everything.
Mindset is everything.
I've got to throw a song there.
I love hip hop.
(47:09):
There was a song in 1991 by agroup called the Ghetto Boys.
And the name of the song was MyMind Is Playing Tricks On Me and
when we were putting this listtogether, when I got to number
one, that song popped in mymind.
(47:30):
During times of uncertainty likewe are dealing with, your mind
will play tricks on you.
And so if you don't have thisiconic mindset, you can end up
in this place of when you'restuck.
(47:50):
I learned, don't let your mindplay tricks on you.
Whatever you build in your head,don't let it.
I encourage people to think ofyourself as a human magnet and
constantly attract in what youspeak, think, and feel.
If you think in problems, youwill attract problems.
(48:12):
If you think in solutions, youwill attract solutions.
So I want to encourage you.
My number one.
Mindset is everything.
Cultivate your thoughts.
Remain positive and optimistic.
We get what we think and sothink positive.
Don't let the stress and theworries of the day outshine your
(48:34):
passion, because once your lightis out, it's hard to come back
from that.
So don't sweat the small stuff.
Please know that everythingyou're doing out there is making
a difference.
My hospitality friends andcolleagues out there, ladies and
gentlemen, you guys are doing agreat job.
So don't beat yourself up, Patyourself on the back and be
(48:56):
happy and glad.
You guys are doing some amazingwork out there.
Just continue to be present foryour team, continue to make
every interaction matter, and beconsistent.
Keep your mind in the rightplace.
Because once that shifts in theright place, you can thrive and
be successful in anyenvironment, but particularly in
(49:18):
one with this much ambiguity anduncertainty that we're dealing
with.
John Avola (49:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
You hit on a lot of greatpoints.
The big takeaway I really gotfrom you there is being mindful
of the shadow that you cast.
You've talked about that.
It's reflective of you and it'scasting over others.
Keep that mindset, keep it high,keep it strong, and use these 10
(49:46):
lessons to keep your mindset atan ultimate high, because these
are what we've learned.
I'm sure there are other lessonsout there, but when you find
yourself in a time that yourmindset is slipping, refer back
to these 10 lessons because theywill help you.
Don't forget about yourcommunity and those that are
(50:06):
supporting you.
Stay focused and achieved.
Achieve your purpose, followyour passion.
Calvin Stovall (50:12):
That's right, Johnny.
I love it.
That's our 10 lessons.
Before we wrap up, I want to goback and quickly run through the
10.
Okay.
Number one.
Mindset is everything.
You get what you think.
Think positive.
Don't let the worries of the daytake out your passion.
(50:35):
Number two.
Community is everything.
You're not in this alone.
Continue to be there to supporteach other.
Your peers, colleagues, family,friends, all of that, please
know.
And reach out when you needhelp.
You do not have to handle thisstuff alone.
Please reach out for help whenyou need it.
Number three.
(50:55):
Getting comfortable with theunknown and ambiguity.
Continue to be curious.
Don't become comfortable andcomplacent.
Curiosity is the best counterattack to ambiguity and the
unknown.
So ask questions often.
Number four.
Never give up.
Never lose the beat.
(51:16):
Stay diligent.
Stay focused.
Give me those dance steps again,John.
John Avola (51:21):
The steps, the dance moves.
Persistence, patience, pride,courage, and commitment.
Calvin Stovall (51:28):
I love the dance moves.
Number five.
Failure breeds creativity.
When your back is against thewall, ladies and gentlemen, you
will come up with some wonderfulideas, but you've got to be
willing to take some risks.
Number six.
Have a plan B.
Don't put all your eggs in onebasket.
Always think about doing thingsdifferent.
(51:50):
Have a backup plan.
Don't focus on just one way todo things.
You've got to make sure that youhave a contingency plan just in
case your plan A does not work.
Number seven.
The illusion of control.
You might think you have it, butyou really don't.
So focus on those things you cancontrol.
Don't worry so much about thethings that you can't.
(52:11):
Number eight.
Leading with empathy.
Empathy was one of thoseleadership skills that back in
the day, they might have said,oh you're too soft.
Not today.
That's a skill that you need tohave.
And that's something that youremployees are looking for.
As John Maxwell says, peopledon't care how much you know,
until they know how much youcare.
You have to care about yourteam's well-being.
(52:32):
And you've got to take care ofyourself.
Airplane oxygen.
Remember that?
Number nine.
Real leadership or leaders whoemerged during turbulent times,
you've got to get out of yourcomfort zone.
You have to get comfortabledoing that.
Continue to communicate.
Your team needs communication.
Culture is everything.
(52:53):
It's fragile.
So you've got to keepcommunicating.
Focus on that, making sure youkeep your team engaged and in
the loop.
You'll continue to besuccessful.
All right.
Number 10.
Trust your team.
Nobody likes to be micromanaged.
Give them the autonomy andempowerment and what they need
to do and be successful at home,just like you would in the
(53:16):
office, but it's even moreimportant now.
They are working.
You've got to trust them to dothat.
So that's it.
Yes, trust them.
10 iconic lessons of 2020.
(53:36):
I am fired up.
John Avola (53:38):
That was an awesome, awesome episode.
A lot of content in there.
You may need to listen to thatone twice for those listening.
You may want to listen to it andthen go back and take notes.
Well, Calvin, here we go.
We're heading into 2021.
That'll be our next episode.
We'll be in the new year.
We want to make sure that we letour audience know that we are
(53:59):
open to any ideas, anything thatcomes to mind that you'd like us
to address, research a littlebit, and use as a topic of one
of our upcoming episodes.
We are more than open to hearingit.
So please let us know.
You can find out more aboutCalvin and myself at
iconicpresentations.net.
There, you can reach out to us.
There's a contact form.
Drop in your idea.
(54:20):
We'd love to hear from you.
We will write you back so youcan count on us on that.
Thank you again, our listeners,our community, for continuing to
support us, for continuing tolisten to our podcasts every
time they're published.
And we are just so thankful foryou and all of your support.
Calvin Stovall (54:36):
Thanks.
Thanks to everybody out there.
We are really looking forward tohaving a great year in 2021.
A lot of opportunities ahead ofus.
Again, keep your iconic mindsetin the right direction.
I think the next year is goingto be so much better than this
one.
John Avola (54:52):
Agreed.
Agreed.
Well, Calvin, so here's to 2021.
Don't just be, BeICONIC.
Welcome to the iconic mindset podcast with John
Avola and Calvin Stovall.
This is the only place thatuncovers the multiple levels of
iconic businesses and brands.
Every episode reveals thesecrets behind what it takes to
make your business idea ormovement iconic.
(00:27):
Now, here are John and Calvin.
John Avola (00:35):
Hey Calvin.
We have an exciting episodetoday, don't we?
Calvin Stovall (00:41):
We do, sir! We are on number 10.
I cannot believe it, John.
This is just so awesome.
John Avola (00:51):
Absolutely.
10 episodes.
Who would have thought back inMay, when we started out.
Do you remember our firstepisode?
The good, the bad, and the ugly,COVID-19 iconic businesses.
Remember that?
Calvin Stovall (01:08):
I do remember that.
It actually was funny.
That was actually our mostpopular episode.
So just on behalf of John, I'msure John's going to say the
same thing, we want to say thankyou to everybody out there who
has been riding with us on thisjourney.
We're really looking forward tocontinuing to do this into the
upcoming year, and I'm justexcited to be on our 10th
(01:30):
episode, but we couldn't havedone it without you.
Thank you very much fordownloading us.
Just super appreciative of youloving that iconic mindset.
John Avola (01:38):
Absolutely.
Couldn't say it any better,Calvin.
You're absolutely right.
Without our listeners, therewould be no point to having this
podcast.
So we are so appreciative of ourlisteners.
We have those dedicated ones aswell that we all know, and we're
all very, very appreciative ofyou listening to us.
Calvin Stovall (01:53):
That's right.
So we dedicate this one, number10, to you out there.
So today, John, talk about acrazy year, right?
Without a doubt, this has been ayear of unsuspected turns,
sudden surprises.
We still have a lot of peoplethat are out there dealing with
(02:14):
some challenging situations.
A lot of people are stillunemployed, John.
I know we're in the holidayseason and I was supposed to be
positive, but I think somepeople are still dealing with
stuff that we still need to bemindful of.
Some people are still dealingwith some tough stuff.
Honestly, it's just been tough.
John Avola (02:34):
A tough year of challenges.
But we've got to also saythere's a vaccine on the way.
And I think things are turningaround, right?
2021 is a couple of weeks away.
So there is a light at the endof that tunnel.
Calvin Stovall (02:46):
Absolutely.
And so today this is going to bean iconic episode because we're
going to talk about 10 lessonsthat you and I have learned
during the year, which is greatbecause this is called the
iconic podcast.
So the thing is, I think you andI will agree that to make it
through a tumultuous year, likethis one, i t's all about
(03:09):
mindset, i n how you approachthings.
Today we want to talk about someof the lessons that both you and
I learned.
John Avola (03:18):
We've learned a lot, you know, and I think that's
what keeps us moving.
It keeps us motivated.
It's always learning, it'sgrowing, it's understanding,
it's accepting.
And, we will talk a lot aboutthat today.
Calvin Stovall (03:29):
About the vaccine.
There are some positives.
I think there are even somepositives that may have happened
through COVID.
Again, it's been a year ofexcitement, full of growth and
learning opportunities and a lotof adrenaline that we can live
on.
But I think you and I also agreea lot of the stuff that happened
was outside of our control.
(03:50):
But despite that, we can focuson the things we can control.
And I think a lot of the thingswe're going to talk about today
are around things that you canactually manage or improve or
scale on.
These are things that arecertainly not out of reach for
anyone.
So, again, first of all, you'vejust got to shift your mindset
(04:10):
and be flexible and adapt alittle bit.
This is going to be a good one.
So let's get into it.
John Avola (04:16):
Let's kick it off.
So the top 10 iconic lessons of2020.
Who's up first?
Calvin Stovall (04:22):
Why don't you start, John?
John Avola (04:24):
All right.
I will kick it off with thenumber 10 lesson.
Similar to other countdownswe've done, we just want to
restate that just because we arelisting them in order from 10 to
one doesn't necessarily mean oneis more important than the
others.
They're all equal.
So the first lesson, Calvin, of2020 is trust your team.
(04:47):
Let me explain a little bit herewhat I mean by trusting your
team.
So pre COVID, there was alwaysthat assumption that working
from home creates more of adistraction, right?
You'd have your manager that yourequest that work from home day
and they kind of raised aneyebrow at you.
However, a recent report fromFreedom Dynamics found that it's
(05:12):
actually quite the opposite.
This study revealed that workingfrom home actually showed less
distractions than there were inthe office.
The majority of respondentsfound themselves to be more
productive in their homeenvironment without
interruptions.
And they were able to work ontheir own schedule and
accomplish more without being ina physical setting.
(05:35):
So I wanted to talk a little bitmore about trust and what that
means.
As a leader, as a manager,you've got to trust your team,
whether you're physically withthem, in a building or an office
setting or they're workingremotely.
And looking at a team withouttrust, it really isn't a team at
all.
You can't half trust your team.
You can't trust them in theoffice and not trust them at
(05:59):
home.
And the lesson learned here wasthat regardless of the
environment, it has made theteam stronger, more efficient.
We've found productivity hasincreased.
And those meaningful goals arebeing achieved.
Trusting someone really meansrelying on them to follow
through with theirresponsibilities.
And COVID has taught us thattrust isn't entirely dependent
(06:22):
on the behavior of theindividual.
It's brought to the forefrontthat it's our own responses and
interactions with thosebehaviors and how we contribute
to trusting them.
So it's not necessarily only onthe person, but it's also on the
leader and that perception ofthe individual.
One of those responses we cancontrol is not letting our own
physical work environment alterour trust in teams.
(06:45):
To go back to that report for aminute, I'm excited to share
that the majority of leadershave found that working remotely
has actually increased trust.
And they found that, I think itwas more than half the
respondents, expressed thatthey're trusting and empowering
more employees today than theywere pre COVID.
Calvin Stovall (07:03):
That's a positive thing.
And so I look at that as youshould have been trusting your
team in the beginning beforeCOVID protocol, but as you said,
this environment has kind offorced you to have to trust
them.
You mentioned empowerment andI'm going to add autonomy.
(07:28):
Accountability.
All of those things, your teamhas to feel that you trust them
and you have to give them thatfreedom and know that they're
going to get their jobs done.
Why even have people on yourteam, if you feel like you've
got to do everything anyway?
That's the waste.
(07:49):
It's a waste.
I love it.
And like you said, I think a lotof the things we're going to
talk about today, John, COVIDhas made better.
Great lesson.
All right, here we go.
Number nine for me.
Real leadership, or I'm going tosay leaders who emerged during
(08:11):
turbulent times.
Let me elaborate on that.
What I mean by that is this.
When things are beautiful andeverything's going well, yes,
you have to have skills to be agood leader.
But your leadership will betested and how well you lead
(08:31):
your team is going to be testedwhen things go awry or when you
have chaos or when you don'tknow what to do, or when you
can't predict what to do next.
Being able to lead your teamthrough a crisis will really
test how good you are inleadership.
(08:51):
And I think this year, if youhad a team of direct reports,
I'm sure you know exactly whatI'm talking about.
Because I think sometimes as aleader, I think as human beings,
we like routine and our brainscrave routine.
And I think when you've beensuccessful as a leader during
(09:11):
good times, you get a little bitcomfortable.
And in a situation when youcan't predict what's going to
happen, that's when you have tolearn how to get comfortable
stepping out of your comfortzone.
And being open to new ideas anddiversity of thought, because
what worked in the past probablyis not going to work in an
(09:35):
environment like this one.
So, I think one of the biggestlessons for me was getting
comfortable with beinguncomfortable.
I kind of talk about that alittle bit more, but that's when
real leadership emerges.
Are you going to improve yourlevel of communication with your
team?
Because a lot of people had towork remotely.
If you really want to keep yourteam engaged, you have to
(10:00):
communicate more.
And I think right now, if youdid this right, John, you should
know your team better than everbefore, because you were on Zoom
calls.
And I think we talked about thisbefore, you're in their living
rooms, you have the cat walkacross, you have the kid walking
into the room.
You had all that stuff.
If you were a good leader, yourlevel of communication should
(10:27):
have amped up.
And you should now be morecomfortable stepping out of your
comfort zone and doing things alittle bit more differently as a
leader.
So, again, a plus for COVID.
I truly believe this, when youfeel comfortable, that's when
(10:49):
you should be most fearful,because that means you're not
going beyond your horizon alittle bit more.
Taking steps that are going tohelp you rise and thrive.
And that's where I'm at onnumber nine.
John Avola (11:03):
And you touched a little bit on complacency.
If you're feeling comfortable,don't get complacent, right?
These challenging times separatereal leaders from the rest.
It's that extra step.
You look back at history.
Those leaders that you think ofthat come to mind, those are the
(11:23):
ones that have acted in the faceof challenging times.
Calvin Stovall (11:28):
So get out of your comfort zone.
That's my number nine.
And I know sometimes peoplefreak out when we say get out of
your comfort zone.
Some people were jumping out ofa plane.
No, that's not what we'resaying.
All we're saying is, shift alittle bit more from a place of
(11:53):
comfort or where you know what'sgoing to happen.
It's taking a leap of faith alittle bit and just trying to do
things a little bit different.
And if it's difficult for you todo that, sometimes if you have a
colleague or a mentor that canhelp you do that better, I
encourage you to do that.
They can actually help you dothat and keep you from slipping
(12:15):
back into that routine again.
Get people to help you along theway, if you need that, that's
cool.
John Avola (12:22):
You want to practice being comfortable in an
uncomfortable situation.
Calvin Stovall (12:30):
Well, this situation, we hope that it never
comes back, but ambiguity anduncertainty is always going to
happen in our lives.
So the better you're able tohandle that going forward, the
better type of person orindividual you're going to be,
whether you're leading your teamat work or your family.
John Avola (12:48):
Lesson number eight.
You ready?
This one, I think you're goingto agree with wholeheartedly
because we've talked about thisbefore, and that is leading with
empathy.
One of those characteristicsthat were once seen as weak now
is brought to the forefront asone of the most important
(13:09):
qualities a leader can have.
I think this lesson was reallybrought to life with the onset
of COVID.
We talked about how people'slives were flipped upside down,
literally overnight.
And as a leader, you have toempathize with your team.
Each member, as we've talked,has a unique situation.
We're all in different boats.
Just because it's the same stormdoesn't mean we're all
(13:30):
weathering it the same way.
Leading with empathy is one ofthose leadership skills that is
a genuine concern for others.
You're naturally motivated tohelp them thrive.
It's something you can work onand develop over time.
And specifically at a time whenlife is uncertain and fear is
(13:52):
running high, empathy iscrucial.
If people don't think or findthat you care about them during
turbulent times, they definitelyaren't going to believe you care
about them during non-turbulenttimes.
Going back to what you just saidabout leaders standing out in
turbulent times, the same thingwith empathy.
If you can't empathize during asituation that's most crucial to
(14:14):
an individual, they're not goingto believe you have it in a
regular natural environment.
But on a positive note, I thinkCOVID has shown leaders the
importance of being deeplyconnected to the emotional
landscape of their teams.
Leaders must be able to speak tounspoken concerns, rein in
fears, and all the while fuelingoptimism at the same time.
(14:35):
And letting people know thatthere's going to be a better
side of this situation.
Treating employees as realpeople is another key point, not
as numbers or costs on a balancesheet.
And so as an empathetic leader,I had a few points I just wanted
to quickly share for those thatare trying to work on practicing
(14:56):
being more empathetic towardyour team.
The first one is investing timeto understand concerns, spoken
or unspoken.
This builds a sense of trust andstrengthens relationships, leads
to better collaboration andimproved productivity.
The second point is promotingconnection and belonging by
reinforcing that everyone'shealth and well-being matter.
(15:18):
Hosting those team huddles,those virtual happy hours, those
skip levels, the one-on-ones,the games, just showing that
connection, that inclusivity,the belonging, making sure that
everyone on your teamunderstands that you're all in
this together.
And the third, which I think ismost important, is active
(15:39):
listening.
It's complete focus on theperson or the thing in front of
you.
Don't be easily distracted bysomething else.
Listen more and talk less.
Calvin Stovall (15:49):
All of those things.
Again, I think pre- COVID, youshould have been doing this all
the time, but now that we'rehere, I'm glad to see it's
(16:10):
happening more.
I was thinking the other day,Gallup did the American
Workplace Report.
It said 70% of employees weredisengaged at work.
They talk about the cost ofAmerican economy.
Between 450 and$550 billion ayear in lost productivity
(16:35):
because these disengagedemployees are not being
productive.
They're totally disengaged fromtheir workplace.
This was pre COVID.
Talking 70% of people.
Now they're at the office.
They're disengaged.
So now you have people that arecompletely separated from the
office, working from home.
(17:00):
So I think in my mind, how manypeople, if you already were at
70% pre COVID, what happened tothat level of engagement when
they went home?
Now I know statistics say peopleare more productive at home, but
there is still an element offeeling disconnected from the
(17:21):
organization, its culture, andall of that.
So all of the things that youjust talked about are even more
important, super important.
And you've got to think aboutthat as a leader.
Hey, okay, we're already at 70%.
You're hoping that's not yourorganization, but the numbers
speak for themselves.
But as John Maxwell says, peopledon't care how much you know,
(17:43):
until they know how much youcare.
You've got to care about youremployees' well- being and all
of that good stuff.
I thought that was awesome.
Excellent.
Number seven.
This was a big one for me, ahuge one for me, John.
And that is the illusion ofhaving control.
(18:06):
I bet people that are listeningright now, all the
self-proclaimed control freaksin the world know exactly what
I'm talking about in thisillusion of control because it
is an illusion.
A person that likes to controlthings, they put things in
compartments and think this isgoing to happen.
This is going to happen.
(18:26):
This is going to happen.
And this is going to happen.
But in this environment, whenyou didn't know what was going
to happen next, this was a verydifficult time for people like
myself.
Because it is an illusion and Italk about this all the time.
I think in one of our otherprevious podcasts, when I said
that COVID-19 threw a plot twiston our laps.
(18:51):
And again, we love movies withplot twists, but we don't like
them when they happen in ourlives.
And so that unpredictabilitydrives us bananas.
The illusion of control was alearning lesson for me and I'm
sure for a lot of other peopleout there, because nobody could
have ever predicted we'd bewhere we are globally right now.
(19:14):
No one could have ever known.
What I had to learn is, okay,Calvin, the meetings business
has changed.
The speaking business haschanged.
All of this has changed.
Those things are outside of yourcontrol.
What can you do to focus on thethings that you can?
(19:34):
And I'm here.
And I think even this podcastevolved out of that as well.
It was shifting your mindsetagain, and focusing on the
things that you can control,like your optimism, as you
mentioned earlier, becauseoptimism is a force multiplier.
(19:55):
And without it companies willfall into these varying states
of paralysis.
So you need that.
But I focused on my inputs,which is what I took in, like
what I watched on television,like news, what I was reading,
what I was watching, the socialmedia.
(20:17):
And even the people I wassurrounded with.
You've got to be careful becausethose people can also either add
optimism to you or fear.
All of those things.
All of that stuff controls yourthoughts and that will drive
your emotions and that willcontrol your actions and then
your actions make your results.
(20:38):
And so if you want differentresults, I could start thinking
about, what am I putting insidemy head?
You just have to learn that.
And I think as a leader, onceyou make the decision to focus
on those things that mattermost, going back to the
framework, be consistent.
Focus on what matters most anddeal with that.
And then you can thrive in anenvironment like this and make
(21:01):
it to the next level.
John Avola (21:03):
Really well said, Calvin.
Control's a tough one.
It's hard because there is theillusion of control as you said.
And then you have the acceptanceof the situation, too, so I
think that's a limiter ofcontrol.
You can't really control evenyour mindset until you accept
(21:27):
what's happening.
And you've got to accept that tobegin controlling that mindset
in order to better yourself formoving forward.
There's that push and pull thereas well.
A lot is uncertainty oruncontrolled, but the illusion
(21:47):
of control is an excellent,excellent lesson.
All right.
Lesson number six.
Ready?
Have a plan B and C and D.
(22:11):
All right.
So I think, and you willprobably agree, that this lesson
can resonate with everybody.
Calvin Stovall (22:17):
Yes sir.
Yes it can.
John Avola (22:21):
We all learned, thank you, COVID, not to put all
our eggs in one basket.
As cliché as that old saying is,it has never been brought to
light as much as it has beenover these last nine months,
because if you are one of thoseindividuals that had all your
eggs in one basket, you quicklyrealized that you had a problem
(22:44):
on your hands.
Especially those that did nothave a contingency plan in place
and did not have that plan Bready to activate, come an
unforeseen or uncontrollablesituation.
Plan B doesn't necessarily meanthat you need to completely have
(23:06):
a different approach to yourbusiness, right?
If you're in retail, you don'thave to add a gas station to
your company.
You don't have to completelyalternate or jump ship to a
completely different industry.
But it does mean that you haveto have something that can
contribute to your originalplan.
(23:26):
Maybe it's an addition or anexpansion.
Having multiple alternatives cansave you from that devastation
if plan A doesn't work outaccordingly.
Contingency plans are importantas well.
Having an opportunity to writeup a disaster relief recovery
effort, doing your best toprevent risks, minimize
(23:49):
disruption, ensuring everyone'ssafety, letting your employees
know that you have a plan incase something doesn't work out
as it's intended to, having abackup plan helps you prepare
for the worst in the bestpossible way, provides you
better flexibility, allows forquick reaction.
And most importantly, it candrastically minimize losses.
(24:11):
Calvin, I know you have a fewexamples on the hospitality
industry, the restaurantindustry.
These were some industries thatwere hit the hardest by COVID.
They were completely forced toshift their working business
models.
In some cases they were forcedto redo their business
practices.
A lot of brands had to reinventthemselves, had to find new
(24:33):
channels to interact withcustomers, new marketing
opportunities, new marketopportunities, modifying even
their facilities.
We had some restaurants drillingholes in their wall to add a
drive through as a modificationto keep the doors open.
We've talked about a lot ofthose examples in our first
episode.
We talked about Nike convertingsome portions of their factory
(24:58):
for PPE.
We talked about how Uberextended their meal delivery
service, restaurants openingcurbside.
I'm going there, Calvin! Ourlittle dumpling company, they
changed their entire businessmodel to same day delivery
(25:19):
service.
You had so much opportunity thatcame out of this for those that
were able to adapt and moveforward and try something new.
And those plans B, C, D werereally a leading effort behind a
lot of those new initiatives andinnovations that we saw.
Calvin Stovall (25:39):
Wow, John, that is an awesome one.
And you are right, that in thisenvironment people, they had to
make some changes or you'regoing to die.
What is the song?
Only the Strongest Survive.
(26:01):
I always have some kind of musicin my head, but that's true
though.
And you mentioned thehospitality industry.
That's an industry near and dearto my heart and yes, the
hospitality and serviceindustries have suffered the
(26:25):
most, but I have seen someamazing things happen.
I mean, some iconic moves weremade by some of these hotel
companies and they've shiftedand done some wonderful things.
I was on another hotel cast TVearlier this week and one of the
participants, his name wasDavid.
(26:47):
He talked about, which I thoughtwas so awesome, was he talked
about the advantage of thatsmaller team and them having to,
including himself, having tocross train and learn other
areas of the hotel.
(27:07):
So you might've had someone thatmight've worked in sales and had
to work the front desk, himselfhaving to work the front desk
sometimes.
Somebody in housekeeping havingto learn something different so
that the hotel can continue tobe profitable.
But, when you look at that,those are growth learning
(27:30):
opportunities for the personthemselves, and particularly
when you're thinking about theyounger generation, millennials,
they're looking for growth andlearning opportunities.
So again, they have to adapt,but they use ways where you
could still continue to keepyour employees engaged and still
be able to move forward as abusiness.
I think that's just awesome.
John Avola (27:47):
Think of the advantages of cross training
your staff.
So you have, let's just say afront desk person out, you can
pull someone from another areaand fill in that spot without
missing a beat.
That cross training is soimportant.
Really that's cool.
I didn't think of that.
Calvin Stovall (28:06):
John, I know you're in the e-marketing space.
How many businesses had to ampup their online customer
experience because of COVID?
Some people would have waitedfor years to invest, but you
didn't have time for that.
If you didn't do it, you wereleft behind.
(28:29):
And so many people startedputting money into the customer
experience to improve t heironline experience.
I think that was great.
Have a plan B, have a plan C, and man, what a lesson.
All right, let's go to numberfive.
(28:50):
Failure breeds creativity.
I'm going to say that one moretime.
Failure breeds creativity.
And what I mean by that, thisalmost kind of ties into the
real leadership one e mergingduring turbulent times, which
is, I just believe sometimes wecan become so comfortable in
life that we can become afraidto do something new.
(29:13):
And I just believe the numberone reason or driver of us
getting comfortable o r thestatus quo or complacency,
because the comfort one drawsfrom knowing how things are
done, creates a n i mpenetrablearmor of fear.
And so fear for the unknown,fear of failure.
(29:35):
And what keeps us from steppingout of that comfort zone is
fear, because we don't want tofail.
I call FEAR an acronym--falseevidence appearing real--because
it appears real, even though itmay have no real substance at
all.
We always talk about, we cancreate, we're architects in our
(29:55):
mind, and we can create the mostawesome scenarios in our heads
that never even come tofruition.
And one of the biggest things we become fearful of is failure.
And so sometimes in environmentslike these, you have to be able
to take some r isks and be ableto do things that may have never
(30:16):
been done before.
Because if you stay socomfortable, like I said before,
the things that you used to domay not work today.
And so you have to take somerisks, but you have to also be
able to embrace your failuresand your setbacks.
I'm not saying you have to lovethem, but you embrace them,
focus on the learning that you gain through your failures.
The chips, they may not alwaysfall where you want them to, but
(30:39):
if you understand that realitygoing in, J ohn, you can be
prepared to bring the most valueout of the experience, no matter
what the outcome is, because Ithink when situations like this
h appen, some people will freezeand then you have some people
that will take a risk despite ifit fails or not.
They're stuck.
It's like if you're a record,you j ust k eep skipping.
John Avola (31:02):
Then you take that record that's skipping and you
become a DJ.
You innovate!
Calvin Stovall (31:12):
Exactly.
But it does.
We know, back up against thewall, you're going to crash or
you're going to make somethinghappen.
I think failure, nothing willteach you how creative you are,
how resilient you are, howstrong minded, how motivated,
(31:32):
how intelligent you are.
Good times don't do that foryou, or when things are
complacent.
Only failure can do that foryou.
John Avola (31:39):
That's good.
Say that again.
Calvin Stovall (31:44):
Good times really don't show you how
resilient, how purposeful, howdetermined, how creative, how
strong minded, how resourcefulyou are or intelligent you are.
Only failure can do that.
John Avola (31:57):
That's good.
Calvin, I don't even think Ihave anything to add to that.
Calvin Stovall (32:08):
I liked the DJ comment.
John Avola (32:12):
I'm going to head on to lesson four if it's good for
you.
That was awesome.
And I got a couple of goodlaughs in there too.
All right.
All right.
So here we go.
Lesson number four.
Never give up or what we like tosay, don't lose the beat!
Calvin Stovall (32:34):
One of my favorites.
Never lose the beat.
I have a never lose the beatpost on LinkedIn right now, kind
of in that realm.
And it's the most popular postI've ever done.
I think it actually is, I can'tremember the exact quote, it's a
picture actually from one of mykeynotes and I can't remember.
(32:56):
I think the company was Avenair.
I had everybody do a Soul Trainline.
John Avola (33:02):
Okay.
Okay.
Calvin Stovall (33:05):
All the people out there, that don't know what
the Soul Train line is, well,let me school you.
So back in the day, like theseventies, eighties, a guy named
Don Cornelius had a show calledSoul Train, and it was a very
popular show and I watched it.
(33:26):
They would come on Saturdaymornings and they would have
black artists who would come onthere all the time.
And then they expanded to makemore diverse musicians come on
there, but it was primarily forblack audiences and it was a
show where they would performand then they would have all the
dancers.
It was kind of like, some peoplemay even remember, American
Bandstand with Dick Clark.
(33:47):
That was more of a white versionof Soul Train.
But it was good too.
I'm not saying it wasn't good.
It was good.
But with Soul Train, DonCornelius, he had this big Afro,
just a great personality.
And so they would do this SoulTrain line.
(34:07):
And basically you would have menon one side, women on the other
side, and they would come in andwalk up.
It would be an aisle and youwould come through the aisle,
man, woman, and you would dancethrough the aisle and come from
one end to the other.
And that's when you had theopportunity to show your stuff.
John Avola (34:23):
Okay.
Calvin Stovall (34:26):
So, the Soul Train line, I did one at a
conference and I do have adream.
This is my dream, one day tohave the largest Soul Train line
ever done at a conference.
So, for people out there whohire me to speak, you may be
that conference and I'm going todo it one day.
But back to the relevancy here.
(34:50):
That post had a picture of mewalking through the Soul Train
line.
And I think it's something like,while we can't control the music
life plays for us, we cancontrol how we dance to it.
That's been the most popularpost I've ever had.
So it's been very cool.
And I think people areresonating with it, and why I
(35:11):
said that is because it's reallyaround this, never lose the
beat.
That's cool.
I hijacked your lesson.
Sorry!
John Avola (35:18):
No, that ties in perfectly to what I'm about to
say, which is when times aretough, it's difficult to keep
dancing, but it's also hard tonot let go of what's going on
around you.
Don't let that keep you frommoving forward.
(35:40):
As a leader, you must remainfocused.
Keep your eye on the prize.
Never give up.
99% of all failures come fromquitting too soon.
As an iconic leader, COVID hastaught us to develop
perseverance and commit to nevergiving up.
(36:03):
I also like to reference thatoxygen mask analogy.
You're instructed to put youroxygen mask on first because if
you don't, you can't helpsomeone else.
It's the same thing as a leader.
If you're giving up or you'regasping for air, you won't be
able to effectively motivateyour team to fly forward, to
(36:23):
reach that next destination.
COVID has taught us to bethankful for adversity.
When you face adversity, youmust use your full potential,
become more creative.
You become more intense, morefocused, more confident in
moving forward.
And I think, as we were talkingearlier, those dance moves.
I think there are a few dancemoves that we can all practice
(36:46):
to keep from never losing thebeat.
Those dance moves, real quick.
They're nothing difficult.
It's something that the mostskilled dancer or the least
skilled dancer can pull off.
That first one is persistence,not giving up in the possibility
(37:06):
of defeat.
Second is p atience.
Success is a long process.
It's not going to happenovernight, but stick with it.
The third dance move is pride in knowing that you can succeed
and you will reach your fullpotential.
The fourth is courage.
Take risks, achieve your goals.
(37:28):
And last, but definitely notleast, this is the dance move
that brings it home.
This is when the Soul Trainclears out and t here's one man
in the middle.
That is commitment.
Dedicate time and resources tofulfill your passion.
Calvin Stovall (37:45):
Wow.
Love that.
The dance moves.
Give me the moves one more timequickly.
What were the moves?
John Avola (37:54):
Persistence, patience, pride, courage, and
commitment.
Calvin Stovall (38:00):
I love those dance moves.
Everybody out there, write downthe dance moves so you could do
your own Soul Train line.
That's awesome.
All right.
I don't have anything to add tothat.
And so I'm going to go to three.
I can't believe we're down tothe final three.
(38:21):
Get comfortable with the unknownand ambiguity.
It's almost like knowing what todo when you don't know what to
do.
It's something you have to getcomfortable doing.
I think that comes withcuriosity too.
You have to be naturallycurious, asking questions often.
(38:44):
I think that offsets some of thefears for people, when you're
naturally curious.
So what I want to say is alwaysremain curious and teachable.
Because sometimes I think wefeel like we have to have all o
f the answers and we don't.
You just don't have to have allthe a nswers.
I always tell people, it doesn'tmatter how long you've been
(39:06):
doing something.
All of us can use a c heckupfrom the neck up every now and
then.
And we all do that.
And the truth is you don't haveto have all the answers.
Albert Einstein had a famousquote.
I have no special talent.
I'm only passionately curious.
And I think we have to be thatway and be h umble enough to
(39:27):
know that you need otherpeople's insight, thoughts, and
nature.
I t's a humility thing.
You can't know everything.
In fact, it's impossible.
It's impossible.
I don't think you can, becausethings change too rapidly
anyway.
What worked yesterday is notguaranteed to work tomorrow.
And in this age of disruptionand uncertainty, leaders are
(39:51):
actually increasingly beingsought out, not for having all
the right answers, but forasking the right questions.
Curiosity is the perfectcounterweight to fear and
anxiety.
And so learn to focus on that.
Just a sk questions.
Focus on those positives.
(40:13):
I just think that helps.
And, look deeper.
You've got to make a choice.
Look deeper into everyday thingsand seeing t hat true
significance.
I think sometimes we have torealize there's much to learn
from everyone in everything.
John Avola (40:27):
I agree.
I've always found thatuncertainty has a tendency to
make you reflect on your ownchallenges.
It kind of takes you away fromwhat's going on and puts it in a
little bit more of a real orpersonal mindset when you look
at uncertainty and the unknown.
Start using your talents to helppeople, make positive impacts,
(40:47):
participate in virtualvolunteering events, get out
there and be part of thecommunity.
That may be a segue into numbertwo.
You'll find that this will leadto the solutions you're looking
for.
Calvin Stovall (41:02):
It doesn't have to be big.
Start small.
Read a book in a genre youusually avoid.
Or go to an art gallery ormuseum you wouldn't normally go
to.
These simple activities willopen your mind to new points of
view.
That's all we're saying.
We talked about that hole wecreate for ourselves.
We like to hang with people thatare like us.
(41:23):
Remember that episode?
We talked about that.
You want to know kids that areraised like our kids and all of
that.
And we get comfortable withthat.
You've got to start inviting newpeople in the circle.
Get different perspectives.
John Avola (41:36):
And be open to those perspectives.
Calvin Stovall (41:44):
Right.
You want to listen, right?
All right.
Number two!
John Avola (41:52):
Number two, or the second lesson, is community is
everything.
Wanted to just bring up thepoint, how important community
is.
I think COVID has taught us abig lesson in the importance of
community.
Being part of a communityprovides that sense of
belonging.
It enables us to share andrelate to each other.
(42:13):
In a time like this we'vesupported each other.
Whether it's your neighbor downthe street, a peer, a coworker,
a colleague, a friend, a familymember, there's so much
opportunity to support oneanother to get through this time
that we're all in.
Community adds that feeling thatwe're part of something bigger
than ourselves.
It's the foundation when dealingwith uncertainty, as we just
(42:35):
talked about, the backbone thatkeeps us together.
The lesson also involves theimportance of networking,
joking, but maybe not joking,aside being six feet apart
should not limit ourselves fromdeveloping a network.
You should still be buildingupon and maintaining your
network, making sure that yournetwork's there when you need it
(42:56):
the most, using your network toreach out to people you care
about.
Send someone a note, send theman IM, or an instant message, or
direct message.
Let them know you're thinkingabout them.
Use your network as anopportunity to connect and
share.
You'll quickly find you're notalone.
We've talked about that too.
You're not by yourself.
(43:18):
Your network can help drive you,motivate you, push you through
those difficult times, reinforceyour purpose.
I think the COVID itself, goingback to some of the positive
that it's brought out, it'sbrought out so many important
aspects of how being a part of acommunity will help you with
that support.
The influence, the sharing, thereinforcement, being a part of
that connection, even that wholestaying together while we're
(43:42):
apart mentality.
Communities give us that sharedspace, a place to be inspired,
solve problems, congratulateeach other on achievements.
With so many common beliefs,trust and togetherness, there's
really no limit to whatcommunities can do for ourselves
and each other.
Calvin, I think I want to just,if you're okay with it, get
(44:02):
personal for a moment.
Just talking about you and I.
COVID was tough on us both.
We both became teachers andcaretakers overnight and we had
to balance a 40, 40 hour plusweek job with our children, with
our significant others, family,friends.
Times were tough.
(44:23):
And there were points where wewould get on the phone and we
wanted to throw in that iconictowel.
We were hitting some lows.
We were hitting some pointswhere I don't think if we
weren't able to keep ourcommunity, our continuous calls
and our friendship, there mayhave been times where iconic
(44:45):
presentations may not be inexistence today.
We may not be recording our 10thepisode, if it wasn't for the
trust that we've built betweeneach other.
We've made a difference.
We know that our community needsus.
We've been giving now 10episodes of iconic business
strategies and tips andresources.
(45:07):
I can tell, I think we're makinga big, big difference in the
communities that we're serving.
And as we started this podcast,we've got to thank our listeners
and our community for supportingus.
Calvin Stovall (45:18):
Absolutely.
John, I couldn't have said thatany better.
Hey, listen, you're right.
The iconic towel was....
I've had moments where I hadthat white flag.
We're here.
We talked to each other, wehelped each other.
(45:40):
I'm a big purpose person andmaking sure I have clarity of
purpose.
And I'm clear why I'm here.
But what COVID and situationslike that will do to you, it
will make your purpose a littleblurry, cloudy, altering things,
(46:00):
and then that compiled with yourmind and how you think and all
of that stuff going on aroundyou, it can cause you to start
questioning your purpose.
John Avola (46:17):
Not a good place.
Calvin Stovall (46:17):
Not a good place to be.
I understand if you're dealingwith it and you're trying to
figure out exactly where youwant to go or pivot, that's
fine, but your purpose is yourpurpose.
And once you realize, and you'reclear on why you're here, you
might have to make somealterations, but you've got to
be clear on why you're here.
(46:37):
And once you focus on that, andonce I focus on that, then we
know, okay, we've still got topress forward.
John Avola (46:45):
All right, Calvin, I think that brings us down to
number one.
Calvin Stovall (46:48):
Oh, this is number one.
Ladies and gentlemen, numberone.
Mindset is everything.
Mindset is everything.
I've got to throw a song there.
I love hip hop.
(47:09):
There was a song in 1991 by agroup called the Ghetto Boys.
And the name of the song was MyMind Is Playing Tricks On Me and
when we were putting this listtogether, when I got to number
one, that song popped in mymind.
(47:30):
During times of uncertainty likewe are dealing with, your mind
will play tricks on you.
And so if you don't have thisiconic mindset, you can end up
in this place of when you'restuck.
(47:50):
I learned, don't let your mindplay tricks on you.
Whatever you build in your head,don't let it.
I encourage people to think ofyourself as a human magnet and
constantly attract in what youspeak, think, and feel.
If you think in problems, youwill attract problems.
(48:12):
If you think in solutions, youwill attract solutions.
So I want to encourage you.
My number one.
Mindset is everything.
Cultivate your thoughts.
Remain positive and optimistic.
We get what we think and sothink positive.
Don't let the stress and theworries of the day outshine your
(48:34):
passion, because once your lightis out, it's hard to come back
from that.
So don't sweat the small stuff.
Please know that everythingyou're doing out there is making
a difference.
My hospitality friends andcolleagues out there, ladies and
gentlemen, you guys are doing agreat job.
So don't beat yourself up, Patyourself on the back and be
(48:56):
happy and glad.
You guys are doing some amazingwork out there.
Just continue to be present foryour team, continue to make
every interaction matter, and beconsistent.
Keep your mind in the rightplace.
Because once that shifts in theright place, you can thrive and
be successful in anyenvironment, but particularly in
(49:18):
one with this much ambiguity anduncertainty that we're dealing
with.
John Avola (49:21):
Yeah, absolutely.
You hit on a lot of greatpoints.
The big takeaway I really gotfrom you there is being mindful
of the shadow that you cast.
You've talked about that.
It's reflective of you and it'scasting over others.
Keep that mindset, keep it high,keep it strong, and use these 10
(49:46):
lessons to keep your mindset atan ultimate high, because these
are what we've learned.
I'm sure there are other lessonsout there, but when you find
yourself in a time that yourmindset is slipping, refer back
to these 10 lessons because theywill help you.
Don't forget about yourcommunity and those that are
(50:06):
supporting you.
Stay focused and achieved.
Achieve your purpose, followyour passion.
Calvin Stovall (50:12):
That's right, Johnny.
I love it.
That's our 10 lessons.
Before we wrap up, I want to goback and quickly run through the
10.
Okay.
Number one.
Mindset is everything.
You get what you think.
Think positive.
Don't let the worries of the daytake out your passion.
(50:35):
Number two.
Community is everything.
You're not in this alone.
Continue to be there to supporteach other.
Your peers, colleagues, family,friends, all of that, please
know.
And reach out when you needhelp.
You do not have to handle thisstuff alone.
Please reach out for help whenyou need it.
Number three.
(50:55):
Getting comfortable with theunknown and ambiguity.
Continue to be curious.
Don't become comfortable andcomplacent.
Curiosity is the best counterattack to ambiguity and the
unknown.
So ask questions often.
Number four.
Never give up.
Never lose the beat.
(51:16):
Stay diligent.
Stay focused.
Give me those dance steps again,John.
John Avola (51:21):
The steps, the dance moves.
Persistence, patience, pride,courage, and commitment.
Calvin Stovall (51:28):
I love the dance moves.
Number five.
Failure breeds creativity.
When your back is against thewall, ladies and gentlemen, you
will come up with some wonderfulideas, but you've got to be
willing to take some risks.
Number six.
Have a plan B.
Don't put all your eggs in onebasket.
Always think about doing thingsdifferent.
(51:50):
Have a backup plan.
Don't focus on just one way todo things.
You've got to make sure that youhave a contingency plan just in
case your plan A does not work.
Number seven.
The illusion of control.
You might think you have it, butyou really don't.
So focus on those things you cancontrol.
Don't worry so much about thethings that you can't.
(52:11):
Number eight.
Leading with empathy.
Empathy was one of thoseleadership skills that back in
the day, they might have said,oh you're too soft.
Not today.
That's a skill that you need tohave.
And that's something that youremployees are looking for.
As John Maxwell says, peopledon't care how much you know,
until they know how much youcare.
You have to care about yourteam's well-being.
(52:32):
And you've got to take care ofyourself.
Airplane oxygen.
Remember that?
Number nine.
Real leadership or leaders whoemerged during turbulent times,
you've got to get out of yourcomfort zone.
You have to get comfortabledoing that.
Continue to communicate.
Your team needs communication.
Culture is everything.
(52:53):
It's fragile.
So you've got to keepcommunicating.
Focus on that, making sure youkeep your team engaged and in
the loop.
You'll continue to besuccessful.
All right.
Number 10.
Trust your team.
Nobody likes to be micromanaged.
Give them the autonomy andempowerment and what they need
to do and be successful at home,just like you would in the
(53:16):
office, but it's even moreimportant now.
They are working.
You've got to trust them to dothat.
So that's it.
Yes, trust them.
10 iconic lessons of 2020.
(53:36):
I am fired up.
John Avola (53:38):
That was an awesome, awesome episode.
A lot of content in there.
You may need to listen to thatone twice for those listening.
You may want to listen to it andthen go back and take notes.
Well, Calvin, here we go.
We're heading into 2021.
That'll be our next episode.
We'll be in the new year.
We want to make sure that we letour audience know that we are
(53:59):
open to any ideas, anything thatcomes to mind that you'd like us
to address, research a littlebit, and use as a topic of one
of our upcoming episodes.
We are more than open to hearingit.
So please let us know.
You can find out more aboutCalvin and myself at
iconicpresentations.net.
There, you can reach out to us.
There's a contact form.
Drop in your idea.
(54:20):
We'd love to hear from you.
We will write you back so youcan count on us on that.
Thank you again, our listeners,our community, for continuing to
support us, for continuing tolisten to our podcasts every
time they're published.
And we are just so thankful foryou and all of your support.
Calvin Stovall (54:36):
Thanks.
Thanks to everybody out there.
We are really looking forward tohaving a great year in 2021.
A lot of opportunities ahead ofus.
Again, keep your iconic mindsetin the right direction.
I think the next year is goingto be so much better than this
one.
John Avola (54:52):
Agreed.
Agreed.
Well, Calvin, so here's to 2021.
Don't just be, BeICONIC.
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