July 16, 2024 • 25 mins
How do you build a leadership style that goes beyond the paycheck and truly inspires your team? Megan Billnoske, president-elect for the National Speaker Association in Houston, joins us to share her transformative journey from the high-stakes world of international oil and gas to becoming a sought-after consultant, trainer, and coach. Megan opens up about the ethical dilemmas she faced early in her career, demonstrating why trust and integrity are the bedrock of genuine connections in leadership. Her story is a powerful reminder that effective leadership isn't just about directing work; it's about fostering relationships that motivate and engage your team on a deeper level.
Get ready to glean practical strategies for connecting with your team members beyond their job roles. From using personal preference sheets to organizing creative competitions, we discuss actionable methods to understand and support your employees' lives outside the office. Megan also shares the inspiring tale of a NASA janitor whose sense of purpose was tied to a greater mission, illustrating the profound impact of meaningful work. By recognizing individual strengths and encouraging a collaborative environment, you can empower your team to reduce burnout and thrive independently and harmoniously. Tune in to discover how you can transform your leadership approach and create a cohesive, motivated team.
Connect with Megan:
Megan Billnoske | LinkedIn
Megan Billnoske | Email
Imspire | Website | Youtube | Instagram
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Order your copy of Jon's book at RedefineYourServantLeadership.com, and don't forget to utilize the additional resources, or purchase access to the Workbook and Coaching Videos.
Send your Leadership and Business questions to Jon at podcast@leadwell.com.
For more information visit https://leadwell.com
The Leadwell Podcast gives mission-driven leaders principled and practical advice to do just that, lead well.
In each episode, your host Jon Kidwell, interviews leaders with great stories, to share strategies that help leaders navigate complex, confusing, and often down-right challenging leadership, personal growth, business, and workplace culture situations.
Jon is a nonprofit executive turned coach, speaker, author, and CEO of a leadership development company. In working with nonprofits and businesses, big and small, he realized the unique challenges leaders face when they are committed to keeping the mission and people the top priority. Those leaders’ commitment to their principles and the people they lead, plus seeing the need for more leaders who strive to do the right thing, the right way, for the right reasons, is what inspired Jon to start a leadership development company dedicated to the success of mission-driven leaders and their organiza...
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jon Kidwell (00:04):
Hey everybody, welcome to the Leadwell podcast,
the podcast where we interviewmission-driven leaders who are
doing it well and we ask themwhat they're doing and how
they're doing it so that you canlead your business and your
people well.
And today with me I have myfriend, megan Bilnosky.
So here's the thing Megan ispresident-elect for the National
Speaker Association here inHouston.
(00:25):
She is a consultant, a trainer,a coach, a phenomenal human
being, a business owner.
And, megan, wherever you are,you just tend to lead where you
are and you help other people doit.
So thank you so much for comingon the podcast today.
Megan Billnoske (00:41):
Hey, it's my pleasure.
Thank you for having me andthanks for such a warm
introduction.
Jon Kidwell (00:51):
My absolute pleasure.
I think it really helpsestablish the connection with
the audience and you and you andme and I'm totally riffing on
the fact that that's what we'retalking about today right, we're
going to talk about connectionand connection for leaders.
So you and I have a funconnection, like we got
connected first through workthrough a mutual friend and then
we've kind of taken it fromthere.
Right, we got to do some morework together with the same
client.
(01:11):
We've had some lunch together,all of those fun things.
What else would you add to itor start telling us about that
important of really a foundationof connection?
Megan Billnoske (01:26):
of connection.
Well, I think it's somethingthat happens everywhere, kind of
like you shared about how we'vegot connected and the circles
that come from each connectionare impressive, Like we've got
mutual friends that they askedyou how do you know Megan?
And you said how do you knowMegan?
So it's amazing to me thatconnection is something people
seek and then, as a leader, it'sreally important because if
you're not connected to yourpeople, your supervisor, your
(01:46):
purpose, I think it just ripplesinto everything that you're
touching.
Jon Kidwell (01:51):
Absolutely yes.
And when you said, like, let'stalk about connection, I
immediately started thinkingabout, yeah, how important.
Because we're talking about,like, the leader and the team
member relationship, right, andthis is somebody who I come to
work with, for I spend, you know, a third or more of my life
(02:12):
kind of engaging in and aroundthis, and so you started talking
about some of those things.
But tell us, why is thatimportant?
Why isn't it just I come and Ido what I'm supposed to and,
like, my connection is throughmy paycheck, my connection is
through my work product, likehow come it has to be something
more than that.
Megan Billnoske (02:33):
I think true champion leaders, the ones you
know, the kind that we all wantto work for, that we think about
20 years later, I think they'remasters at it and I don't think
a connection to a paycheck isjust enough for the right
mindset, because if you'rereally trying to lead people,
you're really trying to connectwith them, you care about them.
I always looked at my teams asif they were, you know, almost
(02:55):
my kids, where I have to protectthem, like my job is to protect
you, make sure you're safe, youhave what you need, fend off
all the predators of whatever'sgoing on in politics, and so I
think when they have thatconnection, it's much deeper and
I think it ties into motivation, making it much easier to just
lead well wherever you are.
Jon Kidwell (03:15):
Yeah, so I have to ask is yours the prompting for
this being such an importantthing?
Is it come out of a good storyor a bad story?
Megan Billnoske (03:24):
Oh, um, you know it's a blend if I'm
thinking about it.
So the connection, when youasked me, you know what do you
want to talk about and I thoughtsomething that's so important
is that connection.
I think it's really hard.
So you have, you know,different models to understand
behavior through disc.
What are the different styles?
You have Hogan, you haveBerkman, all trying to diagnose
(03:51):
or figure out how do I like tobe connected with and how do I
connect with others by adjustingmy style.
Very much servant leadership,which I know you talk all about,
and so my story gosh.
I can't lie, most of my storyand leadership are bad stories,
sadly.
I mean a lot of us have those,right yeah.
Yeah, so what's one that?
Jon Kidwell (04:06):
sticks out to you that was like oh, this to me is
the pinnacle or the precipice oflike.
This is why I care so muchabout connection.
Megan Billnoske (04:13):
Okay, got it.
Yeah, I love that you asked.
Like the big one, I'm going togo with the very first one.
So I graduated from Texas Techin 2010 and I couldn't get a job
.
It was the recession.
I was living with my parentshere in Houston and I thought,
well, I'll just get somepart-time jobs until I can get a
professional one to help startpaying my student loans.
So I became a Texas Techrecruiter, loved it, drove the
(04:34):
car around recruiting, helpingyou know just explain what
college was like and how toapply, and after about a year
and a half I went.
I started thinking I need tothink bigger.
I just don't feel like this islong-term.
Although I love it, I need thechallenge.
So, within about a week, Ilanded a, or after 10 months of
(04:54):
waiting, a week of interviewingwe'll clarify that.
Um, I landed an internationaloil and gas job, traveling and
training all over the world, andI made 34% of the pay raise.
I finally got an apartmentmoved out of my parents' house
after two years.
I mean, it was just amazing,and they just let me be me Now.
The point that ties into yourquestion, though, is about five
years after starting that job.
(05:15):
Right, it was my dream job, oneof them, and I do think you can
have more than one, but I hadone early on, and I was asked to
steal intellectual propertyfrom another company on behalf
of the, my supervisor and mysupervisor was an executive, and
so I thought you've been to myhouse.
You know my family.
Um, you came to my apartmentwhen I was robbed.
Um, I've been to your family.
(05:37):
I've been in a fantasy footballdraft teams.
I'm an integral part of all ofyour projects.
You bring me into executivemeetings to help present and in
an instant that connection wascompletely broken and, quite
frankly, there's no going back,because I would never have
trusted that you won't just beas open as you were when you
told me about this project andfor clarity I also said after he
(06:00):
explained what the project was,I said so you mean steel?
And he said yeah.
So there is no ambiguity, thereis no story.
I told myself this is whathappened and so I think the
power of connection there.
I was probably the mostdedicated employee, or one of
them, there.
I traveled, I supported thatentire company, built things, I
(06:23):
brought in learning managementsystems Like I was on the move,
building SharePoint sites, andin an instant all of it was.
I went home, I started fixing myresume and I thought it's over,
it's time to go, because Idon't respect it and I don't
trust anymore.
And so that connection piece, Ithink, is tied in heavily to
trust.
And if you have an engaged team, you know, or a direct report
(06:44):
or a supervisor, if you'reengaged you have that trust and
I would have done anything forthat company.
Yeah, and it was all over.
Jon Kidwell (06:52):
In an instant because of the break of the
connection and the trust and therespect that you had.
Corey Shear, who's a goodfriend of mine, wrote a book
about trust and he says trust inthe belief that something is
true.
And like, as I'm sitting herelistening to what you just said,
I'm like, oh, you and I nowboth believe 100% that that
(07:13):
person's going to ask you to dothat again, right, yep, oh man,
okay, so yeah, I still getgoosebumps.
Megan Billnoske (07:20):
That was years ago.
Jon Kidwell (07:22):
Extreme example and still you've laid up kind of
breadcrumbs for all of us aroundthis connection piece.
So maybe my natural bend is I'ma people people and I'm really
good at doing that connection.
Maybe I'm not right.
Maybe I'm really really highkind of drive and you brought up
(07:43):
disc right.
Maybe I'm a high D and I'm moreof the get it done, not the
let's do it together type ofperson.
So start laying out for us justwhat are some of those things
that I can do as a leader tohelp build that positive
connection between myself, myteam, my team to the work.
All of those things.
What are some things I could do?
Megan Billnoske (08:03):
I think it starts with your intention and
what you're wanting to do withyour group or your peers, your
team, because if you have theright intention, that you want
to lead well or have aconnection, then that's the
intention that'll set you down apath to figure out how do I do
that.
If you're doing it for a reason, just because it'll make your
company more money, it's goingto come through.
(08:25):
So, recognizing, you need theright intention, the true
intention of wanting to connectwith them for a real level, and
then, after that, I think itcomes with how do you do that?
Some things I've seen incompanies that I've worked
across Houston are how do youask?
You know what's their?
There was one company I workedfor and it was a sheet that you
filled out when you got hiredand it was all about your
(08:46):
favorites.
How do you like to receiverecognition?
How do you like to beappreciated?
What's your favorite candy bar?
What's your favorite sportsteam?
So I think the connection comessometimes with understanding
that people are people and atwork, a lot of times we just see
well, your job is this and Ineed this from you.
People and at work, a lot oftimes we just see, well, your
job is this and I need this fromyou.
(09:07):
And we forget that you have agrandma that's about to pass
away from cancer or you have apet that just got lost and
you're really upset.
The human aspect, I think, ismost important for that
connection first, whether youfill out a form or you just take
your team to lunch, or if it'sa one-on-one, just asking people
about hey, how's your home life, how's your family?
And if they don't have a youknow children, they still have a
(09:28):
family somehow.
Or if it's friends, knowingwhat's important to them is
really a huge piece of startingthat connection, because then
people feel like you care.
And if you're a disc style D,like you talked about, get it
done.
Moving through it, think of itas, in order to get things done,
you need to make thatconnection.
(09:49):
So you are working on gettingit done, but you have to take
that first step first before youcan move into execution, if you
will.
So I think the mindset's firstand then figuring out how do you
start that human side, how doyou start caring about them?
And, by the way, there was ateam I had of five people and
I'm looking at my monitor overhere because I had a sticky note
for all of them.
Because I'm not great at memory, sometimes I forget and I feel
like it's worse to say oh, youtold me your husband's name was
(10:11):
Joe and I actually called himJohn, and now I feel like I'm
even like negative pointsbecause I called him the wrong
name.
So I really wasn't listeningand so I had sticky notes up on
my monitor that had all theirnames on them and then what
their priorities were for theircareer and their family their
names, because I didn't want tomiss it, mistake it, and a lot
of times we had Zoom meetings soI could reference it because I
(10:32):
care.
So work with whatever yourstyle is If it's like mine.
I'm not good with names until Isee them written down because
I'm a visual learner.
So how do I write them down soI can remember them, the sticky
notes?
And then after that I think itgrows into wanting.
We have five generations in theworkplace and a lot of people
are talking about how eachgeneration wants different
(10:54):
things from work.
I think they all want to feelconnected to their job, but I
think that looks different fordifferent ones, right?
Some people want to pat on theback while other generations say
it's your job, you don'tdeserve a pat on the back, it's
your job.
So you have different views ofit.
But that connection part stillis your job as a leader to help
them see what are they a part of.
Can I tell you a story?
(11:15):
That's one of my favorites toshare in training.
Yeah, so I read it.
I think it was in a book awhile back and it was about JFK,
our president, and how he waswalking through the halls of
NASA here in Houston and hecomes across a gentleman that's
sweeping the floor and he's justsweeping back and forth minding
his own business and thepresident of the United States
(11:36):
walking by and JFK says, sir,what's your job here, what do
you do?
And he said proudly, he stoppedsweeping, he put his hands on
his hips and he said I put a manin the mood and I don't think
you can get that kind ofdedication from an employee.
Motivation, heart, passion.
I don't think you get any ofthat without connecting with
(11:57):
your people.
However, it works for you andthem, because that's the
struggle of the connection.
It looks different.
I always say leadership is anart.
It's not a science.
You have to create it withdifferent people.
But that's a few things you cando to start with a connection,
mindset, care about them ashumans and a connect them to the
(12:17):
purpose of what you're tryingto do.
Jon Kidwell (12:20):
Yeah, a mindset approach of I want to do this,
really connecting, getting clearon some of the things that are
important to them and engagingin that way.
And then man, that moon one isso remarkable, like how great.
Every single one of us aresitting here thinking right,
whether I'm in a financialinstitution, a school or
(12:41):
whatever.
Like, don't we want everyone tosay I put a man on the moon,
right, I get kids to do X, y, z,or we provide the opportunity
to allow people to build theirfinancial futures, like whatever
that might be, how, howwonderful.
So, if, if I take those steps asa leader and I'm doing those
(13:14):
things, I have the intention ofsaying you know, it's a person,
always I want to be connected.
I ascribe to the mantra oh, Ican have that and I probably
have had that and others haveprobably had it, where it's like
oh, megan and I have a greatconnection, Jason and I have a
great connection, sarah and Ihave a great connection, but
Sarah, jason and Megan havenever talked to each other and
(13:36):
they're on the same team.
Like, I am, in fact, the middleof this spider web, so how can
I then take this and start tomake it more of a web instead of
this line into me as a leader.
How can I get the teamconnected with the team and
build a little bit of thatnetwork effect, if you will?
Megan Billnoske (13:57):
I think what you're asking is the root of a
high-performing team, theconnection that you're talking
about.
Once you grow that, I think thebenefit is when those teams
that we all want to be on that'sa you know, you don't mind
working late to fix the problemsor you have good collaborative
ideas or have conflict, and it'sokay to start that.
I had a team when I worked atan international company not the
(14:18):
one I mentioned earlier, butanother one and my team was in
Brazil, the UK, florida andHouston, so I had five people
total.
It was actually the same one.
I had the sticky notes up therefor it.
Jon Kidwell (14:29):
I would need the sticky notes too If I'm working
across time zone continents allof that right, Like I just have
to be like it is, I need theclocks on the wall Like here's
what time it is in Brazil,here's what time it is in the UK
.
Megan Billnoske (14:40):
With their photos next to it Exactly, yes.
Well, with that team, COVID hadhit the entire department of 45
people globally, for ourtraining and development group
had I would call it a reorg, andso all the training managers.
There's four of us.
We all had divisions of thecompany and they rotated and
flipped for some of us and so wegot new teams.
(15:02):
So imagine this I startedworking there in some of us and
so we got new teams.
So imagine this I startedworking there in November of
2019.
I am getting ready by Januaryto go to Brazil for work and I'm
super excited to get to go backinternational.
It's one of my favorites.
And then COVID hits in March.
Everybody works from home.
I don't know if you had this,but we had daytime pajamas and
(15:23):
nighttime pajamas.
Like everybody was just inpajamas for three months.
It was so great and then,everybody was so depressed,
anyway.
So that's March.
Covid's hit right.
It's big, it's nasty, it'sgrowing.
There's death on the news.
International teams.
We started working about 24hours a day.
Australia was actually probablythe biggest scenario of that
(15:45):
because our company was Americanbased and so they have such a
big time zone difference theywould have like very little time
with their family and they getback on.
For you know, like all protocolof kind of boundaries for work
kind of went out the window.
My team was working so much andnobody could go anywhere at all.
So you have death on the news,you have high work, you can't go
(16:06):
anywhere, Can't get toiletpaper, you can't get noodles I
mean high stress.
And I get a new team in May andso I sat there and I thought,
oh wow, Well, I can tell them totake a break and they try, but
when there's nothing on TV andyour family's all home,
(16:32):
everybody was working anyway todo something.
And so while I did haveconnections, I always did
one-on-ones with my teams, right.
So there's you're growing thatconnection piece that you talked
about.
But then to get them to moldtogether as a team and the
reason I'm bringing up this teamis because this team was the
highest performing team I'veever had and this is how it
started.
So you need to know that.
And with the reorg I went fromtwo people to five and so I had
(16:54):
this opportunity to glue peopletogether, get to know people
that I didn't know, and then tryand be productive.
And COVID downturn when thewhole world says you can't have
a business when you're workingat home.
You have to be in the office tomake money as a company.
And what I did was I startedwith my one-on-ones.
I just got to know them How'sit going?
Where's your family members are, I told you.
(17:15):
I wrote down things and then wewould have bi-weekly team
meetings where everyone would bethere.
I always started off with somekind of question or icebreaker,
or I would make sticky notegames where they would you know.
I'd have it here because it'svirtual, and they would tell me
a number and I'd peel it offlike Jeopardy and they'd have a
question.
So I started with the humanside and then we would talk
about business.
But then in my one-on-ones, astime went by, projects kept
(17:39):
going and there was one person Ican vividly remember.
I did it with everyone, butthis one affected me the most,
which is probably why I feel itheavier, or the best.
He showed me his project planand we were working on
developing things that he wantedto get into as a training
manager, and so I said how arewe standing organized for this
project?
So he goes away and comes backin our next one-on-one with the
(18:01):
project plan.
This is what I found, this isgreat, this is how I'm
organizing it, and I'm thinkingyou just did this, Did you make
this from scratch?
And he said it's a template inMicrosoft and I just kind of
edited it and instead of mesaying I'd like to show this to
the team, can you send it to me?
The connection is him having theopportunity to share it with
(18:22):
his team not me and him standingin his moment of shining to say
, hey, here's what I'm doing,Bringing them knowledge, and
also giving him an opportunityto connect with his team.
Hey, here's how I'm going tohelp you.
And so I had him.
I said would you mindpresenting this at our next team
meeting?
And he said no, you can presentit.
And I said no, no, I said it'syours.
(18:43):
Share what you think, Tell uswhat.
Tell us about it.
And then I had another meetingwith another lady on our group
and she had something similarand I said this is brilliant.
You're doing this out ofFlorida.
Why don't you share this withthe team on our next team
meeting?
No-transcript thing.
(19:13):
Every meeting starts with asafety moment.
And he said why don't we do avalues moment about how we're
living, the values of thecompany?
And I said that's great.
I said would you like to leadthat?
And he said yeah, and so, justlike the man in the moon story.
When you get connect with yourpeople, you really know what
drives them and then let themfly like a bird, put them in a
position where you like thevalues that much.
Great, you know what we need.
(19:35):
That.
So it's letting all your teamshine together and massaging it
on the outside to say how do Iput people in the right position
to feel like they bring value?
And that team, I'll tell you.
We still talk on WhatsApp tothis day.
I still know when people getnew pets, I still know when
people get new jobs, and so youknow.
(19:57):
There's one more thing I wantto share, kind of in the middle
of the COVID thing, that Ireally think helped.
And before I share it, I'm notsaying that you need to do this
now or all the time- but maybeUse it as.
But I mean, I think they wouldlike it Because of the
environment.
Covid, I told you those weren'tnonstop, people were not taking
(20:18):
breaks, no vacation time wasgoing on.
We're getting into July nowwe're getting into August,
september, and I thought, okay,well, I get, we're going to bump
up.
We did weekly team meetings, sowe met more often every Friday
on the right time zone, sonobody was working after hours,
and I said we're going to use mytime to take a break, since all
(20:39):
of your time they were working.
It's not like I needed to makesure that and manage.
Like, what are you doing?
This week?
They were sending me reportsabout stuff that was going on.
That's plenty.
But instead of routine meetings,I changed them to games.
And guess what?
I didn't have to make the gamesbecause there was a person on
my team that loved them, and soguess what I did?
(21:01):
I said, hey, would you like tobe our chief fun officer and
come up with an activity, everysingle?
I want you to either use 20 to30 minutes or the whole thing.
Figure out a game that we canplay as a team.
And those games were hilarious.
We played categories, we playedall kinds of communication
games.
She made up games and it gaveher so much energy and it didn't
(21:23):
make my workload any heavier,except to say, hey, I see your
talent here.
I understand how you canconnect to our team and help us.
Why don't you go use yourskills?
We also had on December for theholidays I had a an office
wrapping like decorating contest.
So everybody, like what yourzoom showed was a decorating
competition Somebody she wasawesome.
(21:45):
Somebody in Houston she's theone that won it.
She decorated with all.
She took wrapping paper andwrapped her entire office.
Jon Kidwell (21:52):
Oh, my goodness.
Megan Billnoske (21:56):
And then, um, our last meeting of the year, it
was a onesie party or, um, no,pajama party.
I wear onesie because MrsPotato Head onesie.
And then I put a Toy Storybackground up with all the Toy
Story characters and I was MrsPotato Head, oh my goodness.
So I think All of that to saywrite intention, understand what
your people are going through.
Yes, we're here to do a job,but in that environment I was
(22:19):
very aware of how much stressand burnout was going on and so
make moves to change and trysomething.
And I found out that that teamhad little mini meetings without
me, and I love that.
I don't need to be in all themeetings.
I am connecting you so youunderstand who does what.
You get along together and goforth and do have many meetings
(22:43):
without me.
Jon Kidwell (22:44):
I don't mind, and so you probably even hope for it
.
Honestly, right, Like man, Ithink we get confused because we
are always connected, rightLike in the terms of the
internet.
So, we're always connected.
We think this is something thatjust exists, when really it's
probably a lot more like AOL,and one, it's good to have
(23:05):
disconnection time, but two, itreally takes that awkward like
build up but then we're on.
We can be connected but justlike the internet, like trust or
disempowerment or any of thosethings can drop it off.
And when we approach connectionas something that has to be
created, has to be fostered, isan engagement and intention in a
(23:26):
way to empower people, thenwe're going to build the type of
team and the motivation and thevalues like you just created.
Thank you so much for liningthat out for us.
So, megan, I ask everybody thatcomes on and you don't get to
get away from this, so you gotto let us know what does it mean
to you to lead well?
Megan Billnoske (23:51):
I think it means to lead where you are.
If that's in a tough meeting, Ithink it means to lead where
you are.
If that's in a tough meeting, acrucial conversation of
conflict, if that's with yourfamily, something's going on and
you need to step in and takethe lead.
Or if you're a new leader thattook over a team that's
dysfunctional and there's lotsof friction.
Or if you have ahigh-performing team, like the
(24:13):
one I shared about, and it'sleading where you are.
Once that team moves into highperformance, your job changes.
How do you keep them going andhow do you evolve?
So I think lead where you areis really something that's it's
open for interpretation ofwherever you are, and I think
leaders are all on their ownjourney at a different phase,
and I think that's okay, but youalways have an opportunity to
(24:35):
lead wherever that is.
Jon Kidwell (24:38):
Awesome and I love the heart of service adaptation,
self-awareness that reallyleads to serving people, the
organization and the work thatyou are doing.
Megan, thank you for coming on,for connecting with me and for
being a fun connection here inHouston.
Maybe next time we rally allthe troops.
We're playing a game when weall get together, never know.
(25:00):
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Megan Billnoske (25:03):
Thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Jon Kidwell (25:05):
And everybody else.
Make sure that you connect withMegan.
You can find her on LinkedInand we will put her website and
everything else in the shownotes.
Go check her out, follow her.
She has a great newsletter thatgoes around for wherever she
goes to tie it all back intoleadership things.
So check that out.
And until next time, my friends, be well, god bless and lead on
.
Megan Billnoske (25:29):
Woohoo, that was fun.
I'm sorry, I've got.
Hey everybody, welcome to the Leadwell podcast,
the podcast where we interviewmission-driven leaders who are
doing it well and we ask themwhat they're doing and how
they're doing it so that you canlead your business and your
people well.
And today with me I have myfriend, megan Bilnosky.
So here's the thing Megan ispresident-elect for the National
Speaker Association here inHouston.
(00:25):
She is a consultant, a trainer,a coach, a phenomenal human
being, a business owner.
And, megan, wherever you are,you just tend to lead where you
are and you help other people doit.
So thank you so much for comingon the podcast today.
Megan Billnoske (00:41):
Hey, it's my pleasure.
Thank you for having me andthanks for such a warm
introduction.
Jon Kidwell (00:51):
My absolute pleasure.
I think it really helpsestablish the connection with
the audience and you and you andme and I'm totally riffing on
the fact that that's what we'retalking about today right, we're
going to talk about connectionand connection for leaders.
So you and I have a funconnection, like we got
connected first through workthrough a mutual friend and then
we've kind of taken it fromthere.
Right, we got to do some morework together with the same
client.
(01:11):
We've had some lunch together,all of those fun things.
What else would you add to itor start telling us about that
important of really a foundationof connection?
Megan Billnoske (01:26):
of connection.
Well, I think it's somethingthat happens everywhere, kind of
like you shared about how we'vegot connected and the circles
that come from each connectionare impressive, Like we've got
mutual friends that they askedyou how do you know Megan?
And you said how do you knowMegan?
So it's amazing to me thatconnection is something people
seek and then, as a leader, it'sreally important because if
you're not connected to yourpeople, your supervisor, your
(01:46):
purpose, I think it just ripplesinto everything that you're
touching.
Jon Kidwell (01:51):
Absolutely yes.
And when you said, like, let'stalk about connection, I
immediately started thinkingabout, yeah, how important.
Because we're talking about,like, the leader and the team
member relationship, right, andthis is somebody who I come to
work with, for I spend, you know, a third or more of my life
(02:12):
kind of engaging in and aroundthis, and so you started talking
about some of those things.
But tell us, why is thatimportant?
Why isn't it just I come and Ido what I'm supposed to and,
like, my connection is throughmy paycheck, my connection is
through my work product, likehow come it has to be something
more than that.
Megan Billnoske (02:33):
I think true champion leaders, the ones you
know, the kind that we all wantto work for, that we think about
20 years later, I think they'remasters at it and I don't think
a connection to a paycheck isjust enough for the right
mindset, because if you'rereally trying to lead people,
you're really trying to connectwith them, you care about them.
I always looked at my teams asif they were, you know, almost
(02:55):
my kids, where I have to protectthem, like my job is to protect
you, make sure you're safe, youhave what you need, fend off
all the predators of whatever'sgoing on in politics, and so I
think when they have thatconnection, it's much deeper and
I think it ties into motivation, making it much easier to just
lead well wherever you are.
Jon Kidwell (03:15):
Yeah, so I have to ask is yours the prompting for
this being such an importantthing?
Is it come out of a good storyor a bad story?
Megan Billnoske (03:24):
Oh, um, you know it's a blend if I'm
thinking about it.
So the connection, when youasked me, you know what do you
want to talk about and I thoughtsomething that's so important
is that connection.
I think it's really hard.
So you have, you know,different models to understand
behavior through disc.
What are the different styles?
You have Hogan, you haveBerkman, all trying to diagnose
(03:51):
or figure out how do I like tobe connected with and how do I
connect with others by adjustingmy style.
Very much servant leadership,which I know you talk all about,
and so my story gosh.
I can't lie, most of my storyand leadership are bad stories,
sadly.
I mean a lot of us have those,right yeah.
Yeah, so what's one that?
Jon Kidwell (04:06):
sticks out to you that was like oh, this to me is
the pinnacle or the precipice oflike.
This is why I care so muchabout connection.
Megan Billnoske (04:13):
Okay, got it.
Yeah, I love that you asked.
Like the big one, I'm going togo with the very first one.
So I graduated from Texas Techin 2010 and I couldn't get a job
.
It was the recession.
I was living with my parentshere in Houston and I thought,
well, I'll just get somepart-time jobs until I can get a
professional one to help startpaying my student loans.
So I became a Texas Techrecruiter, loved it, drove the
(04:34):
car around recruiting, helpingyou know just explain what
college was like and how toapply, and after about a year
and a half I went.
I started thinking I need tothink bigger.
I just don't feel like this islong-term.
Although I love it, I need thechallenge.
So, within about a week, Ilanded a, or after 10 months of
(04:54):
waiting, a week of interviewingwe'll clarify that.
Um, I landed an internationaloil and gas job, traveling and
training all over the world, andI made 34% of the pay raise.
I finally got an apartmentmoved out of my parents' house
after two years.
I mean, it was just amazing,and they just let me be me Now.
The point that ties into yourquestion, though, is about five
years after starting that job.
(05:15):
Right, it was my dream job, oneof them, and I do think you can
have more than one, but I hadone early on, and I was asked to
steal intellectual propertyfrom another company on behalf
of the, my supervisor and mysupervisor was an executive, and
so I thought you've been to myhouse.
You know my family.
Um, you came to my apartmentwhen I was robbed.
Um, I've been to your family.
(05:37):
I've been in a fantasy footballdraft teams.
I'm an integral part of all ofyour projects.
You bring me into executivemeetings to help present and in
an instant that connection wascompletely broken and, quite
frankly, there's no going back,because I would never have
trusted that you won't just beas open as you were when you
told me about this project andfor clarity I also said after he
(06:00):
explained what the project was,I said so you mean steel?
And he said yeah.
So there is no ambiguity, thereis no story.
I told myself this is whathappened and so I think the
power of connection there.
I was probably the mostdedicated employee, or one of
them, there.
I traveled, I supported thatentire company, built things, I
(06:23):
brought in learning managementsystems Like I was on the move,
building SharePoint sites, andin an instant all of it was.
I went home, I started fixing myresume and I thought it's over,
it's time to go, because Idon't respect it and I don't
trust anymore.
And so that connection piece, Ithink, is tied in heavily to
trust.
And if you have an engaged team, you know, or a direct report
(06:44):
or a supervisor, if you'reengaged you have that trust and
I would have done anything forthat company.
Yeah, and it was all over.
Jon Kidwell (06:52):
In an instant because of the break of the
connection and the trust and therespect that you had.
Corey Shear, who's a goodfriend of mine, wrote a book
about trust and he says trust inthe belief that something is
true.
And like, as I'm sitting herelistening to what you just said,
I'm like, oh, you and I nowboth believe 100% that that
(07:13):
person's going to ask you to dothat again, right, yep, oh man,
okay, so yeah, I still getgoosebumps.
Megan Billnoske (07:20):
That was years ago.
Jon Kidwell (07:22):
Extreme example and still you've laid up kind of
breadcrumbs for all of us aroundthis connection piece.
So maybe my natural bend is I'ma people people and I'm really
good at doing that connection.
Maybe I'm not right.
Maybe I'm really really highkind of drive and you brought up
(07:43):
disc right.
Maybe I'm a high D and I'm moreof the get it done, not the
let's do it together type ofperson.
So start laying out for us justwhat are some of those things
that I can do as a leader tohelp build that positive
connection between myself, myteam, my team to the work.
All of those things.
What are some things I could do?
Megan Billnoske (08:03):
I think it starts with your intention and
what you're wanting to do withyour group or your peers, your
team, because if you have theright intention, that you want
to lead well or have aconnection, then that's the
intention that'll set you down apath to figure out how do I do
that.
If you're doing it for a reason, just because it'll make your
company more money, it's goingto come through.
(08:25):
So, recognizing, you need theright intention, the true
intention of wanting to connectwith them for a real level, and
then, after that, I think itcomes with how do you do that?
Some things I've seen incompanies that I've worked
across Houston are how do youask?
You know what's their?
There was one company I workedfor and it was a sheet that you
filled out when you got hiredand it was all about your
(08:46):
favorites.
How do you like to receiverecognition?
How do you like to beappreciated?
What's your favorite candy bar?
What's your favorite sportsteam?
So I think the connection comessometimes with understanding
that people are people and atwork, a lot of times we just see
well, your job is this and Ineed this from you.
People and at work, a lot oftimes we just see, well, your
job is this and I need this fromyou.
(09:07):
And we forget that you have agrandma that's about to pass
away from cancer or you have apet that just got lost and
you're really upset.
The human aspect, I think, ismost important for that
connection first, whether youfill out a form or you just take
your team to lunch, or if it'sa one-on-one, just asking people
about hey, how's your home life, how's your family?
And if they don't have a youknow children, they still have a
(09:28):
family somehow.
Or if it's friends, knowingwhat's important to them is
really a huge piece of startingthat connection, because then
people feel like you care.
And if you're a disc style D,like you talked about, get it
done.
Moving through it, think of itas, in order to get things done,
you need to make thatconnection.
(09:49):
So you are working on gettingit done, but you have to take
that first step first before youcan move into execution, if you
will.
So I think the mindset's firstand then figuring out how do you
start that human side, how doyou start caring about them?
And, by the way, there was ateam I had of five people and
I'm looking at my monitor overhere because I had a sticky note
for all of them.
Because I'm not great at memory, sometimes I forget and I feel
like it's worse to say oh, youtold me your husband's name was
(10:11):
Joe and I actually called himJohn, and now I feel like I'm
even like negative pointsbecause I called him the wrong
name.
So I really wasn't listeningand so I had sticky notes up on
my monitor that had all theirnames on them and then what
their priorities were for theircareer and their family their
names, because I didn't want tomiss it, mistake it, and a lot
of times we had Zoom meetings soI could reference it because I
(10:32):
care.
So work with whatever yourstyle is If it's like mine.
I'm not good with names until Isee them written down because
I'm a visual learner.
So how do I write them down soI can remember them, the sticky
notes?
And then after that I think itgrows into wanting.
We have five generations in theworkplace and a lot of people
are talking about how eachgeneration wants different
(10:54):
things from work.
I think they all want to feelconnected to their job, but I
think that looks different fordifferent ones, right?
Some people want to pat on theback while other generations say
it's your job, you don'tdeserve a pat on the back, it's
your job.
So you have different views ofit.
But that connection part stillis your job as a leader to help
them see what are they a part of.
Can I tell you a story?
(11:15):
That's one of my favorites toshare in training.
Yeah, so I read it.
I think it was in a book awhile back and it was about JFK,
our president, and how he waswalking through the halls of
NASA here in Houston and hecomes across a gentleman that's
sweeping the floor and he's justsweeping back and forth minding
his own business and thepresident of the United States
(11:36):
walking by and JFK says, sir,what's your job here, what do
you do?
And he said proudly, he stoppedsweeping, he put his hands on
his hips and he said I put a manin the mood and I don't think
you can get that kind ofdedication from an employee.
Motivation, heart, passion.
I don't think you get any ofthat without connecting with
(11:57):
your people.
However, it works for you andthem, because that's the
struggle of the connection.
It looks different.
I always say leadership is anart.
It's not a science.
You have to create it withdifferent people.
But that's a few things you cando to start with a connection,
mindset, care about them ashumans and a connect them to the
(12:17):
purpose of what you're tryingto do.
Jon Kidwell (12:20):
Yeah, a mindset approach of I want to do this,
really connecting, getting clearon some of the things that are
important to them and engagingin that way.
And then man, that moon one isso remarkable, like how great.
Every single one of us aresitting here thinking right,
whether I'm in a financialinstitution, a school or
(12:41):
whatever.
Like, don't we want everyone tosay I put a man on the moon,
right, I get kids to do X, y, z,or we provide the opportunity
to allow people to build theirfinancial futures, like whatever
that might be, how, howwonderful.
So, if, if I take those steps asa leader and I'm doing those
(13:14):
things, I have the intention ofsaying you know, it's a person,
always I want to be connected.
I ascribe to the mantra oh, Ican have that and I probably
have had that and others haveprobably had it, where it's like
oh, megan and I have a greatconnection, Jason and I have a
great connection, sarah and Ihave a great connection, but
Sarah, jason and Megan havenever talked to each other and
(13:36):
they're on the same team.
Like, I am, in fact, the middleof this spider web, so how can
I then take this and start tomake it more of a web instead of
this line into me as a leader.
How can I get the teamconnected with the team and
build a little bit of thatnetwork effect, if you will?
Megan Billnoske (13:57):
I think what you're asking is the root of a
high-performing team, theconnection that you're talking
about.
Once you grow that, I think thebenefit is when those teams
that we all want to be on that'sa you know, you don't mind
working late to fix the problemsor you have good collaborative
ideas or have conflict, and it'sokay to start that.
I had a team when I worked atan international company not the
(14:18):
one I mentioned earlier, butanother one and my team was in
Brazil, the UK, florida andHouston, so I had five people
total.
It was actually the same one.
I had the sticky notes up therefor it.
Jon Kidwell (14:29):
I would need the sticky notes too If I'm working
across time zone continents allof that right, Like I just have
to be like it is, I need theclocks on the wall Like here's
what time it is in Brazil,here's what time it is in the UK
.
Megan Billnoske (14:40):
With their photos next to it Exactly, yes.
Well, with that team, COVID hadhit the entire department of 45
people globally, for ourtraining and development group
had I would call it a reorg, andso all the training managers.
There's four of us.
We all had divisions of thecompany and they rotated and
flipped for some of us and so wegot new teams.
(15:02):
So imagine this I startedworking there in some of us and
so we got new teams.
So imagine this I startedworking there in November of
2019.
I am getting ready by Januaryto go to Brazil for work and I'm
super excited to get to go backinternational.
It's one of my favorites.
And then COVID hits in March.
Everybody works from home.
I don't know if you had this,but we had daytime pajamas and
(15:23):
nighttime pajamas.
Like everybody was just inpajamas for three months.
It was so great and then,everybody was so depressed,
anyway.
So that's March.
Covid's hit right.
It's big, it's nasty, it'sgrowing.
There's death on the news.
International teams.
We started working about 24hours a day.
Australia was actually probablythe biggest scenario of that
(15:45):
because our company was Americanbased and so they have such a
big time zone difference theywould have like very little time
with their family and they getback on.
For you know, like all protocolof kind of boundaries for work
kind of went out the window.
My team was working so much andnobody could go anywhere at all.
So you have death on the news,you have high work, you can't go
(16:06):
anywhere, Can't get toiletpaper, you can't get noodles I
mean high stress.
And I get a new team in May andso I sat there and I thought,
oh wow, Well, I can tell them totake a break and they try, but
when there's nothing on TV andyour family's all home,
(16:32):
everybody was working anyway todo something.
And so while I did haveconnections, I always did
one-on-ones with my teams, right.
So there's you're growing thatconnection piece that you talked
about.
But then to get them to moldtogether as a team and the
reason I'm bringing up this teamis because this team was the
highest performing team I'veever had and this is how it
started.
So you need to know that.
And with the reorg I went fromtwo people to five and so I had
(16:54):
this opportunity to glue peopletogether, get to know people
that I didn't know, and then tryand be productive.
And COVID downturn when thewhole world says you can't have
a business when you're workingat home.
You have to be in the office tomake money as a company.
And what I did was I startedwith my one-on-ones.
I just got to know them How'sit going?
Where's your family members are, I told you.
(17:15):
I wrote down things and then wewould have bi-weekly team
meetings where everyone would bethere.
I always started off with somekind of question or icebreaker,
or I would make sticky notegames where they would you know.
I'd have it here because it'svirtual, and they would tell me
a number and I'd peel it offlike Jeopardy and they'd have a
question.
So I started with the humanside and then we would talk
about business.
But then in my one-on-ones, astime went by, projects kept
(17:39):
going and there was one person Ican vividly remember.
I did it with everyone, butthis one affected me the most,
which is probably why I feel itheavier, or the best.
He showed me his project planand we were working on
developing things that he wantedto get into as a training
manager, and so I said how arewe standing organized for this
project?
So he goes away and comes backin our next one-on-one with the
(18:01):
project plan.
This is what I found, this isgreat, this is how I'm
organizing it, and I'm thinkingyou just did this, Did you make
this from scratch?
And he said it's a template inMicrosoft and I just kind of
edited it and instead of mesaying I'd like to show this to
the team, can you send it to me?
The connection is him having theopportunity to share it with
(18:22):
his team not me and him standingin his moment of shining to say
, hey, here's what I'm doing,Bringing them knowledge, and
also giving him an opportunityto connect with his team.
Hey, here's how I'm going tohelp you.
And so I had him.
I said would you mindpresenting this at our next team
meeting?
And he said no, you can presentit.
And I said no, no, I said it'syours.
(18:43):
Share what you think, Tell uswhat.
Tell us about it.
And then I had another meetingwith another lady on our group
and she had something similarand I said this is brilliant.
You're doing this out ofFlorida.
Why don't you share this withthe team on our next team
meeting?
No-transcript thing.
(19:13):
Every meeting starts with asafety moment.
And he said why don't we do avalues moment about how we're
living, the values of thecompany?
And I said that's great.
I said would you like to leadthat?
And he said yeah, and so, justlike the man in the moon story.
When you get connect with yourpeople, you really know what
drives them and then let themfly like a bird, put them in a
position where you like thevalues that much.
Great, you know what we need.
(19:35):
That.
So it's letting all your teamshine together and massaging it
on the outside to say how do Iput people in the right position
to feel like they bring value?
And that team, I'll tell you.
We still talk on WhatsApp tothis day.
I still know when people getnew pets, I still know when
people get new jobs, and so youknow.
(19:57):
There's one more thing I wantto share, kind of in the middle
of the COVID thing, that Ireally think helped.
And before I share it, I'm notsaying that you need to do this
now or all the time- but maybeUse it as.
But I mean, I think they wouldlike it Because of the
environment.
Covid, I told you those weren'tnonstop, people were not taking
(20:18):
breaks, no vacation time wasgoing on.
We're getting into July nowwe're getting into August,
september, and I thought, okay,well, I get, we're going to bump
up.
We did weekly team meetings, sowe met more often every Friday
on the right time zone, sonobody was working after hours,
and I said we're going to use mytime to take a break, since all
(20:39):
of your time they were working.
It's not like I needed to makesure that and manage.
Like, what are you doing?
This week?
They were sending me reportsabout stuff that was going on.
That's plenty.
But instead of routine meetings,I changed them to games.
And guess what?
I didn't have to make the gamesbecause there was a person on
my team that loved them, and soguess what I did?
(21:01):
I said, hey, would you like tobe our chief fun officer and
come up with an activity, everysingle?
I want you to either use 20 to30 minutes or the whole thing.
Figure out a game that we canplay as a team.
And those games were hilarious.
We played categories, we playedall kinds of communication
games.
She made up games and it gaveher so much energy and it didn't
(21:23):
make my workload any heavier,except to say, hey, I see your
talent here.
I understand how you canconnect to our team and help us.
Why don't you go use yourskills?
We also had on December for theholidays I had a an office
wrapping like decorating contest.
So everybody, like what yourzoom showed was a decorating
competition Somebody she wasawesome.
(21:45):
Somebody in Houston she's theone that won it.
She decorated with all.
She took wrapping paper andwrapped her entire office.
Jon Kidwell (21:52):
Oh, my goodness.
Megan Billnoske (21:56):
And then, um, our last meeting of the year, it
was a onesie party or, um, no,pajama party.
I wear onesie because MrsPotato Head onesie.
And then I put a Toy Storybackground up with all the Toy
Story characters and I was MrsPotato Head, oh my goodness.
So I think All of that to saywrite intention, understand what
your people are going through.
Yes, we're here to do a job,but in that environment I was
(22:19):
very aware of how much stressand burnout was going on and so
make moves to change and trysomething.
And I found out that that teamhad little mini meetings without
me, and I love that.
I don't need to be in all themeetings.
I am connecting you so youunderstand who does what.
You get along together and goforth and do have many meetings
(22:43):
without me.
Jon Kidwell (22:44):
I don't mind, and so you probably even hope for it
.
Honestly, right, Like man, Ithink we get confused because we
are always connected, rightLike in the terms of the
internet.
So, we're always connected.
We think this is something thatjust exists, when really it's
probably a lot more like AOL,and one, it's good to have
(23:05):
disconnection time, but two, itreally takes that awkward like
build up but then we're on.
We can be connected but justlike the internet, like trust or
disempowerment or any of thosethings can drop it off.
And when we approach connectionas something that has to be
created, has to be fostered, isan engagement and intention in a
(23:26):
way to empower people, thenwe're going to build the type of
team and the motivation and thevalues like you just created.
Thank you so much for liningthat out for us.
So, megan, I ask everybody thatcomes on and you don't get to
get away from this, so you gotto let us know what does it mean
to you to lead well?
Megan Billnoske (23:51):
I think it means to lead where you are.
If that's in a tough meeting, Ithink it means to lead where
you are.
If that's in a tough meeting, acrucial conversation of
conflict, if that's with yourfamily, something's going on and
you need to step in and takethe lead.
Or if you're a new leader thattook over a team that's
dysfunctional and there's lotsof friction.
Or if you have ahigh-performing team, like the
(24:13):
one I shared about, and it'sleading where you are.
Once that team moves into highperformance, your job changes.
How do you keep them going andhow do you evolve?
So I think lead where you areis really something that's it's
open for interpretation ofwherever you are, and I think
leaders are all on their ownjourney at a different phase,
and I think that's okay, but youalways have an opportunity to
(24:35):
lead wherever that is.
Jon Kidwell (24:38):
Awesome and I love the heart of service adaptation,
self-awareness that reallyleads to serving people, the
organization and the work thatyou are doing.
Megan, thank you for coming on,for connecting with me and for
being a fun connection here inHouston.
Maybe next time we rally allthe troops.
We're playing a game when weall get together, never know.
(25:00):
Thank you so much for beinghere today.
Megan Billnoske (25:03):
Thank you for having me.
It's been a pleasure.
Jon Kidwell (25:05):
And everybody else.
Make sure that you connect withMegan.
You can find her on LinkedInand we will put her website and
everything else in the shownotes.
Go check her out, follow her.
She has a great newsletter thatgoes around for wherever she
goes to tie it all back intoleadership things.
So check that out.
And until next time, my friends, be well, god bless and lead on
.
Megan Billnoske (25:29):
Woohoo, that was fun.
I'm sorry, I've got.
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