"Courage, Humility, and Mud: Leadership Takeaways from Robert Owens

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Leadership Reflections with Insights from Robert Owens

In this episode of the Learning to Lead Show, host Mark Kiv reflects on his compelling conversation with Robert Owens, highlighting key leadership lessons from Owens' career experiences. The discussion includes overcoming adversity, such as Owens' transition from CEO to working under a hostile competitor, and persevering with humility and courage. Key takeaways include the importance of servant leadership, clear communication, timely feedback, and maintaining a positive mindset during challenging times. Kiv also shares insights from his book, 'The Trust Gap,' available for free in the show notes.

00:00 Welcome to the Learning to Lead Show

00:07 Introduction to Today's Episode

00:24 Sponsor Message: The Trust Gap

00:52 Leadership Lessons from Robert Owens

01:36 Overcoming Adversity with Humility and Courage

03:23 Leading by Example: In the Trenches

04:31 Key Takeaways and Quotes

07:12 Three Pillars of Effective Leadership

09:21 Final Reflections and Conclusion

10:09 Closing Remarks and Call to Action

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🔎 About LeaderNotes

LeaderNotes is a quick-hit companion to each episode of The Learning to Lead Show. In just 5–10 minutes, Mark Cundiff recaps the top leadership insights, frameworks, and action steps from each interview, designed for busy, growth-minded leaders who want to review and apply the episode’s biggest takeaways on the go.

It’s like the highlight reel + playbook—all in one.

Download This Episode's Leadernotes Here: LeaderNotes

Episode Transcript

(00:01):
Hello and welcome to theLearning to Lead Show where we
help leaders learn on the go.
I'm your host, mark Kiv, andtoday we're gonna share some
leadership reflections on myconversation with Robert Owens.
I hope you had a chance tolisten to the two episodes where
we learned from his experiencethroughout his career and the

(00:22):
different things that.
Today's episode is sponsored by.
The trust gap.
It's a book that I've writtenthat highlights some of the
difficulties that some leadersface in developing a trust gap
with their people.
It is a free book that you canget in the show notes.
Just look under the show notesand you'll get a link to go

(00:43):
there and.
Grab your copy free and learn alittle bit about the trust gap
and how to bridge it and how tomake your leadership more
effective.
Now, I want to talk a little bitabout what we learned from
Robert Owens.
He really laid out some greatinformation for us as leaders to
learn from as he shared somereally challenging times.

(01:04):
One of the most pivotal pointsof the conversation was when he
shares that on a Fridayafternoon, he was the CEO of his
own company.
He sells that company and thenhe comes in on Monday and he's
basically working for acompetitor now.
And this was a competitor whodidn't like Robert and had some
animosity towards him.
His way of dealing with Robertwas to put him in a broom

(01:27):
closet.
So you go from being CEO of yourown company on Friday afternoon,
and then you come in on Mondayand your office is a broom
closet.
How would you respond to that?
Robert showed us that he.
Responded with humility andcourage and worked through the
situation in a relatively shortperiod of time.

(01:48):
I'm sure it seemed like a reallylong time for him.
During that tenure that he wentthrough.
He ended up moving back into aleadership position within the
company, and now he is the vicepresident over five different.
Entities with the company thathe works now.
But during that dark time,during that challenging time, I
knew Robert and we would haveconversations about the

(02:10):
different things.
And I learned a lot about Robertin this interview and in this
conversation that I hadn't heardbefore, behind the scenes type
stuff that he hadn't shared,with me in the past.
And it was just.
Compelling to hear how he walkedthrough those seasons.
And what I hoped is that this isan encouragement to you if
you're going through a darktime.

(02:31):
If you're going through a periodwhere the clouds are overhead
you're being discouraged bysomeone you're working for or a
situation that you're in.
Just realize that it's a season,these seasons don't last
forever.
And what Robert did is helearned how to walk with courage
through this with grace.
One of the things I rememberduring this time.

(02:53):
I would see Robert usually oncea week at least, and every time
I saw Robert, he always had asmile on his face.
He always had a hug, and he wasalways having a positive outlook
on how to get through thesituation.
Yes, he was discouraged and hewas beaten down at times, but he
always had an optimisticoutlook, an optimistic way of

(03:15):
looking at things, a positivemindset to move through it.
The other key lesson that I gotfrom Robert during this was
when.
He was striving to build his owncompany and they needed to get
an order out and they had somepeople out and they couldn't get
the work done during the normalwork week, and their customer

(03:37):
responded to them saying, Hey,we've gotta have this ready by
Monday.
So him and his wife went downwith some other family members
and worked with the crew, gotmuddy, got concrete all over
themselves.
And help get the job done.
Just showing doing, what ittakes, showing his people.
That leadership can be done inthe trenches, and that's another

(04:00):
thing that you can really takeaway from this interview, this
conversation with Robert, isthat he's always been willing to
do what it takes to make thingshappen.
So are you that kind of leader?
Are you the leader that'swilling to get in there and make
things happen?
One of the things that he talksabout is how you know the crisis
that you're in.
It can reveal character, it canshow that the hard times.

(04:23):
Are going to build you and makeyou into the leader that you
need to be if you respond inappropriate ways.
One of the things that I likedis listening to some of the
quotes that he had that I justreflected on.
One thing he said is, leadershipis something you learn by doing
and often by failing.

(04:44):
Leadership is a taking action.
Actually taking action andseeing what happens and learning
from the failures, and thenlearning from the successes, and
then moving on from there.
He says, I didn't take over thecompany because I was ready.
I took it over because there wasno one else.
This was when early in hiscareer, he was just given the

(05:05):
keys because one of the keyleaders passed away he had
stepped in and began to learnthe business, and then overnight
this guy passes away, and thenhe was given the keys to run it.
So he had to learn on the go.
He had to learn quick and justget in there and do the work and
learn.
He wasn't promoted because hewas ready, but he was promoted

(05:26):
because he was available and hehad become the person that was
the most expert in thatsituation.
He says, servant leadershipisn't a buzzword.
It's putting your boots on,grabbing a shovel and showing
up.
So think about that.
How does that apply to thesituation you're in?
What kind of situation do youneed to do?

(05:48):
Jump in and be the leader?
He also talks about one of hisgood friends.
Being a mentor, Tommy Allgood,he says he, he taught'em how
people don't care how much youknow until they know how much
you care.
That's a great phrase that JohnMaxwell has used.
Maya Angelo professor, mycollege at Wake Forest, she used

(06:11):
that same phrase, thinking aboutthat.
People need to know how much youcare.
So ask yourself, do your peopleknow how much you care?
Do they understand that youreally care about their
wellbeing and how you can helpthem be a better team member?
How you can help them be abetter leader in your

(06:32):
organization?
Do they understand that you careabout them as a person, about
their family, about what'sdriving them?
I like this quote that heshared.
I used to think everyone thoughtlike me.
That was my biggest leadershipblind spot.
So Robert goes back to earlierin his career where he was
making assumptions, andsometimes as leaders we make

(06:54):
assumptions that people thinklike us, that they work like us,
that they do things like us, andwe make these assumptions about
people and we don't interactwith them in a way.
We're mentoring them, teachingthem, and bringing them along to
understand our trueexpectations.
There are three key things Ithink, that need to take place

(07:17):
for us to be effective asleaders, and these are three
things I always try to makesure.
That when I'm leading anorganization, leading a group of
people that I put into place,that one I set out and give them
clear expectations.
If we don't give them clearexpectations, we fall under this
trap where we make theseassumptions that they understand

(07:37):
what we want them to do.
And then the second thing isprovide regular, timely,
effective feedback.
So make sure you give them clearexpectations, give them feedback
on how.
They are either meeting thoseexpectations or if they're not
meeting those expectations, whatthey need to do to meet those

(07:58):
expectations.
And then three, develop aculture of accountability.
So if we're going out and we'remaking assumptions and we're not
giving them clear expectations.
Then we can't hold themaccountable, so we need to make
sure that we're comcommunicating effectively, clear
expectations that we'recommunicating good feedback.

(08:19):
Then we're able to have aculture of accountability.
One of the other quotes that Ireally liked that he said was,
you, can't you?
He goes, you earn trust by goingfirst, by willing to do the hard
things yourself.
And so he is just there talkingabout being a great example, and
he goes on and shares this otherquote.

(08:41):
He goes, my wife and I laidrebar in the mud, covered in
concrete because the job had toget done.
That's leadership.
So where does this apply in yoursituation?
Where do you need to get in themud and help your people, show
them what needs to be done sothat they're gonna be effective?
And then if you remember, hegoes on later in the interview

(09:01):
to talk about how many of thosepeople that he was working with
during that situation, or withhim some 30 years later.
So you can plant seeds with yourorganization and with your team
that can last.
A lifetime or a career if you doit correctly.
And he goes, this quote is, isjust one of the most compelling

(09:27):
to me is he goes, I moved from acorner office to a broom closet
and it taught me more aboutleadership than any title ever
could.
And I want to just end withthat.
So think about that.
Think about the hardships.
Think about the challenges thatyou face.
Think about the things thatyou're going through and what
they're teaching.
You think about the process ofgrowing as a leader, and that's

(09:49):
what we're all about here.
Learning to lead no matter ifyou're brand new in a leadership
role.
Or you've been in leadership for30, 40, 50 years.
There's always a learningelement.
There's always a growingelement.
And think about what are thelessons that you're learning
today?
What are the things that you'redoing that can help you be more
effective tomorrow?

(10:09):
That's it for today's Learningto Lead Show.
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(10:30):
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