Latest / Daily Influence / 521. From Chaos to Creativity: Joe Frost on Intentional Influence and Entrepreneurial Leadership

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521. From Chaos to Creativity: Joe Frost on Intentional Influence and Entrepreneurial Leadership · Daily Influence

• 0:10
  [SPEAKER_00]: Welcome to the daily influence where our mission is to deliver a daily dose of positive influence that can uplift you personally or be shared within your sphere of influence.
• 0:20
  [SPEAKER_00]: While not every episode may directly apply to your unique circumstances, we strive to provide insights and inspiration relevant to most people's daily, weekly, and monthly lives.
• 0:30
  [SPEAKER_00]: Whether you are tuning in during the morning, noon or night, the daily influence is here for you.
• 0:36
  [SPEAKER_00]: Listen, share, and embrace the power of influence in your life.
• 0:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: Welcome to Daily Influence.
• 0:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm Greg Fleno.
• 0:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Today we're thrilled to welcome a powerhouse of strategy and marketing, Joe Frost.
• 0:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: Joe is a founder and CMO of your CMO.
• 0:53
  [SPEAKER_01]: A company that helps organizations bring on part-time fractional CMOs to drive strategic growth.
• 0:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's also the founder of Frost Media Group, professor of entrepreneurship and marketing and a dynamic facilitator of strategy and action sessions.
• 1:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: With a passion for elevating business and people, Joe's career is a master class in intentional influence and entrepreneurial leadership.
• 1:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Joe, welcome to Daily Influence.
• 1:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thanks for having me.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: I'm excited.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Thank you.
• 1:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm excited to have you on to.
• 1:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Could you share a bit about your background and what led you to where you are today?
• 1:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Oh, I've got a very chaotic background.
• 1:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think of it as a decentralized entrepreneurship journey that I've been on since I was all the way back in high school.
• 1:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: My first job is a shelving stalker stalker for a grocery store.
• 1:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: I quit after a week and said this isn't for me and I started a lot of service and I pretty much been an entrepreneur ever since.
• 1:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: I like to work on hard problems.
• 1:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: I went to school for chemical engineering and got to see the big picture and the small detail, the one glance, and I feel like entrepreneurship is a lot like that.
• 2:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: I had businesses in the mortgage space, the real estate space, the marketing space.
• 2:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: This journey that I've taken has been wonderful.
• 2:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: I love going from zero to one.
• 2:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: I get to that one million revenue and then hand it off to somebody else because the real challenge is the building it from scratch and figure out what the market wants and needs and which is a lot what marketing and cheap market officers do these days is try to understand what the market wants and needs and it's moving so fast and so that's probably what's brought me here at that
• 2:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: For actionable CMO business is I get it now work with so many other businesses that are trying to figure that stuff out and I think the journey that I've been honest been fun and exciting and giving a lot of experience to share with others.
• 2:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's awesome.
• 2:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: You are a true entrepreneur Joe.
• 2:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: As someone who works with businesses to build strong marketing leadership, how do you coach leaders and teams to embrace the I, personal responsibility within a collaborative team structure?
• 3:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I mean, that's a great question.
• 3:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: One of our, for values of show up and on it.
• 3:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: So it starts, I think, with the accountability that as the I, you have to show up and own piece of the project, the puzzle.
• 3:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: the work, and one of our other core values is elevate your peers.
• 3:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: So as the eye, you have to show up and be part of that elevation of all of your teammates and others.
• 3:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's kind of individually how you coach each leader and each member of the team.
• 3:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: I really believe that, you know,
• 3:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: We don't have leaders in followers.
• 3:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: We just have teams of leaders and everybody's a leader in their own right and in every level of the organization.
• 3:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we spend a lot of time in energy making sure that our team members feel like their personal core values collaborate with the company's core values.
• 4:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: And there's oftentimes some core value conundrums there that happen and need to be appreciated and understood.
• 4:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's not always as black and white as we like to make it as leaders that either
• 4:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: All in and all out, there's a lot more overlap there.
• 4:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: And the understanding where some of that lies, we have to agree on and adopt the company's core values.
• 4:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think that's what draws us to a company.
• 4:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: But we have to also understand that individuals within a company might have some different values that don't completely match up and there's some overlap there.
• 4:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: So understanding your piece of that and your teammate is part of the way that we get everybody to to collaborate and embrace working together as inside the company and as community.
• 4:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love that that's great advice to.
• 4:51
  [SPEAKER_01]: In your strategy and action sessions, how do you help individuals or businesses shift from being reactive to intentionally influential?
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: What role does accountability play in this process?
• 5:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think the biggest role is is being very intentional about a cadence accountability and planning.
• 5:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's one of our six fundamentals that yours you might as having a cadence for planning accountability and
• 5:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: by intentionally carving out the time to meet and think annually and meet and think quarterly, you go from a very active organization to a poor team to a much more proactive teammate.
• 5:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: But without that intentionality, without putting the time on the calendar, without bringing in the outside resources, like what you guys do and what we do to help facilitate those conversations and bring those different perspectives
• 5:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: you can't transition from being reactive to proactive as easily.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, that is so true.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: As a professor, what are the most important lessons you hope to instill on the next generation of marketers and entrepreneurs about influence and ethical leadership?
• 6:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: Now it's a great question.
• 6:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: So my parents were both teachers and I married a teacher.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_02]: So teaching has been in my blood, but I do not have the patience that they do.
• 6:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I have so much appreciation for teachers that work with students every day all day long.
• 6:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: As a professor, you get to kind of come in and and think of choose the class and the discussion that you want to have.
• 6:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: I like to bring in real world examples into the classroom when I have a chance to teach.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_02]: And you can learn a lot from books.
• 6:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: I did study engineering and almost exclusively learned it from books and homework, but you can't really understand what it's like to be in the real world.
• 6:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: without having access to people that are working in that profession.
• 6:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I love to just bring in other professionals to talk about their experiences, their highs and lows inside of that particular discipline.
• 6:59
  [SPEAKER_02]: So when I talk marketing, I brought other marketers to talk about how they lead and how they lead differently.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: And what the real challenges today are, and when I teach entrepreneurship, I bring other entrepreneurs in to talk about
• 7:11
  [SPEAKER_02]: how they started their company and where it is today and all the ups and downs in the tweet.
• 7:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that experience of talking and learning from somebody who's actually in the field adds more long-term learning for the student than what they might read in a book.
• 7:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to discount the books.
• 7:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: They're very important, but you can't trade a book for someone's personal experience.
• 7:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I agree with that totally and your students are really lucky to have you as their professor with all of your lifetime experiences and entrepreneur and the business world.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure you have some probably pretty amazing examples to share with them to make the learnings when the books really resonate.
• 7:53
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's been fun.
• 7:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I love bringing in one of my favorite books in entrepreneurship classes that you met.
• 8:01
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's a nineteen sixties book.
• 8:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just like the business Bible.
• 8:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then I'll contrast it to, you know, start a book, then we need to start up where it talks about more recent thinking about NPPs and launching businesses faster and differently.
• 8:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then comparing to drastically, because they still each have their place and their differently at some level.
• 8:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's that wisdom that I think people that have been in business for a while can bring it from the real world to the classroom.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
• 8:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: The myth is one of our favorite books here at IA.
• 8:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: We pretty much have all of our clients read it.
• 8:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, it's it's a it's the first thing anybody says I'm thinking about becoming on to where I should read this book as soon as where you start.
• 8:43
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, absolutely.
• 8:44
  [SPEAKER_01]: So can you tell us about a moment or experience where you felt you made a positive impact on someone's life, whether personally or professionally and how do this shape your perspective on leadership?
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's a great question.
• 8:58
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we have a partnership and a business and the Philippines.
• 9:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it was started out of need for us to develop some internal resources to support our team and a couple other friends of mine at the same issue.
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we built a team over there in the Philippines.
• 9:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: And when we started the business, we knew we wanted to work with local leaders as well.
• 9:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: We couldn't run it from afar.
• 9:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: And so we partnered with two.
• 9:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: local Filipinos have been outsourcing business for a long time.
• 9:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: And one of the things we did, I actually had a chance to facilitate our strategic planning for the very first time.
• 9:35
  [SPEAKER_02]: This is a few years ago.
• 9:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I flew essentially thirty hours to get to the destination between leaving Omaha, having a flat tire, getting the San Francisco, going over sleeping, getting in a van, finally arrive at our destination and
• 9:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: We are in this hotel and we start sitting down and filling out some strategic planning and core values vision and mission stuff.
• 9:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I said, guys, let's just go out in the ocean for like, twenty minutes to just hang out because I just got here.
• 10:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we floated in the South Pacific Ocean and came up with our vision statement, which is connecting people globally, changing lives locally.
• 10:14
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it was sitting there bobbing in the ocean that we came up with this.
• 10:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I still remember that that moment that's so vivid in my mind.
• 10:22
  [SPEAKER_02]: And every year we come back to the Philippines and we celebrate for their annual Christmas party.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: And every year I'm told from many, many, many people there about how we've changed their life and how things are different for them there because of the work we're doing over here.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's so meaningful to hear that.
• 10:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it all started with just a thirty-hour trip to the Philippines.
• 10:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: And now we have seventy-plus people that are that are their lives have been changed.
• 10:49
  [SPEAKER_02]: But to make it even more exciting is in the US for the companies that are working alongside.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: We are realizing that we're changing lives of team members over here and owners over here because they're having this global experience with work.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: And they're opening up themselves a new culture and a way of thinking, they're meeting people.
• 11:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: and now they're coming over and visiting and they're having the same connections with their teammates and the Philippines and the life-changing capabilities of that.
• 11:17
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just so heart-hardening to have happened and it's a fun story to share.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: What a wonderful story, Joe.
• 11:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I love that.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: There's so many good nuggets in that, but just having the vision
• 11:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Statement come right out of floating.
• 11:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's so important to get out of the four walls of the office and think outside the box and buy, have that bonding time and it just came to you and such a short period of time.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: What a beautiful story.
• 11:47
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, we had this women faster right down before we forgot about it.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure.
• 11:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: Joe, what message are words of encouragement?
• 11:58
  [SPEAKER_01]: Would you like to share with our listeners who aspire to make a positive difference in the world?
• 12:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's a great question.
• 12:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: I find that positivity is hard for many people and it's not maybe inherently natural for us sometimes to be positive, at least not all the time.
• 12:20
  [SPEAKER_02]: There are two things that always have helped me.
• 12:23
  [SPEAKER_02]: The first one is
• 12:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: simplest, it's creativity is the highest level of energy that we have as humans.
• 12:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: And anytime, I'm not in a feeling in a place of positivity or the right energy that I want at that moment, I start to think of, how can I create something?
• 12:41
  [SPEAKER_02]: How can I create something different or create something in general?
• 12:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: Draw a picture, journal, brainstorm, ideate, anything, just this idea of starting to build creativity in my moment.
• 12:54
  [SPEAKER_02]: immediately lifts me up.
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I think that's a simple tactic that anybody can use when they need a little more positivity.
• 13:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's just think creatively about anything.
• 13:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: And then the second thing is also pretty simple, but it's gratitude.
• 13:08
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I love, I've learned this, twenty plus years ago, and I've shared it with each of my kids, that tactic of gratitude streaming, where you just simply share with somebody else, that takes another human to do it with.
• 13:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: You can do it AI, but not as effectively.
• 13:24
  [SPEAKER_02]: And share the three things you're grateful for that happened in the last twenty four hours and one thing you're hopeful for that will happen soon.
• 13:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's just a simple sharing of that moment that I've found a list of parties up quite a bit.
• 13:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I used to do this with my kids when they were down.
• 13:38
  [SPEAKER_02]: So our list is gratitude streaming.
• 13:40
  [SPEAKER_02]: And twenty years ago it started taking kids to school.
• 13:44
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I just did it last week with my oldest daughter who was having a hard day work.
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: So he got ten minutes, let's do some quick round of tape streaming.
• 13:50
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it's just simple things like that that can really help us lift into those moments of positivity that we want to have.
• 13:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: And energy is such a transformative force that when we're up, everybody is up and we're down, everybody comes down.
• 14:05
  [SPEAKER_02]: So we have back to your ownership.
• 14:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: Like what can we do as individuals?
• 14:10
  [SPEAKER_02]: I owe my energy and my energy can help others.
• 14:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: So yeah, that is fantastic advice.
• 14:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you.
• 14:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm grateful for you and getting to know you and our future partnership and continuing to spread positive influence on so many businesses around the world.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, grateful for you, Greg.
• 14:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's been awesome meeting you and your team.
• 14:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm excited for the work that we can do together for our mutual clients and our team members.
• 14:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Absolutely.
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And Joe, you know, I'm grateful for sharing your journey and your wisdom with us.
• 14:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: Your work shows that influence isn't about a title or a position.
• 14:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's about it being intentional and staying curious and creative and lifting others as we lead.
• 14:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: If our listeners want to get in touch with you, Joe, what is the best way to do so?
• 14:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think the easiest way is on LinkedIn, Joseph Frost on LinkedIn, but you can reach out.
• 15:04
  [SPEAKER_02]: Call me Joe because that's what the Cypress for who knows me, who doesn't know me, it's by calling me Joe.
• 15:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: All right, Joe, we'll put that information in the show notes.
• 15:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: So thank you so much for joining us today.
• 15:15
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, thank you to Greg.
• 15:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: It's been great.
• 15:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: It has been for our listeners, wherever you are, remember that your influence used with your responsibility can transform not only your path, but the lives of those around you.
• 15:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: Keep showing up, keep learning and never underestimate the power of one well-place action.
• 15:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: Have a great day.