Latest / The Inspired Stories Podcast / Kevin Harrison on Why the Uncommon Influence Coaching Program Starts with a Question, Not an Answer

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Kevin Harrison on Why the Uncommon Influence Coaching Program Starts with a Question, Not an Answer · The Inspired Stories Podcast

0:04
Welcome to another edition of the Inspired Stories podcast,
0:08
where leaders share their experiences so we can learn from
0:11
their successes and be inspired by how they've overcome
0:14
adversity. As you listen today, let one
0:17
idea shape what you do next. My name is Anthony Kotaspodi,
0:21
and today's guest spent 31 years inside a single brand, pouring
0:26
everything he had into his restaurants, his team members
0:29
and his community. Then he walked away from it all
0:33
to start over because he had more to give.
0:37
There's a particular kind of courage in leaving something
0:40
you've mastered. Our guest didn't just trade one
0:43
job for another. He took everything he learned
0:46
about people, pressure and what it actually means to lead and
0:50
built something new from scratch.
0:52
Kevin Harrison is the founder and principal of Uncommon
0:56
Influence, an executive coaching firm based in Newport News, VA.
1:01
After retiring as a 31 year Chick-fil-A franchise who was
1:05
recognized by the Virginia General Assembly for excellence
1:09
in people development, he went on to serve as CEO of Scrimp
1:12
Shack and as a partner and point to running company and Flat out
1:17
events. Today, he coaches leaders across
1:19
industries on what it takes to stop being average and start
1:23
being uncommon. Most people never get the chance
1:27
to rebuild at the top of their cane, but Kevin chose to.
1:32
Now, before we get into all that good stuff, today's episode is
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All right, back to our guest today, the founder of Uncommon
2:35
Influence, Kevin Harrison. Thanks for making the time to
2:38
Share your story today. It's great to be here, Anthony.
2:41
Thank you. So, Kevin, you spent 31 years
2:45
inside one organization, Chick-fil-A, which unusual in
2:49
today's day and age. What was it about that work,
2:53
that environment that kept pulling you back for three
2:55
decades? Well, there was a lot of things,
2:58
Anthony. I think I enjoyed the work
3:01
working with young people in a fast-paced environment.
3:05
I was just kind of wired for that.
3:06
But but deeply I connected with the purpose of the organization
3:11
and I tell people all the time, a clear purpose helps us get up
3:15
every day and and go do hard things.
3:18
And so I I think alignment with the corporate purpose was what
3:23
kept me connected for so many years.
3:26
So talk about doing hard things right.
3:29
You had a significant hand in adding a great deal of
3:36
efficiency to their drive through system.
3:39
I think anybody who has gone past a Chick-fil-A has noticed 2
3:44
lanes drive through jammed all the time and cars just moving
3:49
through at a quick pace. Tell me about the work that you
3:52
did there. Well, there was a lot of us that
3:55
did this work including corporate staff and operators
4:00
like myself at the time. But we knew that people wanted
4:04
to stay in their car and we were very busy.
4:08
And so we knew that if we're going to grow our capacity, we
4:11
had to try some stuff. And I was in the early days of
4:16
drive through and I remember we tried this cell phone outside
4:21
solution where the person that was taking the order outside was
4:26
on a cell phone and they would call the order in to somebody
4:30
inside the restaurant and that person would key it in.
4:34
And I had all of these cell phone contracts going, but we
4:37
were trying stuff and, and to grow capacity, you have to try
4:41
some things. Now ultimately that system was a
4:43
disaster. I needed multiple cell phone
4:47
plans and you could, you know, cell phones would drop, but that
4:51
led to iPads going outside which really transformed how
4:57
Chick-fil-A manages drive through.
5:00
And so why not just use the traditional mic system that
5:04
we've all seen and drive through for years?
5:07
Why were you pushing the boundaries?
5:11
Well, you can deliver customer experience much greater face to
5:14
face than you can through a speaker box.
5:17
And sometimes maybe you've experienced this.
5:20
You pulled to a speaker and you can barely hear what they're
5:23
saying. But when you make eye contact
5:26
with somebody and you're connected with them, the
5:29
accuracy goes up, the hospitality goes up, and there's
5:33
one more thing that happens. The farther upstream we can get
5:37
the order to the kitchen, the faster they can they can get
5:41
your order ready. So there was multiple benefits
5:44
of taking people from the inside of the restaurant and and
5:47
putting them outside with the customer.
5:49
And so when that line is wrapped around the building, you're
5:52
helping it move faster because you can take that person with
5:55
the iPad and you can position them further upstream in that
5:59
line, get the order to the kitchen, have it ready for them
6:03
by the time that they pull up to that window.
6:06
That's right. And Chick-fil-A is always
6:09
prioritized customer service, and having that customer
6:13
interaction was a huge benefit. And so these iPads, they're
6:17
connected via Wi-Fi. So that solves that problem of
6:21
cell phone calls dropping. And it's an integrated system,
6:25
I'm guessing, where they're just, you know, it's not like
6:27
they're calling the order back to somebody else that then needs
6:29
to type it in. They're the one that's typing it
6:31
in. Goes into the master order
6:32
system. That's right.
6:34
The technology just kept evolving to where we could do
6:38
that and it's really enhanced the efficiency of the drive
6:41
through. Do you remember any stats off
6:44
the top of your head? Sort of, I don't know.
6:46
Customers served per hour, per minute before and then after.
6:51
Well, I can tell you we used to shoot for 100 cars in an hour
6:56
when I started this and that has exploded and some locations are
7:02
doing triple that. So, so those are some some
7:07
numbers that that I do remember from those days.
7:10
OK, All right, let's move on. Because the Virginia General
7:15
Assembly recognized you. They don't hand out a lot of
7:19
resolutions for people development.
7:21
Walk me back to the moment you learned about that recognition.
7:25
What was happening at the restaurants at that time?
7:28
Why do you think you earned that?
7:31
Well, one of the things I'd recognize in my business is I
7:34
was really strong at the top in leadership.
7:38
I had quite a few young emerging leaders, but the middle of the
7:43
organization needed more talent, needed better talent.
7:46
I needed more leaders. I needed better leaders.
7:49
And so I created a development program to attract young people,
7:54
usually young people that had just finished college that still
7:58
weren't clear what they wanted to do with their career.
8:01
I knew that that was a need. And so I put a program together
8:06
to address that need. And it was prioritizing learning
8:09
and development, helping people find their place, if you will,
8:14
so they could go and step into a career that was fitting for
8:17
them. And so it started out as a a way
8:23
to attract that type of talent. And then it just got recognized.
8:27
And one day the newspaper wrote an article about it.
8:31
And then wasn't long after that I had a delegate show up in my
8:37
restaurant with this proclamation.
8:38
So it was. It caught me by surprise for
8:41
sure. So this was within Chick-fil-A,
8:44
and you were putting this program in place to attract
8:49
recent college grads or to address the recent college grads
8:53
that had already joined the company.
8:56
Both primarily to attract and then it really focused on
9:02
something I'm passionate about and that's just helping people
9:04
grow, help people learn grow. You help them learn about
9:08
themselves, you help them learn about business, and then you
9:12
help them launch. And I have a passion for that.
9:15
And this program was really focused on those efforts.
9:20
Can you say more about what was actually going on inside the
9:23
program? Sure.
9:25
So we had rotations throughout the business.
9:28
If you joined this, I called it a leader intern program.
9:32
If you joined that, we were going to give you exposure to
9:35
all aspects of the business over that internship.
9:39
You also got a bi weekly meeting with me and the leader that ran
9:43
the program for me that was focused on personal development.
9:47
We would go through books together, podcasts together,
9:49
things like that. And then we provided A quarterly
9:53
experience. I think our growth explodes
9:56
through experiences and so we planned a quarterly experience
10:00
for the people in the intern program to help them grow as
10:03
leaders. Give me an example of one of
10:05
those experiences that helps to explode growth.
10:09
So there is a mountain about 3 hours from here and we would
10:14
drive. It's about a nine hour hike and
10:18
I believe if you want to be a great leader, you got to do
10:20
things that are challenging. You have to lean into some
10:23
discomfort. And so we would go and climb
10:26
this mountain and it was physically challenging, but we
10:30
would talk about the business on that hike and then we would
10:34
debrief over a nice dinner afterwards.
10:37
So that was one of the experiences that we did on a
10:39
regular basis. OK, at some point you decide
10:44
that you want to step away from this 31 year run that was by any
10:50
measure I think a great deal of success and and fun and learning
10:54
for you. When was the moment that she
10:57
knew it was time to leave Kevin? Well, it's really a process,
11:02
Anthony. It wasn't one moment, but I'll,
11:05
I'll give you a moment. That kind of was the last push
11:09
for me to do that. I was imagining what I wanted to
11:14
do for the next 20 years of my career.
11:17
And most Chick-fil-A operators, they stay Chick-fil-A operators.
11:23
And I had predicted that if I did this another 20 years, so
11:29
say A50 year career, that likely I would settle as a leader.
11:34
And I knew I did not want to settle.
11:37
And I was feeling that a new environment and a new focus
11:42
would probably challenge my own personal growth.
11:46
And I'll, I remember 1 particular moment where we had
11:49
our vision on the wall in our training center, and it was for
11:53
three restaurants. I had two at the time.
11:55
It was for three restaurants, about 300 employees.
12:00
The vision included some things that we're going to do in the
12:03
community. And my wife looked at that
12:05
vision and she said, is that really what you want?
12:11
And I knew, and often our spouses will do things like
12:14
this, but I knew that it was time for me to go because when I
12:18
looked at what at the time was the pinnacle of the opportunity
12:22
for me, things were going great. I mean, it was a really good
12:25
situation, but if the vision for the future wasn't inspiring in
12:31
the leader, that was a problem. And when I realized, OK, the
12:36
vision is not compelling enough for me to continue to do this
12:40
another 20 years, I called the president of the company at the
12:42
time and said, hey, next year's going to be my last year.
12:46
It's been a great ride. And he was very supportive and
12:50
encouraging about that, asked me some great questions and and
12:54
then I one year later made the leap.
12:57
And made the leap into what? Did you know what that next step
13:00
was going to be? I knew what some of the next
13:03
step was going to be. I had already created Uncommon
13:07
influence for for this future, wasn't doing any work in it, but
13:12
I knew that I wanted to help other leaders build their teams
13:16
and build capacity in individuals.
13:18
And so I had created Uncommon to do that.
13:22
And I'm very involved in the local running community and I
13:26
had invested in a couple of businesses in that space that I
13:30
knew I wanted to get more involved with, but I didn't have
13:33
all the answers. And I had a friend who was
13:37
encouraging me to join him in buying a small seafood chain.
13:41
So all of those things were were kind of a part of that leap.
13:46
Got it. So the idea for Uncommon
13:49
Influence had already been born, was kind of sitting on the shelf
13:53
sort of waiting for the right time.
13:55
You had invested in running business.
13:58
What does that mean? Like you're selling shoes or
14:00
what kind of business is this? Yes, we have a a business called
14:03
.2 Running Company where we help equip people to run, to walk
14:08
even if they're on their feet all day.
14:10
We want to make sure they're in the right shoes and they have
14:13
the right gear to reach their goals.
14:16
And so .2 Running Company does that.
14:18
We have two locations in an online store and then we have a
14:22
sister company that manages running events called Flat Out
14:25
Events where we time plan road running events.
14:30
And so those were the two businesses that I was involved
14:32
in through investment. Got it.
14:36
Still around today, still part of those organizations.
14:40
Absolutely. I'm a partner and each of those
14:42
have partners that really run the day-to-day and I support the
14:47
vision, the strategic plan and those types of things.
14:51
How did the opportunity for the seafood restaurant The Scrimp
14:55
Shack come about? So there was a local couple here
15:01
in Virginia that had created a seafood restaurant that just did
15:05
really well, great food. Mitch and Stacy Hartman, they
15:10
were the the founders and they had scaled it to a franchise
15:15
system. And I had a friend of mine that
15:16
was talking to them about buying it.
15:18
They were ready to retire. And he came to me and he said,
15:22
hey, I'd like to buy this company if you would be involved
15:26
when you retire from Chick-fil-A because I don't really know the
15:30
restaurant business. And so I, after doing some due
15:33
diligence, made a decision to agree to do that when I retired
15:38
from Chick-fil-A. OK.
15:41
Leading a smaller company like this is a little bit different,
15:46
I imagine, than that large franchise system of Chick-fil-A.
15:52
I don't know. Tell me some of the stark
15:54
differences that you'd noticed between the two in the early
15:56
days. Well, Chick-fil-A is, is
16:03
provides so many high quality systems and obviously with the
16:07
newer smaller company you have to bring in a lot of those
16:10
systems. So that's one of the things I
16:12
realized almost immediately is that we're going to have to
16:16
provide some systems to help franchisees execute on a daily
16:20
basis. And so that was one of the first
16:22
changes. And I think, you know, also a
16:27
newer smaller companies still trying to figure themselves out
16:32
when I remember hearing a podcast host share that it takes
16:38
time for a business to really find who they are.
16:42
And that was the case with scrimp check.
16:45
And so those systems and some identity, those were a couple of
16:50
the things that I realized we needed to focus on pretty
16:52
quickly. Say more about that identity
16:55
part. What do you mean?
16:55
It took it a while to sort of find out who it was.
17:00
Well, I mean, when you're, when you think about a business's
17:03
identity, it's predominantly driven by what the customers
17:07
experience. What do they say you are and
17:12
what are they looking for? And then you combine that.
17:15
I mentioned purpose. When you have clarity on your
17:18
purpose internally, you combine that and you meet the customer's
17:22
needs. You really get a clarity around
17:25
your identity. And we had a lot of different
17:30
things being said about who we are as a brand.
17:34
And so our job as the leadership was to try to clear that, to
17:38
clarify that and to lean into what the customers really
17:41
wanted. Can you be more specific about
17:45
what that looked like? What were they, maybe some of
17:48
the different things that were being said?
17:50
What was it that you wanted to have said?
17:53
And then how did you get from point A to point B?
17:57
So one of the things that that we heard is you have great food.
18:02
We love the menu. We'd like you to pay attention
18:05
to the customer a little bit more and provide a little bit
18:09
better service. You have great food, but I can't
18:12
always get it where I want it. So we had to open up some
18:16
channels of delivery and 3rd party delivery and things like
18:21
that. So listening to the customer on
18:24
what they wanted to receive from the brand was crucial as we were
18:28
trying to modify and clarify our identity.
18:32
So scrimp Shack quick service. It is it's fast casual seafood
18:39
so it's all cooked to order. It's it is small locations at
18:45
strip centers and really high quality seafood served quickly.
18:51
OK. How many locations?
18:52
What part of the country? Virginia, North Carolina, we
18:56
have 16 locations currently, which includes 2 food trucks.
19:01
So that's that's our footprint right now.
19:04
Is are these all corporate owned or is there a franchise
19:07
opportunity involved? There's a couple of corporate
19:10
owned and the rest are franchised.
19:12
So we we do have a franchise system and that's what we're
19:17
promoting. And So what does that franchise
19:20
opportunity look like for folks, folks that are coming in, Why
19:25
are they choosing the Shrimp Shack, sorry, Scrimp Shack
19:31
opportunity over another franchise restaurant?
19:34
What are you guys offering? Well, a couple of things.
19:37
One, the food is amazing and so you're going to get a lot of
19:41
feedback when you prepare the food right.
19:43
If the portions are huge and it just tastes great, it's all it's
19:48
all made fresh to order. And secondly, it's a relatively
19:51
simple operation. So for a franchise, you're going
19:55
to not need more than about a handful of dozen staff and the
20:00
systems are very simple. So that makes it attractive for
20:03
franchisees. What are you guys looking for in
20:06
a franchise? Experience, personality,
20:10
Geography. I'll tell you the most important
20:14
part is do you want to be in the restaurant?
20:19
The restaurant business is one that it responds better to owner
20:24
presence and owner involvement. The workforce appreciates
20:30
knowing and relating to the owner.
20:33
And so that's the first thing. Are you attracted to the
20:35
industry itself? Are you attracted to the
20:37
workforce? I love the restaurant workforce.
20:42
Lot of people, they go to the restaurant business for their
20:45
very first job. What an opportunity to influence
20:48
somebody. Hey, this is my first job.
20:50
We get the opportunity to teach them what does, what does being
20:53
a good employee look like? And we have the opportunity to
20:57
teach them how to treat people, how to engage with customers.
21:01
It's very rewarding intrinsically the restaurant
21:04
business in my opinion. All right, let's move on to
21:08
Uncommon Influence now. Kevin, what was the inspiration
21:12
for starting Uncommon Influence? What was the problem you were
21:15
trying to solve? We'll have to go way back for
21:18
this one, Anthony. It was the 9th grade and I was
21:23
in English class with a teacher named Roger Flincham.
21:28
And he was one of those teachers that you, you really like.
21:31
You know, he was kind, he was fun.
21:34
And one day in class, he gave us an exercise.
21:37
He handed out a sheet of paper and an envelope and told the
21:41
whole class, I want you to write 5 life goals on the sheet of
21:44
paper, write your name on the envelope, put your goals in it
21:47
and turn it in. Once we did that, he said when
21:51
you're 25 years old, I'm going to mail this back to you.
21:56
Now I did that and completely forgot about it until I turned
22:00
25 years old. And there in the mail came this
22:04
envelope with my 9th grade handwriting and somebody else's
22:07
handwriting had written the address.
22:09
And I opened up and there were my five life goals.
22:13
The first one was dunk A basketball.
22:16
And you, you can't tell from this video, Anthony, but you
22:20
would probably vote no, you didn't do that if you saw me in
22:24
person. That one didn't happen.
22:25
The second was take Tiffany to the prom.
22:27
And I tell people, thank God that one didn't happen.
22:31
But the fifth goal was run a marathon, and it stuck with me.
22:38
And that's what a good goal does it.
22:40
It kind of haunts us, if you will, until we check that off
22:44
the list. And I finally ran that first
22:47
marathon when I turned 40, and it it changed my life.
22:51
The running businesses are part of that.
22:53
My being involved in the running community is part of that.
22:57
I started a Wellness program in my Chick-fil-A business because
23:00
of that marathon. And as I was thinking about it,
23:04
I said, man, that was uncommon influence that Mister Flincham
23:09
had in my life. Some people influence us.
23:13
I mean, we, we could write a long list of all the people that
23:16
have influenced us, but life changing influence, that's
23:21
uncommon. Trajectory changing influence,
23:25
that's uncommon. So that's where the name came
23:27
from. And the vision was we want to do
23:30
more of what Mr. Flincham did in my life.
23:33
We want to help people have life changing influence.
23:37
That's so cool. Really immaterial.
23:40
It's the whole point of the story.
23:41
But I have to ask, how did he know where you'd be to send that
23:45
to 10 years later or 1411 years later, whatever it was?
23:50
That's the question I had for him.
23:52
For him. I reached out to him after I
23:54
realized how powerful that little exercise was.
23:58
And I said, Mr. Flincham, I have to tell you now, I used
24:00
Facebook. We have Facebook now.
24:03
He did not. And you know, when I was talking
24:06
to him, he said, why don't you come have dinner with me?
24:09
And so I'll never forget sitting at his table kind of
24:12
interviewing him as I was so intrigued by how he showed up
24:16
for his role. And I said, how did you find me?
24:21
And he, he told me about this filing system he had for every
24:25
class, every year. And when he heard something
24:29
about a student, somebody made a comment about a certain student,
24:32
there was a newspaper clipping. He would jot it down, clip it
24:36
out, put it in the file. And he said there was only a
24:40
couple dozen people over the years that he couldn't find if
24:44
he wanted to. So he really had to do some
24:46
work. I mean, that in and of itself
24:48
was uncommon because he had to do that after he clocked out of
24:51
work as a teacher. He had this filing system at his
24:54
house, but he wanted to be great, so he went to that extent
25:00
to to have that filing systems. Fascinating.
25:02
It is fascinating, and we're going to come back to Uncommon
25:05
Influence in just a moment, but I'd be remiss if I didn't ask
25:08
about the Wellness business that you started inside a
25:11
Chick-fil-A. What?
25:12
Was that about, well, it really wasn't a business, it was just a
25:16
program. And one of the things I know
25:20
I've learned that if I prioritize my health and
25:25
fitness, I'm a better leader, I'm a happier human, I have more
25:30
energy. And I realized that that would
25:33
be the the same case for people that worked for me.
25:36
And so I said, listen, if you run a 5K with me, I'll give you
25:42
a training plan, do a 5K, then you do a 10K, you complete 1/2
25:47
marathon, then I'll take you and run the Disney full marathon
25:51
with you. I'll pay for it and take you.
25:54
So that was the program and over the years we had couple dozen
25:59
people complete their a full marathon.
26:03
And while it wasn't Disney every year, I realized the budget
26:06
wasn't gonna allow for that. That was the first year, but it
26:10
really encouraged people to take that first step, get off the
26:14
couch, walk, maybe run, and when you do those things, good things
26:20
happen. So that was the program that I
26:22
started in Chick-fil-A, in my Chick-fil-A restaurants.
26:26
That's so cool 'cause I'm gonna guess a lot of these people sort
26:29
of you're suggesting this, They weren't runners before.
26:33
No, and some of them are still not runners, but a few are that
26:38
did this years ago. I ran in.
26:41
I was running a half marathon last year and I ran in too, a
26:45
lady that had been part of that program when she worked for me
26:48
and she had kept doing it and it really it enhanced her life.
26:52
I had a a really that was just very pleasing to me.
26:57
I bet, yeah. Very validating for the work
27:00
that you put into that. So, Kevin, tell us what you do
27:04
at Uncommon Influence and who you do it for.
27:09
So we simply help leaders and teams grow their capacity and be
27:14
more effective and predominantly in the hospitality space.
27:18
We have clients outside of the hospitality space.
27:20
We work with a lot of Chick-fil-A teams over the over
27:23
the country. And but these these are teams
27:27
with usually new and emerging leaders and they're working in a
27:34
very busy environment. So growing capacity is critical.
27:39
If I want to do more in the future as a leader, I have to
27:42
grow my capacity. And often we get left behind by
27:48
our business it it'll outgrow us if we're not careful, if if we
27:52
don't grow our capacity, if we're not developing ourselves
27:56
individually and at a team level, the business can just
27:59
pass us by. And it's not a pretty picture
28:01
when that happens. So that's really where we put
28:04
our focus. So you say mostly hospitality a
28:07
lot in Chick-fil-A. Are these folks that are at the
28:11
corporate level of Chick-fil-A or these primarily the franchise
28:14
owners? Predominantly franchise owners
28:18
and their teams. I personally work with some
28:22
individuals on executive coaching at corporate, but most
28:26
of our work is focused on franchisees and their teams.
28:30
Can you say more specifically about what that coaching, what
28:33
that training looks like? What are you doing for them?
28:36
What does that engagement entail?
28:39
So it depends. If we're working with an
28:41
individual, we talk a lot about vision, we talk about a lot
28:45
about what they want out of their role, what they want out
28:49
of their business and then we try to help them get there.
28:53
So it's about reinvention. Sometimes it's about goal
28:58
setting, it's about I have an exercise called Your Perfect
29:03
Role. If you could imagine your role
29:05
in perfection, what would it look like?
29:06
What would you do? What would you not do?
29:10
And so if it's an individual, we're really helping them close
29:14
the gap on what they want to what their current reality is.
29:17
With teams, it's often synergy, trust, accountability,
29:24
effectiveness. How do the best teams
29:26
communicate? We help them through a lot of
29:30
solutions around just elevating the health of how they operate
29:35
as a leadership team. Some of those are in groups,
29:38
some of those are in one on ones, some are virtual, some are
29:41
live. There's a lot of different ways
29:43
that we do that, but it's all helping elevate the capacity of
29:47
the team I. Think it might be helpful if we
29:50
talked about the framework that you've built, what you call
29:54
around the 5DS for overwhelmed leaders.
29:58
What are the 5DS? And I can't take credit for all
30:03
of this. I've learned this from outside
30:06
the Eisenhower Matrix. If you're familiar with that,
30:09
introduce some of these concepts to me.
30:12
But here's what I learned. The busier I am, the more likely
30:18
I am into to go into something I call going in the red, which is
30:23
where you're buried. You have no capacity, you're
30:27
overwhelmed and probably not doing your best work.
30:29
And when I go in the red, I've got to take a good look at
30:32
what's on my plate. And when I take a look at what's
30:35
on my plate, then I have some options.
30:36
And one of them is what do I need to do?
30:40
What do I need to do? And so that's one of the DS.
30:44
I have to be very clear on what only I can do based on the role
30:50
I'm in. What do I need to delete?
30:55
We're not very good at throwing things out.
30:57
I'm not. My wife's a little better at
30:59
this, but we tend to collect things and then we realize
31:03
where'd all this stuff come from?
31:04
Same thing with our projects, with our to do's with some of
31:08
the systems that we do. Some of that doesn't need to
31:11
happen anymore and it'll clog up our and and inhibit our
31:15
capacity. So we need to, we need to delete
31:17
some things. Based on what's on my plate, I
31:20
may need to defer something to later.
31:23
Just say, you know, that's important.
31:25
But I I'm going to make it wait. And then I have to learn to
31:29
delegate. Almost every leader doesn't
31:34
delegate enough and there's a lot of reasons for that.
31:36
We've come up with some training around effective delegation, but
31:40
I'm not going to grow as a leader if I'm not delegating.
31:44
And then the last D decide. I have to be good at making
31:49
decisions. I have to have filters to help
31:52
me make those decisions that are going to come up again and
31:54
again. And so those are the 5DS that I
31:58
try to dive into to help people grow their capacity.
32:02
I'm curious, Kevin, if you see a lot of patterns repeated like
32:08
you're, you know, going in that this Chick-fil-A franchise owner
32:13
probably has to think about deleting these four or five
32:16
things because you've seen it over and over again.
32:18
Or is it much more individualized where one
32:24
franchise owner needs to delete these three things?
32:27
Another one, it's these four things and you don't really know
32:30
until you get in and do a deep dive with.
32:32
Them it's both Anthony. There are some consistencies
32:38
with any business owner, not just Chick-fil-A, some routines
32:41
that we get in that just don't service like they used to and we
32:46
need to delete those and start over.
32:48
And then there, there are some unique behaviors maybe that an
32:54
individual has that hey, this isn't, this isn't working for
32:57
you. If you want to be uncommon, this
32:59
is a speed bump or a hurdle in your pursuit of uncommon, we've
33:04
got to remove those. So it's.
33:06
Both. What's one of the most common
33:09
things that you see that people need to delete?
33:13
I think as a, as a leader, most leaders, they want to be on the
33:21
solution side. They want to attack a problem,
33:25
they want to help people. And sometimes we'll try to help
33:30
too aggressively too quickly. So we may take over, we may show
33:34
up and solve somebody's problem for them versus helping them
33:39
solve them themselves. If, if we help them solve
33:44
problems themselves, we're teaching them for life, not just
33:48
business, right. And so one of the things I see
33:51
is this quickness to solve to get to the solution versus
33:57
taking a little bit of time to help somebody figure something
34:00
out that's going to serve him greater in the long term.
34:06
I think I see what you're saying.
34:07
You, you know, sort of teach the man to fish he eats for a
34:11
lifetime rather than here's your fish for today, just to, you
34:14
know, kind of patch it through for the day.
34:18
Is that what is that kind of what you're getting at, Kevin?
34:20
Absolutely. Yeah.
34:22
Are there things that you've seen leaders do in the name of
34:26
development that can sometimes actually make their situation?
34:30
Worse, one of the things that we teach in uncommon when you're
34:35
building your personal development plan, you should
34:37
start with this question. What is it I need?
34:41
If you have a personal development plan and it's just
34:44
random, you may, it may not be that effective.
34:47
But if you start with what is it that I need in this season to
34:52
develop myself as a leader, that's going to help you build a
34:57
more effective personal development plan?
34:59
Because, you know, if I read 100 books, but they're not targeted
35:03
on what I need in my own growth, that could be very
35:06
counterproductive. If I need to be more efficient,
35:09
I'm spending a lot of time reading something that maybe may
35:12
not help me, but if I target my reading, my listening to podcast
35:18
on what I need, it's going to be more effective.
35:23
Would you say that your training focuses more on personal
35:27
development or more professional business development?
35:33
It's both. Obviously we're business people.
35:36
My the coaches that work for me, all of them have significant
35:40
leadership experience. So they're able to draw from
35:44
that experience and we're coaching predominantly in a
35:48
business environment with business context.
35:50
But I'll tell you often on a coaching call, life, life
35:54
challenges, questions about life seep into those calls and and
36:00
they're connected. I mean, if I am struggling
36:04
personally, I'm going to bring that to work.
36:08
You know, I, if I'm not healthy personally, that's going to show
36:11
up when I clock in at work. And so some of that is part of
36:15
our professional development. Let's talk about the reinvention
36:22
experience. You take leaders on a 95 mile
36:26
trek along the Camino. I understand this program is
36:30
very popular, sold out through 2026.
36:34
Tell us what happens at these events.
36:38
So the first I'll set the stage. The Camino to Santiago is a 600
36:43
mile ish hike in Spain. It has its roots in a spiritual
36:50
pilgrimage and today a lot of people go there for all sorts of
36:54
reasons. Most people go hike the Camino
36:59
with something they want to get out of it.
37:01
It might be new clarity, it might be there's a new season of
37:05
life. It might be a challenge that
37:07
they're trying to wrestle with and figure out.
37:09
And I was invited by a friend to go walk 5 days on the Camino in
37:13
2017. And it did just that for me.
37:16
I came home with renewed clarity on what is it I wanted to do
37:22
with my role, how I wanted to show up.
37:24
And so we realized, hey, if that did that for me, it could do
37:28
that for others. So we built this reinvention
37:31
experience where we're going to challenge you physically.
37:35
We're going to put you out of your comfort zone, which is
37:37
where growth happens. We're going to enjoy other
37:42
people, people from all over the world come and hike the Camino.
37:45
And so you get this, this social experience of meeting people
37:50
from different backgrounds than you.
37:52
There's a lot of things that come together, but the objective
37:55
is what do I want to change in my life?
37:58
And leadership. It's a springboard for what's
38:00
next when I come back. And so we have an activity every
38:04
day that you walk designed to help you leave with a plan to
38:09
reinvent yourself as a leader. Do you think this approach is
38:15
effective simply because that's just a change of scenery, right?
38:19
Get Me Out of my same environment, looking at the open
38:23
blue sky. Or do you think there's
38:25
something that takes place in the physical exhaustion and the,
38:31
the, I don't know, maybe sometimes mental breakdown that
38:34
happens as a result of that? I hate to keep using this word,
38:39
Anthony, but it's both. When we change our everyday
38:44
environment, we just show up a little differently.
38:48
Our brain responds to it a little differently.
38:50
So the environment is important. The second thing is who do we
38:55
get around? You know, I've got two other
38:59
coaches coming with me and we are there to help people grow,
39:03
to ask them questions, to challenge their thinking a
39:06
little bit. So there's that as well.
39:08
You're with you're with a coach that is focused on helping you
39:12
get to what's next for a whole week.
39:15
I mean, we spend a ton of time with these people and they're
39:18
with the other people in the group that are wrestling with
39:21
some of the same objectives of reinvention and seeking clarity.
39:25
So it's the environment and then it's the people you're around
39:29
and the curriculum that we bring to the table.
39:32
Kevin, do you ever use this change of scenery approach in
39:36
your own personal and business development?
39:40
Anthony, I used it last week. I got away to the mountains of
39:45
Tennessee with one of my business partners and we were
39:48
working on our strategic plan. It would have never been the
39:53
same if we were doing that here in the office.
39:55
We would have been distracted. We wouldn't have been in the
39:57
right mindset. And so a regular routine of
40:02
unbuckling from the day-to-day, if you will, can really pay off
40:07
in your clarity. And in, in the, in the planning
40:12
of your future. And so I I did it just this past
40:15
week. And I'm not even going to bother
40:19
to ask the question because I know it's going to be both.
40:22
Like how much of it is the change of scenery and how much
40:24
of it is just being unplugged from all the distractions?
40:27
It's got to be the combination of the two.
40:30
It just allows your mind to go to a different space and connect
40:34
some neurons that weren't connecting before.
40:37
Often when you put multiple words together and is the most
40:43
important word. And again, I won't use both, but
40:46
I will use and getting out of your normal environment and
40:50
having the the right people in the room.
40:53
And I'll tell you also, it was led by our coach.
40:56
I still have a coach I've used leaned into coaching personally
41:01
for my own development for years and he facilitated the whole
41:04
weekend and it would have been less effective without him.
41:07
So that's another and place people and a facilitator.
41:12
So I'm really glad that you mentioned that you had your own
41:15
coach there 'cause I think everybody can benefit from a
41:21
mentor, a coach, a peer group, etcetera.
41:24
And I think a lot of times people look at folks in your
41:27
position, you're guiding, you're leading other folks, you're very
41:32
bright, you've had a lot of success, well spoken and think,
41:35
well, Kevin knows it all right, Like everything comes easy to
41:38
that guy. He's he's set.
41:41
But you are also in a position of wanting to put yourself in
41:45
uncomfortable situations, wanting to grow, looking for
41:48
opportunities and new ideas. And so you employ a coach
41:52
yourself. My coach and a, a good coach is
41:58
going to help you think differently.
42:00
He does this all the time and I've, I've known him for years
42:03
and every time I get on the phone with him, I go, huh, I
42:07
would have never thought of that or why was I looking at this
42:09
one? I should have been looking at
42:10
that. He really challenges my thinking
42:13
and I think that's what a great coach will do.
42:17
They'll help us look at something differently.
42:20
And you know, one of the benefits of having a coach is,
42:23
is they're going to ask you good questions.
42:25
And also I'm living it. I still own businesses, I still
42:29
have teams. I am immersed in a lot of what I
42:34
am helping my clients with. And I'm learning real time
42:37
lessons. And so is my team on leading
42:40
teams and how we can help leaders from our own failures
42:44
and our own mistakes. I never wanted to be just a
42:47
coach with a certification. Nothing against certifications.
42:50
They help us, but I wanted to be living business, living
42:54
leadership, while I was helping other people do the same.
42:57
What advice do you have for listeners that are thinking
43:02
maybe I could benefit from a coach?
43:04
How do they go about finding 1 and figuring out if that
43:08
person's a good fit for them? Well, most coaching companies
43:12
have an exploratory call and I would strongly recommend you get
43:17
on an exploratory call with a coach.
43:20
And there's a bunch of coaching firms out there.
43:24
You want to find the right one for you.
43:26
I may not be the right one for somebody.
43:30
Somebody may not be the right one for me.
43:32
You want to experiment. And so an exploratory call that
43:35
usually doesn't cost you anything.
43:38
You want to have some of those and be looking for synergy and
43:42
always be prepared to change. I tell my clients all the time,
43:45
when you start to feel a diminished return from our
43:48
relationship, let's help you find another coach.
43:51
So the the, the person that you are working with just kind of
43:56
like your doctor. If you're not getting, if you're
43:59
not feeling it with your doctor, if he's not showing up like
44:01
you'd like, like him to show up or her to show up, find a
44:04
different one. Find one that connects with you.
44:07
Same way with a coach. So Kevin, you've coached leaders
44:13
across a lot of different industries.
44:16
Do you see commonalities in what separates the ones who genuinely
44:20
change for the ones who come in seem to learn something but
44:26
don't enact any changes? Yes, and it starts with hunger.
44:32
You've got to develop a hunger to develop yourself.
44:37
Most people don't just have that naturally.
44:39
They have to learn it. They have to see the benefit of
44:43
development show up. If you develop yourself and you
44:47
do it well, certain things get easier.
44:50
Your job gets easier. If you develop yourself well,
44:54
guess what? Your confidence raises as a
44:56
leader, and that's important. So hunger for development is one
45:02
of the first things that's important.
45:05
Second thing I would say is master your, your calendar.
45:08
The ones that actually do something, they take control and
45:12
optimize their calendar, their time without doing that.
45:17
Sometimes we just forget. We forget good stuff.
45:20
I do it if I don't take what I'm learning and put that, weave
45:25
that into my calendar, it may or may not happen.
45:28
So those are the two things. Develop a hunger to grow
45:30
yourself and get good at optimizing your time through
45:35
working with your calendar. Say more about that second
45:38
piece. What does it look like to
45:39
optimize your calendar? Can you give us a specific
45:42
example? Sure.
45:45
So the most important things to me need to go in my calendar,
45:49
and especially if they have a chance to be forgotten first
45:55
thing in my calendar, take my vitamins.
45:58
Most people don't put that in their calendar.
46:00
Why do I do it? Because I was forgetting to take
46:03
my vitamins, date nights with my wife in my calendar.
46:08
Why is that in there? It's one of the most important
46:10
couple of hours of the week. It needs to be in my calendar.
46:13
I don't want that to go to chance.
46:15
And so making sure that you look at your calendar and say what
46:19
needs to go in there first. What are the very important
46:22
things? Every workout is in my calendar
46:26
time with my kids and grandkids in my calendar time with my
46:30
direct reports and key meetings in my calendar.
46:33
And it's not, this is not a one and done type of activity.
46:37
I have to keep working with it because things get thrown at us,
46:40
right? We've got to work to optimize
46:43
the calendar. What's the future of uncommon
46:46
Influence look like? Growth opportunities?
46:50
Ideas for new services? Or hey, we love what we're
46:52
doing, we just want to do it for more people.
46:56
Yeah, our future, we're really excited about groups.
47:00
We do a lot of one-on-one. We'll always do one-on-one.
47:04
But the power of a group, when you a group that's facilitated
47:09
by a coach, you you get advantages of learning from the
47:12
coach, but you also learn from the other people in the group.
47:16
And you know, this is not revolutionary.
47:19
A lot of people do this, but I think it's something often
47:23
neglected. Being in a group is gonna help
47:26
me grow and develop because I'm gonna learn from the people in
47:29
that circle so lot, a lot of group opportunities.
47:34
We're also gonna expand on this Camino reinvention experience.
47:37
I had a client tell me, Kevin, if you do something like that
47:40
stateside, I'll go. I don't want to get on a plane
47:42
and go internationally, but I would do something here.
47:45
So we're working on other opportunities to have
47:47
reinvention experiences here in the States.
47:50
Fun stuff. You also serve on the board of
47:54
an Achievable Dream Academy. Tell us about that work an.
48:00
Achievable Dream is a school in in my city and it's expanded
48:06
from Newport News, but the vision was to help kids that
48:10
come out of some of the most challenging environments,
48:14
challenging homes, help them get on a healthy education track
48:18
that results in going to college or going into the military.
48:24
And so this program was created by a local business person years
48:28
ago to help those kids have vision and hope for their life
48:33
and to train them how to achieve that goal of being able to be
48:38
accepted into college. And this program's amazing.
48:41
I, I wouldn't have time to talk about the whole thing, but it
48:44
results in about 60 to 80 kids every year going into college,
48:51
not having to pay for college. It's funded by sponsors and
48:56
it's, it's doing some great work.
49:00
So that's, it's a public private partnership.
49:03
So we come to together with the local school system, we bring
49:07
business people together to help that initiative give kids hope,
49:12
education and direction for the future.
49:16
Tell us about the work with Orphans Tree.
49:18
What is this? So years ago, I had a friend of
49:21
mine. He said, hey, you want to go
49:23
serve in an orphan orphanage with me in another country?
49:27
And I was busy at the time. It was not on my radar.
49:31
But he kept asking me, you've got to go see what's happening
49:35
with these kids. And so finally I did.
49:37
And I realized, wow, a lot of the work that needs to happen
49:43
with kids that grow up in an orphanage, it's very similar to
49:46
the work that I do in the restaurant, helping young people
49:49
learn a job, learning life skills, being around people that
49:54
have vision. And so it was just a really good
49:57
fit to to go help children that came from very, very difficult
50:04
circumstances, again, have hope for a future and they have some
50:08
direction and to set some goals and to try to avoid some
50:12
pitfalls that that were surrounding them.
50:16
So it really aligned with how I'm wired.
50:21
How about that, Kevin? What's the hardest thing you've
50:24
ever had to overcome personally, and what did that teach you?
50:30
Wow, That's a good question, Anthony.
50:32
Several things come to mind, but one involves a family member
50:38
years ago who was having significant struggles.
50:43
And I did everything I could to help this family member.
50:50
I got involved. I prepared a path, I brought
50:54
resources. I spent a lot of time and
50:57
energy. Ultimately what I learned is
51:03
that I don't care who it is that I'm working with to to try to
51:06
help them along their path. I can't want it more than they
51:10
want it. And so that is a, is a lesson
51:14
that is really served me throughout my business.
51:18
If I'm trying to help somebody grow, but I want change or I
51:24
want better more than they want change or they want better for
51:28
themselves, we're just not going to get anywhere.
51:31
And so that's one lesson I, I try to recognize who wants who
51:36
wants change the most? Is it the coach or is it the
51:39
client? If it's the coach, we have a
51:41
problem. So that's a lesson that I've
51:44
carried throughout that came from a very, very hard season.
51:49
Do you want to say more about how that played out?
51:53
Well, finally, you know, this particular family member, I had
51:58
to step out of that role 'cause I realized I was not helping him
52:02
in getting better at pursuing progress.
52:05
That allowed for somebody else to come in that had a different
52:10
that just showed up differently and did help this family member
52:15
get some get to improvement. So sometimes we do what we can,
52:19
but it's time for somebody else to take it from there.
52:22
And that's what happened in this scenario.
52:27
Is there a way for whether it's a formal coach like yourself,
52:32
Kevin, or a friend or family member to help get somebody to
52:38
that point of wanting that change?
52:41
I think we, you know, most of us have been in that role before
52:44
where it's like you see somebody in need.
52:46
You're you're trying to offer the olive branch, you're trying
52:49
to help out and they're just not ready for it.
52:53
Is, I don't know, is is there a carrot or a stick that you found
52:57
that can help or does it really just have to come from inside
52:59
the person? Well, one thing I I do believe
53:05
is that statements tend to disappear.
53:09
Questions tend to linger. When somebody plants a question
53:16
in my brain, it tends to stay. And so one of the things that I
53:21
would do to help somebody who is maybe not getting there as fast
53:26
as I'd like him to get there is to plant a question.
53:30
I'll give you an example of 1. I got some feedback in my
53:32
business one time from the president of the company, and it
53:36
caught me a little off guard because I thought in this
53:39
particular subject we were performing well.
53:42
And so when I asked him, I pushed back.
53:45
He asked me a question that's I've never forgotten.
53:48
He said, Kevin, how good do you want to be?
53:52
I've never forgot that question. It shows up all the time.
53:56
And so with somebody that's trying to get somewhere, if you
53:59
can plant, if the coach, the leader can plant some questions
54:04
that'll keep coming back to them and they'll have to wrestle
54:06
with, that is something that can lead to growth, that can lead to
54:10
better. Because chances are you're not
54:13
just going to tell them what to do or what they should do, and
54:15
they're going to obey that, but plant some good questions that
54:18
can lead to progress. I like that.
54:22
How good do you want to be? That does have some sticking
54:25
power. Any other good examples you've
54:27
found that had been helpful in your work?
54:31
I think one of the things going back to personal development
54:35
plan, this question comes up again and again, should come up
54:38
again and again in our lives as leaders.
54:41
How do I need to grow? Right now when I ask myself that
54:45
question, I'm like, I need to learn some AI tools because it's
54:49
coming at us. I need to learn how to
54:51
effectively use AI in my business.
54:54
And if we consistently ask that question, how do I need to grow?
54:59
That will help us have more clarity as we're pursuing
55:02
development. Have you identified areas in
55:06
which you think AI could be helpful in the work that you're
55:09
doing? Definitely.
55:12
I think I I just read a book called The AI Driven Leader, so
55:18
you can research that. The author's name escapes me at
55:21
the moment, but research this book.
55:23
It was very helpful. He he Tees up this concept that
55:27
you are the thought leader. You have to remain the thought
55:31
leader, but AI comes along as your thought partner.
55:36
So don't give it too much. You're the thought leader, but
55:39
look to it to help you as you're making decisions and pursuing
55:43
growth. I thought that was a very good
55:45
that helped with the context of how we look at AI.
55:48
Obviously there's a lot of things to be afraid of.
55:51
There's a lot of concerns we have, but we don't want, I think
55:56
it's my opinion, we don't want to ignore this.
55:58
It's disrupting and it's changing so many things in
56:01
business and in in our lives in general.
56:04
We need to be learning about it. So that's one helpful context
56:08
that I learned in that book. Are you more afraid of or
56:13
excited for AI? Excited, I, I see the concerns.
56:20
In fact, I'm in the minority in my family.
56:23
We have these little Sunday afternoon dinner debates about
56:26
AI all the time that comes up. And so I, I understand the
56:32
fears, but I do think there's so many applications that can help
56:39
us perform at an uncommon level as leaders.
56:42
So for the, for the business leader, for the people leader,
56:46
AI can come along and, and help us.
56:48
And obviously we know some of the ways now that it can, it can
56:52
help with our e-mail, it can help with our effectiveness with
56:57
our To Do List. It can help us think differently
57:00
if we prompt it right. But there's so many more uses
57:05
that that I think are going to help us be uncommon and build
57:09
uncommon organization. So I'm excited.
57:13
Kevin, as you think about the work that you're doing today,
57:15
what do you most want to be remembered for?
57:21
I think I want to most be remembered for caring for
57:24
people, whether that's my team, especially my team, my staff, my
57:30
customers and my clients. I want to be remembered for
57:35
being somebody that cared about their development and not just
57:38
my own. So I would say caring for other
57:41
people would be the short answer.
57:43
I love that. I've just got one more question
57:46
for you today, Kevin. But before I ask it, I want to
57:49
do 3 quick things for the audience.
57:51
First of all, if you want to get in touch with Kevin Harrison,
57:54
best way is his website, Very easy to remember, Uncommon
57:57
influence.com. Uncommon influence.com.
58:00
It'll be in the show notes, but you can remember that Uncommon
58:03
influence.com. And if you're enjoying the show
58:06
today, please take a moment to subscribe wherever you're
58:09
listening. It sends a signal that also
58:12
helps others discover our podcast.
58:14
So thank you for taking a quick moment to do that right now.
58:18
And as a reminder, you can be the hero advisor that helps
58:22
clients give their employees access to therapist, doctors and
58:26
prescription meds while paradoxically increasing their
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net profits, real gains that can change how a business is valued.
58:34
So contact us today at advecbenefits.com.
58:37
So last question for you, Kevin. One year from now, what is 1
58:41
very specific thing that you hope to be celebrating?
58:46
Well, that's a good question. You asked great, great
58:48
questions. Anthony.
58:50
I think I'd like to be celebrating a sold out Camino
58:54
experience in 2027, another group of clients we're about to
58:59
leave for Spain in a couple of weeks with 12 hungry leaders.
59:04
I can't wait for this trip. And so I would, I'd love to
59:07
celebrate that we have another full group next year.
59:11
That's fun stuff. Kevin Harrison from Uncommon
59:13
Influence, I want to be the first to thank you for sharing
59:15
both your time and your story with us today.
59:18
I really appreciate you being here.
59:22
Thank you, Anthony, what you do is important.
59:24
It was my pleasure. Thank you for saying that,
59:26
folks. That's a wrap on another episode
59:28
of the Inspired Stories podcast. Thanks for learning with us.
59:32
And if one thing stood out, put that into action today.