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Navigating Leadership: Balancing People and Performance · Unstoppable Success Podcast

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Unstoppable Success Podcast, where we spotlight visionary leaders who have mastered the art of growth, purpose, and powerful connections.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: I'm your host, Jacqueline Strawminger, connector, high performance coach, and creator of the Leap to Your Success Framework in Two Steps to Yes.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Each week we dive into bold insights, real conversations, and powerful strategies to fuel your growth, deepen your relationships, and ignite transformational momentum.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: And why?
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because you were meant to be unstoppable.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Now let's leap into the podcast.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another amazing episode of Unstoppable Success.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: This is the podcast where we hear from amazing leaders and people in industry where they get to share all their insights, their tips, their tricks on how they had unstoppable success.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: I am your host, Jacqueline Strominger, and today I get to welcome to the show Josh Black.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: Now, let me tell you a little bit about Josh.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: First and foremost, he is a newly uh appointed author.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: He has written a book, People Matter at Work.
• 1:11
  SPEAKER_01: He's the executive advisor at Block Imaging.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: He's also the founder of Cube Mobile Imaging.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: And he actually spends every opportunity he has leading block imaging and the team to serve customers around the world with outstanding refurbished radiology equipment, parts, and service and solutions.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: He's deeply passionate, and this is the part where the people matter.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: He's deeply passionate about his team and the opportunities they have to influence one another, their industry, customers, their patients, and the world at large.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_01: So Josh, welcome to Unstoppable Success.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_00: Thank you so much for having me.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: It's good to be with you, Jacqueline.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, great to be here.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: All right.
• 1:53
  SPEAKER_01: So first of all, I love the title People Matter, because I feel like I talk about people all the time and knowing our values and leadership is so important to have the people portion of it.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: So please tell us like how you came to People Matter.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: It has been our company's mission for almost 15 years.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so in a world, even though a lot has changed in the last 15 years, the divide, right, arguing over every possible topic under the sun.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: And I just we have a lot of shirts that say people matter.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm wearing people matter clothing all the time.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things I love about the phrase is it's deeply meaningful and it's heavily uniting.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Like when people see that, very rarely are they like, oh, I did I totally disagree, right?
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: Is that we all we most of us, or many or all of us, believe that people matter.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: So it's been our mission and ultimately became the title of the book.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: So did it always, was it always that way?
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: No, there was when my dad led the company from 1997 to 2011, there was a longer mission statement uh that went into a number of areas that he was passionate about when he founded the company.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: And yet when I transitioned into leadership in 2011, within the net first 24 months, we did make that adjustment to this idea of people matter, and then it flows out of our belief that people matter leads us to create a thriving team culture that serves healthcare providers in providing a second chance at life for equipment and ultimately for patients.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really I love that you made that transition.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_01: What did it do for the team?
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: You know, I I think it it it was more importantly than what it did for the team, which of course has become very meaningful over time, it was authentic to who I was, right?
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_00: Is that I think when we're designing organizational identities and missions and values, people like tend to go seek after something that sounds pretty or nice or or looks good on a wall.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_00: And I really like what squeezes out of you.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: Like if we were to cut if we were to cut you, what would you bleed?
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so for me, what did you do for the team?
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: It it united, especially as we went through some difficult elections and COVID and things like that.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: We anchored in on people matter, but I would say that it was just an accurate reflection of who I wanted to be as a leader.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_01: So I I really like I really love that saying that you know that people matter.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_01: One of the biggest things that I feel like with leadership is that that not everybody gets that.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's either it's either all about the results and they forget about the people.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: So how do you balance the two?
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I I think of it through the lens of parenting a lot is if I said, Hey, should I care for my kids or should I hold them accountable to grades and performance, anyone would say both are really important.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_00: Like, no kid who we just put unlimited pressure on and drive them towards success indefinitely, that kid's not gonna be a well-rounded, secure person.
• 4:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then if all we do is care for the child and we don't actually hold them accountable to any level of performance or growth, reading or math or whatever, you'd say, well, that person's not gonna be well-rounded in the sense that they're not gonna grow into a functioning adult.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I think about it, I think of like care for the person, and and part of caring for a person, including that child example, is actually inviting them into the fullest version of themselves.
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_00: Caring for them doesn't mean making a job that's really easy and boring for them.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_00: It actually means like, hey, we think you're immensely capable, and and the best people who work on our teams actually want to be pushed to become more than they ever dreamed of becoming.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a that's a real I want to kind of think right there for a minute.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_01: You know, helping people become more than what you know, than what they almost like believe in themselves.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Helping them have that unstoppable success.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: So are there things that you have put in place within your company that helps you decide or see where people could go, or help where you can help your team cast a vision for themselves?
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it it starts with belief, right?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: What do we believe about our people?
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And then from there it becomes a vision.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: And many of us, I don't know how much clearer of a vision we had in our 20s, but this idea of we actually have an exercise, and my dad started it, and we've done it quite a few times over the years, where we've had someone who was immensely talented, and yet as we were growing, there was more role specificity.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so we'd actually give them a blank sheet of paper and say, what's the ideal role for you in this organization?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And they would map it out themselves.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a very cool exercise.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not everybody can do that in every situation, but when you're growing really fast, uh, you do need people to move into those sorts of exercises.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: So that's that's one of the things that we did.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: But overall, it's this belief that someone can become more capable than they are today, bring more value to the organization than they do today, and to journey with them in really that Venn diagram of what does the organization need, and where is that person really skilled and ideally passionate as well.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_01: So, how does this how does this um people matter and how does it kind of work into your hiring process?
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's it's pretty central.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_00: So for us, the organizational identity is very public.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: So it's our hope, our industry, people know who block imaging is.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Our team obviously recommends people to come join our organization.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: And so the organizational identity is the first step.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: This is who we are, this is what we stand for.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, if you're if you're really hook, line, and sinker, this is who you want to be, then we hope you you thrive here and we hope you join the company.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't care about people, integrity, together, transparent, thoughtful, honor, all of these words in our organizational identity, we hope that you work somewhere else and you have a great time.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: Right.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think the organizational identity is that magnet that either pulls or repels.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: And then in the hiring process, we're really looking through the lens of the three C's is uh character.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_00: Do we think that this person from their resume to when they say something and they do something, that there's alignment in their character, they're an honest person.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Then we have chemistry, which is we think that they work well with others and they're a good fit within our culture.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last is competency, that they're immensely capable, not just in the role that they're applying for, but they have they have growth potential.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, right.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, so I I I love this because you know, one of the big things that that that we talk a lot about uh you know here at um it's it's knowing your values.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: And values are the key core to I believe, you know, everything.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_01: So speaking of that, then when people come in, do you have them almost do like a values assessment?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: So we we do some some testing when they join the organization.
• 9:04
  SPEAKER_00: We have quite a few interviews.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: So we have we have uh the interview is a conversation with a number of people at various levels, starting with HR and ending with the executive leaders.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um but I would say that one, when you put your organizational identity out there, it it is very self-selecting in some ways, right?
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_00: Like if all you care about is running over the backs of, if you don't want to be a part of a helpful organization and you don't care about people, it's so the organizational identity does some of that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then Block University, everyone who joins the team goes through uh a three sessions with a couple of our leaders where we walk through a history and culture and values and strategy and those sorts of things.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then you read a book called Leadership and Self-Deception.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: And it's the only book we have our entire company read, and it talks about how we see and approach people.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one of those things that by that point, if you feel like, boy, this is not the place for me, we really try to make it super self-evident so that we're inviting people who are a good fit in alignment with our culture and values.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_01: So now is everybody going to be reading People Matter?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: People matter at work.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I certainly wouldn't uh force everybody in the organization to read my own book, Leadership and Self-Deception.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: We just believe does an incredible job of kind of clarifying how you see people.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_00: And one of my favorite things in Block U is we ask people, what's different about Block?
• 10:28
  SPEAKER_00: You've been here four weeks or eight weeks or whatever.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_00: What's different?
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And well, the answers have some variety and lots of similarity.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: One of my favorites is the word helpful, is almost every time people just say, Wow, people, the leaders are really accessible and the and the leaders are really helpful.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's not one of our values, but it's one of my favorite like accidental values of the culture we've created.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: So what's your hope with People Matter at Work?
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, in 2011, I became president over a weekend.
• 10:58
  SPEAKER_00: I was 29 years old,$30 million organization, and I went from sales rep on Friday to president on Monday.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: Two brothers older than me, one brother younger than me.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: So we had a it was a family enterprise, and it was my oh my leadership moment.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: And and when I when you don't know anything about anything, or you know very little about what you need to be president of the organization, I came across a book called The Five Dysfunctions.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: And Patrick Lancioni's expose on culture and teamwork and organizational health just blew my mind.
• 11:31
  SPEAKER_00: It was the perfect book for where I was in my life.
• 11:34
  SPEAKER_00: And so when I think about the dream for People Matter at Work, it's it's what it's not is, and I've heard this quite a bit since it came out a week ago, is oh, I've got to give this to my jerk boss.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's like, sorry, that that's it's really not what this is for.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: That's that's a manipulative technique to just give people handholds to get people to do what they want.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_00: This is really for the leader who cares, and yet they maybe weren't fully developed as a leader.
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_00: They went to school for accounting and then they got tapped on the shoulder and became a leader.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And this is to equip, encourage, and empower them to express their care in meaningful and tangible ways.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so my my hope, a long answer, but my real hope is that this book would do for someone what five dysfunctions of a team did for me in 2011.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, so now I'm really curious, how were you thrown into that?
• 12:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so I uh a family emergency situation.
• 12:25
  SPEAKER_00: So on a Thursday, uh had a conversation with my dad.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_00: On a Friday, found out, which I share in People Matter at Work, spoiler alert, is that I found out from a president of our subsidiary that my dad was going to be stepping down and putting me in the president seat on Monday.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And so Monday we gathered the entire company.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: There were 40 to 50 people at the time.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: And uh my dad made an announcement and I made a speech and we were off and running.
• 12:52
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, but there's a though, so now I'm gonna ask a couple of questions, and I hopefully you don't mind it being too personal.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Sure.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: How did that how did you work with that with your family?
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: That's like some interesting dynamic.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: You I mean, did was that part of the plan?
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: Like, did you, you know, you obviously didn't seem like it was like a surprise.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: I didn't know I was like, you were like the the chosen person to become the president.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so on Sunday we had a family meeting, and my dad shared what was going to take place to the entire family.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And my brothers, I mean, each one of us had has a different set of giftings.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: Three of us are still at the company today, and one was here until just a few years ago.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: And so, yeah, the four of us have worked really well together in our strengths and giftings.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_00: And one of the things that we've tried to do for anyone who's a family business out there is well, uh, well, I I led in many ways into the second generation, and we have co-presidents with Jason Crawford uh for 14 years.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: I went to high school with Jason.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: We really tried to operate in our role regardless of ownership, regardless of last name.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: So operating within our strengths and acting just like anyone else at the company, uh, well, they don't always treat us that way.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: The hope was that we come into the office and we act just like our role would expect us to act, even if we were working at a company that didn't have our last name on it.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 14:09
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I really like I really like that, and and that actually that's a skill.
• 14:16
  SPEAKER_01: So how did you help develop that skill?
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_01: Because not, you know, that's that's also a balance of of culture too.
• 14:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, yeah.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_00: I think it starts with humility.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, one of the things I share in the in the acknowledgments to my brothers is that they've seen this business as a garden to cultivate, not a uh a mine to to pull gold out of.
• 14:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah, I just think the humility and care for people, it it's it flows from my mom.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, my dad, of course, built the business from zero to 30 million, and my mom is one of the most incredible uh and most caring people you'll persons you'll ever meet.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think that her care just kind of flows through and led to my brothers choosing to support the company uh regardless of the role that they were in.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a couple things that also that I think it's it's you know, listeners, I want you to really think about this too, is that, you know, what Josh just said, you know, the humility, it's not, you know, and and and leading with what you do best, not you know, kind of knowing your knowing to stay in your lane, so to speak, and count it, you know, you can stay in your lane, but you obviously need to um rely on the other people and be able to rely on them.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_01: You're not you're not the expert at everything, right?
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Sure, sure.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 15:37
  SPEAKER_00: And and that's what's hard about the total bummer for most leaders is what got you here won't get you there.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, like the fact that you were efficient and productive and and crushed your tasks and like were amazing at a to-do list, and and then the the boss said to you, Hey, you're gonna now become a team leader, a manager, a director, or whatever it is.
• 15:57
  SPEAKER_00: Now all of a sudden you're accomplishing things through other people rather than getting it all done yourself.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: And that is it's troubling because again, what made me successful as a technician will not only not make me successful as a leader, it may harm my ability to succeed and accomplishing things through others.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_01: And that's actually really think a key point, too, is that you have to put the right person in the role.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_01: They have to want it too.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the salesperson, you went in sales, I mean you became the president, all of a sudden you may have been like the best at sales.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_01: Leading is different.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Totally different.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: And and I think that's where the the challenge, of course, is if you hire people who you think you're better at than their job all the time, then we have a fundamental problem, right?
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And the the part, the gift of humility, that chapter in People Matter at Work is this idea that there are people in our organization today and have been here a very long time, that do things on a daily basis that I could not do in a lifetime.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, fixing, fixing and repairing MRIs and repairing parts and disassembling systems and software integration and CRMs.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_00: And and so I just, to me, that leader who says, Oh no, I don't know how to do that, I would say it's a tremendous gift.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: Actually rely on them because lack of knowledge maybe sometimes allows you to ask better questions than when you know it all.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so I have had a blast.
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: I think becoming president over uh 72 hours was a wild gift because I could not fake it.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: I couldn't look at everything and go, oh, well, we got a master plan.
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, I'm here to to save the day.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_00: Instead, it was just like we're gonna have to figure it out together.
• 17:39
  SPEAKER_00: You guys all know way more than I do, and so let's work together.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so, really, I I would not have said it at the time, but 15 years later, I'd say, man, it was a real gift to not know uh as much as I didn't know.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: And but that's but the key thing that you did is that you relied on other people.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_01: You didn't come in with like a bowl in a china shop, right?
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_01: So you you said let's do this together.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_01: We need to work together on this, right?
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and you you guys are all experts.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and that's like you know, um Dale Carnegie and I uh you know said this, and I always I feel like I quote him all the time about this, you know, hire people that are smarter than you so that you can lift them up and they can take your role.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's not whether or not they want to take your role, but hire people who are smarter than you or who know things that are different than you and lean on them, right?
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: If your load is getting heavier as a leader over the course of time, there's something wrong.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: And and it could be a function of growth, it could be a function of some other things.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: But I would say I became, I actually released the president title January 1st, became executive advisor.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: And it is a funny feeling.
• 18:52
  SPEAKER_00: It's kind of like, wow, those 400 team members are doing it without my daily uh leadership.
• 18:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I would say there's a quote at the end of the book, which is one of my favorites from Lao Tzu, who's a Chinese philosopher, it says that uh when the task is done and the work is complete, the people will say we did it ourselves.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: Is that we should be working ourselves, whether it be out of a job or into our very narrow set of strengths and passions.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_00: If it's getting heavier and we're doing more than ever before, there is something fundamentally wrong with either the team that we've hired or our approach to leadership.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I absolutely I I love that.
• 19:31
  SPEAKER_01: I love that's a great, that's a great quote.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_01: You know, and it's you know, whether you're talking about the team, the village, it does.
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: It people need to work together, you know.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's that that saying, you know, um a rising tide lifts all boats, right?
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: So you know, to to be that person to to help other people rise up is so important.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um so what's what's on what's on your agenda next?
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so the book came out last Tuesday, and so right now launching that, and uh I continue to advise at block imaging and have an office here at at headquarters, uh oversee cube mobile imaging, which is a uh mobile MRI and CT business.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_00: And but again, I'm going to be speaking, coaching, and consulting in this People Matter at Workspace.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: But uh just with your last point, there's a there's a TED talk by Benjamin Zander, and it's one of my favorite TED talks.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_00: He's actually a composer and conductor, and what he says about leadership, it's it's 20 minutes, one of my favorites, but he basically says, like, the leader doesn't make a sound in an orchestra, right?
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like he relies on his power by making other people powerful.
• 20:44
  SPEAKER_00: It's it gives me chills, is that that 20 minutes I'd highly recommend as far as someone walking through what it is to make other people powerful so that we can make an incredible sound or music together.
• 20:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's just a different approach to leadership.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I absolutely love that.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_01: I it's so true, and it does give me chills when you're saying that too, because it is so true, the conductor doesn't make a sound.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_00: He's on the and he says this he's on the front of the CD.
• 21:12
  SPEAKER_00: He stands and he, you know, whatever, and and actually his back is facing the audience, right?
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: He's the only one whose back is facing the audience, and he knows he knows what everybody is doing, he knows where everyone's going, but he doesn't make a sound in in the case of a classical music orchestra.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: That is so true.
• 21:31
  SPEAKER_01: Anyway, I think about it, you know, of course, here in in Reno, um, our one of our conductors for the Reno Phil um he does a holiday concert and he will actually he has a great voice, he will actually sing.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_01: But he's conducting, but he's singing.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And it's it's actually it's but that's the only time I've ever really seen or heard a conductor you know at an orchestra make some noise, right?
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: true and that's actually the quintessential thing about leadership which is basically you are up there conducting people and you're getting you're bringing out the the best in people you're bringing like the high notes right you're bringing out the good stuff and helping them all work together so that they actually can work together and you know again I you know um there's been some really um great you know comments and talks about you know when when a team is aligned in their values it's not about necessarily uh working people you know with fewer people and make and working them harder it's just that those fewer people are so excited to work together that they will rise up yeah they the what happens in the we cycle which is where we want to lead the shift from the me cycle to the we cycle is people take ownership they care about the outcome and while they may not own shares in the company they may or may not the some of the people who've been here like I think of uh Emily Jones who's in the office next door 15 years Chris Shiraque who's in office down is 20 years some would dispute ownership and I'd say it has a huge impact on their life.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_00: I mean the trajectory of block imaging over the last 20 years has shifted from Chris coming for a summer landscaping job so he could go to Hollywood and go to film school 20 years later he's the vice president of healthcare solutions for us globally right so like he's an owner it it it has a significant impact on his life and so when you say like working people harder who is going to bring their best who fixes the roof at a property a renter or an owner an owner who how do you drive rental cars right an owner or a renter right they they they treat things differently and so when we treat people like owners uh some incredible things happen and I even think the next question that naturally comes up is well what do you do about the person in the orchestra who's not very good who's ruining the concert right because of their attitude or because of their skill and I'd say you have to take you have to address it.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: They the gap either has to close or they can't be part of the symphonic band, right?
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so yeah that's the question is do we just in a nice kind uh people matter culture do we just tolerate incompetence and the answer is absolutely not so here's a question on that though so if somebody is sort of subpar or they are that disgruntled person is it you know is it working with them to find out where they fit best is it like a different department or is it like three strikes are out yeah so for us I share those three C's earlier.
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: We don't try to teach character here like it's very possible and I know this is a strong statement but I'll just say for provocativeness and and uh endless success I would just say like if someone makes a decision that's a significant character issue today, today will be their last day in our organization.
• 25:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's just the way it is and it hey it might happen this afternoon.
• 25:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like I don't know but let's say outside of character which is your mama taught you that if she didn't do a very good job we probably aren't either then we have chemistry.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: How do you work well with others?
• 25:14
  SPEAKER_00: We try to develop that we might move someone in the organization if it's not a good fit in a team or with a leader.
• 25:20
  SPEAKER_00: And so we try to close that gap.
• 25:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then the last is competence wow the same area we might move someone in their role or try to make an adjustment try to train and close that gap and when we can't right we our job is to just put visibility on the gap like hey I'm concerned about competence or I'm concerned about chemistry and and the way you're doing XYZ and I'd like us to close the gap.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_00: And then a couple weeks later we revisit the conversation hey I I'd like to talk about the gap and it doesn't seem like we've closed it.
• 25:50
  SPEAKER_00: And then the next time we say that hey if we're unable to close this gap it it's going to bring an end to your time here at the company which some people and I share it in the book some people go oh I can't imagine saying that and I'd say well walking into someone's office and and shotgun letting them go isn't very kind and it's not very fun either.
• 26:10
  SPEAKER_00: And so we kind of give that warning and we have some stories uh there's kind of one of three things happens.
• 26:16
  SPEAKER_00: They either leave on their own they just say they see the writing on the wall and it ain't gonna happen and they leave on their own which is kind of a cool moment because they don't have a lapse and job it's not really an end it's more of a new beginning.
• 26:28
  SPEAKER_00: The other is that we have to we do have to transition them from the organization.
• 26:32
  SPEAKER_00: That's the the the least favorite outcome and then the third is they turn it around and one of the keeping it real stories in the book I have 12 stories of team members sharing their experience at block Tyler he he's very vulnerable in his story.
• 26:48
  SPEAKER_00: We had a keeping it real moment and a high stakes conversation and said hey here are a couple options and he turned it around and he's leading today and succeeding and thriving and every now and again when that happens it's so so fun uh to get to the other side.
• 27:03
  SPEAKER_01: But but here's the thing and and and I really want to commend you Josh on this I mean it takes a really strong leader to be able to have those conversations and also to care about the people right and that's a that's you know I always say one of the reasons why you know my biggest reason for you know helping bring people's voices out there with this podcast is because if if we can make every office every workplace a better place then we're gonna have a larger greater impact on the world.
• 27:43
  SPEAKER_00: And so listeners this is actually a really key point take heed to the people that are in on your team really get like get to know them and find out what makes them tick because if somebody's in the wrong position then he might be right for the job or the right for the company maybe you want to get absolutely yeah absolutely it's it's so key and somebody who says it takes strength I mean my question is if you were in a role and your boss didn't think you were doing well would you want to know it if your daughter was 23 years old and she was working for someone and there was a concern about her performance would you want someone to tell her or would you just want to go six months or a year?
• 28:23
  SPEAKER_00: How many of us want to have mayonnaise on our face and and nobody tell us right mustard ketchup if you prefer sorry so so yeah that's the thing is I I think that sometimes we're kind and we think we think we're being kind and then we decide hey we're just gonna let someone go instead of giving them an opportunity to turn or opt out.
• 28:45
  SPEAKER_00: If they decide to leave we get to celebrate they were here for six years super grateful for your investment and we hope you do great somewhere else.
• 28:52
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you take the feedback maybe you don't but ultimately it's that ends up being a far more amicable exit than than of course like a like a middle school breakup.
• 29:03
  SPEAKER_01: Right, right but the the one thing that you said also that I think is also really important is character, right?
• 29:09
  SPEAKER_01: The character part is somebody has something today that they do something lie, cheat, steal I don't know whatever whatever thing is that they do that is like out of good character, right?
• 29:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yep you and I think I've said this a thousand times character is not something that you can teach.
• 29:27
  SPEAKER_01: Somebody has to develop that character on their own they have to decide oh maybe I didn't tell the truth here I want to change my ways but that has to come from inside you can't teach that.
• 29:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah and there are some spots where there's second chances just depending on the size or scope or season of life or whatever it is.
• 29:46
  SPEAKER_00: But there are moments we just look and just say we don't we just think the cost of what has taken place in this situation to test it out and and really the cost in the team sometimes the character issue is so and so says they're gonna do this and they don't do it over and over and over and trust just crumbles because people when Jacqueline says something I really have to come behind her and make sure I do it because most of the time when she says something she didn't really do it that's just just crushing to an organization and team.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Right.
• 30:17
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah you know your it's your word like you have to say sure I'm gonna do that I'm doing it right you know so that's really that is really really key.
• 30:26
  SPEAKER_01: So Josh speaking of your transitioning out of that role of president so where do you where is your you know next uh 18 month trajectory?
• 30:40
  SPEAKER_00: Well first time author so uh I don't I don't know the answer to the end of the story but I do feel a deep calling at as you've talked about to invite others in and say like there is a pathway where we can uh both care for people and chase after performance our organization grew from 30 million to 215 million right so performance matters uh generating wealth profitability all of cash flow these things all matter but ultimately my belief that that work can be a transformative experience 80,000 hours in a lifetime in the Gallup survey is nauseating and so this idea that that work not can't doesn't just impact the person doesn't just impact the team doesn't just impact the the organization and profitability but when that person goes home I told you about Tyler earlier so Tyler just had a daughter he's got two sons and a daughter and his oldest is Liam and I think about like what kind of a home is Liam going to grow up in?
• 31:38
  SPEAKER_00: How does the culture that I create here shape that home and my dream would be that Liam wake uh grows up and he says I want to work at a place like my mommy or daddy work that whether it be block imaging or somewhere else I know and frankly I see work as a gift and an opportunity and a privilege and not as something that adults just have to do and get it over with as soon as they can.
• 32:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's my hope for Liam and and the hundreds and hundreds of other kids that work in our organization.
• 32:06
  SPEAKER_01: That's awesome.
• 32:07
  SPEAKER_01: I absolutely love it.
• 32:08
  SPEAKER_01: So Josh tell everybody how they can get in touch with you and um get all of your greatness because it is it is great.
• 32:15
  SPEAKER_00: I appreciate the kind words we're imperfect people matter is a tough mission.
• 32:20
  SPEAKER_00: It is so tough because people can stop and they can go oh well if people mattered.
• 32:24
  SPEAKER_00: So we're imperfect but our intention runs really really deep uh even in the midst of that imperfection.
• 32:30
  SPEAKER_00: So they can uh buy the book at Amazon Barnes and Noble Books a million anywhere books are sold.
• 32:35
  SPEAKER_00: The website is PeopleMatter at work dot com and then they can reach out at josh at people matter at work.com if they want to email have questions I'm more than happy to connect with them.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: That is awesome.
• 32:46
  SPEAKER_01: Okay listeners do me a favor first of all all of Josh's information and a link to the book on will be on in the show notes um I'll put the link to Amazon uh in there so you can grab the book um but please do me the favor this is an incredibly important topic please do me the favor of connecting with Josh but also share this episode with people that you know like and trust who believe who are leaders um because if we can make a difference in the world we're making a difference you know you know if we make a difference at one company we're sharing that across the world uh so please do me that favor of sharing this episode I'm Jacqueline Stomager your host of Unstoppable success we hope you keep leaping to your greatest success and thank you Josh for being an amazing guest thank you for having me thank you so much for joining me on the Unstoppable Success podcast where we don't just talk about growth we leap toward it if something today lit a fire within you sparked a new idea or gave you the extra push forward please don't keep it to yourself share this episode and podcast with a friend colleague or fellow high achiever be sure to subscribe rate and review and most importantly connect with me Jacqueline Schuminger at leaptoyoursuccess.com for coaching community and your next bold move keep leading with intention keep building your network with purpose and most of all keep leaping because you were meant to be unstoppable