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Finding Peace in the Pivot w/ Ladi Adefala · Something Extra

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Ladi Adefala: Sometimes we find ourselves in the wildernesses that we we created
0:04
Ladi Adefala: ourselves.
0:05
Ladi Adefala: Right?
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Ladi Adefala: We're the ones that that dove the.
0:07
Ladi Adefala: Right?
0:08
Ladi Adefala: But other times, it's just things happen.
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Ladi Adefala: And, but I would agree with Lisa on that one.
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Ladi Adefala: Definitely staying anchored in faith is one piece of it
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Ladi Adefala: or, again, whatever your if you have a higher power, whatever it is,
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Ladi Adefala: I think gives you, a center.
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Ladi Adefala: But I would also say, try to surround yourself
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Ladi Adefala: with,
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Ladi Adefala: quote, unquote, the right people.
0:39
Lisa Nichols: It takes something a little more to lead with impact.
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Lisa Nichols: I'm Lisa Nichols, author of Something Extra, and this podcast
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Lisa Nichols: was inspired by our daughter, Ally, whose additional chromosome has shaped
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Lisa Nichols: how I see people in leadership.
0:53
Lisa Nichols: Each episode features conversations with inspiring leaders from around the world
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Lisa Nichols: about what truly defines how they lead and serve others.
1:02
Lisa Nichols: If you enjoyed today's conversation, please consider leaving a five
1:06
Lisa Nichols: star review.
1:07
Lisa Nichols: It helps more people discover the show.
1:10
Lisa Nichols: And if you'd like to go deeper, my book, Something Extra, is available on
1:14
Lisa Nichols: Amazon and through other major book retailers.
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Lisa Nichols: Joining us today is Ladi Adefala, a world renowned cybersecurity
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Lisa Nichols: strategist, founder and CEO at Omega316 , and
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Lisa Nichols: board chair at Delta Dental of Missouri.
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Lisa Nichols: Ladi has spent over two decades helping Fortune five hundred leaders turn digital
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Lisa Nichols: risk into strategic advantage.
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Lisa Nichols: From building a hundred million dollar business units to slashing cyber recovery
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Lisa Nichols: time from days to hours, Ladi is a recognized director to watch in
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Lisa Nichols: corporate governance.
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Lisa Nichols: Well, Ladi Adefala, welcome to the Something Extra
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Lisa Nichols: podcast.
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Lisa Nichols: I cannot tell you how excited I am
1:56
Lisa Nichols: because we've already been talking for a good twenty minutes because I I said
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Lisa Nichols: I haven't seen you in a month, so we got lots to catch up
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Lisa Nichols: on.
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Ladi Adefala: You are ever so kind.
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Ladi Adefala: Ever so kind.
2:06
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
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Ladi Adefala: Exciting, to just to connect again, an opportunity to to connect.
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Ladi Adefala: But, yes, always a blessing to be with you is, always a blessing.
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Lisa Nichols: I agree.
2:15
Lisa Nichols: I agree.
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Lisa Nichols: Well, we're gonna have a lot of fun, and you've got so much wisdom
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Lisa Nichols: to share with our listeners.
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Lisa Nichols: And I that's the purpose, and that is my goal every time.
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Lisa Nichols: It's just what can we share that's gonna be helpful to our listeners.
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Lisa Nichols: So I always love to go back and tell our guests how I meet
2:31
Lisa Nichols: my guest, right, or tell our listeners how I meet my guest.
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Lisa Nichols: And, yeah, it was so wonderful because last
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Lisa Nichols: year, Kiran Achen, who is the CIO for Delta
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Lisa Nichols: Dental, was up for an Orbie award.
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Lisa Nichols: And
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Lisa Nichols: and we were the founding underwriter for the Orbies in Saint Louis,
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Lisa Nichols: and so we're there.
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Lisa Nichols: And then Landon Burke from our we were just talking about that.
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Lisa Nichols: Landon Burke from our office, who I absolutely adore, saw you,
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Lisa Nichols: and then you guys started talking.
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Lisa Nichols: He goes, hey.
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Lisa Nichols: Come over and meet Lisa.
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Lisa Nichols: And as we talked, Ladi, I'm like, oh my goodness.
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Lisa Nichols: We know all the same people.
3:11
Ladi Adefala: That's right.
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Ladi Adefala: We did.
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Ladi Adefala: Probably more so than we don't even know that we know.
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Ladi Adefala: Actually, these are just the ones we do now.
3:17
Ladi Adefala: Now.
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Lisa Nichols: But These are just the ones we do know.
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Lisa Nichols: Right?
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Lisa Nichols: But, it's cool because you are the chair of the board for Delta
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Lisa Nichols: Dental, and then you were there to support Kiren, and
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Lisa Nichols: he won.
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Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
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Lisa Nichols: Hello, Kiren.
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Lisa Nichols: He won the Orbie.
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Lisa Nichols: He was a finalist and, yeah.
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Lisa Nichols: So that was pretty amazing.
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Lisa Nichols: And then I said, you know, let's get together for lunch, and I just
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Lisa Nichols: have to tell our listeners this story.
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Lisa Nichols: So, Ladi, you're you're a huge reader.
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Lisa Nichols: We're gonna talk about your your reading repertoire and
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Lisa Nichols: all of the books, and you have this email that you sent out.
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Lisa Nichols: And you were so sweet and so kind to buy the
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Lisa Nichols: Something Extra book that that had just come out in September.
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Lisa Nichols: And you and I had lunch, and you clearly had read the book.
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Lisa Nichols: Because at the end of the lunch, you bring out this little pink bag
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Lisa Nichols: from under the table, and you go, this is for Ally.
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Lisa Nichols: And so I didn't open it because it's Ally's to open.
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Lisa Nichols: Right?
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Lisa Nichols: I had no idea what you had, brought her as a gift.
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Lisa Nichols: She opens it, and it's her favorite perfume, Happy by
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Lisa Nichols: Clinique.
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Lisa Nichols: And you had read the story in the book about
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Lisa Nichols: that in talking about having your Happy on.
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Ladi Adefala: I know.
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Ladi Adefala: That's such a it was a great story.
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Ladi Adefala: It was a great moment.
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Ladi Adefala: And,
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Ladi Adefala: man, I'm so glad that you shared that too because, yeah, it's,
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Ladi Adefala: it's an opportunity
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Ladi Adefala: to encourage someone that just is so encouraging, so full of life,
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Ladi Adefala: and that has an impact on so many people, has touched so many lives.
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Ladi Adefala: Anyway, it was just it was the token kind of little thing I could
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Ladi Adefala: do to say thank you, Ally.
5:00
Lisa Nichols: I see you.
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Lisa Nichols: Yes.
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Ladi Adefala: I see you.
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Ladi Adefala: I hear you.
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Lisa Nichols: I hear you.
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Lisa Nichols: I know.
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Lisa Nichols: And she was so she was so happy to get her H appy.
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Lisa Nichols: But, you know, I mean, Ladi, I just, I I really
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Lisa Nichols: respected you before that meeting, and I came away from that meeting going, this
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Lisa Nichols: guy is exceptional.
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Lisa Nichols: I mean, you brought something extra that day.
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Lisa Nichols: So,
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Lisa Nichols: all glory goes to God.
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Lisa Nichols: I know.
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Lisa Nichols: I do.
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Lisa Nichols: But let's get into because there's so much to you.
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Lisa Nichols: But, you know, let's talk about, like, what shaped you.
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Lisa Nichols: Tell tell me just a little bit about your growing up, if you would.
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Lisa Nichols: What are the moments that shaped who you are today, Ladi?
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Ladi Adefala: Wow.
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Ladi Adefala: That's a great question.
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Ladi Adefala: I think, you know, it's always helpful to go back, like you said, to
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Ladi Adefala: what shapes our lives.
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Ladi Adefala: So I grew up in Nigeria, which is West Africa.
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Ladi Adefala: And a lot of the value systems I
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Ladi Adefala: have outside of, like, you know, apart from the spiritual
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Ladi Adefala: kind of rootedness,
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Ladi Adefala: comes from that.
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Ladi Adefala: So for example, things like, you know, hard work and all of those
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Ladi Adefala: things, I think, come from, you know, just growing up
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Ladi Adefala: with parents and in a country where you have two extremes.
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Ladi Adefala: You know?
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Ladi Adefala: You have, you know, extremely wealthy, but then you have, you know I
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Ladi Adefala: mean, it's very
6:28
Ladi Adefala: yeah.
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Ladi Adefala: When you when you go when you think about hum humble beginnings in a
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Ladi Adefala: place like Nigeria or West Africa, it's so much different than humble
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Ladi Adefala: beginnings like anywhere else.
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Ladi Adefala: At least from my perspective, it's like, wow.
6:42
Ladi Adefala: That's that's crazy.
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Ladi Adefala: So I think, yeah.
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Ladi Adefala: So, definitely, those were those were moments where
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Ladi Adefala: I'll tell you an interesting story just to kinda to center
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Ladi Adefala: us on what I mean by, you know, being shaped by that.
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Lisa Nichols: Yes.
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Ladi Adefala: There were times when my mom,
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Ladi Adefala: who didn't have a car, by the way, didn't have a car,
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Ladi Adefala: would go get groceries.
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Ladi Adefala: And,
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Ladi Adefala: and this was like I mean, transportation.
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Ladi Adefala: It was public transportation, buses, but they would
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Ladi Adefala: not take you to your house.
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Ladi Adefala: Right?
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Ladi Adefala: So so she had a walking distance of, say,
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Ladi Adefala: I wanna say about half a mile, and she would be
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Ladi Adefala: carrying pounds and pounds of bags of
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Ladi Adefala: stuff, food to come feed the family.
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Ladi Adefala: And,
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Ladi Adefala: when you grow up seeing that and then there were other
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Ladi Adefala: parents, r ight?
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Ladi Adefala: There were other people that you see that, you know, cruising in the cars
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Ladi Adefala: and, you know, you put stuff.
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Lisa Nichols: Probably did something in you to make you hungry, you know, to not
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Lisa Nichols: for yourself, but for for others because I know you're
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Lisa Nichols: all about other people.
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Lisa Nichols: So wow.
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Lisa Nichols: Well, tell me about coming to the S tates.
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Lisa Nichols: When did you come to the S tates?
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Lisa Nichols: Tell me about that.
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Ladi Adefala: That's a good one.
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Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
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Ladi Adefala: So my journey to the states, was really a God
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Ladi Adefala: moment.
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Lisa Nichols: Okay.
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Ladi Adefala: You know, it was closer to the year two thousand.
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Ladi Adefala: I don't know if you remember the whole Y2K.
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Lisa Nichols: Oh, yeah.
8:27
Lisa Nichols: The world was gonna end.
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Ladi Adefala: The world was gonna end.
8:29
Ladi Adefala: Right?
8:30
Ladi Adefala: But Yeah.
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Ladi Adefala: Up to that, I had I had actually just graduated
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Ladi Adefala: about two years ago in ninety ninety eight.
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Ladi Adefala: Thereabout actually, I was working in ninety eight, and I had a couple of
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Ladi Adefala: job offers.
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Ladi Adefala: One of them was for Anderson Consulting in Nigeria.
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Ladi Adefala: But at the time, I was also exploring because of, like, hey.
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Ladi Adefala: You know, we need all the tech expertise of the US because it's like,
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Ladi Adefala: a thing is coming, and we need people that understand technology.
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Ladi Adefala: So I had put out a couple of resumes out on the Internet back
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Ladi Adefala: then, and, I had an uncle that worked at Oracle here.
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Ladi Adefala: Anyway, so I've kind of, like, floated resumes out.
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Ladi Adefala: But I also had an opportunity
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Ladi Adefala: to enroll in the UK for my master's in engineering computer engineering
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Ladi Adefala: program.
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Ladi Adefala: So these are all, like, you have irons in the fire and you're thinking
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Ladi Adefala: and, you know,
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Ladi Adefala: as god would have it, like I said, it's a god moment, as god
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Ladi Adefala: would have it, all three of them came through.
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Ladi Adefala: I got an offer to work at Accenture, okay, at Hudson Consulting back then.
9:39
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
9:40
Ladi Adefala: Those I remember, I got my almost like it
9:44
Ladi Adefala: it wasn't a full scholarship, but it was really a financial financially aided
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Ladi Adefala: kind of enrollment at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London.
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Ladi Adefala: So that came.
9:54
Ladi Adefala: And then this offer came,
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Ladi Adefala: from a company here in the US.
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Ladi Adefala: It was a consulting company that worked with AT and T, actually based out
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Ladi Adefala: of Saint Louis.
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Ladi Adefala: And they had an offer with my visa and all the stuff, you
10:08
Ladi Adefala: know, leading up to my green card and citizenship.
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Ladi Adefala: So they so all those three things came in.
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Ladi Adefala: So Yeah.
10:13
Ladi Adefala: Like, the question was, what do you do?
10:16
Lisa Nichols: Right.
10:16
Lisa Nichols: You had lots of good options.
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Ladi Adefala: And, you know, the god of the valleys is the god of the mountains,
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Ladi Adefala: I think.
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Ladi Adefala: And I think it's when we can go to him and say,
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Ladi Adefala: okay.
10:28
Ladi Adefala: I I'm I don't I don't any one of those choices,
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Ladi Adefala: they're good, but which is the best one because you can see the future
10:36
Ladi Adefala: and you know all things.
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Ladi Adefala: Anyway, so that's how I to cut a long story short,
10:41
Ladi Adefala: went down the path of the job offer.
10:44
Ladi Adefala: And the way God worked it out, once I, once I got to the
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Ladi Adefala: US and I got enrolled
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Ladi Adefala: with my green card process and all that stuff and with the company, found
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Ladi Adefala: out that AT and T at the time was also offering
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Ladi Adefala: financial,
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Ladi Adefala: you know, kind of a and and so I ended
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Ladi Adefala: up I ended up applying at WashU to actually do my MBA.
11:09
Ladi Adefala: So that's how God kinda worked all that out.
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Ladi Adefala: So I kinda got both, you know, all three and one and one.
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Ladi Adefala: I got the whole thing.
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Ladi Adefala: I got a job in the states.
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Ladi Adefala: I got my, you know, advanced education, post grad, and and then I
11:23
Ladi Adefala: got, yeah, I got everything through that.
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Ladi Adefala: So
11:26
Lisa Nichols: Better than you could hope or imagine.
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Ladi Adefala: You know, that's how he works.
11:30
Lisa Nichols: I know.
11:31
Lisa Nichols: Well, I'm so happy because we love having you here in Saint
11:35
Lisa Nichols: Louis.
11:37
Lisa Nichols: Oh, so so, Ladi, you know, when you think about your message
11:41
Lisa Nichols: yeah.
11:42
Lisa Nichols: I know, like, knowing your why Mhmm.
11:45
Lisa Nichols: Is really important to you.
11:47
Lisa Nichols: Right?
11:48
Lisa Nichols: When did that become real for you?
11:51
Lisa Nichols: And tell me what your why is, I mean, we're we're borrowing from Simon.
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Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
11:55
Ladi Adefala: Exactly.
11:56
Ladi Adefala: Actually, that's why.
11:57
Lisa Nihcols: Cousin Simon.
11:57
Ladi Adefala: You know, you know, it's interesting that, you know, I think to some
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Ladi Adefala: degree, I think many people a lot of people, actually, probably
12:05
Ladi Adefala: had some I can't describe what
12:09
Ladi Adefala: it was.
12:10
Ladi Adefala: But Simon Sinek came, and then he put words to what everybody was trying
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Ladi Adefala: to and everyone just, like, locked in.
12:17
Ladi Adefala: Like, that's exactly what I'm talking about.
12:19
Ladi Adefala: And, yeah, that's really when that became a thing.
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Ladi Adefala: For me, it was like, okay.
12:23
Ladi Adefala: So my why is pretty simple, and it's really what drives Omega three sixteen
12:27
Ladi Adefala: now is lifting the hearts and minds of everyone we come in contact
12:31
Ladi Adefala: with.
12:31
Ladi Adefala: That's just it.
12:32
Ladi Adefala: It's real simple.
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Ladi Adefala: We gotta lift up people, hearts and minds.
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Ladi Adefala: And, if we can do that, I think,
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Ladi Adefala: what God has done through us, right, through me,
12:46
Ladi Adefala: for example, because that's what God did for me.
12:48
Ladi Adefala: Right?
12:48
Ladi Adefala: He lifted me up from where I was to where I
12:52
Ladi Adefala: am right now, and he's still lifting.
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Ladi Adefala: He's still writing that story.
12:55
Ladi Adefala: So
12:55
Lisa Nichols: Amen.
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Ladi Adefala: That's why, it's the why now.
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Ladi Adefala: It's morphed over the years, I think, because initially, it was like, okay.
13:02
Ladi Adefala: I wanna do this.
13:03
Ladi Adefala: I wanna do this.
13:03
Ladi Adefala: I wanna do others and all.
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Ladi Adefala: But when when we really kind of crystallize it,
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Ladi Adefala: it's just lifting the hearts and minds of people.
13:11
Ladi Adefala: It really is.
13:12
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
13:13
Lisa Nichols: Well, I know you've lifted mine.
13:15
Lisa Nichols: So Oh, no.
13:17
Lisa Nichols: I know you have.
13:18
Lisa Nichols: You're so
13:18
Ladi Adefala: kind.
13:19
Ladi Adefala: So kind you are.
13:20
Lisa Nichols: Alright.
13:21
Lisa Nichols: Well, let's talk about, you know,
13:26
Lisa Nichols: seasons, wilderness seasons.
13:28
Lisa Nichols: Can you talk about that?
13:30
Lisa Nichols: And I know you have a favorite movie, and let's
13:34
Lisa Nichols: let's just go there.
13:36
Lisa Nichols: Let's talk about your favorite movie, and let's talk about wilderness.
13:39
Lisa Nichols: What does the wilderness season look like?
13:41
Lisa Nichols: What did the wilderness season look like for you?
13:44
Lisa Nichols: How did you get out of the wilderness season?
13:46
Lisa Nichols: And then let's tie it into your favorite movie, which I'm just gonna go
13:49
Lisa Nichols: in and say it, is Lion King.
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Ladi Adefala: Lion King is one of my favorite movies.
13:53
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
13:53
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
13:55
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
13:56
Ladi Adefala: So I think it helps to provide some
14:00
Ladi Adefala: context.
14:00
Ladi Adefala: Right?
14:02
Ladi Adefala: My thing is so much there's so much in that movie.
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Ladi Adefala: It is my favorite movie because
14:09
Ladi Adefala: it depicts a life journey, with Simba that,
14:13
Ladi Adefala: is unexpected.
14:15
Ladi Adefala: Right?
14:15
Ladi Adefala: Because he starts out thinking he wants to be a king.
14:18
Ladi Adefala: Right?
14:19
Ladi Adefala: There's a whole song.
14:19
Ladi Adefala: Like, I can't wait to be king.
14:21
Ladi Adefala: I can't wait to be king.
14:22
Lisa Nichols: Right.
14:23
Ladi Adefala: And then one event, right, losing his dad
14:29
Ladi Adefala: kind of forces him to run away
14:32
Ladi Adefala: from what he
14:35
Lisa Nichols: from what he wanted to do and who he was supposed to become.
14:39
Ladi Adefala: Mhmm.
14:40
Ladi Adefala: Right.
14:42
Ladi Adefala: So let me apply in my life in terms of wilderness seasons.
14:46
Ladi Adefala: There's been a ton of them, but this one, I think, is worthy
14:50
Ladi Adefala: of, of the time.
14:53
Ladi Adefala: Right?
14:53
Lisa Nichols: Let's do it.
14:54
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
14:55
Ladi Adefala: There was a time when, many moons ago, I was working
14:59
Ladi Adefala: for an organization, and, we were growing.
15:02
Ladi Adefala: So I was charged with growing a team.
15:05
Ladi Adefala: Right?
15:05
Ladi Adefala: And it's like, okay.
15:06
Ladi Adefala: We're growing a team.
15:07
Lisa Nichols: And
15:08
Ladi Adefala: and,
15:10
Ladi Adefala: at some point,
15:12
Ladi Adefala: I was,
15:15
Ladi Adefala: I was gonna hire this very seasoned person from
15:19
Ladi Adefala: a technology perspective.
15:20
Ladi Adefala: Much older, much wiser, just a lot more operating experience in a number of
15:24
Ladi Adefala: different areas.
15:25
Ladi Adefala: And I was like, this would be such a great addition to the team,
15:28
Ladi Adefala: so let's try to see what we can do.
15:30
Ladi Adefala: So I went through interviews.
15:31
Ladi Adefala: Anyway, long story short,
15:34
Ladi Adefala: the leadership at my organization then decided
15:39
Ladi Adefala: that,
15:41
Ladi Adefala: yeah, instead of me actually
15:46
Ladi Adefala: running the organization, this you know, part of the organization that I
15:50
Ladi Adefala: was responsible for, that this person that I was already I mean, we were,
15:54
Ladi Adefala: like, the last stage.
15:55
Ladi Adefala: You know, I was like, hey.
15:56
Ladi Adefala: This is the off you know?
15:58
Ladi Adefala: They said, well, we're gonna kinda switch roles here.
16:01
Ladi Adefala: So you can
16:05
Lisa Nichols: That had to pinch.
16:07
Lisa Nichols: Here you are hiring for this person, and then you end
16:11
Lisa Nichols: up
16:13
Lisa Nichols: working for the person.
16:14
Lisa Nichols: Right.
16:15
Ladi Adefala: That's that's that's exactly that's exactly how it's and, you
16:19
Ladi Adefala: know,
16:20
Ladi Adefala: I think in life, there's, there are moments
16:24
Ladi Adefala: the wilderness moments are moments for reflection.
16:28
Ladi Adefala: They're there
16:30
Ladi Adefala: to redirect you.
16:32
Ladi Adefala: Sometimes Mhmm.
16:33
Ladi Adefala: Sometimes they force us in directions we should have found ourselves.
16:37
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
16:37
Ladi Adefala: Right?
16:38
Ladi Adefala: Sometimes they kinda right?
16:39
Ladi Adefala: Anyway, so, of course, when that first happened, I was like,
16:44
Ladi Adefala: So and then, you know, the team was like, oh, you know, some of
16:48
Ladi Adefala: you leaders are no.
16:49
Ladi Adefala: We're not I mean, it was just, like, chaotic.
16:53
Ladi Adefala: But then I went to God,
16:57
Ladi Adefala: and all I could hear was, okay.
17:00
Ladi Adefala: So your ego and your pride are talking right now.
17:04
Ladi Adefala: Let's just remember what the word says.
17:06
Ladi Adefala: Right?
17:07
Ladi Adefala: God gives grace to the humble.
17:11
Ladi Adefala: He resists the proud.
17:13
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
17:14
Ladi Adefala: Even though again, I mean, things can happen to you or for
17:18
Ladi Adefala: you.
17:18
Ladi Adefala: It just depends on your context and your perspective.
17:21
Ladi Adefala: So I mean, don't get me wrong.
17:23
Ladi Adefala: I was still kicking and screaming, but I was like, okay.
17:26
Ladi Adefala: I'll try this out for a couple of, for a couple of months to
17:29
Ladi Adefala: see what happens.
17:30
Ladi Adefala: Tried it out, didn't work, ended up saying no.
17:35
Ladi Adefala: Can't do it.
17:36
Ladi Adefala: The leadership said, okay.
17:37
Ladi Adefala: Well, we're not gonna let you go.
17:39
Ladi Adefala: We're gonna put you somewhere else.
17:40
Ladi Adefala: We gotta find something else for you.
17:42
Ladi Adefala: That's fine if you don't wanna do this anymore.
17:44
Ladi Adefala: They did.
17:45
Ladi Adefala: And I gotta tell you, Lisa, that was, that was a very difficult
17:49
Ladi Adefala: time when you talk about a very difficult time because when
17:53
Ladi Adefala: your identity is kinda tied to who you your
17:56
Lisa Nichols: work Yes.
17:59
Lisa Nichols: Oh,
18:01
Lisa Nichols: now you're opening up a a really big subject right here.
18:04
Lisa Nichols: I mean, it's so true, Ladi.
18:07
Lisa Nichols: Tell me about that.
18:08
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
18:08
Ladi Adefala: Because my identity up until then was tied to, oh,
18:13
Ladi Adefala: this is you know?
18:14
Ladi Adefala: And, in in many ways,
18:18
Ladi Adefala: God was telling me that my job
18:21
Ladi Adefala: had been my God.
18:23
Ladi Adefala: Mhmm.
18:24
Ladi Adefala: Right?
18:25
Ladi Adefala: And I had forgotten who actually gave me the job.
18:29
Ladi Adefala: Right?
18:29
Ladi Adefala: The Yes.
18:30
Ladi Adefala: Right?
18:31
Ladi Adefala: You know, we're worship worshiping the the, you know, the what was made,
18:35
Ladi Adefala: right, the creation instead of the creator's turn.
18:38
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
18:38
Ladi Adefala: And, anyway so,
18:41
Ladi Adefala: yeah, my day was tied.
18:42
Ladi Adefala: So it was really, really hard.
18:44
Ladi Adefala: You know?
18:45
Ladi Adefala: It was moments of, like, sleepless nights.
18:47
Ladi Adefala: I was like, this whole thing just I don't even know what to do,
18:50
Ladi Adefala: and I kind of wrestled with God,
18:53
Ladi Adefala: big time on this one.
18:55
Ladi Adefala: So I took a different role, which was not fulfilling.
18:58
Ladi Adefala: It was just empty.
19:00
Ladi Adefala: And, of course, when you're in a role where you feel empty, you your
19:03
Ladi Adefala: performance is just gonna it's there's no way.
19:06
Ladi Adefala: You can't you can't you can't do what you're supposed to do.
19:09
Lisa Nichols: Right.
19:10
Lisa Nichols: And other people are gonna feel it, Ladi.
19:12
Ladi Adefala: They are.
19:13
Ladi Adefala: They could see right through.
19:14
Lisa Nichols: Even though you you may click your cover,
19:18
Ladi Adefala: people can see right through that, and they did.
19:20
Ladi Adefala: Right?
19:20
Ladi Adefala: A lot of people kinda did.
19:22
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
19:22
Ladi Adefala: Anyway, it came to a point where I just, I remember this vividly.
19:27
Ladi Adefala: It was a Sunday night, and I was just down on my knees praying,
19:32
Ladi Adefala: you know, pray for guidance, wisdom, discernment, you know, what you want me to
19:35
Ladi Adefala: do here.
19:36
Ladi Adefala: And,
19:38
Ladi Adefala: you know, I just remember
19:41
Ladi Adefala: this may sound weird to some, but I just remember God speaking to me
19:45
Ladi Adefala: and saying, okay.
19:46
Ladi Adefala: Here's what I want you to do.
19:48
Ladi Adefala: I want you to leave your job,
19:51
Ladi Adefala: this role.
19:51
Ladi Adefala: Just leave the comp leave the role, leave everything, but here's what I want
19:55
Ladi Adefala: you to do.
19:55
Ladi Adefala: Here's the real kicker.
19:57
Ladi Adefala: I don't want you to find a different job.
19:59
Ladi Adefala: I want you to leave and just be without any safety net, just be
20:04
Ladi Adefala: without a job.
20:06
Ladi Adefala: And I'm like,
20:09
Ladi Adefala: are you am I hearing voices?
20:10
Ladi Adefala: Did I hear the
20:12
Lisa Nichols: Did I hear this right?
20:14
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
20:14
Ladi Adefala: You know, I don't know if you've
20:15
Lisa Nichols: been there.
20:15
Ladi Adefala: And for any Oh, yeah.
20:17
Ladi Adefala: For anyone that's ever, had some of those will
20:21
Ladi Adefala: those will those moments again as you're reflecting, and I really encourage you,
20:26
Ladi Adefala: yeah, to just dig deep in in scripture and connect with the
20:30
Ladi Adefala: lord because he's the only one that can really kinda,
20:34
Ladi Adefala: you know, make a way where there is no way.
20:36
Ladi Adefala: Anyway, so I was like so I kinda wrestle with that for another, like,
20:41
Ladi Adefala: months.
20:41
Ladi Adefala: Like, woman, do what?
20:42
Ladi Adefala: I don't have a job.
20:43
Ladi Adefala: I'm like, I got bills.
20:45
Ladi Adefala: I got all these things.
20:47
Ladi Adefala: I was like, no.
20:48
Ladi Adefala: This cannot be true.
20:49
Ladi Adefala: I gotta find them.
20:50
Ladi Adefala: And nope.
20:51
Ladi Adefala: It just kept coming back to got up.
20:53
Ladi Adefala: Nope.
20:54
Ladi Adefala: So, this seems like this always seems to happen on
20:58
Ladi Adefala: Sundays for me anyway.
21:00
Ladi Adefala: So there I was again.
21:02
Ladi Adefala: I was like, okay.
21:03
Ladi Adefala: Finally, Sunday night, a different Sunday night, I was like, okay.
21:06
Ladi Adefala: Go ahead.
21:06
Ladi Adefala: I just surrender.
21:08
Ladi Adefala: Okay.
21:09
Lisa Nichols: If you want me
21:09
Ladi Adefala: to leave this thing without having a job, I just surrender.
21:12
Ladi Adefala: But, you know, we try to negotiate with God sometimes.
21:16
Ladi Adefala: It's like, but but here's the but.
21:18
Ladi Adefala: Here's the real but but just to make sure I'm not crazy, can
21:22
Ladi Adefala: you give me a sign that I'll just it's like the whole story of
21:25
Ladi Adefala: Gideon and
21:26
Lisa Nichols: Gideon and the police.
21:27
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
21:28
Ladi Adefala: I just so that I just I can't I I wanna know
21:32
Ladi Adefala: that I'm not crazy.
21:33
Ladi Adefala: Right?
21:33
Lisa Nichols: Just Yeah.
21:34
Ladi Adefala: It's fine.
21:35
Ladi Adefala: And I could crystal clear.
21:37
Ladi Adefala: I could hear it.
21:38
Ladi Adefala: Still hear it now.
21:39
Ladi Adefala: It's like, okay.
21:39
Ladi Adefala: I'm not gonna give you a sign because whatever sign I give you, you're
21:43
Ladi Adefala: gonna try to figure a way out
21:44
Lisa Nichols: of it.
21:45
Lisa Nichols: You give me
21:45
Ladi Adefala: a sign.
21:46
Ladi Adefala: What do you want to be the sign?
21:48
Ladi Adefala: Right?
21:48
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
21:49
Ladi Adefala: Which is, again, if you follow what Gideon is like, okay.
21:51
Ladi Adefala: Gideon is the one that came up with.
21:52
Ladi Adefala: Hey.
21:53
Ladi Adefala: Let this be the okay.
21:54
Ladi Adefala: So I okay.
21:55
Ladi Adefala: I was like, hey.
21:55
Ladi Adefala: Here's the thing.
21:56
Ladi Adefala: Tomorrow's Monday.
21:58
Ladi Adefala: We usually have a leadership meeting.
22:00
Ladi Adefala: You know?
22:00
Ladi Adefala: If my, you know, superiors at that time, they say, let's go out to
22:04
Ladi Adefala: lunch, because Mondays would jam packed with meetings and nobody's going to lunch.
22:08
Ladi Adefala: People Yeah.
22:09
Ladi Adefala: Lunch in.
22:09
Ladi Adefala: It's like jam packed.
22:11
Ladi Adefala: If they say, let's go out to lunch, I will take that as a
22:15
Ladi Adefala: sign, and I will turn in my resignation.
22:19
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
22:20
Ladi Adefala: So
22:20
Lisa Nichols: So what happened?
22:22
Lisa Nichols: It's not Monday.
22:25
Ladi Adefala: Come Monday.
22:25
Ladi Adefala: I'm in the leadership meeting.
22:27
Ladi Adefala: And, of course, I'm not paying attention.
22:29
Ladi Adefala: Right?
22:29
Ladi Adefala: Because when you make a deal with God, you better stay true to
22:33
Ladi Adefala: that deal.
22:34
Ladi Adefala: Right?
22:34
Ladi Adefala: So I kinda so all I was playing in my head is, are they
22:36
Ladi Adefala: gonna ask me to lunch?
22:37
Ladi Adefala: Are they gonna ask me to lunch?
22:38
Ladi Adefala: Are they gonna ask me to lunch?
22:38
Ladi Adefala: Are they gonna ask me to lunch?
22:39
Ladi Adefala: And finally, you know what?
22:40
Ladi Adefala: Five or ten minutes before the time, they're like, hey, Ladi.
22:43
Ladi Adefala: Do you wanna go to lunch?
22:45
Ladi Adefala: I almost peed in my pants.
22:47
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
22:48
Lisa Nichols: I almost I really did.
22:49
Lisa Nichols: I almost peed in my pants.
22:50
Ladi Adefala: I I kid you not.
22:52
Lisa Nichols: Wow.
22:52
Ladi Adefala: At that moment
22:54
Lisa Nichols: Pretty clear.
22:55
Ladi Adefala: It it was like crystal.
22:57
Ladi Adefala: There's no how
22:58
Lisa Nichols: Oh, I love that.
22:59
Ladi Adefala: World.
23:00
Ladi Adefala: Do you you know?
23:01
Ladi Adefala: So,
23:03
Ladi Adefala: before we sat down at the table at lunch
23:07
Ladi Adefala: because I was afraid if I sat down, I would try to wiggle my
23:11
Ladi Adefala: way out of it.
23:12
Ladi Adefala: Yep.
23:12
Ladi Adefala: Oh, guys, hey.
23:13
Ladi Adefala: I got something I got to tell.
23:14
Ladi Adefala: I got something I got to tell.
23:15
Ladi Adefala: Right?
23:16
Ladi Adefala: Oh, you got something?
23:17
Ladi Adefala: Okay.
23:17
Ladi Adefala: What yes.
23:18
Ladi Adefala: It's like, I gotta go.
23:19
Ladi Adefala: I've been like, what do you mean you gotta go?
23:20
Ladi Adefala: Are you planning?
23:21
Ladi Adefala: I'm like, yeah.
23:22
Ladi Adefala: I'm leaving the company, and I'm going to,
23:26
Ladi Adefala: just leave the company.
23:27
Ladi Adefala: They're like, where are you going?
23:28
Ladi Adefala: Like, you know, go anywhere.
23:29
Ladi Adefala: I don't they're like, are you are you are you serious?
23:33
Ladi Adefala: Right.
23:33
Ladi Adefala: Are you lying or what?
23:34
Ladi Adefala: Right.
23:35
Ladi Adefala: I'm I'm I'm, like, dead serious.
23:36
Ladi Adefala: I don't know.
23:39
Ladi Adefala: And, you know, the most remarkable thing happened,
23:43
Ladi Adefala: Lisa.
23:44
Ladi Adefala: And, you know, couple long story.
23:46
Ladi Adefala: I mean, there were all kinds of you know, people came.
23:49
Ladi Adefala: Hey.
23:49
Ladi Adefala: You know, we gotta stay two weeks.
23:51
Ladi Adefala: Go take your vacation or whatever.
23:53
Ladi Adefala: Come back.
23:54
Ladi Adefala: We're gonna find something you can't leave, blah blah blah, all that stuff.
23:57
Ladi Adefala: But nobody really knew the the inner kind of the what was
24:01
Ladi Adefala: really going on.
24:01
Ladi Adefala: Right?
24:02
Lisa Nichols: Right.
24:02
Lisa Nichols: They didn't know the deal that you had made with I
24:04
Ladi Adefala: had made.
24:05
Ladi Adefala: Right?
24:05
Ladi Adefala: So it didn't matter.
24:07
Ladi Adefala: You couldn't pay me you couldn't pay me enough to
24:11
Ladi Adefala: stay there.
24:11
Ladi Adefala: I don't care what it was.
24:13
Ladi Adefala: I was, you know, like, you know what?
24:15
Ladi Adefala: And, oh, by the way,
24:18
Ladi Adefala: the day I left, the day I turned in, there was
24:23
Ladi Adefala: a peace that I can't even describe.
24:26
Ladi Adefala: When the Bible talks about a piece that surpasses understanding Yeah.
24:30
Ladi Adefala: A lot of people are like, I don't know.
24:31
Ladi Adefala: I didn't have a job.
24:32
Ladi Adefala: I didn't know I was gonna pay my bills.
24:34
Ladi Adefala: I didn't have all these other things.
24:36
Ladi Adefala: Now the company was so kind.
24:38
Ladi Adefala: They also gave me, like, a severance package.
24:41
Ladi Adefala: Usually,
24:43
Ladi Adefala: you know, when severances are given when the company, you know, says, hey.
24:46
Ladi Adefala: You gotta go.
24:46
Ladi Adefala: I was the one that chose to leave, but they still wanted to because
24:50
Ladi Adefala: they knew I wasn't so even that, I didn't know what's happening.
24:53
Ladi Adefala: But when
24:54
Lisa Nichols: you did
24:54
Ladi Adefala: that, I was like
24:55
Lisa Nichols: What a gift.
24:56
Ladi Adefala: This is God's hand in this.
24:58
Ladi Adefala: Right?
24:58
Ladi Adefala: He said, I am the one that, you know, provides.
25:01
Lisa Nichols: Gonna provide.
25:03
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
25:03
Ladi Adefala: The Lord will provide.
25:05
Ladi Adefala: Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and everything else shall
25:08
Ladi Adefala: be added on to you.
25:09
Ladi Adefala: And, anyway, so I left there, and I was like, okay.
25:11
Ladi Adefala: Sounds like, you know, I was bawling to tears.
25:14
Ladi Adefala: And over the weekend, I gotta tell you,
25:19
Ladi Adefala: that single decision
25:23
Ladi Adefala: changed the course of my entire leadership
25:27
Ladi Adefala: career.
25:28
Ladi Adefala: I mean, it everything just changed.
25:29
Ladi Adefala: It was like
25:32
Ladi Adefala: because over that weekend,
25:35
Ladi Adefala: I guess the news kinda got out, and a couple of people started reaching
25:38
Ladi Adefala: out to me.
25:38
Ladi Adefala: And my phone's going, hey.
25:39
Ladi Adefala: We heard you later.
25:40
Ladi Adefala: What's going on?
25:42
Ladi Adefala: And then by the the following week, people that I had known
25:46
Ladi Adefala: in the industry started reaching out saying, hey.
25:49
Ladi Adefala: That's awesome.
25:50
Ladi Adefala: Do you have a company that we can do business with?
25:52
Ladi Adefala: We value you.
25:53
Ladi Adefala: Can you do and, out of that was born Omega three sixteen,
25:57
Ladi Adefala: and I had a Oh, wow.
25:58
Ladi Adefala: Like, that was one of my first clients was born from that.
26:03
Ladi Adefala: And then from there,
26:06
Ladi Adefala: the blessings from the Lord just kept coming and coming
26:10
Ladi Adefala: and coming.
26:11
Ladi Adefala: So if there's anything I can tell people,
26:15
Ladi Adefala: encourage them,
26:18
Ladi Adefala: You know, sometimes
26:20
Ladi Adefala: we don't nobody wants to hear this when you're in the wilderness, when you're
26:24
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
26:25
Ladi Adefala: Thick of adversity and trial and nobody you
26:29
Ladi Adefala: you can't you know,
26:31
Ladi Adefala: it's after you're out of it, you can look back and see it.
26:35
Ladi Adefala: But I would encourage you,
26:39
Ladi Adefala: there's a purpose in there as you seek the lord.
26:42
Ladi Adefala: There is something there's something big.
26:46
Ladi Adefala: Right?
26:46
Ladi Adefala: The strength comes from the struggle.
26:48
Ladi Adefala: And man, oh, man, after that, it was just it was a
26:52
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
26:53
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
26:53
Lisa Nichols: I love that story.
26:55
Lisa Nichols: Thank you so much for sharing that because we didn't get a chance to
26:58
Lisa Nichols: talk about that when we had when we had lunch.
27:01
Lisa Nichols: Because you you know what?
27:02
Lisa Nichols: Let me say this to you, and then we do need to take a
27:04
Lisa Nichols: quick break.
27:05
Lisa Nichols: The other thing that really, impressed me about Ladi when we had
27:09
Lisa Nichols: lunch was Ladi brings out his journal.
27:14
Ladi Adefala: Oh, thank you.
27:16
Lisa Nichols: And Ladi had all these questions for me,
27:20
Lisa Nichols: that were all written down in his journal.
27:22
Lisa Nichols: So you, like, you you got to ask more questions than I
27:26
Lisa Nichols: did.
27:27
Lisa Nichols: So I'm turning the tables on you here, Ladi, but, I was so
27:31
Lisa Nichols: impressed by that.
27:32
Lisa Nichols: And I'm like, that's a leadership lesson there too, Ladi.
27:36
Lisa Nichols: When you're when it's intentionality,
27:39
Lisa Nichols: you know, you had already kinda thought through.
27:42
Lisa Nichols: Now I'm having this lunch with Lisa.
27:44
Lisa Nichols: Here's the things I would love to know from her, and you came
27:48
Lisa Nichols: prepared.
27:49
Lisa Nichols: I had an old boss, Ladi.
27:51
Lisa Nichols: He was a he was a marine, and he drilled
27:56
Lisa Nichols: many things into me.
27:57
Lisa Nichols: But the one thing that he drilled that I will never forget, I'm I'm
28:00
Lisa Nichols: praying if God lets me live till I'm ninety.
28:02
Lisa Nichols: I'll still remember this, but he said, failing to prepare is preparing to fail.
28:06
Lisa Nichols: You know?
28:07
Lisa Nichols: And, and I just thought, wow.
28:09
Lisa Nichols: You came so prepared
28:12
Lisa Nichols: for that that lunch, and I was so impressed by that.
28:15
Lisa Nichols: But that's just a really good leadership lesson too for people.
28:17
Lisa Nichols: You know?
28:18
Lisa Nichols: If somebody's gonna take the time, you know, just make sure that you know
28:21
Lisa Nichols: what you want to, you know, talk about in that in that conversation.
28:25
Lisa Nichols: But we do need to take a quick break.
28:27
Lisa Nichols: I've got lots more questions for you, Ladi.
28:29
Lisa Nichols: But we'll take a quick break, and then we'll come right back with Ladi
28:32
Lisa Nichols: Adefala.
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29:03
Lisa Nichols: So welcome back, everyone.
29:05
Lisa Nichols: This is Something Extra podcast with my friend, Ladi Adefala.
29:08
Lisa Nichols: And, we've been having a little sidebar conversation here in
29:12
Lisa Nichols: the in between that won't go into the podcast, but, you know, we were
29:16
Lisa Nichols: just talking about all in moments, Ladi.
29:19
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
29:19
Ladi Adefala: We
29:19
Lisa Nichols: were.
29:20
Lisa Nichols: You know?
29:21
Lisa Nichols: And,
29:22
Lisa Nichols: I mean, you had an all in moment.
29:24
Lisa Nichols: You're like, god, this is I I asked you about this, and
29:29
Lisa Nichols: I'm going.
29:30
Lisa Nichols: You know?
29:31
Lisa Nichols: It wasn't
29:32
Lisa Nichols: I told I've had many all in moments.
29:34
Lisa Nichols: You know, there's been times in technology partners that were really hard, and
29:38
Lisa Nichols: you're like, really?
29:40
Lisa Nichols: I mean, do we need to keep going?
29:41
Lisa Nichols: But if God's called you to it, he'll equip you for it.
29:45
Lisa Nichols: Right?
29:45
Lisa Nichols: And, I said, just because it's hard, doesn't mean it's not right.
29:49
Ladi Adefala: That is money.
29:50
Ladi Adefala: That is so true.
29:51
Ladi Adefala: That is it really
29:52
Lisa Nichols: is.
29:53
Lisa Nichols: True.
29:53
Ladi Adefala: Because it's hard.
29:54
Ladi Adefala: And like we were talking about, that may be and I'm not saying it
29:58
Ladi Adefala: always is, but that may be a sign that, okay.
30:02
Ladi Adefala: This is something meaningful and, therefore, resistance in the form of whatever you
30:06
Ladi Adefala: wanna call it.
30:06
Ladi Adefala: Right?
30:08
Ladi Adefala: The adversary is trying to stop that.
30:10
Ladi Adefala: And that yeah.
30:11
Ladi Adefala: Anytime he gets wind of something good, it shows I mean,
30:15
Ladi Adefala: resistance shows up.
30:16
Ladi Adefala: If you wanna, like, do nothing or just waste your life away,
30:21
Ladi Adefala: you won't yeah.
30:22
Ladi Adefala: It's easy.
30:22
Ladi Adefala: You won't find resistance coming in.
30:24
Ladi Adefala: But yeah.
30:25
Lisa Nichols: That's such a good word.
30:27
Lisa Nichols: That's such a good word, and that should bring hope to people.
30:29
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
30:30
Lisa Nichols: They're in that, season.
30:32
Lisa Nichols: Lonnie, I mean, we were talking about the wilderness before.
30:38
Lisa Nichols: What I want to say to our listeners is everybody goes through wildernesses.
30:43
Lisa Nichols: Right?
30:44
Lisa Nichols: If you are in a wilderness right now, you are not alone.
30:48
Lisa Nichols: Nope.
30:48
Lisa Nichols: I've
30:49
Lisa Nichols: Ladi just described his wilderness.
30:51
Lisa Nichols: I've been through wildernesses.
30:52
Lisa Nichols: Everybody if you haven't gone through one, get ready because you will.
30:56
Lisa Nichols: Right?
30:58
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
30:58
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
30:59
Lisa Nichols: And what I would say is for Ladi and I, it's our faith
31:03
Lisa Nichols: that really anchors us.
31:05
Lisa Nichols: You know?
31:05
Lisa Nichols: I when our ship is going crazy, you gotta
31:09
Lisa Nichols: have that anchor.
31:10
Lisa Nichols: Right?
31:11
Lisa Nichols: But whatever it is, finding find, find
31:15
Lisa Nichols: an anchor.
31:16
Ladi Adefala: Amen.
31:16
Lisa Nichols: You know, it may not be what anchors us, but find an anchor and
31:20
Lisa Nichols: just hold on.
31:22
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
31:23
Lisa Nichols: Hold on because it it gets better.
31:26
Lisa Nichols: It does.
31:26
Lisa Nichols: Don't you think?
31:27
Lisa Nichols: And it's like, don't give up.
31:29
Lisa Nichols: Don't give up.
31:30
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
31:30
Ladi Adefala: Don't give up.
31:31
Ladi Adefala: And
31:33
Ladi Adefala: to your point, if there's anyone listening, and I'm trying to just walk in
31:36
Ladi Adefala: their shoes right now because there's different types of, wildernesses,
31:40
Ladi Adefala: right, with kids, with family.
31:43
Ladi Adefala: It may not just even be yours.
31:44
Ladi Adefala: Right?
31:45
Ladi Adefala: Sometimes, you know, it's something that you can't control.
31:49
Ladi Adefala: You have no it's not you know, sometimes we find ourselves in the wildernesses
31:53
Ladi Adefala: that we we created ourselves.
31:55
Ladi Adefala: Right?
31:55
Ladi Adefala: We're the ones that that dove
31:57
Lisa Nichols: in the ways.
31:57
Ladi Adefala: Right?
31:58
Ladi Adefala: But other times, it's just things happen.
32:00
Ladi Adefala: And,
32:02
Ladi Adefala: but I would agree with Lisa on that one.
32:06
Ladi Adefala: Definitely staying anchored in faith is one piece of it
32:11
Ladi Adefala: or, again, whatever your if you have a higher power, whatever it is,
32:15
Ladi Adefala: I think gives you, a center.
32:18
Ladi Adefala: But I would also say, try to surround yourself
32:22
Ladi Adefala: with,
32:25
Ladi Adefala: quote, unquote, the right people.
32:27
Ladi Adefala: Right?
32:28
Ladi Adefala: And the right people, it may sound it may sound easy, but it's not
32:32
Ladi Adefala: that obvious sometimes because you want people that
32:36
Ladi Adefala: will that will walk alongside with alongside you
32:40
Ladi Adefala: in that moment.
32:42
Ladi Adefala: Again, when it comes back to faith, people that will pray for you, not
32:46
Ladi Adefala: people that will behind your back or whatever start saying, oh,
32:50
Ladi Adefala: this person no.
32:51
Ladi Adefala: That's not you want trusted, a small circle of people
32:56
Ladi Adefala: that can lift you up Mhmm.
32:58
Ladi Adefala: In in those times because everybody goes through.
33:01
Lisa Nichols: Absolutely.
33:02
Lisa Nichols: You know, and if you're not going through one of those times right now,
33:05
Lisa Nichols: be it for somebody else, Ladi.
33:07
Ladi Adefala: Oh, that's a good one.
33:08
Lisa Nichols: Be it for somebody else.
33:10
Lisa Nichols: That's a good one.
33:11
Lisa Nichols: Right?
33:11
Lisa Nichols: So,
33:13
Lisa Nichols: well, let's talk about gosh.
33:15
Lisa Nichols: I've got so much I wanna talk to you about.
33:18
Lisa Nichols: I wanna talk more about Omega three sixteen.
33:21
Lisa Nichols: But I there's something that I read, and maybe we'll, like, go here.
33:25
Lisa Nichols: This is a leadership podcast, so I wanna talk all about leadership.
33:28
Lisa Nichols: But I had read
33:31
Lisa Nichols: somewhere, and, now let me see where I had put
33:36
Lisa Nichols: this.
33:36
Lisa Nichols: You know, you've got, like, I don't know what you like,
33:41
Lisa Nichols: principles,
33:43
Lisa Nichols: what I wanna say, maybe some,
33:48
Lisa Nichols: not hacks, but things that you kinda live by.
33:51
Lisa Nichols: And one is autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
33:54
Ladi Adefala: Oh, yeah.
33:54
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
33:55
Ladi Adefala: Written
33:55
Lisa Nichols: from Daniel Pink, which I love that book Drive.
33:59
Ladi Adefala: Yep.
33:59
Ladi Adefala: That's right.
34:00
Lisa Nichols: Drive.
34:00
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
34:01
Lisa Nichols: Talk about and you said you recommend dedicating one to two hours
34:05
Lisa Nichols: of amp time daily.
34:07
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
34:07
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
34:08
Lisa Nichols: You know, tell me about amp time because I think that'll help our
34:12
Lisa Nichols: listeners, Ladi.
34:13
Ladi Adefala: I I think so.
34:14
Ladi Adefala: I think so.
34:16
Ladi Adefala: So, yes, what Lisa's talking about is a habit that
34:20
Ladi Adefala: I really started developing in the wilderness moment.
34:25
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
34:25
Ladi Adefala: Right?
34:26
Ladi Adefala: Because,
34:28
Ladi Adefala: again, depending on what season of leadership you're in,
34:33
Ladi Adefala: time is the one thing that you don't have for anything else.
34:37
Ladi Adefala: Right?
34:37
Ladi Adefala: Because, you know, your time is just yeah.
34:40
Ladi Adefala: It's time in in general is precious.
34:42
Ladi Adefala: Right?
34:42
Ladi Adefala: It's the one thing you can't do.
34:43
Ladi Adefala: But, anyway, Mike, the the reason I kind of give the context is,
34:49
Ladi Adefala: what ends up happening is we spend all our
34:53
Ladi Adefala: time doing the work, right
34:57
Ladi Adefala: Without refueling where the work is, you know, coming from,
35:01
Ladi Adefala: so to speak.
35:03
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
35:03
Ladi Adefala: It's like we give, give, give, and there is very little
35:07
Ladi Adefala: intentional time for replenishment.
35:09
Ladi Adefala: Most of us are saying, because I'm in the doing mode, because I'm an
35:13
Ladi Adefala: executive, because I'm doing all these things that, you know, that's what I'm supposed
35:17
Ladi Adefala: to be doing.
35:18
Ladi Adefala: And I remember having a a meeting with one of the, one of the
35:21
Ladi Adefala: execs that I know, CEOs, and he's like, I feel guilty
35:26
Ladi Adefala: if I if I'm, you know, taking time for my own kind of personal
35:31
Ladi Adefala: group.
35:31
Ladi Adefala: I could do I was like, because you're never you're never really off
35:35
Ladi Adefala: even when you when you're off.
35:37
Ladi Adefala: That's great.
35:38
Ladi Adefala: You're always on, so I'm like, if you don't.
35:40
Ladi Adefala: So app time is,
35:43
Ladi Adefala: is the the intentional focus time.
35:46
Ladi Adefala: And, usually, for me, it's in the mornings.
35:48
Ladi Adefala: Right?
35:49
Ladi Adefala: So I do my quiet time.
35:50
Ladi Adefala: I do my workouts.
35:52
Ladi Adefala: And then, anything before I even look at even
35:56
Ladi Adefala: before any of that stuff, it's AMP time.
35:58
Ladi Adefala: Whatever works for you.
35:59
Ladi Adefala: If it's podcast, if it's a book, if it's listening to
36:04
Ladi Adefala: whatever that may be.
36:05
Ladi Adefala: But the intentional audit, though, is that you have to
36:09
Ladi Adefala: make sure that there's some level of growth that's happening.
36:15
Ladi Adefala: Daily.
36:16
Ladi Adefala: Daily.
36:17
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
36:18
Ladi Adefala: You have to you you know, again, it's really easy to ignore it.
36:21
Ladi Adefala: It's the first thing people wanna you you know, it's like working out.
36:24
Ladi Adefala: It's like working out.
36:25
Ladi Adefala: It's like, okay.
36:25
Ladi Adefala: So the physical workout was great.
36:27
Ladi Adefala: You're like, okay.
36:27
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
36:27
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
36:27
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
36:28
Ladi Adefala: You know?
36:28
Ladi Adefala: Oh, I'm I'm in shape.
36:29
Ladi Adefala: Well, here's what happens.
36:31
Ladi Adefala: You may be in shape today, but trust me.
36:38
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
36:38
Lisa Nichols: If you don't do
36:39
Lisa Nichols: the workout, you won't be in shape tomorrow.
36:40
Lisa Nichols: That's for sure.
36:41
Lisa Nichols: And the older we get, the harder it is.
36:43
Lisa Nichols: Let me tell you.
36:44
Ladi Adefala: I'm just like, okay.
36:45
Ladi Adefala: So yeah.
36:46
Ladi Adefala: So, yeah.
36:47
Ladi Adefala: So with that, you know, I started I do a a a you
36:51
Ladi Adefala: mentioned that earlier in terms of the the books.
36:54
Ladi Adefala: So for me, it's definitely reading.
36:56
Ladi Adefala: I do mostly audiobooks.
36:58
Ladi Adefala: I still do, like, hard copy sometimes, but mostly audiobooks, just because
37:02
Ladi Adefala: I'm out of bag and flying, all that stuff.
37:05
Ladi Adefala: Yes.
37:06
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
37:06
Ladi Adefala: And, I started out with, hey.
37:08
Ladi Adefala: Let's see what we can do with one book a month.
37:11
Ladi Adefala: I think I've read somewhere that Warren Buffett or one of these guy.
37:13
Ladi Adefala: They, like, they do, like, fifty two books a year or something, and I'm
37:17
Ladi Adefala: like, oh, that's crazy.
37:18
Ladi Adefala: I'm like, how is that even possible?
37:20
Ladi Adefala: Right?
37:20
Lisa Nichols: I uncle Warren uncle Warren spends, like, five or six
37:24
Lisa Nichols: hours a day just reading a lotting.
37:27
Ladi Adefala: I don't mean
37:27
Lisa Nichols: and I'm like,
37:28
Ladi Adefala: well, I can't do that, but here's what I can do.
37:30
Ladi Adefala: Right?
37:30
Ladi Adefala: Let me just try and see
37:31
Lisa Nichols: what Yes.
37:32
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
37:32
Ladi Adefala: So, yeah, started trying to be one book a a month, and,
37:37
Ladi Adefala: you know, God had everything to do with this again to him be the
37:40
Ladi Adefala: glory, but now, we average about well, I average about eight
37:45
Ladi Adefala: eight every month.
37:46
Lisa Nichols: Eight books a month.
37:47
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
37:48
Lisa Nichols: I want you to tell our listeners because you you were so sweet.
37:51
Lisa Nichols: You're like, your book is gonna go on my list.
37:54
Lisa Nichols: And so you have this list of books, and you kind
37:59
Lisa Nichols: of summarize the books, and you send that out, I guess, on a monthly
38:02
Lisa Nichols: basis or whatever.
38:04
Ladi Adefala: I do.
38:04
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
38:05
Ladi Adefala: So yeah.
38:05
Ladi Adefala: So from that, and, again, I think it's one of those where you if
38:09
Ladi Adefala: you have the the mindset of trying to give, if you're trying to give
38:12
Ladi Adefala: to others
38:13
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
38:15
Ladi Adefala: You know, if I think it's a you know, if you have something that's
38:19
Ladi Adefala: you think will be of value to somebody else and which is the whole
38:22
Ladi Adefala: premise of this.
38:23
Ladi Adefala: It started, again, it started with one person saying, hey.
38:26
Ladi Adefala: You know?
38:27
Ladi Adefala: You have that?
38:27
Ladi Adefala: Can you do Can you do it?
38:29
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
38:29
Lisa Nichols: Hide it.
38:30
Ladi Adefala: So I kinda curated it.
38:31
Ladi Adefala: I just tell them, you know, nothing too heavy.
38:34
Ladi Adefala: Don't wanna, you know, be smaller words.
38:36
Ladi Adefala: But, yeah, just a synopsis.
38:37
Ladi Adefala: Here's what this book is about.
38:38
Ladi Adefala: It's about leadership or it's about boards.
38:40
Ladi Adefala: It's about m and a.
38:41
Ladi Adefala: It's about private, whatever that means.
38:43
Ladi Adefala: And then I give some of the insights that I think are, value
38:48
Ladi Adefala: and some that I strongly recommend.
38:49
Ladi Adefala: Right?
38:50
Ladi Adefala: I say
38:50
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
38:50
Ladi Adefala: Strongly recommend for this.
38:52
Ladi Adefala: If you're going through this right now, this is Yes.
38:54
Ladi Adefala: And then I send it to, you know, just a select few.
38:58
Ladi Adefala: And I think some people think it's like an automated.
39:01
Ladi Adefala: It's not.
39:02
Ladi Adefala: It's it's a select few folks that I which maybe after this
39:06
Ladi Adefala: podcast, I think.
39:07
Lisa Nichols: You're gonna have people let me on
39:09
Ladi Adefala: the moon.
39:09
Ladi Adefala: Oh, yeah.
39:10
Ladi Adefala: But but it's an it's also an opportunity for me to check-in.
39:14
Lisa Nichols: I agree.
39:15
Lisa Nichols: Well, Ladi, I'm just thinking because I was on a call with, someone yesterday,
39:20
Lisa Nichols: as a matter of fact, and they were kinda describing a challenge to me.
39:24
Lisa Nichols: And here's why it's really important because, like, right now, I'm reading Mark Miller
39:28
Lisa Nichols: and Ken Blanchard's new book, The Secret.
39:32
Lisa Nichols: It's the fourth edition.
39:35
Lisa Nichols: Love Mark Miller.
39:36
Lisa Nichols: And, of course, Ken Blanchard was number two hundred on the Something Extra podcast
39:41
Lisa Nichols: and
39:41
Ladi Adefala: all love the man.
39:42
Ladi Adefala: Awesome.
39:43
Lisa Nichols: I still remember that conversation like it was yesterday.
39:47
Lisa Nichols: But, anyway, this person was describing this challenge to me, and I asked
39:51
Lisa Nichols: her.
39:52
Lisa Nichols: I said, have you read the
39:53
Lisa Nichols: book, The Secret?
39:54
Lisa Nichols: Because I really think I'm reading it right now.
39:56
Lisa Nichols: I think based on what you're describing to me, I think it will help
40:00
Lisa Nichols: you.
40:01
Lisa Nichols: So that's the other thing that you can do.
40:03
Lisa Nichols: Right?
40:03
Lisa Nichols: And that's another way to give, and we're just always trying to figure
40:07
Lisa Nichols: out how we can lift other people up.
40:09
Lisa Nichols: We can help them on their journey.
40:12
Lisa Nichols: So I just love that you that you do that.
40:14
Lisa Nichols: So let's talk about this.
40:15
Lisa Nichols: Okay?
40:16
Lisa Nichols: Because I I love this.
40:17
Lisa Nichols: I wanna hear more about this.
40:19
Lisa Nichols: You talk about a grain of rice on a cheese board.
40:24
Ladi Adefala: Yep.
40:25
Ladi Adefala: Yep.
40:25
Ladi Adefala: Yep.
40:25
Lisa Nichols: A grain of rice on a cheese board.
40:27
Lisa Nichols: Tell me about that.
40:28
Lisa Nichols: It's an analogy that you use.
40:30
Lisa Nichols: But what is that?
40:31
Ladi Adefala: It is.
40:33
Ladi Adefala: So it focuses on the on the power of compounding.
40:35
Ladi Adefala: Right?
40:36
Lisa Nichols: Because
40:37
Ladi Adefala: there's this story I mean, most people probably have heard it.
40:41
Ladi Adefala: Right?
40:41
Ladi Adefala: You put you know, it's it's the story of do you want, what would
40:45
Ladi Adefala: you rather prefer?
40:46
Ladi Adefala: Right?
40:47
Ladi Adefala: It's a a lump sum of, you know, three million
40:51
Ladi Adefala: bucks or two million bucks, or would you rather have a penny that
40:55
Ladi Adefala: doubles, you know, every day for the next thirty days?
40:58
Ladi Adefala: Well, it's the same principle with, the grain of rice.
41:00
Ladi Adefala: Right?
41:00
Ladi Adefala: Because the grain of rice is like, okay.
41:02
Ladi Adefala: You get which would you rather prefer?
41:04
Ladi Adefala: Would you prefer this bag of rice here or this grain
41:08
Ladi Adefala: that doubles across Yeah.
41:10
Ladi Adefala: The the chessboard over and believe it or not, that grain that
41:14
Ladi Adefala: doubles, you know, crosses it is a lot more.
41:18
Ladi Adefala: And it it's an illustration for the power of compounding.
41:21
Ladi Adefala: That's another thing I think we,
41:23
Ladi Adefala: I certainly did underestimate.
41:26
Ladi Adefala: We really do.
41:27
Ladi Adefala: And, you know, here's when you know you're underestimating it, when you
41:32
Ladi Adefala: think you're not.
41:33
Ladi Adefala: That's your that's your.
41:35
Ladi Adefala: You're like, no.
41:36
Ladi Adefala: I'm pretty no.
41:37
Ladi Adefala: No.
41:37
Ladi Adefala: You're not.
41:38
Ladi Adefala: Because I was there.
41:39
Ladi Adefala: I was like, oh, yeah.
41:40
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
41:41
Ladi Adefala: And and I'll give you the, you know,
41:59
Ladi Adefala: I'll use the book example.
42:01
Ladi Adefala: Right?
42:01
Ladi Adefala: When I first started, you know, I kinda read
42:03
Lisa Nichols: it, it's like, oh, this
42:04
Ladi Adefala: is crazy.
42:04
Ladi Adefala: I can't do it.
42:05
Ladi Adefala: I mean, fifty two books of who does that.
42:07
Ladi Adefala: I was like, book them up.
42:09
Ladi Adefala: I don't know how I'm gonna do that.
42:11
Ladi Adefala: I have no idea.
42:13
Lisa Nichols: Now you're
42:14
Ladi Adefala: What happens is, you start doing that, and
42:18
Ladi Adefala: then, you know, by the grace of God, you're like, oh, you know
42:22
Ladi Adefala: what?
42:22
Ladi Adefala: I got a rhythm going on here.
42:23
Ladi Adefala: Let's see.
42:24
Ladi Adefala: I've got a habit.
42:25
Ladi Adefala: Right?
42:25
Ladi Adefala: You know?
42:25
Ladi Adefala: I really, there's no way you can compound without having a habit.
42:28
Ladi Adefala: So then you find out that, okay.
42:30
Ladi Adefala: Well, habit's going, and I still got time.
42:33
Ladi Adefala: Okay.
42:34
Ladi Adefala: I can do two.
42:34
Ladi Adefala: I can do three, and it starts to compound.
42:37
Ladi Adefala: But then life in itself,
42:41
Ladi Adefala: what we give in life
42:44
Ladi Adefala: starts to compound.
42:48
Ladi Adefala: Alright.
42:49
Ladi Adefala: Sometimes you don't you're not when you're get when you're doing the giving, you're
42:53
Ladi Adefala: not really thinking about compounding.
42:55
Ladi Adefala: Right?
42:55
Ladi Adefala: Because if if that was if that was the purpose for the giving, then
43:00
Lisa Nichols: I guess you would be able to Right.
43:02
Ladi Adefala: Does that mean
43:03
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
43:04
Ladi Adefala: But it it starts to I it just you you can't even you
43:08
Ladi Adefala: can't even describe how it may not even come from the same source.
43:11
Ladi Adefala: It may come from different places.
43:13
Ladi Adefala: I remember where, I was asked to a friend of mine had reached out.
43:18
Ladi Adefala: Actually, a friend of a friend had reached out to me saying, hey.
43:21
Ladi Adefala: We need a speaker in Minneapolis for something, and we
43:25
Ladi Adefala: don't have a honorary.
43:26
Ladi Adefala: We can't pay you.
43:27
Ladi Adefala: We can't do all that.
43:28
Ladi Adefala: But, but, you know, this person said you're a friend, and you're really good
43:32
Ladi Adefala: at it, so we wanna you know?
43:34
Ladi Adefala: And,
43:36
Ladi Adefala: and she's like, would you be willing to fly out and just do this
43:40
Ladi Adefala: for us?
43:40
Ladi Adefala: I know we don't you know?
43:41
Ladi Adefala: And she's trying to sell me on all the business opportunities.
43:43
Ladi Adefala: Right?
43:43
Ladi Adefala: Well, you can I can introduce all these people?
43:45
Ladi Adefala: I was like, don't you don't you don't have don't worry about it.
43:48
Ladi Adefala: Right?
43:49
Ladi Adefala: Let me check my calendar.
43:50
Ladi Adefala: Let me see.
43:51
Ladi Adefala: You know?
43:51
Ladi Adefala: And I flew out there, and I did that.
43:54
Ladi Adefala: Three or four years later,
43:57
Ladi Adefala: I can't tell you how many other things
43:59
Lisa Nichols: Came from that.
44:01
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
44:01
Ladi Adefala: Just from that.
44:01
Ladi Adefala: Like, she connecting with this and all of a sudden, this person's like, oh,
44:04
Ladi Adefala: this is great.
44:05
Ladi Adefala: Now we got some board stuff.
44:06
Ladi Adefala: I mean, it's like anyway, so my point is the power of compounding, you
44:10
Ladi Adefala: can't the the financial part is, I think, is easy.
44:12
Ladi Adefala: And the personal growth stuff is,
44:15
Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
44:16
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
44:17
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
44:17
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
44:18
Lisa Nichols: I love it.
44:18
Lisa Nichols: Couple of things.
44:20
Lisa Nichols: One is I said the rice on the cheese board because I don't have
44:23
Lisa Nichols: my glasses on and it's a chest.
44:28
Lisa Nichols: So you're gonna have to I feel that.
44:29
Lisa Nichols: I I I knew what I knew what you meant.
44:31
Lisa Nichols: Okay.
44:32
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
44:35
Lisa Nichols: I I wanted to clarify that.
44:36
Lisa Nichols: And then secondly, I just remember having Tom Zigler
44:41
Lisa Nichols: on the podcast, Ladi .
44:43
Lisa Nichols: No.
44:43
Lisa Nichols: Big Zig Zigler's son.
44:47
Lisa Nichols: And he talked about his dad, and he said every day and I told
44:51
Lisa Nichols: him, I said, Tom, I'm just gonna tell you.
44:53
Lisa Nichols: I'm ripping that off and duplicating it.
44:55
Lisa Nichols: You know?
44:55
Lisa Nichols: Because he he said he loved the title of the podcast, Something
44:59
Lisa Nichols: Extra.
44:59
Lisa Nichols: He loved it, and he loved the story behind it.
45:02
Lisa Nichols: But he said, I will tell you something.
45:03
Lisa Nichols: He said, people, like, would ask me, my goodness.
45:06
Lisa Nichols: How is your dad?
45:08
Lisa Nichols: Like, how does he know so much?
45:11
Lisa Nichols: And he said, my dad had this habit of learning
45:15
Lisa Nichols: something extra every single day.
45:19
Lisa Nichols: And then when he would learn it, he'd give it away.
45:22
Lisa Nichols: He would share it to somebody else.
45:24
Lisa Nichols: And if it was something worthy that he felt like would help somebody else,
45:28
Lisa Nichols: then he would just share it.
45:29
Lisa Nichols: And that's and his dad was one of the greatest motivational speakers
45:33
Lisa Nichols: in our lifetime.
45:34
Lisa Nichols: Right?
45:35
Ladi Adefala: Oh.
45:35
Lisa Nichols: But I just I think, yeah, the compounding of that.
45:39
Lisa Nichols: And then when you share it, oh my goodness.
45:42
Lisa Nichols: Think about what you're depositing in that person, Ladi.
45:46
Lisa Nichols: That's where the multiplicity comes from.
45:48
Lisa Nichols: That's where the rice on the chessboard
45:52
Lisa Nichols: really starts to compound.
45:53
Lisa Nichols: But, oh my goodness, I'm having so much fun with you, my friend.
45:57
Lisa Nichols: I'm telling you, I have got probably fifty more questions here, but I know
46:01
Lisa Nichols: that we can't, have a five hour podcast.
46:04
Lisa Nichols: So,
46:06
Lisa Nichols: you know, let let's talk about one more thing.
46:09
Lisa Nichols: I'm gonna do a little lightning round with you with some questions, and then
46:12
Lisa Nichols: we're gonna talk about something extra.
46:14
Lisa Nichols: Okay?
46:14
Lisa Nichols: Alright.
46:15
Lisa Nichols: The something extra you believe every layer needs.
46:17
Lisa Nichols: Talk about the gin the Chinese bamboo announcement.
46:20
Ladi Adefala: Oh, that's a good one.
46:22
Lisa Nichols: Tell us about that one because I think that will be helpful to our
46:25
Lisa Nichols: listeners.
46:26
Ladi Adefala: About these things.
46:27
Ladi Adefala: This is awesome, by the way.
46:29
Ladi Adefala: You came
46:31
Ladi Adefala: super prepared for I didn't even remember what I'd said.
46:34
Ladi Adefala: So
46:35
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
46:36
Lisa Nichols: Well, you have met my second brain, Jenny.
46:41
Lisa Nichols: Right?
46:41
Lisa Nichols: And Jenny helps me with research, and I'm so grateful for her.
46:45
Lisa Nichols: But, yeah, she's the one that digs up all this awesome stuff to talk
46:49
Lisa Nichols: to you about.
46:51
Lisa Nichols: Tell me about the Chinese bamboo.
46:53
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
46:53
Ladi Adefala: So,
46:56
Ladi Adefala: I will let me explain the Chinese bamboo first, and then I'll try
47:00
Ladi Adefala: to apply it to to real life stuff.
47:03
Ladi Adefala: The the Chinese bamboo seed, when you first plant it, right,
47:08
Ladi Adefala: you plant it, you put it in there in the soil, in the dirt,
47:12
Ladi Adefala: and you keep watering it.
47:13
Ladi Adefala: If you keep watering it, for about a year, you don't see
47:17
Ladi Adefala: anything.
47:18
Ladi Adefala: Nothing.
47:19
Lisa Nichols: You see nothing?
47:20
Lisa Nichols: I mean, nothing.
47:21
Lisa Nichols: Nothing comes from it
47:22
Ladi Adefala: You really don't see anything.
47:23
Ladi Adefala: You just keep watering.
47:24
Ladi Adefala: And then maybe after about a year or so, you see a Yep.
47:27
Ladi Adefala: I get a little sprout.
47:29
Ladi Adefala: It just it is just one little sprout comes up.
47:33
Ladi Adefala: And then you keep watering and nothing.
47:38
Ladi Adefala: First you know?
47:39
Ladi Adefala: So a year has gone by, two years goes by, the Chinese bamboo,
47:44
Ladi Adefala: nothing.
47:45
Ladi Adefala: Three years go by, and all you still see is a single
47:49
Ladi Adefala: sprout.
47:50
Ladi Adefala: Let me,
47:53
Ladi Adefala: the first kind of, like, reaction, right, the common reaction, conventional
47:58
Ladi Adefala: thing is like, okay.
47:59
Ladi Adefala: This thing's not you know?
48:00
Lisa Nichols: It's not working.
48:01
Lisa Nichols: It's not working.
48:02
Lisa Nichols: Right.
48:04
Ladi Adefala: I bought a, you know, I don't know, a flawed seed or this must
48:08
Ladi Adefala: be nuts or whatever it is.
48:10
Ladi Adefala: Right?
48:10
Ladi Adefala: And that's if you don't know that it's a Chinese bamboozle.
48:13
Ladi Adefala: Right?
48:15
Ladi Adefala: The fourth year, doop doop doop doop.
48:17
Ladi Adefala: Alright?
48:18
Ladi Adefala: Now here's the interesting thing.
48:21
Ladi Adefala: In the fifth year,
48:23
Lisa Nichols: In the fifth year.
48:25
Ladi Adefala: In a span of about five months,
48:30
Ladi Adefala: that little sprout jumps up to be, like, ninety feet
48:34
Ladi Adefala: tall.
48:35
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
48:37
Ladi Adefala: It just shoots up.
48:38
Ladi Adefala: I mean, you're like,
48:40
Ladi Adefala: what happened here?
48:43
Ladi Adefala: And I often ask people, the real question we have to
48:47
Ladi Adefala: ask ourselves
48:49
Ladi Adefala: is when did the tree become ninety feet
48:53
Ladi Adefala: tall?
48:55
Ladi Adefala: Was it in a span of five months, or was it, like, five years?
49:01
Lisa Nichols: I would say probably five years.
49:05
Lisa Nichols: Is that the right answer?
49:06
Ladi Adefala: That well, that is the right answer.
49:10
Ladi Adefala: So here's the application in our lives.
49:12
Ladi Adefala: Right?
49:13
Ladi Adefala: And anyone that's gone to the gym or you're trying to do something and
49:17
Ladi Adefala: you can't see the results, you can't see outcomes, you can't see where it's
49:21
Ladi Adefala: gonna go, you don't there's a tendency to just forget it, to lose hope
49:25
Ladi Adefala: and be like, nope.
49:26
Ladi Adefala: Not working.
49:27
Ladi Adefala: It's not working.
49:28
Lisa Nichols: I just need it all.
49:29
Ladi Adefala: And I think a lot of us a lot of us, myself included,
49:33
Ladi Adefala: after a certain time, you're just like, at what point which, by
49:37
Ladi Adefala: the way, is a legitimate response.
49:39
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
49:40
Lisa Nichols: It is a legitimate response.
49:41
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
49:41
Ladi Adefala: You gotta be like, you know, this stuff is not working.
49:44
Ladi Adefala: I gotta I need
49:44
Lisa Nichols: to pivot.
49:45
Lisa Nichols: Something else.
49:45
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
49:46
Ladi Adefala: Pivot.
49:46
Ladi Adefala: You gotta pivot.
49:48
Ladi Adefala: But man, oh, man, oh, man, I gotta tell you.
49:51
Ladi Adefala: If God gives you the wisdom to know
49:55
Ladi Adefala: that ninety feet, you're just like, all of a sudden, you know, people say,
49:58
Ladi Adefala: like, oh, overnight success.
50:01
Ladi Adefala: Oh, Lisa Nichols.
50:02
Ladi Adefala: She's got she's got something extra podcast.
50:04
Ladi Adefala: It just she was just an over. No, no, no.
50:11
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
50:12
Ladi Adefala: It's been coming.
50:15
Lisa Nichols: Right.
50:15
Ladi Adefala: You and I guess my message for leaders is, or anyone, really, that's just
50:19
Ladi Adefala: got conviction in the heart is
50:22
Ladi Adefala: you have to believe
50:25
Ladi Adefala: you gotta believe that what you're doing
50:29
Ladi Adefala: actually makes a difference as best as you
50:33
Lisa Nichols: can Yes.
50:35
Ladi Adefala: Until the rest of the world comes to kind of where you're at
50:39
Ladi Adefala: and says, oh, this person is not oh, this person is great.
50:41
Ladi Adefala: This person is that.
50:43
Ladi Adefala: And and by the way, that's the other thing is success, you know, disease
50:47
Ladi Adefala: is you you gotta also wipe that away from your brain because you know
50:52
Ladi Adefala: that you've been building this for for decades.
50:55
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
50:56
Lisa Nichols: So, anyway Yeah.
50:57
Ladi Adefala: That's just
50:57
Lisa Nichols: Oh, that's so good.
50:59
Lisa Nichols: Oh, gosh, Ladi.
51:00
Lisa Nichols: I mean, that that's gonna I'm I'm a big story person,
51:04
Lisa Nichols: so that one's gonna really stick with me because, yeah, I mean, the natural
51:08
Lisa Nichols: response is this is not working.
51:11
Lisa Nichols: I'm gonna give up.
51:12
Lisa Nichols: You know?
51:12
Lisa Nichols: But my goodness, can you imagine giving up, like, four
51:16
Lisa Nichols: four years and ten months?
51:19
Lisa Nichols: You know, then you don't have that.
51:21
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness.
51:22
Lisa Nichols: So good.
51:23
Lisa Nichols: Well, I've got a couple lightning round questions for you, and then we're gonna
51:26
Lisa Nichols: talk about something extra.
51:27
Lisa Nichols: Your favorite leadership book.
51:28
Lisa Nichols: It's gonna be hard to say.
51:31
Lisa Nichols: Fair.
51:32
Lisa Nichols: I know.
51:32
Lisa Nichols: It's probably not fair.
51:36
Ladi Adefala: Oh, man.
51:38
Ladi Adefala: If I could
51:41
Ladi Adefala: leadership and self deception is definitely on one of those,
51:45
Ladi Adefala: but there's a ton.
51:47
Lisa Nichols: There's a ton.
51:48
Ladi Adefala: I mean, I can't that's a that's
51:50
Lisa Nichols: Get Ladi's, list.
51:53
Lisa Nichols: Goodness.
51:54
Lisa Nichols: Goodness list.
51:55
Lisa Nichols: I knew that was not really fair.
51:57
Lisa Nichols: I'm sorry.
51:58
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
51:58
Lisa Nichols: It's okay.
52:00
Lisa Nichols: What are you working on currently personally?
52:02
Lisa Nichols: Are is there something you're really excited about and that you're working on that
52:06
Lisa Nichols: you're, you know, you wanna think about?
52:08
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
52:08
Ladi Adefala: I think what I'm working on again,
52:12
Ladi Adefala: working on myself is probably the most important thing because that's really what's gonna
52:16
Ladi Adefala: lift the lift the lid.
52:21
Ladi Adefala: A friend of may of mine asked me this, actually, and, actually, a mutual
52:24
Ladi Adefala: friend of ours, Scott Highmark.
52:27
Lisa Nichols: Oh, I love Scott Highmark.
52:28
Ladi Adefala: I just had lunch with Scott.
52:30
Lisa Nichols: Shout out to Scott.
52:31
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
52:31
Ladi Adefala: So, anyway, he says, what's the crossroads?
52:35
Ladi Adefala: And what I'm working on is moving from,
52:39
Ladi Adefala: you know, using whatever God's given me or us and
52:43
Ladi Adefala: saying things like, I wanna glorify God, which is not a bad thing, by
52:47
Ladi Adefala: the way.
52:47
Ladi Adefala: It's not a bad thing.
52:49
Lisa Nichols: Mhmm.
52:49
Ladi Adefala: But then I think there's a big it's a subtle but powerful shift
52:54
Ladi Adefala: in I I wanna glorify God to God's gonna
52:58
Ladi Adefala: glorify himself
53:01
Ladi Adefala: through me.
53:03
Ladi Adefala: So but very powerful.
53:05
Ladi Adefala: So I'm working on that.
53:06
Ladi Adefala: But, of course, all things boards, AI, all of that, but, you know,
53:10
Ladi Adefala: internally, that's the, you know, game of leadership.
53:13
Lisa Nichols: Yeah.
53:14
Lisa Nichols: You know what?
53:15
Lisa Nichols: We're gonna have to do a part two because, I mean, what
53:19
Lisa Nichols: we didn't even talk about is technology, and you are a
53:23
Lisa Nichols: technology master.
53:25
Lisa Nichols: I know that you talk a lot about AI.
53:27
Lisa Nichols: You're a cybersecurity,
53:30
Lisa Nichols: you know, nationally known strategist.
53:32
Lisa Nichols: I mean, we didn't even get to technology, but, Ladi, we'll have to do
53:35
Lisa Nichols: a part two.
53:36
Lisa Nichols: What, we've already talked about daily habits.
53:40
Lisa Nichols: Do you have a best piece of advice that you that you've ever
53:44
Lisa Nichols: received, one that you kinda hang on to?
53:47
Ladi Adefala: Bring out the best in people.
53:49
Lisa Nichols: Bring out the best in other pea oh, I love that.
53:51
Lisa Nichols: That's so good.
53:52
Lisa Nichols: That is a good piece of advice.
53:54
Lisa Nichols: Well, let me ask you this because I ask every person, every guest,
53:58
Lisa Nichols: what is the something extra that you believe every leader needs?
54:05
Ladi Adefala: I believe every leader
54:08
Ladi Adefala: you need, I call it a Rafiki
54:13
Ladi Adefala: from the Lion King.
54:14
Lisa Nichols: The Lion King.
54:15
Ladi Adefala: Everyone needs a Rafiki.
54:17
Ladi Adefala: You need,
54:18
Ladi Adefala: at least someone,
54:21
Ladi Adefala: if not multiple.
54:22
Ladi Adefala: Right?
54:22
Lisa Nichols: Yes.
54:23
Ladi Adefala: That will help you remember who you are.
54:28
Lisa Nichols: That will help you remember who you are.
54:30
Lisa Nichols: So good.
54:31
Ladi Adefala: Who you were called to be.
54:32
Ladi Adefala: You really you need yeah.
54:34
Ladi Adefala: Everybody needs a Rafiki.
54:35
Lisa Nichols: Every leader needs a Rafiki.
54:38
Lisa Nichols: So good.
54:39
Lisa Nichols: Oh my goodness, Ladi.
54:41
Lisa Nichols: Seriously.
54:42
Lisa Nichols: This has been I can't even tell you how much fun this has been
54:45
Lisa Nichols: for me.
54:45
Ladi Adefala: This is great.
54:46
Ladi Adefala: You're awesome. Andi I forgot about that.
54:49
Ladi Adefala: I didn't even expect that.
54:50
Ladi Adefala: That's so good.
54:51
Ladi Adefala: I was like, wait a minute.
54:52
Ladi Adefala: How does she think?
54:53
Ladi Adefala: That's awesome.
54:56
Lisa Nichols: Well, I just know that your story, your wisdom,
55:01
Lisa Nichols: is just really gonna help our listeners.
55:03
Lisa Nichols: I know it's helped me.
55:04
Lisa Nichols: So, thank you so much for making the time to be on the
55:08
Lisa Nichols: show, and I cannot wait till we can sit down and have lunch again.
55:12
Ladi Adefala: Me too.
55:13
Ladi Adefala: And I wanna say something, extra.
55:18
Lisa Nichols: No pun intended.
55:21
Lisa Nichols: Alright.
55:21
Lisa Nichols: Let me hear your something extra.
55:23
Ladi Adefala: My something extra is
55:28
Ladi Adefala: I can't tell you, and you may not even know, right,
55:32
Ladi Adefala: how the work you're doing,
55:36
Ladi Adefala: not just here, but in the multiple dimensions,
55:42
Ladi Adefala: it's helping people.
55:43
Ladi Adefala: Maybe you do, maybe you don't.
55:46
Ladi Adefala: But I really do think it's, it changes lives.
55:51
Ladi Adefala: Mhmm.
55:52
Ladi Adefala: Maybe
55:54
Ladi Adefala: it may start out as a little seed and a little sprout, and
55:58
Ladi Adefala: then someone come.
55:59
Ladi Adefala: But over time,
56:02
Ladi Adefala: people's lives just begin to change.
56:07
Ladi Adefala: So if there's any encouragement, I could keep, yeah, keep on
56:11
Ladi Adefala: because sometimes I mean, I think it's there's a tendency for us to wanna
56:14
Ladi Adefala: look at lights and comments and all this.
56:17
Ladi Adefala: How many people what's the engagement?
56:18
Ladi Adefala: What's the this?
56:19
Ladi Adefala: And what's get into all these things.
56:21
Ladi Adefala: Yeah.
56:22
Ladi Adefala: Those are good.
56:22
Ladi Adefala: I'm not saying they're not good, but we can't live and die by those
56:26
Ladi Adefala: because sometimes it's just you don't know.
56:29
Ladi Adefala: You know?
56:29
Ladi Adefala: It doesn't you can't see it.
56:31
Ladi Adefala: Right?
56:32
Lisa Nichols: Ladi, that's so good.
56:34
Ladi Adefala: Does not show up until the fifth year or whenever.
56:37
Lisa Nichols: Right.
56:38
Lisa Nichols: That is so good.
56:39
Lisa Nichols: Thank you so much for that encouragement.
56:42
Lisa Nichols: Thank you for that encouragement.
56:43
Lisa Nichols: And I think that's an encouragement to to everybody.
56:46
Lisa Nichols: It's like, don't don't look at the comments.
56:48
Lisa Nichols: Don't look at this.
56:49
Lisa Nichols: You don't know.
56:50
Lisa Nichols: Just keep doing what you're doing, called to do.
56:53
Lisa Nichols: And, we're we're just the planters, really.
56:57
Lisa Nichols: Lonnie, we're not the growers.
56:59
Lisa Nichols: We're the planters.
57:00
Lisa Nichols: You know?
57:01
Lisa Nichols: And so, thank you for that word of encouragement.
57:04
Lisa Nichols: And, I just know, like, people like you being on the the podcast has
57:07
Lisa Nichols: seriously made the podcast what it is.
57:09
Lisa Nichols: So I just so appreciate you, and, have a great rest of the day,
57:13
Lisa Nichols: my friend.
57:14
Ladi Adefala: Alright.
57:14
Ladi Adefala: You too.
57:15
Ladi Adefala: Thank you.
57:17
Announcer: Something extra with Lisa Nichols is a Technology Partners production.
57:21
Announcer: Copyright Technology Partners Inc twenty nineteen.
57:24
Announcer: To learn more about this week's guest, check out the show notes at tpi
57:28
Announcer: dot co slash podcast.
57:30
Announcer: If you enjoyed this episode, consider leaving us a review.
57:33
Announcer: Thank you for listening to Something Extra.