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Leaders Bring The Weather With Anthony Baker | #18 · Real STRength with Sarah Draper

• speaker-0: the how universal leadership is regardless of the sector. And I was ⁓ less about help me find a job. It was really more about learning about leaders. They look up at the captain and if he or she is calm and smooth and it can kinda calm everyone down. speaker-1: How am I bringing the weather to my team? What is one practice I can adopt to stay aligned with what matters the most? Welcome to the Future Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Drapert. Each week on the podcast, I explore tools to help you lead your best now and into the future, and I talk with top leaders to see how they stay focused when life gets cluttered. It's time to stop reacting to your life and start leading it. Welcome to Future Walk. Future Walk Podcast. I'm your host, Sarah Draper, and I'm so glad you're here. Today I'm joined by Anthony Baker, the Director of Leadership Development at Hayden Beverage Company, a Naval Academy graduate, and a retired Navy SEAL captain with 26 years as a SEAL. Anthony commanded the Navy SEAL Basic Training Command, BUDS, shaping more than 500 graduates who earned their trident. He also led more than 2,500 personnel across three continents at Special Operations Command Europe. When Anthony retired from the Navy, he didn't just transition to corporate life. He built a bridge. He started with a project called 50 Cups of Coffee to learn his new community and understanding. Understand civilian leadership. And I met Anthony when I moved back to Boise a few years ago at the insistence of a mutual friend. And by that point, when Anthony and I met, he was at about Coffee Cup 150, and we've been great friends and colleagues ever since. Today, Anthony builds teams that perform when it matters the most. Through his force multiplier framework and his work at Hayden Beverage, he has trained more than 175 leaders across radically different teams. From warehouse operations to sales to corporate leadership. And his work centers on this conviction about the power of teamwork. So I'm excited to explore his transitions from the SEALs to the private sector, what he's learned about building high-performing teams in business, and why he believes that leaders bring the weather. So, Anthony, welcome to the podcast. speaker-0: Thanks so much for having me, Sarah. speaker-1: Yeah, it's wonderful to have you here. Okay, we are both in Boise and we're looking at each other through this camera, talking about the things we were just catching up before we started here. And we've decided we meet regularly for coffee still. And we're gonna get to the 50 cups of coffee and and what that meant for you. But as we were as we were talking just before we started. We realize we're gonna start meeting while walking. We're gonna do do some walking together. And and this being the Future Walk Podcast, I would love to start with that and you. ⁓ you shared a pretty, pretty special story with me about a walk you and your wife took at a recent important anniversary. speaker-0: Yeah. So thanks again, Sarah, for ⁓ being a good colleague and friend here in the Treasure Valley as we both navigate our next chapters. but yeah, it's been neat learning about your Future Walk podcast and just the power of walking and forward movement. And it got me thinking, ⁓ back in January, my wife and I were celebrating our nineteenth wedding anniversary and we took a long walk in the foothills. ⁓ and sh we she was challenging me a little bit about the future and how I love what I do. ⁓ with my part-time job at Hay Beverage, but I also want to do more in the community. And it was we were truly just, as you described in your previous podcast, about looking to the future, of being intentional. ⁓ no no none of our kids or dogs were there. So it was a really powerful discussion. And it was a good catalyst for a couple of good things that we'll talk about going forward. But ⁓ yeah, I think looking back to you know, past walks with a lot of chaos, ⁓ you can't always have that, you know, intentional ⁓ walk towards the future and discussion. So it was It was neat again looking back to what you have been promoting and sharing into what I had done ⁓ prior to this discussion. speaker-1: Yeah, that's great. Thank you so much for sharing that because it's a really profound experience when you when you move in nature, you have a conversation with someone side by side. It's a there's a flow, there's a creativity, especially when it's someone who's a really important part of your future, like your wife. And the origin of the future walk was a similar walk where I and I took well over a decade ago. And and it's just it's a really powerful way to continue to to move forward but also to think forward and give yourself that space and that free communication to share what you're thinking as you do it. So thanks for sharing that. I would love to start with 50 cups of coffee. Again, I I mentioned when we met, ⁓ thank you, Tim Ulmer, we, you know, he's like, you gotta meet this guy and we got together for a cup of coffee and I learned about fifty cups of coffee and it had a really the big impact on on your transition to Boise understand. speaker-0: Yeah. No, yeah, thanks to Tim, ⁓ my college buddy lacrosse player from the Naval Academy, ⁓ who worked with you at the agency or FBI. So it was really neat that he connected us with like-minded post academy transitioning into the corporate world. And I'll give credit to the Navy SEAL Honor Foundation, one of our transition programs. I didn't have the privilege to do the 10 week program out of San Diego, ⁓ but that was part of the recommendation is to help. you know, network in your next community. And not everyone retires in their ⁓ out of the base where they're currently living, whether it's Virginia Beach or San Diego or Tampa, Florida, or Fort Bragg, North Carolina, at some of the military hubs for special operations. So I really took this intentional approach. ⁓ my first cup with was with Brian Madden, who helped start Mission 43 underneath the Albertsons Foundation. Also a West Point graduate, nothing against that. and then I met Sir with a A neighbor and ⁓ also one of my college classmates who also moved and lived here in Boise. His wife found our house. So two great connections and we kind of looked at best places to work in Boise. Who should I meet? And there was a a pretty senior guy who helped open up a couple more doors for me. So instead of starting at a very junior level, I met with pretty senior leaders across some of the bigger companies. And what I really appreciated was how ⁓ friendly they were to a veteran and opening other doors, who should I meet next? So it was a it was a really neat journey. ⁓ I kept a very detailed spreadsheet and I'd c keep track of how did I thank them, whether it was through a card or a a note or a coin or an email or text and really trying to keep some momentum. And it was a little bit about learning about Boise and coffee shops, which I wasn't a big coffee drinker. ⁓ although I did find Dawson Taylor coffee as my favorite spot now. And maybe speaker-1: Well, if we come in. speaker-0: Yeah. But also ⁓ what I appreciated was ⁓ some of the insights and and some we'll talk more about just the the how universal leadership is, regardless of the sector. And I was ⁓ less about help me find a job. It was really more about learning about leaders, their challenges, which were some very similar ones that I've experienced. ⁓ so it was a great journey. It continues to this day, and ⁓ you know, some very welcoming now. currently mentors and friends throughout the Treasure Valley who I can lean on. So I've built a great network. I need to maintain and keep sustaining some of those connections, but it was a great journey. I credit the SEAL Found the Navy SEAL Honor Foundation for setting me on this journey. And then I just took it to a higher level ⁓ here in the Treasure Valley. speaker-1: ⁓ thank you for for sharing all of that. transitions are tough, right? Transitions of any sort, transitions major career, a retirement into what's next. But even like the day-to-day transitions, your transition from a maybe a chaotic work environment into home. Like how do you transition out of one meeting into the next? Transitions as a whole are are are difficult for for a lot of different reasons. ⁓ It takes a lot of bravery. I imagine, I'm imagining for you a lot of courage to just open yourself up to to this learning process. Was it was it a challenging in that regard? Or you know what how do you how did you feel as you're doing this? speaker-0: Well, I I knew I had a lot to learn from the real world or civilian sector. ⁓ and I was also trying to figure out what I want to do in my next chapter. but I will say I think just it started with, you know, very helpful ⁓ leaders in the Treasure Valley who just reinforced my passion for leadership and their challenges and just learning from, you know, maybe where I could help and make a difference. the other thing was, you know, where would I be a good fit? And some advice was hey, meet them at coffee shop. Another piece of advice was you get a a feel for the vibe and the culture if you walk around their ⁓ their headquarters. So sometimes I would meet them again at the coffee shop or ⁓ at a couple offices around the Treasure Valley. So it was it was good to get a peek behind the curtain a little bit on what to expect. I remember walking around Simplot and just learning a little bit about their culture and casual for Gene Fridays. They did a fundraiser. ⁓ but it was just neat, you know, between Albertsons and Micron and Simplot St. Luke's just learning. some different businesses and again some of those I did in person at their location. ⁓ but I felt like it was energizing the more I would do it and the more doors that would be open from that. And just again getting a better feel for the community and who's out there. And so again, it continues to this day, but I I really appreciate how much I was welcomed in the community. speaker-1: It's like a it sounds like an energy multiplier, right? And and did you start to see some themes, ⁓ leadership themes across industries? speaker-0: Well, there was one that, you know, resonates to this day. you know, a number of leaders talked about as I would sometimes ask, what is your b biggest leadership challenge these days? And to this day it's attracting and retaining talent. So not surprising, a good HR term. Okay. ⁓ but it really starts with l leaders at the top in the culture that they set, the values and the foundation. And so it's one thing to get people in the door, but it's another thing to keep them there. ⁓ And if you create a a strong enough culture, people will be less likely to leave for a salary difference. ⁓ they feel like they're part of something bigger, part of a good team. They're aligned with the values, which is a I'm a big believer in that alignment piece. And so yeah, it was ⁓ it was really neat to compare notes on my past experience. You know, in the SEAL teams, we didn't have to attract talent. It was through between you know, the number of ⁓ real world events that really energized the recruiting. ⁓ from the Act of Valor movie to capturing bin Laden to you know, the pirates off the coast, the Horn of Africa, there was a number of missions that really put us front and center. ⁓ so we didn't really have that challenge, ⁓ but more so in the civilian world. So it was a good some good discussions on how do you maintain that culture? How do you lead from by example and make yourself visible? How do you lead dispersed teams, which I had a lot of experience doing, but the ⁓ the talent ⁓ piece really resonated. That was kind of a through line that ⁓ it was a little difficult to relate to since I didn't have to again the my my past experience, but it was ⁓ it was a good reminder going into the civilian world of ⁓ not everyone is as motivated and is coming in with as much conviction. ⁓ so the importance of of establishing a a solid foundation and a good culture where people want to come to work ⁓ was even that more important. speaker-1: Yeah. So now looking back at it, what you've been accomplishing at Hayden, right? You're you you have built a leadership program for them. You are run their leadership development. It's just it's much more than just running a leadership program. I do want to ask you to get into that. what have you seen? It's probably been what, three, four years, or is how long has it been that you've been there? speaker-0: So actually it's been six years. My first two years was as a consultant. They ⁓ it was really cool. The owner created a job for me after two years of consulting and and building up their program, ⁓ working with ⁓ Dod Saden, the owner, ⁓ and the and the president, now CEO Andy Mitchell. So those two were really invested in developing their leaders. And instead of taking an off the shelf program that was a bit s ⁓ rigid, they brought me in to help create the program. And it was ⁓ tailored program. So I interviewed hourly workers from Delivery drivers to guys and gals in the warehouse, to up to the executive team and try to identify some leadership gaps. ⁓ but it was a very very un unusual for a a distributor, beverage distributor in this case, to have a director of leadership development. So they created a position after two years where I've been working part time, 30 hours a week. But it's a really rewarding job to help, as Dodd says, we grow our leadership ecosystem ⁓ based on the company values. ⁓ we're speaking a common language through the company values and our leadership tenets or expectations. And so that's been a really neat opportunity to build teams of connected leaders over the past six years. Yeah. And how much ⁓ these young to mid level to director level leaders feel ⁓ invested in in their development, both personal and professional, and they they build this team, you know, a cohort of eight becomes a team of connected leaders beyond the program. Which is kind of this force multiplier, this these leadership ambassadors throughout the company now. Formerly 400 when I started in 2020, now almost 700. So it's really important to maintain our common language of in this leadership ecosystem ⁓ with the help of my leadership ambassadors, my program alumni, who I lean on on to keep some of this momentum to deal with some challenging times. ⁓ so it's been a great opportunity. And then Dodds and Andy allow me to work in the community as a one-person consultant. I do a little bit of work that we'll touch on. ⁓ but that's been the foundation for the past six years of really helping grow a leadership ecosystem with teams of connected leaders and really starts with the company values. speaker-1: Thank you. I I would love to just talk about the leadership ambassadors or the leader ambassadors. When I was in the FBI, some some years back, we developed a program where we also had leadership ambassadors and field offices. And this was peer leadership development. And the idea was more on the informal leadership side. Of course, you have formal managers, people in formal rules, and leadership development program. But this was for others who were interested, maybe getting into leadership or honing their leadership skills some more. And it was exactly the same thing, an ambassadorship program. And and you also mentioned force multipliers. So yeah, I would love to hear how you how that's worked for you. I know you're a you're an army of one, Hayden, with with doing this. So you've got to be able to have those advocates, those ambassadors out there as others who are trained. How do you how do you lead that at Hayden? And what's the impact? speaker-0: Well, after each program, between my observations of the eight-week journey, which has, you know, evolved over the past six years to include job shadowing, some other dynamics in public speaking, they nominate the peers, nominate an undergraduate. ⁓ so they get a fancy Mount Blanc 10 in most cases. And ⁓ and they also have another award, kind of the up-and-coming leader, the the most improved, we called now the move to the smoke award, who someone's really in ⁓ stepping out of their comfort zone. So with these undergraduates, I said, I need some help as I've started with one now on my 18th program in the middle one in North Idaho now. But I need some help cultivating or maintaining this leadership ecosystem. And when are we gonna huddle to maintain some of that connective tissue? Both as a team of eight, or sometimes we have some attrition just naturally, or the or the broader leadership ecosystem. So I lean on them on hey, what's a relevant topic we can talk we can tackle together? ⁓ I sometimes bring them together just to lean into a a relevant topic like leading and change. We've had a couple of mergers and acquisitions which have really stressed the system. We've grown, we've expanded the warehouse. So leaning on them to help spread the spread the word and help be calm under pressure, bringing leaders bringing positive weather under stress. ⁓ so I I've I've had to lean on them who work you you know across the state. ⁓ we formerly had leaders across the state in Montana. We've scaled back on that, but Yeah, I'm a one man army who and I've had I have to lean on my whether they're the undergraduate or just those who are my trusted agents who are continually invested in their own leadership journey and growth. And so I use them as sounding boards and I help them kinda sometimes I'll plant a seed or ⁓ kind of get a vibe on how things are going. And sometimes I can take as a sensor, kind of share that up with through the HR team or the C team executive team, ⁓ to advocate for some of the frustrations or anxiety that I hear. While equally challenge them if they have a problem. You know, are they bringing solutions? Are they looking at the tools that I provided or sharpened on their tool belt during the program? And so yeah, it's definitely an opportunity to help the executive team and and reach out across our our, you know, pretty big company to help have an impact beyond just, you know, what I can do as a one man show. speaker-1: That's great. There's that real positive ripple effect out there or those amplifiers of this. But they're people who have they're graduates of the program. They've been in the program. And and so they're they're invested, right? They're invested because it's it's a shared culture. And it sounds like your the culture there is very strong. The values are very strong. And the leadership development is ⁓ just a a big part of that, really supportive of of those efforts. speaker-0: Absolutely. speaker-1: Anne, you're so good. Forbes highlighted you recently, right? So Forbes had a big article ⁓ about emerging your emerging leader program, correct? speaker-0: Yeah, was ⁓ really neat. I was one of the authors reached out to me and we did a little an interview and I had to look the guy up just to make sure it was legit. I wasn't sure. I talked to my ⁓ leadership team and they gave me the green light. And it was a really neat opportunity to highlight ⁓ the program, which is I mentioned is unique for a beverage distributor, and also how do I scale it across, you know, high performing teams and and I've been, you know I worked with one of my colleagues across the Treasure Valley. I there's a learning development peer network, and one of the gals ⁓ had emotional intelligence as one of her focal points. And while I've been teaching soft skills or human or people skills, I hadn't necessarily framed it in those exact terms, but for the past three years, I've really leaned into EQ emotional intelligence. So it was a good ⁓ angle that we took and ⁓ some good examples of how I've tried to emphasize some of the important aspects of self-management or sorry self-management. awareness of knowing your triggers of how do you manage those, how do you keep a trigger log and keep each other in check. ⁓ and how do you bring positive vibes or weather, not only in your professional life, but with your personal life. Right. and so is a really neat feature that's given some good visibility. You know, it's not about I hate talking, you as a quiet professional Navy SEAL, we don't talk about ourselves. So it it's it's nice that someone else could showcase this program. ⁓ because I'm not one to kind of you know, get out there and and promote myself for my program. So it was a a great feature article. ⁓ and I and it was a neat opportunity to showcase Hayden beverage investment in their people as well. speaker-1: Absolutely, absolutely. So leaders bring the weather. That is one thing that was in there. Can you share a bit more about that? speaker-0: So a colleague of mine shared that at one of our leadership meetings. And you know, you can bring the the Navy term since I got to balance the Army in this conversation. You think about, you know, whether a ship is, you know, at at high sea state or heavy winds, they look up at the captain, and if he or she is calm and smooth and it can kind of calm everyone down. in whether you watch, you know, Band of Brothers or in my past life of like literally, these are some life and death decisions. And if you're getting shot at and you look to the boss for direction, he or she needs to be very calm, cool, and collective in providing direction to the team. So equally, if you are stressed and you ⁓ you bring negativity and negative emotions to your team and negative energy, you're gonna your team will feel that. ⁓ so it's so important both not only leadership, but also I kind of joke a little about, you know, the raising three teenage daughters with my wife and how important it is to maintain emotions and not match the negative energy or sometimes hyper energy. ⁓ but really back to your to this quote was about leaders ⁓ bringing that positivity despite some of the challenges. ⁓ when I reflect back to you know our time in the service, we weren't really encouraged to ⁓ share emotions. We were encouraged to compartmentalize and put on a you know bulletproof vest and just you know be positive through things. So it is important to have emotions and of course heal hear people out, but ⁓ under stressful times, you know, taking a deep breath before you. Leave your car before a stressful day or ⁓ to your point with these future walks in between meetings of coming in with some positivity, some energy, that your team can be inspired ⁓ through some challenging times. ⁓ so yeah, a neat quote. I won't take credit for it, but I certainly have shared that. and it's a very catchy phrase, so it's a neat one that I I weave in every one of my programs. It's speaker-1: very like impactful because of of the visualization of that. Right. You can I mean I can absolutely see it. And it and that's why I think it resonates so deeply. ⁓ you talked about a little bit about self-awareness. I mean you talked a bit about self-awareness. Earlier you mentioned a trigger lock. What is that and how how do you use that tool? speaker-0: So I was reading one of the emotional intelligence books, and it it was one of those tools that can help you identify things that set you off. And whether it's just a piece of paper or your phone or just a way to see what the patterns are of things that set you off. And when you're aware of those triggers, then you can think of ⁓ there's techniques to kind of check yourself before you cross that threshold. ⁓ you know, there's a phrase, you know, IQ, you can't really change your born with intelligence quotient, but you there are strategies to improve your emotional intelligence. And one of those tips was keeping both a log and then kind of keeping track of how you reacted. And then whether you have ⁓ taking a deep breath, whether you some people say you can look at your watch, or if you feel coming these emotions starting to swell, of catching yourself before you cross that threshold. So whether it's a two second pause, ⁓ or other ways for you to ⁓ catch yourself again before you before you cross that line. But at the end of the day, if you if you're aware of those triggers, you're better able to manage those. speaker-1: What tools have you used that work for your in your own life? I mean you're seti eddy to me, but I'm sure there is a trigger in there somewhere. speaker-0: Well, one of the things that I really appreciate, you know, when I have now two dogs, so I've got two dog walks a day. Not always as intentional as a future walk because there's sometimes distractions. ⁓ I've been biking to work for over thirty years, you know, all but one year in the in the Navy I live within ten mile radius. And that was one of the intentions I set for myself when I moved to Boise. And so yeah, I'm eight and a half miles, so it's a perfect half hour commute. They have a shower. ⁓ but I do a bit of decompressing resetting every day. And while I used to listen to leadership podcasts and And hardcore music when I wanted to pump it up a little bit. It's ⁓ I've been more deliberate about not listening to anything and just being a little to help clear my head. I don't do well and if I were commuting in traffic, I don't think I would do well. ⁓ I know some people decompress to or from work. ⁓ so that's one of the ways for me is having a little bit of mental reset, ⁓ physical and mental, when I get to bike to work, for example, of starting my day and and prioritizing what is important for that day as I as I reinforce my time management ⁓ training. ⁓ but I think that has been it's I know when I don't when I rush into work from driving and there's a lot of chaos, I I can kind of catch myself and we have a little walking path and even around the parking lot as I've you've referenced before, there's ways to kind of reset if if you are getting if if it starts to build up and you start to feel like you're losing some of your composure. speaker-1: There's it's thank you. There are two things in there that I I want to kind of talk about. One first, you biking to work, that's not incidental. That just didn't happen. If I remember from probably the first time we met, like where you lived and where you worked, that was a real deliberate decision to be able to do that for yourself. speaker-0: Yeah, I had a really ⁓ generous job offer at a manufacturing plant in in Nampa. A West Point grad found me on LinkedIn and I was in my cups of coffee and I was feeling a little anxious at getting a job and I had a num a couple of job offers, but that was pretty tempting. ⁓ but it it kind of went outside my boundaries. I kind of gave myself, you know, I wanted to bike to work. ⁓ I didn't want to work weekends. You know, I worked, you know, a good last 10 years in the Navy. I was I missed dinner most nights for working s up to 60 hours a week. So I I gave myself some boundaries of both ⁓ a commute radius. ⁓ I didn't want to work, ⁓ I wanted to work 30 hours a week if I could find a place to support that. And fortunately with my military retirement pay, I I can afford, you know, I don't, it's I have a supplement income, which which I'm very fortunate to have. So I I I was able to be again intentional in in s in in in structuring or framing. A job that allowed me to stay within my guardrails, both from a commute standpoint, number of hours, so I could help the get the girls, get my daughters out the door with breakfast and lunch. I could be home for coaching and ⁓ being a part of their lives. And I'm very grateful that, you know, Dodds at Hayden Beverage w gave me this 30 hour job, which allows me to again to serve in the community, to coach my kids. I've served on boards. And so I'm not just grinding at one job, and also I bring perspectives when I do things in the community. ⁓ so it's it's ⁓ it's I very ⁓ I'm very blessed to have a job that's aligned with my core values, number one, which is professionalism at Hayden Beverage, which of course our background aligns very easily. and again a providing allowing me to have a very flexible work structure where I feel like I'm bringing value in an area that I'm passionate about. I'm adding value, I'm I'm growing and developing more confident leaders of connected with our company values and leadership tenants. ⁓ But it really all started with, you know, being curious. You know, Dodds was, I think, Cup of Calvi number sixty-two ⁓ back in January of 2020. And he had been slinging cases with his son out in the market. You know, the first week of every month, they change different products and they rotate from different, you know, they restock shelves and they bring new displays. And I knew, you know, the fact that he played lacrosse in college like I did, the fact that he was in Marine Special Ops, I was in Navy Special Ops, but the fact that he was Leading by example in the field, it was pretty cool. I knew it was a good vibe, and I wasn't there to ask for a job. I didn't even know they were hiring, but it was a good connection and an alignment of values that that ⁓ that really instigated our conversation where he introduced me to the president and then we started talking about this leadership program. So it's been a great journey. Not not everyone when they transition, Sarah, we talked earlier, you know, finds a good fit. ⁓ sometimes people rush to a paycheck. Or they're an executive leader, a high ranking military colonel, captain, general, admiral, and they stay in the executive C suite. ⁓ and while it's good for the ego sometimes and you contribute at the strategic level, sometimes if you your your transition plan was to have more time with a family, you you lose that those guardrails that may upset. ⁓ so anyway, ⁓ when I advise those who are transitioning, I I I all I always make it a point to encourage them. to find a good fit. And when when I describe my scenario to a couple of my friends and they're like, man, I wish I could find a deal like you have. And so it's kind of neat sometimes when I I, you know, I've it's kind of like in parachuting when I was getting out, it was guys that are have already landed, guys in midair and then guys who are about to jump out of the airplane. And so when I was about to transition, I was looking at guys who had already landed and just getting some some advice, some mentors on how they navigated their transition. ⁓ and then I was next thing you know, I was in midair coming into from Stuttgart, Germany to Boise, Idaho, with my wife and three kids, ⁓ and one dog at the time. And then now that I've landed and have navigated my my runway, ⁓ I've tried to pay it forward to share some of those insights and holding up for a good fit. And one thing I'll s ⁓ what's I really appreciate is through the SEAL Feature Foundation, I'm getting my International Coaching Federation ICF certificate. ⁓ I'm two thirds of the way through my program. And that's one of the jobs that I'll be helping with the SEAL Future Foundation is helping transitioning SEALs. ⁓ some of the coaches I understand are a little bit younger and I'm, you know, retired as an 06. So I had a lot of experience. And I I've I've, you know, in raising a family, I can bring a maybe a more experienced perspective. So this idea of, you know, I had great people mentoring and coaching me in my transition. I've been through it, you know, it's been six plus years and now it's nice through mission 43 and connecting the veterans in the community. While around the country for those who are getting out, we have some good conversations on just advising each other as we navigate the civilian horizon. speaker-1: That's ⁓ fantastic. I mean so so much goodness there ⁓ for the our listeners. Mission forty three is a veteran organization that Brian Madden, who was your first cup of coffee, ⁓ created ⁓ with support of the Albertsons Foundation ⁓ to support veterans to make Idaho a fantastic place for military veterans to end up in. We are both very involved in in that. And it's a just an incredible organization on a lot of different fronts. ⁓ I want to get back, I want to get to some of the other community work you're doing and those bridges you're building. I just want to kind of share a a quick story that to maybe illustrate ⁓ you how how you also model this. So you talked about ⁓ the president CEO, right, of Hayden, how he Dodds, how he has ⁓ he'd notice him out day one day loading trucks with his son, right? So one day I'm walking through our local grocery store. This is some time ago, and I hear this voice call out to me out of the nowhere down some aisle. And voice is not the most rowdy place in the grocery store. So this voice calls around and I turn around and I see you standing there with a Hayden shirt, stocking shelves. I'm like, what's going on? And you're like, ⁓ we do this. Like the leader so tell us about that. I think that's ⁓ such a great way to stay in touch with what's going on at different levels of the community. What what were you doing there? speaker-0: So similarly, as I mentioned before, ⁓ it's the usually the first week of the month, Tuesday, Wednesday, where ⁓ Hayden Beverage they service ⁓ both bars and restaurants, which is known as on-premise, then off-premise are all the grocery stores and convenience stores all over the state. And so there's an abundance of product that comes in, they change out some of the displays. So all leaders at every level are encouraged to leave the office and come out and help. The guys and gals who are slinging cases and, you know, loading and unloading. ⁓ and it's interesting when I was first doing this, there's an Albertsons nearby in State Street where I was doing it, and there's another distributor who's this guy was all by himself. And we had this army of people from Hayden. And it he was just you could tell he was like, Wow, it's pretty cool that your leaders do this. I talked to store management again, another example at Albertsons, where they're like, Yeah, the the fact that the owner and the president are out there every month, it just it really shows a connection. authenticity of of of really being out there with the guys and gals ⁓ leading from the field we call it and so i I volunteer as well and ⁓ it's a neat opportunity not just to help out but also I I look through my leisure development lens I talk to store managers or the receivers and I say how's Hayden doing as a company? Anything we could do better anything I can you know with my first they're surprised that ⁓ that I that my job exists which is pretty cool. And then I say is there anything our leaders could be doing better. I've got a lot of good feedback and there's always some opportunities that I can bring back. So I try to, you know, I wear my hate name tag. I try to, you know, that's part of our professional core value of our how we how we ⁓ our professional appearance in the market ⁓ and dressing for your day. So it's it's a neat opportunity that that trickles all the way down from the top leaders. And we, you know, the first week of every month you see leaders at every level helping out in the market and it just built it shows that connection. I I ask new employees, how's it going? ⁓ sometimes I'll, you know, ask where did they come from? How'd they learn about Haven Beverage? So I for me as kind of a sensor, I'm I learn it I just can pick up some really good atmospherics, some positive, sometimes there's some challenges that we could do better. so yeah, it's a neat it's it reoccurs and it's an expectation. It starts at the top that leaders will be in the market helping out. speaker-1: That's so great to hear both the positives as well as those challenges, right? You to get out there to talk with people, to hear what's going on, to experience what's going on, to talk to your customers about their perspectives on it. Invaluable. speaker-0: Yeah. I think back, sir, from this idea of leading dispersed teams and you know, there's pictures of people leading at their desk and staring at screens. ⁓ but I I reflect back to this I was asked about leading dispersed teams and and I was second in charge of a three hundred and fifty person task force and all over the Middle East, from Kuwait doing shipboardings to doing shipboardings off the Gulf Gulf of Oman. We had guys in Afghanistan, we have guys in the Horn of Africa and Djibouti, all over the Middle East, and I was ⁓ There were some requests coming from different teams and ⁓ I was like, I need to get out there and talk to these guys. So I got into I was able to hop into some space label flights of C one thirty and but I made it was like a 10 day road trip, Sarah, that I really was able to connect with both the task task unit commander at each location. I could understand their challenges. in Djibouti, for example, we were just starting our base there. And in this case, you know, they they were very minimally resourced. Their Army brothers had a lot of resources, but it was it gave some perspective to, hey, I've got a some authority here. I can help allocate resources. I can it make sense what they're asking for. And just getting out in the field and connecting. ⁓ and then also you put a name to a face. When you have we had a team in Hayden Beverage spread across Montana when you're barking orders from a computer, no one knows who you are. And when you've gotten out of the office, you've made the trek, you've built that connection. ⁓ you can more easily have those tough conversations. You can more ch you can better champion what they do, you can advocate. ⁓ so little trips here in the Treasure Valley are pretty easy. ⁓ and then making treks like I've done to Sun Valley, to Idaho Falls, Twin Falls, my current program is up near Quarter Lane and Post Falls, North Idaho. And it just it even though there's a ⁓ you know a macro culture here in Boise, Idaho, there's a little of a subculture in different parts of the state. And really celebrating those, you still aligned with our core values. And then just, you know, feeling it they're being invested in. So I go up there every Wednesday for eight Wednesday afternoons and I run this program. We still do a job shadowing. And, you know, the in-person connection, as you know, is just so powerful and able to, you know, we'll talk more about building trust and vulnerability in these sessions, how how much I c how you can really strengthen those connections in person and getting out of the office is a big part of doing that. speaker-1: what does ⁓ job shadowing look like for you and what has that helped with? speaker-0: So at the end of each program, we asked for feedback on one way. One of the best things they liked about it, one way to make it better. And there was, I'd heard about it of just the idea of walking each other's footsteps, or, you know, some people are trying to learn the business and it's pretty complex. There's obviously a warehouse that people bring, you know, drivers bring trucks full of product, and then we put them on our shelves, and then we build pallets, we distribute them all over the state. ⁓ but there's so much more that goes into that process. So I took some feedback and they said it'd be neat if we could implement it. ⁓ But I it I we don't have like a full day to stop what we're doing. So it's sometimes only an hour before the session, sometimes we'll go in the market. But people really talk about a day in the life and share kind of how their job involves communication, whether it's externally to our suppliers, distributors, to our ⁓ leaders in the market, store management, or the some of the internal communications and processes that have a lot of interdependencies. so it's been really interesting to understand that from a sales team, they go out in the market and they place an order. And they need to get it in by a certain time. So then the warehouse guys can process it and then get it ready for the trucks. But I remember one of the programs, it was ⁓ it was a big aha moment. If they didn't get their order in a time, then it would get picked later and then it would affect the distribution all the way down to the southern part of, in this case, Lewiston, south of Post Falls, North Idaho. And it was some, you know, it's really neat to see the again, like I said, aha moments where, wow, now I understand why that happens. Or someone sends an order to the the office and they realize, wait a minute, there's other people sending orders. They're not just about you. So it's this some of the office folks have communicated their jobs and how they're, you know, they have so much going on. That's why we have deadlines and processes to follow. sometimes we have a nine one one driver that can like if it's something it's late and we need to service like a you know high end restaurant, for example. But through job shadowing, just again ⁓ appreciating some of the dynamics and challenges of people's jobs. I always ask best part, worst job, most frustrating part, just to get add a little bit of color to it. ⁓ but I will say it's ⁓ I I'd love to scale this as well. There's just a lot to learn about everyone's job and and getting out of your siloed department where you think it's all about you. So it's been a a powerful way to build connections, not just through the program, but it it continues beyond and a an appreciation for like I said, the interdependencies has really helped ⁓ lubricate some of the friction when there is ⁓ Instead of finger pointing, you kinda look for solutions versus ⁓ you know, blaming each other for what went wrong. speaker-1: Yeah, so I it really appreciation of what's going on becomes begins with that awareness of what others are doing and those impacts. So across your you know some I mean bringing all this, right? You've you've built bridges externally, certainly you've built it within the navy, you built it when you were ⁓ over in the Middle East, you built you understood that and and tried to get at the ground level and and and understand what's going on. You've you've t trained and led the people at Hayden to do that internally as well. ⁓ you're also doing that in the community. What are some of the things you're doing in the community and what's driving, what's driving that? speaker-0: Well, I mentioned earlier that I I didn't want to work strictly, you know, fifty, sixty hours a week and I could, you know, drive hardcore like I've been doing my last decade in the Navy, especially. So you know, with Dodds, I've you know, he's he supports this as does the pr ⁓ the now CEO Indy Mitchell. But whether I'm serving on a board at a local company like I did Sloan Security for a couple of years, a great ⁓ founder, Bryce Sloan, and I connected through cler cups of coffee. He invited me to be part of his board just to you know bring in some leadership development and cultural perspective. ⁓ I was on a recent hiring panel for the Meridian chief of police. He invited me among a couple other community leaders, and it was really neat to understand how through their hiring process, both an internal you know, selection process and then getting feedback from community leaders. That was a really neat thing. ⁓ the Meridian Chamber invited me to be part of an emerging leaders panel a couple weeks ago, again with other community leaders and getting different perspectives. ⁓ so I I learn from the community every time I'm out there. I've met all the chiefs of police ⁓ in the local area and the Ada County Sheriff we met for lunch recently. So it's just been neat to kind of compare notes on leadership. And you know, with with the guys in uniform, guys and gals who are playing for blood, not for money, you know, we've talked not only about operational training, but the importance of mental health and how to destigmatize ⁓ getting mental health and how that is becoming more mainstream. And the old guys compartmentalize, they retire. There's not as thorough a transition program for some of our law enforcement brothers and sisters. ⁓ so it's been interesting to compare notes on ⁓ a different a variety of levels. They're all very passionate about their leadership. ⁓ a number of them brag about sending their leaders to the FBI ⁓ leadership training, which is awesome. Yeah, they get out of the Treasure Valley and they get great perspectives. So it's been really ⁓ neat to connect with my brothers ⁓ in law enforcement around the Treasure Valley and speaker-1: Academy speaker-0: And ⁓ you know, comparing some similar notes, you know, there's, you know, we see stuff that not every civilian gets to see. And how do you process that? And how do you ⁓ what help is out there for you? So I appreciated that ⁓ how aligned we are in a lot of these areas. We've talked about doing some more work together going forward, but those are just and I've also done some leadership training and speaking in the community from a from a national league of national league of young men through ⁓ one of the parents invited me to speak to like a youth mentorship talk. So a bunch of teenagers, high school kids. I got to speak nearby at a country club. And it was just a neat ⁓ gathering. You know, I didn't appreciate leadership as a teenager, but it was a neat opportunity to, you know, talk to both ⁓ a youth group of leaders and then Rebecca Hupp, the airport director here in Boise invited me to speak as a keynote for one of her leadership conferences. So I've got some pretty cool ⁓ leadership stories that I that I that I like to share. and then Brandon Buck in Infinite Strengths invited me to speak at his leadership summit. ⁓ in September. So I'll get to speak as one of the keynotes here in the fall. A really unique opportunity ⁓ here in the Treasure Valley. So ⁓ I appreciate the opportunity to again work with local leaders, compare notes. And again it's kind of a give and take relationship here in the community. speaker-1: Yeah. Thank you for all that. ⁓ coming from law enforcement having taught at the National Academy, ⁓ it's an amazing the transition law enforcement. It's it's it's heartening, I guess, the transition law enforcement is making into reducing the stigma of of mental health and ⁓ now putting systems in place to provide that for for their folks and really real world needs. So that's very heartening. to hear about those conversations happening right here at home for me at home. So that's that's fantastic. And Rebecca and Brandon are both great people as well. So you you keep good company. okay well we've talked about quite a bit about what you're you know how you've kind of gone gone this bridge from this your service in the Navy with the SEALs into the private sector, how you've built bridges throughout the state of Idaho now here locally at home. And you've shared a bit about like your practices, right? You cycle to work, right? That's a non-negotiable. You've you've now ⁓ you've negotiated to have ⁓ reduced our job to provide some more stability at home and to give you some bandwidth to to serve in the community in these other ways. Just talked about mental health. What are some of the what are some of the other things you do? I mean, that's a lot right there. That's amazing. ⁓ are there other things that you do to stay healthy so you can continue to I mean you operate at a very high level. And so are there other things you're doing to be able to sustain that? speaker-0: Well, you know, I've I've one of the things that I really take pride in is my, you know, I got paid to exercise in the SEAL teams and I I have a gift for endurance. So I've done an you know over a hundred triathlons. ⁓ my first run ever at the Naval Academy was a was a marathon at age nineteen. Someone challenged me before I'd never even owned a pair of running shoes before the Naval Academy. I just played soccer. And so anyway, my first triathlon was a half Iron Man. ⁓ and so I I sometimes do things a bit extreme, but I also Had some overuse injuries over the years, but at age 40, I did an Iron Man for my birthday. I did a half iron man, and I was really tight. And ⁓ through the Navy SEALs week brought in a stretch doctor who's really ⁓ kind of reset me and helped me heal some overuse injuries. So one of the things that I've done, his name is Joe Hip and Steele. It's called Ultimate Human Performance, and he really helped kind of reset me for the importance of range motion flexibility. So I do stretch every day. I just did another half marathon with my daughter, the Redfish Lake up in Stanley, Idaho a few weeks ago. Yeah. And I always want to be able to keep up with my kids. I know when I was coaching soccer, I would try to do run laps with them and do ladders ⁓ to be able to keep up and lead by example, lead from the front. So I I do want to stay active with both my kids and and my grandkids someday. So I I do I'm more intentional about stretching ⁓ every day to kind of maintain my flexibility and be able to compete, not necessarily At the level I did in my thirties, but also ⁓ you know, still be respectful for my age group, ⁓ as well as just being a good, you know, having the ability to train and and race with my daughters again, not trying to I mean, she'll podium, which is good. I'm not worried about me. ⁓ but if she won her age group again at the half marathon, which is really awesome. ⁓ so it's just I think being active with the kids and that they know that's part of my lifestyle. And maybe I'll do an extreme workout for me and then I'll do something with the family. We hike, you know, ⁓ as much as we can. We live within a few minutes of the foothills here near near Camelsback Park. So we feel very blessed to be here. ⁓ so I think again, flexibility and just it's just part of the lifestyle. It's just ⁓ we we get out and it's not always like I said it's intentional with with the dogs and some of the chaos, but ⁓ just you know, just listening to, you know, Mother Nature and being out there, you know, sometimes we can drive up bogus basin and get higher up and get a little bit of a little bit of green up there in in into the trees and that's even, you know, even more powerful. ⁓ You know, moving from southern Germany, you know, with the big foothill with the it was called, you know, the Black Forest, and there was just a lot of trees and a lot of shade. And I know here it's been an adjustment of trying to find shade. but it's still just amazing trails. And you to get out early in the morning these days in the summer months. But I think just staying active, keeping p forward momentum and doing it with your family and friends. ⁓ you know, it's it's just a way to kind of connect. I don't necessarily go to the bars, but ⁓ going on mountain bike rides or or hiking or or trail running. has been a way that I've, you know, maintained some connections with my my buddies here in the Treasure Valley as well. speaker-1: That's great. Yeah, I know one of the people who rides with you. So I probably know a few of them. ⁓ I don't ride with you, probably for a really good reason. But I hear I can hear about the rides. All right. Ultimate human performance. I love that. Is that online or in person or speaker-0: So yeah, Joe does ⁓ he does training around the world now. He was doing it with the SEALs and a couple of professional sports teams. And then he helped one of our famous Navy SEALs, David Goggins, get better. And that was featured on Joe Rogan. So that really blew up. So he's all literally he does in person and virtual all over the world. ⁓ but I you know, I had a pretty tough injury that all I had to do was stretch my calves and the I do a little trigger point work, but I feel so empowered, Sarah, that I can heal almost any overuse injury within reason. by some self maintenance and part of it's again staying ahead of it, but not relying on injections or drugs or, you know, trying to mask the pain, but get to the root cause. ⁓ and with a little bit of stretching, usually a couple of days later I'm out there. I'm not you know, I I'm not stuck on the couch popping motrin and waiting for it to get better. It's not gonna get better that speaker-1: I was the queen of overuse injuries for a long time. So I modified how I I do things. And it's great to still at our age be able to get out there and do things, right? Think about that future that you're working for. I had a student at the National Academy, who's a leader out of a department in Montana. He did a raw mawad, like a range of motion workout of the day. And I think that's another cool thing to do too. So there's a lot of things out there, but I'll just say as we age and as we wear ourselves You know, potentially wear ourselves down or out. Like that doesn't have to be the end of the story, but we really I I believe we have to pay attention to things differently than we did before. ⁓ but there's like you mentioned, like you wow, that's amazing that you could pretty much solve any or prevent any issue you've got. And I'm gonna stretch my calf right now as we're talking. All right. So so thank you for all that. Some really good words of wisdom. ⁓ you guys also I know as a family you eat very healthy, correct? You prioritize that. speaker-0: We do. I give my wife credit for that. But yeah, we're you know, it's it's it's been it's been evolving over the years, but it's you know, I I I thought I ate pretty healthy growing up, but you know, ⁓ you know, next level here with a lot of, you know, homemade from scratch, organic, you know, fresh ingredients, fresh fruits and vegetables. ⁓ so yet's I you know, she's been really leading the effort and you know, ⁓ now we shop at very healthy rest you know, healthy grocery stores and and our kids it's just part of you know, our lifestyle. And it's interesting when whether you travel with someone or you see other people at the cafeteria, like what they eat. And, you know, we cut up fresh fruits and vegetables every day. And sometimes, you know, people I was joking whether they make get made fun of or other people, hey, I'd love to have give me some of your carrots, because all they have is maybe chips and lunchables. So it it's ⁓ it's something that we've instilled in them and, you know, it's just a lifestyle. but you know we d we kind of joke it's better to to die with less money but live longer than to, you know, have shortcuts and so I I I give my again my wife credit for really championing this and you know we do eat pretty healthy. I bring, you know, fresh fruits and veggies at work and some people are hitting the, you know, hitting the ⁓ convenience kind of like the refrigerator with some, you know, micro burritos. And ⁓ you know, I'm fortunate that I I can make myself a lunch or I make extra one with the kids. But it's definitely a lifestyle and I do, you know, in my mid fifties I still feel very healthy. I can be very active and ⁓ and it's a good model again, exampling ⁓ to model behavior for the kids as well. Yep. speaker-1: It works. It's that's why you're able to still be out there doing what you're doing. So well, well, this has just been full of so much like sage wisdom and many ideas and advice. And maybe I would love to just think again for that person that's at a career transition. whatever that means for them. What maybe it's you've been in the corporate world and you're thinking about retirement or you're leaving a military service and you're looking to what's next. Or maybe you're in one industry and you're finding the values alignment isn't there and you're ready to move into something else. Some type of career transition. Do you have a couple things or one thing, one one or two things that just some of that wisdom again for that person facing that transition. of of things they can do or perspectives they can take. speaker-0: So first they should listen to your podcast and start start doing future walks. secondly, you know, but just keeping things in perspective. And I, you know, I kind of referenced the parachute analogy of of of looking at those who have been down that road. And so really tapping into your network of mentors and people who know you well enough ⁓ just to get perspectives. I talked to a gal yesterday who was ⁓ speaker-1: Yes, you have speaker-0: She was in Vista, which is a group of where leaders come together and she was frustrated with her job and she didn't realize how much she was bringing that out in the meetings. And they and so she shared with them that she was thinking a little of, you know, she was frustrated with a job. They're like, Yes. So they all really rallied around to help her. And so this idea of people who know you well can help you maybe get out of you mentioned kind of drifting. So part of it is again reaching out to your network and people who know you well enough to give you some honest advice. ⁓ if you have a spouse or a partner, you know, taking that walk and just having the conversation and looking ahead. One of my buddies challenged me, you know, I he I he said, don't wait till you're sixty to start, you know, doing more in the community. You know, I've got the bandwidth and the energy and I don't want to wait till you know, I don't want to be irrelevant, you know, so I want to really maintain some momentum from both my SEAL leadership and my civilian leadership in the past six years. So, you know, having having those who will challenge you and and look to the future together. ⁓ and you and we we talked earlier, but If you're looking to join another organization, you know, cost of living is high and certainly compensation is important. But even more important is a I always advocate is a culture fit, which really comes back to values. And so I think I heard a quote is culture equals values plus behavior. And so this idea of it's one thing to have values, but how is the, you know, how is how are those leaders embodying those values and are they truly Is that really truly how the culture ⁓ is experienced? ⁓ so just being intentional in your transition of looking for growth opportunities and and really lead with your kind of your heart in trying to find a good fit. ⁓ do your research before you jump ship, so to speak. I know I I've done some ex interviews on people are leaving. Some have left just for the money. They don't they know very little about what they're jumping into, but it's it's extra money. So ⁓ well. Compensation is important. ⁓ you know, if you find a good fit, you can grow within there. And if you continue to be curious and whether your twenties, thirties, forties, fifties or you know, leadership in life is a journey and still being curious and being willing to grow, you know, I'm I'm s I'm getting my executive coaching certification, even though I've been informally coaching or mentoring for a long time, but now I'm actually sharpening my tool belt, going through ninety hours of training and a hundred hours of of of of coaching training for me to go through go before a board in the fall to get my international coaching federation certificate. So I'm still learning. I know the owners, owner at at Hayden and the CEO are s are still very big advocates of learning. So never being never being stagnant, but always looking forward and being open to growth. ⁓ those are a couple of things that come to mind. And I'm in a great spot now. I feel very blessed with my part time job and my ability to integrate to the community. and if if You know, if you there's books called like Design Your Job or Design Your Life. And so being a little intentional before you make that leap, doing your homework, ⁓ reaching out to mentors, like I mentioned, alignment with values and culture. ⁓ then you'll know when you have a good fit. And you know, it's interesting. There's ⁓ an employee who I talked to recently who her mentor advised them to job hop to bounce around and get new experiences. And it's different than a generation that was used to working for decades at one company. So ⁓ I know when when I think about leading ⁓ teams of diverse younger generations of realizing not everyone's gonna stay. So if you if someone is, you know, if you flip the script and you're a leader of those who maybe want to leave the company, don't take it personally. You're gonna, you know, set their wings. And in this case, my program, you've been to the program. We wish you the best of luck to succeed wherever your journey takes you. And not always taking it personally if someone leaves your organization. So there is a a bit of both looking through your own lens, but also celebrating the growth of others. ⁓ maybe they'll come back to your company. We have some boomerang employees at Hayden that tried it and came back because it wasn't a good fit. But celebrating others' growth, it just you know leaving on a professional note, you know you may you don't know when you may come back to that company, but as a leader, ⁓ you know, being open to others spreading their wings and and ⁓ exploring growth opportunities. speaker-1: music to my ears. I have been places or in situations where leaving was like, how dare you leave us. I'm like, now we gotta celebrate you. Celebrate you. That just says so much about the culture you have there. It says a lot about you, also the culture at Hayden and ⁓ values plus behavior, right? Those add up to culture. speaker-0: Yeah, I can't. I think I found that somewhere on LinkedIn. I don't know if I can I don't own that one, but that was a good quote. It might have been Simon Sinek, actually. speaker-1: That's a great one to highlight. So thank you, whoever that is. ⁓ and thank you so much. And thank you for your time. ⁓ we are blessed that you shared this all this wisdom with us. I mean, there's just so many important, valuable things in here. ⁓ it's been a a real joy to talk with you and and to and to see how like you modeled things like humility and intentionality and being deliberate as you made that transition from the SEALs into the civilian world and how you continue to to give it forward or pay it forward, both internally within Hayden as well as in the broader community. ⁓ just so so grateful for you to share that with us and and what a great example of living your values is so. ⁓ Anthony, where can people find you? If they want to see you like on on LinkedIn, where do they go? Or how how do they find you if they want to speaker-0: I think LinkedIn is probably the easiest. Yeah. I mean I my middle name is Power. So my my website is apowerbaker dot com, which can be ⁓ you can get it through LinkedIn. But ⁓ yeah, I I I love sharing some of my leadership experiences. I'm excited to do more coaching in the community. I've done some speaking and a lot of pro bono stuff just to kind of, you know, pay it forward. So it'd be great to connect with others in the community. Grab a cup of coffee at Dawson Taylor downtown or grab a cup and then start a walk together. speaker-1: That's perfect. Excellent. So I encourage you to connect with them. And if you are finding value in the podcast, please follow so you don't miss any future episodes. And we would love to hear from you. Leave a comment. So leave a comment about what you've gotten out of this episode, what you've learned from our conversation with Anthony today. ⁓ So speak as you head out, as you get ready for whatever is ahead for you. Ask yourself this question. How am I bringing the weather to my team? What is one practice I can adopt to stay aligned with what matters the most?