Latest / Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections / Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Andre Ankri and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker

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Networking Unleashed: An Interview with Andre Ankri and Michael A Forman, Professional Speaker · Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections

• 0:14
  Welcome to Networking Unleashed, Building Profitable
• 0:18
  Connections. The show where conversations don't
• 0:21
  stay small, they turn into real business wins.
• 0:25
  I'm Michael Forman and welcome to my podcast.
• 0:28
  Today's episode is for every entrepreneur, leader,
• 0:31
  and fast thinker who's ever felt like their brain
• 0:34
  runs on a different speed and wondered if that
• 0:38
  was a problem. What if it's not? What if ADHD
• 0:41
  isn't a weakness? What if it's your edge? And
• 0:45
  what if the rise of AI and automation isn't here
• 0:50
  to replace connection, but to finally give people
• 0:53
  like you the structure to build once? Today's
• 0:57
  guest brings a powerful mix of perspective and
• 1:00
  practicality. We're talking about ADHD as a different
• 1:04
  operating system, not a limitation. We're talking
• 1:08
  about using AI and automation. to run lean without
• 1:12
  losing the human side of business. And most of
• 1:15
  all, we're talking about how the way you think
• 1:18
  you can turn everyday conversations into serious
• 1:22
  opportunity. If you've ever felt misunderstood
• 1:25
  in business, if you move fast, think big, and
• 1:29
  refuse to fit in the box, this episode is for
• 1:33
  you. So let's get into it. I'd like to welcome
• 1:36
  Andre. Andre, thank you so much for coming on
• 1:39
  my podcast. It means a lot to me. Would you just
• 1:42
  mind introducing yourself to my listeners and
• 1:45
  give us a little bit of how you got here today?
• 1:49
  So one thing before I start, I have to mention,
• 1:52
  I don't know if I can introduce myself better
• 1:54
  than the way that you already introduced everything
• 1:56
  that I do. And I do a lot of podcasts, but it
• 2:00
  was the best way to describe. the stuff that
• 2:04
  we're trying to teach people and show them. So
• 2:06
  I actually want to thank you on the way it was
• 2:08
  described. So my name is Andre. Andre, I live
• 2:12
  in Canada. I moved to Canada around 15 years
• 2:16
  ago. I'm originally from Israel. Kind of background
• 2:19
  from back home. I had many years that from a
• 2:23
  place of discipline, I practiced martial art
• 2:26
  for many years. I served the Israeli army. And
• 2:29
  I'm very proud that I have ADHD. OCPD and I'm
• 2:33
  dyslexic. And as you mentioned, they are my superpowers.
• 2:37
  When I moved to Canada, I started working as
• 2:40
  a locksmith very fast. I opened my own company.
• 2:43
  And from there, we opened a security integration
• 2:47
  that we provide services today all over Canada
• 2:50
  and some areas in the States. I also own a company
• 2:53
  called D8 that is for glazing, commercial glazing
• 2:57
  and aluminum. And I have pretty much the company
• 3:00
  that I'm the most proud of. off right now because
• 3:03
  it's something that is very close to my heart
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  that is Metador. And Metador is exactly what
• 3:09
  we're going to talk today. It's about leadership.
• 3:11
  It's about AI, ADHD, and everything in between.
• 3:16
  That sounds wonderful. And we could probably
• 3:19
  have this podcast for three hours, but we don't
• 3:22
  have that kind of time. So I'll try to hone you
• 3:24
  in and get the answers from you. You describe
• 3:28
  ADHD as a different operating system, not a limitation.
• 3:33
  When it comes to networking, what strengths does
• 3:36
  that operating system give people that others
• 3:40
  overlook? So when you're doing networking, you're
• 3:44
  technically meeting strangers all day. You're
• 3:47
  going to do sales, you're meeting strangers.
• 3:49
  I call it my scanner eye. When I go to someone's
• 3:52
  office for the first time, I scan it right away.
• 3:55
  I can see hobbies. I can see family pictures.
• 3:57
  If I don't see, I'm able to categorize the person
• 3:59
  I'm sitting in front of. So I know how to fit
• 4:02
  the dialogue between them in a way to create
• 4:04
  kind of interaction. I'm able to listen to what
• 4:08
  people here are saying to me during conversation
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  and already build the second and the third and
• 4:13
  the fourth part of that conversation, what is
• 4:16
  giving me an edge of how people are thinking.
• 4:19
  And with the years, I built a system that is
• 4:23
  even making it easier because I already have
• 4:25
  templates in my head. So it's also able to create
• 4:29
  experience for people when they meet you. So,
• 4:33
  for example, when you meet someone, let's say
• 4:36
  you called a repair guy for your house to fix
• 4:39
  your dishwasher, for example. You have a template
• 4:41
  in your head that you're expecting that person
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  to come with a work van or a pickup. cargo pants,
• 4:47
  work clothes related, a binder. If that person
• 4:50
  now is coming with a suit, something does not
• 4:52
  fit here. Now, it's up to him when he's coming
• 4:55
  with a suit to create an experience. If he create
• 4:58
  a positive experience from that transaction,
• 5:00
  he cannot fit in the repair guy box. And that
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  way, it's creating a new experience, what is
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  creating something that you want to tell to other
• 5:09
  people, what is helping with networking, because...
• 5:13
  What I hear a lot from our customers, we had
• 5:16
  a guy come here to give us an estimate for the
• 5:17
  security guy and he came with a suit and he had
• 5:20
  a bun with a long hair, like everything that
• 5:23
  didn't expand and created an experience from
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  everything that also creates friendship. Because
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  now he's curious to know, like why he doesn't
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  fit to that box. And as a person with ADHD, we
• 5:34
  don't fit in boxes. So we just create our own
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  open box. Yeah. And as when you ask questions,
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  that brings you to another level of conversation
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  and everything else. You have to be inventive.
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  You have to ask those questions. And I too have
• 5:49
  a template of sorts. When I'm first sitting down
• 5:53
  with somebody, I use something called F -O -R
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  -M. Family, occupation, recreation, and a message.
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  And I try to get to them on one of those levels.
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  So I just let that person talk because people
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  love to talk about themselves. So you just let
• 6:09
  them talk. And you always listen. You don't really
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  talk. You listen. The more you listen, the better
• 6:15
  off you're going to be. Okay, I digress. Many
• 6:18
  professionals with ADHD struggle with follow
• 6:22
  -up and consistency. What systems or habits have
• 6:26
  helped you turn fast thinking into real business
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  relationships? Okay. Like you said, it's not
• 6:36
  a long podcast for a few hours, so I'll say it
• 6:38
  in short because I have many systems. For example,
• 6:45
  we have our main office for the company, for
• 6:48
  each company. I have my own office that is detached
• 6:51
  from everything, literally a different unit that
• 6:54
  is separate. The reason for it, I cannot hear
• 6:57
  stuff so I can stay focused. All my windows are
• 7:01
  covered, always. I don't see shadows. I usually
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  always have my headphones on. I have my own specific
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  music that I like that I found that is really
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  good for my focus. It's a mix between classical
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  music and rave together. It sounds crazy, but
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  it's really nice. It's creating tempo when I
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  work. And a lot of task list. I have a lot of
• 7:24
  apps. For example, I have no social media. Even
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  that I have LinkedIn, but it's managed by one
• 7:29
  of my team. I don't have access to it. I can't.
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  I cannot access anything than just use a regular
• 7:34
  phone, to be honest. So there is nothing to distract
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  me. My browsers cannot go over 20 tabs because...
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  Again, there is the stuff that I need. And I
• 7:46
  built a system that we built under the Zoho platform.
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  It took me a few years. We actually got a few
• 7:51
  awards for it. That it's built the same way as,
• 7:55
  in a way, my brain. So if I have a meeting with
• 7:59
  you, automatically it's creating me a task. And
• 8:02
  if I'm not doing the task in the right timeline,
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  it's going to bug me. And there is no way to
• 8:08
  stop it but just finishing it. when we have over
• 8:12
  158 automations built in on that system in different
• 8:17
  areas. First of all, in a way to save time, save
• 8:19
  clicks, and in that way to mainstream stuff that
• 8:23
  have to be done in a very specific way. And I
• 8:26
  have an assistant and also operation manager.
• 8:29
  I call them my gatekeepers. Every time if I'm
• 8:33
  slacking or not getting, they keep me accountable.
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  And if they have to give me shit, sometimes it's
• 8:38
  on a weekly basis, they will put me in place
• 8:40
  because... I hire them to feed my personality
• 8:42
  in order to help me to excel. That's very good
• 8:46
  because half the problem with being a business
• 8:50
  owner or multiple business owners is accountability.
• 8:54
  You don't want yes men around you saying, oh,
• 8:57
  yeah, it's a great idea. It's a great idea. No,
• 8:59
  you want somebody to give you feedback and say,
• 9:02
  no, you're wrong. You have to do it this way.
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  And listen, you as the owner. You take all the
• 9:09
  recommendations, take all the information, and
• 9:11
  you do with it what you think is best. But if
• 9:14
  you don't have those people around you, then
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  you have nowhere to go. You don't achieve as
• 9:20
  much as you have by having yes men. Exactly.
• 9:24
  People that work with them directly, their job
• 9:28
  descriptions is to find my mistakes and to point
• 9:31
  them out to me. And they have to be very extremely
• 9:34
  different than me. So in that way, I like the
• 9:38
  data coming from them. They'll show me a different
• 9:40
  point of view. And they're also going to be add
• 9:43
  the stuff that I'm not able to add or to be honest,
• 9:46
  to be able to do it much better. I always like
• 9:48
  to hire people that can do stuff much better
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  than me. As ADHD, we're more visionaries. We're
• 9:53
  what is called a wartime CEOs. We're not peacetime
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  CEOs. If in peace, we're going to make wars.
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  So we're good to come for a specific operation,
• 10:03
  finishing it and go to the next one. We're not
• 10:06
  the one to sustain it. And because we cannot
• 10:08
  sustain it, it's also not good for our staff
• 10:11
  under it to give them stability. So we need people
• 10:14
  that are opposite so staff can stay with us.
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  And at the end of the day, our team is what is
• 10:19
  growing the company. It's not a one -person show.
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  So we need to have a different type of people.
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  It sounds like you have the right people around
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  you. I like to think of myself somewhere in the
• 10:28
  middle. I may lean a little one way or the other,
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  but I like to think of myself somewhere in the
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  middle, but I too. Don't surround myself with
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  yes men. I have to accept what they're saying.
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  But it sounds like you found the right people
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  and that you're headed in the right direction.
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  Yeah, I'm super grateful and very lucky that
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  I have good people around me. It's my biggest
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  success. You teach that focus doesn't come from
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  force. It comes from design. How can business
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  owners shape their networking style so it fits
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  their brain? that already works first thing first
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  being honest so you need to honest who you are
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  whatever person you are don't try to play a character
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  because again it's not sustainable you need to
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  be who you are and even that if you some people
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  don't think they are enough so they're trying
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  to be something else the people that you want
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  to know the people you want to network they will
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  be able to see it and then it's not good reputation
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  for you So I will say, step number one, be you.
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  Even if it doesn't fit to a specific group. But
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  even a specific group would like to have something
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  different because it's honest. People attract
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  to honest people because they give a feeling
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  of cleanness and honesty that come with that.
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  Even if they don't have the same point of interest
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  or anything. And secondly, like you said, ask
• 11:57
  questions. So the second you're asking questions.
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  Don't hear someone saying something in conversations
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  and pretend. And I usually like to say, like,
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  when I go to meetings with my lawyer and the
• 12:08
  accountant and they speak keywords I don't know.
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  I always tell them, guys, I pay you guys a lot
• 12:12
  of money. Please speak English so I can understand
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  what's going on in this meeting as well. But
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  the same thing when I go with a customer. If
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  a customer mentions a word or someone that I
• 12:22
  meet in a networking event, I don't understand.
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  I don't pretend I do. Worst case, if I really...
• 12:29
  I don't want to, I'm afraid to ask. I'll Google
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  it right now so I can get into the conversation.
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  But be curious. And by even asking the question,
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  nobody will think less of you. If you actually,
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  this is your input into the conversation. And
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  then you understand better. And for sure you
• 12:45
  have something to say because you're there in
• 12:47
  that event anyway. So you are related in a way.
• 12:51
  What you are describing is being authentic. You
• 12:55
  have to be authentic to yourself. And that's
• 12:59
  a word that is thrown around quite easily. Everybody
• 13:03
  and every podcast you could ever imagine on every
• 13:07
  website, oh, be authentic, be real, be authentic,
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  be real. And it's not just words. If you don't
• 13:13
  feel it and truly do it, people will see right
• 13:17
  through you, first of all, and give you like
• 13:19
  two minutes of their time and move on. But if
• 13:22
  you want to stay with the conversation, you want
• 13:25
  to be authentic, and you have to listen, and
• 13:28
  you have to ask questions. All of these combined
• 13:31
  together gives you the greatest outcome. Yeah.
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  And the one thing I also found from networking
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  that was one of my biggest tools, if you give
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  before you accept to receive, you're going to
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  receive much more. That's called having a servant's
• 13:49
  heart. That's called because you're looking to
• 13:52
  give rather than receive. And that's all part
• 13:56
  of my, I do workshops, I do keynotes, I do all
• 13:59
  breakout sessions. And as I'm discussing what
• 14:03
  you do when you walk up to a table, let's say,
• 14:06
  and you have somebody talking to you, at the
• 14:09
  end of the form and everything else, before you
• 14:13
  even describe what you do, you come out with
• 14:17
  something like, I like you. I like how you do
• 14:21
  business and the way you're doing it. How can
• 14:23
  I make you more successful? How can I be a good
• 14:28
  referral source for you? And if I did my job
• 14:31
  correctly, they'll say, Mike, I don't even know
• 14:33
  what the hell you do yet. And you're already
• 14:35
  trying to make me more successful? Yes. So that
• 14:40
  is having a servant's heart. So you hit the nail
• 14:43
  right. You hit the money. Okay. AI and automation
• 14:47
  are becoming standard tools for lean businesses.
• 14:51
  How can these tools help people who think fast
• 14:55
  and juggle many ideas stay connected instead
• 14:59
  of overwhelmed? So I think when you say, I think
• 15:05
  today, if you've got, you're going to look in
• 15:06
  the dictionary, AI equal overwhelm for a lot
• 15:09
  of people. And it's because that. There is a
• 15:14
  lot of videos going online saying, hey, I built
• 15:17
  a company for AI and I did a million dollars
• 15:19
  in my first month. That is the false advertising
• 15:23
  around it. Secondly, false advertising, AI is
• 15:27
  going to take people's jobs. AI is not going
• 15:30
  to take people's jobs. Someone that know how
• 15:31
  to use AI will take people who don't know how
• 15:33
  to use AI jobs. That for sure. The way that I
• 15:36
  represent, because I work with a lot of companies
• 15:38
  that introduce AI, their organization, and the
• 15:41
  way that I... In the do set, I'm saying, think
• 15:45
  about a carpenter. There is a new type of drill
• 15:48
  that came up, a bigger battery, more circles
• 15:51
  on the engine. It's more resistance and everything.
• 15:55
  You want to go and buy it right away because
• 15:57
  it's better. It's lighter. The battery can last
• 15:59
  for longer. AI is the same thing. It's a tool.
• 16:03
  I could have said it better myself. As you were
• 16:08
  speaking, I was like, those are the words that
• 16:10
  I want to use. Because that's all AI is. AI is
• 16:13
  a tool. And you have several tools that you use
• 16:17
  in business. And AI is just one of the tools.
• 16:20
  And you have to learn how to use it correctly.
• 16:23
  Just like that drill. You don't know how to use
• 16:25
  a drill correctly, you're going to get into a
• 16:27
  lot of trouble. Because you're going to make
• 16:29
  holes in places you never thought of. Once you
• 16:31
  learn how to use it, it's beautiful. So that's
• 16:35
  what it is. AI is a tool. And I can't, go ahead.
• 16:39
  No, I can't improve on what you said. Yeah. AI
• 16:42
  is a tool. And the second you're taking that
• 16:45
  tool, it's a, first of all, it's a connection
• 16:47
  tool. AI, for example, for myself, I'm, if I
• 16:50
  had to send you a text freely without using any
• 16:54
  type of app that kind of help, I won't be able
• 16:56
  to read it myself. If I had to write it, forget
• 16:59
  about it. AI bridging that gap. It's not an issue.
• 17:02
  Absolutely. It's not the niche -winning one.
• 17:07
  Absolutely. Absolutely. And I'm in your camp
• 17:09
  when it comes to that, okay? When I'm writing
• 17:13
  down notes, when I'm talking about something
• 17:15
  or somebody or in a meeting or taking a class
• 17:18
  on the web, after a break, I look at my notes.
• 17:23
  I'm going, I can't read my notes. I might as
• 17:27
  well not have taken them because I can't read
• 17:29
  them. All right. Most networking advice assumes
• 17:33
  everyone works the same way. What advice would
• 17:37
  you give someone who feels out of place in traditional
• 17:40
  networking rooms? So I do find, especially when
• 17:47
  I started doing business consultation, I found
• 17:50
  that all businesses, anywhere from a guy that's
• 17:52
  working from the back of his truck to a guy that
• 17:55
  owns a thousand trucks, it's the same problem,
• 17:58
  different skills at the end of the day. And understanding
• 18:03
  that, you now understand that the person is not
• 18:06
  different than you, in a way. It's not that if
• 18:09
  he's running a company that is bigger, you're
• 18:12
  actually the lucky one if you're in a small company.
• 18:15
  You don't have the stress he's having. He's actually
• 18:18
  jealous of you, not you jealous of him. And this
• 18:21
  is what a lot of people don't understand. Every
• 18:23
  step you're taking for growth of business, you're
• 18:25
  taking at least five to six steps back in your
• 18:28
  income, in your peace of mind. And so many different
• 18:32
  stuff that I was telling a technician that worked
• 18:36
  for me over the years. And then when they moved
• 18:37
  to be a contractors, I told them before, when
• 18:40
  you guys finish a job, you went home and sleep
• 18:42
  and you slept well. Now you guys are business
• 18:44
  owners. Welcome to the world of people that don't
• 18:46
  sleep. That's right. That's right. Everybody
• 18:52
  wants to work. I've been working for myself for.
• 18:56
  100 years. And I went corporate. I worked corporate
• 18:59
  for about 15 years. Beforehand, I started off
• 19:05
  in the military. Then I went into my own business.
• 19:08
  Then I went corporate. I went back to my own
• 19:10
  business. And I'm doing this now. And everybody
• 19:14
  always wants to have their own business. I said,
• 19:17
  sure, you want your own business because you
• 19:19
  work half a day. They said, you do? I said, sure,
• 19:22
  12 hours a day is half a day. And they're going,
• 19:26
  wait a minute. I said, no, and that's on a good
• 19:29
  day. And it's a whole lot more that goes to it,
• 19:32
  but that's for another day. You talk about turning
• 19:36
  ADHD into an advantage. Can you share a moment
• 19:41
  when your thinking style directly led to a connection
• 19:44
  or deal that might not have happened otherwise?
• 19:51
  I actually have many of them. The biggest thing
• 19:54
  is when I go meet with customers, I don't prepare
• 19:58
  for meetings. I can't, actually. It's going against
• 20:00
  me if I will prepare because I know the subject
• 20:04
  I'm going to speak about or what we're going
• 20:06
  to do if we're buying a company or selling a
• 20:08
  product, but I won't prepare. I won't do research
• 20:11
  of who is there in the meeting because I don't
• 20:15
  want to create what I call baggage, something
• 20:17
  that will influence me. in the way or create
• 20:19
  excitement or stress in any way and but because
• 20:23
  of the adhd it's giving the tool the second i
• 20:25
  come inside the room and i see everybody in front
• 20:28
  of me and it's giving me an options to i feel
• 20:33
  it's like a machine that's starting collecting
• 20:34
  data on everybody by the way they sit the way
• 20:37
  that they're dressed the way that kind of their
• 20:40
  eyes if they're engaged they're not engaged and
• 20:42
  everything and then i know who i want like sometimes
• 20:45
  i would point at my most of the conversation
• 20:47
  on one person that I know is not a decision maker,
• 20:50
  but I know it's going to annoy the other person
• 20:52
  and it's creating him more attention because
• 20:54
  he's expecting me to be with him. So joy is like
• 20:58
  a game for me. And it's every meeting that I
• 21:01
  go or even podcast that I go, I'm able to, I
• 21:06
  found that if I'm, because of my ADHD, it would
• 21:09
  be hard for me to prepare. And if I'm not preparing,
• 21:12
  I'm able to excel much better because technically
• 21:16
  I'm doing my ADHD. Go loose, run, do it. Give
• 21:19
  me the data that you want. And it's the area
• 21:22
  that you thrive at. Yeah, no, I feel, especially
• 21:25
  on podcasts, that if I try to prepare, that will
• 21:30
  hold me back. I can't allow, because I'm too
• 21:33
  busy trying to remember what I'm trying to remember
• 21:36
  instead of just free falling. And it's just that
• 21:40
  much better. And when you walk into that room,
• 21:43
  that meeting, You're picking up the body language
• 21:46
  of all the people. As you said, how they sit,
• 21:50
  how they look at you, how they're dressed, how
• 21:52
  they're motioning, their hands, their feet, their
• 21:55
  face. You have to take all that in and you have
• 21:57
  about five seconds to get all that information,
• 22:02
  which you do without a problem. It's something
• 22:05
  that you have to train yourself to do. And then
• 22:09
  you can very quickly move on to the next thing.
• 22:11
  So it's very astute. Okay. There is a saying
• 22:14
  that I learned it very well on myself over the
• 22:18
  years. And actually, I saw it a few days ago.
• 22:20
  And it's saying there is two options. It's or
• 22:23
  I'm going to win or I'm going to learn. So I
• 22:27
  learned a lot, let's say, this way. I tried a
• 22:30
  lot of stuff that people will say it won't work.
• 22:32
  And I was like, but I want to try it. I think
• 22:35
  that maybe I can do something. Some of them I
• 22:37
  succeed. A lot of them I fail. But I learned
• 22:39
  so much from my failures. It's something you
• 22:43
  have to train and learn a lot. That way, you're
• 22:46
  actually, it's a skill. ADHD is a skill. You
• 22:50
  need to train it, like AI as well. Yeah. I like
• 22:55
  what you said. I like either you're going to
• 22:57
  win or you're going to learn, right? Because
• 23:00
  you learn so much more from your failures than
• 23:03
  you do of your successes. If somebody's successful,
• 23:06
  always. then they'll never achieve that next
• 23:09
  level. But once they fail, they'll say, oh, you
• 23:12
  know what? I did that wrong. Let me make this
• 23:15
  better. So you're going to learn from it. I like
• 23:17
  that. I like that a lot. All right. Many people
• 23:21
  fear they come across as scattered or intense.
• 23:25
  How can professionals own their own energy in
• 23:29
  conversations without trying to water it down?
• 23:33
  So how? So pretty much as a person, as I just
• 23:38
  want to understand that I understand the question.
• 23:39
  So the person that has ADHD, how I'm not overwhelming
• 23:43
  the other people in the conversation. Right.
• 23:46
  Because it's very easy to appear as a, that you're
• 23:52
  fearing that they view you as being a scatterbrain,
• 23:56
  right? Or you're too intense. So how can professionals
• 24:02
  own their own energy? in conversations without
• 24:06
  trying to order down their information? So there
• 24:10
  is two things. One, if you have a few meeting
• 24:12
  customer or networking or so on, it's a one scenario
• 24:15
  that you need more to control because there is
• 24:19
  a percentage of how much. So when I meet with
• 24:22
  someone, we have to keep 70 -30. So 30 % we're
• 24:26
  going to speak about what is the meaning for
• 24:27
  the meeting and 70 % we're going to speak about
• 24:30
  anything else because this is where we're actually
• 24:31
  networking. This is my rule. Now, from that time
• 24:35
  that we're speaking, I have to keep my involvement
• 24:38
  in the conversation under 50%. So I'm allowing
• 24:42
  the person to speak up. This is my rules that
• 24:46
  I'm trying. So it's something I remind myself
• 24:47
  all the time of there is a percentage that have
• 24:51
  to be done. So numbers is something that's helping
• 24:52
  me because this is creating a structure for me.
• 24:56
  If, let's say, with employees, part of our onboarding,
• 24:59
  people who work with me directly, it's my question,
• 25:01
  did you ever work with a person with ADHD? And
• 25:04
  if they say no on the second interview, I ask
• 25:06
  that again. If they still don't know, first of
• 25:10
  all, I know they're not for me because I'm not
• 25:11
  curious enough to check stuff. And then we check.
• 25:15
  And a lot of the team that's working with me,
• 25:17
  they are aware. And they'll tell me, Andre, you're
• 25:21
  getting out of the subject. Let's go back. And
• 25:24
  I'm okay with that because this is also the type
• 25:27
  of people that I put around me to help me. And
• 25:31
  this is the people you said. But even my customers,
• 25:34
  if I have to type something as I do a presentation
• 25:36
  and everything, I start, guys, I'm sorry. I'm
• 25:39
  dyslexic. So I have to speak to the computer.
• 25:43
  It'll be easier so I can get the proper stuff.
• 25:46
  But I also bring it as a joke, not as a, I have
• 25:49
  a disability. This is who I am. When you own
• 25:52
  it, when you own the problem, it's not a problem.
• 25:54
  I apologize. When you own that type, when you
• 25:58
  are ADHD and you own it, yes, I am. And look,
• 26:02
  you accept me for what I can do because I could
• 26:05
  do some great things for you as long as you understand
• 26:09
  that I have this ADHD. And it's when you're sitting
• 26:14
  down with somebody and you said you always talk
• 26:16
  less than 50%, which I found it was hysterical
• 26:19
  because when I first sit down with somebody,
• 26:21
  I let them talk. Like the first 10 minutes of
• 26:23
  our conversation, it's all about them. And it's
• 26:27
  all about them talking. I use FORM and I listen
• 26:32
  to them and I respond to what they're saying.
• 26:35
  And there's another little trick that I've learned.
• 26:37
  And I'm just going to take two seconds to tell
• 26:39
  you. When you walk into somebody's office and
• 26:42
  pictures on the rear credenza facing out their
• 26:48
  family, that means that they are open to talking
• 26:52
  about their family, saying, oh, that's a nice
• 26:55
  picture, that's a nice wife, your daughter, your
• 26:56
  son, whatever. If they have pictures on the front
• 27:00
  credenza facing him, you stay away. You don't
• 27:04
  talk about that because he doesn't want you to
• 27:08
  discuss his family. So it's a little thing that
• 27:10
  I picked up. So maybe you can use it in future
• 27:13
  reference. It's actually a good scenario because
• 27:15
  there is people that you want to give them the
• 27:18
  percentage of to talk. So they share and they
• 27:22
  don't. This is usually, I have a scenario that
• 27:24
  I'll start being very sharing in way to create
• 27:27
  comfortable. I shared first. So now you can in
• 27:30
  way to break the ice because some people are
• 27:33
  getting very excited from that interaction. So
• 27:37
  you want to create them again. My goal is to
• 27:39
  create a good experience from our meeting because
• 27:42
  I need to build a new box in your head, in my
• 27:44
  head. So there is different way and way to do
• 27:47
  it. But again, as you told me about the pictures,
• 27:50
  it's like my head just ran on a lot of meetings
• 27:52
  that I had and who had the pictures with the
• 27:54
  back to me. And again, most likely it's going
• 27:58
  to bug me now until I'll figure someone that
• 28:00
  was like that, but I don't remember. But the
• 28:03
  next time you walk into an office, you're going
• 28:05
  to see pictures either in the front or the back
• 28:07
  and you go. That's what Michael says. All right.
• 28:10
  Now I know. You create an experience. You open
• 28:14
  a box. Absolutely correct. Absolutely. With automation
• 28:20
  handling more tasks, human connection matters
• 28:23
  even more. What should people double down on
• 28:27
  in conversations that technology could never
• 28:30
  replace? Technology can understand how to do
• 28:34
  a task, know why we need to do it. So there is
• 28:38
  many whys in a person. There is many whys in
• 28:41
  a business. And again, a lot of people are talking
• 28:43
  about the whys. And a why is something that is
• 28:45
  changed. That when, let's say I speak with our
• 28:48
  sales team and they say, all right, the customer
• 28:50
  want to do X, Y, Z. Why? Because this is what
• 28:54
  he asked. Why? Why does he want to do it? What
• 28:59
  does it matter? But this is what he asked and
• 29:00
  he's willing to pay for it. What does it matter?
• 29:02
  I said, the why is important because the why
• 29:04
  equal to the ROI. How we can measure our success,
• 29:08
  providing them the solution that you need, if
• 29:10
  we don't understand why you need it. Because
• 29:12
  maybe the reason he's thinking you need it, it's
• 29:15
  not a good reason. And many customers, I told
• 29:17
  them, hey, it's not the right solution for you
• 29:19
  guys. No, it's not going to help for what you
• 29:22
  want. They're the most loyal people and friends
• 29:25
  that are my friends right now around me, because
• 29:28
  I was honest with them. AI will never take that
• 29:32
  level. You weren't just looking for the dollar.
• 29:35
  You are looking to help your customer. And that's
• 29:39
  such a big difference. AI can give you an answer,
• 29:43
  but they can't give you the emotional support
• 29:46
  that goes with it. And that's what you're bringing
• 29:49
  to the table. And that's what I believe your
• 29:51
  clients understand. And that's why you're so
• 29:54
  successful. The way that I introduced to other
• 29:57
  people AI, I told them, when someone is, let's
• 30:00
  say, a receptionist. She has days that she has
• 30:03
  our voice saying, like, it's her birthday. She's
• 30:06
  super happy. And there is days that they're not
• 30:09
  very good. She had an argument with her husband
• 30:10
  or spouse or whatever. So people are going anywhere
• 30:13
  between 50 to 80, up and down. AI provided me
• 30:17
  a steady 70. And I'm not expecting over 70 because
• 30:21
  it's steady. That's what it can give me. The
• 30:24
  rest, this is about us. And this is why AI won't
• 30:27
  take our job. Because AI cannot go over 70. AI
• 30:32
  cannot go over 70. And that is what people need
• 30:36
  to understand, that AI won't grow without us.
• 30:40
  Absolutely. I couldn't agree with you more. I
• 30:43
  couldn't agree with you more. But again, that
• 30:45
  goes back to AI being a tool and you know how
• 30:48
  to use it correctly. Okay. So you work with leaders
• 30:52
  who want to learn, who want lean teams and strong
• 30:56
  relationships. What habits separate the ones
• 31:00
  who build lasting networks from those who just
• 31:03
  collect contacts? First of all, usually for a
• 31:06
  lot of businesses that they, let's say they read
• 31:08
  about the lean process or whatever they come.
• 31:11
  So first of all, a business that want to convert
• 31:14
  themselves to be a lean, it's only two situation.
• 31:17
  Or it's a brand new business that we can start
• 31:19
  over that way. It's a mindset. Or it's a business
• 31:23
  that the management, it's what I call. The pain
• 31:27
  level is seven and up. Because when people are
• 31:30
  in a high pain level, they're willing to make
• 31:32
  changes. First of all. Also understand that doing
• 31:36
  changes to be lean, it's also making a lot of
• 31:39
  hard decision about the way that you operate.
• 31:42
  It's again, it's about who is the need to be
• 31:44
  involved in the business. How are we going to
• 31:46
  be operate? Show example on yourself. As a person
• 31:51
  with ADHD, again, Amazon love me. I buy a lot
• 31:54
  of stuff like it's a... I'm an impulsive buyer.
• 31:58
  When we moved to a lean business, the same thing
• 32:01
  that I was preaching to everybody, and we quote,
• 32:03
  every dollar has a name. It starts with me. So
• 32:07
  the first thing I did when we started implementing
• 32:09
  stuff, I had a driver that would drive me from
• 32:11
  one job to another to see the job so I can work.
• 32:14
  I fired my driver. My driver was a luxury. Even
• 32:18
  though he was helping me with a lot, but it's
• 32:21
  a luxury. So the stuff is starting for me. How
• 32:24
  are you showing it and how we implement it? And
• 32:27
  the secondly is also showing, we're showing a
• 32:30
  lot of dashboard of showing because we work that
• 32:32
  way, look our improvement, look at how we did
• 32:35
  it. So we need to be able to buy in into that
• 32:38
  area and understand it because this business
• 32:41
  that is lean is not, it doesn't be like a triangle.
• 32:44
  It's a one line. Everybody's together. Everybody
• 32:47
  is a part of it. I usually recommend to have
• 32:50
  a profit sharing as well because. you need information
• 32:53
  from every department. Linda did business with
• 32:56
  automation. That means there's a lot of rapidical
• 32:58
  tasks that's happening in the background to the
• 33:00
  systems. But the conductor that managed that
• 33:03
  department has to be a strong one. And one that
• 33:07
  he care about the business as it is on business.
• 33:10
  And when he has profit sharing, technically it
• 33:12
  is on business minus the liability. So it's a...
• 33:17
  It's all about the team. And a lot of people
• 33:20
  that won, they're just thinking about how they
• 33:21
  can improve the P &L by their profit and loss
• 33:24
  by doing lean. It doesn't work. It's a team effort.
• 33:27
  It's like in the army. Absolutely. I serve as
• 33:31
  a fighter engineer. So we deal with explosive.
• 33:34
  I cannot do my work if the, again, we don't have
• 33:37
  Marines in Israel, but similar to the Marine,
• 33:39
  they will protect the area without the canine
• 33:43
  unit, without the paramedic. Each one of them
• 33:45
  won't be there. My skills doesn't work much.
• 33:50
  And it's exactly... I'm behind you 100%. I'm
• 33:54
  behind you 100%. I was a police officer in the
• 33:57
  Air Force nine years. And I went from being a
• 34:00
  simple patrolman to the law enforcement flight
• 34:03
  supervisor, which is like a lieutenant on the
• 34:06
  police force. And it takes everybody. to work.
• 34:11
  You can't just have one person do one thing and
• 34:14
  expect everything to come out right. You need
• 34:17
  the work of everybody. And when everybody works
• 34:19
  together, oh, you can do so much more. You can.
• 34:23
  All right. So let's bring this podcast full circle.
• 34:26
  If someone listening feels misunderstood in business
• 34:30
  because of how they think, what's the first mindset
• 34:34
  shift that helps them show up with more confidence
• 34:37
  in every room they enter? Share. There is a saying
• 34:43
  in Hebrew, say, if you say it loud enough, people
• 34:46
  will hear. Stop keeping the cards close to your
• 34:48
  chest. Share your ideas. Share the stuff. That
• 34:51
  someone will take your idea doesn't mean he's
• 34:53
  going to steal it. And you know what? And if
• 34:55
  he's going to steal it, you can actually learn
• 34:57
  from him and to see how he can improve it from
• 34:58
  there more. So to share with people, it will
• 35:02
  actually bring more people closer to you. And
• 35:04
  then because they will share with you and it
• 35:06
  will create much stronger. And you'll create,
• 35:09
  you become more interested person that people
• 35:10
  are actually waiting to see you because they
• 35:13
  want to see, okay, what is the next thing he
• 35:14
  was thinking about? What is the new crazy idea
• 35:16
  he came up with? So be, again, if you have unique
• 35:19
  idea, show it, be unique, be yourself. Be authentic.
• 35:24
  Okay, Andre, this was fantastic. Like I said,
• 35:28
  we could probably talk about things for the next
• 35:30
  two or three hours and not get bored. But if
• 35:34
  somebody wanted to talk to you, hire you, even
• 35:37
  consult with you, what's the best way for them
• 35:40
  to get hold of you? LinkedIn. LinkedIn is the
• 35:44
  best way. Okay. So what a conversation. Today
• 35:50
  wasn't about ADHD. It wasn't just about AI. It
• 35:55
  was about finally owning how you're wired and
• 35:59
  using it. to better build relationships, better
• 36:02
  systems, and better results. If your mind moves
• 36:05
  fast, if this episode gave you permission to
• 36:08
  stop apologizing for it, if you've ever been,
• 36:11
  if you've been unsure how you stay organized
• 36:15
  in a world that never slows down, you now have
• 36:18
  the tools that work with you, not against you.
• 36:21
  And if you're wondering how Real Connection fits
• 36:25
  into tech -driven business world, you heard it
• 36:29
  loud and clear. People still win business from
• 36:32
  people. So here's your move after today's episode.
• 36:36
  Use the tools. Trust your style. Show up fully
• 36:40
  in every conversation. Because the right connection
• 36:43
  at the right moment can change everything. If
• 36:47
  this episode hit home, share it with someone
• 36:49
  who thinks differently, thinks boldly, and deserves
• 36:53
  to hear this message. I'm Michael Foreman, and
• 36:56
  this is Networking Unleashed, building profitable
• 36:58
  connections. We'll see you on the next episode
• 37:01
  where every conversation has the power to turn
• 37:04
  into something bigger. Andre, thank you so much
• 37:07
  for coming on the podcast. Thank you. It was
• 37:10
  a pleasure. hold on, folks. Don't go anywhere.
• 37:19
  Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co
• 37:22
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• 37:44
  When it comes to making the biggest financial
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  of a proven professional, Henry Kaplan. Henry
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  is a global real estate agent with Century 21,
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  celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter
• 38:00
  where you're moving, Henry has the right connections
• 38:02
  for you. You can contact Henry at 561 -427 -4888.
• 38:10
  A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such
• 38:13
  insights today. And of course, a big shout out
• 38:17
  to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in
• 38:20
  and spending your time with us. If you're interested
• 38:23
  in my digital courses, being coached or having
• 38:26
  me come and talk to your company, just go to
• 38:29
  Michael and fill out the request form. Remember,
• 38:33
  networking isn't about being perfect. It's about
• 38:36
  being present. So take what you've learned today,
• 38:39
  get out there and make some meaningful connections.
• 38:43
  If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't
• 38:46
  forget to subscribe. Leave us a review and share
• 38:49
  it with someone who could use a little networking
• 38:51
  inspiration. Let's keep the conversation going.
• 38:54
  You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube,
• 38:59
  or my website, foreman .com slash podcasts.