The Generous Leadership® Podcast | Leading with Heart

“Leaders must do the right thing even if it’s hard, really for the sake of others. They just must.” Former turn-around CEO of Prologis, Walt Rakowich joins Tricia Halsey for the Season 1 Finale of the Generous Leadership® Podcast. Walt’s life is an example of the power of priorities. Yes, he turned around a failing publicly-traded company to grow into a global leader with over $50 billion in assets AND his priority was and will always be to change the lives of the people he leads for the better. Shownotes Walt tells his upbringing from humble beginnings to becoming the CEO of Prologis, a company that had $50 billion in assets when he left. Walt worked with a leader who had narcissistic tendencies. He describes the tendencies this sort of leader has and the repercussions for a company culture. How Walt turned-around the third worst performing company in the S&P 500 in just four years to a company with $60 billion assets when he left. Walt’s 3 H Core: Humble, Honest and Human Is there any hope for the curmudgeons—the people who don’t change and are difficult to work with—to ultimately change for the good? Walt calls these people “cultural vipers” and tells about the transformation of one executive who changed from a bully to the most beloved leader. It is never too late to help someone change. The two biggest blockers to transformational influence: pride and fear and how to defeat them.

“And just by recognizing your own fear you become…more personable and more trusted as a leader. And so many leaders don’t want to do that. “I can’t be…I can’t show fear because then people won’t...” You know what? If I can’t show fear and then people can’t follow me, there’s a bigger problem with me.” Ron Dunlap serves as Graebel Companies’ President and Chief Operating Officer where he oversees the organizational health and growth of a global company in the relocation industry. Before joining Graebel, Ron held a variety of roles managing IT, operations, client and vendor relations, quality performance, and planning and analysis. Ron is a veteran of the United States Air Force and has a Master’s and Doctorate in experimental psychology and statistics from Texas Tech University. Shownotes How Ron’s upbringing, family history, service in the military and his education journey through psychology and statistics shaped him to be the leader he is today. The story of Graebel Companies and the incredible brotherhood relationship between Ron and CEO Bill Graebel. How Graebel Companies quickly planned to cut tens of millions of expenses and implemented that plan in 3.5 weeks after the COVID closures in March 2020. The family atmosphere of Graebel Companies has contributed to the unity among staff to take pay cuts so that the family can care for every person the best way possible. Ron speaks to the “loneliness at the top” because of the way a leader must make hard decisions that negatively impact people sometimes. In those cases, some people can judge the intentions of the leader making the decision. How to lead a culture based on truth, love and integrity. The value of compassion when people make mistakes and how to be authentic in the tough times.

“When you are so confident that you are loved and liked by your parents, you can pour into other people.” Parenting is the highest form of leadership. This year, while children are at home for school, parents have an unprecedented opportunity. In this podcast, Tricia Halsey interviews Christian Dykson, a 19 year-old Ashoka Young Changemaker who is wise beyond his years. And then, Christian joins his parents Dirk and Lindie for a conversation about parenting and raising leaders. Learning and working from home comes with tremendous challenges, but we can choose to see this season as a gift that will forever change the lives of our kids and every life they touch. Listen in to this powerful conversation. Shownotes Hearing from the perspective of a dynamic 19 year-old Generation Z leader who is well beyond his years in wisdom. Unleashing the power of others begins with knowing their name, then challenging them to dream. Christian’s worldview shift when he began to notice the vital role of custodians and building a program to elevate the custodial staff to match their true value as “heroes of the hallways.” How this project led to Ashoka selecting Christian as a Young Changemaker. Christian’s goal is to “serve” as the U.S. President someday. He speaks about why and shares his vision for the future. The reason why empathy should be a focus of parents when they are developing their children. The difference between loving and liking your child, and what time has to do with it. Assessing and judging children actually steals power from them. What we should do instead. What are the distractions that take the attention of children away from meaningful interactions with parents that would help them feel more known and liked? Ask the question: “What is the culture we want as a family?”

“It’s in the mess where the magic happens. So how do we have these messy conversations, and talk about what’s going on and create solutions that may not be one-size-fits all anymore.” There is growing concern among parents about how they will be able to work and parent children who are at home learning at the same time. Stacy Taubman, is a CEO who is thinking outside of the one-size-fits-all standards to come up with pioneering solutions to address this mounting concern, and ultimately, to make her culture and business stronger. Listen as she shares about her new solutions and gives advice to other leaders who are looking to extend grace to parents who will need it in the coming months. Shownotes The integrated approach of RISE Collaborative is to forge deep community through intentional space, training, relationship building and giving back Listening to learn perspective to come up with relevant solutions for your employees How companies can respond to the needs of employees who are struggling to care for their children’s education right now due to school closures How to think creatively with your business model and resources to make it possible to take care of your employees in the ways they need The boundaries between work and home have been blurred more now than ever before. How can we give our people grace and space to talk about their needs? Taking the risk to lead through the gray because the “black and white” is not where optimization is found.  

“At some level all of us in the positions we’re in have to really wrestle with that painful dark side [of leadership].” Matt Procter is the President/CEO of Improve Group.  Improve Group is based in Albuquerque, NM and works across the United States and Europe helping organizations find ways to make time an ally, rather than an enemy, while revolutionizing their buildings. From the US Military to hospitals to large companies, Improve Group works with organizations of every form. Though Matt has seen Improve Group experience fast growth (mostly despite him), become employee-owned, and allow him to be named one of Albuquerque’s 40 under Forty, he’s most proud of figuring out how to get his awesome wife Ashley to marry him...which led to getting to raise 3 awesome boys.  Normally you’ll find him drawing a new idea on a white board or running on a trail. Shownotes: Why leadership can be so hard, the difficult side of leadership. How to deal with, and lead through, fear and doubt as a leader. In the moment when you’re going through really challenging times, you can’t see the benefit. But it is the challenging times that lead us to beneficial change in the future. We all have to answer the question: what determines our identity? It is dangerous to put your identity in the thing that you are leading. Because every organization is inconsistent in different times. The times of high success are equally dangerous as the lowest of lows. How to navigate the attacks on your identity as a leader. Leadership can feel isolating when other leaders are projecting that times are always good and optimistic. It’s important to surround yourself with people who can tell the truth and sit in the hard times together. How to measure seemingly contradictory truths to make decisions. The power of generosity to change the atmosphere and shift reality. What does generosity say to fear?

“Discovering who you are and what you are meant to do is a journey, an adventure.” How can you put people first as a leader when there are so many external pressures to perform and meet expectations? The Israeli culture places a tremendous amount of pressure on leaders to command and control, and consequently often people are second priority. On this episode of The Generous Leadership® Podcast, Israeli businessman Mordechai Wiseman shares with Tricia Halsey how you can swim against the current to unlock the potential and calling of others. Shownotes: Your ability to lead and influence depends on how well you tap into your own personal calling and purpose. Comparing two leadership paradigms by breaking down characteristics and practices: top-down leadership vs. generous leadership® What makes a “good leader” good? What is vulnerability? Why is it scary? How can it keep us back from success or launch us toward influence? Fear leads us to desire to control. Healthy confidence and self-value leads to vulnerability and empowerment. Why Mordechai chose to submit to younger leadership in the army because he wanted to practice humility and grow as a follower. Why leaders need to know how to be good followers. How does a leader choose to do the right thing when there are external pressures to put people second? Three tips for how to lead generously: study generous leaders to change your perspective, seek a mentor who you want to be like, and be comfortable in your own skin.

“You get to transfer all that you’ve become and all that you’ve learned to them, so that their starting line is far further ahead than yours was. That’s a legacy that far outlasts fame and money and success because your leadership lives on in the life of another.” On this solo cast episode of The Generous Leadership® Podcast, host Tricia Halsey addresses the state of our nation’s future as predicted and determined through the system of all systems: Education. Hear why it is imperative more of us step into this arena if we are to shape—and transfer—the soul of our nation to those coming after us. Shownotes: The purpose of leadership is to find, equip and place future generous leaders. This is how you leave an exponential, lasting legacy. The future of our nation begins and ends on the current Generation Z. Who’s responsibility is it to ensure this generation gets where they need? Typical education is not at its best and students are struggling, but there is an incredible opportunity right now to change things. What’s your role in raising up future leaders? Many practical ideas are given for business leaders, parents, teachers and everyone else!

“True love [is] where you have deep concern for another person and your response is sacrificial.” Knowing the full story requires us to see from various perspectives. In this Generous Leadership® Podcast Tricia Halsey asks police Chief Terry Jones what it’s like to be in law enforcement right now and his perspective of what it will take to come together. Terry Jones was the Deputy Chief of Aurora during the Aurora Theatre Shooting in 2012. Through his stories and perspective he describes the motive behind why police officers run toward the danger, not away. Shownotes: How Terry turned around a police department through empowering people, flattening organizational communication and listening well. A firsthand account from the Deputy Chief of Police to the Aurora Theatre Shooting in 2012. Stories of unity and the kindness of the community after the tragedy for one another and the police officers. Empathy gives us perspective so that we can suspend judgment until we better understand. What is it like to be a police officer today? How do you continue to love people and do the right thing when you are misunderstood or when people try to hurt you? Suspend emotion so that we can discover both sides of the story first before making an educated decision.

“The way you lead flows beyond the walls of your business and into your community.” What is the foundation that prepares a business to withstand intense challenge? Anthony Lambatos believed it was a strong culture based on loving people well and has spent years building the culture at Footer’s Catering to be an award-winning Best Workplace. When the COVID pandemic hit, Anthony’s hypothesis was tested. Anthony shares his learnings and wisdom that you can apply to your organization, and even your family, in this episode of The Generous Leadership® Podcast. Shownotes and Takeaways: How Anthony Lambatos is leading his hospitality business through the dramatic decline and change in business due to the COVID pandemic. Culture is not about the distractions from work, but creating a place where people love the actual work that they do. The practical ways that Footer’s Catering took care of their employees and continued to take care of their furloughed employees during the pandemic. What leading with generosity can look like in the midst of a time of scarcity. The MIBE Tribe principles for replicating strong culture that all organizations can use. Practical methods and tools that facilitate an environment of knowing each other and being known. When you are doing something for someone else is it because you want to earn their appreciation, loyalty or favors in the future or do you do something because it’s the right thing to do for another person, with no intent to receive something back?

“Bring you’re ‘A’ game every single day because you never know who you are going to impact today.” Did you know that leadership can have a component of fathering and mothering? Fathering and mothering as a leader has a lot to do with training, empowering and raising up those who will come after you. Frank DeAngelis, the incredible principal who guided the Littleton community through the 1999 Columbine High School massacre, shares how to do this and so much more in this podcast. Shownotes and Takeaways: How former principal Frank DeAngelis experienced the 1999 Columbine massacre and led his community through profound grief to create a family culture within school that has stood the test of time. You can’t put a price tag on changing lives. Leaders must take care of themselves and this includes going through counseling and finding help. Seek out truth from those around you; don’t be fooled when people tell you what you want to hear. How to remain connected and relevant to the people you lead. Why relationship is the foundation for building a thriving culture. Protecting your relationship with the people you lead by not confusing their mistakes with who they are. Frank tells many stories of people who were changed by his leadership and the family culture he created at Columbine High School.