Eating Crow

As a successfully exited CEO, business leader, board member, author, speaker, pod-caster, husband, father, son, collegiate athlete and diversity and inclusion leader - Don has been there, done that.

He's also a gracious mentor and community builder. Don shares his story, weaving in some of the most poignant and relevant lessons we've had on Eating Crow.

What skills does Don look for when hiring?

What's the most important lesson he's learned to drive success at customers and ultimately for his companies?

What does diversity and inclusion mean to Don? How is he bringing this to companies and individuals? Hint, it's not what you think.

Don doesn't want someone else's touchdown - listen to find out what this means, it's brilliant.

Don's Eating Crow Moments:

1. The importance of setting expectations
2. A serious shift in his leadership style and "what might have been"

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Empathy and emotional intelligence - every leader needs to learn and practice these critical behaviors
2. How we need to rethink the recruiting process to factor in diversity and still hire the BEST candidate for the job
3. Don is a killer salesman - and the customer he stole from me

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Tucker Shade can swim...with sharks.

Tucker leads Savills, a Global Commercial Real Estate firm's Raleigh, NC office. He's a former Division 1 Swimmer (and captain) who brings his competitive spirit to his role and is usually at the top of the food chain.

We speak to Tucker about his career, the impacts of the work-from-home culture on office environments, recruiting athletes and developing talent.

Tucker's Eating Crow Moment: Realizing his talents would be better served in sales. I think Tucker dishes out more crow than he eats.

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Me Space vs. We Space: Thinking about how employees will operate in a blended work environment
2. Where'd all the knowledge go? Tucker brings up a REALLY interesting point about how the work-from-home culture is impacting knowledge transfer from generation to generation...it's a bit unsettling and something every leader needs to plan for

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Cris Cohen loves music, no he REALLY loves music.

Cris is an accidental entrepreneur and he's far better at it than he knows (he's also pretty humble). Not many people can successfully turn a passion into a career. After dabbling in several different jobs, Cris took an internship at a radio station in LA and the rest is history, or at least part of history.

Cris's crow is of a different variety - he had to look deep at his passion and after a series of "downsizing" events he realized he should gobble up and shift his focus. He also has a voice for radio - not because he doesn't have a face for video, he's handsome enough, in a radio personality sort of way :-).

Cris created Bands to Fans, a business centered around helping musical groups and individual artists develop a presence on social media - with quality and thoughtful content. Music was already changing, but with COVID, a musical act without a way to connect to their audience online simply becomes irrelevant.

Listen how Cris got is first gig (he asked for the order) and learn how it has evolved. He's a joy to have on the program and a first class human.

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Follow your passion. We've heard it before, but Cris took a crazy leap and is truly happy.
2. Find your niche. Social media is a big business, so are "podcasts" and video interviews. Cris found a niche that was not being addressed and doubled down.
3. Be in the moment. How Cris got his first gig was completely spontaneous - but he jumped at the right time. Fear was not an issue and trust me, Cris is not a sales dude - he's got guts and great timing.

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Gary Buete has a job to do. As the CEO of the largest youth soccer club in the country, with over 25,000 members, he had a lot to think about even before COVID. Our world changed, and so did youth sports...potentially forever.

Gary talks openly about his team responded, how they watched other amateur and professional sports teams handle the pandemic and the impact of the decisions they made - as well as the response from parents and players.

Gary lives soccer and as a former college athlete and parent to three more you can see how he struggled with the desire to keep the club active, player and parent safety. Youth athletics, or any extracurricular activity, play an important part in the development of a child. The sudden halt of every activity and the impact socially, mentally, emotionally and physically will be studied for years. Gary and I speculate on what this could mean, as parents and leaders.

Key Takeaways for Leaders:

1. Making tough decisions when your peers may not be.
2. Serving two masters.

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Josh Peach is Au Sm. Crow was a staple for Josh when he was growing up. His story highlights the importance of having someone believe IN you, enough to take a chance ON you. Josh was always selling - the will to win was there but early in his life, focus wasn't. We'll hear how a key person in his high school years had faith and put their faith into action, changing Josh's life forever.

Fast forward and now Josh hosts two podcasts and helped drive the success of one of the country's most successful SaaS companies. He's one of the funniest men on the planet and has a very humble way of sharing his pitfalls and successes (and amazing timing) so that others can benefit from his experiences.

Josh can also rock a Members Only jacket and a mullet in 2020. Somehow he pulls it off.

Josh's new passion, Be Au Sum, is well, a movement and a podcast. Josh inspires us with stories of people making a difference through action.

Josh inspired me to start Eating Crow and it's an honor to share a meal with him.

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Pay it forward. Josh benefited from a mentor and is constantly trying to pay it forward - and it's authentic as heck.
2. FOSO (Fear of Starting Out) Put yourself out there. Josh was nervous about doing a podcast, but he did it. 78 episodes later he's still honing his craft. If you don't start you won't learn the early lessons that lead to long-term success.
3. Be Au Sum. Josh is living proof that if you treat people well, good things happen.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/eating-crow.

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Rich Font is the dude. Period. Want to know what it is like to start a business? How about starting a business when you have a family to support? Rich's story is powerful - he shares two Eating Crow moments that defined his life and he's not looking back. Rich is a military veteran (thanks for your service, Rich, it is an honor to have you on the program) and has some bad-ass tattoos (yes, I'm jealous).

Rich is also a handsome bald man - not saying that's why he's on the program but it makes me feel better. I met Rich when I saw a LinkedIn post of his announcing his new venture - Rich Font Creative. He was putting himself out there, in a new town and in a new profession. I could relate so we met and I knew in an instant this was a special human. Rich is EXTREMELY humble - he says he has "opportunities", I'll let the podcast speak for itself on that, but suffice it to say, it's one of the best ways I've heard someone describe our need to fail and learn along the way.

We could have named this episode using several powerful quotes from Rich but the first one hit me - so here you have "There is no Plan B". Wait for it....

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. Rich has "opportunities" - one of the ingenious ways to think about how we should view our faults
2. The importance of mentors. Rich speaks highly of his father and how he influenced his life.
3. Being in the moment. Rich provides a key insight to parenting, heck, even leading a team with a crisp example of how he notices when he needs to engage with his kids, even if they do not know it. What's more important is Rich gets off his ass and does it.

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Gary Miller just raised the bar. If you are in a senior leadership role, young sales professional, entrepreneur or recruiter, you need to hear Gary's story. I had to take notes, the nuggets of wisdom were coming at me too quickly. How Gary landed his first sales job is a lesson perseverance and how to ask for the order. His growth and path to leadership and ultimately as a business owner is paved with humility, a thirst for knowledge and a rare ability to listen. Gary is a leader, a mentor, a wonderful husband and father. Listen, learn and then go improve your skills in each area - but the bar is high :-).

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. How to think on your feet and turn a disadvantage into an advantage - Who's taking Skip's place?
2. The art of learning - Gary consistently seeks knowledge to better himself and his company
3. Servant leadership - Gary leads by example, puts his employees first and recognizes his team for their success, not his

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/eating-crow.

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Bob Stapleton has seen it all - as a performance and life coach and seasoned corporate executive. Bob shares his wisdom on culture, leadership and the impact the work-from-home Zoom culture is having on companies - and how to adapt and win. Bob is a thought leader and is one of the most sought after experts in workplace culture. He offers tips on interviewing, recruiting, how to address poor performers and the nuances between leadership and management.

Key Takeaways for Leaders and Entrepreneurs:

1. You can start at any age. Bob was in corporate America for a long time. Then he hung out a shingle and made mistakes. These mistakes led to success and a thriving practice.
2. Hiring can't be digitized (well, not all the way). At the end of the day, hiring is based on your gut. Software can help streamline it, but you are taking a chance on very limited information, designed to reduce risk. You're not buying a car, you are betting on a human being.
3. We can thrive in the Zoom culture - if we double down on listening. Follow up questions and complete focus are necessary to make a connection and drive culture through a web cam, but it CAN be done.

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Ever have a pivotal moment as a leader or an entrepreneur when you realized you needed to rethink your position, even after believing you were right? Successful leaders and entrepreneurs have an amazing ability to listen to others and learn from their mistakes. It can be difficult to be wrong, especially after you've tried to convince others to see it your way. That's eating crow - it tastes horrible but if you can stomach it, you learn to be a better leader, maybe even a better coworker, friend or parent.

I've eaten my share.

We'll meet people from all walks of life who've mastered the art of eating crow and hear the key moments in their personal and professional lives when they had to rethink their position and make a critical pivot - often saving a company, a family and their careers.

Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/eating-crow.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.