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Kevin Williams Discusses His Business Communication Skills
Hi there. Welcome to the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. The Biz Communication Show is now in its eighth season. And during that time I’ve had the opportunity to interview, and I really like to say have conversations with outstanding business professionals who share with us the communication keys and skills that have given them that success. And as we talk over those tips and strategies, you and I can benefit from them. Today, our guest is one that I happen to know, I’m acquainted with. Often the people that I interview globally, I don’t know, but I met Kevin Williams several years ago when we were members for a while at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce near Atlanta, and we formed a professional affiliation and friendship, which is still going. This is his second appearance on the show, and we’re delighted, delighted to have him back. Kevin Williams is a seasoned global executive and franchise consultant with a career that spans continents and industries. Kevin has held leadership roles at some of the world’s most respected companies, including President of a German manufacturing firm in Mexico, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for a Japanese enterprise, and a pivotal role at Eastman Kodak during its time as the top global brand. Now, Kevin serves as a trusted advisor in the world of commercial real estate and franchise consulting, helping entrepreneurs and investors navigate opportunities with precision and integrity. His expertise bridges franchise development, consumer goods, healthcare, capital equipment, and startup strategy. He’s worked in 10 countries. His expertise is known worldwide, and he comes to us now from the greater Greensboro Winston Salem High Point area in North Carolina. He’s worked directly with powerhouse retailers like Walmart, Target, CVS, and Costco, giving him a unique edge in helping clients grow even in the midst of the most challenging markets. Kevin brings a sharp business mind, a love for problem solving, and a commitment to surrounding himself with like-minded individuals. So I know that you will join me in welcoming Kevin Williams. Hello, Kevin.
Bill, how are you? Good to see you again today.
It’s good to see you. And I again thank of how I our association performed several years ago. Sometimes those introductions at networking meetings and chambers, sometimes they happen and they disappear, but I have the good fortune that ours has continued. To begin with today, Kevin, I know that I have watched, of course, your intro video on LinkedIn, which I encourage our viewers and listeners to watch and to get connected with you on LinkedIn. And in that video, you talk about your humble beginnings in life. And you say that uh a mop and a broom were quite familiar to you early in life. With what you call that humble beginning, you have used that as a springboard to worldwide prominence as a an executive and a leader. What do you think are early lessons that you learned in your boyhood and early manhood that really equipped you to succeed later on as you have?
Well, Bill, you know, you talked about uh working for Kodak as a number one brand. Um, really we are our own brand. and a mop in the bucket is uh where it all starts. If you want uh people to know who you really are, uh you demonstrate even at the level of uh cleaning floors, a sweeping floors, a mopping, dusting, all those different components. Uh when the job is done, that’s your brand. You want something that looks like you want to put your name on it. you want to put your picture on it and you want to say job well done and for others to come along and really do the bragging on you. but that that’s your brand from the very beginning. And it’s kind of like, you know, when you own a a restaurant and uh as a guest, you’re walking in and you see fingerprints and smudges all over the door and they’re dirty and you go to the restroom and uh the restrooms are are not clean or kept. And your first thought is, oh my, I know kind of at this point what the kitchen looks like and they’re about to prepare my food. So, you know, it’s uh mop and bucket, It’s uh my wife used to tell me, you know, how how do you know how to run a business if you’ve not done the jobs in it? And I’ll tell you if you start with a mop and bucket, uh you really understand it. You might see somebody uh sitting down taking a break and you as a senior level uh manager might want to go, you know, why why are they resting? Well, if you’ve been there done that, you might clearly know it is a break, you know, a back breaking job and um, you have a different perspective on it from that perspective. Uh you need to protect your brand. Mop and the bucket is is your brand and how you stamp it is uh how the world sees you. You know, even your car. You know, I uh I’m in commercial real estate as you you mentioned, and I walk by people’s cars and I look in them as the car clean on the outside, is the car clean on the inside. Uh if I work with this other broker, is he going to take care of me? That’s his brand. So mop and bucket, cars, houses, cutting grass, be your brand, be the best brand you can be. and that’s what I get out of the mop and bucket.
That’s great for a theme, a logo, a brand. Thank you for that. Reminds me of a couple of things, Kevin. I remember so well that my earliest job as a kid was working in a grocery store, stocking the shelves and loading the shelves and unloading them. And I I think one or two times I tried the cash register. I was a little too clumsy for that. But in in doing those jobs of that sort, and what comes to mind instantly as a kid, I remember so well I’d been working there for uh maybe close to a year. The manager called me in and you never know as a kid is it good or bad. The manager called me in and he said, you have done such a good job that we’re going to give you a raise. And he did, Kevin, he raised me from 35 cents an hour to 50 cents an hour.
Oh, the good old days, right?
So, uh, and and those those lessons that we learn even in the most menial task, do we form the habits for success then? Do we form the attitude for success? Another comment I’d like to make in response to your excellent contribution there, you reminded me of a book I read years ago. I can’t remember the title of it, but the book was about the most successful Cadillac business in Dallas, Texas. And the a Cadillac business had several locations, and the manager had one major point that he insisted with with his employees and it didn’t have to do with the showroom or the cars displayed there. He said the restrooms must be absolutely impeccable. They have to be spotless because as you say, um, if you’re not going to keep that okay, then what else are you going to do with the rest of the place?
Right.
So, so our our early beginnings and in both our cases taught us some valuable lessons and I think our viewers on YouTube and our listeners on the podcast are able now to think back, okay, what did I learn early that was valuable for me. I also want to move along to mention that your wide geographical span of your occupation, that’s, that once was quite rare, but now I’m noticing I’ve got a granddaughter who’s a senior at University of Georgia, and I’m noticing with her and her classmates that many times by the time a student gets to be a junior or a senior in a college or university now, they have been several places abroad. Sometimes as a part of their study, their curriculum they can continue there. Sometimes as pleasure trips. But international interactions are vastly different from when I was a college student, if we went a hundred miles, that was a pretty long trip. You have adjusted successfully to some of the countries we mentioned and since they’re 10 that you’ve worked in some that we haven’t. Looking at people now who for the first time are going to be living and working internationally, what would be some of the tips that you could give us on how you adjust and learn what you need to learn and say what you need to say and behave as you need to behave. How do you do those things?
So early on, I uh I struggle with that very topic. And I wanted to know before I went to a country how best to uh work within that country. And I would travel with uh Walmart a lot of times uh in in doing those. But I found a book. It’s a little different now. We’ll talk about that in a moment. But the book was called, uh, Kiss Bow Shake hands. And in that book, it talked about culture. Uh you don’t want to offend anybody by a particular color. Uh you wanted to know their behavioral styles. So uh when you sat in a room, you wanted to know uh which person in the room had the authority. You wanted to go know how to uh negotiate best with that particular culture. You wanted to know the protocol for doing that. And really some of the business practices for doing it. So that book became a valuable tool to me before I took any trip. Uh I pulled it out. I looked at the particular country that I was going to. I studied it and I was better well versed um for that culture once I arrived. We live in a a different day now and we have AI at our fingertips. I love that by the way. I’m a chat GBT guy and just love what all it can deliver in seconds um using that format. But I would recommend to anybody uh traveling abroad, uh business or pleasure, just go into it and start uh you know, digging into what exactly takes place in the culture, what’s accepted, what is not, what can offend someone, and just be ready. uh, you know, and and it’s much easier nowadays than than it was back when I uh I first started that adventure. but Kiss Bower shake hands was my uh my life blood to making sure I didn’t mess it up when uh when the plane landed.
As long ago, Kevin, as when I was teaching at the University of Georgia, I remember so well reading a book about international customs and how they can differ. And certainly not only understanding the language, but knowing the idioms that people use too. And I even this many years later, I remember an example in the book where a an international student came to the United States and he had an appointment with an executive. And the receptionist said to the student who was there in the waiting room, he can’t see you now. He’s all tied up. The student took that literally and ran because in in his country, he’s all tied up. was not an idiom. So we we we do have to know and I I had the privilege of traveling some internationally and and like you, it’s it’s good to study ahead. It’s just as though you and I speak to audiences locally and you want to know as much as you can about your audience. Well, these international scenes, those are new audiences for us.
That is correct. Yes.
Kevin, I want to talk with you. It’s certainly clear from what you’ve accomplished, what you continue to accomplish, that communication skills are central to your success. And when we come back in just a few seconds, we’re going to talk about the communication skills that you as a top professional have found valuable and you recommend. We’ll be right back.
Do you wish you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive in sales? Then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton. He spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success. I urge you to call the Biz Communication Guy today for a no-cost, but very valuable 30-minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now, 678-316-4300. Again, that’s 678-316-4300. You’re with us on the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. Our distinguished guest today is Kevin Williams. And Kevin, just before that short break, I mentioned that I’m a business communication professional. That’s what I do. And so it’s easy for me to recognize that behind your vast national and international success, communication skills are there and they’re quite central. Let’s say, for example, that you have been invited to talk to a local college class of business students. What would you advise them about the communication skills that they should develop, both academically and after graduation, and keep developing? What, what are the key two or three key communication skills that you see as absolutely vital for business success?
So number one, I’ll I’ll give you a little story and it’s uh, I think it’s the paramount to being successful in whatever you do and I’ve learned these lessons the hard way. I’m a school of hard knocks kind of guy. Uh, at Kodak when I was there, I was uh encouraged to be more assertive. And um, I kind of took that persona on, uh being more assertive. Later on in my career, uh working for a German company, I was asked to um take a sensitivity class. And what I was trying to do was fit into the uh the dynamics of really what I thought other people wanted. And what I had to learn and and learned for myself was uh be yourself and whatever it is that you’re doing. Uh that is uh that fits every culture. Uh whether whether you’re a male, whether you’re a female, it it just works. So be be you, don’t be what somebody else is trying to make you into. And the other fundamentals, uh you know, a lot of this is just not rocket uh science. You know, it’s just uh something that we just need to do. Like this, you know, smiling is uh is paramount to success. Staying positive is paramount to being successful. And um, you just got to keep smiling, stay positive, make good eye contact, and just hold your head up, be strong, be confident. and I think whatever it is that you decide to uh follow into for the future, I think you’ll do quite well.
I want to echo what you said about being yourself. One of the uh factors we all know is that we we benefit when we learn from people who are already at the pinnacle of business and professional life. We learn from them. But a mistake many people make is that they say, okay, if I’m going to be in the same stratosphere as that individual, then I will imitate that person. I will get their mannerisms. I’ll take their pattern of speaking. Um, I’ll, I’ll walk like they walk, I’ll talk like they talk. And yet you and I both every every bit of advice that we read now about business, whether it’s on LinkedIn or the social media, or hearing from coaches or experts in all fields, the word authentic just comes through time and time again.
Absolutely.
We’re supposed to be authentic and I I quoted just the other day, Shakespeare, to thine own self be true. And that’s uh Ralph Waldo Emerson long ago said the same thing. So yes, be yourself and the other the other points that you made about being positive. You know, Henry Ford said, if you think you can or you can’t, you’re right, either way. And that bit about a smile, and we’re talking about a genuine smile. I said not too long ago that I was tired of smiling Kevin and so all day long I tried to give my smile away to other people but you know what, they kept giving it back. That’s true. a smile is magnetic, it’s uh, it’s highly personal. It reflects that positivity that you’re talking about. And though those are great tips. Now let’s get back to what you talked about your career with Eastman Kodak. When any of us were in a stage of awareness about photography 20 or 25 years ago, there probably was only one name that we used. I do remember when the Polaroid Land camera came along but then Eastman Kodak was, you talked earlier today about brand, that was the brand when you talked about cameras. Well, we know that’s not the case now. Uh people in college probably have not even heard of Eastman Kodak. What would be some of the communication flaws that Eastman Kodak engaged in that we can learn from so that we won’t do them? What what are two or three communication failings either internally or externally or both that made the company lose that predominance.
So when you’re in 1980 when I joined Kodak, uh we were the number one brand in the world. We had 145,000 different employees. Uh, we were buying up uh multiple companies. And one of the things that you need to do, whether you’re the number one brand or you’re striving to be the number one brand, is to listen. Listen to your employees, listen to your customer, listen to the heartbeat of what’s in the marketplace, what’s coming after you. Uh, you know, the the great story of how Walmart got to where they are, right? I mean, uh, Kmart when I was a kid was the king of the jungle as it relates to to retail. And Walmart just snuck up on them, uh, before they knew it.
Here came Sam Walton. Yeah, here came Sam Walton and all of a sudden everybody knew where that that Bensonville, Arkansas tiny town was.
That that is correct. So you got to be in tune with the marketplace. Um never get too big for your britches is the best way that I would say it. And when you’re the number one brand in the world, sometimes you might have a tendency to do that. Uh, Kodak was a great place to work. I got uh, you know, I received excellent, excellent training from them. Uh, was blessed with a wonderful career. Uh, but we used to work, you know, a lot with the major retailers. And sometimes we might be just a little bit too big for our britches in in dealing with them. And, you know, if somebody gets a chance to uh make you eat crow and you’ve been too big for your britches, they might just do that. And so just be humble, no matter where you are as a company, stay humble, stay in tune with uh every everything around you, um everything that I mentioned earlier, stay in tune with it. And then know beyond a shadow of a doubt, you can be the CEO of a company, but if you are not treating your employees uh with the utmost respect and integrity relative to how long they’ve been with the company, um you can, it’s like Pac-Man, and you and I know about Pac-Man. Some people might not, but you can be eaten from the bottom up uh with uh with your organization. So stay in tune with your employees, be good to your employees, just be a good human being, whether it be business or personal. and you have nowhere uh to worry because everything will be taken care of. So just be be cognizant of all the things around you. Don’t ever be too big for your britches, treat employees, no matter if they’ve been there 10 days, 10 months, 10 years, 20 years, um that is the livelihood of your your business, respect them and you’ll be just fine.
I could give you and I will give you nameless. I will not name the company, but I know a company that had been in business more than 40 years. The management changed, the ownership changed. And what drove the company in the ground was that the new owner did not treat the employees with the same respect that the original owner did. And there were employees, Kevin, who had been in this particular place I’m talking about for almost 30 years. And one by one, quite soon, they weren’t there anymore. And there was a closed sign on that business, not surprisingly. So those are are excellent keys that you’ve given. This has been uh as I knew it would be fascinating and informative and we’ve learned your communication skills that have been the key to the global success you have had and you will keep having across a wide span of industries and strategies. Kevin, I know that there are people who would like to get in touch with you. So please give us your contact information.
Uh absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity to do that. Uh you can just go to uh K Williams [email protected]. Or feel free to uh text or even call me. Uh I’d love to talk. Bill will tell you that. 770 822 6586.
Thank you for that. I I can tell all of our viewers and listeners that Kevin is a wonderfully approachable guy, and I I encourage you to get in touch with him. And now, I would be happy, I am happy to give my contact information. My YouTube channel, Bill Lampton, PhD. I’ve hosted YouTube since 2007. I’ve got more than 500 videos there. I encourage you not to look at the ones that I started in 2007. Uh, but the last few years, uh as I said, this is the eighth season of the Biz Communication Show. So while the predominant number so far on there were my solo instructions, but now I don’t rely and my viewers don’t have to rely just on what I bring. but I I share through these interviews uh weekly, every week. the um, I I share what um expertise others have. And then my website, since my moniker is the Biz Communication Guy, then quite logically, my website is bizcommunicationguy.com. And let me mention that when you go to that YouTube channel I mentioned, please subscribe. And also, when you’re on my website, you’ll find a place there to subscribe to this podcast. Like Kevin, I would welcome a phone call at no obligation for an initial exploration of your communication challenges and problems and we can discuss whether I can help you with a solution, or if I can’t, who will. Then I certainly want to give credit to the co-producer of this show, Mike Stewart. Mike is based in Nashville. Mike Stewart and I met in 1997 when I first became an entrepreneur and ever since then he’s been my key guy for marketing and for technology. And his website is localinternetpresence.com. And again, my my phone number 678 316 4300. Kevin, it’s this again, we’ve covered some highly important topics. And say 30 seconds to 60 seconds or slightly more, what, what is a thought or two that you would like to leave with our viewers and listeners?
So we’ve talked about a lot today, and one of the things that uh I want to really resignate as we we wrap up is being uh being you as an individual. Uh shoot high, don’t aim low, and really get out in the marketplace, shake hands, you know, be your own little politician. Bill, you and I did that for many, many years. Um build your own mastermind groups. Bill and I had one of those. Just connect with people. People are your key to success when bad things happen. You’re going to need a friend. Make lots of them. Uh, and build more than just an acquaintance. Go for friendships that last and just uh, you know, take your take your best into the marketplace, get the education that you need to make you uh, you know, successful, but that’s only going to carry you so far. There’s a lot of uh dynamics in the marketplace right now with AI. The world is changing, it’s moving at a quicker pace. But if you’ll be real to yourself, be real to other people, not going into a room looking for something, but just going into a room and maybe trying to give something, you’ll be much more successful by doing that. So be real, you’ll be successful. Best of luck to all of you.
Amen to that summary. And I I surely want to underscore what you said that we really are not going to make it on our own. That’s a myth. That that may happen in the movies, but in real life, that doesn’t happen. And the associations that we build sincerely, not as though we’re building them just to get something from somebody, but to share. Uh Kevin talked about mastermind groups. Kevin’s got a group of people, you can share what’s going on with you and get positive feedback and help and support. Excellent going away summary for us there, Kevin. I want to thank Kevin Williams for being our terrific guest today. Thanks to those of you who have been with us on the video portion and on the podcast. The Biz Communication Show will be here every week. Invite you to be with us again as we bring you tips and strategies that will boost your business. I’m Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy.
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By Dr. Bill Lampton Ph. D.Hi there. Welcome to the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. The Biz Communication Show is now in its eighth season. And during that time I’ve had the opportunity to interview, and I really like to say have conversations with outstanding business professionals who share with us the communication keys and skills that have given them that success. And as we talk over those tips and strategies, you and I can benefit from them. Today, our guest is one that I happen to know, I’m acquainted with. Often the people that I interview globally, I don’t know, but I met Kevin Williams several years ago when we were members for a while at the Gwinnett Chamber of Commerce near Atlanta, and we formed a professional affiliation and friendship, which is still going. This is his second appearance on the show, and we’re delighted, delighted to have him back. Kevin Williams is a seasoned global executive and franchise consultant with a career that spans continents and industries. Kevin has held leadership roles at some of the world’s most respected companies, including President of a German manufacturing firm in Mexico, Senior VP of Sales and Marketing for a Japanese enterprise, and a pivotal role at Eastman Kodak during its time as the top global brand. Now, Kevin serves as a trusted advisor in the world of commercial real estate and franchise consulting, helping entrepreneurs and investors navigate opportunities with precision and integrity. His expertise bridges franchise development, consumer goods, healthcare, capital equipment, and startup strategy. He’s worked in 10 countries. His expertise is known worldwide, and he comes to us now from the greater Greensboro Winston Salem High Point area in North Carolina. He’s worked directly with powerhouse retailers like Walmart, Target, CVS, and Costco, giving him a unique edge in helping clients grow even in the midst of the most challenging markets. Kevin brings a sharp business mind, a love for problem solving, and a commitment to surrounding himself with like-minded individuals. So I know that you will join me in welcoming Kevin Williams. Hello, Kevin.
Bill, how are you? Good to see you again today.
It’s good to see you. And I again thank of how I our association performed several years ago. Sometimes those introductions at networking meetings and chambers, sometimes they happen and they disappear, but I have the good fortune that ours has continued. To begin with today, Kevin, I know that I have watched, of course, your intro video on LinkedIn, which I encourage our viewers and listeners to watch and to get connected with you on LinkedIn. And in that video, you talk about your humble beginnings in life. And you say that uh a mop and a broom were quite familiar to you early in life. With what you call that humble beginning, you have used that as a springboard to worldwide prominence as a an executive and a leader. What do you think are early lessons that you learned in your boyhood and early manhood that really equipped you to succeed later on as you have?
Well, Bill, you know, you talked about uh working for Kodak as a number one brand. Um, really we are our own brand. and a mop in the bucket is uh where it all starts. If you want uh people to know who you really are, uh you demonstrate even at the level of uh cleaning floors, a sweeping floors, a mopping, dusting, all those different components. Uh when the job is done, that’s your brand. You want something that looks like you want to put your name on it. you want to put your picture on it and you want to say job well done and for others to come along and really do the bragging on you. but that that’s your brand from the very beginning. And it’s kind of like, you know, when you own a a restaurant and uh as a guest, you’re walking in and you see fingerprints and smudges all over the door and they’re dirty and you go to the restroom and uh the restrooms are are not clean or kept. And your first thought is, oh my, I know kind of at this point what the kitchen looks like and they’re about to prepare my food. So, you know, it’s uh mop and bucket, It’s uh my wife used to tell me, you know, how how do you know how to run a business if you’ve not done the jobs in it? And I’ll tell you if you start with a mop and bucket, uh you really understand it. You might see somebody uh sitting down taking a break and you as a senior level uh manager might want to go, you know, why why are they resting? Well, if you’ve been there done that, you might clearly know it is a break, you know, a back breaking job and um, you have a different perspective on it from that perspective. Uh you need to protect your brand. Mop and the bucket is is your brand and how you stamp it is uh how the world sees you. You know, even your car. You know, I uh I’m in commercial real estate as you you mentioned, and I walk by people’s cars and I look in them as the car clean on the outside, is the car clean on the inside. Uh if I work with this other broker, is he going to take care of me? That’s his brand. So mop and bucket, cars, houses, cutting grass, be your brand, be the best brand you can be. and that’s what I get out of the mop and bucket.
That’s great for a theme, a logo, a brand. Thank you for that. Reminds me of a couple of things, Kevin. I remember so well that my earliest job as a kid was working in a grocery store, stocking the shelves and loading the shelves and unloading them. And I I think one or two times I tried the cash register. I was a little too clumsy for that. But in in doing those jobs of that sort, and what comes to mind instantly as a kid, I remember so well I’d been working there for uh maybe close to a year. The manager called me in and you never know as a kid is it good or bad. The manager called me in and he said, you have done such a good job that we’re going to give you a raise. And he did, Kevin, he raised me from 35 cents an hour to 50 cents an hour.
Oh, the good old days, right?
So, uh, and and those those lessons that we learn even in the most menial task, do we form the habits for success then? Do we form the attitude for success? Another comment I’d like to make in response to your excellent contribution there, you reminded me of a book I read years ago. I can’t remember the title of it, but the book was about the most successful Cadillac business in Dallas, Texas. And the a Cadillac business had several locations, and the manager had one major point that he insisted with with his employees and it didn’t have to do with the showroom or the cars displayed there. He said the restrooms must be absolutely impeccable. They have to be spotless because as you say, um, if you’re not going to keep that okay, then what else are you going to do with the rest of the place?
Right.
So, so our our early beginnings and in both our cases taught us some valuable lessons and I think our viewers on YouTube and our listeners on the podcast are able now to think back, okay, what did I learn early that was valuable for me. I also want to move along to mention that your wide geographical span of your occupation, that’s, that once was quite rare, but now I’m noticing I’ve got a granddaughter who’s a senior at University of Georgia, and I’m noticing with her and her classmates that many times by the time a student gets to be a junior or a senior in a college or university now, they have been several places abroad. Sometimes as a part of their study, their curriculum they can continue there. Sometimes as pleasure trips. But international interactions are vastly different from when I was a college student, if we went a hundred miles, that was a pretty long trip. You have adjusted successfully to some of the countries we mentioned and since they’re 10 that you’ve worked in some that we haven’t. Looking at people now who for the first time are going to be living and working internationally, what would be some of the tips that you could give us on how you adjust and learn what you need to learn and say what you need to say and behave as you need to behave. How do you do those things?
So early on, I uh I struggle with that very topic. And I wanted to know before I went to a country how best to uh work within that country. And I would travel with uh Walmart a lot of times uh in in doing those. But I found a book. It’s a little different now. We’ll talk about that in a moment. But the book was called, uh, Kiss Bow Shake hands. And in that book, it talked about culture. Uh you don’t want to offend anybody by a particular color. Uh you wanted to know their behavioral styles. So uh when you sat in a room, you wanted to know uh which person in the room had the authority. You wanted to go know how to uh negotiate best with that particular culture. You wanted to know the protocol for doing that. And really some of the business practices for doing it. So that book became a valuable tool to me before I took any trip. Uh I pulled it out. I looked at the particular country that I was going to. I studied it and I was better well versed um for that culture once I arrived. We live in a a different day now and we have AI at our fingertips. I love that by the way. I’m a chat GBT guy and just love what all it can deliver in seconds um using that format. But I would recommend to anybody uh traveling abroad, uh business or pleasure, just go into it and start uh you know, digging into what exactly takes place in the culture, what’s accepted, what is not, what can offend someone, and just be ready. uh, you know, and and it’s much easier nowadays than than it was back when I uh I first started that adventure. but Kiss Bower shake hands was my uh my life blood to making sure I didn’t mess it up when uh when the plane landed.
As long ago, Kevin, as when I was teaching at the University of Georgia, I remember so well reading a book about international customs and how they can differ. And certainly not only understanding the language, but knowing the idioms that people use too. And I even this many years later, I remember an example in the book where a an international student came to the United States and he had an appointment with an executive. And the receptionist said to the student who was there in the waiting room, he can’t see you now. He’s all tied up. The student took that literally and ran because in in his country, he’s all tied up. was not an idiom. So we we we do have to know and I I had the privilege of traveling some internationally and and like you, it’s it’s good to study ahead. It’s just as though you and I speak to audiences locally and you want to know as much as you can about your audience. Well, these international scenes, those are new audiences for us.
That is correct. Yes.
Kevin, I want to talk with you. It’s certainly clear from what you’ve accomplished, what you continue to accomplish, that communication skills are central to your success. And when we come back in just a few seconds, we’re going to talk about the communication skills that you as a top professional have found valuable and you recommend. We’ll be right back.
Do you wish you felt confident about giving speeches? Do you want to deal with difficult people constructively? And what about becoming more persuasive in sales? Then keep listening now to Dr. Bill Lampton. He spent 20 years in management, so he knows the communication skills you need for success. I urge you to call the Biz Communication Guy today for a no-cost, but very valuable 30-minute discussion about your communication challenges. Call now, 678-316-4300. Again, that’s 678-316-4300. You’re with us on the Biz Communication Show. I’m your host, Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy. Our distinguished guest today is Kevin Williams. And Kevin, just before that short break, I mentioned that I’m a business communication professional. That’s what I do. And so it’s easy for me to recognize that behind your vast national and international success, communication skills are there and they’re quite central. Let’s say, for example, that you have been invited to talk to a local college class of business students. What would you advise them about the communication skills that they should develop, both academically and after graduation, and keep developing? What, what are the key two or three key communication skills that you see as absolutely vital for business success?
So number one, I’ll I’ll give you a little story and it’s uh, I think it’s the paramount to being successful in whatever you do and I’ve learned these lessons the hard way. I’m a school of hard knocks kind of guy. Uh, at Kodak when I was there, I was uh encouraged to be more assertive. And um, I kind of took that persona on, uh being more assertive. Later on in my career, uh working for a German company, I was asked to um take a sensitivity class. And what I was trying to do was fit into the uh the dynamics of really what I thought other people wanted. And what I had to learn and and learned for myself was uh be yourself and whatever it is that you’re doing. Uh that is uh that fits every culture. Uh whether whether you’re a male, whether you’re a female, it it just works. So be be you, don’t be what somebody else is trying to make you into. And the other fundamentals, uh you know, a lot of this is just not rocket uh science. You know, it’s just uh something that we just need to do. Like this, you know, smiling is uh is paramount to success. Staying positive is paramount to being successful. And um, you just got to keep smiling, stay positive, make good eye contact, and just hold your head up, be strong, be confident. and I think whatever it is that you decide to uh follow into for the future, I think you’ll do quite well.
I want to echo what you said about being yourself. One of the uh factors we all know is that we we benefit when we learn from people who are already at the pinnacle of business and professional life. We learn from them. But a mistake many people make is that they say, okay, if I’m going to be in the same stratosphere as that individual, then I will imitate that person. I will get their mannerisms. I’ll take their pattern of speaking. Um, I’ll, I’ll walk like they walk, I’ll talk like they talk. And yet you and I both every every bit of advice that we read now about business, whether it’s on LinkedIn or the social media, or hearing from coaches or experts in all fields, the word authentic just comes through time and time again.
Absolutely.
We’re supposed to be authentic and I I quoted just the other day, Shakespeare, to thine own self be true. And that’s uh Ralph Waldo Emerson long ago said the same thing. So yes, be yourself and the other the other points that you made about being positive. You know, Henry Ford said, if you think you can or you can’t, you’re right, either way. And that bit about a smile, and we’re talking about a genuine smile. I said not too long ago that I was tired of smiling Kevin and so all day long I tried to give my smile away to other people but you know what, they kept giving it back. That’s true. a smile is magnetic, it’s uh, it’s highly personal. It reflects that positivity that you’re talking about. And though those are great tips. Now let’s get back to what you talked about your career with Eastman Kodak. When any of us were in a stage of awareness about photography 20 or 25 years ago, there probably was only one name that we used. I do remember when the Polaroid Land camera came along but then Eastman Kodak was, you talked earlier today about brand, that was the brand when you talked about cameras. Well, we know that’s not the case now. Uh people in college probably have not even heard of Eastman Kodak. What would be some of the communication flaws that Eastman Kodak engaged in that we can learn from so that we won’t do them? What what are two or three communication failings either internally or externally or both that made the company lose that predominance.
So when you’re in 1980 when I joined Kodak, uh we were the number one brand in the world. We had 145,000 different employees. Uh, we were buying up uh multiple companies. And one of the things that you need to do, whether you’re the number one brand or you’re striving to be the number one brand, is to listen. Listen to your employees, listen to your customer, listen to the heartbeat of what’s in the marketplace, what’s coming after you. Uh, you know, the the great story of how Walmart got to where they are, right? I mean, uh, Kmart when I was a kid was the king of the jungle as it relates to to retail. And Walmart just snuck up on them, uh, before they knew it.
Here came Sam Walton. Yeah, here came Sam Walton and all of a sudden everybody knew where that that Bensonville, Arkansas tiny town was.
That that is correct. So you got to be in tune with the marketplace. Um never get too big for your britches is the best way that I would say it. And when you’re the number one brand in the world, sometimes you might have a tendency to do that. Uh, Kodak was a great place to work. I got uh, you know, I received excellent, excellent training from them. Uh, was blessed with a wonderful career. Uh, but we used to work, you know, a lot with the major retailers. And sometimes we might be just a little bit too big for our britches in in dealing with them. And, you know, if somebody gets a chance to uh make you eat crow and you’ve been too big for your britches, they might just do that. And so just be humble, no matter where you are as a company, stay humble, stay in tune with uh every everything around you, um everything that I mentioned earlier, stay in tune with it. And then know beyond a shadow of a doubt, you can be the CEO of a company, but if you are not treating your employees uh with the utmost respect and integrity relative to how long they’ve been with the company, um you can, it’s like Pac-Man, and you and I know about Pac-Man. Some people might not, but you can be eaten from the bottom up uh with uh with your organization. So stay in tune with your employees, be good to your employees, just be a good human being, whether it be business or personal. and you have nowhere uh to worry because everything will be taken care of. So just be be cognizant of all the things around you. Don’t ever be too big for your britches, treat employees, no matter if they’ve been there 10 days, 10 months, 10 years, 20 years, um that is the livelihood of your your business, respect them and you’ll be just fine.
I could give you and I will give you nameless. I will not name the company, but I know a company that had been in business more than 40 years. The management changed, the ownership changed. And what drove the company in the ground was that the new owner did not treat the employees with the same respect that the original owner did. And there were employees, Kevin, who had been in this particular place I’m talking about for almost 30 years. And one by one, quite soon, they weren’t there anymore. And there was a closed sign on that business, not surprisingly. So those are are excellent keys that you’ve given. This has been uh as I knew it would be fascinating and informative and we’ve learned your communication skills that have been the key to the global success you have had and you will keep having across a wide span of industries and strategies. Kevin, I know that there are people who would like to get in touch with you. So please give us your contact information.
Uh absolutely. Thank you for the opportunity to do that. Uh you can just go to uh K Williams [email protected]. Or feel free to uh text or even call me. Uh I’d love to talk. Bill will tell you that. 770 822 6586.
Thank you for that. I I can tell all of our viewers and listeners that Kevin is a wonderfully approachable guy, and I I encourage you to get in touch with him. And now, I would be happy, I am happy to give my contact information. My YouTube channel, Bill Lampton, PhD. I’ve hosted YouTube since 2007. I’ve got more than 500 videos there. I encourage you not to look at the ones that I started in 2007. Uh, but the last few years, uh as I said, this is the eighth season of the Biz Communication Show. So while the predominant number so far on there were my solo instructions, but now I don’t rely and my viewers don’t have to rely just on what I bring. but I I share through these interviews uh weekly, every week. the um, I I share what um expertise others have. And then my website, since my moniker is the Biz Communication Guy, then quite logically, my website is bizcommunicationguy.com. And let me mention that when you go to that YouTube channel I mentioned, please subscribe. And also, when you’re on my website, you’ll find a place there to subscribe to this podcast. Like Kevin, I would welcome a phone call at no obligation for an initial exploration of your communication challenges and problems and we can discuss whether I can help you with a solution, or if I can’t, who will. Then I certainly want to give credit to the co-producer of this show, Mike Stewart. Mike is based in Nashville. Mike Stewart and I met in 1997 when I first became an entrepreneur and ever since then he’s been my key guy for marketing and for technology. And his website is localinternetpresence.com. And again, my my phone number 678 316 4300. Kevin, it’s this again, we’ve covered some highly important topics. And say 30 seconds to 60 seconds or slightly more, what, what is a thought or two that you would like to leave with our viewers and listeners?
So we’ve talked about a lot today, and one of the things that uh I want to really resignate as we we wrap up is being uh being you as an individual. Uh shoot high, don’t aim low, and really get out in the marketplace, shake hands, you know, be your own little politician. Bill, you and I did that for many, many years. Um build your own mastermind groups. Bill and I had one of those. Just connect with people. People are your key to success when bad things happen. You’re going to need a friend. Make lots of them. Uh, and build more than just an acquaintance. Go for friendships that last and just uh, you know, take your take your best into the marketplace, get the education that you need to make you uh, you know, successful, but that’s only going to carry you so far. There’s a lot of uh dynamics in the marketplace right now with AI. The world is changing, it’s moving at a quicker pace. But if you’ll be real to yourself, be real to other people, not going into a room looking for something, but just going into a room and maybe trying to give something, you’ll be much more successful by doing that. So be real, you’ll be successful. Best of luck to all of you.
Amen to that summary. And I I surely want to underscore what you said that we really are not going to make it on our own. That’s a myth. That that may happen in the movies, but in real life, that doesn’t happen. And the associations that we build sincerely, not as though we’re building them just to get something from somebody, but to share. Uh Kevin talked about mastermind groups. Kevin’s got a group of people, you can share what’s going on with you and get positive feedback and help and support. Excellent going away summary for us there, Kevin. I want to thank Kevin Williams for being our terrific guest today. Thanks to those of you who have been with us on the video portion and on the podcast. The Biz Communication Show will be here every week. Invite you to be with us again as we bring you tips and strategies that will boost your business. I’m Bill Lampton, the Biz Communication Guy.