Success depends on everyone doing their part with guest expert Jon Rennie

Jon Rennie, author of All in the Same Boat: Lead Your Organization Like a Nuclear Submariner

Bill Ringle and Jon Rennie discuss how to build a company culture where each person cares about the client's success for small business leaders.

>>> Visit MyQuestforTheBest.com  for complete show notes and more expert advice and inspiring stories to propel your small business growth. My Quest for the Best is a top-rated small business podcast with over 300 episodes of thought-provoking and insightful interviews with today’s top thought leaders and business experts. Host Bill Ringle’s mission with this show is to provide the strategies, insights, and resources that will unlock the growth potential of your business through these powerful conversations.

Interview Insights

Top 3 Takeaways

When failure is not an option, the only other reasonable choice is to move forward and find a way to make things work.

You are the manager of your career. You don’t want to be a non-useful body. You want to be the most valuable person in the company.

Short-term managers see their employees as expenses, but successful leaders and companies see them as assets.

Read the Show Notes from this Episode

Two heavy influences to Jon while growing up were his grandfathers, who served in the army and the Navy. [01:06]Jon shares a valuable lesson from his grandfathers that they learned while serving the country, which helped establish him as a person and how he does work. [02:05]His first experience leading his team while in the Navy and the fear, doubt, and trust that came with leadership. [02:49]How do you lead when the people in your team are older and more experienced than you? Jon addresses this common problem felt by young leaders by sharing his own experience. [04:21]A discussion about getting qualified and being a valuable and valuable body in any workplace. [07:37]How volunteering can give us more experience. [09:55]What is skill stacking, and how can it help your retention. [11:32]One of the great things about small businesses is that leaders can give experiences and opportunities to their employees that are not ordinarily available when working on a big company. [13:17]As shared by Jon, the story of Tom highlights the importance of delegating authority but not responsibility. [15:42]Jon shares how he still has to gain the people who already knew him when he first started his company. [17:50]The pandemic did not deter Jon and his team from reaching out to their clients. [23:09]My Quest for the Best lightning round begins. [25:10]

Expert Bio

Jon is the Co-Founder, President & CEO of Peak Demand Inc., a premier manufacturer of critical components for electrical utilities. He is a former U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer who made seven deployments during the end of the Cold War.

Prior to starting Peak Demand, he led eight manufacturing businesses for three global companies. He is the author of the best-selling leadership books, I Have the Watch: Becoming a Leader Worth Following and All in the Same Boat: Lead Your Organization Like a Nuclear Submariner.

He is the host of the Deep Leadership podcast.

Contact Info and Social Media for Jon Rennie

Primary website

Travels from: Wake Forest, NC

Connect on: Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube

Resources Mentioned During the Interview

Below are key people, places, books, quotes, websites and other resources that we discussed, so you can explore further.

Deep Leadership Podcast

Vishal Garg

First Break All The Rules

Published by Jon Rennie