0:00

My left leg was amputated above the

0:02

knee . So you go from the

0:04

riches . You got everything going on . I was going to be

0:06

a combat , i was a combat veteran . I was going to be officer

0:09

candidate school . I was going to go down to Fort Benning

0:11

School for girls and boys and become

0:13

an officer . And you know , life

0:15

was right before me . I figured I could do 20

0:17

years of the military and then get out and work

0:19

another civilian job , do

0:21

another 20 years . I'm good , i got double retirement .

0:25

Hello and welcome to the Chart to Heart podcast With

0:28

your host , john Henry , and Portia

0:30

Scott .

0:31

Through the lenses of stories , interviews

0:34

, principles and best practices , we

0:36

will discover the glue that connects

0:38

the dots between business and

0:40

people .

0:43

I'm super excited about today's

0:46

guest today's podcast . This

0:48

is someone that I had the opportunity to interview

0:51

, kind of in the middle of COVID , so

0:54

about two and a half years ago , and

0:56

his story is just amazing . But

0:58

he is just that person that when you get on a call with

1:00

him or you see him

1:03

, he just makes you feel excited , excited

1:06

to be there . He just draws you in , and

1:08

so I know that this episode is

1:10

going to be absolutely incredible

1:12

. There's so many of us that teach and

1:14

talk about resilience , but John really

1:17

is resilience personified

1:19

, not just as you hear his story

1:22

, but even as he just travels through

1:24

life . He is a

1:26

combat army veteran who I

1:28

four time track and field all

1:30

American and a two time Olympic

1:33

trials qualifier . However

1:35

, one misstep in life cost

1:38

him his leg and ended both his Olympic

1:40

dreams and military career

1:42

. Yet since that injury , he

1:45

won the long jump silver medal in

1:47

Sydney , australia , advised

1:50

four US secretaries of

1:52

states and founded the United

1:54

States Olympic and Paralympic

1:56

committees Paralympic military

1:59

sports program , which help

2:01

wounded , ill and injured service

2:04

members use sport

2:06

as a tool for their

2:08

rehabilitation . As a

2:10

vet myself , this is like just

2:12

absolutely incredible , but it also

2:14

makes me ask myself girl , what

2:17

have you been doing with your life ? Because

2:19

listen . But today he

2:21

is here to really talk about life's

2:23

hurdles , overcoming those adversities

2:26

and embracing this new normal mindset

2:29

so that we can win medals in our own

2:31

lives . So please help

2:33

me . Welcome , john . Register

2:36

to the podcast .

2:39

I'm so excited to talk with you today

2:42

, to listen and learn from you , as well as hear from your

2:44

audience and the in the comments

2:47

in the chat that might be coming on later from the show

2:49

, all the show notes and everything . So thank

2:51

you for that . Thank you for the invitation for me to come

2:53

on .

2:54

Thanks , john . Thank you for being here . So

2:56

everyone that I bring on , i think you , i

2:59

think you may know this already , but I ask

3:01

everybody this question because I think it's so important

3:03

to level set with everything we have going on and

3:06

life's up and downs and just

3:08

the craziness . Right Is today

3:11

, what are you grateful

3:13

for ?

3:14

That's an easy one for me . I

3:16

am very grateful for my wife

3:18

Alice . During the

3:20

pandemic we say as

3:22

husbands or as men , you know

3:25

how much we love our families and

3:27

then we're jet sitting off around the world and it's

3:29

in some company . And

3:32

I went through the pandemic from , you know , staying

3:35

the words really to seeing

3:38

her in a very different light

3:40

, not not that I hadn't before , but

3:42

just actuating on it every

3:45

every day . So we would walk around the neighborhood

3:47

because we weren't doing anything else . You know , we

3:50

watched a movie in the evening times . We spent a lot of time

3:52

together just kind of , and it was great just

3:54

to kind of rediscover each other in that . But

3:56

then she got sick with

3:59

COVID and nearly passed

4:01

away And that was , i

4:04

think it was the most traumatic thing that's happened

4:06

to me and my kids . They saw

4:08

me kind of in distress because

4:11

if you were , if we all recall , when

4:13

people were sick and went to the hospital , you

4:16

couldn't go in there with them . You

4:18

had to rely on the doctor

4:20

to tell you what was going on , if

4:23

you got a call back . So you're just waiting

4:25

for which way this

4:27

, this virus , was going

4:30

to turn . And so

4:32

for four days it was , it was nipping

4:34

tuck and we didn't know if she was going to make

4:36

it . And thank God , she turned

4:38

the corner with a , with a

4:40

drug from from my , one of

4:42

my , one of my clients , who was

4:44

a Gilead Sciences . So they , they

4:46

made room , disavir . And so when

4:48

I heard about it , you know the experimental thing , and

4:51

I just signed the paper , go do it , because I they

4:53

were my client , you know it's , it's all

4:55

the mcconnell for sure . So

4:57

, yeah , so that's so , that's easy . You know my

4:59

wife is I'm , i'm so grateful

5:01

for her . You know my family , yes , but you

5:03

know her in particular . We're coming up on 35

5:06

years of marriage and we're about to renew

5:08

the vials . I mean , we're not really renewing them because we're our

5:11

vials are fresh every day , but we're going to do a celebration

5:13

over in Hawaii , so we're

5:15

very excited about that .

5:17

Oh , that is so amazing . So

5:19

happy anniversary . And when

5:21

is the renewal in Hawaii ? So I can go ahead and

5:24

you know , purchase my plane ticket , Get your plane

5:26

ticket , right , come on over .

5:27

Come on , we're

5:29

going to . We're going to do it on

5:31

August the 13th . Our anniversary is actually the 14th

5:33

, but the 13th , you know , kids are going back to school and things

5:35

, so we wanted to make sure we did it on

5:38

on that Sunday . But yeah , come on over

5:40

, we're going to do it . A paradise Co is

5:42

just if you have everybody

5:45

. If you haven't seen us , you have not seen

5:47

a sunset , unless you've gone to paradise Co

5:49

to watch the sunset . It is remarkable And

5:51

I'm not like the , the , the proof of guy , but

5:54

I was like that is a nice sunset , right

5:56

, so that's yeah All right , John Henry , I

5:58

hope you hear this paradise , Oh

6:01

why ?

6:01

Come on over .

6:03

Oh , my goodness .

6:05

I didn't know that about your wife , but I'm so excited

6:07

that she is healthy , that

6:09

she's well , that you know everything

6:12

worked out , yeah , because I mean

6:14

that was just a scary time And so obviously

6:16

when I interviewed you last that had

6:18

not happened , right , you know she had not

6:20

got COVID yet . So I'm glad to hear

6:22

just that , and

6:24

I said it in my introduction that I feel

6:26

like your life is resilient , right ? So

6:28

now you have even more to bring

6:30

to just teaching people

6:32

and helping us to really

6:34

understand just life's hurdles

6:37

. You know I love how you put that

6:39

. So I've heard your story before because

6:41

I've interviewed you , but I think it's important

6:43

that people hear

6:45

a little bit about your story . So for

6:48

our audience members , the people who

6:50

have never heard your story That

6:52

may stumble across the podcast Can

6:55

you give us a glimpse into your

6:57

journey ? Right ? So we have

6:59

one of the world's fastest hurdlers . I

7:02

mean you're doing all of this stuff And then

7:04

I mean just a regular day

7:06

you going out and you

7:08

can kind of tell the story .

7:10

Yeah , yeah , thanks . So

7:12

I'll try to do it , condense it . I

7:15

ran track for the University of Arkansas . I was

7:17

a four time track and field all American , ran

7:19

the high hurdles , long jump and Ma

7:21

Relay team . Graduated with a degree in communications

7:24

. Still wanted to continue

7:26

to pursue my athletic career and try to make

7:29

an Olympic games , so I

7:31

joined the military and the military the United States Army has

7:34

a world class athlete program and you

7:36

can't sign up for it but you can

7:38

try to make it once you are in service . So

7:41

it's kind of a little bit of risk . But I

7:43

got in and made the , the

7:45

, the , the , the standard , made the team . But

7:47

operation doesn't shield

7:49

that . A storm came up and I got diverted

7:51

to the Gulf of war and spent six months

7:53

in the desert . When I came back

7:55

, without a scratch , i was unable to run the high

7:57

hurdles

7:59

any longer because I

8:02

was just out of not out of shape , but out of rhythm

8:04

. You know the hurdles are it's a rhythm sport . So

8:07

my coach and I decided to switch to the

8:09

400 meter hurdle , which is one time around

8:11

the track over 35 , over 10 obstacles , space 35

8:13

meters apart . So

8:16

in my fifth race I qualified for the

8:18

Olympic trials again And in my sixth race I finished 17th

8:20

. In those trials US takes to

8:22

top three . So I said , okay

8:25

, i'll do another four years beyond this world class

8:27

athlete program , train for three of those years And I can

8:29

. I know I can make that team . It was a matter

8:31

of time before I , you know I made it . So

8:35

I ran my first 50 sub 50

8:38

second hurdle race on my ninth try And I was on

8:40

the trajectory . But on May 17th 1994

8:43

, when I was training

8:45

in Hayes , kansas , right before race the next day , i

8:48

misstepped the third hurdle and I came down wrong on my

8:50

left leg and I hyper extended my

8:52

knee and the hyper extension caused a blockage

8:55

to the popliteal artery and then subsequently

8:57

, seven days

9:00

later , because of poor circulation and a failed reconstruction of that

9:02

artery through a saphenous vein graph , my

9:06

left leg was amputated above the knee . So you go from the riches

9:09

. You got everything going on . It was going

9:11

to be a combat . I was a combat veteran . I was going

9:14

to be officer candidate school . I

9:16

was going to go down to Fort Benning school for girls and boys and

9:18

and become an officer . And

9:21

I , you know , the life was right before me . I

9:23

figured I could do 20 years of the military and then to get out

9:25

and work another civilian job

9:27

, do another 20 years . I'm good . I got double retirement

9:29

. So that was my , my goal , my focus

9:32

, and God had other plans . So the

9:34

the injury caused me to do a retooling

9:36

and that was . It was my wife , alice

9:39

, who said you know what , john , we're going to get through this together . This

9:42

is just our new normal . And

9:44

so , with those words , with understanding

9:46

what , what I understand them to be now which I'll explain a little

9:48

bit later I started swimming for

9:50

physical therapy . I got out of the military 27

9:53

months post my amputation , i actually

9:55

made the Paralympic swim team . So

9:57

now I'm in Atlanta , georgia . I'm swimming in the . In

9:59

the games I see athletes running on artificial

10:01

legs . I have a leg made for running And

10:04

then four years later , i win the silver

10:07

medal in the long jump in Sydney , australia . So

10:09

that's kind of the , the book ends of my athletic career

10:12

. As far as the

10:14

high level sports performance , i did go to a world championship

10:17

in 2002 in France , and

10:20

that was only because I knew I was going to do

10:22

2004 Athens game . But

10:25

as a legacy , the

10:27

the ? U ? S gets four , three team slots and you

10:29

had to finish fourth or higher to earn

10:31

one of those , those team spots . So

10:34

I just , you know , picked the spike back up but went over there

10:36

. I got a fourth place , i got the

10:38

USA a team spot for the team and I that

10:40

I balanced out without those , my

10:42

those , my give back , my leg is give

10:44

back . So , yes , that's kind of the

10:47

story as far as that piece is concerned

10:49

of the athletics .

10:50

Yeah , I think one of the things , and

10:52

it's so funny , you bring up your wife because

10:54

when I was listening to this video , right , And

10:56

so essentially you have this choice to make

10:58

. right , The doctors come in and they , they

11:00

ask you , you know , was it that either

11:02

they amputate your leg or what was

11:05

the what was ? I can't remember what the

11:07

other choice was .

11:08

Yeah , so you had to walk for a wheelchair . Yeah

11:10

, yeah .

11:11

Walker wheelchair .

11:12

Yeah .

11:13

And so it's like , what do you do when you have

11:15

two hard choices ? Cause

11:17

so often we're used to making either a

11:19

good or bad choice , or you know the

11:21

, the harder , the easy choice , but you had

11:23

like really two hard choices

11:26

to make . And I know you kind of speed through

11:28

the story because trying to make

11:30

it condensed , but how do you handle

11:32

those moments when you are faced with two

11:34

hard choices ? Maybe our choices

11:36

aren't to walk or wheelchair , but

11:38

there's two hard choices that we have to make

11:41

. And so in those moments like

11:43

, how do you handle that

11:45

?

11:46

I didn't know this then , but I'm going

11:48

to answer it from several different ways

11:50

. One way

11:52

which I've learned is there's

11:54

a gentleman I'm trying to think of his name , i'll think of it later

11:56

who wrote a book that

11:59

is called like the third way . So

12:02

we look at two binary choices that we might

12:04

have go left or go right . Can

12:07

we find another way through that

12:10

abyss ? He tells a story about

12:12

he was a professional speaker . he was traveling

12:14

back and forth through London a lot from

12:17

Chicago . He didn't want to buy

12:19

like the $8,000 ticket to get a first class ticket

12:21

, but he also didn't want to sit back and coach because he got his feet

12:23

and he's trying to figure out different . So

12:26

how do I do this ? So what he does is

12:29

he goes oh , i got the answer , i'll just

12:31

buy three tickets , because three tickets

12:33

in coach were less than

12:35

the business class tickets , but he got

12:37

more space than in business class and

12:40

he gets three meals , right . So you know . so

12:42

he just had to figure a way through that

12:44

, and I think that's a great place for

12:46

us to think about . is there a third

12:48

way ? or is it a fourth way ? Because oftentimes

12:51

we stop at that binary choice

12:53

And for me , you know it was difficult

12:56

, because the doctors gave me this one or

12:58

this one , and it was really the pain

13:00

that spoke to me , because

13:02

the pain said if I just get rid of my leg

13:04

, i'll get rid of my pain . And

13:07

how many times do we do that ? How many times do we amputate

13:09

? just because we're in pain , we get rid

13:11

of the thing that you know is causing us to

13:14

pain . but that might not be the best thing to do

13:16

, right , we might need to go through the pain And

13:19

it's a hard decision . So for me , a third

13:21

way , you know , may have been okay

13:23

. let's see how the leg is

13:25

going to operate afterwards

13:27

, you know , and how this is gonna work , and maybe I have to

13:29

have an amputation later on or maybe I could live

13:32

life in a different way . But

13:35

it comes down , i believe , to our mindset

13:37

. The reason why I

13:39

believe for myself I

13:42

was challenged in

13:44

understanding what life

13:46

was going to be like is because of

13:48

societal pressures or

13:50

societal normalization around

13:53

people with disabilities . I

13:56

mean , think about it . like every person with disability that

13:58

we saw as a child , as a kid growing

14:00

up , we had a stigma associated

14:02

with them because society

14:04

through you know a Disney movie , like

14:06

Captain Hook , who has , you know , captain

14:09

Hook's an amputee , above the wrist amputee or

14:11

we have people who are disfigured

14:13

, right , they're the villains

14:15

in the movie . And because

14:17

of the villains now we say , oh , those folks are

14:20

bad . but when we join

14:22

the club because as a tap temporarily

14:24

able-bodied individual , there are body out there we're

14:26

afraid of joining it because we don't want to be ostracized

14:28

from society And

14:30

it's very difficult to work through that . So

14:32

that's a mindset that we've had . We've

14:35

been conditioned into that , that

14:38

normalize around that condition of

14:40

this reality that's in our head But it's not really there

14:42

. it's not real . When people

14:44

ask me , how'd you overcome the amputation of your left leg

14:46

, i said I said I didn't , because

14:49

how to overcome the amputation of my left leg ? I'd

14:51

have my leg back . So

14:53

what was it ? It was my

14:55

mindset around those things that were holding me back

14:57

. A second thing you know I talk about

14:59

this in my speeches now . a second thing is

15:01

other people , other people

15:04

will believe for us what we can or cannot do

15:06

, which is based on what they believe

15:08

they could or could not do if they were

15:10

in our situation . right

15:12

, so they're speculating on us what

15:14

they believe we should , how we should

15:16

have a life , and most

15:19

of those people that we're listening to , they're very

15:21

close to us And

15:23

so when we're beginning to revision or redream

15:25

what might be possible , they can

15:27

thwart the dreams without even realizing

15:29

how much impact they're having on us

15:31

. The doctor that might say

15:33

you'll never run again , you'll never walk again , you

15:36

never do this the same way , you'll never be an athlete again

15:38

, right , yeah ? And they don't

15:40

know , because their world is myopic , it's

15:42

very small . And then you meet somebody that's actually

15:44

doing it and like , oh , i can

15:46

do this .

15:48

Because , I've seen it right You have that exposure

15:50

. One of the things that I'm so glad you

15:52

said that is just that it speaks to some

15:54

of the work that we do is that most of

15:56

the time when we go into an organization and

15:58

when we're talking to leaders or middle managers

16:01

or employees , the results

16:03

that we're seeing are always based

16:05

upon this belief or this buy-in

16:08

that people have around

16:10

. This is how the company works , this

16:13

is how we should operate , this is how my

16:16

particular position should

16:18

be right , based on

16:20

those beliefs , based on that exposure

16:23

. But you had said something earlier

16:25

on when you talked about how

16:28

you had gotten out of this rhythm . But

16:30

you knew if you could get the rhythm back

16:33

And I think it's fair because you didn't

16:35

say I got the rhythm back in

16:37

a year . I

16:39

did another enlistment for four

16:41

years and I knew that within that time

16:43

, within that two , three years , i would be back

16:45

. And so I think sometime , when we're

16:47

looking at ourselves and

16:51

trying to , i guess afraid of

16:53

the time that it may take , and

16:56

especially now is where trying

16:58

to come into this new normal and

17:00

change and digitization and

17:02

everything that's going on within our organizations

17:05

and individually , like sometime

17:07

we want that change to happen so

17:09

very fast . But I love how you

17:12

really did speak to . It

17:14

didn't happen all of a sudden . I

17:16

didn't have that rhythm enough to

17:18

get to where I needed to go . But if I just took

17:21

more time to get into the rhythm of

17:23

hurdles and so could you

17:25

kind of walk us through , what would

17:27

that look like in somebody like individually

17:30

or organizationally , to kind of develop

17:33

these rhythms of

17:35

hurdles , develop these rhythms of

17:38

overcoming these challenges

17:40

, these decisions that we're faced with ?

17:43

I love that question I'm writing . I got so

17:45

many notes and so many things where I can go different

17:47

directions on your question , because

17:49

it's such a great , insightful question

17:52

on regaining our rhythm

17:54

and I didn't even make the connection between the hurdles

17:56

and regaining my rhythm

17:58

back there to run the four-in-meter hurdles right . So

18:01

first I want to start with my coach

18:03

, remy Khorchimni . So he's the

18:05

one that got me to the Olympic trials

18:07

in the four-in-meter hurdles . And after

18:10

I had my amputation and I was

18:12

training for and after the

18:14

games of Atlanta where I was swimming

18:16

, i was trying to relearn how to run . And

18:19

what he did was he brought

18:21

out like 24 paint

18:23

sticks you know like how you mix your paint

18:25

up , and we were down in

18:27

Dallas and Fort Worth area and he set

18:29

the paint sticks up on a track and

18:32

he said what I want you to do is

18:35

I want you to run symmetrically between

18:37

these sticks with your artificial

18:39

leg , alternating between the sticks with

18:43

your real leg , and so just make

18:45

those steps incremental . And

18:47

so he had me run like that over and over

18:49

again and he said do not do anything

18:51

else but to teach

18:54

your body how to run

18:56

again with this artificial leg , how

18:58

to use force into the ground , and

19:01

so before I had run about

19:04

17 seconds for 100 meters with

19:06

one leg . So I'm relearning how to run

19:08

I mean this is pedestrian time , but

19:11

I'm relearning how to run on an artificial leg and

19:14

what I did was I

19:16

focused on the space

19:19

and grace it took to grow in that time where

19:21

he said just run 100 meters , exactly like

19:23

this for one month . You know that's

19:25

all you're doing as a workout . And when I finished

19:27

that , i ran

19:30

100 again on the litmus test and I was down

19:32

like three seconds . So I'd gone from

19:34

17 seconds down to 14

19:37

seconds just because

19:39

I stayed true on the rhythm . Here's

19:42

why that's important , you know , for us as

19:44

the audience , people

19:47

tend to get jaded with

19:50

terminology or just follow

19:52

the crowd to make it easier

19:54

for them to overcome an

19:56

adversity , or they think they are , because

19:58

they say it's been out of cliche or

20:01

something becomes cliche , and then they say

20:03

, oh , i like or I dislike it . So we get back in

20:05

that binary choice again , without

20:07

really doing the homework to unpack

20:10

what we are trying to understand

20:12

. So , for example , the new normal

20:14

, as you mentioned , right , the new normal

20:16

. During the pandemic people got really jaded

20:18

with the term because it was beginning

20:20

to be overused . But I've been using that term for over

20:22

20 years , 25 years

20:25

, So why am I gonna change it just because somebody

20:27

else is not liking the term ? I

20:29

can't read with it anymore because I

20:31

have to explain what it means . So

20:33

I come now . I say transform adversity into

20:36

advantage . People , they book me because of that . But

20:38

I'm really giving the same speech , and

20:40

so I unpack the new normal , because

20:43

new , when we look at the words

20:45

, new means no prior point of reference

20:47

. So if new

20:49

is no prior point of reference , we can't use

20:52

old systems , old thoughts , old ideas to put

20:54

into a new bucket to get a different output . Normal

20:58

, then , is the everyday typical

21:00

occurrence of a thought or an action . What

21:02

are the rituals I have in place that lead me

21:04

to a rhythm , that elevate me , to

21:06

arise , that create the desired results that I'm looking

21:09

for ? So , even though the environment

21:11

I've shifted into a new environment

21:13

, because environments are just the environments . Environments

21:16

don't shift environments , they're just here

21:18

. So I have to show up with

21:20

whatever I have as an apparatus or

21:23

my atmosphere to take

21:25

into the new environment . And

21:27

if I don't have the right atmosphere , i can't survive

21:30

If I don't take scuba

21:32

gear underwater , i'm

21:34

gonna drown . If I don't take a

21:36

space suit into space , i'm

21:40

gonna pass out and you'll probably eventually die

21:42

. So I need oxygen to survive

21:44

in the environment . So I have to build

21:46

my atmosphere to take into that environment . And

21:50

that's where the space and grace comes to

21:52

grow . Because once we've made a commitment

21:54

to something , once you've made a choice , the

21:57

rebirth is that new . You

22:01

cannot . And that's where I talk about a commitment

22:04

. Commitments are . Let

22:07

me say it this way when I told the doctor

22:09

to take off my left leg and

22:12

he does the operation , i

22:14

don't get my leg back . That

22:17

is a commitment In

22:19

the kind of the old joke we can say that way

22:21

in breakfast we have our bacon and eggs . The

22:23

chicken was involved in the process , the pig was

22:26

committed , the

22:28

egg and light back . So

22:30

that's the commitment . And

22:33

if you can get your , if you can grow back on

22:35

your commitment , i challenge whether or not

22:37

you made a commitment , because you

22:39

cannot go back . It's impossible to go

22:41

back , whether mentally or physically . You

22:43

cannot go back to that way

22:45

And that is that's

22:47

tough . If you can go back , i say

22:50

you're what I call in my model . I call it the , the

22:52

, the reckoning moment , because we have

22:54

a desire to go back to the way it used to be and we kind

22:56

of camp out in there and we have . That's our first hurdle

22:58

. But in the rebirth we've

23:01

committed And now we need

23:03

, as you stated , we need space

23:05

and grace to grow . I kind of use that

23:07

as my framing . So I don't know

23:09

everything about being a hurdle , being a an happy

23:11

T . I now

23:13

have to learn how to manipulate

23:16

a wheelchair to a prosthetic appointment . I have

23:18

to learn how to put on artificial leg . I

23:20

have to learn how to walk between the parallel bars . I

23:23

have to learn how to to use a four bar

23:25

walker to gain my balance around the hospital

23:27

So I won't trip or fall . I have to learn how to go

23:29

from a four bar walker to crutches , crutches

23:31

to a cane , cane to free walking

23:33

, free walking to running , running to jumping

23:36

, jumping . Then I get a silver

23:38

medal . Took seven years for that to happen . But

23:40

, like you said , we want to right now and

23:43

can we give ourselves space and grace to

23:45

grow in the process of what is

23:47

new for us , in the environment that we're

23:50

showing up with our , with our , our atmosphere

23:52

.

23:53

There was so much there , i'm trying

23:55

to figure out where I want to go right , cause there's two

23:57

things that I want to do . But since you ended on

23:59

atmosphere , i'm going to go there because in

24:02

chapter 10 of your book , you know 10

24:04

, not no one of the chapter . Sorry , the book

24:06

is 10 power stories to impact

24:08

any leader , and you were talking about

24:11

atmosphere . You were talking about the NASA

24:13

story And I just thought that was so incredible

24:16

, and so I , you , you

24:18

hit a little bit about it and

24:20

kind of letting you explain about

24:23

what it really means to have

24:25

that ability to take our

24:27

atmosphere into any environment

24:29

. I think , as organization

24:31

is changing , as the workplace is changing

24:34

, that is so important

24:36

that , no matter what environment

24:38

we go into , that we take

24:41

this atmosphere . So

24:43

give me an example of kind

24:45

of what does that look like to bring atmosphere

24:48

to your environment ? And I also think we have to

24:50

evaluate the atmosphere

24:52

that we're bringing , because not all atmosphere that

24:54

you're bringing is going to

24:56

be , is probably where you want to go

24:58

right , because sometime that environment will

25:00

level you up right , Yeah

25:03

, yeah , yeah , yeah . So give me , let's

25:05

talk a little bit about how do I bring

25:07

you know this atmosphere to

25:09

a new environment , or an environment

25:11

that's changing , or you know .

25:15

So , first of all , we have to be aware that

25:18

we are entering into a new environment

25:20

And usually the telltale signs are we

25:23

get , we panic , we

25:25

panic or we go to sleep , but

25:28

underwater . If we don't have , you know , lifeguards

25:30

are taught to come from underneath the

25:32

person , behind the

25:34

person . If they're drowning because

25:36

of the panic situation , if they see

25:38

them approaching , they're going to grab onto them , and

25:41

then two people are going to have a bad day . If we get up

25:43

to a high level altitude and we don't have oxygen

25:45

, you know to breathe , we

25:47

can , we can . Just , you know , go to Demia

25:49

. You know we go to sleep and

25:51

we can . We can pass out and die that way , and both

25:54

situations of death can be , you

25:56

know , the final result . So

25:58

here's one of the things I'll share

26:01

to answer

26:03

your question . When

26:05

we panic , we do irrational things

26:07

because we're not thinking correct

26:11

. So we know we don't have

26:13

the , the atmosphere we need for

26:15

the new environment . How do we know

26:17

? in March of 2020

26:19

, right before the pandemic was hitting or coming

26:21

to the United States , we're just shutting down

26:23

? what were we doing in

26:25

America that

26:27

showed that we were in a panic situation

26:30

? What do you think ? What was it Remember

26:32

?

26:34

Oh , what were like , what were we doing ?

26:35

when it happened , what were we all doing in America

26:37

?

26:38

I would say , at first we were just going on about our lives

26:40

, right , but then it was shutting

26:42

down , it was mask , it was you

26:44

know all of these things .

26:46

Before the mask , the first thing

26:49

we did was we bought toilet paper .

26:51

That's true Toilet paper , water

26:53

, all of the essentials right And the event

26:55

that , like yeah , toilet paper was

26:57

a big thing , though I remember that It was

26:59

huge .

27:01

It was so huge . It was causing supply chain

27:04

disruptions . They

27:06

couldn't get enough toilet paper on the

27:08

shelves . They

27:11

were fighting over toilet paper . That

27:13

doesn't make sense . It doesn't make sense

27:15

, it just doesn't . So that's

27:17

that's . That's a panic . We're panicking

27:20

And so we know if we're

27:22

we're thinking , we're rational , but that's not a rational thing

27:24

to do . That's not going to solve COVID . We didn't

27:26

know how , right . So

27:28

when we look at our lives and

27:30

we are , we're trying to figure out how

27:33

do we take atmosphere

27:35

into our environment , we first

27:37

have to understand that we're

27:39

panicking when we're doing irrational

27:41

, irrational stuff , right

27:44

, but the environment is just the environment . So how

27:46

do I then show up

27:48

in that environment ? What do I need ? What

27:51

are the tools I need to show up in

27:53

this new environment ? So one

27:55

of the things I challenge the audience , my audience

27:57

, is to do is to to

28:00

think about a self-reflective

28:02

exercise . And could

28:04

you said you know , one of the things that we fought

28:06

about was whether

28:09

I should wear a mask or not , whether

28:11

I should be vaccinated or not , and

28:13

these fights were going on And

28:16

what happened is it wasn't

28:18

so much , in my opinion

28:21

, about whether somebody wanted to wear a mask or didn't

28:23

want to wear a mask . It wasn't

28:25

so much about whether somebody wanted to be vaccinated or

28:27

not be vaccinated . The

28:29

issue was how did I

28:31

show up in somebody's environment

28:34

, in this environment that's now

28:36

new with my atmosphere , did

28:39

I , did I add oxygen

28:41

into their environment ? Did I

28:43

give it or did I take it away ? And

28:45

that , to me , is the essence of it all

28:47

, because now that's on me

28:50

, that's not on anybody else , that's not

28:52

on me . Political party , that's

28:54

not on left versus right , that's

28:56

on what did I do , because that's my

28:58

responsibility for

29:01

our teams . Am I adding oxygen

29:03

into my as a manager for

29:05

my team , and I'm adding oxygen into

29:08

my company , my business , or am I causing

29:10

a panic to happen ? Are people

29:12

running around ?

29:13

I'm trying to find toilet paper . So good

29:15

, that's so good .

29:17

So I can see it by the results

29:19

of what people are doing . If people acting crazy

29:21

in the office you're adding , you're not adding

29:23

oxygen into it , You're not creating an environment

29:25

, not the . You're not adding ox , phallic

29:28

in the atmosphere to the environment that

29:30

is now existing . It's

29:32

not to say that we don't need systems and processes . We

29:35

do . They just may have changed

29:37

in the , in the environment

29:39

that we're now in . Yeah , I

29:41

can't . I can't just run down to the grocery store

29:43

and get you know my toothpaste

29:45

, Right . I got it on Amazon

29:48

, Different process , Right

29:50

, But I still need the process to work for

29:53

surviving . So that's what I . What I say

29:55

is how am I showing up ? And then we can

29:57

look at , we can flip it and say when

29:59

do I panic ?

30:01

Yes , yeah .

30:02

When did my oxygen leave me ? What gets my dandruff

30:05

? What gets you know , what takes , what takes me

30:07

off kilter ? Because

30:09

those are telltale signs that something's happening

30:11

on the inside of me , not

30:13

necessarily the other person . If somebody

30:15

hurts you the wrong way , that's something , that's something going

30:17

on to you .

30:19

Right Not feel that , not feel that individual .

30:20

Right .

30:21

Yeah , you are so right . So

30:24

thank you for that , john Cause . That makes complete

30:26

sense . Like , how are we showing up and

30:28

what are we adding or taking away

30:30

, right , based upon the results that

30:32

we see ? when we go into companies

30:34

, you know and we're talking about culture work

30:37

or redefining their culture or

30:39

doing some type of culture change The

30:41

one thing that people always say is everything

30:43

is going to change And you know

30:46

, there some people are excited . We kind

30:48

of have four archetypes that we talk through that

30:50

we've seen pretty much in , you know

30:52

, every company , and so I

30:55

think it's important though , as we're

30:57

working through that , because when we work through

30:59

culture right , we're working through

31:01

it on a organizational level

31:03

, but on an individual level

31:05

really is where a lot

31:07

of that really starts is

31:10

on this individual level of

31:12

us coming together as a team

31:14

to be able to create this culture as

31:16

a team together . And

31:19

so one of the things I wanted to ask

31:21

you cause you kind of talked about reckoning , and that

31:23

is so true is that we want to go back to

31:25

so how things work . Even

31:27

if it was crazy , we knew that crazy

31:29

and we want to stay within that crazy

31:31

that we know , because we don't know this new

31:33

commitment right that we may

31:35

have to make . And so how

31:38

can we conquer , like , those hurdles

31:40

right When we are in the midst of change

31:42

in our business , in our career , in our

31:44

life ? And one of the things we realized

31:47

is that there may be change in

31:49

business , so we may be going through a culture

31:51

change , but there may be somebody else that just

31:53

had a baby , or somebody else that's taking care of

31:55

an aging parent , or somebody else that's in the

31:57

midst of other things within their lives

31:59

, and as much as we may not want to say

32:01

that they intersect , they absolutely

32:04

do . And so how

32:06

are we able to kind of conquer

32:10

those hurdles of everything is going to change

32:12

, of life is going to change , of you

32:14

know , and kind of starting with , like you said , that first

32:16

thing is like the reckoning , and kind

32:18

of taking us through what that looks

32:21

like for us .

32:22

I've worked on this model for a very long

32:24

time . I'm still working on it , but I think it's

32:26

a life journey . I first started off with like nine

32:28

things in this model of

32:30

how we overcome any adversity And

32:34

now I'm down to three . I was down to five

32:36

and I'm down to three , with three

32:38

subsets underneath it . But

32:41

I'll give you that very high level and walk through

32:43

the model And I think people will see A

32:46

where they are on the model , b

32:48

where somebody else might be on the model , and why

32:50

it's important to understand both

32:53

of those where people are . So

32:56

the first is the reckoning moment , and

32:58

the reckoning moment is the first hurdle . The first

33:01

hurdle is hurdled when we realize

33:03

we do not give back what we desire

33:06

to have back after some type of trauma

33:08

has impacted our life . So

33:10

we have everything's going on . Every day

33:13

is a typical day , it's a normalized day

33:15

, and then a catalytic moment happens

33:17

, something changes , and

33:19

the first reaction is not to , you

33:22

know , become somebody new . The

33:24

first reaction I just want things to go back

33:26

to the way it used to be . I

33:29

just want things to go back to normal . That's what

33:31

we say . But normal is gone

33:33

, it's already gone . We just it hasn't caught

33:35

up with our reality , that that is no longer

33:37

accessible to us . So we're staying

33:40

this loop of . I

33:42

just want to go back to the way it used to be . They're

33:45

going to take my whatever . You know , we're shifted . It's

33:48

not the way it used to be when I first moved here , right

33:51

, and it's their jobs , not the same

33:53

. People have been on the job for 20 years and

33:55

they say , well , we were not the same thing

33:57

when we were doing it , when the back of 1975

34:00

, when I was , you know , coming through , pay your dues

34:02

, right . So

34:04

we , it's very hard for us to get out of that loop because

34:07

we wanted to go back to the way that we thought it

34:09

was . But we forget all

34:11

the stuff we were complaining about when we were coming through

34:13

that time , right

34:15

, so it's not that it's the better

34:17

time . You know , companies came through COVID

34:20

that made more money during the

34:22

pandemic and they're still

34:24

want to now shift that

34:26

to the way it used to be to

34:29

earn revenue . But they

34:31

earn more money when people were working at home . So

34:33

help me understand that , right . So that's

34:35

, we get caught in that loop . Once

34:37

we understand that we , we cannot get that back

34:40

. We are now free to , and we have hurtled

34:42

the reckoning moment . We're now in the revision

34:45

capital R , lowercase e , capital

34:47

of VIS . So right , it's revision . So

34:49

revision begins with we have

34:51

to . We have a , we're beginning

34:54

to build on

34:56

, we're beginning to build and

34:58

we're building towards a vision that we have . So

35:00

something in our head say I know that this

35:02

way is better than that

35:04

way . I'm not going back , i

35:06

have to go this fort , but but we don't have

35:08

the vision . It's not all the way baked out

35:10

And it's not

35:12

big doubt , because there are

35:14

those three things we talked about earlier that hold us

35:16

back People in society

35:19

. And then , third is ourselves

35:22

. We have to make the job . I've had some of the best hurdle

35:24

coaches in my life that

35:26

have gotten me to the Olympic trials

35:28

, which means I made the Olympic standard . So

35:31

they never , they

35:33

never ran a hurdle for me in my life . I'm

35:36

the one that has to attack the hurdle . So

35:39

I have to get rid of all that other people's noise

35:41

in my head and society's noise in

35:43

my head and actually attack

35:45

the hurdle . And that's very difficult because

35:48

we want to belong to groups And

35:52

they're very few that become the leader for

35:55

the group that actually follows . So

35:58

I just , i'm just complacent , so I'll just sit right here , i'll

36:00

park myself right here because I'll just

36:02

normalize around what I know to be true And

36:05

I'll just , i'll just stay right there . You know , stay back

36:07

up , what I call them in the government backing

36:09

up against your check . I don't got it . I

36:12

can , i can be safe because every first of 15 , they're

36:14

going to check Right

36:16

. So that's , once we get the courage

36:18

to hurdle that's what I do call courage . When our

36:20

truth outweighs our fear , we will commit

36:23

to a courageous life . When

36:25

our truth outweighs our fear , we'll commit to a courageous life

36:27

. Now we have hurdled

36:30

the revision and we're in

36:32

the renewal which

36:34

begins with the rebirth I was talking about . And

36:37

in the rebirth we have to give ourselves space and grace

36:39

to grow . And

36:41

once we've done that , you know we'll rehash that , but

36:43

we give ourselves space and grace to grow . Now

36:46

we can be at the , the

36:48

, the resolve . I

36:51

know exactly who I am because

36:53

I've done the work Right

36:56

. I know how I'm going to show up at the

36:58

Paralympic Games because

37:00

I've done the work . I

37:02

know that . No , no , only two people have

37:05

jumped over five meters in

37:07

the world . There's

37:09

the world record holder and the , and

37:12

the current world champion , and , and , and Olympic

37:14

and Paralympic champion , and the other ones me

37:16

. So

37:18

I know I've done the work and it's only going to be two

37:20

of us in the in the finals . The competition will be keeping me

37:22

against each other . This I know why

37:24

, because I've done the work . So it's not bragging

37:27

dojo , i've just done the work . And

37:30

then at the end of it , you know , we , we

37:32

have the reward and

37:34

the reward is , you know , i've won the silver medal , he

37:36

won the gold medal . You know , some of us were the bronze , but at the end

37:38

of the day , we have the reward And at the end of the day , we won our rewards

37:40

. But the rewards are are

37:43

our placeholders . It's only a plateau

37:45

, because the new normal , the new normal

37:47

, is not a destination . We don't

37:49

arrive at the new normal . I think that's where people get

37:51

it wrong . The new normal is a

37:53

plateau by which we grow . It's like the Olympic

37:55

model of city is all to his forties . swifter

37:58

, higher , stronger . Those words are

38:00

not written in the superlative . The highest

38:02

form of the word , the rid , with an ER

38:04

stem ending , which means we can be

38:06

the swiftest today , but swifter tomorrow . Jump

38:09

the highest today , jump higher tomorrow . Right

38:11

Heaviest weight today , heavy , heavy weight tomorrow . So

38:13

we can always press what's the ER streaming that you have

38:15

in your life ? What are you pressing for ? Or

38:17

are you just settling for where you

38:19

are ? So now that you have

38:22

heard the model , you can kind of see where you might be

38:24

. Are you at the reckoning moment ? Are you at the

38:26

revision moment ? Are you at the renewal moment ? And

38:28

inside of that , are you at the rebirth ? Are you about

38:31

to make a job , a commitment ? And

38:33

once I understand that , i can now see where

38:35

other team members might be As

38:38

I manage them , or my senior executive

38:41

team , as I lead them as a , as a CEO

38:43

. I can see where they are and

38:45

I can empathize with them

38:47

Instead of saying , oh , you just

38:49

need to just make a decision . Well

38:51

, that's hard for that individual because you got all this

38:53

belonging stuff that's over here and

38:56

they have to pull away from that . And

38:59

can we now give them space and grace to grow

39:01

in order to make that decision ? We

39:05

can shorten that curve for them And I can empathize

39:07

. I can say you know what , i

39:09

know you got to make that choice . I

39:11

know that was a hard choice . I had to make that exact

39:13

same choice And it's , it's

39:15

. It is tough , it's , it's not going to be easy , but

39:18

I got you on the other side .

39:20

Yeah .

39:20

And we're going to walk this thing together

39:22

.

39:22

I love that And .

39:22

I'm going to give you space and grace to grow so you can learn this , this

39:24

new opportunity , this new , this new thing

39:26

. So , so that's what we have to do

39:28

, and that , that , then , is bringing

39:31

oxygen into

39:33

the environment .

39:34

Yes , yes , that's so good

39:36

. I love the space and grace to grow , right

39:39

And just . I know we continue to say

39:41

but I absolutely love it because I think

39:43

we do need that space and grace . You know

39:45

, last month , two months ago , i think it's been

39:47

two months ago I started to take Spanish

39:50

lessons , right ? So my daughter had a Spanish

39:52

tutor . I was using the same lady to teach

39:54

me . Granted , i took Spanish for

39:56

three years in high school , two or three years in high school

39:58

, and it is not the same . I

40:01

feel like I learned nothing . But with

40:03

her , because it is more immersive

40:06

, right , it's a more immersive experience . I'm

40:08

not just knowing numbers and things

40:10

, we're taught . We're speaking sentences , or she's

40:12

speaking sentences , and the thing

40:14

is , i always say this I

40:17

don't know the language , and so , because

40:19

I don't know the language , i have to be

40:21

immersed in it . I have to hear it over and

40:23

over and over again . And

40:26

now , you know , i'm able to greet her in

40:28

certain ways , we're able to have a shorter

40:30

sentence , but it's a sentence , right . And

40:32

then , when we get to that shorter sentence , now she's

40:34

saying this is how you add more . It's

40:36

that space and grace to grow is the same

40:38

thing . Is that in our you know

40:41

when things are changing , when

40:43

we're going through any kind of transformation

40:45

. They don't know the language yet , so giving

40:47

them that grace to , per

40:49

se , learn the language . One thing you said

40:52

is to have this empathy And

40:54

this I'm going to say it because I

40:57

like nearly was in tears when

40:59

I was listening to your video and your

41:01

wife was saying you know , you had to make

41:03

that decision and I am going , i

41:05

hope I get it right . Right , but you

41:07

said your wife wraps her arms around me and

41:10

says you know what , john , we are

41:12

going to get through this together . First

41:14

of all , i love her and I've never met

41:17

her , but those words , together

41:19

, she , she , was saying

41:21

that I can't take the pain , i

41:23

can't feel that same pain I

41:26

, but what I am going to be is in this

41:28

together . And whenever we're

41:30

going through anything life

41:32

, organizational change it's

41:35

so important for us to

41:37

individually find those people

41:39

that will , proverbial , get

41:41

in the ring with us , wrap their arms

41:44

and say we're in this together

41:46

and bring a sense of togetherness

41:48

. You know to have that individually

41:51

And as we lead our teams . How

41:54

do we create that type of

41:56

that type of togetherness ? Cause , that

41:58

type of togetherness was yes

42:00

, you're my life partner , yes

42:03

, i love you . But there's

42:05

more to it . When we say we're

42:07

in this together , it is like

42:09

being in the foxhole with someone , and

42:12

I don't think I ever realized how

42:14

much I would have this choice

42:17

to have to make . But when I was

42:19

in the fire , when I was in Iraq and I was

42:21

in the foxhole with somebody or we were on

42:23

duty , my life

42:26

wasn't . It just wasn't a thought

42:28

of what I needed to do to be

42:30

in there with someone else , to have my battle

42:32

buddies back to make sure that we were

42:35

safe . And so everybody

42:37

doesn't get to get that right . Us

42:39

in the military , we understand that

42:41

, but a lot of us don't in

42:43

corporate and as we're going and teaching

42:45

these things , and so as we lead

42:48

teams , i mean I can't put my teams

42:50

in a foxhole . I could , it would be

42:52

a great and that would be a great team building

42:54

. But how do we really create

42:56

this togetherness ?

42:58

Yeah , i think it's the

43:01

surrounds vision

43:03

, mission and

43:06

values . When I was the

43:09

amputee coalitions acting

43:11

CEO for seven months , we

43:13

didn't have a mission of a vision . We

43:16

had a mission . I thought that needed to be tightened up

43:18

, and external community

43:20

and internal community wasn't adhering to

43:22

the values that we had written

43:24

, but I had some , you know

43:26

. So I just kind of stuck to those until

43:29

I could get the board of directors together in

43:31

order to redo

43:34

, you know , not like a drill , but

43:36

actually do a

43:38

vision , mission and values based

43:40

upon our organization and

43:42

who we want to be in the world . And

43:45

it was a . It was fantastic , it was a great

43:48

exercise

43:50

, but what we got out of it was

43:52

kind of a more cohesive board

43:54

understanding . You know , these are

43:56

our values , are these down the hill things

43:58

that we , that we have , how we're going

44:01

to show ourselves to the world and

44:03

this . These are the lines that we have drawn in the sand And

44:06

they're tangible . We can actually measure

44:08

the values right . One of our

44:10

values there is this our stories matter

44:12

. So how do we tell

44:14

our stories ? you know , from the amputee coalition

44:16

, the seven house . So I think that

44:18

that is where we

44:21

really draw the line in the sand And

44:23

when we're putting people and bringing folks onto the team

44:25

, we have to the

44:27

HR , whoever's doing the hiring really needs

44:29

to look at are they a

44:32

fit for the culture

44:34

that we're trying to create here , or

44:37

are they going to be a distraction , disruption to

44:40

it ? Are they going to try and just do it their way ? and it's very

44:42

difficult now in this , in this current job market that

44:44

we're in , because for

44:47

the past two , two and a half years , you

44:49

know , during the pandemic , people shifted . They

44:52

started doing a lot of they had to figure it out on

44:54

their own And companies

44:56

laid off a lot of people . And

44:59

some companies took PPP , you know , and Kate

45:01

kept folks on , but a lot of folks were

45:03

, you know , doing the obreets or they . They

45:06

shifted to doing other things And

45:08

now we're asking them our values

45:10

, where we protect that we support our people , and

45:13

then we let our people go And now we're asking

45:15

them to come back because we support our people . No , no , you didn't , you

45:18

just poured me during that time And

45:21

so , and so we're not

45:23

what . I say this all the time to my clients

45:25

and we're not out of the pandemic . I just

45:27

went to a graduation three graduation

45:29

this year of high school kids , and

45:31

every valedictorian was talking about

45:33

the pandemic . So

45:35

this hasn't left us , even though we wanted to

45:37

leave , because we wanted to go

45:40

back to normal . I

45:42

just want to go back to ways to be . It's not . I think

45:45

that's why the Federal Reserve can't figure

45:47

out how the interest rates are moving

45:49

, because we're trying to use old levers in

45:52

a very shifted environment . Now

45:54

Right , and so we have to honor that

45:56

and give ourselves space and grace to grow in the new environment

45:58

, because we're not going to get it all

46:00

right . Because it's new . It's

46:03

new , yes , yeah .

46:05

John , this has been incredible and I've taken up so

46:08

much of your time , but there is something

46:10

that I want to ask you . There's . I have

46:12

two more questions . One is like a lightning

46:15

round , but this one I do want to

46:17

. I think this is so important . One of the things

46:19

I love is personal

46:21

responsibility And I think for

46:23

me , when I think a little bit about

46:25

that , is really taking ownership

46:27

as it relates to our organizations

46:30

, where we sit in an organization and things like

46:32

that . I can remember

46:35

being an administrative assistant

46:37

. You know , i worked for the Colonel and

46:39

the Sarn major And I

46:41

remember running that thing

46:43

. Like a way I felt like I was

46:45

the Colonel , like I made the decisions

46:47

, or at least I made the decisions as

46:49

it relates to the position I

46:51

was in , how I managed

46:54

them , how I managed people coming to see

46:56

them . I took that responsibility

46:58

. So there was a air

47:00

of confidence , there was an air

47:03

of ownership , like no

47:05

, you need , this is our procedure

47:07

. in your book You

47:09

say this . You asked this question how

47:12

do you show up as your most authentic self

47:14

without being in an un , in

47:17

an apologetic state , and

47:19

you talk about like I'm not talking about being a

47:21

jerk and all of this stuff

47:23

, but I like that you say . I am

47:25

talking about having an air of confidence

47:27

about yourself which allows others

47:29

to exercise their confidence

47:31

. So oftentimes we look at leaders and

47:33

we feel like , oh , they have it together , they know everything

47:36

In this . How

47:38

would you speak to just we're saying

47:40

individuals , because at every level we're individuals

47:43

? How would you speak to someone

47:45

to say you know , how

47:48

do I show up as my most

47:50

authentic self , with this confidence

47:52

that allows others to exercise

47:54

their ?

47:55

Yeah , that's a great question . I believe

47:57

and I'll use my style

47:59

, use myself an example I wanted

48:01

, in one of my former jobs , people to recognize

48:04

my work and then promote me , instead

48:08

of doing the evaluations

48:11

and sit

48:13

and asking for those things myself because

48:15

I know I'm doing the work Right , instead

48:18

of because no one's going to see it like you

48:20

see it . So we have to

48:22

. We come into

48:24

those environments , whether

48:26

it's on work or whether it's in the household

48:28

, having clarity of

48:30

who we are And

48:32

I believe we talk about , like the

48:35

vision , mission and values we just had that conversation

48:37

on . We also need to do that on ourselves

48:39

, on our life . What's our vision , mission and values

48:42

for our life ? What are non

48:44

negotiables of our values ? Because

48:47

it becomes easier when

48:50

we know our direction

48:52

and our focus and we're

48:54

solid in it . So for

48:56

me , you know , my vision was

48:59

given to me by Pat on Ricas for

49:01

a business and business . She said what's

49:03

the most important thing in business ? and we all got it

49:05

wrong and our veterans entrepreneurship class And

49:07

she said she said the most important thing in business is how are you

49:09

going to wrap the business up ? I

49:11

only rid of it . I said , wow

49:13

, that's deep , because that

49:15

takes a consideration . You run a successful business

49:17

And now you're thinking

49:20

so far ahead that you're just figuring out we

49:22

can put on a stock exchange , or going to give to your children

49:24

, or you're how you're going to build your empire . I

49:27

said , man , that's good . So then I said

49:29

, okay , i rest with that thing for like six months

49:31

. What I want at the end of my life And

49:34

I came to this I want to hear my God say well done

49:36

my good and faithful servant , and turn the joy of

49:38

my rest . And so I want

49:40

to . I want to see first God's kingdom and

49:42

his righteousness , and all things will be added to me . So

49:45

I need to be very cautious of how I build on

49:47

the foundation that has already been laid , which

49:49

I believe is Christ , and then , as I build

49:51

upon that foundation , i can build

49:53

in six different ways . I can build with gold , silver

49:55

and precious stones which , when they're

49:58

refiring , when they get hit by fire

50:00

, or I can build with wood , hay and straw

50:02

, which are burned away When

50:04

they're with fire . I want my work to last

50:07

, so I want to breathe oxygen

50:09

and inspiration . I want to breathe oxygen into

50:11

people's environments . So I'm

50:13

very clear with that . And so how will I

50:15

do that ? And it's one of my values is plus one

50:17

days You may have I think that's in the book , you know , plus

50:20

one days or days . I'm going to do something that

50:22

is above and beyond what anybody else

50:24

in my industry will ever do . I

50:27

want to find that thing . I want to send a gift

50:29

. Whatever it is , i'm going to do . I'm going to try to

50:31

give an extra day . I

50:34

want to give a hard yes versus

50:37

a very easy no . Another

50:40

value , right , it's not to say that I'm not

50:42

going to say no from time to time , but it's to

50:44

say I'm always going to look for the way

50:46

to get the information

50:49

or to answer the question in

50:51

a way that is not just going to say

50:53

when the kid comes up to you and says , molly

50:55

, can we get some ice cream , and mom says , no

50:57

, daddy , can we go to play the part

50:59

? No , right , we're going to find

51:02

a way . Like Jason saw

51:04

this is named Jason saw it . No , i remember from the

51:06

third way to do it . A third way Jason

51:08

saw says fire . In the third way , what are they

51:10

? What are they really asking for ? They're

51:13

asking for time . Another story in the book is

51:15

is what my son taught me at

51:18

six , six years old , when

51:20

I first had my prosthetic . We're at the church , we

51:22

come out of church . He wants to sprint with me down

51:24

to the creek because

51:27

that's what we did when I had two legs . After church

51:29

We go run and he's like when he was like

51:31

three , you know , and he's trying to figure

51:33

himself out . And I

51:35

say to him you know , pain flasks it . I can't

51:37

run , i can't run in this artificial

51:39

leg like that . I'm in pain

51:42

, i just can't do it . And he says to me he looks

51:44

down on my leg , he looks back up at me , looked down on my

51:46

leg , looks back up at me and says what

51:48

, what dad ? can we just walk down there ? I

51:51

mean , six years old , this kid is saying

51:53

it's not about the race

51:55

, It's about the relationship

51:58

.

51:59

Yeah , oh , john

52:01

, that's beautiful , that is absolutely

52:03

beautiful . So I'm going

52:05

to jump right into this lightning round and this is to get

52:07

to know a little bit about . You already know you like homemade

52:09

waffles , which let me tell you waffles pancakes

52:12

.

52:12

those are my favorite , But I'm going to ask you

52:14

cop .

52:16

I'm going to ask you coffee or tea , tea , i

52:20

beat your mountains . What

52:22

is your favorite place to travel ?

52:23

Next one .

52:24

Oh , that's so good , that is so

52:27

good . Okay , so are you adventurous

52:29

, or do you err ?

52:30

on the side of caution .

52:32

Okay , what is the most valuable lesson

52:34

you've learned from a mentor or advisor

52:37

?

52:38

To stay in the moment

52:40

, to be present . You know , like

52:42

I think Oprah Winfrey said , be where your feet are . Or somebody

52:45

said like that Be where your feet are

52:47

and stay present in the moment

52:49

you have .

52:51

So yeah , you can invite three people , living or

52:53

dead , to brunch . Who would they

52:55

?

52:55

be . I want Nelson Mandela , martin Luther

52:57

King and Malcolm X , okay , and

53:00

the reason for that is because these

53:02

gentlemen had very

53:04

different viewpoints and

53:07

I would love to hear that conversation . I guess I

53:09

could put the whole conversation in chat , gpt now

53:11

. But and I just try to understand

53:13

what they were thinking about . And

53:16

then , on the other side of it , i

53:18

would probably want Maya Angelou

53:20

, nikki Giovanni and

53:23

Michelle Obama . And

53:27

again , i've met first lady Michelle

53:29

Obama and Maya Angelou . I haven't met

53:31

Nikki Giovanni . But again

53:34

, different , very different thought processes

53:36

of you know somebody

53:39

that was trying to

53:41

achieve what a

53:43

first lady , michelle Obama , got into

53:45

the White House and what

53:48

Nikki kind of writes about , right , so it's kind

53:50

of all those things

53:52

amalgamated together . It can be Alice Walker , you know

53:54

. So I mean , it's just I don't know . There are a lot of folks

53:56

I've loved . It's kind of just to

53:58

say I'd be at the table .

54:01

I like that , I like that , I like that . So

54:04

let's just think and I kind of think I know this answer just

54:06

by talking to you . but let's think about

54:08

20 years from now and you've accomplished everything

54:11

that you've gone out to accomplish

54:13

. you know , you've inspired and transformed

54:15

millions and millions of lives around

54:17

the world to live , you know , healthier

54:19

, wealthier and more fulfilling , passionate , purposeful

54:21

lives . You're a household name and

54:23

you sit back , you know , and you

54:26

and Alice are celebrating anniversary

54:28

after anniversary and just looking

54:30

around your lives that God has

54:32

so graciously given you . What

54:35

are you most proud of ?

54:38

Yeah , i think I'm most

54:40

proud of walking on the path

54:42

that God has laid out for me . Did

54:46

I have the courage to walk in

54:48

places where and trust , trust

54:52

this guidance and leading you know

54:54

? so that's what I'm most proud of that I had

54:56

at least some type of courage to

54:58

walk on a path where it didn't look like the

55:00

path was , that was with the way to go , and

55:03

you chose to do that path because you know that's the way

55:05

you got to go . Yeah

55:07

, that's what I think Walking on the

55:09

it says our steps are ordered by the Lord . I

55:12

want to be have the courage

55:14

to walk on it , you know , no matter

55:16

where it takes me .

55:17

I love it . I love it Well , John , thank you . Thank

55:20

you so much for your time and just all of these nuggets

55:22

and tools . While you were talking , I know

55:24

you probably saw me typing . I was just taking

55:26

notes . So one other thing how

55:29

can people keep in touch with you ?

55:31

If you're listening to the podcast , the fastest

55:33

way to kind of see who I am

55:35

or get out there and get to my social media

55:37

channels is to go to johnregistercom

55:41

johnregistercom , and

55:43

so that kind of begins the process Also

55:47

is you can send me

55:49

a direct message there and

55:52

I'm building out a network , a group

55:54

called pro speakers society

55:57

, and so pro speaker society is not

55:59

necessarily for professional speakers . It's for people

56:01

who speak as part of their profession . So

56:04

you have to give a presentation for your organization

56:07

, your leading training for your organization

56:09

, and so we're building this society to just

56:11

it's a global community and that's that

56:13

speaker around the world , and

56:15

so we have folks in there from Kazakhstan , uganda

56:17

, think Japan , and so we're just having

56:19

these amazing beginning to start having these amazing

56:22

conversations on this platform . So

56:24

join us over there , love to get you all

56:26

into the group , and so it's

56:28

just . You know it's a . You know I do

56:30

a little bit of talking in there and some videos , but it's

56:32

really a community . We really want a community for

56:35

everybody else to interact and see where you connect

56:37

. So , yeah , join us up . Pro speaker society

56:39

. It's on mighty networks and and

56:41

yeah , ask me for the link and I'm happy to share it

56:43

with you .

56:44

Okay , yeah , if you can give

56:47

me the link , i'll go ahead and drop it in the show notes to make sure that we

56:49

have it , cause that sounds incredible

56:51

. Well , john , thank you so much again

56:53

for your time and being on the podcast

56:55

.

56:56

It's been wonderful .

56:59

Thank you again for listening to the chart to heart podcast

57:02

. We hope you enjoyed this episode

57:04

. Make sure to subscribe and share

57:06

. Leave us a five star rating and

57:08

review . You can also connect with us

57:10

on all of our social media channels

57:12

. At chart the number two

57:15

, heart . Until next time , we'll

57:17

see you later . Adios , zai

57:19

John Quahere . Thanks

57:21

, folks .