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This is episode 53 of

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the "I" in Win podcast.

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look for different ways to, try to lift people

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up. "I guess that's the kind of the general thing

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is, Find excuses to lift people up

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hello everyone, and thanks for joining us on another

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episode of The "I" in Win podcast.

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Today we welcome on Todd Kuckkahn,

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whose passion for leadership and culture

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earned him an independent speaker,

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coach, and trainer certification with Maxwell

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leadership. In this episode,

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we're going to explore the complexities of

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culture, why leaders need to listen more

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and talk less, and how a simple

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postcard can change your life.

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Todd, love the Wisconsin shirt. Thanks for

0:50

joining us today.

0:51

Yeah, "I. Gotta get a little promo on here. Luke, from my Badgers

0:54

and, uh, everything else in Wisconsin. "I lived here

0:56

my whole life, so "I gotta cheer for the Wisconsin teams.

0:58

this is gonna be kind of a sensitive topic.

1:01

Please don't tell me you're a Packer fan.

1:03

well, uh, yes, "I am.

1:05

okay. Well, I'm a lifelong Bears fan, so

1:07

we're gonna have to make this go, but. "I

1:09

will say, I'm, I'm rather reveling

1:12

in the fact that you guys are finally experiencing

1:14

some of the misery, this shit that we have dealt with for so

1:16

many years.

1:18

Oh, "I tell you, it's, it's a little painful after the success

1:20

we've had, but you know, it comes in ebbs and

1:22

flows and, and who knows which team will show up this

1:24

weekend.

1:25

Well, one thing "I want to talk to you about

1:28

is culture, and

1:31

in my opinion, it's overused

1:33

and definitely misunderstood by many people.

1:35

So how do you define.

1:38

One way "I kind of, uh, put

1:40

it, put it in position. Luke is, uh,

1:43

it's a turn that "I learned from John Maxwell actually,

1:45

and, and its culture eats vision. And

1:48

you can have the best, uh, mission, vision,

1:50

values, objectives, strategies,

1:53

plans, whatever you know, you wanna do for

1:55

planning standpoint. But if you don't have

1:57

the right culture and "I, it's, it is hard

1:59

to define "I. It's, and it is an overused word,

2:01

but it's, it's really, uh, everything

2:04

about the place that makes you want to work

2:06

there, that makes you want to be there, that makes you want

2:08

to be a. Entrepreneur versus

2:11

an entrepreneur. An entrepreneur inside your workplace

2:13

where there's some passion and meaningful

2:15

engagement. So that's, that's some of how

2:17

"I would define that.

2:18

let's talk about that intrapreneur. That's pretty cool.

2:20

So what if you have this

2:23

passion and you just

2:25

cannot make a living off of that? And I'm asking

2:27

that because "I have so many assistant coaches

2:30

throughout my career that they love

2:32

coaching the boys and they

2:34

can't get enough of it, but it doesn't pay

2:36

the bills. And real life gets in

2:38

the way sometimes. So how do

2:40

you balance that? Cause sometimes these guys ask me, Hey,

2:42

should "I just stay with my passion?

2:45

Even though the other real job

2:47

pays the bills?

2:48

"I "I. Think you wanna work for your passion. You know, you

2:50

start off probably near career after college or.

2:53

Or tech school or high school with a

2:55

job, and that may transition

2:57

into a career, but you're really looking

3:00

for as your calling. What's your passion? About

3:02

what? What helps you get up in the morning? What

3:04

makes, what turns? Mondays into Fridays,

3:06

right? You're anxious to get up. And

3:08

just like, you know, you're looking forward to Monday

3:10

instead of hating and dreading it. Um,

3:12

it's, it's a tough, it's taken me almost

3:15

my entire career to get to that point. "I mean, I've had some

3:17

great jobs. I've also had some crappy

3:19

jobs. I've been fired four times in my life, and a lot

3:21

of that reason was due to, to culture. And

3:23

I'll take some blame for it, don't get me wrong. But,

3:26

but really a lot of that was, was related to the culture

3:28

and, and going to a place where "I really wanna

3:30

work. So, and it's difficult, particularly

3:32

if you're not in a leadership position, but

3:35

you are a leader in your workplace. You're

3:37

a leader as a coach, whatever the case might be.

3:39

So in the workplace, you have to, the best

3:41

you can with the team that you're given to. If

3:45

your supervisor, if you can work with your supervisor,

3:47

"I just came out of a four hour training this morning

3:49

with some different businesses, a leadership academy,

3:52

and they're sending their employees to, to this

3:55

school. Essentially it's uh,

3:57

eight weeks for four hours and,

3:59

and training them up to be leaders. And

4:01

that's part of that being an entrepreneur is

4:03

taking advantage of those opportunities, but the company

4:05

has to, has to give too and "I think the way

4:08

the challenges we have with retaining employee.

4:10

And attracting employees businesses

4:12

really lead a look at how can "I give my employees

4:14

meaningful engagement, like leadership

4:17

opportunities.

4:18

"I want to come back to the passion and the

4:20

engagement later cause "I think our listeners

4:22

will find a lot of value in that, given that so

4:24

many are teachers and coaches. But getting

4:26

back to the culture piece and how culture

4:29

eats vision, you talk about

4:31

changing a belief system

4:33

and "I mean I'm in the middle of that right

4:36

now. "I, "I took over a program

4:38

that I'm trying to rebuild

4:40

and "I have to change a belief system. How

4:42

do you do that? you know "I want you to bottle it

4:44

up for me and help me out on how we can

4:47

change belief systems Because it's

4:49

easy to present a vision. It's difficult

4:51

to change a belief.

4:53

Well, "I think a lot of it is by, by what, what

4:56

you do actually. And when "I went to

4:58

"I, coached at UW University, Wisconsin Platteville,

5:01

uh, when, when Bo Ryan was there as a head coach,

5:03

actually the bears were down there as well. That there's some team

5:05

"I think in the NFL that I've heard of. But anyway,

5:08

Ouch, Todd. Ouch.

5:10

But, uh, "I can't say much this season, right, Luke,

5:13

But, um, what, what we did, we just

5:15

went in there and we, we were role

5:17

models for what we wanted to happen. So for just

5:19

simple things, we went every, every day.

5:21

When we went to lunch, we went to lunch with the faculty.

5:23

Were eating, we got to know the faculty, we sat down

5:25

with them trying to change the culture. Cause

5:27

the basketball team had won six games total

5:29

in the previous three. So we were

5:31

trying to turn into that winning culture. So we

5:33

wanted put our faces out there in

5:36

the community, speaking at different events. Again,

5:38

going to simple things like lunches, really

5:40

being engaged with our, with our students in the

5:43

classroom. So showing that, showing

5:45

how, how we wanted to change the whole belief

5:47

system so that that's from a team standpoint.

5:50

And individually, "I was on a call once, much,

5:53

much like we're on, and the person

5:55

said, Hey Todd, tell me about some successes

5:57

in your life. So "I, kinda himmed and hawed

5:59

and did that. Midwestern blue, you know, cultural,

6:02

you know, blue collar kind of. And

6:04

he said, Todd, shut up. You've accomplished

6:06

some great things in your life. So we have

6:08

to be, we don't wanna be arrogant. but

6:11

we also wanna share our successes,

6:13

and that's, that's part of it as well. And when you're starting

6:15

to build a winning program, your successes

6:17

are maybe different. They're smaller things, you know, you're

6:19

looking at maybe at individual plays

6:22

or quarters or haves versus the

6:24

whole game or the whole season. You try to find those

6:26

moments where you can really call out

6:28

somebody for doing something positive and effective.

6:30

Maybe it's maybe one of your players, their

6:32

grades in the classroom where they got some school awards.

6:35

So you look for different ways to, try to lift people

6:37

up. "I guess that's the kind of the general thing

6:39

is, Find excuses to lift people up.

6:41

You hit a sore subject with me, and that

6:43

is celebrating the little victories. I'm

6:46

horrible at this. And "I, "I "I

6:48

promise myself that I'm, I'm going

6:50

to be better. But "I never am. And

6:53

here "I am in the middle of trying

6:55

to rebuild and

6:57

"I get so caught up in

7:00

the bad moments, right? And maybe

7:02

it's the loss that you shouldn't have had,

7:04

or whatever the case may be.

7:07

Help me to celebrate the little victories.

7:09

What do "I have to change from a mindset perspective

7:12

to get me to focus more

7:15

on the positive strides and the

7:17

process of these little victories?

7:20

Yeah, gratitude is a tough thing to,

7:22

to show gratitude to, to people,

7:24

whether it's your team, your family, your, your coworkers,

7:26

whatever the case might be. And gratitude

7:29

can be shown in, in, in such simple

7:31

ways, and we just, we have to figure out a way,

7:33

you know? And it's hard to, to keep it in, keep it in

7:36

front of us. Some people do gratitude journals

7:38

every day. There's a number of different things

7:40

you can do. "I, I've talked about this, this, postcard

7:43

that you mentioned before. And throughout

7:45

the course of the day, just a little three by five postcard.

7:47

You can do it on your phone too if you want to. If you

7:49

know "I, I'm closer to a hundred and zero.

7:51

So "I write things down instead of put 'em on my phone.

7:54

But, writing down every day on a card, every

7:56

time something good happens during the day, make a quick

7:58

note of it. So at the end of the day, when you're looking

8:00

back at your. you can see this list

8:02

of things that you've written down. And when you go home

8:04

to your spouse or your partner, your goldfish

8:07

or your dog, and they ask you, How is your day?

8:09

You can see, pull out that card and say, Here's all the great

8:11

things that happened. So it's just a, a little

8:13

way of, of that. It's all about self-awareness,

8:16

right? When, when something good happens,

8:18

make a special attempt to take note of it. And,

8:21

another thing to do to show that

8:23

gratitude that I've used throughout my career is

8:26

a handwritten. Imagine

8:28

if each of the players on your team received

8:30

a handwritten note or you know, maybe a handful

8:32

of them a week from, from you and the assistant

8:34

coaches. Hey, glad to have you on the team.

8:37

Great job. So you're doing well in school

8:39

and send that to their home. And they open

8:41

that note up from their coach, right?

8:43

And they, and they see the note, their family sees

8:45

the note, and it really helps build them up.

8:48

And it really has not, maybe has nothing to do with football,

8:50

maybe just about their life. You caught them doing something

8:52

good in the hallway. But a little thing like

8:55

even just like that can make a difference. When "I

8:57

first started, when "I worked for the chamber here.

9:00

In Steven's Point, I'm not there any longer, but when "I worked

9:02

there, the first thing first year, we

9:04

sent these notes out every day to different business

9:06

people and it just created this whole kind

9:08

of groundswell of, Wow, look at this, "I

9:10

got a note. And you know, it wasn't even necessarily

9:13

what we said, but just the intention

9:15

of, of really doing something nice and show gratitude

9:17

to others.

9:18

Those are some great suggestions on how to

9:21

monitor, and celebrate the little victories. Let's

9:24

get back to something that might be leaving

9:26

a little bit more difficult to monitor, and

9:28

that is the changing of a culture. How

9:30

can "I have these checkpoints throughout

9:33

this process? To really identify

9:35

if "I am in fact, on the correct

9:37

track to changing the culture, or

9:39

is it related to what you've just described?

9:42

Well, that's, yeah, that, that's a, that's a part of it.

9:44

"I think, you know, "I "I still think while culture.

9:47

Each vision "I still think you need

9:49

to be planful about it. And, and

9:51

think about where do "I, where do "I want the program to

9:53

be in a month, six months,

9:55

a year? Set up those milestones.

9:58

Uh, you wanna stretch yourself. You wanna get out of your

10:01

comfort zone with your, with your goals, the things

10:03

you wanna achieve as a team, but you also

10:05

don't want set them so high that they're, that they're

10:07

not achiev. "I think to be valuable

10:10

tool "I in terms of goals and

10:12

objectives, had the team involved

10:14

in that process in some way? One

10:16

of the best, efforts "I had at that when "I was

10:18

at United Way of Dane County and

10:20

we put together a strategic plan, a three year strategic

10:22

plan, and "I started with each individual.

10:25

"I had 16 staff. Each individual staff member

10:27

wrote down their goals. Then they

10:29

bubbled up to the team goals and then they bubbled

10:31

up to our department goals, and then they bubbled

10:34

up the organizational goals in terms of, of

10:36

what we were gonna raise. And along the way, not

10:38

only was the staff involved involved, but our volunteers,

10:40

so you could do that with the team too. Had the

10:42

kids each write down what are the two or three things you

10:44

wanna achieve, and then maybe do it by position.

10:47

And then maybe do it by offense and defense.

10:50

And then that can bubble up to the, to the coaching

10:52

staff and the assistant coaches obviously are involved.

10:54

"I would have the trainers, student manager,

10:56

whatever, who's ever involved in the team. Because

10:59

if you, if you want people to buy in,

11:01

you have to get them in the process. and,

11:03

and people have to understand that their goal is not necessarily

11:06

gonna make it to the top, but their goal is important

11:08

as an individual and it builds up to

11:10

the greater team.

11:12

There's a quote that you have on your website

11:14

and "I know you, you love it. "I

11:17

think it's a phenomenal quote from Bob Proctor,

11:19

and that is the biggest gap in life between

11:22

what we know and what we do.

11:25

Why is this the case?

11:28

Well, "I, if you look at people who are successful

11:30

"I, think what they did and do

11:32

is they take risks. They're willing to,

11:34

fail. You look at a basketball player,

11:37

they miss 50% of the shots they take,

11:39

You know, how many times did Michael Jordan miss

11:42

a game winning shot, "I think 26 times.

11:44

If I'm not, if I'm not mistaken. So

11:46

he became one of the best players ever,

11:49

or the best player, arguably in the, in the

11:51

nba. And he missed half his shots

11:53

and "I think so. We all know what to do,

11:55

Michael Jordan. That if he took

11:57

enough shots, the, he was gonna hit one, he was gonna

11:59

win some of the games. And that's what we need

12:01

to do. Cause we know what we need to do. You

12:03

could be an NFL coach if you wanted to. "I

12:06

could be "I, could be one of the best leadership gurus

12:08

in the world. But we don't take

12:10

the risk. We don't, we, we aren't willing to fail.

12:13

We aren't willing to put ourselves, And it sounds

12:15

weird. It's not, It's not as, you know, not a simple

12:17

thing, that's for sure. But the knowing

12:19

is there, but the gap is getting to the doing. And the doing

12:22

involves your comfort zone, taking

12:24

risk, and, and a lot of times

12:26

we get involved with our inner circle, the people

12:28

that are closest to us, right? Sometimes

12:31

that inner circle of people that are around us

12:33

drag us. And sometimes

12:35

those people are, you know, you look at people

12:38

that get in trouble with the law, who's their

12:40

inner circle, who's influencing them? You look at

12:42

the people are successful, they're looking

12:44

to always elevate the people that are around

12:46

them, right? Cause they know that that's gonna

12:48

help elevate them. If you're the smartest person in

12:50

the room, you're in the wrong room. You

12:52

want to continue elevating yourself

12:54

with the people that around you in your inner circle. So

12:57

if you look at where you were five years ago, anybody,

12:59

not just you, Luke, but anybody five years ago

13:02

where you are now, and then think about where you want to

13:04

be in five years and what can "I do to continue to

13:06

grow myself and get there as,

13:08

as a person.

13:09

the difficulty "I have as a coach is

13:12

trying to motivate the

13:14

kids that "I coach the student athletes, that

13:17

"I coach to work

13:19

towards greatness. and

13:21

"I agree with you. You're talking about being uncomfortable

13:24

and taking chances and be willing

13:26

to fail. can

13:28

"I as a coach help my young athletes

13:31

and students to understand

13:34

that failure and being

13:36

uncomfortable and

13:39

doing the work is the pathway?

13:42

You know, there was an interesting, um, again,

13:44

it was a John Maxwell called Live to Lead and.

13:47

Tim Elmore was on Dr. Tim Elmore and

13:49

he was talking about generational differences.

13:52

And part of it is that that, you know, coaches

13:55

connecting with their athletes or there are generational

13:57

differences, doesn't mean you're a good person

13:59

or bad person. It's just that the age factor

14:01

is a different thing. And he said, What we need

14:03

to be thinking about is reverse

14:05

mentoring. Where the young people

14:08

are mentoring us. So

14:10

what you might think about as a coach is

14:12

have conversations with, the people

14:14

on your team and, and ask them the questions,

14:17

the very questions that you're asking me. What

14:19

would it take for you to become a

14:21

championship level football player?

14:23

help me understand what does it take Someone, you

14:25

know, your age, the players

14:27

around you, what can "I do as a coach?

14:31

To help you become a championship

14:33

football player, rather than you as a coach telling

14:36

them what they need to do. If they come up with the idea

14:38

or the thought. It's, it's an interesting

14:40

twist and "I think, you know, in the workplace

14:42

it's the, the Gen Zs that are out there, the 22

14:44

to 30 year olds, we should be

14:46

having them mentor us as older people.

14:49

And that's gonna get them better engaged in the whole

14:51

process. Again, it goes back to that the

14:53

planning thing "I was talking about where, where

14:55

each individual person planned and we bubbled

14:57

up this plan. So it's, it's in a similar

15:00

way where we ask, get the advice of young

15:02

people to help, to help us.

15:04

Just a thought.

15:05

"I Love it. And being

15:07

a teacher, there's, it's the same concept

15:09

idea of reversing the classroom and

15:12

"I know you have extensive coaching

15:14

background as well, and I'm sure you have

15:16

done similar things with your

15:18

athletes that you've coached. When "I try

15:20

these activities, here's my frustration.

15:23

It's such surface level answers.

15:26

Like "I need to work hard and

15:28

you try to press the athletes, but what does that

15:30

mean? You know, like you, you try

15:32

to get measurable and specific

15:34

and you know, to the point

15:36

that they actually have a plan in place.

15:39

But it just seems,

15:41

and it's probably that age gap you're talking

15:43

about for me, cuz I'm getting older and they stay

15:45

the same age. Yes. Stays in confused.

15:47

There we go. But uh,

15:50

it's like the surface. Answers

15:53

right, superficial answers, and "I just can't

15:55

get them to engage and dive

15:58

deep and truly find

16:00

solutions.

16:02

Yeah. And "I "I, "I have a 10 year old grandson. So

16:04

"I, "I, "I deal with it in a different

16:06

way. And "I ask him, Hey, how was, how was

16:08

school today? It was good. Well,

16:10

what did you do? Oh, "I don't know. Then

16:13

"I gotta go down each class. Okay. What happened

16:15

in social stu? You know? And kind of, try

16:17

to keep drilling down, asking the why. Questions.

16:20

Asking, asking open-ended questions.

16:23

"I think another thing too that that's important

16:25

"I know, is you get to know your players more. If

16:27

you see a player is off. Go

16:30

up to the player and say, Hey, you know, you seem, you

16:32

seem a little bit off today. Or How,

16:34

how was your day? You know, you don't

16:36

seem as, as upbeat and and positive

16:38

as you usually are. Something happen, anything "I can help

16:41

you with and sometimes they'll, they'll blow

16:43

it off, but sometimes they're really looking for somebody to.

16:45

To talk with. And it might be a situation

16:48

too where maybe your, captains and co-captains

16:50

need to get more involved in, in, in

16:52

the whole, you know, "I hate to say the term structure,

16:54

but they need to get involved with, with

16:56

working one on one of the players too. Cuz obviously,

16:59

teenagers are gonna react more positively to

17:01

appear than they were to any, adult image, even

17:03

a football player. One

17:06

thing that "I heard, you know, "I, "I and "I don't

17:08

like to talk about negative stuff, but, I

17:10

was working with a group of, we're we're doing a critical

17:13

business skills, "I, working critical business skills. And this one

17:15

young lady who was a soccer coach, she said, Yeah, we're

17:17

gonna have the kids run sprints. And

17:20

one of the kids said, I'm not gonna run.

17:23

And she didn't know what to do. It's like,

17:26

Wait, wait a minute. You're on a team.

17:28

In order for the team to get better, we all had to

17:30

get in better shape if we, and they had

17:32

to have this lengthy conversation. And it's like,

17:35

again, "I think that's that generational thing

17:37

of like, you know, they spent two years

17:39

in Covid "I, and it's like, well, "I don't. "I

17:41

don't have to go online right now to do my schoolwork. "I don't

17:43

feel like, you know, So some of that comes

17:46

down the parental part too. But "I think the

17:48

more you can engage, the more questions you can ask,

17:50

the more meaningful conversations you can have,

17:52

the more you can figure out which, which

17:55

adults do they really react positively

17:57

to. It might not be you, it might be another one of the coaches

17:59

where they, where you can have, they can have a different kind

18:01

of conversation. And that's the value of assistant

18:04

coaches too, is they have different relationships

18:06

with the players than the head coach does. So "I mean

18:08

just trying to figure or. There's

18:10

like "I "I was a student manager for the badge of basketball

18:13

team, and it was interesting

18:15

how the trainers worked

18:17

with the athletes and they had a lot of great conversations

18:19

that "I might not have had the coaches. So you just never know

18:22

who, who the person is that might influence

18:24

that young player.

18:25

Yeah, I'm sure the players felt very safe

18:28

talking to the trainers and getting some things

18:30

off of their chest. And you

18:32

know, I'll tell you, I know how my coaches would've

18:35

handled a player saying, No, I'm not running

18:37

this sprint. It would not have gone really well.

18:39

No. "I would not have been pretty

18:41

Yeah, it wouldn't go well in my house either if my dad

18:43

said clean the room. I'm like, Nah, that's,

18:45

Don't think so, dad. Yeah, exactly.

18:48

let's transition to working

18:50

from the inside out. Why is that so

18:52

important as a.

18:54

"I think self-awareness is critical. You

18:57

have to understand who you are, not

18:59

what your title is. Titles don't matter. You

19:02

have to understand who you are and in all

19:04

the training, "I do did it again this morning in the

19:06

first class. We spend a lot of time on

19:08

core values. We spend a lot, we talk about comfort

19:10

zone. We talk about how differences

19:12

make us better, but you have to, Train

19:14

yourself as a leader. Now, one of the challenges

19:17

and, and most coaches are servant leaders,

19:19

is we spend so much time

19:21

worrying and thinking about others that sometimes we forget

19:23

about ourselves and pouring

19:25

into ourselves and investing in ourselves,

19:28

Going to those coaching clinics, reading

19:30

those leadership self-help books,

19:32

you know, getting involved in different things maybe in

19:34

the community, but we're, we're so involved

19:37

and engaged in it ourselves, for others,

19:39

we forget. So it has to really start from the inside

19:42

out. And the same thing with a. Your

19:44

sales aren't the problem with the exterior

19:46

customer. The problem is

19:48

what's going on inside the company and the

19:50

different personalities that you have in place in

19:53

place. So "I use something called a DISC

19:55

assessment. There's a lot of other personality

19:57

behavior assessments out there to help

19:59

people better understand who they are

20:01

and better understanding who they are. They can better relate

20:04

to who other people are because we're all different.

20:06

We're all d. Personality styles. We

20:08

all have different generations. We all have different learning

20:10

styles. There's 8 billion different

20:12

people in the world. So we just had to figure out, okay, how

20:14

can "I work better with this person? But

20:17

again, we have to make sure we're feeding ourselves

20:19

the right stuff in terms of, leadership

20:21

and, and growth and development.

20:23

Yeah, it's interesting about forgetting about

20:26

ourselves because. I'm

20:28

definitely guilty of that. Not so much that

20:30

"I. Forget to worry about my

20:32

own personal growth. Sometimes I, forget

20:34

about my own personal wellbeing.

20:37

And "I obsess over

20:40

perfection and "I think many coaches

20:43

are guilty of this as well, and

20:46

you're just continually chasing and.

20:49

You just don't ever have time away, right?

20:51

"I mean you come home and you're just obsessing

20:54

over the day and what went well and what

20:56

didn't go well. And then you're moving on to what

20:58

do we need to do better tomorrow? And

21:00

"I mean as soon as the game's over, sometimes

21:03

you enjoy the victory for 20 minutes

21:05

and then you're ready watching film for the

21:07

next opponent. So what's

21:09

the piece of advice there to. Coaches

21:12

out there that yes, it's good to

21:14

obsess and wanna be the best. Maybe

21:16

obsess isn't the right word cuz that's negative

21:19

connotation, but it's all right to chase

21:22

perfection. It's okay to chase being

21:24

the best. What's the advice you have

21:26

though for own happiness

21:29

and wellbeing. To allow ourselves

21:31

moments to take a break

21:33

and just be who

21:36

we are as people, not just the.

21:38

Sure. Two, two things "I would say. One is

21:41

celebr. Take time to celebrate.

21:43

So when "I was at UW Platteville, Bo

21:45

Ryan would invite people over to his house

21:47

after the game. And, and, when "I was an assistant

21:49

coach with him, we lost half our games. So, "I

21:51

"I, "I ruined his career record with all the losses. "I

21:53

was a part of but, but,

21:56

um, he would have, he would've people over his house.

21:58

We'd have a few beers, we'd have some snacks.

22:00

Didn't matter if we lost by 21 by 20,

22:02

we just, we would unwind for a couple. And

22:06

interestingly enough, he then, after everybody

22:08

would leave and sometimes on a weekend we'd play cards

22:10

till two, three in the morning. He'd stay up and

22:12

he'd still go through the film, which, which was crazy

22:14

to me, but that's how intense he was. But,

22:16

but anyway, he took that time aside and just like "I,

22:19

gotta take some time to, just to release,

22:21

get, get away from it all and, and have a couple

22:24

pops and, and talk with people. Play some cards.

22:27

The other thing "I would suggest that you can do more

22:29

on a personal level is create habit. And

22:32

create time for those habits. And

22:34

we all have time. If, if you did a time study

22:36

of yourself, uh, now it might be

22:39

hard for you, Luke, but you probably waste some time

22:41

during the, the course of the day. But

22:43

take, 15 minutes. First

22:45

thing, when you wake up in the morning and read a

22:47

leadership book or take, five minutes,

22:49

write a grant, write some, What are three things you're

22:52

grateful for? Then read for five minutes, then

22:54

listen to a, a positive, John

22:57

Maxwell does a minute with Maxwell every day. It's a couple

22:59

minutes on a word of the day. Listen

23:01

to that. It doesn't take a lot of time,

23:03

but you have to let your body regenerate itself

23:05

and your mind. And if you start the day. Something

23:09

positive. So often, so many people, and

23:11

I'm not saying you do this, but so many people when

23:13

they wake up, they go right to that device

23:15

and open up Facebook and read oftentimes

23:18

about some of the crap in the world or, or posts

23:20

that are going on. And particularly, you know, this

23:22

is a big political year. Start your

23:24

day differently and that's what "I do. And "I "I do. Turn

23:26

on my phone, but "I do. "I. Go

23:28

to the to the Bible, "I, Go to some posts that

23:30

"I read on a regular basis. "I, try to feed myself.

23:33

With as many positive things, and it takes

23:35

me about a half an hour and it really sets

23:37

the tone for the day. But it's, it's Todd time

23:40

that's dedicated and, and it's a habit that I've gotten

23:42

myself into and then you can always tweak that habit,

23:44

but "I think, making sure that we celebrate

23:46

and making sure you create those, positive habits.

23:49

Yeah, that's great. The Todd time piece.

23:52

Taking on this new position that I'm in,

23:54

"I now have really

23:56

increased my commute time.

23:59

And a lot of people ask me about

24:01

that. Oh. And you know, they ask it

24:03

in a way like, Are you okay? How are you

24:05

handling it? And "I, I'm like, "I,

24:07

love it. It's my time. That's

24:10

what it is. It's my time. And "I

24:13

fill that time with

24:15

podcast that "I really

24:17

enjoy listening to. Hopefully

24:19

people are listening to my podcast and enjoying it in

24:21

their car rides. There's my, there's my shameless

24:23

plug,

24:24

There you go. A good.

24:25

but seriously, "I "I fill my

24:27

day with these TED Talks

24:29

and podcasts that are

24:32

centered around my own personal growth

24:34

or just positivity, because

24:36

"I know once "I get into my day,

24:38

especially the nature of what "I do.

24:40

For those of you who don't know, I'm currently a dean of students

24:42

as well as the head football. There's a lot

24:45

of negativity in my day and "I wanna

24:47

be able to enter that building, feeling

24:49

good about what I'm doing and

24:51

feeling good about the people I'm gonna be around

24:54

rather than, like you said, picking up the device

24:56

and letting the feed impact

24:58

our mindset. And part of that was

25:00

learning that we do control that feed that been

25:03

something that has been really profound

25:05

in my own personal growth. "I

25:07

fought social media for a long time.

25:09

I'm an old soul Todd "I really am. I'm

25:12

"I Am from a different generation. So,

25:15

um, you know, I'm stuck in the world. "I live

25:17

in now, and "I fought social media. So then "I

25:19

finally just said, You know what, I'm gonna study social

25:22

media since, since it's not going

25:24

away. And it's a part of coaching teaching.

25:28

Parenting it's going and it's not

25:30

gonna, it's going nowhere. Right? Like

25:32

"I, just wanna understand this a little bit more. So "I

25:34

really like what you have to say because we do

25:36

control the feed. The feed doesn't control

25:38

us, So it's what we're filling

25:41

our day with that is so important.

25:43

So thank you for sharing that Todd

25:45

time piece because now "I

25:47

don't feel as selfish when "I tell people it's

25:50

Luke time. So now,

25:51

time, man. Yeah. Well, "I, "I, you know,

25:53

"I. Luke going back to, uh, the, biggest

25:55

gap in life is between what we know and what we do.

25:57

We all have the same 24.

26:00

"I

26:01

it's how we choose to use that 24 hours.

26:03

And you've made the choice of using your drive time

26:05

to feed your, your mind and body with some

26:08

positive podcasts. And you know, some people

26:10

will listen to the radio and listen to all the crap

26:12

on the radio sometimes, and there's good music.

26:14

Don't get me "I. Don't want to think "I, don't listen to country

26:16

music up, up here in Wisconsin. But, you

26:18

know, "I, it's, it's, it's what you do

26:21

with that 24 hours that, that makes so much of

26:23

a difference. And, and you can look on Facebook

26:25

and it, it, it has a report or whatever

26:27

on how much time you're on. So

26:29

maybe you're on there for an hour and a half. Well, he is all

26:32

hour and a half of that good time. If

26:34

not, car some of it away and put

26:36

something good into your brain.

26:38

Absolutely "I. Love it. The other

26:40

thing, "I, love that "I got off your website, is

26:42

this concept of a true

26:44

coach is going to ask

26:46

questions, shuts up,

26:49

listens, and then adjust from

26:51

there. Every Coach "I know,

26:53

and I'm guilty of it as well, we just

26:55

talk too damn much. So convince

26:59

me that shutting up and listening is

27:01

going to make me a better coach.

27:03

Oftentimes we think that when we're

27:05

talking, we're in control of the conversation

27:08

when in fact, when you're asking questions,

27:10

you're in control of the conversation and

27:13

people will say, They

27:16

will answer almost any question that

27:18

you ask them. So think

27:20

of your think of ways and it it, it's

27:23

also a better way to listen. Think of questions.

27:25

You want to ask the person who's talking when

27:27

they're done so you can, you can

27:29

gain more from them. Nobody ever learns

27:32

anything when they're talking either. The only

27:34

time you learn is when you're listening. So

27:36

that's how "I always say, ask a question, shut

27:38

up. And. John Maxwell,

27:40

as a matter of fact, just he told a story in the same

27:42

live tole thing. "I mentioned earlier when he went out

27:45

to visit with John Wooden a number of years ago,

27:47

and he knew that he had an hour and a half with John

27:50

and he knew he had to make the best time of

27:52

us. So he read all of his books, and as he read

27:54

John Wooden's books, he wrote down questions

27:56

he want to ask John Wooden. And when he sat

27:59

down with John, he had five pages of

28:01

questions. John, not only John

28:03

Wood, not only took the time to the hour and a half

28:05

that he promised him, he then invited him

28:07

to his, house for another two

28:09

and a half or three hours to answer,

28:11

answer more questions. And then

28:13

he and John got together regularly. So

28:16

here's a guy that's won 11 National Champ. John

28:19

Maxwell didn't know from "I, mean he knew of him

28:21

of course, but they had no relationship.

28:23

But because John asked the questions

28:26

and was in control of the conversation, he

28:28

learned a lot from John Wooden and John Wooden had

28:30

a lot of respect for, for John

28:32

Maxwell because of the way he handled the conversation

28:35

and then, What John learned,

28:38

he would take back implementing

28:40

his, his career and his leadership business.

28:43

And then when he got back with John Wooden again,

28:46

he would say, Hey, John "I took this point. You told

28:48

me last time this is what "I did and this is what happened.

28:50

So again, it kind of gets back to that knowing

28:52

and doing. He took the advan, the opportunity to ask

28:55

John Wooden questions to help

28:57

impact his business and then report

28:59

it back to John Wooden and they just had continual

29:01

conversations and it was a great relat.

29:04

I want to take this conversation full

29:06

circle and go back to finding

29:08

passion "I "I. Think that one of my. Roles

29:11

as a teacher and a coach is

29:13

to help my kids find

29:16

their passion and help

29:18

them to understand steps

29:20

to, to get there, to maximize

29:23

it. "I notice

29:25

a lot of kids just

29:27

don't know "I mean you, you ask

29:29

them and you talked about the conversation

29:31

with your 10 year old grandson. Everything is just

29:34

fine. Okay? Sure.

29:37

How do we. This generation,

29:40

the Gen Zs of the world find

29:43

their passion because a lot of

29:45

'em are passionate about TikTok and YouTube,

29:47

and, and we both know that that's not sustainable.

29:50

So how do we help them to truly

29:53

find passion, find purpose,

29:55

and go make a difference in the world?

29:58

"I think it gets back to, and "I mentioned this,

30:00

or speaking of full circle, meaningful

30:02

engagement. Well, what does that

30:04

mean? Well, "I "I, think again, it's things

30:06

like it. Working from the inside

30:08

out. So "I think it's opportunities

30:10

to talk about things with young people,

30:12

about what are their core values, What,

30:14

what are the things that are, are really important to 'em.

30:17

there's an exercise that "I take people through. It's,

30:19

it's "I. Ask a number of questions

30:21

and, and so on and so forth. And then we look at this list of

30:23

a hundred words, and you go through these

30:25

a hundred words and pick the words that mean the most to

30:27

you, and then define these words

30:29

and talk more about them to really help

30:31

you figure out. So it's not, it's not,

30:33

it's not like a multiple choice. Asset

30:37

inventory online or anything

30:39

like that. This is like you get a group of people together

30:42

and walk them through this. It takes. Probably

30:45

45 minutes or so to to do the exercise.

30:48

Exercise completely. But the first thing is you're

30:50

asking a number of questions to get 'em in the right mindset,

30:52

to be thinking about their emotions,

30:55

what's important to them, what brings them joy, what causes

30:57

them issues. Then again, you go through this

30:59

list of words, narrow it down to 20, to narrow

31:01

it down to five. Then you write sentences

31:04

about each of those words and what those words,

31:06

mean to you. Mine are optimism,

31:08

trust, honesty, enthusiasm, and teamwork.

31:10

Those are my five core values. as you can tell,

31:12

"I, "I, think about them regularly and

31:15

they pop up on my phone regularly. Again,

31:17

it's what whatever you feed yourself is

31:19

what's gonna come out. So if you're feeding yourself these

31:22

positive core values, and again, "I

31:24

think that that's something that's meaningful to people,

31:26

it's not. It's not talking about a widget

31:29

or talking about a offensive or defensive

31:31

play. It's really something about

31:33

who they. Not, not

31:35

what they are, not that if they're the quarterback or if

31:37

they're the water boy or girl, you

31:39

know, if they're the line judge or if they're the principal,

31:42

it's about really gets to who they are.

31:44

And it puts everybody on a, a level playing

31:46

field. Cause everybody has things they value and

31:48

everybody has different things they value. So that, that,

31:50

that's, you know, maybe one thought.

31:52

And speaking of writing things down,

31:55

let's talk about the postcard

31:57

concept and how a simple. Postcard

32:01

can change someone's life

32:03

by, prioritizing their day,

32:05

and then the gratitude on the backside. Talk a little

32:07

bit about that, Uh, "I, read about it on your web,

32:10

on your website, and your blog. "I, absolutely love it.

32:13

Well, thanks "I. "I. Didn't think anybody read

32:15

that stuff, but "I guess at least one person does. Luke,

32:17

thank you. You make my day.

32:18

here, "I Am

32:20

Yeah,

32:20

you're my one, you're my one listener to my

32:22

podcast, so we're helping each other out.

32:24

Well, maybe, maybe Coach Al the campers, pal

32:26

listens too. Um, but, but

32:29

anyway, yeah, it's, it's a simple thing. Again, old

32:31

school postcard, "I kind of mentioned before.

32:33

During the course of your day, write down the things

32:36

that happen to you that are positive. Kind

32:38

of keep a track, you know, and you can stick

32:40

a postcard in your pocket. You can stick it anywhere, pull

32:42

it out real quick, jot something down. So

32:44

at the end of the day, you've got these positive things to think

32:46

about. And then at. Write

32:49

down, what are the six

32:51

things that you wanna accomplish the

32:53

next day? What are the six most important

32:56

things you need to accomplish the next day? Not

32:58

all the little crap, but what are those

33:00

things? And then as you go through your day

33:02

the next day, Check 'em off again.

33:05

Another positive feeling. It gives your body some

33:07

endorphins. "I accomplished something. So

33:09

when you look back at the day, not

33:11

only have you written down six positive things,

33:13

you've seen the things that you've accomplished, and

33:15

every day you won't hit all six of them. Someday you

33:17

might hit three, somebody might hit six. Some

33:19

days you might not hit any. Something comes up.

33:21

Life sometimes happens, but

33:23

it's a real simple way. And then "I,

33:26

"I, "I, keep those and "I

33:28

you kind of file 'em. And at the end

33:30

of the week or the end of the. Or

33:33

the end of the year, you can kind of go back

33:35

and say, Oh my gosh, these are, you know, look at all the great

33:37

things "I accomplished. If you, if you have

33:40

six good things that happen to you every day,

33:42

that's, I'm not a math teacher that's

33:44

over 1800 good things that happened to you during

33:46

the course of the year. But anything that, you

33:48

know, anything that happens, you know, Hey, this girl

33:51

smiled at me in the hall when "I was walking to my next

33:53

class. Right? If you're, if you're a student, Whatever

33:56

the case might be, jot it down, you know, and get

33:58

that, get that feeling of, of gratitude,

34:00

of, of self-esteem and, and self-awareness

34:03

where you're really focusing. It forces

34:05

you to focus on the good things that have happened in life.

34:07

When you ask people a question, How

34:09

was your day? What do most people

34:12

start with? Probably something negative.

34:14

That's why having those six things that you write

34:17

on the, you know, on your card or however many things

34:19

it is that are positive, you can focus

34:21

on that at the end of the day when you get home

34:23

and talk to. Partner, spouse, parents,

34:25

goldfish, dog, whatever the case might be.

34:28

It's interesting because, I have heard

34:31

"I, I'm a to-do list guy, and,

34:33

I have heard that to-do list creates anxiety

34:35

in some people, and "I have noticed

34:38

that it, it's starting to do that for me. And

34:40

here's why. You, you mentioned write

34:42

down your six things and maybe don't get you

34:44

all of them. And that's what stresses me

34:46

out. "I write, I'll write down what "I have to

34:48

do. "I don't get to it.

34:50

And then "I go to do it for the next day. And "I

34:52

like transferring over half the list

34:54

cause "I didn't get there. So what

34:56

am "I doing wrong? Am "I putting too big of items

34:59

on there? Or am "I shooting too large?

35:01

"I.

35:02

"I, you're, Yeah, you probably need to break

35:04

down the task some. So

35:06

you know if in August for

35:09

the day you write down, win the conference championship.

35:12

That's not gonna happen in the day. So

35:14

what's the one thing that you can do that maybe that day

35:16

to help build towards that conference championship

35:19

or whatever your, you know, whatever

35:21

your goals are, a certain number, you know, turnover

35:23

ratio or whatever the case might be. And

35:25

that's, that's, that's part of the problem is that

35:27

our, our tasks are too big sometimes.

35:30

So we, we have to figure out how to break

35:32

those things down. the thing that holds

35:34

me account. I'm horrible with to-do

35:36

list. Also, "I "I have stopped doing

35:38

them. You know, "I. "I mean "I. Put stuff

35:40

on my calendar. "I put the best thing that keeps me accountable

35:43

is the person next to me. So "I get

35:45

two different calls, "I do every week one's. One's

35:47

with one person from uh, I've met

35:49

down at San Antonio. Another one is

35:51

the two guys. One in Nina, Wisconsin

35:54

and one out west in California. Two different

35:56

calls we get on and we hold each other. What

35:58

did you accomplish in the last week? What's your goal for the

36:00

next week? Keep it real simple. Try

36:03

to break it down for me cuz

36:05

of my personality style being

36:07

account. Cause "I don't wanna let people down. I'll

36:10

let my to-do list down. I'll let my calendar down,

36:12

I'll let a project down. "I won't let a person

36:14

down. Right. If "I do, it makes

36:16

me feel horrible. Right. So, so,

36:19

and you know some people to do list work that's

36:21

the best way they work. They love checking it off and,

36:23

and they've got it figured out. you have to

36:26

be, like you say, you have to be strong and willing

36:28

to accept, not maybe achieving everything

36:30

every day, but that's okay. That

36:32

happens to everybody.

36:33

Absolutely. And "I really appreciate

36:35

you hopping on with us. And "I know we

36:37

are, we're up late at night here, here in the Midwest.

36:40

So, you've been great with your time.

36:42

There's a lot more that we could dive

36:44

into as well. So "I

36:46

think this was a really good banter. Hopefully,

36:48

I could count on you to hold me accountable in the

36:50

future. "I could give you a call or text and you could help

36:52

me with my to-do list as "I struggle.

36:55

With that, as "I mentioned as well, celebrating the

36:57

little victories as well as giving

36:59

myself a break. So those are the things

37:01

you need to help me with, Todd. So can "I, Can "I

37:03

count on.

37:04

We'll be here for each other.

37:06

appreciate that. And to our listeners

37:09

out there, "I will have Todd's bio,

37:11

link to this episode as well, uh,

37:13

along with his Twitter and all

37:16

of his social media feeds. If you would like

37:18

to reach out to Todd, but if you wanna

37:20

give just a real quick overview, Todd,

37:22

of, of what you do and how you might

37:24

be of service to someone listening,

37:26

right.

37:27

My "I "I love adding more value than "I. And

37:31

"I do that through my faith, "I, do that through my speaking,

37:33

coaching, teaching training. "I.

37:35

I'm really on a mission of revolutionized company

37:37

culture and leadership and "I think it's so critical,

37:40

especially now where we're at with, you

37:42

know, some of the challenges we've talked about during the podcast.

37:44

So "I and "I love getting on a call

37:46

like this or, or getting on a Zoom call,

37:48

just chatting it up with somebody. And

37:51

helping 'em walk through some things and maybe

37:53

we stay, you know, maybe we spend a lot

37:55

of time together, maybe not, but just get

37:57

on a call with me, reach out to me,

37:59

message me, whatever the case might be. "I, love to talk

38:01

to you.

38:02

Well, you added a lot of value to me and "I guarantee

38:04

you add a lot of value to our listeners today. So

38:07

thank you for hanging in there with us

38:09

throughout this late night and again,

38:11

listeners, "I will have all of Todd's information

38:14

"I link to this episode. So feel free to

38:16

reach out to him as well as

38:18

he will hold you accountable. So Todd,

38:21

good luck to your Badgers this upcoming

38:23

basketball season and we will be

38:26

in touch.

38:26

Thanks, Luke.