Unlocking Leadership: Kyle McDowell's 10 Principles for a Culture of Excellence
Kyle McDowell, a former Fortune 10 executive, shares his transformative journey from corporate leadership to becoming an inspirational speaker and leadership coach. At the heart of his philosophy are the "10 We's," principles designed to cultivate a culture of excellence and collaboration in organizations. McDowell emphasizes the importance of asking for help and embracing challenges, highlighting that true leadership involves supporting others and fostering a sense of community. Throughout the conversation, he reflects on his personal experiences, illustrating how a shift from a results-driven mindset to one focused on people can lead to profound changes in workplace culture. Listeners will find practical insights on how to lead with empathy, accountability, and a commitment to collective success, ultimately encouraging a more fulfilling work life.
In this inspiring episode, we sit down with Kyle McDowell, a former Fortune 10 executive turned motivational speaker, bestselling author, and leadership coach. With nearly three decades of experience leading tens of thousands of employees at some of America’s largest companies, Kyle shares his journey and the philosophy behind his trademarked principles, The 10 WEs. Discover how Kyle is on a mission to create cultures of excellence and reignite leaders’ passion and purpose in today’s uncertain and apathetic workforce. Tune in to learn how you can begin with WE and transform your leadership approach.
Kyle McDowell’s conversation delves into the transformative power of leadership that prioritizes collective success over individual accolades. Drawing from his extensive experience as a Fortune 10 executive, McDowell shares his journey of realization, eventually leading him to establish the '10 We's'—principles that promote a culture of excellence. He emphasizes that amidst the chaos and uncertainty of the modern workforce, leaders must begin with 'We' to foster collaboration, connection, and commitment among their teams.
A central theme throughout the episode is the importance of vulnerability and the courage to ask for help, which McDowell illustrates through a personal story about a past professional setback. This vulnerability opens the door to authentic relationships and encourages team members to engage more deeply with one another. McDowell argues that when leaders adopt a mindset that prioritizes the collective, they not only enhance team performance but also create an environment where innovation can thrive. He shares anecdotes that highlight how these principles have reshaped not only his leadership approach but also his personal relationships, fostering deeper connections and understanding.
As the discussion unfolds, McDowell shares practical insights on how to implement the '10 We's' in everyday leadership practices. He underscores that these principles are not just theoretical; they are actionable guidelines that can lead to profound change in both professional settings and personal lives. The episode concludes with a powerful reminder that leadership is not solely about managing tasks but about nurturing relationships and creating a legacy of care and empathy. McDowell’s insights challenge listeners to rethink their approach to leadership and consider how they can cultivate a more inclusive and supportive workplace.
Takeaways:
- Kyle McDowell emphasizes the importance of asking for help in personal and professional situations.
- Creating a culture of excellence requires leaders to prioritize empathy and support for their teams.
- The 10 principles outlined by Kyle offer actionable guidance for improving workplace dynamics.
- Leaders should focus on outcomes rather than just activity to drive real progress.
- To transform an organization, leaders must be open to challenges from their team members.
- Measuring success by the details can set high performing teams apart from the rest.
Links referenced in this episode:
Companies mentioned in this episode:
- Apple
- Amazon
- IKEA
- Athlete's Foot
Transcript
My guest today is Kyle McDowell, former Fortune 10 executive turned inspirational speaker, best selling author and leadership coach.
Host:Kyle is on a quest to create cultures of excellence and reignite leaders passion and purpose.
Host:With nearly three decades of experience leading tens of thousands of employees at some of America's great biggest firms, Kyle's philosophy is rooted in the trademarked principles of the 10 we's.
Host:While today's workforce is plagued with uncertainty and apathy, his strategy is simple.
Host:Begin with the we.
Host:Welcome Kyle to the podcast.
Host:So welcome to the show, Kyle.
Host:I'm so excited to have you on.
Host:I'm going to start out with my favorite question for all my guests.
Host:What's the best piece of advice you've ever received?
Kyle McDowell:Don't be afraid to ask for help.
Host:I love that.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, well, thanks, man.
Kyle McDowell:And it's.
Kyle McDowell:It's something that I learned the hard way.
Kyle McDowell:Long story short, I was up for promotion.
Kyle McDowell:This is many, many years ago.
Kyle McDowell:And the president of the division to whom I reported at the time, while he was looking for that person in between us.
Kyle McDowell:So I was essentially trying to promote into my boss's role, my former boss's role guy left the company and the president was trying to find a new person to take that chair.
Kyle McDowell:And I thought I had, I thought I had the job in the bag.
Kyle McDowell:And fast forward a month or so, I didn't get the role.
Kyle McDowell:And I went back to Ted, the president of the division, to say, hey, man, I really felt like I put myself in a good position to take this role.
Kyle McDowell:What, you know, what happened?
Kyle McDowell:And he started to point through a laundry list of operational improvement opportunities in my shop.
Kyle McDowell:So the areas for which I was responsible.
Kyle McDowell:And he was right.
Kyle McDowell:There were things that I certainly was not excelling or overachieving from a metric perspective.
Kyle McDowell:And he said, but you never asked for help.
Kyle McDowell:So it's one thing to be underperforming, but you never asked for help.
Kyle McDowell:And my reaction initially was, well, of course I didn't ask for help.
Kyle McDowell:This is, these are my functional areas.
Kyle McDowell:I'm the leader of these areas.
Kyle McDowell:I got to figure out how to get this stuff on track.
Kyle McDowell:And I got defensive and, and the moral of the story is, and I didn't recognize it at the time, but it's something I live by, so seriously today is that people really do want to help others.
Kyle McDowell:We're wired to help each other.
Kyle McDowell:And had I raised my hand to ask for help, I would have dug out of that situation so much faster.
Kyle McDowell:So that's something, you know, on our personal, in our personal lives as well, right.
Kyle McDowell:Just don't be afraid to ask for help.
Host:I often have times where I talk to organizations and they're digging holes for themselves and they keep digging in the wrong direction.
Host:Instead of stopping digging, they dig faster and harder.
Host:And so if you're digging in the wrong direction but just faster and harder, you're still going in the wrong direction.
Kyle McDowell:And it's.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:And it's strategically such a bad message for the, for your team.
Kyle McDowell:But also the hours and calories spent digging in the wrong direction is just wasteful and it just pulls us away from the real, our real goals and targets and aspirations.
Kyle McDowell:So it's, you know, one of my principles is we measure ourselves by outcomes, not activity.
Kyle McDowell:And I think you, you hit it right on the head.
Kyle McDowell:It's like activity is activity for activity sake is really not helpful.
Kyle McDowell:Focus on those outcomes.
Host:Right, right.
Host:I love to ask my guests this question, especially people like yourself who have served in high levels of leadership, because I love leadership is who were some of the people in your life who served to be an inspiration for you or even a mentor on your journey?
Kyle McDowell:Man, as cliche as it might sound, I cannot answer that question without tipping a cap to my mother.
Kyle McDowell:I was raised in really, really humble, in a humble way, very rural, small town America.
Kyle McDowell:But my mother was one of the hardest working people I've ever known.
Kyle McDowell:I, I don't recall her ever complaining about, you know, Sunday night, got to go back to work tomorrow.
Kyle McDowell:I never heard she was on the road.
Kyle McDowell:She traveled a lot for a long period of time.
Kyle McDowell:She was a, a, a 100% commission driven salesperson.
Kyle McDowell:And she just taught me the value of work and work ethic.
Kyle McDowell:If you want X, you got to do Y.
Kyle McDowell:If you want to.
Kyle McDowell:Nothing is too big to accomplish.
Kyle McDowell:You can do anything in this life, but it's not going to come easily.
Kyle McDowell:And I just, from a very young age, remember, and this is kind of a funny story, but when I was a kid, every year new Air Jordans would come out and I was a big sneaker head back in those days.
Kyle McDowell:And, and every time a release would be scheduled, I knew what I had to do.
Kyle McDowell:It was usually two or three weeks of big time yard work.
Kyle McDowell:Lots of weed pulling, lots of grass, mowing like nothing was ever handed.
Kyle McDowell:And I just think that was that, that positioned me for my run through corporate America.
Kyle McDowell:It's like, if you want it, you got to go get it.
Host:Yeah, I remember when those, when those Nikes came out.
Host:Probably a little older than you are.
Kyle McDowell:Exciting times, man.
Host:Those everybody Everybody had the same one.
Host:I wanted to find the Nikes that were unique.
Kyle McDowell:Absolutely.
Host:I wanted to.
Host:My first pair of Nikes were.
Host:I think they were green and yellow with the swish in them.
Host:But no one else had those.
Host:I didn't want to have the one everybody else had.
Host:I wanted to be the one that was unique and different.
Kyle McDowell:And I'm still that way, man.
Kyle McDowell:I was such a sneaker nerd that, uh, I worked at a place called the Athlete's Foot in high school.
Kyle McDowell:Uh, kinda like a foot Locker, right.
Kyle McDowell:And I had this manager who, for whatever reason, was smart enough to realize that.
Kyle McDowell:So what he would let me do.
Kyle McDowell:So let's pretend the shoes were to release on a Thursday, right?
Kyle McDowell:Thursday morning, 10am they go on sale.
Kyle McDowell:If I worked Wednesday night and I closed, he would allow me to leave the cash and he'd ring me up the next day because he knew I would wear those shoes to school the very next day.
Kyle McDowell:And nobody had them.
Kyle McDowell:So.
Kyle McDowell:So as I'm walking in school with a brand new pair of Jordans, I would get like, hey, man, where'd you get those?
Kyle McDowell:Athlete's Foot.
Kyle McDowell:So he would sell out so quickly because he was doing some marketing.
Kyle McDowell:The day of the release, which was back in those days was, you know, there was no Internet to say, oh, this shoe drops on this date.
Kyle McDowell:It was like, hey, that guy's wearing those.
Kyle McDowell:They must be available now.
Kyle McDowell:So it was kind of a fun thing every time a new shoe came out.
Host:Yeah.
Host:That's so cool.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Host:So I'm curious.
Host:Share with me your journey from Fortune 10 executive to inspirational speaker and leadership coach, because I'm always curious, how do you go from the highest, highest levels to what you do now to inspire others?
Kyle McDowell:Sure.
Kyle McDowell:And thanks for asking that, because it is kind of my mission now.
Kyle McDowell:That last part.
Kyle McDowell:Inspire others.
Kyle McDowell:So, man, like so many of us, I entered the workforce and I would love to hear your reaction to this because I bet we're cut from a similar cloth in this way.
Kyle McDowell:When I entered the workforce, I carried with me an incredible amount of eagerness, optimism.
Kyle McDowell:I wanted to make a difference.
Kyle McDowell:I wanted.
Kyle McDowell:I wanted to have an impact.
Kyle McDowell:I wanted to do big things.
Kyle McDowell:And I spent nearly 30 years in big corporate America.
Kyle McDowell:And I was a very lucky guy in that nearly every year, every other year, I would take on bigger and bigger roles and responsibilities.
Kyle McDowell:And, you know, ultimately, before I exited, I led collectively tens of thousands of employees.
Kyle McDowell:My last two roles, I had 30,000 employees.
Kyle McDowell:But what happened over the course of that journey with, as each new Opportunity opened up and bigger role and, you know, larger organizations and bigger paychecks and all that.
Kyle McDowell:Right along with those increases, I also felt an increase of apathy.
Kyle McDowell:I started to really loathe the environments that I was actually creating, which is a real mind twister because, you know, you look out across 15, 10, 15,000 people of an organization that you're responsible for kind of establishing a culture and driving a culture, and you.
Kyle McDowell:And you find yourself incredibly unhappy and unrewarded, and you feel like you're just part of a machine.
Kyle McDowell:The bureaucracy, the toxicity, all the things that so many of us have seen throughout our careers that it reached a boiling point for me, man.
Kyle McDowell:And I just made this promise to myself.
Kyle McDowell:This was back in around.
Kyle McDowell: I guess it'd be: Kyle McDowell:And by the way, at this point in my career, I had accomplished nearly everything that I had set out to accomplish.
Kyle McDowell:I had the fancy corner offices, the, the great titles, all this compensation, and, you know, my jokes were the funniest they've ever been.
Kyle McDowell:So you know how that works.
Kyle McDowell:Like when you ascend in, in the corporate world, people just, they laugh at stuff.
Kyle McDowell:That's because they, they want to be endeared.
Kyle McDowell:I.
Kyle McDowell:The apathy became so strong that I had to do something different if I wanted to feel the way, if I wanted to continue the path that I was on.
Kyle McDowell:I had the recipe.
Kyle McDowell:Just continue to have this command and control mentality, bang my fist on the desk, focus more on results than the people that delivered the results.
Kyle McDowell:And I, and, and I could have done that probably indefinitely, but I reached a point where my health was not what it used to be.
Kyle McDowell:I was staring through what ultimately resulted in.
Kyle McDowell:In a divorce.
Kyle McDowell:I just was not a happy guy.
Kyle McDowell:And I made that promise to myself, but I didn't know how.
Kyle McDowell:I didn't know how I was going to transition from being that stodgy old leader to.
Kyle McDowell:To something different.
Kyle McDowell:And it all came together.
Kyle McDowell:Keith one night in Lawrence, Kansas.
Kyle McDowell:So I assumed a role that would.
Kyle McDowell:That called on me to lead about 15,000 people.
Kyle McDowell:I led all of the Affordable Care act and 1, 800 Medicare telephonic enrollment functions.
Kyle McDowell:Really, really important work enrolling millions of people in healthcare every year.
Kyle McDowell:And I had been warned when I took that role, there was a bit of dysfunction.
Kyle McDowell:We had some silos, we had a functional area over here performing really well, but one over here not performing so well.
Kyle McDowell:But collectively, the team still felt like they were winning, even though we had pockets of not winning.
Kyle McDowell:And the night before I was going to address this Newly inherited leadership team in Lawrence, Kansas.
Kyle McDowell:I knew it was a pivotal moment, not in my life, but in my career.
Kyle McDowell:Turns out it was in my life.
Kyle McDowell:And at about midnight, I put my laptop in my lap, knowing I needed to create a presentation for this group the next day, the following morning.
Kyle McDowell:And it would be the first time I'd met many of them because I'd only been in the role maybe 60 days and brought all the leaders into Kansas and.
Kyle McDowell:And after about two hours of typing on my laptop, I had 10 sentences.
Kyle McDowell:And there was no muse on my shoulder or anything.
Kyle McDowell:No sexy Hollywood music playing in the background.
Kyle McDowell:I had these 10 sentences, and they each begin and still do begin with the word we.
Kyle McDowell:And I just, I.
Kyle McDowell:I didn't even call them principals at the time.
Kyle McDowell:I just said, these are the kind of guiding rules of how we would treat each other behind the scenes, behind the curtain.
Kyle McDowell:I believe we're incredibly high functioning.
Kyle McDowell:Our clients will feel it.
Kyle McDowell:So I birthed the 10 Wes that evening.
Kyle McDowell:And what transpired in the following year, no, two two plus years, was a.
Kyle McDowell:Was a beautiful transformation of results.
Kyle McDowell:So the team had started to deliver unprecedented results at heights that they had never, ever delivered.
Kyle McDowell:But more importantly, what had a lasting impact on me was watching bosses transform into leaders and watching people kind of set aside their own personal aspirations and focus their energy and invest their time into those around them.
Kyle McDowell:And I'm happy to share.
Kyle McDowell:Gosh.
Kyle McDowell:Seven, eight years later, the 10 ways are still the cultural manifesto of that organization.
Kyle McDowell:Their performance appraisals are layered in the 10 ways.
Kyle McDowell:I gave a speech to them late last year.
Kyle McDowell:Been gone forever.
Kyle McDowell:But most importantly, man, many of those team members, especially a few direct reports that I had in those days, I still have regularly scheduled one on ones with.
Kyle McDowell:We check in with each other to see how they're, how things are going.
Kyle McDowell:What can I do for them, what can they do for me?
Kyle McDowell:And I just think that's a commentary of when you make that shift from being the guy that's focused on results at all costs to investing how much, you know, every last drop of energy into those around you.
Kyle McDowell:Man, the reward that comes from that is just so profound.
Kyle McDowell:And that's what compelled me to write the book ultimately.
Kyle McDowell:And it's, It's.
Kyle McDowell:I'm very grateful for having made that pivot.
Host:So tell us the name of your book.
Host:I'm sure people going, oh, this sounds really cool.
Host:The 10 ways.
Host:Where can I find those 10 ways if I want to read about them?
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, yeah.
Kyle McDowell:So my book is called begin with we 10 principles for building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence.
Kyle McDowell:I wrote the book man in Full Transparency.
Kyle McDowell:I wrote that book.
Kyle McDowell:I remember telling my wife, if we sell a thousand copies of this, I'll be over the moon.
Kyle McDowell:And we just passed 16,000 units sold all in.
Kyle McDowell:That brings us to about 20,000.
Kyle McDowell:And every single month the number continues to climb and eclipse the previous month.
Kyle McDowell:And I don't share that for any pat on the back.
Kyle McDowell:You know, it's not about that.
Kyle McDowell:It's about.
Kyle McDowell:To me it just means that there is a hunger for this message.
Kyle McDowell:You know, we is something that has become an afterthought.
Kyle McDowell:And I think largely because of social media and in many corporate environments this dog eat dog for me to win you must lose type paradigm.
Kyle McDowell:And I think it's all nonsense.
Kyle McDowell:And I think we are in a place now where we need to lean into one another, recognize the value of our unique and diverse experiences and perspectives, and focus on the collective we rather than any one of us.
Kyle McDowell:Because none, you know, a team is a team and can't be A team cannot.
Kyle McDowell:And no individual can accomplish exactly what a team can accomplish when that team is aligned around a common set of principles.
Kyle McDowell:And for me, that's the ten ways love that.
Host:I love sports and I love dynasties and I love potential dynasties.
Host:I remember I did.
Host:I did a message once on the 85 bears and what made the 85 bears special.
Host:But I also did a talked about compared them to the 86 bears.
Host:Yep.
Host:And how that dynasty in the making just came apart because they forgot about the Wii and it became Buddy Ryan versus Mike Ditka.
Host:Offense versus defense.
Kyle McDowell:Yep.
Host:Jealousy.
Host:And that that would be dynasty just collapsed in a short period of time.
Host:So I love the idea of the we.
Host:So as we think about that we concept.
Host:What are those 10 Wes was the most difficult one for people to embrace, man.
Kyle McDowell:I'll certainly answer the question but anytime I get a chance to talk about the 85 Bears, I think.
Kyle McDowell:I think the greatest NFL team of all time.
Kyle McDowell:I wore number nine as a kid growing up because of Jim McMahon.
Kyle McDowell:That man, those were good times.
Kyle McDowell:And.
Kyle McDowell:And there I maybe the.
Kyle McDowell:Maybe the Trent do for Ravens.
Kyle McDowell:There was a defense that could hang with that team.
Kyle McDowell:But I love that you brought that up because I just.
Kyle McDowell:I was such a big Bears fan back in the day.
Kyle McDowell:But.
Kyle McDowell:But the super bowl shuffle.
Kyle McDowell:You remember those things, right?
Host:I do.
Kyle McDowell:All right.
Kyle McDowell:Good times, man.
Kyle McDowell:For me, no question.
Kyle McDowell:The toughest of all of the principles that for.
Kyle McDowell:For folks to get behind and not just say it but actually mean it and live it every day is we number eight.
Kyle McDowell:And that's we challenge each other.
Kyle McDowell:Because let's face it, in most organizations, at least throughout my career, challenges are almost always reserved for the leader to members of the team.
Kyle McDowell:Rarely is it encouraged for members of the team to challenge one another.
Kyle McDowell:But even more rare is a leader saying, and actually meaning challenge me, challenge me.
Kyle McDowell:And now there has to be some rules.
Kyle McDowell:So with we challenge each other, the rule is your challenge must be grounded in either data or experience.
Kyle McDowell:Can't just be your opinion, hey, I don't like this.
Kyle McDowell:Or you know, this is, you know, I just have a hunch.
Kyle McDowell:You know, those types of things are really tough to quantify.
Kyle McDowell:But when someone approaches another member of the team with data or experience, you gotta, you gotta remember we number nine.
Kyle McDowell:And that's we embrace challenge.
Kyle McDowell:Because I just believe.
Kyle McDowell:Well, I'm gonna go back to the sports analogy.
Kyle McDowell:So Mike Ditka back in those days and well, I'll use current standards.
Kyle McDowell:An NFL roster has 53 men on it.
Kyle McDowell:The active roster is 53 men.
Kyle McDowell:And to think mathematically, just mathematically, that one coach can really inspire, motivate, and bring the best out of 53 men, it's naive.
Kyle McDowell:That's why there are assistant coaches.
Kyle McDowell:That's why there are coordinators.
Kyle McDowell:That's why in addition to that, very high paid individuals who seize the opportunity to bring the best out of each other.
Kyle McDowell:By what?
Kyle McDowell:By challenging them.
Kyle McDowell:So when you see a quarterback get sacked seven times in a game, he has every right and should be in his offensive lineman's face.
Kyle McDowell:They have a job to do.
Kyle McDowell:They have a job to do and you got to do it diplomatically, right?
Kyle McDowell:You have to help inspire.
Kyle McDowell:We don't just beat, beat people up.
Kyle McDowell:But I think the more we are open about what's not going well, the more we're open about how and what we need to do to improve, to be excellent and transparent and conspicuous we are about those opportunities, the more likely we are to achieve excellence.
Kyle McDowell:But to act like, you know, this thing in the corner is broken, but I'm waiting for the boss to come to me to tell me to fix it is nonsense.
Kyle McDowell:Someone sees it's broken, they should recognize that, take on that challenge and address it.
Kyle McDowell:But you got to create an environment where people feel safe to do so.
Kyle McDowell:And I think that's where a lot of leaders are.
Kyle McDowell:More appropriately, bosses will say, yeah, challenge me, my door's always open.
Kyle McDowell:But the first time that challenge comes, it's like we're going this path and because I said so.
Kyle McDowell:And I just.
Kyle McDowell:It's.
Kyle McDowell:That's how I used to lead, but it's.
Kyle McDowell:It's nonsense nowadays right now.
Host:To be perfectly honest, I'm not a Bears fan.
Host:I was a Steelers fan, so I like success over decades.
Kyle McDowell:That's a true dynasty.
Kyle McDowell:True dynasty.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:Right on.
Kyle McDowell:Hey, I think we might be staring at another one.
Host:Yeah, unfortunately.
Host:You talk about the Chiefs, right?
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:I mean, they just find a way to win, and they just find a way.
Kyle McDowell:And there was an article in ESPN.
Host:Recently, great lessons in there from what you're talking about.
Host:I mean, you.
Kyle McDowell:So many great lessons.
Host:It doesn't matter who is on the team.
Host:They all seem to be pushing in the same direction.
Host:And they do challenge each other.
Host:And even if one side isn't performing up to standards, they still find ways to make the organization win.
Host:I'm curious, as you think about how you've implemented the wheeze and corporate setting.
Host:Give me a good example of that being successfully done in a corporate setting.
Kyle McDowell:Sure.
Kyle McDowell:I've been so lucky, man.
Kyle McDowell:After the book came out, I started to be contacted by leaders of organizations also.
Kyle McDowell:A lot of HR leaders said, hey, man, we need this.
Kyle McDowell:We need this framework.
Kyle McDowell:So.
Kyle McDowell:So here's a recent example.
Kyle McDowell:I was so fortunate to work with a local nonprofit.
Kyle McDowell:By local, I'm saying I'm in Florida, so there's a nonprofit who I'll.
Kyle McDowell:I'll leave them nameless because they're.
Kyle McDowell:They're a humble group.
Kyle McDowell:But this could easily be tracked.
Kyle McDowell:They just made time magazine's top one, top 100 places in the world to visit.
Kyle McDowell:It's a nonprofit and their leadership team.
Kyle McDowell:I spent, all told, probably about 15 hours with their entire leadership team.
Kyle McDowell:It's a group of about 13, 14 people.
Kyle McDowell:And we met every other week for about six weeks.
Kyle McDowell:And we dove deep into each chapter of the book.
Kyle McDowell:So it's one thing to have someone read a book, or it's another thing for the author of that book to come give a speech, but to actually go deeper into the weeds of the concepts in the book.
Kyle McDowell:The pitfalls of.
Kyle McDowell:Of not implementing the 10 Ways with Care and patience.
Kyle McDowell:Also the success that can come if you do it the right way was something that I'll never forget because this group as.
Kyle McDowell:As we.
Kyle McDowell:As we came together, I could sense they were strong, they were tight.
Kyle McDowell:But I also sensed there was a bit of.
Kyle McDowell:It felt as if they had resigned themselves in many ways to.
Kyle McDowell:To this is how we operate.
Kyle McDowell:In other words, there wasn't a lot of provocative thinking, or we have this one meeting every other week.
Kyle McDowell:I'm not getting the most out of it, says one of the leaders in the group.
Kyle McDowell:But he never voiced that to the CEO to say, hey man, I love the time together, but the agenda and the way we process this time together and spend this time together, I'm not getting the most out of it.
Kyle McDowell:So it created the safe space for people to talk through opportunities in their functional areas, but also the more macro view of how they all and interact with one another.
Kyle McDowell:But I'll say this, and I don't want to leave.
Kyle McDowell:I don't want to leave your listeners, your audience, with the impression that this stuff is easy.
Kyle McDowell:So the principles themselves are incredibly simple.
Kyle McDowell:But simple doesn't mean easy.
Kyle McDowell:And like anything else in life, it takes a commitment and holding yourself accountable to that commitment, not just every day, but every interaction.
Kyle McDowell:So one of the beautiful outcomes that we tend to see is leaders start to recognize the level of empathy they've showed historically.
Kyle McDowell:And if there's an opportunity for them to be more empathetic.
Kyle McDowell:And by that I mean when they're working with a member of their team who's struggling with, you know, you pick the reason, any number of reasons, the way they address that team member tends to be a little more empathetic.
Kyle McDowell:And we centric, we focus, like, what can I do to help you get out of this slump?
Kyle McDowell:Or I know you're dealing with a sick kid or maybe an aging parent.
Kyle McDowell:What do you need from us to take that burden down just a bit so you can still focus on, on the things that matter most in your life?
Kyle McDowell:Because we want you to be part of this team for a while.
Kyle McDowell:So how they approach their business, how they approach each other, and certainly how they approach their team members is some of the biggest transformations I've been fortunate enough to be a part of.
Host:So I just spent the last three years studying leadership for a doctoral research project.
Host:Respect and thank you.
Kyle McDowell:Respect.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Host:And I.
Host:And I wanted to compare organizational change in the church setting, but also comparing how different leaders manage that change.
Host:I am curious because I know what my study revealed for me.
Host:Are there leadership styles that struggle more with the we concepts?
Host:And are there leadership styles that seem to excel more with the we concept?
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:Great, great question.
Kyle McDowell:And I think I am uniquely qualified to answer that question, because if you would have given me the 10 Wesley earlier in my career, I would have rolled my eyes and I would have said, this guy didn't get it.
Kyle McDowell:Because I led with such a commanding control Authoritarian style?
Kyle McDowell:Yes.
Kyle McDowell:The short answer is yes.
Kyle McDowell:When a boss and I use that word not interchangeably with leader because they're different.
Kyle McDowell:As you certainly know when, when a boss makes a decision to pivot and maybe approach their work and their leadership game a little bit different, it's usually because they've been told to do so.
Kyle McDowell:Like their boss has come to them or they, or perhaps they even recognize the data on employee engagement surveys or satisfaction surveys are not where they need to be or any number of metrics aren't where they'd like them to be in this.
Kyle McDowell:And they see this wake up call, I need to make a change.
Kyle McDowell:But more often than not, that change is a check the box approach.
Kyle McDowell:It's, it's, I need to do this because it's almost cause and effect.
Kyle McDowell:This is causing me to behave differently.
Kyle McDowell:And those are, you may find some short term success, but it's not going to be sustainable because it's not authentic.
Kyle McDowell:So in my favorite example of something we kind of already touched on, but I'll go a little bit deeper, and that is principle nine.
Kyle McDowell:We, we embrace challenge.
Kyle McDowell:It's one thing to say we're an organization that's ripe on challenges and we want each other to be our best and we want to pull the most and best out of everyone.
Kyle McDowell:Until the leader is challenged, his way of thinking is challenged, his, his, his approaches, his rationale for things.
Kyle McDowell:And that's when it's easy to revert back to being the boss.
Kyle McDowell:Right.
Kyle McDowell:I hear you.
Kyle McDowell:Good, good input, good intel.
Kyle McDowell:I think there's some value in there.
Kyle McDowell:Thank you, but no thank you.
Kyle McDowell:We're going this direction.
Kyle McDowell:Keith.
Kyle McDowell:That's a long winded way of saying the leader who is able to check that ego, even display a little vulnerability, recognize they don't have all the answers and be open and transparent about that.
Kyle McDowell:Something that was really awkward and uncomfortable for me, that level of transparency, vulnerability.
Kyle McDowell:And of course again, to set that ego aside, they're all prerequisites to living and leading in this fashion.
Kyle McDowell:But it's not a one and done thing.
Kyle McDowell:It's every single.
Kyle McDowell:And I'm still far.
Kyle McDowell:I've lived with these principles in my life now for eight years and I still have lapses where I catch myself.
Kyle McDowell:Hang on, man, you're not, you're not living true to your principles.
Kyle McDowell:So it's not, it is a constant work in progress.
Kyle McDowell:But it must start with that self reflection.
Kyle McDowell:What am I doing?
Kyle McDowell:Am I the person that I want to be?
Kyle McDowell:Am I the leader that I want to Be.
Kyle McDowell:What's my leadership legacy going to be?
Kyle McDowell:Am I having an impact or am I just checking boxes?
Kyle McDowell:So I think that that level of self reflection is critical.
Kyle McDowell:But now I'm dying to hear what the data said from your three year effort.
Host:Well, it's funny you mentioned authoritatively because those are the ones that struggled most to lead their organization through change.
Host:Yeah.
Host:I'll give you a guess as to which one was the most effective between transformational servant leadership or skill based servant.
Host:No, that was my initial reaction that servant leaders would be best.
Host:They didn't.
Kyle McDowell:Transformational.
Host:Transformational was servant leaders struggled because they put people first.
Kyle McDowell:Too far.
Kyle McDowell:Right.
Host:When people push back about the change, they tend to pour into the people to make them feel more comfortable.
Host:Transformational leaders tended to transform the people around the MAGNA organization because they're focused on the bigger picture.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:The way you frame it makes so much more sense.
Kyle McDowell:Servant.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:You can't be, you know, there's such thing as being too much of a servant leader.
Kyle McDowell:Right, Right.
Kyle McDowell:It's.
Kyle McDowell:It's when you kind of lose sight of the trees because the forest is just so thick.
Kyle McDowell:But I love the transformation.
Kyle McDowell:I love that answer.
Kyle McDowell:Thank you for sharing that.
Kyle McDowell:Because it's not about necessarily trend.
Kyle McDowell:You don't transform organizations, you don't transform teams, transform people and you help people.
Kyle McDowell:Right.
Kyle McDowell:So that's the difference.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:Thank you for sharing that.
Host:I also added charismatic leader, which is really narcissistic leader to the study.
Host:But I didn't put narcissistic under because no one's going to say, yes, I'm a narcissistic leader.
Host:But they were really good at casting vision that people wanted to follow because their personality drove the change where they struggled with implementing it.
Host:Once it got to the part in the weeds part.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Kyle McDowell:Which by the way, I think makes some of the greatest leaders in all of business and probably sports as well.
Kyle McDowell:They have this degree of I know what I'm good at.
Kyle McDowell:I know what I'm not good at.
Kyle McDowell:A perfect example.
Kyle McDowell:I did some work with a marketing company up in the panhandle of Florida.
Kyle McDowell:Who's CEO, the founder.
Kyle McDowell:Brilliant guy, Visionary.
Kyle McDowell:Can predict, can see things that are coming before they come.
Kyle McDowell:He is really, really a brilliant man.
Kyle McDowell:But he also knows he can't operate out of a wet paper bag.
Kyle McDowell:Like he knows he doesn't do the.
Kyle McDowell:He doesn't communicate bad news well.
Kyle McDowell:He doesn't handle conflict well.
Kyle McDowell:He is the classic visionary.
Kyle McDowell:But when it comes to execution, it's just not his thing.
Kyle McDowell:But he's smart enough to know that, and he hires people around him that can take those things that he's not good at and run with him.
Kyle McDowell:Um, so I think that's, I think it's great to be a charismatic leader.
Kyle McDowell:It's not a prerequisite, it's not a requirement to be an effective leader.
Kyle McDowell:Right.
Kyle McDowell:It's not.
Kyle McDowell:I mean, it's kind of a nice to have.
Kyle McDowell:But some of the most, I think impactful leaders are understated and introverted.
Kyle McDowell:But I, I, I am, I'm, I, I, I do think it's, we get into trouble when we have these blind spots and don't acknowledge them.
Kyle McDowell:And that's where I think I lived for a long time.
Host:I also think charismatic leaders are very close to being cult leaders.
Host:So you have to be very careful not to push over from being visionary to cult.
Host:So.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, well said.
Kyle McDowell:Especially in today's day and age.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, well said.
Kyle McDowell:Good point.
Host:Right.
Host:So I'm curious, as you think about the 10 we's, how do those differ from traditional leadership principles?
Kyle McDowell:Oh, man.
Kyle McDowell:Because they're, they, they began as personal to me and for your audience.
Kyle McDowell:I don't, I don't, I don't, I certainly don't want to come across as if I've, I've, I've cracked the code for leadership, because that's impossible.
Kyle McDowell:It's, it just doesn't exist.
Kyle McDowell:There's no hack.
Kyle McDowell:But for me, what was, what was has been so transformational is saying, okay, here, here are 10 sentences that will insulate us from just about anything.
Kyle McDowell:And they set a standard.
Kyle McDowell:They set a standard for, number one, how we are supposed to behave and treat one another.
Kyle McDowell:Because I think most organizations do a great job when they hire somebody.
Kyle McDowell:For the most part, hey, here's how you do the job.
Kyle McDowell:Here are the standard operating procedures.
Kyle McDowell:Here's the nuts and bolts, the blocking and tackling of what you need to know to do your job.
Kyle McDowell:But I think most organizations are woefully short and saying, welcome to the team.
Kyle McDowell:Here's how we expect you to behave, here's how we expect you to behave, and here's what happens when we do that.
Kyle McDowell:So the way I frame it is for, for teams that I lead, also for teams that I work with in my practice now, it's like, do you, first of all, do you agree with all these 10 principles?
Kyle McDowell:I've yet to find someone that says we don't agree with.
Kyle McDowell:We do the right thing.
Kyle McDowell:We lead by example all the way through number 10.
Kyle McDowell:No one's going to disagree.
Kyle McDowell:Okay.
Kyle McDowell:So you agree with them.
Kyle McDowell:That means you're now subscribed.
Kyle McDowell:Because remember, a principle, by definition, is our.
Kyle McDowell:It is our system of beliefs or a system for a chain of reasoning.
Kyle McDowell:It's like why we do what we do, which is very different than a mission statement or a value statement.
Kyle McDowell:I think it's completely different.
Kyle McDowell:Those are all good for external facing parties.
Kyle McDowell:Behind the scenes is where we need our code of conduct.
Kyle McDowell:It's how we.
Kyle McDowell:It's how we're going to treat one another, get things done.
Kyle McDowell:So when you get a team to subscribe to a series of fundamental beliefs, our foundation for a chain of reasoning, they're all aligned.
Kyle McDowell:Okay.
Kyle McDowell:You subscribe to the team.
Kyle McDowell:Yep.
Kyle McDowell:Perfect.
Kyle McDowell:We're not going to be.
Kyle McDowell:We're not going to be perfect, but we're all on the same page with how we're going to behave.
Kyle McDowell:So the first time someone stumbles, you.
Kyle McDowell:You have this thing called we pick each other up.
Kyle McDowell:We number six.
Kyle McDowell:You walk up to them and you say, literally, hey, man, I recognize your performance isn't where it's historically been.
Kyle McDowell:And, you know, you've been out a lot lately.
Kyle McDowell:I can tell there's something weighing on you.
Kyle McDowell:I can see it on your face.
Kyle McDowell:And I just need you to know we pick each other up.
Kyle McDowell:I'm here for you.
Kyle McDowell:So it creates this nomenclature that allows people to be a little more vulnerable, Similar to like, hey, man, I see you're struggling, and we challenge each other.
Kyle McDowell:Right.
Kyle McDowell:So I just.
Kyle McDowell:I.
Kyle McDowell:I'm here to help you, but recognizing that where you are today from a performance perspective is not what we need.
Kyle McDowell:So I'm gonna.
Kyle McDowell:I want to challenge you to be better, you know, and then have the data or experience.
Kyle McDowell:So they're different in that they are relatable.
Kyle McDowell:No one will disagree with any one of the principles.
Kyle McDowell:They are actionable.
Kyle McDowell:They're not this.
Kyle McDowell:They're not some lofty, sexy mission statement to which no one can relate.
Kyle McDowell:These are all things that someone says, yeah, that makes sense to me.
Kyle McDowell:I'm comfortable with that.
Kyle McDowell:I can live that which makes them.
Kyle McDowell:Which makes calling people out when they don't live it that much easier because you've already said, this is something I can subscribe to and be a part of.
Host:So I've teased the audience long enough with what the 10 weeds are.
Host:Could you kind of walk us through what those.
Host:I'm sure they're going, man, those sound really cool.
Host:What are they?
Host:And so I wanted to kind of make sure people stood through.
Host:Through at least 30 minutes.
Host:Into the podcast so you could tell us what the 10 Wes are.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, I, I'd be happy to.
Kyle McDowell:It's, it's, it's an honor and a privilege to share it with your audience.
Kyle McDowell:And I have to give two caveats anytime I run through them, actually, one caveat, one favor.
Kyle McDowell:The cave.
Kyle McDowell:The first caveat is, and I touched on it earlier, it's as I read through these or walk through these members of your audience, I can almost hear it.
Kyle McDowell:I'm going to hear, well, of course that's a no brainer.
Kyle McDowell:Duh.
Kyle McDowell:That's who we are.
Kyle McDowell:But I would challenge those that have that reaction.
Kyle McDowell:And it's a fair reaction.
Kyle McDowell:Think of leaders from your past.
Kyle McDowell:Think of how you've approached your leadership game.
Kyle McDowell:If you, if you would consider yourself a leader.
Kyle McDowell:And, and do I practice this every single day?
Kyle McDowell:And the answer's got to be no, because nobody's perfect.
Kyle McDowell:But more importantly, it gives us something to lean back into and say, okay, I'm not the leader I wanted to be, or I'm not behaving in the way that I'm most proud to be behaving.
Kyle McDowell:I have something to lean back into now, something to get me back on course.
Kyle McDowell:That's the caveat.
Kyle McDowell:Like it's, you can have simple, you can have easy, but simple is not easy.
Kyle McDowell:And then the favor is this.
Kyle McDowell:And this is the most.
Kyle McDowell:Candidly, my man, the most beautiful unintended byproduct of my work is the impact that principles are having on people's personal lives.
Kyle McDowell:I've had complete strangers reach out to me to say they're changing how I raise my children.
Kyle McDowell:They're changing how I interact with those that I care about, my relationships, my friends and family.
Kyle McDowell:So work's great, Kyle, appreciate the 10 weeks for that.
Kyle McDowell:But they have changed who I am outside of work.
Kyle McDowell:I've chills just saying that.
Kyle McDowell:But okay, so that's, that's the caveat and that's the favor.
Kyle McDowell:The favor is consider it through your personal lens, not just as an employee or person with a job.
Kyle McDowell:Your worker.
Kyle McDowell:How might these arm you and equip you for a more fulfilling life?
Kyle McDowell:On the personal side?
Host:Okay, that's awesome.
Kyle McDowell:So we.
Kyle McDowell:Number one is the most fundamental and again, the most simple of them all.
Kyle McDowell:It's we do the right thing always.
Kyle McDowell:And I never leave out that one word.
Kyle McDowell:Second, second sentence of always.
Kyle McDowell:We can disagree on what the right thing is.
Kyle McDowell:The right thing is certainly subjective, depending on the scenario, but we will be aligned, that no matter what circumstances thrown our way we're going to do the right thing right by our employees, right by those we serve, our customers, right by our team.
Kyle McDowell:You know, and I walk leaders, I walk the reader through some kind of decision trees on how to ultimately land on the right thing in the book.
Kyle McDowell:But that's the foundation.
Kyle McDowell:We're going to come out of the gate no matter what, do the right thing.
Kyle McDowell:Now, as a leader in a high functioning team, or a member of a high functioning team, for me, I think the best way to exhibit that I'm going to do the right thing is to lead by example.
Kyle McDowell:And it's such a cliche.
Kyle McDowell:And we always think, well, you know, should I lead by example?
Kyle McDowell:You already are leading by example.
Kyle McDowell:That's the question.
Kyle McDowell:Am I leading by an example that I would be proud to see it replicated?
Kyle McDowell:If my mother were to watch how I behaved in a one on one with a difficult employee or the way I conducted myself in a town hall or a focus group, you know, what does that filter for you to say?
Kyle McDowell:Yeah, I can be proud of that.
Kyle McDowell:And that exact behavior would be wonderful if it were replicated throughout our company.
Kyle McDowell:Or is the opposite happening?
Kyle McDowell:I'm behaving in a way that I'd be so embarrassed to see someone mimic that behavior.
Kyle McDowell:So we gotta lead by example.
Kyle McDowell:And to lead by example, I think it's, it's the number one way to lead by example is to make good on your promises.
Kyle McDowell:We, number three is we say what we're going to do and then we do it too.
Kyle McDowell:Many times throughout my career, you know, you kind of assign something to someone or maybe you've been assigned something and delivery time rolls around and well, I emailed so and so or I'm waiting to have a meeting with so and so and these excuses that, that don't help us.
Kyle McDowell:And I look at it this way.
Kyle McDowell:When we make a commitment to someone that we serve, our customers, our clients, it's almost a given that we're going to deliver that commitment.
Kyle McDowell:It shouldn't be any different behind the scenes.
Kyle McDowell:If I commit to do something for you, as your leader, I will deliver on that.
Kyle McDowell:And if you can commit to do something for me or other members of the team, we keep those promises.
Kyle McDowell:That's our brand.
Kyle McDowell:So we say what we're going to do and then we do it now.
Kyle McDowell:Excuse me.
Kyle McDowell:The key to being effective at that we is, is layered.
Kyle McDowell:And we, number four, we take action.
Kyle McDowell:I truly believe, Keith, that taking action and making a mistake is quite all right.
Kyle McDowell:I don't judge people that way.
Kyle McDowell:But being idle is no good.
Kyle McDowell:I mentioned it earlier.
Kyle McDowell:When we see an opportunity inside of our team or our organization or in our friendships and family, we don't turn a cheek.
Kyle McDowell:We take action.
Kyle McDowell:We address it.
Kyle McDowell:And in a corporate setting, that might be something as simple as, hey, boss, I recognize this process is broken over here and it's having an adverse effect on, on our, on our customers.
Kyle McDowell:Even if it means more work for me, I got to raise my hand and do that.
Kyle McDowell:I'm not naive.
Kyle McDowell:The incentive for most people to do that in most organizations is not there.
Kyle McDowell:So that's why it's on the leader to say, well, for us to be excellent, you got to take action.
Kyle McDowell:But when people on the team take action, they can't fear what the retribution or blowback might be if they make a mistake.
Kyle McDowell:So we, number five is we own our mistakes.
Kyle McDowell:I just think if we recognize our mistakes as fuel and opportunities for improvement, we're more likely to raise our hand.
Kyle McDowell:And that's when it's so important for members of the team, especially the leader, to be tough on the problem.
Kyle McDowell:They've identified the mistake that they've made, not the person.
Kyle McDowell:Be tough on the mistake.
Kyle McDowell:How do we get out of this?
Kyle McDowell:Because I don't think most people judge.
Kyle McDowell:We don't judge one another by mistakes.
Kyle McDowell:I really believe that we judge them by how quickly they remedy the mistake.
Kyle McDowell:And if it repeats itself, mistakes are going to happen.
Kyle McDowell:But usually in the corporate world or, you know, companies of all sizes, if somebody raises their hand to, to voice a mistake, it's going to get met with a smack.
Kyle McDowell:So what do you do?
Kyle McDowell:You hide the mistakes.
Kyle McDowell:And that's, that's, that's no way ach to achieve excellence.
Kyle McDowell:But when those mistakes are made, we jump right into we.
Kyle McDowell:Number six, I mentioned it earlier.
Kyle McDowell:We pick each other up.
Kyle McDowell:And there are two components to this.
Kyle McDowell:We.
Kyle McDowell:It's not just we pick someone up when they're struggling.
Kyle McDowell:The second and maybe just as important component is when someone has expressed a desire to take on more, do more, perhaps even leave your team or leave your company.
Kyle McDowell:It's our obligation to help them achieve and reach new heights.
Kyle McDowell:It's not enough to just pick someone up when they're down.
Kyle McDowell:We have to invest our time and energy in helping people become what they want to be.
Kyle McDowell:And a really quick kind of anecdote to this is if a member of your team expresses a desire to go somewhere else, maybe they want your job, maybe they want to join a competitor because it'll, it'll Improve their standard of living and allow them to do things with and for their family they weren't, they weren't able to do.
Kyle McDowell:Maybe it's a title thing, who knows?
Kyle McDowell:But when they've made that decision, most of us, at least throughout my career, we turn a cheek to that person because we know they're a short timer and I'm not going to invest my energy in them and they're going to be gone.
Kyle McDowell:It's incredibly, it's an incredible mistake because when you say, hey, Keith, I recognize you want to go do something else and I'm going to help you get there.
Kyle McDowell:I'll do a mock interview with you.
Kyle McDowell:I'll help you with your resume.
Kyle McDowell:Do you think I don't expect you to work less hard the next day?
Kyle McDowell:You now realize I care more about you and your journey than I do about what you can do for our team.
Kyle McDowell:So the loyalty that's created when you, when you help someone and, and let them know that you're in this for them, not just for the results they can deliver, boy, the bond is really strong at that point.
Kyle McDowell:So we got to pick each other up.
Kyle McDowell:Now we number seven through 10, it gets a little tougher.
Kyle McDowell:And this is, we've touched on a couple of these, but we number seven is we measure ourselves by outcomes, not activity.
Kyle McDowell:Most organizations, leaders and of all levels and folks that are even individual contributors for whatever reasons it's, they conflate busyness and activity with actual progress.
Kyle McDowell:In my coaching business now I'll have executives I've had, I recently had an executive rotate their laptop to me so I could see their screen to say, kyle, do you see this calendar?
Kyle McDowell:I'm double booked four times.
Kyle McDowell:Tomorrow, I'm triple booked twice.
Kyle McDowell:That doesn't impress me.
Kyle McDowell:As a matter of fact, I think in most organizations we have a very clear and discreet list of objectives for which we're held accountable.
Kyle McDowell:And I say if the activity you're engaged in every single day does not directly contribute to delivering on those outcomes, it should be scrutinized.
Kyle McDowell:Why am I in this meeting if it doesn't help those outcomes?
Kyle McDowell:Why am I being asked to do X, Y or Z if it doesn't help this outcome?
Kyle McDowell:And that's when it's important to challenge each other.
Kyle McDowell:So we number eight follows that and it's we challenge each other.
Kyle McDowell:I've touched on it.
Kyle McDowell:I think it's the most important of all the principles.
Kyle McDowell:But it's nothing without we.
Kyle McDowell:Nine, that's we embrace challenge.
Kyle McDowell:And then lastly, it's it's it's.
Kyle McDowell:I was purposeful to leave this as the last principle because I feel like if it were any earlier in the list, we would.
Kyle McDowell:It's a recipe for disappointment.
Kyle McDowell:And we number 10 is we obsess over details.
Kyle McDowell:In most industries, most businesses, the difference between really great and average or really great and excellent is the details.
Kyle McDowell:My favorite example is Apple.
Kyle McDowell:Anytime you open a product from Apple, the unboxing experience is incredibly fulfilling.
Kyle McDowell:The tape that's on there, the way the boxes fit together.
Kyle McDowell:Apple spends millions of dollars and untold number of hours for their engineers locked in rooms to create the best and most the sexiest unpackaging experience.
Kyle McDowell:Contrast that with ikea, the instruction manual for Ikea, or how you assemble things from ikea.
Kyle McDowell:It's like, it's so unclear, it's so opaque.
Kyle McDowell:It's really hard to follow at times.
Kyle McDowell:Another example is when you buy something from Amazon.
Kyle McDowell:I've had this happen too many times.
Kyle McDowell:You open the instruction manual, it's in, it's got poor grammar or doesn't make sense or it's misaligned like these.
Kyle McDowell:They didn't take a lot of care with those details.
Kyle McDowell:So what message does that send?
Kyle McDowell:When I open a really sexy iPhone package, it's almost a guarantee the product inside is going to be magical.
Kyle McDowell:When I open a package from Amazon, who hasn't taken the time, whose seller hasn't taken the time to really invest the energy and level of obsession of detail to communicate such a similar experience, I have likewise a less optimistic view of this product that I'm about to open.
Kyle McDowell:Details matter a whole heck of a lot.
Kyle McDowell:So obsessing over details, I think is what really, at the end of the day, compels us, us and propels us to achieve excellence.
Host:I love those 10 weeks.
Host:Thanks, thanks for sharing those because I know people were not just kind of sitting there going, he hasn't told us what those are yet.
Host:So, yeah, yeah, it was intentional audience.
Host:It was intentional.
Kyle McDowell:Cliffhanger.
Host:Cliffhanger.
Host:I love to ask my guests, this is my second favorite question.
Kyle McDowell:Yeah.
Host:What do you want your legacy to be.
Kyle McDowell:Man?
Kyle McDowell:I, I want to be remembered as a guy who really placed an overt emphasis on helping others.
Kyle McDowell:I tend to, with maybe a touch of arrogance.
Kyle McDowell:I do tend to feel like I'm an incredibly empathetic person.
Kyle McDowell:And I, and I try to put myself in other people's shoes.
Kyle McDowell:And I think with that comes, you know, the, the labeling, if you will, of, of someone who genuinely cares about others.
Kyle McDowell:I, I, I value, I value connection And I value authentic bonds.
Kyle McDowell:And overall, more than anything, I value authenticity.
Kyle McDowell:So.
Kyle McDowell:And with that comes some detractors because sometimes I'm known to say things that might rub others the wrong way, but it's never personal.
Kyle McDowell:It's.
Kyle McDowell:It's typically how I.
Kyle McDowell:It's usually represented with data or experience.
Kyle McDowell:And it's almost.
Kyle McDowell:Not almost.
Kyle McDowell:It is always with an eye on improvement.
Kyle McDowell:Not just in a business sense, but if I share something with you that might rub you the wrong way, of course I'm going to try to deliver that diplomatically.
Kyle McDowell:But it's not to put, to put you down or build me up.
Kyle McDowell:It's to point out an opportunity that, you know, maybe the experiences I've had might help you get more out of this thing, whatever that thing is, if it's work, your personal life, whatever it is.
Kyle McDowell:So I think my, I would love, when I'm long gone, I would love for people to say, man, that dude really cared.
Kyle McDowell:He cared about others.
Host:I love that.
Host:So what key takeaways do you want the audience to leave from our conversation today?
Kyle McDowell:Keith, what do you want your legacy to be, though, man?
Kyle McDowell:I love that question.
Kyle McDowell:I would love to hear your answer.
Host:Yeah, no, it was funny.
Host:My.
Host:I want my legacy to be kind of like you.
Host:But first of all, that he loved Jesus and that he helped other people love him too.
Host:Because that's why I went into ministry, so that people would just understand the breadth and the depth of how much they are loved and valued by our God.
Kyle McDowell:Very cool.
Kyle McDowell:Thank you for sharing.
Kyle McDowell:Okay, sorry, what was that?
Kyle McDowell:Next question.
Host:No, what key takeaways you want the audience to leave from our conversation today?
Kyle McDowell:You don't have to hate your job.
Kyle McDowell:You don't.
Kyle McDowell:There is a better way.
Kyle McDowell:There is a way.
Kyle McDowell:And that's the question I used to ask myself all the.
Kyle McDowell:Is there a better way?
Kyle McDowell:I used to ask that a lot and I, I was never certain of the answer.
Kyle McDowell:I think principle.
Kyle McDowell:Living a principle based life, approaching your work with principles in the front of your mind is, Is a way to remove the sense of apathy that so many of us feel for a variety of reasons, especially in our work lives.
Kyle McDowell:I think it's a way to reconnect with that optimism and the passion and enthusiasm that we first entered the workforce with.
Kyle McDowell:But it doesn't come without its sacrifices.
Kyle McDowell:And it's just like everything else in life, man, if you want something worth having, got to put in the work, you gotta, you gotta burn the calories, you gotta run the miles.
Kyle McDowell:So if you want a better Experience in your work life.
Kyle McDowell:Aligning around principles and aligning others around you on those same principles can be an incredibly profound experience.
Kyle McDowell:But it comes, it must come at the expense of a lot of work and a lot of focus, dedication.
Kyle McDowell:You know, people want different experiences but they're not willing in some case, many cases, to do the work, to live that experience.
Kyle McDowell:And I just, I must, and I'll close with this on that question, man, it's we, we, we.
Kyle McDowell:I think so many of us end up being wired to think that.
Kyle McDowell:Go to work, go home, lather, rinse, repeat, do it for 40 years.
Kyle McDowell:A hundred thousand hours of our lives on average is spent working.
Kyle McDowell:And they've just, many of us, me included, until the last seven or eight years, resigned ourselves that this is how this big engine works.
Kyle McDowell:But here's the point that I can never gloss over is we all have commitments, we all have bills and we got families to take care of.
Kyle McDowell:So if you find yourself in a position where work is not, you're not enthusiastic about it, you're not passionate about it, you're not, you're not fulfilled and you make that decision to not do anything differently, good on you.
Kyle McDowell:I respect that.
Kyle McDowell:Because those commitments, they don't go away just because you've decided to live a principle based life or want to find an organization that embraces those principles or similar principles.
Kyle McDowell:I'm not naive to that.
Kyle McDowell:And that means it might take, if you're really curious to find another side, it might take taking one or two steps back, to take three or four steps forward.
Kyle McDowell:And if that's not in the cards for you, all the respect in the world.
Kyle McDowell:I just know that if you are interested and you feel as if there is something better that can give you more fulfillment, allow you to have a greater impact, chase that and I end every keynote with that.
Kyle McDowell:We all have a choice.
Kyle McDowell:The choice is yours to either continue the path that you're on, the choice is yours to maybe find a different approach.
Kyle McDowell:The choice is yours to do nothing, whatever.
Kyle McDowell:But you got to make a choice in choosing a different approach, a different way of thinking, a different way of behaving, a different way of bonding with those around you and your teams and your friends and family.
Kyle McDowell:It all comes after a choice is made.
Kyle McDowell:And that choice is the first step.
Host:That's awesome.
Host:Give us the name of your book again and where can they find your book and buy it?
Kyle McDowell:Thank you.
Kyle McDowell:It's begin with we 10 principles for building and Sustaining a Culture of Excellence.
Kyle McDowell:It's available wherever books are sold Amazon tends to be the easiest place to find it.
Kyle McDowell:It's available in Kindle, Hard Copy, paperback, and my favorite is the audio version.
Kyle McDowell:I narrated the book Terrible Experience, by the way, being stuck in a studio for seven hours a day for probably a little over a week.
Kyle McDowell:But and then all of my socials are the same Kyle McDowell, Inc.
Kyle McDowell:And my website is also Kyle McDowell, Inc.
Kyle McDowell:And I consider it an option a real privilege to join you and I appreciate you giving me the opportunity especially to share those platforms because I love to hear from readers.
Kyle McDowell:I love to hear from people, like minded people, those that might be considering a different way of approaching what it is that they do.
Kyle McDowell:And those social channels and my website allow me to do that.
Kyle McDowell:So thank you, Kyle.
Host:Thanks for spending an hour with me talking about leadership as one of my favorite topics.
Host:And you have before us given us some real tools to look at leadership from a real personal way that kind of internalizes what is kind of rolling around inside of us that helps us to be not only better leaders but also better people, better parents, better fathers, better spouses.
Host: share that that inspirational: Host:Sometimes out of those moments come our greatest revelation.
Host:So thanks for sharing that with the world.
Kyle McDowell:Well, and thank you for the great work you're doing, my man.
Kyle McDowell:I appreciate the opportunity again and keep at it.
Kyle McDowell:I'm I'm proud to have joined you, pleased to have met you, and grateful.
Host:Thank you.
