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Every day you have a choice. You can wake up and choose to give in to mediocrity and complacency, you can choose bad habits and poor choices, and you can do the bare minimum to get by and fly under the radar. Or you can choose to make today the day that sets you apart from the crowd, you can choose to start doing the right things, the things that will set you up for success. You can choose to create a life that is worth living, worth waking up to, and worth sharing with the world around you. Today You can choose to start with a win.
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Speaker 2
I don't think you can lead effectively in this day and age. in a world in which, emotional connection is required right between, those who lead and those they lead, right. emotional connection is required. And you don't. You show your best connective tissue through story.
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Unknown
Welcome to start with a win where we unpack franchising, leadership and business growth. Let's go.
00:00:31:07 - 00:00:44:11
Speaker 1
How does high performance and teamwork in sports translate into the corporate and business world? Today we talk about that on start with a win coming to you from area 15 ventures and start with a win. Headquarters. It's Adam Contos with start with a win.
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Speaker 1
You're in for a treat today. Our guest is Don Yeager, a great friend, a master storyteller, and a leadership guru who has authored 12 New York Times bestsellers and collaborated with legends like Walter Payton and John Wooden
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Speaker 1
Don's journey from a Sports Illustrated editor to a sought after corporate coach has given him a unique perspective on leadership. He's now the host of the Corporate Competitor Podcast, where he chats with fortune 500 executives who once dominated the playing fields
00:01:13:21 - 00:01:22:08
Speaker 1
with guests like Condoleezza Rice and Netflix's top executives. Don explores how sports principles fueled business success.
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Speaker 1
Get ready to gain insights from a man who's seen the playbook of champions, both on the field and in the boardroom. Don, welcome to start with a win.
00:01:31:01 - 00:01:38:05
Speaker 2
Adam, I would come back every day if you'd invite me. It's, There's no better conversation to have than one with you.
00:01:38:07 - 00:02:00:16
Speaker 1
Awesome. I want to start by a huge congratulations for your induction. And then into the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame. That just happened in August. I'll tell you, that is a huge accolade. And I mean something that you've been speaking publicly for quite some time and you're masterful at it. So huge congratulations to you and thanks for all you do to deliver your messages.
00:02:00:20 - 00:02:17:08
Speaker 2
Thank you. What it means, it's it's one of those moments when they called a couple of months ago to let me know that it was it was that I was being inducted. I, you know, dropped the phone was, you know, because you just don't expect. it's not the it's not something you expect. So it's pretty cool.
00:02:17:10 - 00:02:35:10
Speaker 1
Well, and it's, it's a peer review. So I'll tell you, the top speakers in the world are very critical. You've got the best of the best. Who are saying Don Yeager, he's the guy. And I mean, you're you're sharing the stage with the with a just a very few very top people. So that's incredible. Congratulations.
00:02:35:12 - 00:02:37:00
Speaker 2
I appreciate you, buddy.
00:02:37:02 - 00:02:45:01
Speaker 1
Let's let's jump into this. I mean, sports, leadership, storytelling. I mean, you've got a lot of great things here.
00:02:45:02 - 00:03:03:06
Speaker 2
all of which tie into everything you talk about. It's like. It's funny, I read your podcast. I read your your blog. Excuse me? Listen to your podcast. And I love that. I do, I, I regularly resonate with different things that you're, you're hitting on and so, that's that's why I love these conversations.
00:03:03:08 - 00:03:32:10
Speaker 1
Thank you. All right. Let's let's go back to kind of the foundation for this. I mean, you know, it's hard to get up and and tell stories if you don't necessarily sit in a position of experience or leadership. I mean, you just can't make up stories and B.S. your way through it. So, you know what? what do you see as the key foundation for leadership that you've watched transition over that works for sports and for large businesses that has been very effective.
00:03:32:12 - 00:03:53:14
Speaker 2
Well, I tell you, you know, Adam and you and I talked about this previously as we were, doing some work together. It was this idea that that most people don't know their audience very well. They don't they don't they don't know enough about them to know how to, how to how to stimulate them, how to actually get the audience engaged with them.
00:03:53:14 - 00:04:15:19
Speaker 2
And so one of the most, one of the lines I use all the time is, you know, nothing makes someone more interested in you than when they find out. You take a time to be interested in that. Right? So show interest in your audience. Learn something about them before you actually tell them a story. If you can in some way make yourself attractive to them, your story will be heard differently.
00:04:15:20 - 00:04:49:04
Speaker 2
But then the second piece of it is that most, most storytellers fail by not having a good called, a well-defined call to action. And a lot of people think that's, that's a business phrase, right? It's a term. It's a it's a boy. We're going to close a deal here. Actually, call to action means what do you want them to do, feel or think when they when they're done listening to you and and a call to action can be important even if the story you're telling is over a dinner conversation.
00:04:49:04 - 00:05:11:14
Speaker 2
Right. It's like I want you to maybe want more time with me. That may be my call to action, but but can I make sure that that's abundantly clear? And don't leave call to action. As you know, as a sales guy, you never leave your call to action. in question. You never leave it, hanging out there as a hope that they heard me know.
00:05:11:14 - 00:05:32:13
Speaker 2
You make it clear and, you know, someone, someone says, boy, that was a great dinner. And you're a great storyteller. You're like, boy, you know what? Let's let's have more dinners, because I got more stories. Let's do this. And you're again, you're just you're you're making sure that the, the call to action is clear.
00:05:32:15 - 00:05:39:23
Speaker 1
It seems like that is really the foundation for leadership. Also, though, is to create actionable futures.
00:05:39:23 - 00:05:56:10
Speaker 2
Right. I could tell you a story, but if at the end of it, you're going, wow, that was a great story. and that's the end of what you say then, by the way, what did I do? I might as well have just been sitting at a campfire with a s'mores. Right. you know, with with with a marshmallow on a stick.
00:05:56:15 - 00:06:26:18
Speaker 2
At the end of the day, what I really want is for you to do something because I told you the story. To think something to believe, something to. To want to follow me right where I'm going. And so, but but again, too many people leave that to chance. They, they hope that you're going to you're going to define or divine the, the, the lesson when the truth is that's a really dangerous prospect.
00:06:26:20 - 00:06:47:03
Speaker 1
So how do we stimulate the desire within somebody while we're telling the story? Because we, you know, we have to connect with them, obviously, and we have to put them in the shoes of somebody in the story somehow, so that they want to take that action. I mean, is there some psychological principle or some way that we can tie them to that?
00:06:47:05 - 00:07:13:21
Speaker 2
The best stories are ones in which the listener can can see themselves in the story, right? They're co-creating the story with you as they're listening. They're putting themselves in the story with you. And so, as you're telling the story, the best stories actually almost kind of leave a spot for the listener, right? They leave a they they leave a seat at the table.
00:07:13:23 - 00:07:45:18
Speaker 2
and so it's but it's about and and if you can make that listener feel like they are connected to or similar to one of the characters in your story, then that that's the that's the very best way to make them feel a connection to, to to what you're sharing with them. So, you know, if I'm telling a story that I, if I want you to come to work for me right, I'm going to tell a story about someone like you who came to work for me and exploded.
00:07:45:20 - 00:08:07:11
Speaker 2
Right. And just had enormous success. If I if I tell the story about somebody who's not like you, somebody who was already a version 3.0 of you, you're not going to resonate with it. So I need to know, you know, enough about you that I can make my story and you kind of align.
00:08:07:13 - 00:08:19:12
Speaker 1
Can you give us an example of a I mean, what is your favorite story done? I mean, you got to have something that you really, really love. Is there something that sticks in your head as well?
00:08:19:12 - 00:08:47:04
Speaker 2
I, I'm, I'm often talking to people in groups who are in some level of dysfunction. Right? They, they, they're facing some level of adversity. There's the economy is working against them. regulation might be, maybe it's, you know, in the world of real estate, right? Maybe it's what's happening, you know, at the, at the highest levels of your, of the industry that, that, that seem to make some things implode, right?
00:08:47:04 - 00:09:09:01
Speaker 2
Or feel like they're imploding. And so if you're talking about adversity, I love to tell a story about and I you and I've shared the story before about work done, you know, a college football player who, who, whose mother was shot and killed in a robbery at a bank. She was a police officer. He graduates from college as a football player.
00:09:09:03 - 00:09:36:15
Speaker 2
makes his way to the NFL, but he starts buying homes for women like his mother. Right? Single moms. he goes on very successful NFL career. Wins a big award called the Walter Payton Man of the year award. And he gets a chance to write a book, ask me to write it with him. And as we're writing the book, I ask him a question that led us to go to death row to meet the guy that killed his mom.
00:09:36:17 - 00:10:03:04
Speaker 2
And and in that conversation on death row, work actually forgave the man for what he had done as we left the prison. He's he and I are talking about it. I'm like, where did you get that? And he said, you know what? My mother used to tell me many things, but the one thing she said most often was it, it doesn't matter if you're white or you're black, doesn't matter if you're rich or you're poor, doesn't matter if you're born on the side of the tracks or raised on that one.
00:10:03:06 - 00:10:24:19
Speaker 2
There's one thing we all have in common, and that is that there will be a moment. There's something will happen that will change the way you wake up the next morning. Adversity. Something is going to challenge you in a way that will change the direction of your life. And in that moment, you could be bitter or you could become better.
00:10:24:21 - 00:10:54:17
Speaker 2
And as my son, I ask you to always be better. I tell that story and then I start talking about, by the way, I get it. What's happening in your industry is tough. And guess what? You get to wake up tomorrow and choose which will I be? Do I want to be better or better? And when you align yourself with work done, this guy that did this incredible thing and and what is this incredible human, you start realizing that's a choice I can make.
00:10:54:17 - 00:11:13:10
Speaker 2
I can choose better or better, but it's a choice I must make. because the default position will always be bitter. So anyway, it's a story how I land. It depends on where you are and what you're struggling with.
00:11:13:12 - 00:11:32:22
Speaker 1
I'll tell you, there's there are key words that seem to resonate to me and that that I'm sure, you know, different aspects resonate with different people. And it I mean, first of all, it's very hard touching. You know, the tragedy you went through with losing his mother, you know, her service to society and gave her life and doing so.
00:11:32:22 - 00:11:39:10
Speaker 1
I mean, how how can you not be heartfelt in that moment and then which.
00:11:39:10 - 00:11:57:16
Speaker 2
Keeps you riveted to the story? Right. You know what? You're not checking out on that story because the guy is so, like, you want to know what he does next. You're so and and and and but in all of that, where I'm really wanting you to do is think about what you're going to do next. But I have to get you through to the end.
00:11:57:16 - 00:12:30:19
Speaker 2
And then I want you to see yourself as him. You're facing adversity, too, just as he did make the choice better. Better and again, better. Better kind of becomes the money line, right? That's the every good story kind of. You want to have a line that, that, that they, that they can use is memorable. The number of organizations I've shared that story and who have actually put bitter or or better up on the the cafeteria wall in their, you know, in their break room or whatever it is, is, you know, the there's quite a few.
00:12:30:19 - 00:12:50:04
Speaker 2
So the bottom line is that, you know, again, stories when they follow, when there are a few habits of well-told stories, that we can adapt and adopt, adapt to and adopt, in our telling of them, we become better at it.
00:12:50:06 - 00:13:01:02
Speaker 1
Amazing. I'll tell you, I had to, research work and see what he's up to. Apparently, he's donated 217 homes now to single moms.
00:13:01:02 - 00:13:02:05
Speaker 2
Isn't that crazy?
00:13:02:07 - 00:13:04:05
Speaker 1
I mean, talk about 500, I think.
00:13:04:05 - 00:13:11:22
Speaker 2
I think the numbers, like, 538 children woke up in a house this morning that they got to call their own because of him.
00:13:12:00 - 00:13:15:10
Speaker 1
Like it's is that he says it's up to 578.
00:13:15:15 - 00:13:37:20
Speaker 2
578. Wow. So I'm off by I'm off by 40 kids. But how amazing is that, right? Yeah. You I have to look at his website all the time to try to figure out what his numbers are, because he constantly is in the process of of changing lives of others. And, there's something about him that we want to be like, so it works.
00:13:37:22 - 00:13:40:05
Speaker 1
And he's been doing this for like 20 years now.
00:13:40:07 - 00:13:41:12
Speaker 2
Yeah.
00:13:41:14 - 00:13:50:23
Speaker 1
I mean, this is this is a man who's dedicated his life to helping. And I mean, talk about just somebody who continues to shine in this world.
00:13:51:01 - 00:14:14:22
Speaker 2
And it's crazy because most athletes, you and I both know many who have had charities. The second their career is over, the charity kind of dwindles off because now I'm on to the next guy and the next star, the next charity, right? That's usually what happens. Most people, their attention to athletes, kind of wanes after the athlete is no longer in a position of stardom.
00:14:14:22 - 00:14:22:12
Speaker 2
Right work. Dunne's charity grows in his absence from the league, which is really incredible.
00:14:22:14 - 00:14:34:22
Speaker 1
Yeah. It's amazing. Yeah, so, so many people have stories in them. They don't know how to discover those. Is there something that we should look for to understand our story?
00:14:35:00 - 00:15:00:02
Speaker 2
Yeah. Adam, you know what? I hadn't planned to do this, but I'll send it to you if you'd like. And you can put it in show notes. But I actually have come up with the list of 45 questions that I think if you ask yourself, almost every one of these questions will lead you to a story you can tell, there questions about, for example, hey, you, you work for this company and you could work anywhere else.
00:15:00:02 - 00:15:24:15
Speaker 2
Why? Why do you stay here? Tell me the answer to that question. And and I'm. And I know there's a story in there. unless you tell me it's just the best paid company on the planet. That's pretty boring. But, tell me the story about somebody you've served, who's live is better. Is life whose life is better because you had a chance to be in service of them.
00:15:24:17 - 00:16:00:21
Speaker 2
tell me about somebody you work with. Who? Who? Absolutely. you marvel at every time they they show up because they just they either have the right demeanor or they bring something to the to the workplace that you've never that you just don't find naturally. and as you start asking questions about other people and other things or moments in your life, you find those stories that you can tell that are, that, that actually really do impact other people because they, they shine a little light on who you are.
00:16:00:23 - 00:16:15:01
Speaker 2
But at the same time, they're really you're reflecting on, on generally somebody else and some something other than yourself. And that is a nice, humble way to tell a great story.
00:16:15:02 - 00:16:27:15
Speaker 1
So when we're learning to tell our our story, is there a certain process you go through or a certain, you know, way that you look at, you know, what's the is there a formula for a good story?
00:16:27:17 - 00:16:57:07
Speaker 2
So I argue there's a the best storytellers don't follow a formula, but they do have a certain series of habits, of really well told stories that, but and the two that I mentioned know your audience and understand what you're called action is, are, are kind of two of the really best and most important habits. but yeah, I, I've, I've kind of divined, ten habits of well told stories.
00:16:57:09 - 00:17:05:01
Speaker 2
I've just been in the study of storytelling for the last 30 years, and I love I love getting in and talking about it.
00:17:05:03 - 00:17:07:14
Speaker 1
Can you give us a few of those habits?
00:17:07:16 - 00:17:33:20
Speaker 2
I actually, I actually have a workbook right here. So, you know, we we we turn it, I, I actually do it as a little program. Now I actually teach storytelling. And so, yeah, it's, it's really fun. I mean, you talk about the importance of every good story is uniquely yours. so it doesn't. In other words, if you want to tell a story, don't tell a story that somebody could find easily on Google.
00:17:33:21 - 00:17:54:08
Speaker 2
Make it somehow yours, right? Doesn't necessarily have to be your story. Like literally somebody could tell work done story after listening to this podcast between us. But what they'll say is, hey, I was listening to this awesome podcast and I heard this great story. What does it tell somebody? Right? It tells somebody else that you're listening to something to get better.
00:17:54:08 - 00:18:18:02
Speaker 2
You're listening to a podcast to grow, and in the process you learn this new skill set, right. You learn something about this guy that maybe made you think differently. so make the story uniquely yours. Whatever. Whatever the story might be. use emotion. Emotions. An enormous piece of storytelling, but not not all negative and not all positive.
00:18:18:02 - 00:18:40:09
Speaker 2
If you actually have to put people depending on how long you take in the story, put them on a little bit of a roller coaster, right? You want him to be, you know, excited, and then you want him to be in some ways touched by by by it and, in a way that allows them to, to, to feel like you just told him a ten minute story and it felt like nothing.
00:18:40:12 - 00:19:03:11
Speaker 2
And, so a roller coaster will take him there. the one that I, that I would tell you is probably the most important is called reversing the I you ratio. don't, most people tell stories that are I did this, I did that, but that gets pretty boring and self-absorbed after a minute or two.
00:19:03:13 - 00:19:28:18
Speaker 2
so look at your story. And wherever you use the word, I see if there's a way to reverse it and say the word. You, instead of saying, I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and looked down at the or the earth below me. You know what? If you said you could only imagine what it felt like to be at the top of the world's tallest mountain, looking down at all its around.
00:19:28:18 - 00:19:48:14
Speaker 2
You see the difference in the two. The way the two feel bringing you into the story makes my story better heard by you. And so reduce the eyes, increase the use, reverse the IU ratio. So anyway, I'm just I'm just rattling off a few there. But those are.
00:19:48:15 - 00:19:51:08
Speaker 1
The those are incredible points, it seems to me.
00:19:51:12 - 00:19:59:18
Speaker 2
And it's very possible everything's very intentional. A really well-told story is intentionally built. And I think that's important.
00:19:59:20 - 00:20:08:11
Speaker 1
It. Well, let me ask you this then, because it seems like a lot of business leaders do not have a good story.
00:20:08:13 - 00:20:11:04
Speaker 2
They have a story. They just don't know how to tell it.
00:20:11:06 - 00:20:31:22
Speaker 1
But there we go. Okay. Yeah. What how can we encourage that within an organization? Because people really don't connect. I mean, you know, sure, there's a brand, but there has to be a story tied to the brand. Heck yeah. Something holistic about that. That really ties your heart to the the why of the organization. what?
00:20:31:23 - 00:20:58:02
Speaker 2
Well, one of the questions on that list that I have is name something that your organization does for others, like is there a is there a charitable arm of your organization that that absolutely. just touches your heart every time you talk about it, every time you think about it. what's out there about the organization that absolutely makes you wake up every day and go, man, I want more of that to happen.
00:20:58:04 - 00:21:00:15
Speaker 2
How do I do my part?
00:21:00:17 - 00:21:04:12
Speaker 1
Have you have you seen any business leaders figure out their story?
00:21:04:14 - 00:21:05:10
Speaker 2
Oh, yeah.
00:21:05:12 - 00:21:09:03
Speaker 1
Create something transformative with that. What? Do you have any examples of that?
00:21:09:05 - 00:21:40:21
Speaker 2
yeah, I'll tell you. I was working with one just, just last week, TJ Hart, the CEO of Red Robin Restaurants. Right. He he's a turnaround CEO, you know, turned around California pizza kitchens, is now at, Red Robin. And but he can tell the story about the, the challenge he had becoming someone who could turn something around and, and and he tells this amazing story about being in the bathroom, shaving, looking at his wife and saying, you know what?
00:21:40:21 - 00:22:01:21
Speaker 2
I don't know that I can do this. You know, during one of the dark days at California Pizza Kitchens and his wife looking him and saying, dude, shut up and get up. Yeah, yeah, go, go, go do it. People need you. People need you to lead. And he said it took his own wife to kind of reframe him because all of us face those dark days, right?
00:22:02:02 - 00:22:25:09
Speaker 2
But him telling the story made him more human. He's the CEO, he's the boss. He's always on. But the truth is, he's telling you about this moment. He's shaving and asking himself, do I have it in me? Which every one of us ask ourselves regularly? Everyone in the audience asks themselves regularly, do I have it in me today to do what I have to do to turn this around?
00:22:25:11 - 00:22:48:21
Speaker 2
And he said I was blessed that I had somebody in my life, my wife, who could tell me, dude, quit whining. Yeah, there are others who are depending on you. Go do what you know how to do because you're uniquely qualified. And by saying that, he's letting them know that he needed a cheerleader, he's also saying, by the way, I'm here today to be your cheerleader.
00:22:48:23 - 00:23:12:11
Speaker 2
I'm here today to to remind you, the next time you're shaving, the next time you're standing there, the next time you're asking yourself, do I have it in you? I'm here to say you do. You know, it's just I watched him and he's just he's a masterful storyteller because he brought himself the CEO, took himself down to the level that everyone in the audience could relate to.
00:23:12:13 - 00:23:24:00
Speaker 2
And then he shared a moment of of humor, of humility. You know, where his own wife had to set him straight, but he did it with a message that was aimed at them.
00:23:24:02 - 00:23:46:00
Speaker 1
This is fascinating about this, Don, is I mean, here's the reality is he wasn't like pulling puppies out of a burning building. Oh, no. Or winning the Super Bowl or anything of that nature. He's shaving and has self-doubt right. And he turns it into a a captivating story. I mean, it's we've all got something like that in absolutely right.
00:23:46:02 - 00:23:55:17
Speaker 2
You know, and some of us, like you have pulled puppies out of building. So you're amazing. Your stories are better than all the rest of ours anyway.
00:23:55:19 - 00:24:26:02
Speaker 1
Oh thank you. I mean, I haven't written 12 new York Times bestsellers, but, hey, you know, it's yeah, we all have a great story. And and I know, I mean, to to turn ourselves into masterful storytellers, I think is a skill that is neglected in this day and age. When you look at the history of mankind, you know, we the stories will be told on cave walls and, family stories and the rules of a tribe.
00:24:26:02 - 00:24:35:09
Speaker 1
We're told by storytellers to the the new people in the tribe or the people coming up in that tribe and that generations.
00:24:35:09 - 00:24:37:21
Speaker 2
You knew what happened to them, right?
00:24:37:23 - 00:24:47:16
Speaker 1
Exactly. And now we have Google and people suck. It's telling stories. So, I mean, this is a skill I think that leaders need to have. I mean.
00:24:47:19 - 00:25:15:01
Speaker 2
They have to have it. I don't think you can lead effectively in this day and age. in a world in which, emotional connection is required right between, those who lead and those they lead, right. emotional connection is required. And you don't. You show your best connective tissue through story.
00:25:15:02 - 00:25:24:02
Speaker 1
There you go. There's there's the, the punch of the the whole podcast, folks. I mean, it's the importance of this can't be overstated.
00:25:24:04 - 00:25:31:00
Speaker 2
You know, that's why you've been blogging about it for, you know, it seems like every, every other blog recently has been on storytelling.
00:25:31:02 - 00:25:46:02
Speaker 1
It has. And, storytelling is story building and I story building, right? I mean, you tie both of them together so. Well, because you you teach us how to tell the story, but you teach us also how to build this story. And I think that's imperative. I've seen.
00:25:46:04 - 00:26:18:18
Speaker 2
And then I think I think one thing that's that would be a really great next level of that is building a story bank, right? I think one of the things that that that, I argue all time is that any good storyteller should have ten or so stories that they've actually thought enough through, actually created well enough. And as I said, like with the work done story, I can land that story in a lot of different places because your adversity is going to be different than mine or someone else's.
00:26:18:20 - 00:26:38:10
Speaker 2
So how do I tie what work went through to your adversity to make you feel like the story was for you? First off, I have to know what your adversity is, right? That's know your audience. But the second part is I have to have the story built, well enough be able to tell it that I can end it with, you know what?
00:26:38:10 - 00:27:00:16
Speaker 2
Just just as work had to deal with some level of just as his mother said in verse, these promise to all of us. I mean, you know, she probably couldn't have imagined what we're going through right now at, you know, in the, in the real estate industry. you know, I'm, I'm just using, you know, your, your, your homeland is a is a talking point.
00:27:00:18 - 00:27:19:09
Speaker 2
But the idea being, where you go with it, is but having ten or so really good stories in your bank allows you to, in the moment, pull out a really good story that you can use when required.
00:27:19:11 - 00:27:56:15
Speaker 1
That's that's amazing. Build a story bank, folks. I, I have a question about that. Sure. As we wrap up the show here, a lot of people, a lot of leaders come to stage with a self-deprecating story. you know, it seemed, you know, I did this, I did that, I screwed this up. You know, I got caught in that, whatever it might be, I don't know what, what it is I used to, I, I started telling one a while ago when I was a Swat commander, and I remember thinking to myself, I have to connect better with the community because all I was doing is kicking doors and, you know, running
00:27:56:15 - 00:28:14:21
Speaker 1
in and blowing things up and things like that. So I'm thinking, all right, I need to do a little community policing here and, and connect better. And I thought, I'm a big, tough Swat guy, you know, in my uniform. And yet my gun belt on and everything and I, I see this kid standing in his front yard. It was actually in my neighborhood.
00:28:14:21 - 00:28:32:02
Speaker 1
And I'm leaving my neighborhood to go on duty in my police car. And I see this boy standing out there, and he waves at me as I'm driving by. And I wave at him and I stop, and I get out and I walk over like, how are you doing, son? He goes, great. I said, have you ever met a policeman before?
00:28:32:02 - 00:28:51:01
Speaker 1
He goes, no, I haven't. I said, well, it's nice to meet you. And he's like, thanks. And he goes, can I ask you a question? And I go, sure. And I'm like, this is great. You know, maybe this kid's going to tell me where there's a crack house or he's going to tell me what's going on, or he's like, this is really secret.
00:28:51:01 - 00:29:04:02
Speaker 1
I'm thinking, this is really good. And I've been over. I put my hands on my knees and I'm like, you know, you can tell the police anything. He goes, anything. I go, yeah, anything. He goes, your fly's open.
00:29:04:04 - 00:29:18:15
Speaker 1
F like I went from being eight feet tall to about two inches tall there, at that moment. But the humility that I learned at that moment, and it was, it was fascinating because when I was introduced.
00:29:18:15 - 00:29:45:05
Speaker 2
But that's such a great story because whatever room you're in front of you know what often happens, especially if you're on a stage or in front of the room, the vision is you up here and we're down here. Right? So by doing that, you just brought us eye to eye. You just made, you know, but you also you also could finish the story off by checking your fly and actually saying, just wanted to make sure that no one here had the same message for me in that way.
00:29:45:05 - 00:29:57:07
Speaker 2
You kind of have a little joke there and then you get off to. Then you take that story and it allows you to go almost anywhere you want to go, because now you're one of them, right? You're one of the audience. And I.
00:29:57:07 - 00:30:06:19
Speaker 1
Mean, that's that's funny. But you know, what freaks me out is going on stage and thinking is my fly and mean, how do you check this?
00:30:06:21 - 00:30:24:22
Speaker 2
no, I actually did, did an event with a Microsoft leader, and we were talking, is that through teaching a story about how he could make himself. Because he was kind of one of those people that everybody thought of him as quite distant. And he. And he decided to share a story about being at that exact convention center where we were just a couple of years earlier.
00:30:24:22 - 00:30:47:12
Speaker 2
And he was on the phone. He was so he was just. And everybody was imagining him. Yeah, that's the guy, right? He's so busy. But then he talks about and I just had had had to go to the restroom. He goes, but I'm just, you know, I'm locked in this conversation. It's so important, he says. But I make my way in the restroom and I'm look around, go, when did they take the urinals out of the men's room?
00:30:47:14 - 00:31:09:16
Speaker 2
entire room. Got it. Right. But, but it allowed everybody to laugh at this guy and a moment and it and it for many ways, in many ways, it changed the, the dynamic of, of his presentation to the group. So, yes, those kinds of moments when people in of authority can offer something that, that brings them back down to earth.
00:31:09:16 - 00:31:11:16
Speaker 2
It's always, always good.
00:31:11:18 - 00:31:23:03
Speaker 1
I love it, I love it, Don, this has been a wonderful conversation. I have a question. I ask all of the great leaders on start with a win. And that's how do you start your day with a win?
00:31:23:05 - 00:31:42:06
Speaker 2
So for me, I think the most I mean, the most important thing I do in the morning, I love this, is that, you know, when I'm at home, I get a chance to get a get a quick kiss before I get out of bed. My wife is, always that we're. She's quite affectionate. I think that's really important.
00:31:42:08 - 00:32:03:01
Speaker 2
And in the morning, if I'm on the road, the very first thing I do is I always call my my children because I just love them to hear, no matter where I am. that the first and most important thing I think of is them. So it's, it's somewhere it's a family connective moment for me. That's what my win is.
00:32:03:03 - 00:32:18:16
Speaker 2
And, you've probably got many that are far more deep and thoughtful than that, but mine is, because I'm. I feel like I'm a late in life dad. So having a family for me is, is a win.
00:32:18:18 - 00:32:38:03
Speaker 1
That's a huge blessing. And I'm glad you take the opportunity to do that. Don, you're a great human being and a great dad, and it's. You're a great friend. It's an honor and a pleasure to know you. Everybody make sure you check out Don Yeager online at Don Yeager at most of the socials. Of course, you can find his 12 New York Times bestseller sellers online.
00:32:38:03 - 00:32:43:23
Speaker 1
Also, I encourage I more books, buy more books. We need more people reading more often.
00:32:44:01 - 00:32:46:23
Speaker 2
I know that's true, but just read them.
00:32:47:01 - 00:32:56:15
Speaker 1
There you go. Read them. You know, highlight them, put notes in them, things like that. We love it. So anyhow, Don, we appreciate all you do, my friend. It's great to see you again.
00:32:56:17 - 00:33:05:00
Speaker 2
Adam. Thank you. never gets old and I love reading all your work and, and look forward to maybe the next time I get invited back.
00:33:05:02 - 00:33:09:04
Speaker 1
There you go. I look forward to seeing you soon. And thanks for being on. Start with a win.