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Typically the art of mentoring can take several months, but Speed Mentorship optimizes the time needed to get useful and actionable items from today’s top leaders to make you tomorrow’s top leader.
SMP - Episode 4 - Chris Anderson - Short
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Matt McAlear: [00:00:00] Hello, and welcome to another episode of speed mentorship. My name is Matt mcAlear your host Well here on speed mentorship. Our goal is to help you be a leader that others wanna follow. We're gonna do that by interviewing top performers who are world class at what they do. We're going to ask some tough, challenging questions to peer, into their mind to see what makes them unique, successful, and just understand a little bit more about the way that they think.
We know your time's valuable, so we're gonna keep each episode 15 to 20 minutes, make sure it's action packed of rich content. And we wanna make sure that we're adding value to you at the end of the day. Super important that as we go through each one of these episodes, we don't just listen to it and then discard a lot of the stuff that's happened.
We wanna make sure that we are. Challenging ourselves and taking at least one or two takeaways to apply to our leadership, to make it better. It's even better. If you have a team that you're able to go through this with we do this [00:01:00] all the time here at the McAlear group, and there's just a tremendous amount of value.
That we're able to get when we're able to go through this as a team it just builds comradery and ultimately it helps us to be able to dive deeper into the content. And it's funny when you go through this with a team, everybody has a little bit different takeaways but ultimately it ends up spurring really good conversation and good growth.
So with that today's guest is Chris Anderson. He is been a good friend of mine and a really great mentoring coach. I've learned a tremendous amount from this guy and I know today's episode, you guys are gonna get a lot of value out of, so without further ado, let's dive into today's content.
So I'm really excited to dive into today's podcast content. And what I just wanted to open with real quick is just Chris. If you could just share a little bit about your background and who you are and what you do, that would be great.
Chris Anderson: Sure, Matt first thing it starts with family who you marry is a big deal,
Sue was from a very complex family like [00:02:00] me. They were in the road construction business, so they were tough. She was one of 11. And why that was so valuable is she really understood the challenges of family business because she'd seen them. Okay. So that's the first thing. And then we've got three daughters who they're now it's amazing.
They're 36 to 42. And we've been blessed that they've all turned up in Perrysburg. 10 minutes of our house with six grandkids. So in terms of family in that family I'm blessed to have that kind of support and that closeness, and then the broader family, I'm part of a third generation of 55 of us where we were all in the owners, in the business from birth
In terms of my, what I do today, I'm I really have three things going on. It's my coaching business with leaders. Like you. And it's, my focus is primarily family businesses in transition, either lead [00:03:00] generation or the next generation.
I love work in that space cause I've lived it. The second one is I'm I've been working on a book for nine years.
The name of the book. Leaving the family business without leaving the family daring to pursue your own path. So that's the second thing. The third one is this is really exciting as well. We have a family LLC. I'm the oldest of one of the families in that 55. And as part of dad's estate, we put aside some money to invest.
And we invested in a ski company founded by my nephew. They live out in Colorado and switched that at one of the most critical challenging times. And really understood what's going on, has been able to change the direction to where, even though we got all that money in place, we broke through about three years ago and we were making probably 10 to 15% return on equity.
Awesome.
Can I back up for just a minute about where I came from? I [00:04:00] started working. W we had a program, we all grew up on the same place, those fifth 40 of the 55.
And we had a work program. So from an early age, I was learning how to work. We had time cards, we had evaluations. It was. And so I'd learned at that area, just the discipline of hard work and what you can produce then from an early age, like in high school, I started working with a family business.
Worked there. I worked there all the way through high school college, and then I came back after business school and what I bought, what I ultimately ended up being is I was the reverse engineer of problem companies.
So that was, and then on top of that, just to went to business school, and that was really, I went to business school right in the middle of all that. I was able to come in to that and then be able to put apple, apply it
Matt McAlear: to a pretty easy business school, Harvard,
Chris Anderson: Harvard, and you'll get a kick out of this.
I was lucky to get in if you know what I'm saying, but when I got there, the professors [00:05:00] would say some really interesting things to me. And one of them that was most interesting was the management communications person up the professor. She, when we were, she was evaluating us and she said, you're unique in this culture.
People immediately trust you. You've got dirt under your fingernails. Okay. So it was like, and so that was so exciting to hear because in an environment like that, you've got all kinds of talents. You got people from coming all over the world.
And then the other one that I think you would appreciate us w it was in the, it was the business and government in the international economy. The professor came up to me one day, unsolicited. You're going to the people that I've, when I've taught people. You're one of those people that works really hard to bring their framework into my framework.
And I think that's part of the underlying thing of the questions. You can't really appreciate the framework of a talented businessman, unless you really understand their framework. So I'll just, that was the foundation. So the [00:06:00] school was a foundation, as well as the reverse engineering of 10 businesses.
Matt McAlear: I'm just fascinated with like your journey in, on the business front, and even just from a business coach perspective, one of the things I've really appreciated about you just in general is there's a humility about you, but there's such a deep well of wisdom.
Cause like you said, family businesses, they're all complicated, they're all unique. There's all kinds of different stuff going on. And I don't think you can just jump in right away and, understand there's a lot more but behind the veil and I think you do a really good job at peering in and asking some of those good questions,
the first question that I had was, what would you say is your top most successful habits? And
Chris Anderson: The first one is just a bias questions before he answers. The it's things in my mind, or what I say to myself is what's really important. That's the first one. The second one is what is this experience or person trying to teach [00:07:00] me? K. So it's people when people say stuff to me that rattles me, what's causing me to get rattled or, oh, this is the perfect timing for this because I trust this person.
So it's immediately, you are able to ask the trust question, which is first, do I trust myself to be able to deal with this with calm and really live. And if I do, is there something else going on for that person where it's projection onto me?
Matt McAlear: That's good stuff. I'm always trying to work on as well as just to be able to take what somebody's saying and not to get, not to put it through your filter, but try and understand it through their filter and really be able to process that stuff.
I think that's really difficult to do. From a weakness standpoint, what would you say are your biggest weaknesses and share your weaknesses? That's cool that's great to understand what those are, but I think more importantly is how do you cope and handle and do you try and improve them or do you just not worry about them?
What are, how do you [00:08:00] navigate that area?
Chris Anderson: I like to talk about those within the context of my unique ability. So it's unique ability and so you have a unique ability, but then what are the blind spots. That you w what with, who were the people that would really be able to tap those blind spots, where the team comes together with unique abilities that I compliment theirs, they compliment mine.
My ability to take the long view when other people are taking the short view
and then the other one is able to provoke conversations that are not being had K? And the reality of that is if you're really talented at the long view, the weakness or the opportunity is with the short view.
Matt McAlear: Yeah, so you're essentially saying, you're trying to, you're trying to find other people that compliment, where you would have a weakness would be a strength of theirs in whatever aspect. And you're trying to hone in to each one of those [00:09:00] individuals. So you can see how you can continue to play to your strengths.
So let's move to another one, which is ego. Another really important one. None of us have ego, right? None of us, we don't get any, that's not a big deal, obviously all of us have ego to varying levels.
How do you manage your ego on a daily basis and keep it in check. Do you have certain things that you do triggers that happen when you start to see it get out of whack?
Chris Anderson: I love the word trigger.
Ego and gets a bad rap. Okay. So there's that there is a good ego. So ego, the underlying thing of ego is itself. That your sense itself, regardless of context.
Matt McAlear: Explain, explain that a little bit. Ego is your sense of self.
Chris Anderson: If you don't have any ego You're a , you're a lump a dirt.
Matt McAlear: Okay. Okay. Yeah, I get what you're saying.
Chris Anderson: And so it's everybody's got an ego and that's what is my uniqueness on this planet? [00:10:00] And can I find a place where that works? Okay. So that's just been my perspective on myself. And then it's a matter of though the world is in my estimation, the world is about bringing different egos together and ultimately finding a group of egos that helps people see within their ego, the beauty and the genius that's buried in them.
Matt McAlear: That's interesting.
So kind of switching gears a little bit what are some of the biggest challenges that you faced in any of the different companies or things that you've been associated with and how did you handle some of those challenges?
Chris Anderson: So this was a, it was a pet supplies company, distribution company in Texas, Louisiana, and California. And we acquired that. So I, that was one of my first assignments.
And I basically came in with just the opposite of what we're talking about, came in right away with all the answers. And it was already [00:11:00] really screwed up. And all I did was added to the screw up. I continued to work with the same management team.
And then we were at a point in our company's history where our ability to, we. Our ability to control cash. Wasn't quite what it could have been. We were funding that thing, hoping we could work out of the hole because we were working with one of our biggest suppliers who was talking about we're going to consolidate the whole industry and we think you're going to be the one.
So we had where there was a cash issue. There was a management issue, and then there was an industry issue and any situation that you've got like that the most important thing you do right away is get a numbers guy involved, or a numbers, gal.
It's not a controller and it's not a CFO. It's somebody that really understands all that and can really get the attention of leadership to wherever. And that person has a grasp of operations and marketing and can talk to [00:12:00] all of them and show how finance impacts that.
Okay. Not having a numbers guy that was truly involved til longer than it took. It was too late. And then believing the market are our biggest supplier that somehow they were going to do that to us.
oh, there was a fourth one, which is We have a culture here at Anderson's of, we want to treat everybody fairly, but at the same time, that can easily be, we're gonna, we're gonna we're gonna patronize it. We're going to, we're not going to hurt you.
I stepped back and I say pick your choice, which one did I screw up on?
All four. Okay.
The board member they're turned over to me. This guy was named Wren MacPherson.
He had run the Dana corporation. Matt, it was when we, when I finally made the recommendation, we gotta close this down. After I said it at the board meeting, Wren comes up to me and this guy was dynamic as hell.
And he gets about that far from my nose and he goes, how long did it take? How long were you on the ground before you knew you had something pretty [00:13:00] shitty? And I got. Probably three months and how long before you, he goes three years and he goes, what do they, what do you call that when you get that sense at that early stage?
And he says, I said, I don't know, by the way, my throat was dry, and I'm sweating like hell. And he goes, what is that called? When you're getting that sense. And I go, I don't know when he goes intuition, use it!,
So
Matt McAlear: solid But I mean, we've all been there and we've all been through experiences like that. And you hate to go through it at the time, but that's how you learn. That's the only way and people that are, they have this perfectionist mentality. A lot of times they're too afraid to put themselves out there to make some of these mistakes.
Although it's tough to do. It's that's the only way that you're going to, I like,
Chris Anderson: I like to [00:14:00] say hide like this. I oughta Sue Harvard business school for malpractice.
Matt McAlear: It was so good. So good.
Last couple of questions I got for ya. How much coaching time should you spend with your direct reports?
Obviously you have you only have so much influence in the organization and, by far the biggest influence you have is with the people that you're meeting with directly. How do you maximize those meeting times and how frequently should they be? How much time do you spend meeting with those individuals?
Chris Anderson: The thing I'll say first, Matt is at least coaching, at least in a position like in a senior leader position, you have the, most of your coaching, at least 50% of them is just in the way you behave. You are the shadow of the organization and just by the way you carry yourself, you're coaching like, hell
Matt McAlear: That's good. That's really good.
Chris Anderson: Okay. Then the second one is, if you're doing the work. You've [00:15:00] got two things. You've got a sense of what they need to learn and you got a sense of what they're teaching you.
Okay. So coaching is as much as creating it's as much about it's really about creating a setting where both of you were learning at the same time you're teaching. So it's a magic that it has more to do with intent and your trust in each other, in terms of just you trust each other as people, as well as there's a shared complimentary competence
And the other thing is with the kind of talent you've surrounded yourself with, I think you'd want to ask them what is the, what, how can I best help you? How often do you think we should meet? Where should we meet?
Just put it back on them. How would you like me? What are your insights? You don't have to go with it, but what are your insights and how I can be most effective?
Matt McAlear: And I totally agree with you too. Cause like you said, if you're hiring good people, you're attracting good people.
There's times where [00:16:00] I think you have to be more direct in a certain scenario where, it was out of line, but those are the exceptions. Nine times out of 10 that's you don't have to worry about that at the focus on the daily stuff. And it's a fun journey that we're on together that we both get to figure out how to solve.
Chris Anderson: Where you've talked before, about one of the critical parts.
Your culture is ability to have direct tough discussions. Okay. So that goes both ways. If I'm the coach and I've got a client who wants to give me some direct feedback, I'm looking for that. Okay. Same thing for me with a client, but I'm in a different place where that is, that tool is very rarely used.
Okay. So that modeling that we've talked about, that's why I love having that in your culture
Matt McAlear: And then final question is in general, what kind of advice do you have for the next generation?
Chris Anderson: Biggest decision you ever make in your life [00:17:00] is your spouse. Okay.
I won the lottery. Second, you're not going to get tired of this as questions before he answers. Third one, is it. When you come to a fork in the road is draw out the different alternatives. Okay. Get disciplined at drawing out those alternatives, just see them on paper and then let them sit for awhile.
And then you start talking about, you start talking about just in your mind, what are the different obstacles to why that won't work? Yeah. Okay. And then you just like that sit. And what I found with that is, first of all, it just gives you another clarity about everything that's floating around in your mind.
Okay. Then when you start doing that and you start seeing the complexity and being able to get more comfortable with it, unique new things, start to pop out of what you did, what you thought was obvious. And one of the biggest questions in there is what are the second or third order consequences [00:18:00] of this particular decision.
Matt McAlear: Hey, I appreciate you being on the podcast. It's been great to laugh and just chat and learn together, man. So thanks for stopping on here.
Chris Anderson: Oh, you're welcome.
Matt McAlear: Well, hopefully you guys found value in today's episode. I know I did my number one takeaway as I was going through and editing some of this. stuff was actually on the section of ego. It was really interesting to think about there being a positive aspect of ego, and it can be a sense of self in a way that is natural and good.
And of course there's still a negative aspect of ego, but that kind of was a really good perspective and paradigm shift for me. And since Ended up recording this. I've been able to actually apply that in a few different areas, which has been pretty cool. I'd love to hear your guys' number one, takeaway feel free to comment or drop us line.
Also, always looking to get better. If there's other questions you'd like to hear us ask guests feel free to post that on there and I'll do my best to add them in the next upcoming guest that we have here on speed mentorship. If you guys did find value in this, I'd [00:19:00] love it. If you could rate us, review us and subscribe that would be very helpful.
And with that, thanks for being a part of our leadership network. And look forward to seeing you guys on the next episode.