EntreLeadership - #186: Bob Beaudine—The Power of Relationships

Episode Date: February 13, 2017

Remember the days of going to local events, handing out cards, and hoping to grab some new business? This week’s guest, Bob Beaudine, believes this kind of networking is not viable anymore because you already know everyone you need to—and it starts with your friends. As CEO of Eastman & Beaudine, Bob manages the nation’s leading executive search firm in sports/entertainment. Also on the show, Daniel Tardy, vice president of EntreLeadership, joins us to share some advice for small-business owners. entreleadership.com/podcast Summit Registration DISC Cheat Sheet Infusionsoft's 2017 Marketing Trends Report AMA Article Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

helping business leaders grow themselves, their team, and their profits. This is the Entree Leadership Podcast. Now, here is your host, Ken Coleman. Broadcasting from the Music City, this is the podcast of leaders by leaders, for leaders. Welcome. If you're new to what we think is a fantastic conversation, here's what's coming to you. Our feature conversation is with a guy by the name of Bob Bodine,

and I know you probably haven't heard of him. In fact, Sports Illustrated said he was the most influential individual in sports that you haven't heard of. Now, this is not a sports conversation at all. So if you're not a sports fan, relax. But this is unbelievable. We're going to talk about a book he wrote called The Power of Who. You already know everyone you need to know, and we talk about so much more. This guy gets paid big bucks to find high-level coaches and ADs.

for big time programs. This is about leadership. This is a guy that's looking for the best leaders in the industry. You're going to learn a lot from this as a small business leader when it comes to hiring and recruiting. It's going to be fun. And then we're going to talk about our tool. And actually, it's a great resource that we sell all the time, our disc kit that we sell throughout our Entree leadership world. And we've got a cheat sheet tool that will help you maximize that. And I'm excited to have Daniel Tarty, the VP of Entree leadership. It's rare that we get him in studio. He's coming by for a fun conversation. And of course, Infusuf has a a great free tool for you as well. So that's what's coming to you.

Well, folks, here we are at the beginning of the year. And I thought it would be fun. I talked to Eric, the producer, Will the engineer. We huddled about this and we said, all right, let's try this. And I thought, let's get a state of the union type situation from our Entree leadership, Grand Puba, Daniel Tarty, VP of Entree leadership. And here's where we're going with this. The reality is, is that we're bringing you a podcast every week, right? And then every once in a while we tell you about our live events, we tell you about all access and all the things. we're out there doing. But the reality is what you probably don't realize is that every day, eight hours a day minimum, Daniel Tarty and his amazing team are out there talking to people.

That means they're over the web, they're at our live events talking to folks, they're on the phones in the office talking to real leaders like you. And I thought it would be fun to have Daniel in it since every year the president gives a state of the union kind of at the first a year. I thought we'd have a conversation instead of a speech. So here he is, the grand Poova, Daniel Tarty in studio. Thanks for coming by, buddy. Hey, man. Thanks for having me. This is great. All right. So I'm putting you on the spot. You're out there. You're leading a team and we are in the trenches all the time talking to real men and women who are entree leaders. And I thought it would be encouraging, informing, and insightful to kind of get an idea of what you're hearing, what you're seeing.

So when you talk to people in our tribe right now, give us a sense for some of the things you and our team is hearing. Ken, here's the thing, man. We get on the phone all the time and we talk to real business owners in the trenches who are out there doing it. We're not reading articles about the state of small business in our country. We're not reading statistics. We're not calling up the business schools and going what do you think's going on? We're talking to business owners. We're a human to human organization. We care about the heart and the soul of the business owner that's in the trenches. And you know what? Here's what we're hearing. We're hearing business owners going, hey, if I'm being honest, I feel stuck. I need a breakthrough. Wow. Really? So like when we, okay, so when you hear that,

And our team hears that. I hear, I hear, I'm, they're stuck. What are we saying to them? How are we helping them get unstuck? What are we saying is, all right, here's some of the things that are causing you to be stuck. Well, you start thinking about how did you get here? Well, you started growing something. You were really good at it.

Growth led to more growth, which led to bigger problems. You solve those problems. Then you finally get this problem staring at you and you're going, wow, I started this thing five years ago. I started this thing 10 years ago. And I didn't anticipate this kind of an issue. And I don't really know what to do about it. And the reality is that's business. None of us know what to do about our biggest problem by ourselves.

And that's the key. When we try to do it by ourselves, we get stuck. When we're isolated and we don't have a resource or a cheerleader going, hey, I've been there. I've crushed that problem before. Here's how you do it. All of a sudden, something that's a 30-second solution is right in front of you. All right. Now, you just said a word I want to lock in on.

You said isolated. Is that a big part of them being stuck? Do you hear that? you see that or you're able to diagnose it and say, yeah, you're isolated. I think that's a big issue. Kim, we've talked to tens of thousands of business owners. The ones who win are the ones who aren't isolated. The ones who eventually flounder are the ones who stay all alone in their thoughts and their fears and their doubts and their biggest problem they're trying to solve. Think about it. Something that is just a 30 second answer that's the breakthrough, that's the solution, the tool,

the technique, whatever that thing is, it may be 30 seconds, 60 seconds of someone who's been there before going, oh, this is all you got to do. It might take you three to five years to figure that out if you're doing it all by yourself. That's right. Because you just simply can't see it. Right. And so you bump into somebody who may be in a completely different industry, but has had the same issue like you just said. Exactly. Hello. And so, okay, what are some practical steps to break out of isolation? Well, first you've got to break the thinking pattern that when I solve this problem, it's going to be fine. When I get caught up, it'll be fine. When I get through the new year, or when I get through this billing cycle, or when we recover from the fact that we just lost our

biggest customer will be fine. Guess what? You're never caught up. And when you solve your biggest problem you've got in front of you today, guess what your reward is? You get a bigger problem to solve. And so once you acknowledge, hey, this is just the reality. This is business. This is life as an entrepreneur and a leader. I'm always going to get a bigger problem that's out there in front of me. You start to go, man, I need a team. I need people around me that are going to be cheering for me, that are going to give me solutions. I can't afford to go on my own smarts, my own intellect, my own IQ. It's not enough to win at a huge level, at least at the level where I've got hopes and dreams and passion to get to a new place. What would you tell them to do? Get out of the isolation. Get plugged

into a community where you got content, you got coaching, you've got tools and resources, get to an event, read a book, meet somebody you haven't met before, quit working through lunch and go to lunch with another leader and sit down and go, hey, I don't know if you've been through this or not, but I'm sitting here with a yellow pad ready to take notes on whatever you're telling me. And And not any one particular one of those things is going to be the end-all be-all in terms of getting that breakthrough. But if you will make it a habit of doing that consistently every week, every month, every year, doing big things that are going to get you out of the isolation, you're going to have those breakthroughs over time. You'll build momentum and you'll get results. Yeah, there is something catalytic about being in a room of like-minded people.

Do you agree with that? Yeah, absolutely. I can look back on my career, my growth as a leader. And every year, I've been able to get two events and conferences that gave you. me new information and I go, all right, why were those things the catalytic moment that gave me that breakthrough? And I think it comes down to an event has a way of doing three things that really nothing else really can. It puts you in an environment where you're changing your thinking. You're getting tons of content that whatever that speaker's talking about is coming into your

head in a way that you just normally aren't absorbing getting a little sound bites throughout the day to day. You're changing your environment. So you're in a state where you're not in the trenches and all the weeds of what's going on in your business, but you're above at all. And then you're surrounded by people who are passionate and excited about winning. I agree with that. I think you need to be looking at conferences out there, folks, not just ours, but you need to be going, what ones do I need to be going to? Because here's something great about it. All the things you just said, plus you get away for a few days and you get some fresh perspective, then you come back into your environment. It's really huge. All right, I wanted to get this little state of the union thing, and I love

this isolation issue. I want to dive into this, Eric the producer. I want us to do more on the podcast on this issue since that's what we're hearing. And I don't want to turn this into an event commercial, but I've got you in here. All right, folks, so stay with me on this. I want from your perspective, since I've got you in here, I tell these people about our events all the time. All right, Summit, I tell them about Entree Leadership One Day, the Master Series. I host these things. I just want your perspective. Get real quick on each of those events, 30 seconds on each, why should someone consider coming to any one of those three or all of them? The one day event we designed that you can get your team to it, you can get a lot of people

there from your organization, get them fired up. It's an easy way to kind of kick the tires with entree leadership and check it out. The summit event, our team is so proud of this event, Ken. We work so hard. We put so many hours into going, how can we make this something that every business owner who comes to this event will walk away going, this changes everything? That's what we care about. We don't. celebrate the win when you buy a ticket and we get the money and we go, hey, we made a sale. That is not, that's the starting line. The finish line is not the event.

It's two years after the event when you're calling us going, I went to that event, I went back and I did these things. Here's what happened in our business as a result. And I don't know that we would have achieved that had we not come to that event. We are so proud of what we put into these events. Our team spends countless hours going, how do we make it a notch above anything that our guest could possibly have been to before? in their life. And that's our gold standard. That's just what we strive for all the time. And that's

why we have the reputation of having events, you know, that changed lives at the level that they do. Well, here's the deal, folks. I'm going to let Daniel go here. But before I do, real quick, of course, we've got a great slate of events coming to you in 2017. I've been telling you about the mothership event. It's our Entree Leadership Summit. If you're new to the podcast, welcome aboard. This event is, I believe, the premier event in America when it comes to a business leadership events, May 21 through 24. At the state, stunning J.W. Marriott Hotel in Orlando. Dave Ramsey, of course, is our host of the event, and he's brought in Robert Hershevec from

Shark Tank, Simon Seneca, you know so well if you've been listening to this podcast for any amount of time. Legendary Coach Lou Holtz, the leadership guru himself and my former mentor and boss, John Maxwell, Pat Lynchione, and Chris Hogan and Christy Wright from our team. This is going to be three days of absolute drinking from a fire hydrant. Let me just give you that image. Imagine just cranking open a fire hydrant and your face is two inches from it and you're just right in your face. That's what Entree Leaders of Summit is like. That's what it sounds like. It sounds exactly like that. That's what's going on in your head when you go back to the room at night. And I know this because I'm out there with these guys and introducing it and I'm taking notes as well. And let me just say this.

If you're a big part of the tribe and you say, you know what, I could use this and I'd like to come to an event, come on, man. We'd love to see you. It's big fun. We love our podcast community. It's just in Irvine, California for one of our smart money events, not even an Ontario leadership event. And I had Daniel at least 10 or 12 people come up to me and say, Ken, listen to the Ontario Leadership podcast all the time. Thanks for what you guys do. And so we love the culture that we, you know, we talk to people every week. So come on out and see us. Our team is here to assist you. The best way to get in direct contact with them is to text Summit 17. Summit 17, all one word, jam together. Summit with the number 17. Summit 17.

text that to 33444. Text it to 33444. Or you can go get the link, download the link, in the show notes of this episode. Our advisors are ready. They can answer any and all questions for you. They can even give you the special podcast rate. Tell them Ken said so, and they'll take good care of you. So just do that.

Daniel Tarty. Thanks for being with us. And Daniel's at the events. And I've seen you out in the lobby from time and time, just doing a little impromptu mentoring session. How about that? You like me putting that out there? Yeah.

Yeah, you like that? Let's do it. I love that. That's my favorite thing. Talking to small business owners. And here's the last thing I'll say, make a decision to do something. I hope it's coming to this event. We're very proud of it.

But if you're not doing something different, you're not going to get different results. And so if you're listening to this going, man, something in this resonates with me. I know there's a better future. I know there's a way to get unstuck. Make the time to figure out what that thing is. Maybe it's a book you read. Maybe it's somebody you take to lunch and has some. questions. Hopefully you come to our event. We'd love that to be the case. But if you don't,

please don't go it alone. Find a buddy. Figure out a way to enjoy the journey because you've got a team around you who's cheering for you and who's going to help you win. And here's a deal. We're giving you the podcast listener break. So there you go. What else do you need? Come on. Let's see you out there on the road. It'll be big fun. Daniel Tarty, thanks for being with. It's always good to have the Grand Puba in the studio. All right, folks, I mentioned the February tool from Infusion Soft, and it is our 2017 Small Business Marketing Trends Report. Now, Daniel Tarty talked a lot about development just now and how important it is. And InfusionSoft was a partner for our very first summit event, incidentally.

So these folks get what we're about, and that's why they are the only people, really, you hear from on this podcast outside of our world. We do business with them. We use their tools, and they have helped thousands upon thousands of Entree Leadership podcast listeners and tribe members grow their business. So their tool this month is the Small Business Marketing Trends Report. Now, in October 2016, to give you context for this, they surveyed 1,000 small business owners from across the U.S. And some big returns on that survey was that many small business owners aren't ready for the digital revolution. It is already happening. You can't stop it.

Just chew on this for a second. Nearly one in five small business owners, that 17% don't plan or have a plan to use any digital marketing in 2017. Now, I'm going to tell you something, folks. there's no need to panic over that, but that may be you. And that's a challenge. You are going to be left in the dust. The average small business marketing strategy is not diversified, and this survey brought them marketing trends,

and they put it together in report, and so it's going to actually help you with goals. It's going to help you see what your challenges are, where your weaknesses are. It's going to reveal some tactics, help you figure out your priorities. It's going to show you some trends, and here's the best part of this report, in my opinion.

I've looked at it, it's amazing. It's going to help you see and identify the right opportunities. Clarity, clarity, clarity. It's huge for the small business leader. It's huge for any leader. What are your opportunities? That is a game changer. You can get it free at infusionsoft.com slash 2017 trends.

Infusionsoft.com slash 2017 trends. And of course, you could always get the link. in the show notes. All right, speaking of great resources, the Entry leadership team for a long time has sold the disc kit at our live events and, of course, online, and as you're listening to this, and you've never employed the disc kit and you want to get it, the link is in this episode, show notes, you can get it with just one click. But we're such a big believer in this, and I've mentioned this from time to time, so I want to set this up so you understand this resource we're giving away for free, because I think every one of you listening has got to get this.

I'm going to tell you why in just a moment. Now, let me tell you this. We believe in this so much Ramsey Solutions, every team member, almost 600 now, if you go to their desk or wherever they work, they've got this little 8.5 by 11 sheet that's plastered somewhere on their desk or wall or whatever, and it shows their disc profile, the D, the I, the S, and the C. And just to give you that breakdown, it's D is for decisive, I is for interactive, S is for stabilizing, C is for cautious, and what it does is it breaks it down. Now, I doubt there's anybody on this podcast I was listening right now, it hasn't been somehow exposed to a personality profile test. That's what we're talking about.

But the tool we're giving makes it come alive. Okay? So that's what we're talking about. And it's unlocking the secrets of how your team ticks. That's what our tool is. Now, here's the deal. I want to set this up for you. I want to make sure you don't move on past this.

The team did some research. Eric, the producer, Will the engineer, pulled some information from the American Management Association. great article from them and here's one piece of data that I want you to lock on the research shows that between 20 and 25% of an individual employee's effectiveness on the job is directly attributed to his or her personality so why is that important because when you've got a personality assessment on everybody on your team you're able to predict or at least anticipate job performance in a way that is not a person. not fuzzy. You just have a sense. This person is wired this way, so I've got some real clarity when things arise in the building.

So let me give an example. How would you use this as a leader? Let's talk about hiring. In the hiring process, and we do this at Ramsey Solutions, you need to have applicants take a profile test. They just need to take it and give it to you. You need to know who you're dealing with.

Resumies fine, all the things that they've done in the past. past skills and experience, that's great. But you need to know who you are considering. I mean, really crack them open. And so you need to know, these personality profiles, they help you understand how people respond to stress, how they respond in this situation, how do you best communicate with them? This is important, especially when you're trying to get them on the right seat on the bus. So this is an unbelievable application for hiring. Second, assimilating. It's not enough to hire the right person. You got to do a good job assimilating them into.

their role. And so the disc becomes this unbelievable starting point. Go back and look at it. How do they do with new things? How do they handle new people? Right? Are they more introverted? Do they get great energy out of people? These are all things you need to know. It helps you assimilate them. Third, change. Any growing company is going to have a certain level of change, right? It's going to be consistent. Growth equals change. You cannot grow without change. How does this person handle change? How does your team handle change? You got a big change coming in one team.

Think about it as a leader. If you could sit down with this tool we're giving you, look at their disc profiles and go, okay, all right. These people who are on this team are going to handle it really well. So I don't have to do as much vision casting. I just can say, this is where we're going, and they're going to be like,

whoo, let's go. Why are we moving? That's me. You have some other people in team and be like, oh, I need to sit down and talk about it. I need to share my feelings as to how I feel about this change. You get what I'm saying. You're chuckling probably because Will the engineer and Eric the producer are chuckling behind the glass. But that's how you use this.

Let's look at one more, developing. Leaders, listen to me. The two core components of leadership is are you developing yourself and are you developing others? I'm going to say it again. two of your greatest responsibilities as a leader is are you developing yourself and are you developing others? This tool will help you make a disc assessment come alive so that you can develop your team. So there it is. You can use it for hiring, assimilating, helping with change, and developing others.

It is an amazing, amazing tool. It's the disc cheat sheet. Here's how you get it. Two ways. text the word, EL disk. I know that's not a word, but we make it a word.

That's what you text. EL disc to 33444. Text EL disc to 33444 or, and this is fun, you can just simply go to Entreeleadership.com slash podcast, go to this episode,

and Eric, the producer, has a link for you to download it. Now, here's the deal. You're sitting there going, okay, Ken, I've never employed the disc. I don't have the disc, not a problem. We have a link in the show notes,

As I mentioned, with one click, you can buy it, and you can start making it happen with your team, and you'll want this free tool with it. And again, if you've already done it, you're already there. But you need the cheat sheet. It'll help you actually make it come alive. So there you go. Text EL Disc to 33444 or go to our show notes and download it with the link. All right, folks, our feature interviews with Bob Boudin, and I talked a little bit about him at the top of the podcast.

I won't say much more because I want to get you to the good stuff. this conversation is amazing. You're going to hear a guy who has got charisma in spades, a phenomenal connector of people. And we're going to address this issue of networking and what, you know, I just can't stand that word, you know what I mean? But how do you really leverage relationships? We break this thing down. And this is so huge. Let me point this out. There's a part of this conversation where I think you're going to need to pause it, write some things down, rewind it, listen to it two, maybe three times, and here's why. Because I'm talking to a lot of small business owners and leaders.

You don't have crazy resources. I'm talking to a lot of personal growth junkies who have a passion for living out their calling and significance. You want to make a dent with your life. You don't want to go to eternity and have left a lot in the tank. That's who I'm talking to. That's what we know from our survey. And I think this conversation, the power of who, you already know everyone you need to know.

That's the title of the book. Let me tell you something. This is a game changer. It'll help you with fear. It'll help you with doubt. It'll help you with discouragement. Because you can look back and go, wait a second. I know everyone I need to know what's my problem.

I'm telling you, ask Will, will be. engineer and Eric the producer. When this interview was done, I literally floated out of the studio. It was unbelievable. I was levitating because this has been true for me in my life. And I'm going to tell you something. I read a book when I'm 17 years old by Harvey McKay entitled Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty. It's one of my top ten books all time. I've recommended it to so many young people. I believe the power of who. You already know everyone you need to know is equal to that book. And I'm now adding it to my top ten list because I think this knowledge turned into practical wisdom and how you relate to people

is some of the most valuable stuff you will ever hear in your life. Without any further ado, here's my conversation with Bob Bodine. Well, this is a real treat, folks, because rarely with the people that we interviewed, do we get our guest in studio. So sitting away about three feet away is Bob Bodine. And Bob, this is so much fun. I want to spend a lot of our time on the power of who. But I also want to spend a good portion of our conversation on the idea of

recruiting talent and more importantly putting talent in the right place because we've got a lot of small business leaders who many times that's the most critical decision they'll make when they've got a staff of six it really matters even if it's a staff of 6,000 so we're going to go there but before we dive into the book and that I want you in your words to describe your role when these big time universities are coming to you and they're saying Bob we need a coach we need an athletic director and these decisions are momentous I mean we're talking millions and millions of dollars in the balance. Talk about that unique role of your firm. So a university or any major company or a pro team, they have to find the one person.

That at the end of a year, they're like high-fiving you, like this was the greatest hire they ever did. And there's a demonstrated a record of achievement that they got to do to get there. And so a lot of this has to do with a company or a university as an athletic director program, You've got to sit with them and first find out what it is that they're really looking for. You know, they have job descriptions, and they have all this stuff, and they put so much stuff down on the job description that they forget what the heck they're looking for. So I try to remind them, let's start with an opposite of paradox thought. What would the greatest people in the country want in this job that you have rather than the other way? And here's it.

They're looking for five things. So this is right off the bat. If you're a candidate looking for a job, you're the hiring agent looking for something, you want to have these things in place. And first, they want to come to an environment first where they're celebrated and not tolerated. Well, that's a big deal right there. This is about personal. So you've got to find people you love.

You know, I don't think you can be successful at what you like. You know, today people should do a job they love with people they love and a place they love where their family loves and they can do it for the right reasons. But you and I both know that most people, they love the job, they hate the people, love the people, hate the job, love the job, hate the city. And so somewhere along the line, we got trouble. So the first thing that everybody should do is talk about people. And the way it is, you've created this culture that everyone loves each other. Why?

That we can be so much more productive if I'm for you. Okay? So number two is, I really got to have something where we got tools. And so what tools are you telling the candidate that you got for you? them. Is there a growth program here? Is there continuing education? Is there staff? Is there a budget? Is there something that you're going to do that's going to help them achieve this? And a lot of times when you take over a program that has no facilities, no real capability of going out in recruiting, no ability to do something, and you have high expectation. I like to win the conference and you're the lowest budget, you know,

that's going to be hard pressed for you to do it. And so I got to have someone who also says that if I'm going to try to reach here, then I'm going to help and support you to get there. And so I'm evaluating. So one, you've got to have people, two, you've got to have a budget. Three, it's really got to be good for your family. You know, so many people overlook this aspect is, I'm going to move to this town. I have never been there. All these jobs and everything you're doing happen really fast. And so you got to have a connect. And so many people spend so much time on the talent reason that, hey, you know, I'm going to get somebody because they got great what, what I call the what factors. But if talent was the reason everyone got jobs, how do we have Congress and Senate?

Yeah. Oh, boy, that's the truth. Hello. Boy, that's on target. Do what you want with that. Yeah. So you can't say, I'm going to move into a job just because I need this job and I want this job, but I'm not going to talk to my wife about it. I'm not going to talk about the fact that my kids are juniors in high school and I have just ruined their entire life or I just had twins and grandma and grandpa aren't going to be here. No one talks about this stuff. Four, I want to create a legacy. So how am I going to get to the championship? Because I want that. And I want us all to be on the same page.

And I'm going to put a process into place. And last, I want to be paid well. So if I can get these five things into place and now I can build a job description around that, I as an executive recruiter can go out and find the personal qualities that are going to transcend the technical. I'm going to find the leadership. I'm going to find the passion and all this stuff. And a lot of times, you know, a lot of people can't get passionate if you didn't start a little bit with the what. That's so true.

All right. So that's a snapshot. Now, we're going to get back into that, okay, and you're going to have a world-class recruiter, okay, who's helping the fit on both sides, the candidate and the job be filled. And we're going to talk and help you out as a small business owner, somebody who's making decision on talent, what are you looking for? And then if you're looking to move up the ladder, Bob's going to give you great advice there. You already got a great snapshot. But before we do that, I want to dive into what I believe is one of the most powerful books when it comes to your future and connecting. and it's entitled the power of who.

You already know everyone you need to know. Now, we're going to unpack that subtitle because that's a huge thought. Maybe the biggest thought in the book. But Bob, here's what's great about this book because so many people, we've got a bunch of go-getters that are listening in here and they want to go get it. And I think, oh, I got a network, I've got a network, and I network. And I hate that word. And I think you probably do, too, based on what I read.

And so here's where we're going to start. It's not about the network, is what you simply say. And I'm going to fast forward to first chapter. and you introduce this idea of a who friend, okay? And there's a great power in a who friend. So I want you to describe it. What is a who friend? So even when people were talking about the power of who,

that kind of confused them. They were all worried about that. And I said, so I would have called it the power of relationship or friendship, but we have 5,000 people on Facebook are our best friends. That's right. So we have no idea about what friendship is. That's right. I mean, we're just texting people,

and most people are graduating college, going to go out and do a LinkedIn strategy, right? To a bunch of people we don't know. And they don't have to know anything, but they're going to want me. Oh, sure. They're going to help me out. They're going to get me the job of my dreams. And like, I'm just going to do this out of nowhere. And I'm going to get on Match.com and find my dream mate. All of this stuff is crazy. Who? I pick that word because these are the people who matter most in your life. Seriously. So you're a person who is a who. A friend's are just totally different than acquaintances. Friends help you now. Acquaintances wish you Well, it's so good. Come on. That's it. A friend is someone who knows the song in your heart.

Oh, I like that. They can sing it back to you when you've forgotten the words. Isn't that huge? The idea that they've got the melody even when we've drowned it out. Right. And our own heads and hearts, heavy, something's going on. We can't remember how the tune goes. Wow. We've gone through a process and there's so much issues. It's really interesting when you look at the top 1% they do everything totally different than the rest. That's right. Okay. What do they do? Well, first, off, they had good mentors. They had actually good education. They actually didn't buy into this world system called networking. Networking. Let me get this correct. Is that like face this website, handing out business cards to strangers? Right. Sending dear recruiter letters. I get 52,000 resumes a year.

Yikes. Dear sir, to whom it may concern, dear recruiter. Now, dear recruiter, that's an oxymor, right? Right. I don't know you. It's so true. Come on. Seriously, you'd send in your stuff. I get coaches. They're going to send me in some aspects of like videos of themselves. I'm not watching your video. I mean, I don't know who you are. That's exactly right. You have to know someone who knows another person. 87% of all jobs are placed by one friend.

Wow. Why? Well, because references, endorsements and testimonials are your greatest allies. Exactly right. So you'd actually go with someone you didn't know. So we've been taught at businesses, small businesses all over the country, that friends in business are taboo. Right. So let me get this correct.

We're supposed to work with people. we don't know and don't trust. Right. I hope it works out. You know, made off strategies, Ponzi schemes. No, listen. No, I have to know someone who knows you. That's right. And I mean, where you and I were talking before we even got in about friends of yours who are other coaches. They have a much better chance of getting this job just because they know you and you and I know each other. And as a result, there's some qualified aspect here. So friends have to play a key role. But we've been also taught not to talk to our moms and our dads. We're not going to have our, All the people were given. No, I'm going to hit you square between the mouth. Here it is.

You already know everyone you need to know. Yeah, that's the thought. So the idea of discovering that. And not just hearing you say that, because we got some cynics. So let's hit, I love the phrase, hit him in the mouth. Yeah. Got some cynics right now going, Bob, I got to tell you something. I don't know a whole lot of people. And the people I know, I don't think they know a whole lot of people. Right. That's cynic. And let's address that because you say we already know everyone we need to know. does that mean? What's that look like? How do we start from square one if we believe that's true? So in life, you were given some specific people in your life to help you in ways you never imagined. And those people aren't happenstance acquaintances. You're not going to find it from some crazy thing out here. What you had to do is I have to first start and say, who are my friends?

So if you had 100 friends, Ken, and I have 100 friends, well, we don't have 200. We have 10,000. Your friends have friends. And a woman said to me, she goes, well, what if all your friends are losers. And I go and I said, come on, Mary. I said, your friends have friends. The answer is because that person's going through a tough time, it's kind of like that old commercial where they had all these people behind him in the network on the telephone thing. Yes, I remember that. And so the issue is, is your friends have friends. And all you need out of this aspect for your next job is one. So I can tell you stories after stories. In fact, here's one. I did a college. I'm talking to someone and the kid, I say, look, if you want me to sign your book when you're done, Power Who, I'll meet with you and you can tell me your dream in one minute and I'll give you some thoughts. I can tell you, I can change the trajectory of your life in a minute. So they said, wow, okay. So she comes in, she's in line, 350 of them at Cal Riverside. She's the top soccer star. I said, so what do you want for your dream? Oh, I don't know, Mr. Bodine. I said, sure you do. It's written on your heart. And she goes, I don't know. And I said, look, there's 349 people behind you. So I'm going to wait until you tell me. And so she blurts out what she wants to do.

I said, well, where was that? You immediately have that. She goes home. I gave her some tips. She sends me a note on Facebook and says, can I talk to you? Sure. And she said, I got to tell you my who story. And she says, I've always been embarrassed that my mom plays bridge.

The card game? And she goes, yeah. And I go, why? Well, I thought my mom should get a job, crony. So I wake up at 1130. I walk down the stairs and they're playing bridge. And I thought, wow, and I'm going to sneak by. Mrs. Reynolds, one of my mom's friend says, hey, Mary, what are you doing?

And she goes, I'm just going to get some serious. No, no, get over here. What are you going to do now in your life? Oh, I don't know, Mrs. Reynolds. And she goes, sure you do. It's written on your heart. And she goes, do you know Mr. Bodine? And she goes, no.

She goes, what are you going to do? And she goes, now I want everybody in the audience to listen to this. If you declare your dream to the people who you were given in life, they know people. It's something magical about this. Absolutely. They want to help you. Friends are different. They actually want to engage in helping you in some way.

So she says, hey, I want to be in pharmaceutical sales. my uncle does it. I've always wanted to do that. I'm going to come home. There's big companies in Chicago that are doing this. I'm going to get involved. Her mom says, you'd ever said you want it? She goes, Mom, I'm declaring it. Mrs. Reynolds says, have you ever met my bridge partner, Eleanor? She goes, no. Eleanor, why don't you tell her what your husband does? He's the president of Abbott Labs. Of course he is. Of course. Yeah. The next day, the moms, moms are amazing. Tell their husband, you are going to hire a Mary. Major power there. There's some power of who happening on that stuff. And so here it is, she goes, gets the job. Dot-a-Dum.

She says to me, look at the dying power who's in my living room. She said, I have a revelation for you, Mr. Bodine. I go, what's that? She says, I need to learn bridge. Yes, that's what it's going to take. I love that story. Is that not crazy? Simple. And the answer is, this happens all over the country. Your friends weren't given to you by chance. That's right. They're not the wrong who. And so you thought, and most people in college don't see the person to their right and their left. A guy, remember, I told you, the top of 1% if when they go to Harvard they walk into the room they see 10 people in the room they go uh-oh I don't have to leave this room I could make millions with these 10 that's right

so why are you thinking that the friends you were given yeah aren't actually given to you for perspective and really something amazing so good all right so now we're going to move into something you talk about in the book that I think is absolutely brilliant you write and say it's been proven you will prove it to us you touched on it with the 100 friends, the 100 whos. You have a strategy called the 140 strategy. Now, real quick, just break it down. You touched on the 100, but explain how the 100 and the 40, what do they represent? And then I'll do some follow-up questions. So this is a brilliant like McKinsey company type strategy. This is so far. This is the way God creates things. I gave you some who. And in your life,

you're going to get anywhere from one to 100 people who come into your life for a reason or season, and they actually have skills. They like you. You like them. You speak on the same kind of frequency. You have a moment with them. They might have moved somewhere else. But once they take a place in your heart, they never leave. And they always want to help you. That's your who. If you stay in touch with these people, it's unbelievable. It's not hard. It's a text. It's an occasional call. When you're in their town, you stay at their house. You talk about all the stuff. But these people, they have a reason to want to help you. So they're the 100. They are. So now the question is, what do I want in life? So it doesn't matter what field you're really doing. And that's how I use executive search. I identify 40 people who would like to do this job, who I think are qualified. And then I ask my 100, okay? And don't just talk about, hey, if you're looking for a job, there's 40 PR firms.

There's 40 sales companies. There's 40 of everything. And then there's 40 people in that company you'd report to. It's all online. If you're trying to do some business, the person and the name of the person, online and everyone's done the research for you. Wouldn't it be amazing? Wouldn't this be a shocker of the world if you asked your who, the hundred, if they knew any of these people? Right. The odds are, they do. And they will open a door for you and get you in the meeting. So listen,

meetings are over in the first five minutes. Yeah. I mean, so first off, the whole meeting start off with was, hey, I just want to stop by. Ken told me to come by and talk to you. I wanted to share some things and now we're all of a sudden talking about our friend. He's giving you grief that can and, you know, joking about this. And then all of a sudden he says, hey, so what are you doing? And what do you need? And now all of a sudden, you have a much better chance. And see, how long would you wait? It would take you years. So I did the study just, that's funny when I first started out the power here, that there's 5,365 people that know me. It took me 5 million miles on American airlines to do it. Right, right. Then I did a study of whose touch my life or giving me a business.

oops 87 so I took like stupid off my forehead and I focused in on my 87 the people are given and my business just went quadrupled so that's the magic in this formula this formula is that your who were given to you to help you

but they can't help you because it's kind of this Jerry McGuire thing remember the football thing he said help me help you how could I help you if he didn't tell me here's the problem all of people around so what do you want to do in life I'd like to be in sports so what do you want to be like a reference No, you can never get what you can't see. Show me your list.

For your life, you go do these strategies for people for yourself. You're winging it. Wouldn't it be logical that you'd identify 40 things you want to do with the 40 people and watch how God works in opening up the fact that he has some people? He's got some peeps for you, and these people are going to open up doors. If you came into a room with my 87 and they're all amazing, you're 87, you know, are fantastic as well. But my 87, why would you want to be friends with them when you know me, just have me and I'll open the door for you. Exactly. So this is a portal. Yes. This is a transportation

around mountains and speeds. Why would you do that when all of a sudden I've already done it for you? All right. So I want to pause the conversation because I think there's a brilliant correlation between what you're talking about from a personal standpoint, a professional standpoint of using this 140 strategy to a small business. Can we not, Bob, do the same thing. What are the 40 things that you want your business to accomplish in the next one, two years. And then what's my 100? Is it clients? It's not just friends. It's also clients. Who are my 100 that can help me get these things? Same thing, right? We can fly it. First off, we're just not in touch with people. We're not staying in touch. Right. I mean, I did this study that there's, it takes five times to call on someone to get their

piece of business. So I did the study of all that I did. And I found out that there were four of my clients that I'd called on, okay? You know, two of my clients that I called on four times and I stopped. So I went out to visit him. I said, hey, I just read this book. It said if, you know, national strategy that if I call on you four, you know, five times I get your piece of business. And they said, I hope this isn't our fifth time. And then immediately they gave me $250,000 worth of business. Right. Because the answer is there is something about you talking to me, we're building a relationship,

we're building friendship and now it's trust. So why wouldn't you think that the people that you identify as your who, okay, the hundred, you're not staying in close touch with? That's what everyone does. So we're always out trying to meet the next hundred. That's right. You never stick with it. You never tell anybody what you really want.

So listen, what if you're 100, even if it was your dentist? He doesn't have people he knows? Yeah. So listen, I know people who can help you in your business, open up a door just because we're friends. And they're going to want to be with you because friends like friends. And they trust them. And so your wife is a better. Who would you trust more?

Your wife for the subject or somebody that you didn't. No, well, I'm going to trust my wife. You know, the big lesson here that I'm learning folks, and I like to share stuff with you as I'm learning from our guest, we have this nature to go wide, right? Keep going, keep prospecting. And we're going wide, wide, wide. And you're telling us it's not in the width and how far you're going to look for some new contact. It's in the depth of going to the people that you know. But we've got to have the discipline to go deeper with these people.

Right. That's the issue. So you hit on something fantastic. and that is goals and dreams. Everybody's got lots of goals, but get your dreams, there's two words that you have to be consistent and disciplined.

Oh, I like that. And so there has to be some consistency. And see, this also starts in your personal friendship. So men over the age of 35 stop adding friends. Why is that? Because they keep their old ones, and then they're friendly. So we've taken this whole thing on friendship,

and now we're calling people friends that are just friendly. So we damn glad to meet every single person. That's true. And then by the time we do it, we say, hey, so I have people all the thing. They go, hey, you're my who? And I go, so what's my wife's name? Have you been over to my house for a barbecue?

No, no, you're not my who. But you don't need to necessarily be my who. You just need to have one of my who be your friend, and I'd still do it for you. Gotcha. The crazy part of this whole process is we're thinking the 1% gets something great and we don't. The answer is, God made no mistakes. The people you were given. if it was just a grandma, she's going to open a door for you.

How many people out of the 10,000 do you need to get your dream? One, I like the odds. So today, men over 35, they just stopped doing it. And then men over 60, they give up their old friends. And so now they just focus in on their family, not because they want to or they didn't. Here's a crucial piece of success. Your friends help you get business. So while I was here in Nashville, the guy who's gotten me the most business I

just had dinner with last night. He's in here. He's actually the golf coach of Lipscomb. You're kidding me. No. Small Division I school here, folks. Small Division I school. He was at my, at my, you know, in Dallas as a golf pro before. He sits out there with a bunch of people hitting golf shots all the time. And then the guy turns to him and says, hey, I can't hit this good. And he goes, what's the matter with you? What are you doing? Why are you pushing the ball? And he goes, you know, I've lost my chief financial officer. And it really bugs me in my mind. And I can't do anything else. And he goes, I got a friend of mine. Bob Bodine. You ought to know him. And bam, I'm doing the search.

Why? References, endorsements, and testimonies of people you trust. That's huge. Now, yes, I have a qualified skill that's good enough. Right. But that has no bearing because getting the job, that's the hard part. The real issue initially for most small business is, how am I going to get in that door? That's right. Because someone has that business.

That's right. What if that best friend of that head owner was a friend of yours? And you would just start out building a friendship. I don't want something. I'm just going to build a friendship. And then I'm going to have you out. We're going to talk again. I'm going to take you to coffee.

I'm going to figure out what I can do for your business, that maybe I could introduce you to some people I know. And then if I do this enough with the 40, because I'm only really one in 20 or, you know, if I had 20 new clients, that would be really good. What I found is people don't engage with people anymore. So what we're doing is we're not trying to create a relationship. You see it's kind of not genuine.

I'm in it for the transaction, not to get transformational. And what I'm talking about in the Power Who is, let's cut this number way. way back. If you had one friend, this is what your grandfather told you, you're blessed. I mean, one friend, oh my gosh. I mean, if you had three, you're rich. 12 change the world. This model's been around forever. That's exactly. Jesus had 12 friends, three close one best. Everyone knows who he is. 2,000 a year later, the guy still sign a new recruit still doing deals. That's right. I love that. And that leads me beautifully to what you talk about. You break this 12-3-1 down in the inner circle.

But before we get to that, you give us a beautiful. It's on page 32, folks. You need to go get the book. Page 32, he shows us this gorgeous graph of what your who world looks like. It's like this layer, if you will, it's like an onion. Top layer fans, acquaintances, advocates, allies, who friends, and then you get down to that inner circle. Right. I came at it from top, bottom.

You're probably going to go bottom up. I am. But explain how that all works, because I think that's part of the problem. We're thinking acquaintances can help us. And they're, it's not that valuable, is it? No, it's not. So the problem is acquaintance is everyone starts as a friendship as an acquaintance. So I got to, I mean, the mens of thought of the world is, hello.

I mean, Zig Zigler, one of my favorites lived in my neighborhood. He used to say this great quote, that whether it's 8 a.m. or 8 p.m., he would always greet someone before they spoke to him. What happened to that? Yeah, it doesn't have. No one says hello to anybody. So the initial aspect, what if first I valued the people around me? So we're not doing that.

We're not valuing some people initially. And so what I'm going to tell you is that your friends have friends. And so what you have to do is start, what if we just started a little who group with our 12-3-1? And I said, there was three of us. And then we said, okay, so today, you know, I got my friend George and we're going to sit with Ken. And Ken, we're going to put all your dreams up on a wall. We're going to do a dream wall. What is it that you want in 2017 that's going to be unbelievable?

And we start listing them. And then we say, who do we need to know to get that? And then the three of us put our head together. I promise you we could start a multi-million dollar business right now in a second. And here's the problem. We're not identifying. You can never get what you cannot see. That's brilliant.

Let's have a list. Let's do little groups. Where do we start? Am I going to start a group with a bunch of people? I don't know. Why wouldn't you start with the people you did? You think that this wouldn't work. So number two is you're giving people in your life that you can't not just stay in touch with.

So I do this little thing where I do a text message. we send out a text message. It's just to your 12? First off, I started with my 12, and I'm going deep. I'm meeting with you all the time. My number one friend, okay, one of my, I have a guy that's in my life now for the last year and a half. He's my best friend.

Right. I can't believe. What if I didn't actually say? Exactly. I wanted that. Yeah. His wife, my wife, we do everything. I talk to him six times a day.

So what are you doing? I mean, you're communicating. I mean, someone say, hey, that's really awkward. No, this is your best friend. Come on. My best pal and I are always talking. So the answer is I'm texting him. I say, how's it going?

Hey, you're figuring out his job. He runs a biotech thing that he's changing the world on cancer. And so it's so much fun to be with him. Yeah, of course. Because he's thinking big thoughts and all the stuff and worked crazy. So then I'm always working. My three, I'm talking to, you know, hey, maybe once twice a, you know, during every other day. And I'm just saying, what are you, then?

My other eight, I'm talking to maybe once a week. Okay? Just what are you doing? How are you doing? Can I help you? Is something going? All right. So back to what you said earlier.

Right. So I want you keep rolling. Folks, he's talking about the consistency and discipline. Those are those two points you brought out. So that's what's got to work for that 12-3-1. You can't say you're in something and then you never talk to me. It's relational versus transaction. It is what you've got to be careful about.

And I'm really trying to say to people all the time, look at time is everyone's enemy, but time is your best friend. Paradox. That's good. Say that again. Folks, tweet that. That's gold. Time is everyone's enemy, but timing is your best friend. How much time do you need for me to just say, hey, look, can I help you?

How are you doing today? You look sad. Listen to me, let me help you. Our 100 in this stuff is radically going to change your business. The third layer here is allies. These are amazing people. Do you know you have some people that they're senior. They've been watching you.

They'd help you. And they instrumentally have decided to give you some business, to give you an opportunity, to help you. They're not always in your life, but they seem to like be a, a primary source of favor. And they just give you some stuff. I've had that in my life that have been friends of my dads, friends of my mom, teacher at a school that out of nowhere, they still are helping me today. And listen, you have these people and you shouldn't, once you have a senior person that touches your life,

you know what? Sometimes you think, oh, I shouldn't really like bother them. What are you talking about? You send them back and say, I love you. Can I tell you how much and I'm appreciating? You know, there's two parts of our brain that drops endorphin. It makes us euphorically happy. It's not position power and money.

It's gratitude and giving. Oh, it's good. So think about this. So if I'm, if you don't let me help you, if you don't ask for my help, you're stopping my buzz. Yeah. I can't go back to my wife Cheryl. I can't go back to my girls and say, listen to what I did for Ken today. It's so help me.

And then guess what they're going to do? They're going to try to do that for their friends. And we have this fantastic, you know, kind of a, you know, kind of a, you know, a whole piece of action that if you started something, it rippled. And we're missing it. So then we go into advocates, okay? There are people in roles in advocates and allies and all these people that are in your life that want to just help you.

And it moves out to acquaintances and fans. Why are we on the outside here? Yeah, we're spending all our time out in this acquaintance state. The answer is you're always out. And that's why I tell people, look at you have people who will help you. And you already know everyone you need to know. And the underlying statement here is this. It's not saying I know everyone I need to know like I'm not going to go build new friends.

I'm talking about the trouble you're in. So when you have an issue and you need a loan, you have an issue that says, I need a big account here. Why would you start off and say, hey, I'm going to go to something I never knew when I stop and say, you know what? Ken has this company over here and I'd like to do a sponsorship with them. And then I start with my friend. Most people have been taught that friends asking friends for help is rude in the South for sure. That's right. So let me ask you right off the bat.

So just so we cut that so everyone hears this. So if you and I are best friends and I ask you your help, would you help me? Absolutely. Well, why would you deny me the same joy of helping you? Exactly. So most people don't understand the reverse. Yeah. You're not letting me help you.

That's right. I want to. Now then other people say, oh, I got this person. You know, we're going to hear that. I got a friend of mine. I asked this person and they didn't help me. That's not your hood. They don't come over to your house for barbecue.

You're talking about an acquaintance. You've now fallen into the world's system of friendly, not friends. Friends have a code of conduct. You and I know what that code of conduct is. It's consistent and it's disciplined. And that means that when you call me, I pick it up. I don't look at my phone over here and say to myself, oh, no, I can't take that. No, you're my friend.

The people in my allies and my advocates and all those, they're going to wait. Most of us, we want friendships. That's the one thing our whole world is lacking today. It's no one to affirm them. And so today, if you're a CEO, you don't have any friends. If you're a pastor, you have no friends. The reason is that you're all messed up on this aspect that says, hey, what real friends do for you? Because as your best friend, I'm going to do all of that for you.

My goal is to do it. In our circle here, if we are expressing gratitude to our who friends, for what they've done for us. Oh, yeah. Or who they've been for us. And then we give to them, it's like a tennis match. They're going to express gratitude to us and they are going to give to us. That's how we keep this from being this networky, transactional, yuck kind of thing.

Am I right? 100%. So there's a law of reciprocity. God created it. There it is. I'm just telling you, no matter what, the answer is, I want to connect with you, I want to serve you, and I want to love you. And the answer is it's not about Bob.

It's not about anything. And if I focus in on just doing that when at the timing moments of life, there's going to be time. And they're never convenient. That's true. It's the fact that says, you needed me. I don't care if it's at 2.30. You're all of a sudden, you know, hey, remember that Tracy Lawrence song, find out who your friends are when all of a sudden your trucks on the side of the road and no one's going to come. Hey, I'm on my way.

I'm going to help pick you up. These are people that you're going to do business with for life. Now listen, I don't do business, okay, with just trying to do clients. I do business with people I love only. So there's not anybody in the NFL or any of the major university I do work with. They don't come in, hug me, tell me they love me, they do it. I don't do any business just based on RFPs. I know someone who knows another person will introduce me to my job.

And so I just ask my friends. Now, when a friend tells you and you introduce me to, someone and you introduce me to Dave. Now, I'm going to treasure that and I'm going to treat Dave the utmost. And of course, that's what people do. There's just law of rest of us and no one understood. Sig Ziegler, he'd give us talk and guess what he does when he's done. He's down talking to the people. He's going to stay to sign every book. He's going to do anything because he what? He understood this thought and it's crucial for small businesses to restate. I'm going to tell you two things that are amazing. One, people matter most. Our heart

knows it God taught us and somehow we've forgotten. Now I'm just telling you right there, this is crucial. Now, my dad, when I joined the firm, I'd been in consumer package goods. I was doing all this other stuff and he said, I want you to join the firm and come in and do it. And he says, I got three goals. And my dad's a Notre Dame, McKinsey. I'm thinking that I'm going to take notes and this. And he says, write this down, get your pencil. I go, yeah. And so number one, make friends. Number two, help your friends in every way possible. Three, don't be surprised if you don't do a lot of business with your friends. I mean, if I could get a small business owner just understand this, you and I, I have a small

business, you have one. We should be doing business with our friends, and our friends should help us in every way possible get all the other pieces of business. And if we'd all share and do all the things and do this reciprocity where we're giving and we're loving and we're grateful and I'm telling you every day, I can't tell you. Now, when you do business with me, I don't want you to give me a break on the fee. I want the whole thing. Yeah.

Why? Because you're my friend. Right. I need you to make as much. I know you have a family. I know you have kids. And the answer is, I'm going to be good. Why?

God takes care of all that for me. If I do this right, it's transformational. And why wouldn't we share all this? I'll introduce you this. I'll introduce you. I'm just going to help you. What happened to that? You know where it is?

We've broken down the basis of friendship. We're not friends. And the answer, as soon as you decide, But we've been taught not to do friends. The top 1% does everything with family and friends. I mean, crazy. Why would that happen there when you'd expect they don't even need any of that? Because they understood a thing that everybody else needs to do.

Stop talking, a bunch of people we don't know. All right. So we're going to switch gears because I told you about Bob and who he is and what he's done. And I'm not kidding you. You just look him up. Just Google him. Lots been written about him. He is a power broker.

I know you're humble. Don't like me saying that. But that's a fact. but I want to focus the rest of our conversation on two key areas. I want to talk first about people right now, Bob, who are going, I've got big dreams, big goals, I'm going to work on my 40, I'm going to work on my 100, but I want it and I'm going hard at it. You specialize in helping place a big-time candidate and a big-time job.

Give us some basic advice on how to not go at it too hard. You give some real good interview skills in this book, but just kind of summarize, how do you handle that when you're the candidate and you're going before some key decision makers who are going to decide whether or not you are the right fit. What do we not do? What do we do? So right off the bat, don't go up for jobs that you don't actually and you're not going to really take. I mean, it's embarrassing. You get into it. And what happens is there's a thing that goes on while you do, and I watch it all the time. When I have five candidates, there's usually one

who knows who they are and the path they're called. And there's a confidence in their face. So the interviews are over in five minutes. And so people carry with them this personal environment. It's transmitted to everybody in the room. What is it? I am really excited about being in this room. So great candidates, before they started, A, aren't double-minded. So I got to really unpack double-minded.

So you really haven't thought about the job enough. You're thinking that you're going to go into this interview and you're going to be interesting instead of interested. Oh, that's big. And so people, they haven't really decided they want it. And so halfway through the interview, they figure out this is a great job. Too late. Right. My client's already dismissed you because you didn't prepare.

So in real estate, it's about location, location, location. In executive search, it's about preparation, preparation, preparation. Who's the who? Are you the who? No. My client's the who. And I've read everything and watched every video you've ever done before I walk in. Right, right.

Because I want to come up and say, you know, I saw something the other day, Mr. President, I saw that you said this. And the reason I'm in the room is because you said that. Because your core values and mine are exactly the same. And I'm talking about personal qualities now that transcend technical. People do not hire. You wouldn't be in the room if you don't have the technical skills. But you ain't winning my job without passion, without enthusiasm, without this smile on your face, smiling. It like cemented relationships.

It totally changes the room. So this personal environment that you have that says, I'm it. I tell candidates before you walk in, listen, my room loves you. I want you to know that before we start. So don't try. Right, yeah. Don't put on an act. There's no act.

I need you to be 100% genuine. So some people, they go in this aspect and they're double-minded. Number two is they didn't prepare. You're just thinking that your skills got you there. I mean, seriously? No, no, no. This aspect is the energy between two people is what makes great marriages, great families, great teams, they get organizations. And the greatest people understand how to grab that energy from people in the realm.

They've actually got a story about them. They're talking about some. So candidates who have done studies, you know, they just did a thing. It was in the Wall Street Journal the other day. And they said, you should use humor, whether it's good or bad. I thought it was funny as the guy who was the CEO of Twitter. He only been in the job a week. It was about two years ago.

And he says that, so what are you going to do now that you're the chief operating officer of this company? He says, what I'm going to do? And he's tweeting this. He says, I'm going to undermine our CEO at every chance and consolidate all the things underneath me, which is humorous. And everyone loved him. It was made him vulnerable. People like to talk about in interviews that you're a normal person. So that right off the bad, people are starting out talking about their resume. I've seen your resume. I want to know about your wife. I want to know about your kids. I want to know what makes you come. alive. Yeah, love that. And so the fact that you knew where they went to school, the fact that we're all of a sudden talking about Indiana or talking about stuff, these are things that people click with. So the reason that people get jobs is they like you. Okay? So you have to be known, and so someone had to have talked about you before you got in the room. There has to be a tone about you. Then they like you. Then you understand their needs.

and then you're the best for them. So when you're able to depict the fact that you're really good at this, but at the same time, I'm servant. I do servant leadership and I'm going to make something. I'm going to create culture and you're talking about loving people. You're talking about this. It's interesting.

18% of companies today have a program that promotes friendship. That's a fascinating statistic. That means 82% don't. That's right. So why? Why wouldn't they? They must believe in the old style of, the fact that says that friendship doesn't really have. Get to your cubicle. Stop drinking

a coffee at the coffee machine with that person. Right. No, the answer is if you had one friend at your company, you're 40% more productive. That's right. So if you have three, you have 96% chance of having a satisfying life, not a job. So what's happened here is this aspect of getting in and understanding the room, great people who are coming in the room, one, are focused. They're disciplined. They're not going to take a job. They're consistently telling a message of what about personal core values. I've read your seven core values. Now I'm also evaluating the president and everybody in the room. I mean, they're recruiting you. But I tell candidates to come in and sell their ability to do the job, not that they're going to take it. Yes. Now, that means that

I'm not going to be late and all of a sudden figure out this is great. I'm going to wow you. I'm going to hit you with all guns. I know everybody in the room. I'm never, it's like when you're in a room with four people in their interviewing at the same time. And someone asked you a question over on the left. Don't start talking to them. They ask the question for the whole room. And so when you answer the question, stop. Take the basketball, throw it back to them.

And then if you, you know, you made your point. But the points are this. The reason people win jobs is they tell stories. So are you telling an epic story? You know your life is an epic story. And so you should have some things that talk about moving people, emotionally. And if you can do that, it's fantastic. Love it. All right. Now, let's flip it.

Hiring is such a huge decision. Yeah. It doesn't matter who you are, how big your organization, whether you're the nonprofit, for-profit world. Here's my question for you, Bob, because I don't think there's anybody on the planet that can answer this better. How do we as leaders, people who are in the hiring process, we're interviewing a candidate? How do we not fall for the Emmy-winning performance? Yeah. The Oscar-winning performance, and we walk out and think, oh, they're perfect, and then they blow up on us three months later. Well, I mean, the first thing is everything in life is about references, endorsements, and testimonials.

So I'm going to talk to the people who you had reported to and people in your staff. But what people do initially when they're getting their slate together, you didn't ask the people in your company if they knew them. You're right people. We never, I don't understand the whole concept of human relations if we're not going to go to our own human group and say, hey, listen, we've got a top person in today looking at this job from Disney. and we have four people from Disney. I bring them in and send them a note and say, hey, come in here. I want to talk to you. Do you know this person? And then before somebody comes in, I'm going to say,

listen, obviously, you're fantastic. You have a demonstrator record of achievement. I'd like to talk to your boss. I'd like to talk to some of the people who you've reported to in various jobs. Now, sometimes because you have a job, you can't actually use your boss, but some of the people you had moved to other deals. That's what so times in search is I do a 360 on you. Also, I'm going to do, I'm going to check out on Google because there's something.

I mean, today, dang, there's everything. everything you've ever done in life is already there. I'm looking at your pictures and that's why I say to young kids when they're out, seriously, you have two pictures of you at some place like you're in Cancun and you're gone nuts. That's right. And you think you're going to get my job here at this job. You're not.

The answer is, oh, that's right. You'd have to be consistent and disciplined. You'd actually have to have something. So great people aren't tons of job hoppers. They're not just doing any job. They're not doing things. And you know that. But the person who you're sitting across from, the questions you should be talking about are personal qualities.

You're trying to drive for stories. So you're not just letting the interview come to you. You should be talking to these about people. And so when you sit with your committee, say, hey, who would it? You know, what we do in search is I create 12 questions. And I get them to do it. And it's really funny is the 12 questions actually mean that you have to have a demonstrated record of achievement in this. With your resume, you know, I tell people all the time.

you wrote the resume. Right. Yeah, exactly. Are you kidding me? Yeah. I mean, I don't know if any of that's true. I agree 100%. So what I also want to do is get you to write these things and then you say, oh, seriously, are they going to actually write that up?

Well, the right one is. You're exactly right. So I'm going to get you and then I'm going to see how you write. I'm going to see how intelligent you are, right? And then I'm going to get you to do this and then I'm going to have two or three questions that I'm going to do. And then I'm going to do references. And, you know, if you're disciplined and you're consistent and you have more than one person in the room that's actually looking and they're looking for things that you're not looking

for and then you're allowed to ask backup questions. So sometimes they ask a question and then it's, it's really not a great question. They didn't really answer it well. I tell candidates this, listen, you should Ronald Reagan them. And they go, huh? And I go, so first off, when someone asked you a question and you didn't, you weren't prepared for it, you didn't answer it real well. And then they come in with question number two. You say, well, that's really good. But let me come back to this first one because I now know exactly what you were talking about. It just hit me and I want to make sure I say this. And so I tell people, there's two tough questions that happen in life, okay, if you're a candidate. One, so why do you want to leave X, Y, Z, your company? And you go,

so if you say you don't want to leave, then why are you there? If you say you do want to leave, then I'm worried about you. Right. It's a trick question. It's a trick question. So the real thing is, you know, I was really happy to see, you know, A, so-and-so recommend me this. When they talked about this, you know, this really the job that you have at hand and the challenge and the growth and the opportunity that you have at hand and what I think I bring to you today in each of those categories. And then there's a question at the end that everybody should ask. And that is, is that you finished your interview, you're really doing good. And they say, so what questions do you have for me? And then you should say, hey, so, you know, so thank you so much first for

this interview. I mean, I've really learned a lot. And you give them some gratitude that you're here. Yeah. And then you say, listen, my question really is, if I knock the ball score out of the park for you, And at the end of one year, you're high-fiving me, telling me, what do you believe I've accomplished? You're asking it for two reasons. One, you're getting them all to speak. And, of course, the group, they want to talk and they want to share. And then you're also going to hear that they have two things that are really important. You didn't talk about them at all because, A, they didn't interview well, or B, you just didn't talk about it.

And this is your last chance. So before you finish, you go, well, hold a second, I need to tell you two things. And then you hit on those. And that last impression. Yes. But at some point, if you want this job, you're going to tell them, hey, listen, you know, I've had a chance to sit with each of you, and I've got to tell you, this is a fantastic opportunity. And one that I just didn't think about it, wasn't just something that just came casual to me. I really want this job. I want to tell you that before we start. Now, some people see that as like a bad deal. I've never been an interview that people don't immediately want to like high five everybody around. Now, dang, because it's very impressive. And the answer is, yes, they're going to have to have the right celebrating and, and this. But if my clients in a meeting and they start to like you, the interview changes. Yeah, that's right. Everything. And if you had more people who you knew, who knew them, the questions are going to be easier. That's right. So you've got to decide, hey, I'm just going to

wing it. I'm not going to ask any of my friends. I'm not going to do this. It all comes back to to the power of who. Listen, there's destiny. I've interviewed the greatest people in the world, from presidents to generals to CEOs, to titans of industry. They have three things in common. okay and you have this can as well and people are going to hear it number one they believe they have an assignment a purpose and a destiny all their own do you believe you have that no question okay and so what's fantastic is and number two is is that someone in one five-minute conversation changed the entire trajectory of your life and they told you they believed in you it's absolutely right and when you did there's a thing called a metanoia you changed you turned your mind

and you turned towards your dream. When you do your who, which was on parallel courses before, turned to help you get it. Why? You know what you want. So now you need to activate it every day. And of course, that activation is the whole point I wrote my next book,

two chairs. But that's why in this process is that you have to activate something every day towards your dream. And the aspect is you got to get back where you're not so concerned about you every day. but you care about people. The more you care about people, other people, and you give the time to it, I promise you, you're going to be blessed so far beyond your dreams.

He's absolutely right, folks. I've seen it in my own life, and he's seen it with so many people. He is Bob Odeen, and the book that we've been talking about is the power of who. You already know everyone you need to know, Bob. We are so grateful to have you in town and hang out with us in the studio. I know you're friends with Dave, and I'm thrilled to now be a new friend. and this conversation is so vitally important. I'm telling you, folks, go get the book.

Tear it up. Bob is here. He can attest for this. I've got yellow sticky notes all throughout this book in preparation. It is, if I could sit down with every 18-year-old in the world and say there's one person I want you to go hang out with, you would be on the list of people that are live because of the power of this. If you can get this early on. And here's the other thing, folks.

I would transfer everything you heard. I'd go back and listen to it a second time and think, in terms of your business. So there's some personal stuff here, but there's some also really strong practical stuff for your business. So Bob, thanks for hanging out with this. Ken, hey, first, thank you so much. You are so dang good at this. I mean, you're so, you're so dang good at this. I mean, you make this really easy, and I can't tell you, I need you to pass on to Dave, how proud I am of him. All my girls love the whole aspect of financial peace, the whole thing about everything. His whole thing here is changing the world, and he's doing it because he's such a fantastic guy.

Thank you, Bob. Thanks. Well, folks, hope you enjoyed that as much as I did. If you'd like to learn more and connect with Bob, get the book, get more of what he's up to, powerof who.com. Powerof who.com is the website. Well, another big thanks to Bob Bodine and Daniel Tarty for stopping by. We always love it when the Grand Poo Bob stops by. And hey, folks, I got to say this. This audience is amazing. I'm fresh off of meeting several listeners that came to the office and watched the Dave Ramsey show and I host the video channel. And so I'm in the lobby every day. so I meet you folks, I just got to tell you, every time I meet you and I hear your personal story

and you tell us why you love listening because we're growing. I'm hearing from Will and Eric the producer that we're growing and that makes me so happy because what we do is all about you. So just wanted to say that. And on behalf of Eric the producer, our engineer, Will Rutter and the entire Entree leadership team, thanks for listening. We'll talk with you again very soon.