Start With A Win - The Influence of Transparent Leadership with Gary Vaynerchuk

Episode Date: August 19, 2020

Gary Vaynerchuk (Gary Vee) has built his personal brand on authenticity and industry knowledge that has brought him unparalleled name recognition and opportunities to share his insights in the business world. It is an honor to have him here on Start With A Win to discuss his perspectives on leadership during a pandemic and beyond.Gary has been leading by example during COVID-19 when it comes to being present, providing valuable content, and being transparent even in the midst of uncertainty. Many leaders across the industries have backed away from sharing their thoughts publicly or with their internal teams because they just don’t know what they should be saying. However, Gary emphasizes the importance of being visible, being transparent, and being consistent. Even if you feel like you don’t have anything to say, be present, encourage your people to stay safe, and keep up hope. Reaching out for help if they need it is enough for your employees, customers, and other stakeholders to see you as an authentic leader.A key component of this transparent leadership is emotional intelligence, particularly awareness, empathy, compassion, and humanity. Many leaders have been hesitant to say anything regarding the pandemic or the recent racial justice uprising because they don’t feel like it is their place. However, your followers appreciate contextual messages that tell them how you feel about important topics, and this will likely lead them to become more brand loyal in the future. While Gary recommends LinkedIn as the best platform to garner organic reach that will spur on the most engagement, he points out that every leader should be self-aware enough to choose the platform that will be best for their personality. How do you work best? Which medium is the best host for this method? Choosing the right platform will allow you to be your best self and promote consistency.Connect with Gary:https://www.garyvaynerchuk.com/https://twitter.com/garyveehttps://www.youtube.com/channel/UCctXZhXmG-kf3tlIXgVZUlwhttps://www.instagram.com/garyvee/https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyvaynerchuk Connect with Adam:https://www.startwithawin.com/ https://www.facebook.com/REMAXAdamContoshttps://twitter.com/REMAXAdamContos https://www.instagram.com/REMAXadamcontos/ Leave us a voicemail:888-581-4430

Every day is filled with choices. You're here because you're choosing to start with a win. Get ready to be inspired, learn something new, and connect with the win nation. And coming to you from somewhere in Denver, Colorado, Adam Conto, CEO of Remax. On another episode of Start With A Win, this is a very, very special episode. This is episode 100. So we're excited about this. So we've got a special guest on today, don't we, Mark? That's right.

The special guest. The special guest. Longtime friend of ours, a friend of the company. We've had him on stage a couple of times at our major events. Gary Vaynerchuk, how are you doing, brother? I'm quite well. It's really great to be with you guys. Thanks for having me. Hey, it's our pleasure. It's nice to see you again. Been keeping an eye on all the stuff you've been doing as well. So you see a lot of leaders out there during COVID really producing a great deal of awesome content. And Gary, you've really been standing out. In fact,

I mean, you put out like an hour long movie recently also about mindset and you've really been kind of updating everything and setting a really good example for your listeners, for everybody that consumes your content. I want to dig into that today and really kind of find out where's Gary Vee going? What does this evolution contain? And what can start with when listeners learn from that? You down with that? I absolutely am. I'm humbled for those kind words. Thank you. Right on, man. So first thing, you've been for more than a decade, you've been doing some amazing personal branding.

You've been creating content. Give us a little bit of foundation. Why are you doing what you're doing? And what key points can we take away from that? I believe the number one asset in the world is attention. Once you have it, you're able to do your selfish and selfless things with it. You know, so a very weird one is right now, I believe that sports cards are an incredible investment. And I've been talking about it for two years and the market's up

literally 10 X, like, like, like LeBron rookies have gone from a thousand to 15,000 in a year. And I have a lot of audience that that 14,000 nonprofit has been life changing. And I've realized probably in my late thirties, early forties, which is only five to seven years ago, that admiration legacy, almost this weird blend of guilt and gratitude of like the gifts.

I was, you know, we all have different DNA. Some can dunk a basketball, some can swim my knack for being a business person, having kind DNA, like liking people, you know, I'm sure, you know, you've had many people backstage and some people don't like live up to their persona and their kindness. Like I like when people are like, you know, like I like being kind, I like being successful. And so anyway, long story short,

what I've been up to and why have I been doing it is inherently I understood that amassing attention could be cool. Maybe one day I want my daughter to be governor of New York. Maybe one day I want to cure Crohn's disease because my brother AJ has it. Maybe one day I want to use my platform

for social injustice. Those are altruistic things. Then there's, you know, I want to use my platform for social injustice those are altruistic things then there's you know I want to buy the New York Jets professionally I want my wine brand to be good you know I want VaynerMedia to do well I you know I want my entrepreneurial ventures to be successful and having a platform to acquire talent to acquire customers has enabled me that. And I understood the internet's piping maybe a little bit earlier than some, you know, and, and I've been on this journey and, and it's been very rewarding emotionally, most of all, and, and, and financially. I love it because really you're, you know, you're building this amazing presence and,

and your presence exhibits kindness because you're, you're not hiding anything. You are, and you mentioned it, you're out there. You're just transparent. Do you think that's a trait that's missing? I think I understood the internet so goddamn well that 15 years ago, I realized there was no hiding. I think what you're seeing in our society over the last five to seven years, whether it's Me Too, whether it's Black Lives Matter, whether it's anybody listening knows where I'm going with this, which is like, it's impossible to hide. I also had the huge benefit that my mom is the nicest human on earth. I share her DNA and she was my parent. I mean, my dad is of course my parent, but he worked all the time. She molded me and I am her. So I also knew, Ooh, I don't have a whole

lot to hide. This is good. Let me just go full all in. And then more importantly, I'm selfish, meaning I don't want to be historically wrong. I'm very proud of the videos that are on the internet where a lot of things I've said have manifested in a way that has given me credibility of reputation to build on. I'm a young man, I'm 44 years old. I have a very nice position where I can build over the next 40 years on whatever I'd like to do. So, you know, I think it wasn't strategy. It was realization of the world I was going to be living in and how that matched a lot of things that were going to be in my benefit. And I've run head steam through it. You talked about people hiding. And it is interesting because you look at just rewind six months or whatever it was to the beginning of COVID.

We saw a lot of business leaders hide. We saw a lot of people take a step back. Give us some of your perspective on that. Because I mean, I got in front of my folks and I said, look, let's get out there. Let's be kind and let's be compassionate and let's be present in our community. Because I apologize for interrupting you because you're smart enough and you sit at the top of this iconic brand, like let's call a spade a spade. At some point, you and I as leaders realize we will be on the other side of this. And all the karma points that we can put together, first of all, just the right thing to do. Second of all, it's karma. And karma is actually practical. Third of all, it actually will be beneficiary for the business. And by the way, it's played out. I mean, I live in Manhattan.

My sister, ironically, has gotten into real estate in the last couple of years since we've last been at stage together. And New Jersey's on fire because everyone's moving out of the city. Now, good for Jersey real estate agents and brands, maybe not as good for the Manhattan ones. But, you know, there's a lot of winners and losers in times like this that some things you can control. Like the best real estate agent in Manhattan, it's not her or his fault that people are changing their behaviors during this time. But the reality is if you're not there for the opportunity, and then more importantly, and I'm bouncing around a little, cause that's how my brain works. Any leader that didn't go in the front lines and was willing to

take the bullets, whether it was, you know, black lives matter, Lives Matter, I had very raw meetings with my whole company, whether it was around COVID, which is like, hey, standing in front of the company and saying, I can't tell you when layoffs will stop because I don't know how bad the wound is because I have clients that are filing bankruptcy and others that are telling me to my face,

we're not paying you for an extra 200 days and we're a small company, even though we're a large company compared to our clients, we don't have the leverage and we have bank covenants i have loans there's real life stuff going on and you know a lot of people appreciated the candor now i also said to them i will fight to the end i stopped paying myself for a while this and that like all this stuff like you know a leader has to lead. Like I always say to my leaders, I don't need a peacetime general. I need a wartime general. Everyone's a good leader when everything's rolling. And yeah, it was disappointing in some of the people I mentor on some of the boards I sit.

And then just being a historian slash spectator of the business world, there were people that let their fear or more importantly, their selfish needs financially in the short term dictate their attitudes and their moods. And some people just actually are good operators, but not good leaders. That is a difference. Some people know how to run a business, but can't lead. And we did see some people get exposed during this time. And there's ramifications to that. As we go into getting to the other side of it, I promise you those employees are plotting their exit because they're not comfortable. They don't feel safe with Sally or Rick anymore because they didn't step up during this time. On that note, do you think it's, because we're not done with COVID, we're still neck deep in this,

we're still neck deep in adjusting society and encountering social responsibility and things like that. Do you think it's too late for leaders to step up? Or I mean, is this a good call to action for get your ass out there and show up? I love you for that question, Adam, because I think somebody listening right now and maybe quietly is ashamed or upset or mad at me for saying it because it's poking their zipped. The reality is there's never a bad time to say you're sorry or change course, ever, ever, never. There's never time. I've had to say I'm sorry. I've made mistakes. I've made business losses. I've had companies go out of business, little micro executions within VaynerMedia not work. It

happens. And stepping up and saying saying sorry literally calling all your employees even if you're a four-person small office and you've been silent calling everybody gonna be look i'm really not happy with myself i've been a little too passive in these last 90s as a lot of you know my mother's sick well you want to use an excuse you want to contextualize you want to tell them your truth i've been going through tough times my marriage whatever it might be there's never a wrong time and to your point we're unfortunately, I don't know if anybody else feels this way, but watching all these other countries, watching Italy like moonwalk and like be back to normal is like super devastating because, you know, I'd like to be back to normal myself, but we are in it for a longer haul.

Unfortunately, in our country, it became a political issue, which always puts everyone on tilt. And so we're going to be in it for a political issue, which always puts everyone on tilt. And so we're going to be in it for a little while here. And I agree with you. I think there's plenty of time for people to step up. Yeah, it ties right into the next question I wanted to ask you. Because, Gary, it seems like you have really pushed on the gas with awareness. And you talk about trading in attention and being really, really particular about that. But I've noticed you're being ultra aware of other people's feelings and super empathetic to that, you know,

very high level of emotional intelligence going on here to notice how people are feeling about things. What advice do you have for businesses when it comes to that? Because a lot of people got numb instead of becoming more sensitive. Thank you for saying that. First of all, that just felt really nice to hear. I think business, and by the way, I actually argue that the real estate industry has some of my favorite characters in this. There's a lot of real estate agents who actually understand once you sell a home, checking in on that person, there's a real estate agent I know that literally sends a gift every year on the year of the closing of the house to the majority of his clients. And it's, oh, I'm sorry. I might have to beep that. I know I'm not allowed to curse on stage at your big event. So I'm a little Jersey for everybody. Hopefully they'll beep that or

I didn't fully finish the word, but it's brilliant because, you know, as many people listening right now know a lot of you, and I get it. Cause in some ways I've had that as well. You kind of like you sell the home and you move on. You're a hunter by nature, but you know, I think compassion, empathy, humanity is actually the single best business tactic. I really do. And so, yeah, I'm quite contextual in my content. For example, stopping myself from cursing right now and apologizing, that's unheard of for me in 97% of the environments I do content in. But my brain recalled the fact that I've been privileged to have the stage at two of your events And the organization's like, hey, we would like you to be careful with your mouth. So it's amazing how as an animal, as a human,

I'm like, wait, I need to respect those boundaries. I think all of us, look, I know that you want to sell a home and put food on your table, but your ad on Facebook or LinkedIn or cold calling someone has to recognize what's happening right now. There's 150,000 Americans who've passed away. That's happening right now. There's 150,000 Americans

who've passed away. That's a big number. There's a lot going on. People are scared and nervous. And so hedging, hey, if you're making a video right now, hey, first of all, I hope everyone's family is healthy and safe. And on the flip side, if you happen to be in the market for a home, because I know a lot of you are making life decisions, I'd love to tell you about this great home outside the city. You know, I think just that, just that, disproportionately helps that real estate agent

show that they're compassionate and contextual and not tone deaf. Because, you know, for example, on this sports card thing, I get excited because I like it so much. I put out a piece of content the other day because I'm in the zone I'm talking like 30 people on Twitter at one time and I put something out but somebody who wasn't following the conversation goes bro what are you talking about $500 sports coach right now people are like hungry out here and I jumped in I was like look I totally get it I understand that if you follow the string

here I'm in this combo over here so the the context might be lost. I apologize that I'm not confused. And I think context and compassion matter. Yeah, I love that. So, I mean, you're aware of somebody's feelings that are, they're coming from out there and outside this conversation, but you're so quick to hop on that. And you mentioned social media a little bit here. Obviously, a lot of our folks are really heavy into social media. I'm on all the channels as well and absolutely love it. It allows you to be present and build trust through your presence. And that's one of the big things we've been talking about. Give us a few recommendations where you see the best placement, the best messaging.

The number one thing I'm desperate for everybody who's listening to get serious about is LinkedIn. I think everybody here will be blown away if they start treating LinkedIn the way they treat direct mailings, cold calling, bench ads, Facebook ads, Twitter, LinkedIn's organic reach, meaning anybody right now, Carl in Austin, Texas, Sally in Birmingham, Alabama, Rick in New York and LA, jumping on and making a video about your open house or your neighborhood or that you've been in this region for 21 years or whatever you think your value prop is and just posting it will reach more people than you would ever imagine and way more than will organically reach people

on Instagram or on Twitter or even on Facebook now. So right off the bat, you can see I got excited, Adam, the organic reach. Now, Facebook ads will crush everything, but the organic reach, don't pay to get amplified. LinkedIn is unbelievable.

Now it sprays all over the place, but remember, there was a real estate agent years ago. I gave a keynote talk at the Inman Conference and somebody came up to me three years later at a different conference that was there and said, you know, this was early, this was 2010, and said, I listened to what you said and I can't believe what happens on Facebook and Twitter. This is before targeted ads, Adam. I'm old now, you know?

They said, you know, I'm putting out these videos, and somebody sees me in Texas, but their cousin lives in Madison, Wisconsin, which is where this person was from, and I'm getting referrals that way. So for everybody who's listening right now and saying, yeah, but I can't target, I only care about Short Hills, New Jersey, good news. You may show up in somebody's stream in North Dakota, but their mother lives in Short Hills, New Jersey and is ready to sell the home and go to Florida. So LinkedIn is a huge opportunity right now. So you mentioned video. Obviously, we're talking about LinkedIn here. LinkedIn started live video here. We have to go in and apply for it or whatever. Okay, we got video. We got short form,

long form. I mean, what recommendations do you have for people? Cause I'm pushing video really hard. Self-awareness. Some people are subconscious of the way they look. And so they'll be better off doing written word or doing a podcast or doing literally audio clips and posting them on social media. You know, some people have a lot to say and they're great at long form video. Others are really quick witted. You know, like if you're in Hoboken, New Jersey and putting a Hoboken tip, this sub shop makes the best, you know, subs or hoagies or whatever word you want to use. If you're in Bloomingfield, Illinois, like Bloomingfield, Illinois tip, the new principle of this high school is remarkable.

Like there's a million ways to cut it. It's about self-awareness between how do you work in your brain as a communicator and then what medium, whether it's audio, video, or written word. Video does always rule the day because of television and film. It will always rule the day,

but let it be not confusing to anybody. Rush Limbaugh or Howard Stern or Larry King before he went on TV, there's been very big radio personalities that have never won on television and vice versa. And by the way, some of the greatest, most important things ever said were written words in book form.

So don't fret. You don't have to be super high energy. I would argue my energy and my jersey back to the cursing thing has actually in some pockets limited me so you don't have to be like me you don't have to be as smooth i mean adam's blowing me you know smooth you don't have to be as smooth you know like you can really really really focus on being yourself but being consistent it's like push-ups or like eating well you can't post something on Facebook and then come back 19 days later and then hit me up on email and say, this doesn't work.

This is like true consistency. Kudos to you. I remember when we were talking backstage for you to be at episode 100. Like the reason I said yes was almost more as a head nod to consistency because you've gotten to this number than even for my like of you or the organization. Well, thank you. I appreciate it. And thank you again for being here. And it's funny because you kept mentioning consistency there. In fact, Darren Hardy was backstage with us and I was talking to him the other day and he goes, the key to success is consistency. And you just said it like 10 times. It's reps. It's reps. You know, people are like, Gary V, why are you so good? And somebody sent me this nice compliment to me.

And it was kind of almost like going into luck category slash admiration. Like the whole thing felt not great to me. I don't want the admiration per se in that way. Like I don't want to be cool. I just want to be consistent. Then it was getting into a little bit of like luck. And I, whoever works really hard, never wants luck to be, even though we all recognize it. And I think finally just look at them. I said, bro, I've been doing this since I was six years old, shoveling snow, mowing lawns, washing cars, lemonade, baseball cards. Like, no, I mean, I was a workaholic at 11, like a, I love this. So it's not workaholic. You know, I love it.

And B, I'm 38 years in. I have pattern recognition. I have experience. I've stood on my own two feet. No parents, no grants, not even funding. Like I've built everything I've got. So I think a lot of people can resonate with that who are listening right now.

You know, when you build it yourself, you know who I'm thinking about right now? Think about the 20 year successful agent right now listening who doesn't want to do the technology stuff. And I always say to her and him, like, look, you're the queen bee because of your consistency. Don't let somebody just two years in take your market because they're outperforming you where all the attention is, you know? And by the way, that doesn't mean cold calling or direct mail doesn't work. It just means that I've done enough A-B testing at the tune of billions of dollars in advertising across all sectors, including real estate, to know that perfect Facebook and LinkedIn

outperforms perfect cold calling and direct mail. And that needs to be debated. I love it. Some gold in there. Gary, I want to jump to my final question here. But before that, I do want to ask all of our listeners, make sure you go to YouTube and check out Gary's, it's a Gary Vaynerchuk original film, The Ultimate Mindset on his YouTube channel. It's an hour long and is so good. I walked through this thing twice and I'm looking at it going, Gary, thanks for putting all this content together. It's fantastic. You put it all together and you got some amazing books out there. By the way, any new books coming soon? You know, it's funny. I've been stopping and

starting for the last year, which is very rare for me. And I'm like, huh, do I feel like, what am I doing? Why am I doing this? Maybe I feel like the answer is yes, because I still have one more book deal on my deal. So I'm obviously contractually obligated. And of course I have to deliver on that, but I feel like I have a good one in me, you know, you know, sometimes you can just feel something brewing. And so it's, um, yes, the answer is yes. And because I think a lot of people really learn in that format, always blown away by when people crushing it. My last book did really, really, really well. And I still get five to 10 emails or messages a day about it. And I'm always like, man, I'm putting out so much free content every day on all these platforms. And yet there's something

about the book from a packaging standpoint that people really learn. And it's funny for me because I have poor reading comprehension. So I am not one of those people. So I think I always extra smile about that. Nonetheless, the answer is yes. I just don't know where it's going yet. I love it. I always listen to it because you're the one who records it. Because I do the audio. Yeah.

So it's perfect. So Gary, thank you so much for being on Start With A Win. I have a question that I ask every one of my guests. And being guest 100, I know you're going to have a killer answer to this. And I know you are a guy of habits and systems and consistency. You've said it here. Gary, how do you start with a win? I'm going to say something very weird, but it's true. I wake up almost every day of my life thinking about the fact that I didn't get a phone call in the middle of the night, that my parents, or God forbid, even worse, my siblings or their children didn't die. And I know that's like a little weird, but I'm very basic. The reason I'm not scared

is because I don't care if all my businesses go out of business, I'll start again in the dirt, and I'll kind of weirdly like it. There's a little bit of a sickness there. But what I'm completely actually scared of is the health of the people I love. So the way I start is like a quick, and you can imagine it's not about my workout, which I do pretty much, though I've been doing more late evenings because I've realized I'm stronger at night. It's not about a shower. It's not about meditating. It's an extremely quick, wow, this is awesome. Another day. And my parents are young, but you still like, look at all the world we're living in now. Deep perspective of gratitude of the health of the people I love. I love it. An amazing answer. I was just sitting there. The word gratitude was echoing in my head as you're talking about that.

And you're right. I mean, we have so much to be thankful for, especially the time that we live on this planet. We have a great opportunity to make it even better. So thanks for sharing your thoughts on that, Gary. Gary Vaynerchuk, I'm sure you're on the socials everywhere. All of my listeners are huge followers. So thanks for being here. Best-selling author, entrepreneur, and good friend. So thank you very much for being here, Gary. We really appreciate it. A big shout out to Mark. Big shout out to Mark and his glasses.

Thank you, Gary. You're welcome, sir. Thank you guys. Take care. Hey, thank you so much for listening to Start With A Win. If you'd like to ask Adam a question or potentially be on our next episode, give us a call and leave us a message at 888-581-4430 don't forget to go on to itunes and subscribe write a review and rate the show for more great content head over to startwithwin.com and follow adam on instagram facebook and twitter and remember start with a win Outro Music