The Dynamic Leader: Adapting, Growing, and Thriving

Watch the episode here:

• Discover the true meaning of growth and change in leadership.
• Learn why it’s essential to acknowledge your past self.
• Understand the dangers of staying stagnant in a dynamic world.
• Gain insights from Rick’s personal journey of transformation.
• Equip yourself with tools to become a more adaptable and effective leader.

Hey, what’s shakin’? Hey, I’m Rick Jordan, today, we’re going all in. I want to give you a thought that I’ve had over this past weekend this morning. And it has to do with who you are now, versus who you were, and everything that’s wrapped up in that. Because I think leaders in organizations can sometimes forget about these things, not just for themselves, but also for everybody that works for them. But it’s actually even more exponentially relevant. When you take a look at yourself, as a leader in an organization or really anything, you have to take a look at your people and understand, especially when they’ve been with you for a long time, you know, we celebrate anniversaries, which is awesome. It reached out, We celebrate people who have been here for so many years, and what we don’t recognize or sometimes fail to recognize as leaders. And I try to stay hyper-aware of this. Okay, so all other leaders listen to this today, try to stay hyper-aware of this, that the person if you’ve been in the same organization for a long time to that individual that you’ve worked with, or worked for, or who is working for you for so many years, is now a different person today than they were five years ago. 

You know, and, like, oh, people romanticize some of these things like when they get into a relationship. And so Oh, I don’t want you to ever change, you know, and that’s a bunch of bullshit. Because I hope that people change and in that, I think that they grow, which means I hope they change in a way that they’ve healed from their traumas. And now those triggers just don’t exist anymore. They’ve learned how to manage them better, I hope that they’ve changed by growing through some adversity and learning new skill sets, I hope that they’ve changed because their emotions have literally shifted now and what used to set them off no longer sets them off. And now they can actually be cool, calm, and collected over something else that they use to trigger them, I hope that they change because they have started to reprioritize things in their life and recognize that some things that they used to get super vigilant over just don’t really matter so much anymore. And now they’re learning what really matters in their life. And they’re actually learning themselves better through that process. 

So when you manage somebody, when you lead somebody, you take a look at how they were a few years ago, and it’s like, Wait, that way that I used to lead that individual no longer applies. It’s like, well, wait a second, how’s that going? I just learned this person. And, you know, I feel like we just got into a working a good working relationship, you know, they crushed it for me all day long every day. Well, what you have to recognize is they have shifted priorities in life. And now, things that used to matter don’t matter as much, and things that used to not matter matter a whole lot. You know, there can be life events that take place like the birth of kids, a marriage, divorce, death of somebody close to them, there’s a lot of things that can shift priorities, and make people realize, hey, what I used to want is not really what I want anymore. And it’s a challenge for leaders in this way because leaders have to be ever-expansive in their knowledge and what we consume. 

A leader who isn’t consuming new information is a leader that’s going to fizzle out. A leader who doesn’t consume new information, whether it’s business related, whether it’s self-help, whether it’s personal growth, a leader who doesn’t consume information, is a leader that won’t be a leader this time next year. And this isn’t just reach out, this is across the board at any organization. One they will get past by because everybody else who’s continuing to change and grow will start to be able to present themselves in a different way so that they can accomplish things that I frickin love seeing this in one way, I get sad for leaders that on one side, but then I love this on some other ways because I get to see others rise up and take some of those places. You know, one of the best examples that I have of this is actually between me and Ryan, my vice president of operations. 

We both came from Geek Squad a while back. And this was a really cool scenario because there was like this, this pattern that existed to wear for a little bit to wear when I was promoted. I think this happened twice. If I remember it maybe three times I can’t remember exactly. But when I was promoted, I would in essence, they’d asked me be like, Hey, who do you want as your replacement? Like, I want Ryan, and then it would start to be training that and it was really cool because as I changed, he was able to change at the same time and he was able to grow and rise up and take some of those things too. Now in some other instances, I got to see other people, namely like myself, who began to overtake some of those old guard leaders that existed And the reasons that I was able to do that was not because of raw talent, not because I was just better than them. It’s because they stayed in the same place that they were. 

They did not put prioritization efforts, or intention into allowing themselves to move past where they were in that moment. Individuals in life who decide to stay where they are and be like, this was like the double-edged sword of contentment, right? I think contentment is sometimes confused with gratitude is that yes, we are grateful. We are grateful for everything that we have today. Always we are grateful for everything amazing that has happened in our lives. We wake up with that we should anyway, you know, when I work out, I go through things of gratitude, I start thinking of things, it’s a good time of meditation for me while I work out to be able to think of the things that I’m grateful for in my life. 

Contentment should be momentary contentment is accepting what is right now, not accepting what is forever. Did you catch that? So, anybody who’s like, Hey, I got a good job, I got a good income. This is great. I could see myself doing this for the rest of my life, I fucking hope not. Okay, I hope that those individuals are like, maybe I can just continue to move and grow. Yes, you can stay in the same place, you can stay in the same industry, you can say stay in the same mindset of what you want to do professionally or personally, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Because some people, a small percentage of people might actually mean it like that. And that’s cool. That’s all good. It’s like, I’m gonna stay in the same industry. I could see myself doing this forever. Well, that’s great. But I don’t think you want to see yourself as a level one tech or a level one to level two tech forever, I don’t think you want to see yourself, as you know, the fry dude or fry girl at McDonald’s, you might think maybe I want to be the GM of some of these someday or actually, around the region, maybe I can be a regional manager, you know, I can see myself I love this company. 

And I can continue to grow here. I continue to learn new skill sets. Because today, I’m grateful for everything that I’ve had up until this point what I have right now, and I’m content in this place, right now, until I’ve learned everything that I can possibly learn in this role. And then it’s time for me to level up. And as a leader, it’s important to recognize this in your people when it’s time for them to level up. When they’ve gotten everything they possibly can out of that role and recognize the hunger, recognize the desire for growth, start asking questions like, Hey, what are you doing these days? What books are you reading? What podcasts? Are you listening to? You know what, that’s even in an interview questions. In a written interview, every person that applies to reach out, every single person goes through a written interview, every new person, we just brought on a new controller, she had the same thing.

Everybody that we hire these days has these questions. What do you do for personal development? What books do you read? What podcasts Do you listen to? What else do you do? And you know what if there’s nothing written down there, they get thrown into the past pile. That’s one of the biggest and most important, and one of my favorite questions, it’s on our written interview. Because we want people that will grow that want to grow, that are going to change, change is good. Growth is even better. There are some nuances there. As leaders, we need to exemplify what that growth is. I started another new book this morning, actually two days ago, Sorry, today was the second day during my workouts, again, a time of meditation. It’s the autobiography of George W. Bush. I think it’s decisions and decisions, something I can’t remember the exact title of it. 

But it’s amazing because he’s, it’s, it’s so cool to start listening to him and how he grew throughout the years and the decision points that he had, and all of the things that he needed to come to like head to head with, in his own personal life, including drinking, I had no frickin idea. No idea. And that was a way that he was able to change. He stopped drinking when he was 40 years old and hasn’t had another drop since then. He attributes all of the tough decisions that he was able to make back to that moment saying that I wouldn’t have even been President if I didn’t stop drinking. I had no idea. You know, and the guy was like three drinks for drinks every night and he had beer on somebody designated for like Thursday and Friday, That way, there was some sort of moderation and self-control, but not so much. You know, he’s actually kind of a funny dude because he narrates this thing himself. 

But all of these things, I look back and I see his willingness to change and continue to move For him, I don’t care if you liked him as a president or not, as an individual who was able to attain the highest possible political position in the United States of America, that still says something, I don’t care if you like Barack Obama, or you did not steal the same thing. We’re talking Republican and Democrat here to people with different viewpoints, that we’re still able to achieve the same thing, the same position, still able to grow and change and make decisions that cause them to change. Leaders need to change. I’m not the same person that I was 10 years ago. Everybody could tell you that. It used to be no joke, right? It used to be because I go to a conference. And Ryan, whom I spoke about a little earlier, always knew that there was going to be something kind of crazy when I came back. Because I would walk back in and be like, we’re changing everything. 

That’s it. And just because of something that I learned now, even though it may not seem like it to some people, I laugh at this, I chuckle, my my approach is actually a bit more measured. It’s nothing like what it was, I still forge new paths, I still remove obstacles, and I still take us down places that nobody else has ever been. But it’s not like a bull in a china shop anymore. It’s a much more measured approach. And there’s more discussion, again, more counsel from people that are around me, because I value opinions. And I’m grateful that in a lot of areas, I am not the smartest person in the room. It’s an area of growth that I chose to go through in my life after I was aware and became aware of what it was doing to the people around me. And at the same time, it actually created some good skill sets in those individuals, even though it wasn’t necessarily the right way to lead it that one, not today. Maybe it was at the time, I don’t know. But it’s still I saw them be able to build skill sets and learn how to move and shift quickly. 

Guess what that frickin paid off when the pandemic came around. Quick decisions were needed. Hardcore pivots were needed. We needed to change as an organization how we did certain parts of our business. Like a lot that was out there. And look at that we survived and we changed. And now we’re growing substantially exponentially. Leaders need to lead the way with changing growth because I hope a year from now you’re looking back at yourself and be like, you’re not the same person that I was that you were. And I hope you come back and be like, Oh, thank you. Because I hope that it’s meant as a compliment that you take it as a compliment. Because I hope that I don’t come to you be like, Yeah, you’re the same dude, I’ve always known you the same girl I’ve always known. Well, some people find comfort in that. And there are certain things like elements of your character. That’s not what I’m talking about, you know if you’re honest, trustworthy, respectable, gracious, all of those things. Those are character traits. And I hope that those are things that stick with you. But those rough edges that you might have, you know, and you might find better ways of doing things, which means that you’re growing because the results say so. Right. 

People might might flock around you a little bit more people might take your advice a little bit better people might look to you to lead them. If you’re up here, you know, there might be like this NAD, there’s a certain certain thing like pure leadership. And that’s one thing I love to be aware of, to as I looked around and be like, hey, if I see six people in the same role, and I see them all going to one person, naturally, that individual is stepping into a role of peer leadership, probably because they’ve gone through some growth and some change on their own in the past year. So when I come to you, and I say, Hey, you’re not the same person, you were a year ago. The only way I’m going to come to that, and it’s going to be an accomplishment. And you have every right and you absolutely should say thank you. Because it’s powerful. When people are not the same person. And you know what when things happen like that. 

And you find leaders like if there’s a bad leader that you’ve ever been that they will almost like try to hold you to that person that you were, and it’s perfectly okay to say, hey, respectfully. I’m not the same person that I was a year ago. Please don’t hold me to that. Here’s how I’ve grown. Here’s what I’ve changed. And there’s a respectful way to say that because in those moments, that gives you the confidence and the security because there is no insecurity in that statement saying you know what? I accept who I was before, and that’s an important process of growth and change, especially for leaders. I accepted who I was, at that time. In order to recognize the growth and the change between those two points between now and back, then you have to accept who you are. And that is probably the toughest pill to swallow.

For most people. When they see that they’ve accomplished so much, they almost like, turn their backs and close the door, you know, flip the page, new chapter, whatever, and just completely dismiss who they were. I encourage you to never, ever, ever dismiss who you were because that disrespects who you are. Take a look back because if you think that you’re in a different position now than you were maybe you don’t think you’re in a different position in a better phase of life. Take a look back and begin with gratitude. That’s where growth and change start from his gratitude. Because that’s the other component. This is also accepting where you are. You can get to where you should be going