#67: Dr. Gavin Adams — Rethink Delegation to Grow More Leaders

July 03, 2021 by Cal Walters in Leadership, Intentional Living, Servant Leadership, Courageous Leadership

This episode is brought to you by HigherEchelon, Inc. HigherEchelon is a leadership development & organizational performance consulting firm providing human capital and technology services to optimize performance. HigherEchelon can help prepare your organization to meet the rapidly changing, complex and often ambiguous requirements of today’s world by developing Resilient and Adaptive leaders, modernizing and enhancing processes, and implementing transformational technology solutions. Visit HigherEchelon.com to connect with the amazing team at Higher Echelon and learn more about how they can help you and your team. Check out this great interview of HigherEchelon’s President, Dr. Joe Ross, on the Beyond the Uniform podcast.

I’m really excited to bring you this conversation with Dr. Gavin Adams. I first learned about Gavin when he appeared on the Andy Stanley Leadership Podcast to discuss his framework for delegation. Over the past 12 years, Gavin took over a struggling church with around 250 attendees and grew it to over 8,000 weekly attendees. On this episode, we dive into how he was able to turn around an underperforming organization, create a clear vision, and help it get to a better place. Of all the episodes we have done so far, this one has to be at the top in terms of practical takeaways for leaders—things you can begin implementing TODAY to improve your leadership and your organization.

Gavin is a leadership coach and change agent focused on supporting leaders through change, transition, and transformation. In addition to encouraging leaders through Transformation Solutions, he is the lead pastor at Woodstock City Church, a campus location of North Point Ministries. Prior to ministry, Gavin spent over a decade in the marketplace working as a business strategy and marketing consultant.

Over the past 15 years of ministry, Gavin helped plant a church, revitalize a church, pastor a rapidly growing church, lead a mega-church, and serve in a multi-site church. This breadth of experience gives Gavin a fundamental understanding of virtually every leadership challenge.

Gavin has an M.B.A. from Georgia State University and a Masters of Theology and Doctorate of Ministry from Liberty University.

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT

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#66: General (Ret.) David Petraeus — Mentors, Building a Team, & Culture Keys

June 21, 2021 by Cal Walters in Leadership

General (US Army, Ret.) David H. Petraeus is a Partner and Chairman of the KKR Global Institute, which he established in May 2013. He is also a member of the boards of directors of Optiv and FirstStream, a venture investor in more than 15 startups, and engaged in a variety of academic endeavors. Prior to joining KKR, General Petraeus served over 37 years in the U.S. military, culminating his career with six consecutive commands, five of which were in combat, including command of the Surge in Iraq, command of U.S. Central Command, and command of coalition forces in Afghanistan.

Following retirement from the military and after Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA during a period of significant achievements in the global war on terror, the establishment of important Agency digital initiatives, and significant investments in the Agency’s most important asset, its human capital.

General Petraeus graduated with distinction from the U.S. Military Academy, and he is the only person in Army history to be the top graduate of both the demanding U.S. Army Ranger School and the U.S. Army’s Command and General Staff College. He also earned a Ph.D. from Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs.

General Petraeus taught international relations and economics at the U.S. Military Academy in the mid-1980s, he was a Visiting Professor of Public Policy at the Honors College of the City University of New York from 2013 through 2016, and he was for 6 years a Judge Widney Professor at the University of Southern California and a Senior Fellow at Harvard University’s Belfer Center. He is currently a Visiting Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson Institute, Co-Chairman of the Global Advisory Council of the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars, Senior Vice President of the Royal United Services Institute, and a Member of the Trilateral Commission, as well as a member of the boards of the Atlantic Council, the Institute for the Study of War, and over a dozen veterans service organizations.

Over the past 15 years, General Petraeus was named one of America’s 25 Best Leaders by U.S. News and World Report, a runner-up for Time magazine’s Person of the Year, the Daily Telegraph man of the year, a Time 100 selectee, Princeton University’s Madison Medalist, and one of Foreign Policy magazine’s top 100 public intellectuals in three different years. General Petraeus has earned numerous honors, awards, and decorations, including four Defense Distinguished Service Medals, the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, two NATO Meritorious Service Medals, the Combat Action Badge, the Ranger Tab, and Master Parachutist and Air Assault Badges. He has also been decorated by 13 foreign countries and is believed to be the only person who, while in uniform, threw out the first pitch of a World Series game and did the coin toss for a Super Bowl.

On this episode, General Petraeus and I discuss how to find the right mentors, how to cultivate a great mentor/mentee relationship, how to build a highly functioning team, what he looks for in team members, and much more!

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#65: Dee Ann Turner — The Secret Sauce of Chick-fil-A Culture

June 07, 2021 by Cal Walters in Leadership

Dee Ann Turner understands the importance of stewarding talent.

A 33-year veteran of Chick-fil-A, Inc, she was selected as the company’s first female officer in 2001 and served as the Vice President, Talent and Vice President, Sustainability. During her long career, she worked closely with Chick-fil-A’s founder, S. Truett Cathy, and other key leaders as an architect of their organizational culture. Additionally, she led Staff Learning and Development, Diversity and Inclusion, and Culture and Engagement, and Talent Management. More recently, Dee Ann launched and led Chick-fil-A’s sustainability function focusing on a strategy to implement sustainable practices at the then $10.5 billion company.

Dee Ann was instrumental in building and growing Chick-fil-A’s well-known culture and talent systems, responsible for selecting thousands of Chick-fil-A franchisees and corporate staff members. Under her leadership, Chick-fil-A enjoyed industry-leading employee engagement scores and became known for selecting the best talent in the hospitality business, maintaining a 95% retention rate for corporate staff and franchisees. She has also mentored and championed hundreds of people to discover their unique vocational callings and build careers they love.

Today, she leads her own organization, Dee Ann Turner & Associates, LLC, focused on writing books and speaking to audiences both virtually and in-person on how to steward extraordinary talent. She's the author of two best-selling books covering the topics of corporate culture, customer service and career success. It’s My Pleasure and its newer version, Bet on Talent, teaches leaders how to find and keep extraordinary talent. Her latest book, Crush Your Career, teaches talent how to be extraordinary. Additionally, Dee Ann serves as Executive in Residence at High Point University teaching students career development skills and serving in the Access to Innovators Program.

Through her books and keynotes, she leverages her experience to help you steward the extraordinary talent entrusted to you, whether you are responsible for creating a remarkable organizational culture or focused on building your own exceptional career. She is a graduate of Clayton State University with a degree in Management. She also completed executive education courses at Emory University, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Virginia’s Darden Business School.

She is a 2009 alumnus of the prestigious Harvard Business School Advanced Management Program. Dee Ann has been married to her husband, Ashley for 37 years and they are the parents of three grown sons. She has served numerous non-profit boards in the past including The Kenya Project, Eagle Ranch and Proverbs 31 Ministries. She has also served on the board of advisors for Lubbock Christian University and First Care Clinics. Currently, she serves on the board of advisors for Unconventional Business Network Women and the advisory board for the Pure Hope Foundation. When she is not traveling, she can often be found on her Peloton bike in her home outside of Atlanta or on her stand up paddleboard at Lake Hartwell in northeast Georgia.

Check out Dee Ann’s bestselling books:

Bet on Talent: How to Create a Remarkable Culture That Wins the Hearts of Customers

By Turner, Dee Ann

Crush Your Career: Ace the Interview, Land the Job, and Launch Your Future

By Turner, Dee Ann

On this episode, we cover a lot of ground, including:

The key ingredients to building an incredible culture like they have at Chick-fil-A
How to activate the key elements of culture in your organization
The story behind how Chick-fil-A created their meaningful purpose
The differences between a rules-based culture and a principles-based culture
The story behind “My Pleasure” at Chick-fil-A
How Chick-fil-A keeps such a high level of employee engagement and high retention of talent
After conducting thousands of interviews, how Dee Ann is able to choose the best talent
Commonalities between those that make it through the highly competitive process to become a Chick-fil-A franchisee
The one habit, routine, or ritual that has made the biggest positive difference for Dee Ann
Her top marriage/relationship advice
Her top parenting advice
One leader she really admires
Her top leadership book: Dr. Henry Cloud’s book, Integrity (link below).

Integrity: The Courage to Meet the Demands of Reality

By Henry Cloud

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#64: Brigadier General Pat Work — Mantras to Center Your Leadership

May 22, 2021 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership

The views expressed on this podcast and page are those of the host and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy, position, or endorsement of the US Army, DoD, or the US Government.

Brigadier General (BG) James "Pat" Work graduated from the United States Military Academy in 1995 and was commissioned a Lieutenant of Infantry. He currently serves as the Deputy Commanding General for Support of the 82nd Airborne Division.

His initial assignments were rifle platoon leader, and later heavy weapons platoon leader, in 3rd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). He then served as rifle platoon leader and Headquarters and Headquarters Company executive officer in 3d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Following the Infantry Officers Advanced Course, BG Work commanded Company B, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division. He subsequently served as the S3 Air Operations Officer and commander, Company C, 2d Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. Between 2002 and 2005, he deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan six times with 2d Ranger Battalion.

Following the Command and General Staff Officers Course, BG Work reported to 1st Battalion, 325th Airborne Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division. He deployed to Iraq with the Red Falcons for 15 months between 2006 to 2007. He then served as Aide de Camp to the 20th Secretary of the Army from 2008 until 2009. In 2010, BG Work deployed to Afghanistan with a Special Operations Task Force, serving in Kabul as the Task Force Commander's liaison officer to Commander, ISAF-Joint Command. In 2011, BG Work took command of 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), leading the battalion in Afghanistan from 2012 to 2013.

BG Work reported to the Joint Staff in 2013, serving with the J3 Directorate's Deputy Director for Regional Operations where he was Orders Branch Chief and SecDef Orders Book Briefer from 2014 to 2015. He commanded 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 82nd Airborne Division, from 2016 to 2018, guiding a portion of the coalition adviser effort in Iraq and Operation INHERENT RESOLVE. He served as Executive Officer to the 39th Chief of Staff of the Army from 2018 to 2019, followed by service as the Military Deputy Director for Program Analysis and Evaluation, Army Deputy Chief of Staff, G-8.

BG Work attended Watsonville High School in Watsonville, California. He has been married to the former Mara Leigh Shwedo for 20 years. They have two children, JP (18) and Sally Ann (16). BG Work’s hobbies include reading, enjoying football, and working out. BG Work earned a Master of Public Policy degree from Georgetown University and a Master of Strategic Studies from the Marine Corps War College.

On this episode, we cover a lot of ground. We discuss lessons Brigadier General Work learned from playing football, his views of mission command (an organizational leadership philosophy in the military), how you build competent people, the power of mantras (including many of BG Work’s life and leadership mantras), lessons he’s learned from combat, and much more!

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#63: Ben Kotwica (NFL Coach) — On Coaching, Excellence, and Resilience

May 08, 2021 by Cal Walters in Intentional Living, Leadership

Ben as an Apache Helicopter Pilot in the Army

Today, I’m really excited to have Ben Kotwica join the show for Episode 63! Ben is a West Point graduate, former Apache helicopter pilot, and former NFL coach for the New York Jets, the Washington Football Team, and the Atlanta Falcons.

On this episode he shares with us what makes a really great coach, the difference between the good and great players at the NFL level, his experience with Coach Rex Ryan, and some awesome habits that he has picked up along the way. Please let us know what you think!