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Episode 228

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Published on:

31st Jan 2025

From Trauma to Triumph: Stephen Falk's Guide to Resilient Leadership pt 2

From Trauma to Triumph:

Stephen Falk's Guide to

Resilient Leadership pt 2


Takeaways:

  • The importance of establishing connections before diving into serious business discussions cannot be overstated.
  • Utilizing humor and light-heartedness can foster a positive atmosphere during critical meetings.
  • Effective leadership requires shifting from a technical expert mindset to a people-oriented approach.
  • Difficult conversations should be approached with preparation, empathy, and a clear purpose.
  • Building trust within a team is crucial to enhancing communication and decision-making.
  • Understanding the dynamics of team interaction helps prevent miscommunication and promotes collaboration.

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Transcript
Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

Welcome to the Faith Based Business Podcast with your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

On this podcast we interview fellow entrepreneurs who are willing to share their stories, their trials and their triumphs in business, all in an effort to help you avoid the same obstacles and to achieve success faster.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

But at all times, continue to rely on our faith to see us through to victory.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

Now with today's guest, here is your host, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

:

Hello everyone everywhere.

:

Pastor Robert Thibodeau here.

:

Welcome to the Faith Based Business podcast.

:

We are so blessed that you are joining us today.

:

Hey folks, Pastor Bob here.

:

We're back today in part two of just an absolutely fabulous interview with Stephen Falk, author of the Switched On CEO how to Think Like a World Class Leader.

:

Now, he has been dropping value bomb after value bomb in this interview and I went through his book.

:

I'm so excited about his book.

:

And this interview is even more fabulous.

:

I've been taking notes as we go too.

:

I recommend you get a hold of his book and go through it.

:

Stephen has put together an absolutely wonderful program in this Switched on CEO and his expertise is on getting you to run the business better and have people join it.

:

I'm not going to sit here and explain it.

:

I want to jump back into the conclusion of this interview.

:

Let him explain it as we go because he does a lot better job at it than Pastor Bob could do.

:

Amen.

:

Alright, let's jump back into the interview now with Stephen Falk.

:

Well explain the importance of this concept and how it can be used to help foster greater information sharing, really, without putting anyone on the defense.

Stephen Falk:

Sure.

Stephen Falk:

So let's, let's grab Wildfire for a second.

Stephen Falk:

Right.

Stephen Falk:

And so they have a briefing every complex fire.

Stephen Falk:

So there's 400 people standing at 7 o'clock in the morning waiting for their briefing.

Stephen Falk:

And the briefing's like 15 minutes.

Stephen Falk:

And so there is no time for fluff.

Stephen Falk:

There really isn't.

Stephen Falk:

So they go through ops, they go through communications, they go through weather, they go through all the different.

Stephen Falk:

Each person gets a little sound bite.

Stephen Falk:

So it'll be very easy just to skip all the three lane highway protocols and just deliver the message.

Stephen Falk:

But you know what?

Stephen Falk:

If they do that fire will be ranked very low on the level of engagement and morale and there'll be mistakes made.

Stephen Falk:

So literally this is how hard it is for like an instant commander on a fire to use our model.

Stephen Falk:

They show up at 7:00 in the morning or 6:30, depends on, you know, when the sun's rising.

Stephen Falk:

Say okay, let's get out the gator.

Stephen Falk:

Thank you very much for being here today.

Stephen Falk:

Okay.

Stephen Falk:

Two ducks and a deer walk into a bar.

Stephen Falk:

But you're thinking that's no different than what a hypnotist does on the stage.

Stephen Falk:

They're capturing people's attention and in a random way.

Stephen Falk:

And it takes like two ducks in a bar and two ducks and a deer walk into a bar.

Stephen Falk:

Wait one steamboat and then the duck said the bar.

Stephen Falk:

The deer said, done.

Stephen Falk:

What's happened?

Stephen Falk:

You've now taken 350 people that are just came off a text with their family or just looked at their crypto account or just are wondering, wow, why am I so hungover like, or feeling their store like they're all over the map.

Stephen Falk:

Right.

Stephen Falk:

You don't have any teamwork standing there.

Stephen Falk:

And with one stupid joke in lane one, you've now gathered everybody together and then from there they go.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, let's go to weather.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, weather, what do you got for us?

Stephen Falk:

Awesome.

Stephen Falk:

What do you got from comms?

Stephen Falk:

What do you got from our stakeholders?

Stephen Falk:

What do you got from this?

Stephen Falk:

Okay, so what's the aerial plan for today?

Stephen Falk:

Great.

Stephen Falk:

What's the.

Stephen Falk:

Everyone have a great day.

Stephen Falk:

Oh, wait, just before you go.

Stephen Falk:

So two rabbits were talking to each other.

Stephen Falk:

It sounds so dumb, but you're actually merging into the, the, the transactional information and you're merging out.

Stephen Falk:

If they would be taking like, like, you know, feedback.

Stephen Falk:

Aar review of that fire or what do you think of this incident commander?

Stephen Falk:

They'll go five star review, best commander in the world.

Stephen Falk:

He's like, just loved how she, how she.

Stephen Falk:

I just felt energy all the entire 60 days in the fire.

Stephen Falk:

Like, why Some stupid opening and closing joke.

Stephen Falk:

So as much as it sounds basic, it's skipped by most CEOs.

:

Yeah.

:

Yep.

Stephen Falk:

Again, the risk management is like, oh, you know, I wouldn't want to show that, you know, the vulnerability of telling a joke.

:

Yeah, yeah.

:

And you know, going back to the military side, I've been in these briefings where, you know, we got a new mission order coming out.

:

nit leaders report up here at:

:

And we're sitting there like, yeah, well, you know, how's everything going?

:

And you know, how's family?

:

Have you been talking to everything?

:

And then the Colonel walks in, everybody shuts up, goes, all right, here's what we got, you know, and yeah, boom, straight into it.

:

Yeah.

:

Any questions?

:

All right, move out.

:

Make it happen.

Stephen Falk:

I, I had, I did an experiment at where switchback is integrated into, into agency administrator training for interagency wildland fire.

Stephen Falk:

So it's a five day training that happens every year in Santa Fe.

Stephen Falk:

It's amazing.

Stephen Falk:

So there's like 18 speakers that fly in and do their thing.

Stephen Falk:

And then, then switchback is like drip fed throughout the whole process where we do some training, but we do also interpret what's going on.

Stephen Falk:

We close out the day.

Stephen Falk:

And, and so day one, it's like, okay, so switch back.

Stephen Falk:

You're gonna see on the agendas, throw out his whole thing.

Stephen Falk:

So I'm not sure how to introduce some Stephen folks.

Stephen Falk:

So he's in the back there.

Stephen Falk:

So, Steve, why don't you just get.

Stephen Falk:

Why don't you just get it going right?

Stephen Falk:

So I'm already mic'd up, and now I have this opportunity to bond with 100 people in the room in the next 30 seconds.

Stephen Falk:

So I could say, well, you know, two ducks and a deer walking into the bar, but I'm not there yet because they don't know me yet.

Stephen Falk:

So I just go, I turned my mic go, okay, this is gonna be awkward, but has anyone wanted to hug a Canadian and never had the opportunity?

Stephen Falk:

I started walking to the front room, going through all the tables.

Stephen Falk:

Men and women started popping up out of their seats like Montana men with belt buckles and rang their jeans go.

Stephen Falk:

Well, I've never hugged a Canadian.

Stephen Falk:

Well, I've never hugged a Canadian.

Stephen Falk:

And so hug, hug, hug, hug.

Stephen Falk:

I get like eight hugs by the time I get to the front.

Stephen Falk:

The room's mine.

Stephen Falk:

The room is mine.

Stephen Falk:

It's like, how, how simple yet how strategic that one.

Stephen Falk:

Athletes.

Stephen Falk:

And what you're communicating is, I'm not a robot.

Stephen Falk:

You're a human.

Stephen Falk:

I'm a human.

Stephen Falk:

We're gonna, we're gonna talk about some deadly serious stuff like reducing fatalities and injuries on fires because of our mindset.

Stephen Falk:

But in the meantime, let's make a connection.

:

Amen.

:

Amen.

:

Amen.

:

And that.

:

That's awesome.

:

I might have to use that one.

Stephen Falk:

People yelling from the back room, you're never gonna hug me.

Stephen Falk:

And then I'm like, oh, would you rather, like, have a little smooch on the neck?

Stephen Falk:

And they're like.

:

And.

:

And out of all the speakers that day, they went back and told the story about that one.

Stephen Falk:

100.

Stephen Falk:

100.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

Yes.

Stephen Falk:

So how, as.

Stephen Falk:

As leaders, how do we, how do we use neuroscience and some system systems thinking around communication just to leverage, you know, the.

Stephen Falk:

A Connection with people.

:

Yeah, yeah.

:

And keeping them from taking that defensive posture of like, okay, what's he gotta say?

Stephen Falk:

Yeah, you'll never crack this nut, you know.

:

Oh, yeah.

:

You can see it from the stage too.

:

You can see everybody.

:

When someone gets all the arms go across and lean back in their seat, you know.

Stephen Falk:

Hey, Bob, you know one of my favorite things to do if I'm in a bigger room like that is, is and there's multiple speakers, I'll flip the room because like switchback, we don't use PowerPoint or anything like that.

Stephen Falk:

We just, I just use flip chart paper and I just need a flat wall and enough lighting on the wall to make it happen.

:

So.

Stephen Falk:

Okay.

Stephen Falk:

Okay.

Stephen Falk:

Stephen Falk is now doing, you'll be doing the next hour, switchback.

Stephen Falk:

And I'll get up and say, yeah.

Stephen Falk:

Everyone stand up, stretch your backs.

Stephen Falk:

Oh, by the way, turn your chairs around.

Stephen Falk:

We're gonna be working from the back of the room.

Stephen Falk:

And all those back room dudes are like, well, I hate this training.

Stephen Falk:

I can't believe we're having to sit in this, in this room for two days.

Stephen Falk:

But I was like, what?

Stephen Falk:

They're now front row seats again.

Stephen Falk:

It's like, it's, it looks like I'm just being cheeky or.

Stephen Falk:

But it's so strategic because at the end of the day, we as a company, we've decided who do we need to love the most.

Stephen Falk:

It's the late adopters.

Stephen Falk:

It's the resistors.

:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

And so how do we reach them?

Stephen Falk:

Well, they're in the back of the room in the shadows.

:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

And so when, when.

Stephen Falk:

And we're not intimidated by those, those people, we're fascinated.

Stephen Falk:

We actually literally love them.

Stephen Falk:

Right.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

And so when you flip a room, all of a sudden they're your front row audience and they're like, okay, bring it on there, Stevie boy.

Stephen Falk:

What have you got for us?

:

That's awesome.

:

That is awesome.

:

That's.

:

Man, I'm glad I'm recording this because I'm going to be using some of this stuff.

Stephen Falk:

Oh, yeah, by the way, it's all trademarks, so.

Stephen Falk:

No, I'm just kidding.

:

Now you mentioned when I was talking about some of the things I was doing in the military about a T bone crash on a three lane highway.

:

Now we talked about the merging in the three lane.

:

So explain that T bone crash syndrome and what it's all about and how to avoid it.

Stephen Falk:

Sure.

Stephen Falk:

So you can T bone probably in here.

Stephen Falk:

The two most common crashes, the first one is what we described already where you just come in, no hellos, no fist bump, no eye contact.

Stephen Falk:

In fact, you don't even look up from your screen.

Stephen Falk:

You start communicating to someone that's walked into your office and you just go straight to the transactional daily business that is actually, that's.

Stephen Falk:

Or if you're the one that's actually trying to get intel from somebody, you don't, you're not emerging.

Stephen Falk:

You just go straight to the what do I need?

Stephen Falk:

What are the facts?

Stephen Falk:

And, and people say, well, we don't have time for that.

Stephen Falk:

And it's silly to, to, you know, meander around the, in on the, you know, on the pleasantries, but it really isn't.

Stephen Falk:

There's really good science behind it.

Stephen Falk:

So that's the first T bolt.

Stephen Falk:

The second T bone is the people that all thought that they wanted to be a counselor, but they never became one.

Stephen Falk:

And so without even like building trust or the appropriate location or time, they just go, so Bob, you're being married for what was it, 40s, how many years?

Stephen Falk:

Tell me about a fight that you've had in the last year that really rattled you to the core.

Stephen Falk:

You're like, hold on there, buddy.

Stephen Falk:

Hey, you know, that's a no, that's a go zone.

Stephen Falk:

But not now and not you.

Stephen Falk:

And, and so there, those are the two classic T bones, people that just go straight to, to the daily business and people that jump over all the regular trust building processes and they want to get personal intel from people.

Stephen Falk:

And, and the second one, they're, they're well intentioned, but they're, but they're being idiots.

:

Yeah, Amen.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

And I mean, I get confronted that that way sometimes.

Stephen Falk:

Even in the lobby of the church is a dangerous place.

Stephen Falk:

People come with their big old eyes after church going, so Steve, how's it going?

Stephen Falk:

And they're like, easy, easy, easy.

Stephen Falk:

We haven't spoken for a month, we barely know each other.

Stephen Falk:

I'm not going to tell you about, you know, cash flow issues in my company.

Stephen Falk:

Like, it's like.

:

Yeah, I heard you once speaking at that conference in San Jose.

:

How much did you make?

:

You know?

Stephen Falk:

Oh, that's a perfect example.

Stephen Falk:

That's a perfect example.

Stephen Falk:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

And you know, the people that's, that basically unpack that three lane highway and they see it for the first time, they go totally busted.

Stephen Falk:

Especially the T boners that go to the lane three.

Stephen Falk:

And because they're good intention, their hearts are right.

Stephen Falk:

They just, they just have never seen the progressive science of.

Stephen Falk:

You start with small talk, you go to the daily Business, you go to the stuff that matters more.

Stephen Falk:

You go back to daily business, go back to small talk.

Stephen Falk:

And that's the natural flow of building trust and team.

:

Amen the minute.

:

That's why.

Stephen Falk:

One, two, three.

:

That's why I said, yeah.

:

That's why I said, you know the example I gave about walking into the office with the sergeant, you know.

Stephen Falk:

Yeah.

:

And because.

:

And when we, before the recording started, I told you, where were you 40 years ago when I could have used this stuff?

Stephen Falk:

I've had grown, grown.

Stephen Falk:

Typically men punch me on their shoulder and say where were you like 20 years ago?

Stephen Falk:

And I wouldn't have screwed up my kids.

:

Well, you know, and being in leadership though isn't always, you know.

:

Well, sometimes I wonder why anybody want.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

To be in leadership.

:

But there's always, always going to be those, let's just say, quote unquote, difficult conversations that you outline in your book that that will need to take place with subordinates from time to time.

:

And you outline a method that after I read it it just makes complete sense.

:

And I wish I'd have known about this again 40 years ago, but you just kind of outlined it a second ago.

:

Explain how to handle those difficult conversations.

Stephen Falk:

Well, again, what.

Stephen Falk:

Thanks for asking.

Stephen Falk:

But there's I, I always think of it like.

Stephen Falk:

Remember I was a family therapist that drew pictures and so when I think about a difficult conversation, it's always going to be this.

Stephen Falk:

You're going to lean towards two sides.

Stephen Falk:

You're either going to be too passive and not have it or you're going to have it in a very unempowered way as a leader or you're going to be too aggressive and just come through the be a bull in the china shop.

Stephen Falk:

Those are the two defaults.

Stephen Falk:

So there's something in the middle that's sweet.

Stephen Falk:

But in order for it to be sweet, I think you need to create a.

Stephen Falk:

It's called, in anthropological terms it's not a closed system.

Stephen Falk:

It's not a chaotic system.

Stephen Falk:

It's an open flexible system.

Stephen Falk:

Meaning a closed system is where you can't get in because it's completely closed.

Stephen Falk:

A chaotically open system is there's too much inputs and outputs.

Stephen Falk:

There's not enough sort of boundaries on the system.

Stephen Falk:

So with a difficult conversation you have to visualize it that this person needs pre warning.

Stephen Falk:

They need time to have their adrenaline spike and have it drain and maybe even sleep on it before they have the next opportunity to talk.

Stephen Falk:

You want to eat the elephant one bite at a time and then you need to Have a really good opening and close.

Stephen Falk:

So it's almost like the three lane highway.

Stephen Falk:

Where, where let's say you need to have a difficult conversation, Bob, with one of your employees and you say, okay, here it is.

Stephen Falk:

You say, tomorrow at 2:00 in the afternoon, I'd like to sit down with you for about 20 minutes.

Stephen Falk:

This is the topic we're having accounting differences of opinion.

Stephen Falk:

Our accounting isn't making sense.

Stephen Falk:

And so I, I, we need to look at this and particularly with this one client.

Stephen Falk:

So now you get in context, you put, you put the topic into it and say, and say, and this, we're not, our company is not about blaming our country.

Stephen Falk:

Our company is about learning like what's, what is it, is it a system failure?

Stephen Falk:

Is it, is it a character failure?

Stephen Falk:

Like where, where is that?

Stephen Falk:

Where's the problem?

Stephen Falk:

We don't know right now, but you and I, we're going to sit down tomorrow at 2, we spent 20 minutes looking at it.

Stephen Falk:

More than likely we're not going to figure it out in those 20 minutes, but we're going to get the ball going.

Stephen Falk:

Are you good with that?

Stephen Falk:

And they go, I'm good with that.

Stephen Falk:

And for sure you'll leave their office and they'll have a rush of adrenaline.

Stephen Falk:

They go, bob's blaming me, thinks I'm stealing from the company.

Stephen Falk:

I'm no good, I don't have what it takes.

Stephen Falk:

I hate this company anyways.

Stephen Falk:

They'll have all those back brain operating system responses, but within 24 hours that's all drained out.

Stephen Falk:

They maybe even talk to their spouse at home and they say, yeah, you should do your homework, figure this out what happened in September with accounting, with that client.

Stephen Falk:

So then when you sit down and you go through, you're not going to say two ducks in the ear.

Stephen Falk:

You know, you're not starting with a joke, but you're maybe starting with a handshake or maybe saying, hey, can I get you a drink of water?

Stephen Falk:

Then you sit down together.

Stephen Falk:

Lane one, you establish like that piece, Lane two is, is that business as usual.

Stephen Falk:

But now you can have an opportunity to have what's called Lane three tickets show up.

Stephen Falk:

So they're going to say, oh yeah, I am.

Stephen Falk:

You know, the truth is, I didn't reconcile last month with that client.

Stephen Falk:

I was just swamped.

Stephen Falk:

Like my mom got sick and remember I took those four days off, went back to Boston and dealt with her and came back and I just need to confess, I kind of winged it.

Stephen Falk:

Oh, okay.

Stephen Falk:

But Lane three gave you the intel as to why?

Stephen Falk:

I'm not saying it's not excuse or.

Stephen Falk:

If they stole from you, they probably need to be let go.

Stephen Falk:

Like there's, like there's consequences to bad things that happen in life.

Stephen Falk:

However, that little bit intel of a sick mom in Boston and the fact that they kind of winged it so they closed the month off without actually reconciling the bank and the, and the books.

Stephen Falk:

And as a result that client was wacky.

Stephen Falk:

And I know I'm just making up an example right now, but.

Stephen Falk:

And then, and then you go to.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, so the power of success is team and people can change.

Stephen Falk:

Say.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, so what do we need to do?

Stephen Falk:

Do we need to, you know, bench strength your department a bit more so that other people can, you know, close off the month better?

Stephen Falk:

You know, if you're not available, like, what's our solution?

Stephen Falk:

Work towards solution.

Stephen Falk:

Maybe do a bit of a check in the whole time.

Stephen Falk:

Here's the weird thing, whole time you're never asking how are you feeling?

Stephen Falk:

It's more like how are you thinking?

Stephen Falk:

Because feeling will go directly into blaming you or self pity to themselves and wait a second, that's a back brain.

Stephen Falk:

Typically an exaggerated response in the heat of the moment.

Stephen Falk:

Yeah, you want to keep it in that metacognition area which is thinking about our thoughts, thinking about our systems.

Stephen Falk:

I know it sounds mechanical, but it's amazing.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

To keep it in that zone to find resolution.

:

That's awesome.

:

That's awesome.

:

And one other thing I did want to ask you about and to share with us is what you call the three Ps and why they're important in helping us to basically lead effectively in making rational decisions.

Stephen Falk:

Bob, you're gonna have to remind me where my three Ps are.

:

I gotta find the book then.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, I'll find the book too.

Stephen Falk:

We'll both study it.

Stephen Falk:

Sounds fascinating to me.

Stephen Falk:

I really like the sound of it.

:

Hey, man.

:

Yeah?

Stephen Falk:

Where are my three P's?

Stephen Falk:

That's awesome.

Stephen Falk:

Was it close to the end of the book or front of them?

:

Probably.

:

It was probably towards the end of the book.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, let's see.

Stephen Falk:

Here we are.

Stephen Falk:

Does everybody just.

Stephen Falk:

Just relax.

Stephen Falk:

Those of you listening right now, just relax.

Stephen Falk:

This is the human side of any experience.

Stephen Falk:

I bet you it was really good.

Stephen Falk:

Too bad I didn't index my ideas in this book.

:

Oh, there it is.

:

I knew I have a book.

Stephen Falk:

We're close at hand here, here and I.

Stephen Falk:

So everyone, this is a little study session here.

Stephen Falk:

We're just not.

Stephen Falk:

That's not highlighted.

Stephen Falk:

This was this this is part of, like, if you use this as a teaching.

Stephen Falk:

This is what CEOs hate the most.

Stephen Falk:

But they.

Stephen Falk:

Well, not winging it, being sort of in.

Stephen Falk:

In their minds, being blindsided.

Stephen Falk:

Right.

Stephen Falk:

And so it's.

:

But.

Stephen Falk:

But here, this is part of living in a.

Stephen Falk:

In a transformational relationship.

Stephen Falk:

Like, it's.

Stephen Falk:

It's okay to have Bob ask.

Stephen Falk:

Hey, booked your three P's.

Stephen Falk:

I love them.

Stephen Falk:

I'm like.

Stephen Falk:

And just tell the truth.

Stephen Falk:

Oh, gosh, I can't remember what those three P's are.

Stephen Falk:

That's.

Stephen Falk:

This sounds good.

Stephen Falk:

I joke a little bit about it, and then we try our best to find it.

Stephen Falk:

And even if we don't find it today, our applause.

:

Was that one of them?

:

I don't remember.

Stephen Falk:

That's so good.

Stephen Falk:

Let's.

Stephen Falk:

Let's say we don't even find it, right?

:

Okay.

Stephen Falk:

You and I.

Stephen Falk:

Do we lose integrity with our audience by not being able to find it?

:

No, absolutely not.

Stephen Falk:

Should we be embarrassed and be kicking ourselves to the curb going, oh, man, you know, imposter syndrome.

Stephen Falk:

You don't know.

Stephen Falk:

You wrote a book and you can't remember your three P's?

Stephen Falk:

Like, like, no, no.

Stephen Falk:

Is it.

Stephen Falk:

Have we committed a crime?

Stephen Falk:

No.

Stephen Falk:

Have we, you know, defamed anybody?

Stephen Falk:

No.

Stephen Falk:

And so this is just part of the.

Stephen Falk:

This is actually what builds team.

Stephen Falk:

Because.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

Because at this point, Bob and I were just like, we're just.

Stephen Falk:

We're humans having a conversation that's going to definitely bless your audience, and your audience is actually going to find this very relatable.

:

Yeah.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

And.

Stephen Falk:

And this is no different than, like, your spouse giving you the gear.

:

Here it is.

:

I got it.

:

I got term, permanent, pervasive and personal.

Stephen Falk:

And what's the content?

:

What page you mentioned?

:

I don't have the page number down there.

:

And.

:

But I remember.

:

I remember reading.

:

But permanent, pervasive and personal.

:

Because I had it in my notes.

:

The concept of three Ps, permanent, pervasive and personal, and how they impact our ability to lead effectively and make rational decisions.

:

Patterns of negative thinking.

:

Does that make sense?

Stephen Falk:

I.

Stephen Falk:

I can make something up.

Stephen Falk:

Want me to make something up, Randall?

:

I just knew I had it wrote down somewhere.

Stephen Falk:

I didn't have my notes, but it sounds really good.

Stephen Falk:

It sounds like a real smart guy wrote it.

Stephen Falk:

Permanence.

Stephen Falk:

Well, beginning with it's.

Stephen Falk:

They all both start with the letter P.

Stephen Falk:

I.

Stephen Falk:

I'll make something up for you, Bob, just for fun.

Stephen Falk:

Ready?

Stephen Falk:

Here we go.

Stephen Falk:

So, permanent people that don't have a healthy sense of neuroplasticity that people can change.

Stephen Falk:

They think they, they think it's whatever they've done, whether it's a mistake or a habit or whatever, it's permanent.

Stephen Falk:

The truth is there's very little that's permanent.

Stephen Falk:

Pervasive is.

Stephen Falk:

I don't know.

Stephen Falk:

I catch you, Bob.

Stephen Falk:

I can't make it up for you, but it was fun trying.

:

Well, I, I stumped the expert.

Stephen Falk:

This is when I've interviewed CEOs, they say, you know what the, the biggest, their greatest fears this moment right here, because all the way through their careers is they've always been the subject matter expert.

Stephen Falk:

Let's say they came through finance, so they became an accountant and they came to, became the CFO and then became the CEO.

Stephen Falk:

So, so they're, they're, they were an expert in finance, all of a sudden now they're the CEO, which means they have to be finance, legal, hr, operations, risk management, safety, and they'll have an executive that plays every one of those roles out with them.

Stephen Falk:

What they don't have at their fingertips is the ability to pull out the three P's and say, here's the three P's, boom, boom, boom.

Stephen Falk:

Because they are not an expert anymore other than in managing and building the team, the trust of the team, making sure that the team are telling the truth to each other, coming up with a collective plan so they can present to the board.

Stephen Falk:

And so most CEOs haven't developed that skill set or mindset to be a leader of people rather than the leader as an expert.

Stephen Falk:

And that is probably the biggest sort of rub or failure or angst that a CEO or leader will have is that all of a sudden.

Stephen Falk:

And the ones that want to still maintain an expert and go, man, that's it.

Stephen Falk:

I am never going to be blindsided again by the three psychological.

Stephen Falk:

They will lose their families over it because they'll study till 1 o'clock in the morning for the meeting of the next day.

Stephen Falk:

But the truth is they could have slept like a baby if they had built trust among their executive.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

There's that overcompensation or an acute sense of lack.

Stephen Falk:

If you think you got to have all the answers all the time and you're the actual technical answer person you're going to work yourself to, you're going to burn yourself out of work and you'll probably lose your family and you'll think of yourself as a hero.

Stephen Falk:

Or you can take a step back and say, no, the power of success is in team.

Stephen Falk:

My new job, even though I'm maybe not qualified because a lot of CEOs come out of an engineering background as well.

Stephen Falk:

So they've been really, they've been technical experts their whole careers and they, and they haven't actually paid attention to the human, the human factor dynamic that much because it's more blueprints and CAD drawings than it is about what the dynamics going on within, you know, the people on the ground and the end up here and this, this, like they're not, they're not thinking.

Stephen Falk:

That's not what's, what's sort of floating their boat.

Stephen Falk:

All of a sudden now they're in CEO position and that is their job is managing the people dynamic.

Stephen Falk:

And so I think Switchback offers a really balanced, common sense toolbox for CEOs to be able to go, okay, I need to lay down the fact that I'm an engineer and now I'm a leader of people.

Stephen Falk:

I've never even wanted to be a leader of people.

Stephen Falk:

Ever since kindergarten.

Stephen Falk:

I've always been like, my, my creation is better than yours and it doesn't matter if I hurt your feelings.

:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

So now all of a sudden, I've actually got a massage truth out of people in the context where everyone's hiding the data and they've got to now, you know, be able to communicate to each other in a way that builds a team of teams.

Stephen Falk:

And then, guess what?

Stephen Falk:

We don't get blindsided.

:

Yeah.

:

Amen.

:

Amen.

:

Praise God.

Stephen Falk:

However, at the end of this, this, this, when we shut this off, I'm going, right, in my book, I'm finding the three Ps, and I'll have a great answer for you.

:

Well, I, I can help you out with that because it's not in your book.

:

It was on an interview you did and he talked about the three piece.

:

And so I was like, well, that's interesting because I do my research.

:

I, you know, I just don't, you know, And I was like, oh, that's a good question.

Stephen Falk:

Well, thank you, thank you for that.

Stephen Falk:

Because now I'll be real.

Stephen Falk:

I'll be like, man, I just watched.

Stephen Falk:

I could be watching cartoons with my grandkids, but I'm like, looking for the three P's in my book.

:

You, you'd be doing a T bone crash on your assistant, say, find the three Ps in my book.

Stephen Falk:

Nobody ever questions whether a CEO is smart.

Stephen Falk:

They're all going to be.

:

Supposed to be.

:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

No, but they are.

Stephen Falk:

You don't get to that spot without being smart.

Stephen Falk:

You don't get to be A leader without being smart.

Stephen Falk:

The question is whether you are a fascinated now with the people side of your job.

:

Yeah.

Stephen Falk:

And whether you're willing to tool up into that world.

Stephen Falk:

That's.

Stephen Falk:

That's it.

Stephen Falk:

And for that, all of us need to take a giant dose of humility.

Stephen Falk:

Because the tools that got us to this new role are not necessarily the tools or the mindset that's going to help this role flourish.

Stephen Falk:

You are no longer a technical expert.

Stephen Falk:

Now you're an expert of people.

:

Yeah.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

I've seen fantastic examples of that transition, by the way.

Stephen Falk:

Some people just crush it.

:

And others.

Stephen Falk:

Don'T, and others don't.

Stephen Falk:

I remember we worked with a crown corporation in Australia in forestry and wildland fire.

Stephen Falk:

And that CEO, he was like the finance guy.

Stephen Falk:

Pretty, pretty quiet.

Stephen Falk:

Quiet and non confrontational.

Stephen Falk:

But he recognized I need to be that guy that people come to.

Stephen Falk:

So he, when he got his office, he designed it as a place where people could visit.

Stephen Falk:

He made himself a commitment.

Stephen Falk:

He said, I am not going to sit at my desk when someone comes in the room.

Stephen Falk:

And then here it is ready.

Stephen Falk:

He told himself this.

Stephen Falk:

Distractions are now my primary job.

Stephen Falk:

So someone says, hey, Steve, you got a minute?

Stephen Falk:

Hey Bob, you got a minute?

Stephen Falk:

In his mind, he says, absolutely.

Stephen Falk:

You are my primary job.

Stephen Falk:

Me, like working on my presentation for the board.

Stephen Falk:

That's a secondary piece of homework that I do kind of on my own time, but listening to people and hearing them out.

Stephen Falk:

And of course, you have to have great boundaries.

Stephen Falk:

You say, absolutely, I've got seven minutes.

Stephen Falk:

Come sit down.

Stephen Falk:

I'll even set my clock because I do have a meeting at three.

Stephen Falk:

So the go seven minutes.

Stephen Falk:

Do we have time for a joke?

Stephen Falk:

Maybe not.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, so tell me what's up.

Stephen Falk:

See, that alone is a joke.

Stephen Falk:

Just saying that.

:

Yeah.

:

Amen.

:

That's right.

Stephen Falk:

Then you lean forward and say, what do you have?

Stephen Falk:

What do you have for me?

Stephen Falk:

Say, oh, man, this, you know, this ranger district is just like, we're under the pump.

Stephen Falk:

Things are not going great.

Stephen Falk:

We had did a community meeting and went totally south.

Stephen Falk:

We basically have people throwing fireballs at us at the community meetings.

Stephen Falk:

Like, well, I'm not sure.

Stephen Falk:

I might even lose my chief forester out of the deal.

Stephen Falk:

Like, this is not good.

Stephen Falk:

And go.

Stephen Falk:

So what's your plan?

Stephen Falk:

What's your thought?

Stephen Falk:

How can I support you?

Stephen Falk:

And then you come back in and say, just the fact that we're talking about this means that we're going to sort this thing out.

Stephen Falk:

Thank you for bringing.

Stephen Falk:

Your bringing it to me.

Stephen Falk:

Thanks for not holding it back.

Stephen Falk:

I know it's sometimes not necessarily embarrassing, but you don't want to show the soft underbelly to what happened at that, at that community meeting.

Stephen Falk:

But there you did it.

Stephen Falk:

Good for you.

Stephen Falk:

And I'm here to help.

Stephen Falk:

Okay, so we don't have a time for a joke, but that's seven minutes.

Stephen Falk:

And you get up, take their hand, pat them on the shoulder on the way out, and they go, best leader I've ever had.

:

That's right.

:

Amen.

:

Amen.

:

That's awesome.

:

That's awesome.

:

Steve, this has been great and I appreciate you sharing all this with us.

:

How can someone get in touch with you to ask a question, receive more information on your programs, your trainings and all that?

Stephen Falk:

We're pretty old school because our clients are mostly government agencies and like private, like aerospace, like on people that are flying helicopters.

Stephen Falk:

And so it's switchbackos.com so OS stands for operating system.

Stephen Falk:

So it's really easy to remember switchback os.com and then of course, there's just a contact me, contact us.

Stephen Falk:

And surprise, surprise, it comes into my inbox as well as my IT and my business partner.

Stephen Falk:

But anyways, it'll come right onto my desk.

Stephen Falk:

And, and, and I last thought, take a page out of Mother Teresa's playbook.

Stephen Falk:

And so some people asked her interviews, would say, how do you do it?

Stephen Falk:

How do you, how do you serve in Calcutta?

Stephen Falk:

And then you meet with presidents, like, what's.

Stephen Falk:

Like, how do you sort it out in your brain?

Stephen Falk:

And she said, easy eight.

Stephen Falk:

She's a life of prayer.

Stephen Falk:

But then she says, I stopped for the One.

Stephen Falk:

And so I'm letting you know, if you send us an email, contact us, I'll stop and read your email and I'll respond because that's stopping for the one.

:

Amen.

Stephen Falk:

And then if Boeing is the next email, I'll stop for Boeing.

Stephen Falk:

And if, and if, you know, Montana Wildland Fire is the next one, I'll stop for them.

Stephen Falk:

If it's Bob next, you stop for Bob.

Stephen Falk:

And so that's a model where, where you just trust even in God's email management system that you have the provision to stop for the one.

Stephen Falk:

And if you feel overwhelmed with stopping for the one, you probably just need more bench strength.

Stephen Falk:

So maybe you need an assistant that helps you stop for the one.

Stephen Falk:

Or maybe you need a team of 300 that helps you stop for the one.

:

Amen.

:

Amen.

:

Well, Steve, I appreciate your time.

:

And how can someone get a copy of your book Switched On CEO how to Think like A world class leader.

:

I take it it's on Amazon?

Stephen Falk:

Yes, that's the very best place to find it.

:

Okay.

:

All right.

:

And I'll put in the show notes giant copies.

Stephen Falk:

Like if you want like 100 copies, then you should definitely contact me because I get author copy price.

Stephen Falk:

Right.

Stephen Falk:

And so I can then ship to a different address and offer a really great discount.

:

Amen.

:

I'll put links all this in the show notes below.

:

Amen.

:

Folks, I want to thank you for joining us today as Stephen Falk shared some incredible insights into the power of neuroplasticity, the battle of the brains, the role of teamwork and leadership transformation.

:

If you're ready to implement the strategies that he's discussed today, like reframing your limiting beliefs and managing back brain triggers and fostering a culture of resilience, you need to connect with him right now.

:

Don't wait.

:

You don't know what tomorrow brings.

:

You need to be ready for this as soon as possible.

:

Let's put it like that.

:

Okay.

:

By applying these principles, you can unlock better communication, improve decision making, and have a more dynamic, engaged workplace.

:

Immediately visit switchbackos.com to connect with Stephen and his team right now.

:

Just drop down the show notes, click the links right there.

:

They're all, they're all there for you to connect with Stephen and his team.

:

Just take action.

:

Do it now.

:

Don't let those X's in the back of your brain hold you up.

:

Amen.

:

Take, take, move to the front.

:

Click the links down below right now.

:

Be sure to click the link to order his book switched on CEO as well.

:

Discover how his tools can transform your leadership and team dynamics right now, today.

:

And don't miss the opportunity to take your growth to the next level.

:

Praise God.

:

Stephen, I want to thank you again for taking the time out of your busy schedule to come on the program and join us today.

:

Man, I learned a lot and I just.

:

I just appreciate you taking the time to do it, brother.

Stephen Falk:

Yeah, thank you.

Stephen Falk:

And I'm glad.

Stephen Falk:

Those three P's just blessed you right to the core.

Stephen Falk:

In fact, that might be the most memorable part of our whole conversation and honestly the most transformational.

Stephen Falk:

So by the way, you're hired.

Stephen Falk:

You can do the grad, the best promo ever.

Stephen Falk:

So thank you so much for your kind words.

:

I appreciate it.

:

You have a blessed day, folks.

:

That's all the time we have for today for Steve Falk.

:

Myself passed by reminding you to be blessed in all that you do.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

You have been listening to the Faith Based Business podcast with Pastor Bob Thibodeau, we appreciate you as a listener and fellow believer and want to encourage you in your entrepreneurial efforts.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

These programs are designed to provide you with information that you can use in your business to achieve success faster and avoid the obstacles that track to impede your success.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

All information on this podcast is for entertainment and information use only.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

Some of the products and services listed in the links may contain affiliate links, and Pastor Bob will earn a small commission when you click those links at no additional cost to you.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

Be sure to subscribe to our podcast so you'll be notified when our next episode is published.

Pastor Bob Thibodeau:

Until next time, be blessed and all that you do.

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About the Podcast

Faith Based Business Podcast
Helping Businesses to Grow with "Information, Inspiration and Motivation" and Interviews
Helping Faith Based Business Owners to "Get the Word Out" about their services.

About your host

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Robert Thibodeau

Bob Thibodeau started podcasting in 2009. Within six months, he was approached with an offer to be on nationwide AM Christian radio (which he accepted - broadcasting into four major markets for a year)!

He founded and launched "Evangelism Radio" on October 2010. Starting with one broadcaster (himself) and one listener (himself), Evangelism Radio grew to be rated #1 in the world in the "Christian Talk Genre" by Shoutcast. com within 2 years time!

Now with listeners in over 160 nations and all 50 states and supporting almost 50 ministries sharing the Gospel around the world, he still manages "Evangelism Radio" on a daily basis.

Bob started "The Kingdom Cross Roads Podcast" in January 2018. In the four years (through 2022), he has interviewed almost 900 individuals and has published over 1200 episodes, achieving over 164K downloads!

He launched the "Revelation Warning" Podcast in August of 2022 and has already achieved over 16K downloads in the first five months!

Bob has established many contacts in the Christian podcasting niche. He has interviewed author, recording artists, athletes, business owners, coaches and entrepreneurs who have one thing in common - the Christian Faith!

With this podcast, the "Faith Based Business Podcast," he is going to bring these successful Christian influencers in to simply allow them to bless YOU with tips and ideas on how YOU can achieve success in your endeavors.

Be sure to "SUBSCRIBE" to this podcast so you will be notified when a new episode is  published!