Ben

What's your recommendation for leaders who want to stay curious.

Jim

Fall in love with new ideas, don't be afraid to be a beginner again.

Jim

About four years ago, I started training jiu jitsu and you know, going in at my age and just getting my butt whipped on the mat, choked out, tapped out time after time after time, but what an amazing growth experience for me.

Ben

Hey there, this is Ben.

Ben

Thanks for tuning in to lead the team.

Ben

Before we jump in, we just broke into the top 3% of all podcasts globally and that's largely due to the support of listeners just like you.

Ben

I invite you to subscribe so you're notified when we release a new episode and also leave a quick review.

Narrator

Welcome back to Lead the Team with number one best selling author and in demand corporate trainer Ben Fant.

Narrator

On this podcast, the world's most innovative senior leaders share their top success strategies to motivate your direct reports, cultivate your top leaders and accelerate your career.

Narrator

Let's get started.

Narrator

Here's Ben.

Ben

Hello everybody.

Ben

Welcome back to Lead the team.

Ben

We've got a great one for you today with Jim Weaver.

Ben

He's a chief operating officer over at the Onan Group.

Ben

As the company grew from 10 million in 2001 to a projected $800 million this year, Jim's role has evolved and the scope of responsibility has grown exponentially over the last past two decades.

Ben

They have over ten plus office staffing groups.

Ben

Listed as one of the staffing industry analyst, fastest growing and largest staffing firms since 2001, the company has achieved an average annual top line organic growth rate of 25%.

Ben

And I'm smiling because I love to see that.

Ben

While increasing gross and net profits and remaining debt free.

Ben

Now, a strong corporate culture is the key to owning sustained growth and we're going to dig into that today.

Ben

But I'll tell you what, they've been recognized for it.

Ben

The best staffing firm to work for in 2021 by staffing industry analyst and they've been featured in the Birmingham and Nashville business journals as a perennial best place to work.

Ben

I'll tell you what, just so awesome.

Ben

But one of the cool things too that we're going to dig in today is Jim's other career as a professional rock and roll drummer with a music degree from Berkeley.

Ben

Hallelujah.

Ben

Welcome to the show, Jim.

Jim

Hey, thank you, man.

Jim

It's good to be here, man.

Ben

If you want to start pounding on the skins right now, now's the time.

Ben

Little drum roll as we get in here.

Ben

So we're gonna this Is gonna be a lot of fun.

Ben

I can't wait to dig in.

Ben

But let's start this out.

Ben

So you lived in a van for three years?

Jim

Yeah, yeah, I.

Jim

I always say that I have a little different management perspective.

Jim

Having lived out of a van for three years, I.

Ben

How can you.

Jim

Yeah, yeah, it definitely shapes you a little bit.

Jim

I went to school.

Jim

I went to college at the University of Wisconsin, Eau Claire.

Jim

My first go around, and I was a business major, and I really wanted to play music.

Jim

Got a summer job with the Circus in upstate New York, playing drums in a circus.

Jim

And then met a rock and roll band up there in upstate New York.

Jim

And we had some.

Jim

A little bit of label interest, got some opening dates that summer.

Jim

And at the age of 20, my parents came out to visit, I remember, and I told them, yeah, I'm not going back to school.

Jim

I'm going on the road.

Jim

And they were.

Jim

They were thrilled about that, I'll tell you.

Ben

Go on the road to make some real money, right?

Jim

So, yeah, we were up and down the eastern seaboard for three years, living the dream.

Jim

It was, you know, I wouldn't trade it, but I'd never go back, you know.

Ben

So this was a rock and roll lifestyle.

Jim

It.

Jim

Yeah, we were a.

Ben

What was it?

Ben

Daylight?

Jim

What was a day like?

Jim

Oh, man, we do.

Jim

So we live sort of.

Jim

We live communally.

Jim

The band did.

Jim

And we had a guy that was our sound guy, and we would, you know, we drive down to Hoboken, New Jersey, and play a gig down there that night.

Jim

And then we could afford to get a hotel in New York or Hoboken there.

Jim

So we'd have to stay in some dump out.

Jim

Out in Jersey City, you know, where you sleep on top of the covers because you're afraid of what you're going to pick up.

Jim

And then we drive up to New Hampshire the next day and play some, you know, casino up there.

Jim

It was just, you know, whatever we.

Jim

Any.

Jim

Anything.

Jim

And it was just.

Jim

It was just go, go, go.

Jim

Just.

Jim

What.

Jim

Where can we.

Jim

What can we do next?

Ben

What were your hours like?

Ben

So you would play at what time?

Jim

Usually, you know, one.

Jim

One in the morning, maybe.

Jim

Maybe two.

Jim

And then you got to load up and go.

Jim

So typically, we'd be done with a gig and we'd get all loaded up and we drive to the next town.

Jim

And as we're driving in the next town, everybody be getting up and going to work.

Jim

You know, I look at those suckers, those like I am today and think.

Ben

Man, I'll never be like that.

Jim

Yeah, exactly, exactly.

Ben

But then you have to sleep at some point, which you're like just day sleeping the best you can, I guess.

Jim

Sleeping and sleeping in the van.

Jim

And, and we did have a rental house that we were kind of in and out of.

Jim

We based out of Albany, New York, because it was kind of centrally located.

Jim

We were playing the city and then we're playing the college circuit in Vermont and New Hampshire.

Jim

We lived down in Florida for eight months.

Jim

And it was, it was a 20 year old's dream, I'll tell you.

Ben

Wow.

Ben

And so looking back on that, what is something that you gleaned from your rock and roll lifestyle experience that helps you today and how you view things or perceive things?

Jim

You know, I've always been someone who thinks, why not?

Jim

Why not me?

Jim

Why?

Jim

You know, and like I, and it sounds like I was, you can hear that story and kind of think I was a loser musician, you know, drop out of college and.

Jim

But I really, I had a passion for music and I loved play and I wanted with everything in my being to be a professional musician.

Jim

And I, I went for it with everything.

Jim

And, and I guess that's the thing that's, that stuck with me just to Jimmy Weaver, the dream believer, that's, that's who I want to be.

Jim

That's why, that's why I aspire to be.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

I mean, it's.

Ben

I feel like so few people that you run into or that, you know, we run to the other day actually have a story where they've literally, they go all in on something that may not work.

Ben

And is there anything more than may not work potentially than a rock and roll band?

Ben

But you got to have the belief in the possibility.

Ben

Right?

Ben

Like, yeah.

Ben

You know, buying in and having that moment, I suspect.

Ben

And you're, and you're looking back, say it was worth it, you know, to do it and, and to grow through that.

Ben

Of course you're not the same person you were then because none of us are, you know, young, but you've had that experience, so.

Jim

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it was cool.

Jim

Yeah.

Jim

Yep.

Ben

Yeah.

Jim

What did you learn early because of it though?

Jim

I struggled early in my career transitioning, you know, my resume did not look good.

Jim

I really struggled.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

They're like, well, how does, you know, what's your work experience?

Ben

Well, I've been, you know, the drummer, which by the way, I think is one of the most important things in a rock and roll band.

Ben

Of course.

Ben

Right.

Ben

It's hard to rock and roll without a drummer.

Ben

I mean, isn't the Drummer.

Ben

The drummer is the heartbeat of the operation.

Jim

Right?

Jim

Yeah.

Jim

Well, I'm biased, you know, but, yeah, if you have a bad drummer, it's just a bad day, you know.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

And you gotta.

Ben

You know, we could probably draw some leadership similarities of, hey, the leaders gotta set the cadence.

Ben

Right.

Ben

I suspect.

Jim

Yeah.

Jim

And it's not a glamorous.

Jim

You know, you're not out front and you've got to carry it every moment.

Jim

You really need to be on.

Jim

You can't take a break.

Jim

And.

Jim

And really my goal as a drummer is to make the other players around me and make the audience feel good.

Jim

That's my goal.

Jim

And I think there's probably some.

Jim

Some translation of that into, you know, being a.

Jim

Being a leader and.

Jim

And, you know, running a business.

Ben

Yeah, yeah.

Ben

It's not always glamorous being coo, I'm sure.

Ben

But like you say, you gotta do it and you gotta.

Ben

I mean, the operations are so critical.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

And being able to have that experience from being behind.

Ben

Behind the front person, but still appreciating it.

Ben

Now, one of the things I want to make sure we have time to get into is this track record of organic growth.

Ben

So many businesses, you know, they grow through acquisition and whatnot, and they're constantly evaluating that you all have made the choice to really stick, you know, on the organic side of the business.

Ben

What recommendations do you have for leaders who are committed to growing organically?

Jim

I think the.

Jim

I was thinking about this, and we've been talking about it recently and trying to understand what we have done Right.

Jim

And I think that I can distill it down to four things that we've done to.

Jim

To have that long a track record.

Jim

We have a values, not rules, culture.

Jim

Two, we've built a corporate identity around thriving in winter, thriving in tough times.

Jim

Four, we approach the employer employee relationship as an alliance.

Jim

And five, we've rallied around a bhag.

Jim

And I'm happy to unpack any of those.

Jim

But thinking about the things that have supported our growth these last 20 years, I think those are kind of the four pillars that we've done it on.

Jim

Values, not rules.

Jim

That's kind of a mantra here.

Jim

The idea is, yes, we have policy, yes, we have procedure, yes, we even have some rules.

Jim

But we don't serve our policies.

Jim

We serve our values.

Jim

And if in a given situation, a rule, a policy undermines a value, then that policy or procedure needs to be broken or bent.

Jim

You do not get to say around here, I follow policy, or that's the way we always do it, or that is not a valid answer to why you did something.

Ben

Yeah, yeah, that definitely sounds like a place that can thrive in winter.

Jim

Right.

Ben

Your other value, because if you're not flexible when things get tough, you gotta be able to flex to your environment.

Ben

And I think that's so important.

Ben

And it brought up for me another one that a thing that's been coming up time and time again, some interviews recently.

Ben

We, we just interviewed or I just interviewed the chief human resource officer, Nicola Moreau of IBM and she got really into this topic around new collar workers.

Jim

Yes.

Ben

And, and IBM of course is globally hiring all these people and they have all these strict hiring things that you, you know, education's got to be here, all these things have got to be in place to work at IBM.

Ben

And now she said 50% of their job openings don't even require a college degree.

Jim

I heard that.

Jim

I heard, yes, I listen to it.

Jim

That was a great interview.

Jim

And that's, those are a lot of the discussions we're having with our clients right now.

Jim

And I'll tell you, when I run into a rule and this is what I, I've said this on stage in front of our team.

Jim

I asked my first question is, is it really a rule?

Jim

Is that really a rule?

Jim

And the second question is, okay, if it is a rule, what happens if I break it?

Jim

What's the consequence?

Jim

Let me, you know, because we, we, we put these, we put these constraints on ourselves and they're just, we've made them, we create the constraints and then we're frustrated because, well, it's the, is it really the rule?

Jim

And, well, what happens if we don't follow the rule in this, this given, given situation?

Jim

It's all risk analysis is what it is and not, I'm not.

Jim

One of our values is integrity.

Jim

So that's the other thing too, when people, you know, you got to be careful with the values, not rules thing because people will throw that back in your face.

Jim

Well, Jim, values, not rules.

Jim

I mean, I, and you know, it's.

Ben

Not a license both ways, eh?

Jim

Yes, it's not a license.

Jim

Do whatever the heck you want.

Jim

And integrity is one of our values.

Jim

So we need to do what we say we're going to do when we're going to do it.

Jim

We need to, we do, we, we need to, we need, we need to do that.

Jim

And, and performance is also a value.

Jim

So if you're, if you're bending a rule and it, and it's not, it's, it doesn't have integrity, you're bending the rule or it doesn't lead to performance, then you're just.

Jim

You're just copping out.

Jim

You're just making an excuse for sloppy.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

What I like, what I like about the road that you're going down is it's one thing for a value to businesses, leaders, team leaders, to talk about values, but it's so important that you make sure that the people working there and the customers experience the values.

Ben

And sometimes they're experiencing them and they don't even know they are.

Ben

And I think it's a great example about integrity.

Ben

Saying, hey, we experience this by doing what we say we're going to do.

Ben

So when I tell you I'm going to deliver on this for the client, I do it.

Ben

And therefore we are living out our integrity value.

Ben

And it's just.

Ben

Just makes so much sense.

Ben

But I feel like it's.

Ben

It's really the leader's responsibility to make that connection for people.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

Because it.

Ben

Otherwise it can see.

Ben

Seems so darn abstract.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

That it just gets up on the wall.

Ben

So you do a nice job.

Ben

What you're talking about there.

Ben

Making that connection.

Ben

Now, being in the staffing industry, I've been dying to ask you this question.

Ben

Without including names, what's your most colorful story of when someone quit or was fired?

Jim

Man, we.

Jim

We always talk about.

Jim

Well, here's, here's one for the book.

Jim

You know, there was a.

Jim

I want.

Ben

To see the book after this.

Ben

You got a book of these?

Jim

I mean, some are.

Jim

This is a family friendly, you know, show.

Jim

So I'm gonna, I'm gonna keep the.

Ben

Ones out that are.

Ben

She has somewhat PG, PG 13.

Jim

Oh, my goodness, man.

Jim

Yeah.

Jim

I tell you, there was a.

Jim

There was a guy who, who thought.

Jim

Have you seen the Office where Dwight Schrute throws a cigarette in the trash can and sets off the alarm.

Jim

And yes, this guy wanted the afternoon off.

Jim

So he starts as a huge plant up in Tennessee and he wanted the afternoon off.

Jim

And he started a fire and burned the whole place to the ground because.

Ben

He wanted a day off.

Jim

He wanted to, you know, the fire alarm go off.

Jim

Figured it would be, you know, he.

Ben

Thought it would be contained.

Ben

Yeah.

Jim

And they wouldn't know who it was.

Jim

I ended up doing.

Jim

Ended up doing prison time.

Jim

But that's the most outrageous.

Ben

Oh, my gosh.

Jim

That's probably the best staffing story I, I have for you.

Ben

I hope the afternoon was really good.

Ben

It sounds like it was his last free one.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

Oh, my gosh.

Jim

He got.

Jim

He got free meals and plenty of downtime for For a few years.

Jim

Out of that.

Jim

Out of that prank for sure.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

Next time, just request a day off.

Jim

I know.

Ben

It's not worth it.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

Oh, my gosh.

Ben

What's one trait you wish you could still in every employee?

Ben

And why is it so important?

Jim

Curiosity.

Jim

Curiosity.

Jim

You know, I.

Jim

Our ability as an organization to adapt and apply new information is both our current competitive edge and our insurance that we'll be able to thrive over the long term.

Jim

So we really are.

Jim

This is a shift over the last two or three, a real focus as an organization.

Jim

We have got to have a strong learning and development culture.

Jim

And in order to have that, we've got to have leaders.

Jim

You got to have people that are curious.

Jim

Have you ever heard this concept of the modern elder?

Ben

No.

Jim

Chip Conley, he's an author.

Jim

I heard him.

Ben

Chip and Dan Heath.

Ben

Not Conley.

Ben

Okay.

Ben

But good.

Jim

Chip Conley.

Jim

I think he's the one that coined the idea.

Jim

But the idea with the modern elder is the modern elder is as curious as they are wise.

Jim

And you think of the old timers that you want to be around, the 80, 90 year olds that you want to be around, and the 80, 90 year olds you don't want to be around, you don't want to be.

Jim

Right.

Jim

Let's be real.

Ben

There's a difference.

Ben

Yeah.

Jim

The ones that know it all, you don't want to be around.

Jim

But the ones that are curious and then they're bringing eight, nine decades of wisdom to the table, those are.

Jim

I mean, those, Those.

Jim

Those folks are a treasure.

Jim

So I think not only is it important to our organization, but, you know, I'm.

Jim

I'm 50 and, you know, a lot of times, guys, people, when they get to be our age, they start to get stuck in their ways.

Jim

They think they have it all figured out and they kind of grab a hold of their career and they just run out the clock, you know?

Jim

And I just.

Jim

I feel like the curiosity thing is super important for just running through the tape.

Jim

Strong as a person, too.

Jim

So, man, the curiosity thing is huge, and it's pretty rare.

Ben

What's your recommendation for leaders who want to stay curious?

Ben

Play drums, do the thing.

Jim

I mean, I am a voracious reader, okay.

Jim

I consume immense amounts of podcasts and I love new ideas.

Jim

So fall in love with new ideas.

Jim

Don't be afraid to be a beginner again, man.

Jim

About four years ago, I started training jiu jitsu and going in at my age and just getting my butt whipped on the mat.

Jim

Choked out, tapped out.

Jim

Time after time after time, but what an amazing growth experience for me on so many levels that has been.

Jim

So just be curious and be on the.

Jim

Develop a hunger for new ideas and don't be afraid to be a beginner.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

I, I think what you just said is, no pun intended, is like a ninja Jedi because you put yourself in situations where you're uncomfortable in that Jiu Jitsu moment and you have no.

Ben

I mean, that's a great example of putting yourself in a position where you're uncomfortable, but knowing that you have to learn or it's not going to work out.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

I mean, and you tap out enough.

Ben

I've not done Jiu Jitsu, but I know a lot of people who have at an older age.

Ben

And it's like.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

I mean, you get you out of your comfort zone.

Ben

For me, one of the things is doing salsa.

Ben

I've done swinging with my wife and friends for a long time, east coast and West Coast.

Ben

But getting out into the Latin dance world is a complete.

Ben

As you know.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

Tito Puente and the Timbalis and all that.

Ben

It's like a completely different rhythm.

Ben

It's.

Ben

It's way more intense.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

Also in so many ways.

Ben

And so doing that.

Ben

Yeah, it just expands you and you can get more curious about it.

Ben

I'm a big music fan too, and I love different kinds of music.

Ben

You can.

Ben

And my daughter is 11 and she's exposed me to a lot more pop music than I would like.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

I am.

Ben

You know, we trade back and forth.

Ben

She.

Ben

She gets.

Ben

She gets to pick a song and then I pick a song and then my wife picks a song and we kind of.

Ben

We can do that for hours in the car.

Ben

So.

Jim

Well, wait.

Jim

My 17 year old, my middle child, he's got great taste in music and he turns me.

Jim

Wait till she gets a little older.

Jim

She's going to turn you on to some cool stuff, I'm telling you right now.

Ben

Oh, yeah, well, she.

Ben

She's got.

Ben

She's getting there.

Jim

Getting there.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

I mean, I've listened more to Taylor Swift than a human being should through her, but she goes deep.

Ben

She'll go deep in the catalog.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

And sort of a.

Ben

This is a side thing, but we.

Ben

She's discovered Glee.

Ben

Are you familiar with Glee?

Jim

Oh, sure, sure.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

And so Disney has now released all the episodes at one time Ugly.

Ben

So there's like seven to nine seasons.

Ben

And really, I think a lot of this is too edgy for 11 year olds.

Ben

Some of the topics.

Ben

But the performances are so incredible.

Ben

And my daughter is now listening To Fleetwood Mac.

Jim

Wow.

Ben

Rumors album because of Glee.

Ben

And they introduce her.

Ben

She.

Ben

She knew Michael Jackson, but now she has Michael Jackson, you know, much more.

Ben

And they.

Ben

They'll often go deep in their episodes, so.

Ben

And it's also provoked a lot of conversations at home with her going to middle school that we would not have had otherwise.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

About drugs and sex and a lot of stuff that, you know, comes up in the show.

Ben

So anyway, that's.

Ben

Curiosity for.

Jim

That opened up for you and her because you were willing to be open to what she was into and curious about what she's into.

Jim

And.

Jim

And that.

Jim

That.

Jim

That helped cultivate a deeper relationship between you and your daughter.

Jim

That's.

Jim

That's beautiful.

Ben

That's so true.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

And it really.

Ben

And I had to.

Ben

I could have shut it down after one episode.

Ben

If you watch the first episode, y'all, Glee, that's pretty much what it is.

Ben

And it's a leggy.

Ben

Yeah.

Ben

But anyway, so that.

Ben

That's cool.

Ben

And I like it, y'all.

Ben

For the listeners you got to hear in there.

Ben

I mean, Jim has some good ideas about how to foster the curiosity in yourself as a leader.

Ben

If you're.

Ben

If you're coming on, you're talking about.

Ben

Your team needs to be more curious.

Ben

The best way to do it is.

Ben

What Jim's talking about here is do it yourself first.

Jim

Lead the way.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

Just you being on this show shows you're probably curious about what's gonna go down with this Ben Fanning guy.

Jim

Hey, I started listening to some podcasts and started reading your book, so I'm.

Jim

I'm curious for sure.

Ben

Well, gracias for that.

Ben

Oh, man.

Ben

So kind of going the next step with curiosity.

Ben

Curiosity evokes ideas.

Ben

And you say in the interview here, you're not.

Ben

You love new ideas.

Ben

But when the shoe is on the other foot and your employees have ideas, sometimes, maybe many.

Ben

It can be like unleashing Pandora's box when you're trying to get the work done.

Ben

What's advice for leaders and their teams when they have a big idea?

Ben

How do they need to communicate it to the C suite?

Jim

Well, if you come with an idea, then, and you're really passionate about it, you really believe in it, and you need to come with a plan to execute it.

Jim

And you need to realize that if you come to me and you have that idea, I'm gonna make you head of the committee to get that idea started.

Jim

You know, and that's actually a great filter, because they know it's like they're not coming to me to tell me what I should do.

Jim

It's like, hey, man, that's awesome.

Jim

Why don't you do this and try that or try that in your region and let's measure the results and if it has the impact you think it's going to have, we'll scale it out to the organization or whatever it is.

Ben

Yeah, it goes back to don't give your boss more work.

Ben

Your job is to give them less work at a foundational level.

Ben

They're already pretty busy, but I like, that allows them to take the extra step and think through the execution side of it because, I mean, that's, that's ultimately where the rubber meets the road.

Jim

Well, and you, yeah, you talk about creating the job you love, you know, and that's, that's what you're doing.

Jim

When, when someone wants to be.

Jim

If they're, they're an aspiring leader and then they notice a void or there's a vacuum or why doesn't somebody do this?

Jim

I always used to think, ding, ding, ding.

Jim

Oh, there's my angle.

Jim

I'm going to go do, you know, like that's.

Jim

There's a vacuum there.

Jim

I'm going to fill that, you know, and that's how, you know there's people that have done bigger things than me.

Jim

I've had a good run though, and that's how I've done it.

Jim

It's not a frustration when I see nobody stepped up to do this.

Jim

It's an opportunity.

Ben

I love it.

Ben

Want to boost your productivity and decision making?

Ben

Get vital insights from each episode to delivered directly to your inbox.

Ben

A great resource whether you've listened to the episode or not.

Ben

Go to benfanning.com insight when's the time you had unexpected twist or failure in your career and how did it lead to your success or growth on down the road?

Jim

So I got off the road with the band, went back to school at Berkeley, played around Boston.

Jim

I got a gig with a country artist in Nashville, Kevin Sharp.

Jim

He had a couple of hits in.

Ben

The 90s and I checked those out, by the way.

Jim

Oh, yeah.

Ben

Nice.

Ben

Very nice.

Ben

Yeah, I'll Spotify.

Ben

I could check them out.

Ben

Yeah, that's you.

Jim

I'm not playing on the album.

Jim

No.

Ben

Okay.

Jim

They have different musicians in the studio.

Ben

Studio versus on the road.

Jim

Studio is what you graduate to after you've been on the road for.

Ben

Okay, okay.

Ben

All right.

Jim

Those guys are elite.

Jim

Elite.

Jim

I mean, it's barely discernible difference, but it's just.

Jim

Anyway, so I was in Nashville and my wife and I, we Moved to Nashville.

Jim

We were in a ton of debt and I was on the road and we were playing out, but I also sold.

Jim

I did sales while I was gigging because we were buried in consumer debt and, you know, needed to dig out of it and.

Jim

And.

Jim

But things were working and I was kind of climbing the.

Jim

Climbing the mountain.

Jim

And I had the gig with Kevin and.

Jim

And I was playing around town and I would go, though, like, we do a run down to Texas, go to Houston and Dallas, maybe in San Antonio, and then we drive back Sunday night, and then we.

Jim

We'd sleep in the.

Jim

In the bus, you know, on the little coffin bunk, and then pull up at the Kroger in Brentwood, Tennessee, where we would rendezvous.

Jim

I get in the car and I go sell advertising.

Jim

So I was burning it at both ends.

Jim

I finally in.

Jim

In 2000, gotten to the point where I was making a living again at music.

Jim

I had a road gig.

Jim

Felt like I was right there at the.

Jim

At the peak of the mountain, kind of.

Jim

And then I got the call from Kevin, or Kevin's manager, and I got fired.

Jim

He just clean house.

Jim

Just clean house.

Jim

And that happens in Nashville.

Jim

And it was like I was right there at the.

Jim

At the.

Jim

At the peak.

Jim

And I lost my footing and went a half a quarter mile back down the mountain.

Jim

And I was so tired is.

Jim

So I was so devastated.

Jim

And out of that, though, I had to go.

Jim

I thought, well, I got to get a day job again because that just.

Jim

That was my main income.

Jim

So I walked into the Onan office in Nashville looking for a warehouse job or something so we could keep eating while I interviewed to try to get another sales gig.

Jim

And the manager there said to me, you know, Jim, we have a sales opening.

Jim

You should interview for that job.

Jim

You'd be great.

Jim

So I did.

Jim

And 21 years later, here I am.

Ben

Wow.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

So the day.

Ben

Was it the day you got fired from the.

Jim

No, it was.

Jim

It was.

Jim

It was a couple weeks.

Ben

But, I mean, that was your next move, was your next job was where you are today, essentially at the company?

Jim

Yes, yes, yes.

Jim

Well, actually, I had a little run.

Jim

It was Christmas time, I remember, and they didn't want to start me until the first of the year because they didn't want to burn a bunch of money on some sales guy that wasn't going to be productive.

Jim

So I ended up being a Sprint PCs foam phone for the holidays right before I started.

Jim

So that was, man acting.

Jim

It was a low point, man, I'm telling you.

Ben

Wow.

Ben

Sprint phone.

Ben

So drummer on the Stage living your dream.

Ben

Sort of feeling like you're getting to the rock and roll dream.

Ben

To sprint phone actor, so to speak.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

To getting the start in a company that's going to propel your career to the C suite and you're going to go from a 10 million to a 800 million dollar company.

Ben

That is a wild story, my friend.

Jim

Yeah, that's good.

Ben

I love it.

Ben

But it goes to show, I mean they're all journeys are a little different.

Ben

If there was one theme.

Ben

Is it, is it the why not message or what's the, when you kind of look back at it, what, what do you, what's kind of the thing that you take away?

Jim

Why not, why not you?

Jim

Why not me?

Jim

You know, I mean like why not possibility?

Jim

The only thing that's really, I really believe that I, I, and, and when I run into a, a point where I feel like I'm kind of out of my depth or I'm at the edge of my operating range, I ask myself the question, well, if I were qualified to tackle this, how would somebody who qualified to tackle this tackle it?

Ben

It's time to get on YouTube.

Jim

Little game though.

Jim

It kind of unlocks the other 90% in my brain that I don't use.

Jim

And I mean I've done that for 20 years.

Jim

And so that's.

Jim

Yeah, why not?

Ben

Why not?

Ben

That's a cool hack.

Ben

That's a cool hack.

Ben

What if, yeah, if I, what somebody.

Jim

I'm not smart enough for this.

Jim

Well, what if I was?

Ben

Well, how would I, what would I do?

Ben

You know, because with the curiosity and building upon that, you know, that, that continued learning.

Ben

So wrapping this up, what's a tool or gadget that's contributed to your success that listeners could go out and purchase?

Jim

I recently discovered Blinkist.

Jim

Are you familiar with Blinkist?

Ben

Relatively recently, yeah.

Ben

But yeah, so, so I would love to hear how you're using it in your day and what it's, how's it work for you.

Jim

So Blinkist now I haven't, I haven't read the Cliff Note.

Jim

Blinkist is basically, it's, it's a book in 20 minutes.

Jim

It's a 20 minute summary of a book on it.

Jim

It's audio, it's an audio summary and I think they do actually written summaries as well.

Jim

I haven't, haven't done the written summaries but.

Jim

And the cool thing I used to read.

Jim

So when I was deciding what book to read, I would read the first couple paragraphs and the last paragraph of each chapter and kind of understand the arc of the book.

Jim

And then if I felt like I had a good map and then I could make a decision whether I wanted to invest the time reading this does.

Jim

In 20 minutes on the ride home, I can check out a book and decide whether I want to dig deeper into it or if it's a book that a lot of people are talking about.

Jim

I feel like, well, I've already kind of tackled that subject, but I want to know what just kind of the framework that the author used.

Jim

I want to understand it.

Jim

20 minute investment and boom, you've got the high points of the ideas and can speak intelligently about it.

Jim

So I think it's a great hack.

Jim

I've really enjoyed it.

Ben

Yeah, I'm actually a blinkist person.

Ben

I've been using it.

Ben

A friend of mine, Mike Vardy, turned me onto it.

Ben

And very similarly it's, it's a great way, especially for the interviews that I do to sort of gauge authors and their topics to see if they might be a good fit or just interested in the topic.

Ben

And because they.

Ben

It's not just business related books, which I think is kind of interesting.

Ben

Like they'll go deep on the hot issues with like evolution and some other topics that are pretty interesting.

Ben

You can also pick up other skills there.

Ben

So.

Jim

And it's not boring.

Jim

They do a really good job of producing them and, and it's surprising how much of a book you can actually get in 20 minutes.

Ben

I know, it's like, wow.

Ben

Well, I've been doing this before.

Jim

Yeah.

Ben

Yeah, man.

Ben

Well, to wrap this up, what's your parting thought for our listeners today, sir.

Jim

I'll dovetail off of, of your, your books narrative.

Jim

It just this, this is the way I say it.

Jim

Love your job, love your career.

Jim

And when I say love, it's a verb, it's active.

Jim

You know, I love my wife, so I invest in her, I invest in our relationship, I invest time, I figure out what she likes, what she doesn't like.

Jim

You know, I buy her things, I take her out.

Jim

I invest in that relationship because I love.

Jim

Love is, is active.

Jim

It's not primarily a feeling in my view.

Jim

You and same thing with work.

Jim

What if you, what if it's staying Instead of saying I love my job or I don't love my job, love your job.

Jim

Like show love to it, invest in it, choose to love your job.

Jim

That's the way.

Jim

And that's that, that's the theme of your book.

Jim

I'm excited to get into it because I love it.

Ben

But that's a great sorry thing you, what you truly love, you invest in because it, it fosters growth.

Ben

So I love that.

Ben

I love that.

Ben

And last question, Favorite drummer of all time.

Jim

Oh, man, I have to say Tony Williams.

Jim

Well, I'll give you two Tony Williams and Vinny Kaliuda.

Jim

So Tony Williams was Miles Davis, Miles Davis's drummer in like Nefertiti era, like kind of that post bebop era.

Jim

He's a bad man.

Jim

He's so good.

Jim

He was like 18 when he recorded that album.

Jim

He's just unbelievable.

Jim

Just nasty jazz drummer.

Jim

He was so good.

Jim

And then Vinny Kaliuda, he's a, he's a session guy.

Jim

He played with Sting, he played with Frank Zappa.

Jim

He's played on a gazillion albums.

Jim

He's an amazing drummer as well.

Jim

Kind of similar to Tony.

Jim

He can also do the jazz thing.

Jim

So those two.

Jim

Sting once fired him because he can turn around the beat.

Jim

The way he plays around the rhythm.

Jim

It can turn around the beat and then land on the beat is so out there.

Jim

That one time he lost Sting and Sting came in the wrong spot and Sting fired him and then hired him back like an hour later or something.

Ben

That was terrible.

Ben

Oh wait, that was genius.

Ben

That was so out there.

Ben

I didn't appreciate it at the time.

Jim

Yes.

Ben

Yes.

Ben

Cool.

Ben

Jim, thanks for coming on today.

Jim

Yeah, Ben, we appreciate, I appreciate your time.

Jim

It's been fun.

Ben

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Ben

Head over to benfanning.com quit to receive a free signed copy of my number one best selling book, the Quit alternative, the blueprint for creating the job you love without quitting.

Ben

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Ben

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Narrator

Ben Fanning is a number one best selling author, Inc.

Narrator

Magazine columnist and CEO of the Fanning Group, an international consultancy and corporate training company.

Narrator

To learn how they can help your organization, go to benfanning.com.