We were pitching toy license for a movie called Inside out from Disney and Pixar.

I had this idea that we would do dueling PowerPoints.

One would be the presentation about the toy line, the other would be what was going on inside the speaker's head.

That presentation was to John Lasseter, who at the time was the chief creative officer at Pixar.

It was a really good storytelling idea, but it also was very difficult to execute.

I'm always trying to be memorable.

Whether it was the story with Inside out and Pixar or just a simple business review, I've always tried to stand out.

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Welcome back to Lead the Team with number one bestselling author and in demand corporate trainer Ben Fanning.

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.

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Here's Ben.

Hey there and welcome back to Lead the Team.

Today we're excited to have with us Willie Wilkoff, who's the dynamic CEO of the Americas for Haba Family Group and Bella Luna toys.

With over 15 years of experience in just the toy industry and a diverse background that began advertising long before that, Willie brings a unique perspective to the world of play and child development.

Now under his leadership, Haba Family, an internationally renowned family owned company has thrived as a pioneer in creating meaningful experiences for families with a legacy of more than 85 years.

This third generation company is not just about toys.

It's about fostering a child friendly world filled with creativity and lasting values.

Now, Willie's not championing innovative play solutions.

He happens to be deeply passionate about Texas Longhorn sports.

I went to Alabama, so we have a little friction there.

And.

And he dedicates his time to variable various charitable initiatives focused on literacy, camping and pet rescues.

Also the proud parent two children further fueling commitment to creating a brighter future for children everywhere.

Willie, welcome to lead the teams.

Thank you.

My pleasure to be here.

So just tell us right now what's it like being CEO of a toy company?

Well, it's probably not as much fun as you think it would be.

It's a very competitive industry.

But I do feel grateful every single day to wake up and work in an industry where we're bringing joy to kids and families, where we're making a real positive impact in the world.

It's something that I don't for granted.

In the foundation of one of the companies that your CEO of Bella Luna has a connection with, the Waldorf School, we as in our Montessori school years, I had a very positive experience.

What's it like having that connection to the Waldorf program?

Well, it's fantastic.

I mean I started my toy career more in sort of the mainstream toys where you'd see it the mass market.

And as I've evolved, I started to learn more and appreciate more how you can bring open ended play into kids lives and what that does for their their lives to be more creative and to be more free to express themselves.

So this is something that's been very important to me in my life.

So having a chance to experience that and build that out has been been fantastic.

Now reflecting on your career journey, Willie, what a pivotal moment that solidified your aspiration to eventually reach the C suite.

And what did that experience teach you about leadership?

Sure.

Well, back at one of my prior jobs, we were pitching a toy license for a movie called Inside out from Disney and Pixar.

Oh yeah, of course, huge.

At the time I was in the marketing department and we had never really won a license of this magnitude.

And we were talking to folks who knew storytelling who had this wonderful movie and we needed to break through against some of the biggest toy companies in the world.

And so I had this idea that we would do dueling PowerPoints.

One would be the presentation about the toy line and everything we wanted to accomplish.

The other would be what was going on, going on inside the speaker's head.

Basically their thought bubbles.

And we use the different characters like anger, fear, et cetera.

So it was a really good storytelling idea, but it also was very difficult to execute.

So I had to get everybody in the company on board.

We had to physically write the presentation and we had to execute it in real time with two different projectors.

So this was like a very bold move at the time.

But at that moment I was like, I know how to tell stories, I know how to connect customers and I know how to operationalize this idea so that we can win this business.

And we did.

Was such a huge win for and.

That was, was that presentation to Disney.

That presentation was to John Lasseter, who at the time was chief creative Officer at xr.

And so for me, Legendary was a huge defining moment in my career to say I can go toe to toe with some of the best storytellers in the world and I can hold my ground and I can do this.

And that was such a huge confidence builder.

Yeah.

And if, yeah, for the listeners, if you listen to The Steve Jobs 20 Hour biography, they, he talks, Isaacson talks a lot about John Lasseter and he was the first one he came up with.

I mean, a lot of the foundational characters of Pixar.

So we re sweating a little bit.

Normal.

Yeah, of course I was sweating.

I was nervous.

But we lean into it.

I, we actually had one of the junior designers start the presentation and he was up there nervous.

Normally you put your CEO out there, but it was a bit of a risk.

And he went up there and immediately the fear bubble popped up.

What am I doing here?

Why do they have me?

And we had them from, from the first minute.

Excellent.

So you took a risk, it paid off.

And wow, look.

Yeah, man.

What, what a cool story.

And so you mentioned storytelling.

And while that's so important, is there a certain framework or that you take when you're trying to craft a story?

I'm thinking like, is it like Joseph Campbell the hero's Journey or are you thinking about different framework?

So I actually think back to advice that I was given when I worked at the advertising agency.

So I started my career at Leo Burnett in Chicago and I was an account executive and I worked with creative people.

And I'll never forget this, one of the more senior level creative people pulled me aside and he said, clients lives are incredibly boring.

The highlight of their week is the one hour that they spend with the advertising agency.

Do not let them down.

Be memorable.

And that has stuck with me my entire career.

So I'm always trying to be memorable.

Whether it was the story with Inside out and Pixar or just a simple business review, I've always tried to stand out.

One of my favorite stories, this is just kind of simple, was I was at an agency, we did these business reviews.

They were cookie cutter.

They were the same thing.

Everybody hated them.

So I decided that the title of my slides for the presentation were all going to be different Madonna songs.

And it was really funny because at first nobody got it.

But with every slide more people started listening and laughing.

And then all of a sudden you get to the big reveal and everybody's laughing.

You have a presentation that stood out.

So there were 50 business reviews.

Ours, the one that people were talking about.

People were talking about it weeks later.

Was there one Madonna song that really you think was the linchpin?

Well, I think once you did, the financials were so great on our business that I said our CFO was like a virgin.

I think that kind of gave it away.

But again, I mean, my name is David Wilkoff.

My nickname's Willie.

It's just more memorable.

I've always tried to sort of stand out a little bit just in terms of how do you really break so that people are still talking about you or your story or more importantly, your business or what you're trying to achieve in terms of communicating to your employees.

So great, great, great stories and anecdotes about why being memorable is so important for leaders to be thinking about and not getting just stuck in the old same routine that you always do or whatever.

Hey, we approach ourselves this way, or we approach your internal meetings this way.

What recommendations do you have for a leader who's like, yeah, I want to be memorable, but that's not been my jam so far.

Now I'm convinced it's important.

What next?

Well, I mean, I had a great mentor of mine that I always loved.

He was great with stories, but he always took it a step further.

He was huge into acronyms.

So I've sort of always been into acronyms.

It just allows you to sort of make a point in a different way.

And then he was always big on.

Once you've told the story, there's like a memorable or meaningful giveaway that comes with it, that stays with you so that it stays on the employee's desk long after the conversation to reinforce the message.

So those are things that I've picked up that have been a part of me and sort of my management style.

So what's a favorite thing that you've given away that you found to be on employees desk?

Oh, my gosh.

So we did one that had to do with March Madness theme.

And I don't remember what the acronym was, but everybody got like, a Nerf basketball hoop set that they had in their office.

So it was a fun thing, but it was a constant reminder of the message at the time.

Oh, yeah.

Physical representation.

A physical reminder.

And yes, the basketball.

I remember the days I used to work for the Sports Authority.

We love those basketball Nerf goals and have some fun also.

Settle in the trash can through the.

People did that all the time.

Yeah, we were always having fun.

If it's a toy company and you're not having fun, you're doing something wrong.

So being memorable lessons from a leader and a toy company.

My gosh.

Well, another thing, another thing that you've talked about is how you trust and what, what's been your approach to that and why is it so important?

Sure.

Well, as a, as a younger employee earlier in my career, I often got the annual performance review and I often found that my greatest strength as an employee and as a leader, also my greatest weakness.

And I think that is the same for most people.

And for me it was just, I was always told I'm too honest, you're too straightforward.

Perhaps you share too information and sort of has gotten me in trouble throughout my career at times.

But in general, I think the amount of goodwill that it's created and forged between me and my employees, I will take those downsides every single day.

So we're a privately held company.

I share all the information with all the employees.

There's very few that I hold back.

If they know what the challenges are, if they know all the information, they can figure out the questions to ask and the right problems to solve.

And more importantly, like they know that I, that I, I'm not holding anything back from them.

So that when I tell them something, they believe it.

And to me, that's the most important thing when your manager or boss is building that trust, that time when sharing.

The information worked against you and then a time when it paid off.

Sure, there have been times where perhaps I talked about an issue with an employee, you know, maybe a little bit earlier or worse, I gave more information than people needed to know where they lost focus.

So like, if I conveyed maybe that the company had some challenges that people were distracted from doing without sort of conveying to them like, hey, this isn't something that you need to worry about.

It's something you need to be aware of.

I just have a natural tendency to be focused on things that are within my control.

But I also recognize that not everybody in the company can take that same approach or discipline to their job.

Yes.

So.

So before you show, go to the time where it worked out.

I really like the fact that leaders are maybe thinking about this.

I want to be that leader that shares information.

But also it's so important if you're going to be giving high level financial information that you give them the contact so they don't wig out and just start freaking out because maybe, maybe they haven't worked in organizations that are that transparent.

And when they start hearing about ebitda or they start hearing about profitability or sales or revenue and cost and they don't understand the bigger perspective.

You've got to really maybe spend some time educating them so they understand the context of it.

Sure.

I mean, the other thing too is I think sometimes like, I mean, I will share so much information that's relevant more for senior leaders, but I also share it with other folks in the organization who may not need that level of information.

If you're coming to work every day and you have a very specific role or function, sometimes that context isn't helpful for you.

But like I said, I've always erred on the side of sharing more just because I feel like people then go, hey, this person is very direct, they're very upfront.

I know where I stand, I know where the company stands.

Therefore I can come to work every day and do my best work.

And then to the other side of the coin where it has helped me look.

Being a CEO of a company is hard work and oftentimes you have to do things unpleasant.

And if the company is struggling or you have financial challenges and you need to let people go.

I've always erred on the side of direct communication and authenticity sometimes goes against the playbook or a recommendation from somebody in an HR department.

Treating people with humanity, perhaps giving them more notice than somebody normally would, giving them the opportunity to plan and prepare their next move.

These are things that I've done throughout my career that make me feel better about some of the business decisions that I've made.

Yeah, it can be risky to give.

Like if, like if someone's going to be transitioned out of the organization and you're like, well man, if I give them months, a couple months awareness of this, they might completely slack off, they might leave too early, they might do some things and you want to protect the company, but also taking the longer term view, people appreciate that and you see how people help people feel more at ease knowing that they would have a lot of notice before something like that versus just they show up one day and hey, there's a cardboard box.

And it's not just the impact on that person, but everyone sees it all around.

Everyone sees it.

Right.

If you treat people with humanity and obviously you can't do this in every single case, but, but for the most part when you do that, people see that and they realize that.

I think they appreciate that.

And then that goes back to the trust factor as well.

Yeah.

So what I hear in there is it's like how you communicate builds trust.

But I like your examples, like how do you deliver news?

And I think leaders, without a very proactive, like, strategic plan on how you're going to deliver news, both good news and bad news, you can risk losing trust.

But if you're proactive, like the way you're approaching it, every bit of news, whether it's bad news or good news, is a chance to build trust with your customers, with your employees.

But just don't leave it up to chance.

Yeah, and look, I'm a very unflappable person.

I don't get too high, I don't get too low.

So I think it's a very calming presence when I'm working with the team, especially when I have to deliver bad news.

And I think people appreciate.

So that's something that I consider to be a big part of my style.

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So looking back over your long career, Willie, what advice would you give your younger self or something that you would try or what advice you would give them to try or.

Actually, let me rephrase that.

What advice would you give your younger self or something you would actually tell them to try?

Gotta mess that up.

I mean, it's interesting and there's so many things that come to mind when you ask me that question.

I mean, I think the first one is invest in your network.

If I could go back and do it all over again.

I have met so many amazing people from back when I worked at the agency who are now CEOs of Fortune 500 companies to just know that when you meet somebody, it's not enough.

You have to continue to navigate relationships, build those contacts.

Not always when you need something, but just staying in touch with people and adding as much value to them.

I, I know people who've built their entire professional business just having a strong network.

So that's something I would definitely say.

I would also say lean into the areas of greatest challenge.

I think we as human beings naturally lean into the things we're already good at.

But how do you really build out those skill sets and learn more about the areas that you're not as comfortable in?

I was always a marketer, I was pretty successful at it.

But I wish I had leaned more into the financial aspects of the business and dug more into the operations earlier on in my career.

The other advice I would say is really get to know the senior leadership at your company.

I think a lot of junior level people are afraid to approach them.

This was something I was never afraid of.

I would walk into the corner office, I would talk to them, I would share information, I would engage with them.

These are the people that know what's going on.

These are the people that sign off on your raises and your promotions.

So I was never shy and that really helped me sort of catapult my career.

And then lastly, I mean I worked with Amazon back in 1998.

I got to meet their whole leadership and I would tell myself to buy some stock.

Yeah, well, so many good parts of that about building your network and with I think people it's important to do that.

But I sense that you're thinking beyond the digital space because you've already talked about John Lasseter.

You know, you talked about Amazon, you talked about senior leaders.

It's about having a personal connection beyond LinkedIn.

Now when everyone's getting on LinkedIn, everyone's doing that.

Well, the in person piece is what may give you the edge.

And I like about the part about people getting in and meeting the senior executives.

I think I early in my career that was a gap for me because I was terrified and I ended up having to interact with them when I had to.

But the problem is you're had if you have your interactions only be when there's a problem or they need something from you, then you didn't take the time to develop the rapport and trust before that moment.

And you can shine in those, those really delicate, tense filled moments.

But I was thinking about I would have benefited so much more if I'd had the relationship.

Then they came to me and I probably would have sweated a lot less in those moments.

Yeah, there's one other, one other element.

Like I mentioned, I had a former boss of mine.

I'm not necessarily sure we had the greatest relationship, but he was a superstar.

He went on to be CMO of a major company.

He's now CEO of Fortune 500 company.

I reached out to him when I got this job.

It was my first time being a CEO, so I reached out to him for some advice.

Now he's running a company significantly larger in scope, but he responded to me and he spent a half hour with me and he gave Me, tremendous advice and guidance.

I'm forever grateful for him taking the time to do that.

So, like I said, I mean, if you don't stay in touch with people, if you don't build those relationships, then when you do actually need something or some help, it's very difficult to call out of the blue.

You'd be like, hey, we worked together 20 years ago.

Can I have 30 minutes?

Yeah, just something.

Something in person versus just the LinkedIn connection, people.

Yeah, LinkedIn is not in person and cannot be valued as such.

The part you said I really, I really liked that was about building on not just areas that you're.

You're strong in, but developing the other areas.

I think it's great to go all in on your strengths, but have the awareness of weaknesses because you got to build out your team, build out your network in those areas so you can rely upon them one day when you need them.

I mean, I was always a very financially oriented marketing person.

So while I was a storyteller, while I understood branding, while I was good at promotions and creative work and all that, I was very big on measurements, I was very big in the space.

I could talk to a cfo.

So that, that was the strength of mine.

But the whole elements of the balance sheet in those areas, it wasn't something I really dug into.

But now that I'm responsible for it, I find myself having to catch up a little bit.

Well, that's the universal language, baby.

The bottom line, every part of the company's got it there.

So what's been your biggest source of inspiration and when's a difficult time at Gotcha 30?

Sure.

Well, if I get choked up here, I apologize, but biggest inspiration was my dad.

My dad worked for IBM for 28 years.

He loved to work.

He was very passionate about work.

And one of the biggest things that he was, he was an advocate for the customer.

This was his big thing.

The customer was always right.

You have to do what's right for the customer.

He was the eternal optimist.

He loved work.

He was the guy that always asked me what was going on at work, always gave me advice, always listened, could commiserate with me at the bad times, celebrate with me at the good times.

He passed away a couple years ago, but he worked for this company for 28 years.

He put his heart and soul into it, and then one day they just sent him packing.

And that happens in business.

But I think he realized how much he missed out on of his kids growing up.

And I think that it just, it just put in perspective, what it is that we do for a living.

And it's tough because we, as CEOs, we put so much effort into our company.

We live it and breathe it, but we also have to recognize that none of us are irreplaceable.

That, you know, we have to make the most of the opportunities when we have them, to build these connections and recognize that in any given moment, it could be gone.

So that's sort of the perspective that I've always had.

And there have been a couple of times in my career where I had bumps in the road.

I.

I've been let go from companies twice in, in having his support and guidance through those times, knowing that it gets better, that you will find another opportunity, that sometimes it's for the best.

I think just having his guidance and support through those times made all the difference in the world to me.

Man, what a inspiring example and a good matter of perspective.

Like, we, we work hard at work, we're trying to contribute, we're trying to grow business, add value.

But yeah, we, we are replaceable ultimately.

And that's what companies are for in the first place, that it's not all just one person.

Absolutely.

And look, I worked in companies.

I think almost every company that I've worked with at some point was acquired by some other company.

There's been some sort of significant management change.

I've been through insolvency, a couple of companies, and it's like, just because things are one thing one day doesn't mean that the next day they're completely different.

So you have to be.

You have to be adaptable.

You have to focus on the things that are within your control and you can't get caught up in all the other stuff that's going on.

And it goes back to one of the first tips you gave, which is about your building your network, because your network can help you in those moments of transition or just support.

Just support in general.

And it also, to me, it might shed some inspiration for some people to be in gratitude for your job and how you're contributing today, because it's not going to last forever.

And I mean, I worked for Honeywell for over a decade, and I did kind of get in that mode, like, hey, this is just going to last forever.

And then the time came for me to transition, and it was a big change.

But it's.

I mean, what.

Wise.

Wise words, man.

Thank you for sharing that.

A very personal example of it.

Now I got some serious questions around in games.

Yeah, what, What?

I mean, what's Your favorite board game, what's your favorite toy?

My favorite board game.

My favorite toy.

Got such a tough question to answer because of course I would say ABBA toys and I would tell you how wonderful our games are.

We do board games for two year olds.

We have a board game called the First Orchard and basically it's a platform to kids into board games and think about a two year old that's very young.

But the fact that the game can teach them how to take turns, to identify colors, to understand the concepts of winning and losing together, some light strategy.

I mean, this board game has sold over 3 million units.

It's a phenomenal game.

3 million games.

3 million units.

It's been around since the early 1980s.

There's honestly nothing better than it on the market.

So the terms of game that, that's, that's my favorite game with my corporate hat on.

Personally, I'm a Scrabble guy.

I always have been, I always will be.

I played a lot of competitive games against my best friend and against my mom.

And I do love that game.

And then, you know, obviously I think back to toys from my youth and things I used to play with and things that I loved, and those things continue to inspire me to this day.

Well, I read you really enjoyed the Dukes of Hazzard car and figures.

I was gonna, I was gonna mention that obviously it's been a bit of a controversial thing with the Confederate flag and all that.

Yeah, a car called the General Lee, which generally.

Yeah, I grew up in Alabama and everyone had that car.

It never crossed my mind once that there was something weird going on with a car named the General Leave with a Confederate flag on it.

I mean, look, it was a different.

It was a different time in the 80s.

But as a very small child, just focusing on the play pattern of that car.

I mean, this was a car that was a barn burner set.

I could find the commercial and play it for you.

You revved the car up, it shot and it rode on like a 45 degree angle on two wheels.

It buffed through a bunch of barrels.

It was the greatest play experience that I ever had in my life.

I can't imagine anything since then that I've wanted that badly.

But if you can remember that feeling of joy that that game brings to you, that toy brings to you, that's what we do every day.

I mean, it's nothing short of magic.

That's why sometimes I'm like, I don't, I don't know if I could work in some other area that isn't as exciting, that doesn't have that sort of end benefit just because you got to believe in the products that you sell and what they do for people.

I was, I wanted to ask you.

So there we're obviously in the, in the world of video games now and we play family like we, we just went with another family often a little fall break and we played some board games and card games and different generations all interacting and playing together.

There's something about the board game.

I love Mario Kart.

Like the next person I'm playing that with my daughter, but it's a such a different experience.

What do you, how do you envision the world of board games and video games coexisting going forward?

Sure, I think it's a really good question.

I think they play different roles.

I mean I, when I think of video games as I'm a bit more advanced in my career, it was always something that you did maybe by yourself or maybe two player in person.

But now my kids play with friends from all around, all over the world, people they've never met that are friends.

So I see a tremendous amount of value and connections that those games can bring.

From a business standpoint, we don't do video games.

We don't do toys with batteries.

Like our whole thing is being present about bringing people together in this multi generation generational play.

So naturally I'm, I'm a little bit more biased toward that.

I think there's something about like you talked about in the Waldorf world, but the way that the toy feels is very, very important.

Like we design a lot of wooden toys.

Wood is expensive but feels different than a plastic toy.

The weight of the quality that we put into our toys, this is something that you really feel and it's very tangible.

When we think about games that bring parents together with children or children together with grandparents, like, to me those are the memories that you have for the rest of your life.

So you're not just selling a product, but you're selling an experience, a connection and a memory.

And that's where it gets me very, very excited about what we're doing on a daily basis.

Yeah.

And a great.

I'm experiencing it like a Pixar movie.

So one you told me your business and your vision, but it's like the bigger picture, it's the why behind the business.

So you're a toy company, but you're really in the creating memories for families of multi, multi generations, which is a much bigger vision than.

Absolutely, absolutely.

I suspect that comes in pretty Handy with your, with your team as you build them?

Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

Yeah.

I mean, it's a, it's a very passionate group of people.

When people come to work every day excited about what you're doing, you can do great things.

Willie, what's your parting message for our listeners?

Take it any direction you like.

You've earned it today.

Sure.

Thank you very much.

Look, I talked a lot about telling stories.

You got to think, what is your story?

I'm really big on goals and I'm really big on priorities.

And people come to me all the time as a mentor and say, should I take this job?

I'm thinking about it.

And I said, well, unless I know what your priorities are, I can't really help you.

So I would encourage anybody listening to this to think about what's most important to them, whether it's, you know, I need to provide for my family first and foremost.

I need to continue learning and growing.

I need to make my mark.

I need to work in a category that I'm passionate about.

Like, I need to work with great people.

Like, until you really know what your priorities are, it's sort of tough to make those high level decisions.

And so once you've done that, I think it's really important to have goals.

And then once you know what your priorities are, what your goals are, then you just got to tell the right story and then it's all about execution.

Thanks for coming on.

Lead the team, Willie.

No problem.

Thank you very much, Ben.

I appreciate it.

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