Half Century Hangout
Three guys from different backgrounds come together as good friends to share perspectives and learn from each other. We don't always have to agree, but we will listen and learn as we discuss various topics. We invite you to join us.
Half Century Hangout
Exploring Leadership Beyond Titles and Positions
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Have you ever pondered the real purpose of your life? Join us as we kick off with a nod to the Ohio State Buckeyes' national championship victory and explore a topic that strikes a chord with everyone—discovering one's purpose. We share stories of how understanding our purpose can transform lives and the crucial role leadership plays in guiding others towards this realization. Our discussion takes us across the globe, all the way to Germany, where we have a surprising listener, sparking thoughts on just how far-reaching this journey of purpose and leadership can be.
True leadership isn't about the position you hold but about the skills you cultivate. We break down the essential traits that define a great leader—honesty, communication, trust-building, and active listening—and illustrate these with real-world examples, like the strategic prowess of Tom Brady. Our conversation examines the difference between those who lead by title and those who lead by example, stressing the importance of building a team that complements a leader's weaknesses. We delve into the concept of informal leadership and why it's crucial for aligning team efforts towards shared goals.
Leadership is also about fostering growth and development within your team. We explore the art of delegation and its importance in empowering team members to tap into their leadership potential. Drawing inspiration from influential leaders like Kent Wingate and Dr. John Marshall, we underscore the necessity of continuous learning, referencing a poignant quote by John F. Kennedy. As we wrap up, there's room for some lighthearted banter about the Super Bowl showdown between the Chiefs and the Eagles, and we invite our listeners to join the conversation on social media. Your support is what keeps this podcast vibrant and dynamic.
Hey, welcome back Half Century Hangout. Thanks for hanging out with us today. Just want to ask my co-host, Chuck and Luke what's new since last time.
Speaker 2:Well, guys, we did it. The Buckeyes, the Ohio State Buckeyes, are the national champions, so let's go with that.
Speaker 1:I didn't know you were part of the team but I suppose fans are absolutely fans, are you have?
Speaker 2:you have nothing without your fan base, right, you gotta have. You gotta have that fan base.
Speaker 3:all I can say is this is you know what I will say congratulations to the buckeyes, but there is an asterisk after that national championship because, as we all know, the Michigan Wolverines defeated them in the regular season. So there is an asterisk after that one, but still congratulations. But you know, when we won it last year we were undefeated, so there was no asterisk after ours.
Speaker 2:So I'll tell you what I told a buddy of mine, robert. Okay, I told him, robert said the same thing. He's a Michigan fan, he wears that color all the time and I said, Robert, that is a family discussion, so butt out.
Speaker 3:Well, I feel like we're family, chuck, so we can have it. Yeah, I guess we are. It's all good, it's fine, all right, good enough, on a different note, not to shut that down, but hey, 65 downloads of the podcast last week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I've been watching that. That was amazing.
Speaker 1:That is awesome.
Speaker 3:And where'd they come from? All over the place, but we had one from Germany, germany.
Speaker 1:Yep, holy cow, I didn't even know that.
Speaker 3:I mean it was crazy, but I'll give a shout out to Wine Michigan. Appreciate you guys, Love you. Hope you tune in for the next one.
Speaker 2:You know we kind of expect some of those ones around like Omaha Council Bluffs, you know. But you know I saw them in San Francisco, denver, kansas City. I thought that was pretty cool.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it is pretty cool Down in Florida. You know they're all over the place.
Speaker 2:Yeah, tampa, I saw one down in Tampa. Yep.
Speaker 1:So nice to have you guys hanging out with us.
Speaker 2:Here's the cool thing If you are listening in some of those cities and maybe we didn't mention, just write us up a review, shoot us a five-star, four-star review, whatever, and we'd love to hear from you. If you put your name down there, we'll be sure to give you a shout-out on the podcast.
Speaker 3:We're huge on shout-outs. We are. We can give shout-outs to anybody. We're good, you let us know.
Speaker 2:Shout-outs to anybody, we're good, you let us know, just like the Ohio State Buckeyes, we're nothing without our fan base. This show is nothing without our listeners.
Speaker 3:You are right, because if we're just sitting here talking, who's listening?
Speaker 1:Exactly oh you know what I forgot to say? We are hanging out today in Luke's Garage.
Speaker 2:And what a fine establishment Luke's Garage is.
Speaker 3:Thanks, guys Appreciate it. It's fun. Like I said in the last episode, we solve a lot of problems here and probably cause a few along the way. But, we've had a lot of great conversations with different people here among my family and people. John, where we're sitting here you can see, this is where my kids carve different colleges and different things into the wood at the top of the bar. That's our little bar top, so it's good. Everybody's got their initials in there. You know, I'm surprised, luke, that you've got an N here.
Speaker 2:Well, you know I have some family members that graduated from UNL, so we've got it and you know what I love them. They're great. You didn't sand that off.
Speaker 3:No, didn't sand it off, it's theirs right in the middle.
Speaker 1:I noticed there's a couple of Michigans around it.
Speaker 3:There are, there are, there are.
Speaker 2:Yeah, guys. So, man, I don't know if you've ever had this type of person around you or not, but I always enjoy being around someone who understands purpose and the importance that it has in our lives. I believe one of the deepest cravings of humanity is that each of us know our purpose. I honestly think that that's something that we all kind of strive for. You know, and I remember one of the things that impressed me about people that I would consider mentors or leaders or people that I would look up to, was that they reminded me of that simple reality of what is my purpose, or that I have purpose. They would actually impress that on me I have purpose. They would actually impress that on me I have purpose. So over the years, I've led teams. As I've led teams, I've always tried to think about it this way that leadership, which is kind of what we're diving into today leadership is helping others know that they have a purpose, and leading is helping them fulfill that purpose.
Speaker 3:So I thought we'd maybe start the podcast off by talking about that I think, chuck, you hit the nail on the head where that purpose is a huge part, and in our line of work, which we've spoken about before, that's one of the things that I think that we really need to work on is that there's a lot of people that come across our doorstep that don't have a purpose or don't know what theirs is, and it's not that we're giving them one. It's that we're trying to help them realize what theirs is.
Speaker 1:Discover, just getting them there, you know, getting them to the point where they figure something out and all of a sudden they have that moment.
Speaker 3:Whatever that moment might look like, it might be the aha moment, it might be the heavens opened up, whatever it is, and I think that that's a huge piece that we go through. So, going into that leadership piece, I think that's a big thing, and one of the things that I know that we spoke about and we've talked about is that we want to dive into this topic about leadership. But when we brought it up last episode as well, it kind of came into that conversation that we had. But there is a difference between simply being a leader and having the skills of leadership. It's two different things. So, John, if you've got any comment about that I mean that's somewhere I think we could start it off is that? Is there a difference between being a leader and having leadership? Because I think I feel it's a couple different things. Like it could go either way. What do you think, John?
Speaker 1:Absolutely. I think that leadership skills are a lot different than being a leader. I think that when you are a leader, you have people that will follow you and I think those skills come into effect when you lead people.
Speaker 1:The skills you know, I think you have to be honest. I think you have to create trust with your people. I think you have to be able to communicate with your people, and that's a lot of different ways. You got to be able to listen to them. You got to be able to there's that listen thing again.
Speaker 3:I was going to come back. It's always a big one. You got to be able to listen.
Speaker 3:You got to be able to talk to them and gotta, you gotta be able to communicate that message of what's our purpose yeah as a group because, I think I think one of the things that I looked at I know that we see this a lot um in our day-to-day work that that we share is that there can be leaders. They don't always have to be positive leaders, right. I mean we all know that person who just happens to be the head of a group of people that isn't necessarily positive.
Speaker 3:It doesn't have to always be a positive thing to be a leader, but I think, john, like you said, those leadership skills are. What makes the difference is that you are leading a group of people in a positive direction, toward a common goal, whatever that would be. And I think that that is a big thing, with showing initiative, inspiring people that are around you.
Speaker 3:There's so many leaders that we could talk about, and one of the ones that came into my mind as we were talking about it and I'm sure you guys know the name, but Lee Iacocca is one that comes to my mind and, as you guys heard before, you know, I grew up in Michigan, in the Detroit area, so a lot of the things that I talk about have to do with the auto industry. They just do, and Lee Iacocca, who's always kind of given the credit for rebuilding Chrysler Corporation when it went down in the 80s.
Speaker 3:An often not known fact about Lee Iacocca is that he was also on the original design team for the Ford.
Speaker 2:Mustang, I was wondering if he was going to bring that up.
Speaker 3:One of the best things that ever happened to the auto industry ever, I mean it still to this day is like the initial model that sold the most than any other additional model since then.
Speaker 2:Totally changed the car world.
Speaker 3:It did and you look at it and you can. John, you started to talk about those things, about leadership and the skills that it takes not just to be a leader but to really lead people in a common direction for a common goal. I mean, that's where it's at, yeah.
Speaker 2:As I hear you guys talking, a couple things stand out to me. I think there are leaders that are like positionally situated, and then there are your practical leaders. So I think it works both ways. Not all people who are in a leadership position are made to lead, or even know how to lead, or maybe are competent lead yeah but then down on the practical piece.
Speaker 2:You have people who are, who practically lead, just because it's a natural gift yeah and they can use that gift either for the good or for the negative, right, right? So I mean, some think of al capone. Al capone was a leaker leader, right? Um and uh, he used that gift negatively, yeah, but he was a leader and there are things that, oh, without a doubt, don't get me started on the mafia.
Speaker 3:You know I love that stuff, and and you're, but you're right, though, is that it? It's one of those things where you know, one of the leadership ideas that I've always used is you.
Speaker 3:You hire your weakness because, if I, if I know that I have a weakness of leadership let's say it's communication I would love to hire somebody on my team that's strong in that oh sure, because you, you know I can still work on that weakness of mine, but I know that it is. And if I hire somebody that's there, that's building a team that's building leadership, that's building a team that's going to move forward toward a common goal, whatever that is, yeah, I think also what.
Speaker 1:what you need to be as a leader is somebody who makes other people better and towards that common goal, and you help to create the people that you need. You hire the people that you need, but you also make those people better. I mean, Delve into that a little more.
Speaker 3:John about better, I don't know Tom.
Speaker 1:Brady, where did he go to college?
Speaker 2:Michigan.
Speaker 1:Okay, so the man actually was not much in college, was he? He was, he was a backup and and he came to the NFL and, you know, by circumstance, became a starting quarterback. And every time I I honestly I do not like the new england patriots, but I like tom brady, yeah, and the man just made everybody around him better and his goal, I think, was to win super bowls yeah, yeah and he did with two different teams and it was because every time those receivers turned over or the running back turned over or his team turned over, he was there and he was leading them in a certain way.
Speaker 1:And I think that's what leadership is is making those people better so you can get to that common goal. And you have to watch out or talk to the people who are the informal leaders. I'll call them the ones that have those leadership qualities that do lead in your organization, and you have to help them to understand their purpose and the purpose of our organization.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and I think you bring up. In bringing up Tom Brady, there's an important aspect about him he always competed for the position of quarterback. Even when he was head coach of Michigan, Lloyd Carr, I think it was his senior year Tom Brady had compete for the position of quarterback and they went back and forth for quite a while and then he got into the NFL, competed against Drew Bledsoe, you know, with the New England Patriots. But all that competition it made him competent and he became the best in his craft because he honed that skill over and over, and over and over. And so there's a level of leadership where you have to be competent in order to lead in the area that you're in your area of expertise. But he couldn't have been a lineman, he couldn't have been a running back.
Speaker 3:Yeah, this is true.
Speaker 2:You know he didn't have that skill so he had to go out and make sure he had that skill right. But the other side, I think, of competence that I always like to talk about is character. You can have all kinds of competence, and Simon Sinek talks about this quite a bit, that you can have all kinds of competence. But competence, unhinged, kind of just makes somebody a jerk. They make somebody like the star, without knowing how to treat others, and so the character piece of it I think is an important piece whenever you talk about leadership as well.
Speaker 1:Well, and I think what happens when you have the competence without the character? Sometimes you lead in such a way that when you leave that organization, the organization, falls apart because you are leading in such a way that it helps everybody get there, but you're the glue that holds everything together. What you have to do is help everybody else around you be better yeah.
Speaker 3:I think I was looking at an article my wife actually sent it to me and it was talking about companies firing Gen Z employees, which we could go way down the list on that one, but they were talking about the Gen Z people and one of the things was when, john, you hit it on the head there where you said that one of the things of being a leader is getting people to be better at what they do or how they act or whatever that would happen to be, and getting them better as leaders. These business owners are trying to teach and it cracks me up to teach. You'd figure that college students coming out of school now would know this because of the times. But these employers and even Michigan State University which I don't talk about Michigan State very often, but they have had to now teach students how to handle a networking conversation.
Speaker 3:Oh wow, like they have to go in and they have now teach students how to handle a networking conversation oh wow, Like they have to go in and they have to teach them how to look for signs that the other party is starting to get bored and that it's time to move on. But these are skills that they're coming out of college and they don't have. So when we talk about, you know, being a leader, like you said, John, you've got to meet those guys wherever they're at, and you've got to somehow fundamentally figure out you know where are we and where we want to go, and what's that road look like between those two things and how to get them better, and I think that summed it up great.
Speaker 3:I mean, john, I think that was right. There is that that leader has to look and they have to be able to see. That too. That's a skill as well, just by itself is to be able to look and see. Yeah, we know we're the end result like we think we want to be, but to really be able to again, here's the word listen, hear people, see where they're at, figure it out, and sometimes we'd like to make sure we get that all done during a hiring process or something else. But we realize that doesn't always happen. It doesn't always happen that way?
Speaker 3:Sometimes it's a dog and pony show and you fall into it and you've got a person who, you know what, isn't as close to the goal as you thought they were. Right. But our job as leaders or you know, to show those leadership skills is to see where they're at and to try to help them get there, because that's the job, that's what it is.
Speaker 2:Yeah, and what it is. Yeah, and I, I think sometimes when um, they I can't remember who it is that gave the um the example or you might know, john, because we've talked about it before. But, uh, you got to know where the bus is going and then get the right people, or get to maybe get the wrong people off the bus, get the right people on the bus and then get those right people in the right seats on the bus, yeah yeah and um, I think it, you know I've been in a bus with the wrong driver a few times.
Speaker 1:Yeah, just saying, well, you know you do work with sports, so yeah, it has. That's the way it goes sometimes they don't know where they're going, do they?
Speaker 3:I mean some of those, yeah, literally, um, I think, when we talk about those skills, I mean I think the skills range from so many different things, but some of the ones that I really you know, look at and try. You know, in our intro and in our North Stars we've talked about this, how this podcast for us. We want to get better at what we do as well. I mean, this is where we hit ideas off of each other and learn it, and one of the things that I look at as aspiring to be a great leader and these leadership skills. I mean we brought up honesty, we brought up integrity, basically, but being able to delegate is a gigantic one. Oh yeah.
Speaker 3:You know, being a leader isn't just about controlling every single little thing that it was. I mean you can't do that. And if you think you can, you're going to fail, You're going to crash and burn. You can't do it.
Speaker 1:Or your organization is going to fall apart when you leave.
Speaker 3:Yeah, that too. It's that North Star that we talked about in the first episode, where I said you really can only work with what you really have control over and you have to be able to relinquish some of that control and that delegation to others for some of those things, because as a leader you're not going to be able to do it all. You're not going to be able to. We might want to. Some people think you know, are there overachievers or they're going to do this, but basically what I think they would do is burn out in a hurry, and we see that a lot. I mean, you see that with coaches, you see that with bosses, you see that with CEOs, you see that with a lot of people, right?
Speaker 1:Well, principals too, I mean it happens, hey, and you bring up a good point, seeing where they are when we are assessing them and saying, hey, this person could be a leader in my organization and I'm gonna give them a little bit more responsibility to help them get to that purpose that they have and help them understand who they are in our organization and help our organization. By the way, it's Jim Collins, with Good to Great.
Speaker 2:Oh, is he the one who the bus example? Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Which is a really good book. Good to Great.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'd like to hear a little bit more about this delegation piece because for me, I think over the the years that's probably been the hardest thing to do and, as I reflect just on that, the reason I most likely don't delegate and you guys chime in on this is that I don't think anybody can do it as good as I can you know what, and it's funny, and I knew where you were going as soon as I saw the look on your face, chuck, and I could tell and this is how well we know each other folks is is this is something that, um, I'm not proud of it or anything but, uh, as a parent, um, I did this too much, too many times where I didn't have my kids do something like a chore or whatever it was, because I'm like I'm gonna
Speaker 2:have to redo it.
Speaker 3:I'm gonna have to do it over yep, because they're not gonna do it up to my you know, which at the time seemed like a like a time-saving kind of thing, but it really wasn't. It was more of a proud pride thing and and it's like you know what I could teach them and go step by step with them and tell them what that looks like, what it feels like. You know all these things and I passed up on some of those opportunities and I think that it's real that you say that as a leader, because it's real, and think of it this way In recent events for those of you that are sports fans the Detroit Lions just had one of their best seasons ever. Right, I mean great season Head coach.
Speaker 3:You know Campbell, he's great, you know, but what did he do? He built a coaching staff of leaders and his offensive coordinator and his defensive coordinator both got head coaching jobs. Now that's a feather in your hat. Now you hate to lose those people, but that's what you're trying to do is you're trying to build a team where people are going to advance right.
Speaker 3:I mean you're not just helping whatever your group or your job or your corporation or whatever that is, it's not just them. You're helping those people Because, like you said, john, some of those people don't necessarily always know that they have leadership qualities. Sometimes they do, sometimes they think they do, when they don't.
Speaker 3:But, they also the other times just maybe don't have a high enough self-esteem or they don't think that they could do something like that. But if we listen hard enough and we look at those little intangibles, whatever that is, and I just think that that delegation piece is one of the ways that you kind of strain through and figure out, you give these people a little job here, a little more responsibility, whatever that is, and you coach them through it and you try to get them through it and you're going to be able to tell in a hurry if they can or they can't. Right, you know. And I think that, besides that part, that delegation piece is gigantic because everybody on a team or a group has to do their part to reach that common goal.
Speaker 2:So does that mean that if you're delegating to somebody that, honestly, they may not do it as good as you, you may be, maybe you have 15, 20 more years experience or whatever. Maybe you're skilled better. Whatever, you're delegating it to somebody who may not be as good as you, does that mean that you have to be okay with, like, not it being excellent?
Speaker 3:No, no, I think that we've gone through that in education, where it's GRR right, gradual Release of Responsibility. This is something that we do with students, but I think that you do it with a leadership group as well. And just like I was talking about with being a parent is that if I'm delegating something to you and I feel in my heart that I'm going to be better at it than you are, that's okay. But I want to teach you how at least I think as the leader, it should be done. Now, on the flip side of that, you might have some ideas that I didn't know about. So I have to be open at the same time. But that delegation piece, I think, builds trust open at the same time. But that delegation piece, I think, builds trust with the other person.
Speaker 3:that, hey he's really looking out for me or he's got some faith in me and hopefully that helps them. Yeah, but it's hard to let that rain go and to say hey, but at the same time maybe the first, however long it is, month or two or whatever it is it's going to take a lot of follow-up with you with them, to help them get to the point where they're at least competent or better. You know what I mean, Yep yep, yep, which sounds really bad, but I don't know another way to put it.
Speaker 1:And delegation means that I am letting that person do what they need to do. What I'm doing as a leader, as a builder, is being out in front of those people as a leader and I'm letting them learn how to be that leader, them learn how to be that leader. What I'm trying to do, ultimately fortunate or unfortunate, I don't know which, but what I'm trying to do is work myself as out of a job. I'm trying to help those people be a leader so that when I'm gone, when'm done, those people can take over Right, where you're left off.
Speaker 1:And we see that in. You know, we work in a high school. We said that we work with kids that are anywhere from 14 to 18, 19 years old and we're trying to help them find their purpose, be leaders. And sometimes that's really hard to let them and watch them to maybe stumble right, not fail. But stumble. And it's up to us to help pick them up and get them on the right track, find their purpose and help them to be that leader that they can be. Yeah.
Speaker 3:I think the other part of it. There's one other small part that I just wanted to say is that if we're in a position of leadership whatever that position is and you are bringing people onto your team whether that means hiring them or bringing them into your garage or whatever it is, you know what I mean. Whatever that group is, you kind of have to screen them a little bit. You know what I mean.
Speaker 2:Oh sure.
Speaker 3:Like, if I know that, chuck, I'm bringing you onto my team and your strength is communication, but I give you, I delegate to you, a bunch of stuff about operations. That's not setting you up for success either. So again and I know we've circled back to it a hundred times, it seems already and it's only episode two, but it's that listening piece and you've got to listen to people and really delve into what not only you think their strengths are, but what they think they are.
Speaker 3:And that's hard. It's a hard thing. Delegation is not easy. That's why I put it on there, because I think it spurns a lot of great conversation.
Speaker 2:It does, and I think part of the process that may help, that is, the good book says that there's wisdom in a multitude of counsel, right? So if you're considering an individual, then bring more people around. And we've all made our share of mistakes of bringing people onto a team that maybe we thought was a good fit, but somebody else was like ah, I don't know about this one, chuck, you know. Or I don't know about this one, john. Um, there's a another good quote I heard. It kind of takes the conversation a little bit of a different direction, but it says be careful who you let on your ship, because some people might sink the whole ship just because they can't be the captain, you know. But you know, once you have that organization and you are kind of building that organization, yeah, you got to be careful, you got to vet people, maybe a little bit.
Speaker 3:So well, I've had those conversations before about, you know, if I have somebody sitting in front of me who, at the end of an interview or even in the middle of it, and I think, man, this person is turnkey, they could take my job today. I have to be honest with myself and kind of talk to this person, be like, hey, you know what you're a, this person is turnkey, they could take my job today. I have to be honest with myself and kind of talk to this person and be like, hey, you know what, you're a little overqualified for this job, like you've done this, this, this.
Speaker 3:You know, you might want to look at a little bit bigger of his role, unless they have a specific reason for wanting that role, whatever it is. But I think that we need to be honest with ourselves and be like know, there's some people that, like you said, maybe they in their interview you're stealing interviews, you know stealing ideas from them because they're giving you stuff and they're like wow, I never thought of that that's a great idea, you know that's.
Speaker 1:That's another quality of leadership, too is being honest with people and saying here's what I see in you, or or here's what I don't see in you, and making sure that you're honest.
Speaker 3:And I think we can look at. There's so many things with leadership and this topic is probably going to go over into our next episode. I mean there's things that are always going to be interlaced with it next episode. I mean there's things that are always going to be interlaced with it. But I think that you know, when we talk about, you know society and people and all the things that we do in our world but that you guys are going to be letting us know about. You know, this is so important because we see leaders and I know sometimes and I'm just going to say it that I think that we see leaders sometimes that we don't want to admit that they're leaders because we don't like the direction that they go.
Speaker 3:Sure, but you know what? They're still leaders. Okay, now what direction they go, that's a whole different discussion. But there's always been leaders in history, forever. Right, yeah, that people don't always agree with Right, and that's okay. There's nothing wrong with that. But there are certain qualities that leaders true leaders and successful leaders have, and these are just, we've just scratched the surface. I mean, we haven't even gone that deep yet.
Speaker 2:We have, you know yeah, so let's, um, let's, maybe just can we just go around the table and talk about, like, who is a leader, whether it's somebody that led us, or maybe it's somebody that look, you know from a distance that we've admired, that we've maybe stolen a few things from?
Speaker 1:boy, that's something to think about you're still thinking I am, so go ahead I can.
Speaker 3:I can tell you right now, without without even thinking too hard about it, my high school football coach 100% best probably man that I've ever met in my life as far as the things that he did in his own life with raising kids in a terrible neighborhood in Detroit, sending them all through a Lutheran high school, teaching in that high school, his wife working in the cafeteria and just being the best mentor to young men and having that as the basis of his coaching style. Whether he was on the field, he was also the wrestling coach. He was also a PE teacher. This is the guy that I had to do square dancing with in PE class.
Speaker 1:You square danced with him.
Speaker 3:I did because there was more guys than there were girls, and I was the tallest one in line so I had to and he came up to me and you're leading.
Speaker 1:Bow to your partner.
Speaker 3:And it was one of those things where he was always just a beacon of light in my life. He was always somebody that you could look up to, somebody that you could. You never had to worry about asking him a question. I mean, obviously he was a very strong coach, he was a very dedicated coach, he was a great coach. He's in the Michigan High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame. Oh, wow.
Speaker 3:High School Football Coaches Hall of Fame, oh wow. And he just went over the top with making young men out of young boys, if you want to say yeah, that's good.
Speaker 3:And he was so good. He was just and it was. Obviously it was a Lutheran high school, so there was a lot of things about our faith and things that were included in everything that we did. And, as I remember, as I went to college which was the same college that one of his sons went to he I was worried. It was the first game I was going to start as a freshman. I kind of jumped in there at the end and I was in the locker room before the game and he showed up and I had my head down, I was kind of trying to psych myself out and I feel this hand on my shoulder and it was him. He came to see the game because his son was also playing. He was a couple years older than me, but just that, I was fine. All that anxiety, everything that I had was gone because I knew he was there.
Speaker 1:Great man, just a great man. So let me ask Luke, how many graduated in your class in high school?
Speaker 3:I think it was less than 100. I want to say it was like 85 or 87, something like that.
Speaker 1:So I grew up in a small town as well. I can't really put my finger on exactly one person, but my high school teachers were inspirational and leaders to me who again helped young people grow into adulthood and get to where they needed to be. Probably one of the reasons I became a teacher was those teachers that I had, and I think that we all can probably look at somebody who made a difference in our lives. That might have been either a teacher or maybe a pastor or somebody in our past that exemplified that type of leadership that we want to have or to be.
Speaker 2:Yeah, it probably wasn't a fair question because I couldn't think of just one. I break it up into like different genres, right. So when I think of somebody who taught me how to be a good family man, I think of Kent Wingate from Patterson Park Church in Beaver Creek, ohio. Just an amazing dude man. Showed me what it looked like to love your wife and love your kids. When I think about a good pastor, I think a guy by the name of Dr John Marshall from Springfield Missouri. Just an incredible man, loved Jesus, just a great man to kind of pattern your life after.
Speaker 2:And then when I think of just general leadership, guys who know how to replicate leaders themselves, because they I don't know, I don't know if it's a system, I'm not sure, but the again it's pastors. You guys know me, but it's the pastors of the City Light family. You know guys like you know Gavin Johnson, chris Horuska, doug Stevens, eric Wiggum, some of those guys who really invest and replicate other leaders and as it turns out, they're doing some really good things. So I can't really break it up into one. You know, my football coach is a good dude.
Speaker 3:I could have named a bunch I'm sure you could have. We could go on an episode about this. Yeah for sure.
Speaker 2:Well, guys, that was a great, great discussion.
Speaker 3:You want me to do a quote oh yeah, so we end with a quote there I think, um, one of the ones that, um, I looked at and when I was talking about leadership and obviously we've, we've hit on this subject, we hit on it a lot in the first episode. Really, you know, as I listened to the first episode, we really did I mean listened to the first episode, we really did. I mean the leadership piece kind of came out there, which was good, because I like the idea that we spring ideas that then go into the next episode, because I think it's a natural progression to go, but, john F Kennedy, leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
Speaker 3:John F Kennedy, leadership and learning are indispensable to each other. And I think that the minute that a leader thinks that they know everything and they're not going to be a leader anymore Right, because they're stagnant, they're just going to stay. And we've all seen those people, whether we knew them personally or not, but we've all seen those people, whether it was in history, whether it's something that we've experienced in our lives, you know, in the half century that we've been on the face of this earth, Right.
Speaker 3:I mean, I think that that's a big one, and I think that if we ever stop learning, or wanting to learn, even for that matter, then you know, what we've kind of stagnated Learning and leading go together.
Speaker 2:That's great. Hang your boots up. Love it Awesome.
Speaker 1:We've probably come time to finish up. Well, wait, we should probably like you know what's coming out.
Speaker 3:You know soon here is the Super Bowl. I mean that's the. Chefs and the Eagles right.
Speaker 2:Yep Chiefs and the Eagles.
Speaker 3:You know, are you a Chiefs fan?
Speaker 2:No, not really Good.
Speaker 3:I know John's not.
Speaker 1:I'm more of a Pittsburgh Steeler fan. Yeah, you know, that's's okay, I'm fine, I was rooting for Detroit.
Speaker 3:I did laugh because I saw a meme yesterday, I think it was, which was they have those maps that says who's rooting for who across the country. So they had the Kansas City logo right over Kansas City and they had the Philadelphia logo over Philadelphia and the rest of the country was gray and the gray color was hoping for a meteor shower. It was great. I thought it was great because I don't know that. I know Kansas City fans are and Philly is too. I guess just for giggles, I'd like to see the Eagles win, just because.
Speaker 3:I don't really have a horse in the race, so I don't say too much.
Speaker 2:I kind of want to see Patrick Mahomes do something nobody else has ever done.
Speaker 1:You know I always root for the AFC, so oh, I'm rooting for Kansas. It's all right.
Speaker 3:It's okay. Nothing wrong with that.
Speaker 2:All right, guys. Well, hey, just a quick thing. If you like what you heard today, or if you like what you heard in our first episode, be sure to go to our brand new Facebook page, half Century Hangout. You can find it on Facebook. We're also on Instagram, twitter and TikTok and, if you would, if you enjoyed what you heard today, go ahead and send us a message via text. It's on all the different platforms that you're able to listen to. Shoot us an email, like and subscribe guys. Email, like and subscribe guys.
Speaker 1:so appreciate you guys. Thanks for hanging out, thank you.
