1 00:00:01,500 --> 00:00:04,440 Robert Plank: He has helped giants like Deloitte, the San 2 00:00:04,440 --> 00:00:09,240 Francisco Giants and marriages homes, build teams that don't 3 00:00:09,240 --> 00:00:13,380 just perform, they thrive. It's Larry Dodd from open playbook, 4 00:00:13,380 --> 00:00:17,460 third time guest, and he fixes what most leaders get wrong, 5 00:00:17,460 --> 00:00:21,620 which is developing people and driving lasting change. We're 6 00:00:21,620 --> 00:00:24,380 here to have a talk about it, so get that connection back to 7 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:27,980 overcome the team dysfunction, disconnection, all those things 8 00:00:27,980 --> 00:00:30,740 that are problems that can be solved. We're here on the 9 00:00:30,740 --> 00:00:34,340 marketer of the day podcast with Robert plank. We're brought to 10 00:00:34,340 --> 00:00:39,620 you by D FY podcast.com we handle your podcast back end, so 11 00:00:39,620 --> 00:00:42,640 you can focus on big conversations, and the big 12 00:00:42,640 --> 00:00:46,060 conversation we're having today is with Mr. Larry Dodd. He's had 13 00:00:46,060 --> 00:00:51,160 over 35 plus years working with executives and teams, and we're 14 00:00:51,160 --> 00:00:55,240 here to talk and revisit open playbook and go beyond just 15 00:00:55,240 --> 00:00:58,660 hitting the numbers and having this playbook driven culture and 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,980 so much more exciting team transformations you discussed, 17 00:01:01,980 --> 00:01:04,680 possibly so Mr. Larry Dodd, glad to have you back. 18 00:01:05,340 --> 00:01:07,500 Larry Dodd: Robert, thanks to have me back. It's been it's 19 00:01:07,500 --> 00:01:10,140 good to be here. I'm looking forward to catching up. 20 00:01:10,140 --> 00:01:12,720 Robert Plank: Me too. And like, one thing that impressed me 21 00:01:13,320 --> 00:01:16,500 about you earlier this year is you're the kind of guy where 22 00:01:16,500 --> 00:01:19,560 sometimes you just meet, just to just to catch up, and sometimes 23 00:01:19,560 --> 00:01:22,340 people say, Oh, I'm so busy, or what's this about? But some like 24 00:01:22,400 --> 00:01:25,460 you just you found time for me, even if it was a few minutes, 25 00:01:25,460 --> 00:01:28,580 and I'm grateful for that. And that's one of those examples 26 00:01:28,580 --> 00:01:32,000 where I took your example and I've paid it forward to others, 27 00:01:32,000 --> 00:01:34,460 and I'm sure they paid it forward to others, and that's a 28 00:01:34,520 --> 00:01:37,760 great way to live life, right? That ripple effect. And so what 29 00:01:37,880 --> 00:01:40,780 is new in your world? What currently has you're so excited, 30 00:01:40,780 --> 00:01:41,440 fired up. 31 00:01:42,340 --> 00:01:44,920 Larry Dodd: Well, I mean, the most obvious new thing is we 32 00:01:45,220 --> 00:01:49,660 relocated to the east coast, but we still work across the across 33 00:01:49,660 --> 00:01:52,840 the country. So right now, as we sit we have our first snow in 34 00:01:52,840 --> 00:01:57,880 Maine, and getting ready to buckle down for winter. But the 35 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:01,200 way that I work is either remotely or traveling. So I'm 36 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:04,200 all over the all over the US at any given moment. 37 00:02:04,919 --> 00:02:08,099 Robert Plank: Okay, so you've seen it all, and you say, Well, 38 00:02:08,099 --> 00:02:11,699 I want to live up in the remote wilderness with the snow. That's 39 00:02:11,699 --> 00:02:12,719 where your jam is. 40 00:02:13,380 --> 00:02:17,940 Larry Dodd: Yeah. Get used to all four seasons for sure. Yeah. 41 00:02:17,940 --> 00:02:20,040 Robert Plank: And, and now we can do that, right? We live in 42 00:02:20,040 --> 00:02:22,820 this amazing time where you can choose to live where you want. 43 00:02:22,820 --> 00:02:26,720 You say, I want to live in whatever country, the mountains, 44 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:29,120 the desert, the snow, whatever, you can choose where you live 45 00:02:29,120 --> 00:02:32,660 and still earn the money and make a name for yourself and 46 00:02:32,660 --> 00:02:36,980 help others and do great work. And so what is the work these 47 00:02:36,980 --> 00:02:39,920 days, I've heard little stories about what you do, but I've 48 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:44,620 never quite gotten a grasp on, like, what the the changes that 49 00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:47,560 you put forth, like, what's your job function, so to speak? 50 00:02:48,340 --> 00:02:51,280 Larry Dodd: Oh, great. A lot of what I do is executive coaching 51 00:02:51,280 --> 00:02:55,060 and developing people, but really executive coaching, in my 52 00:02:55,060 --> 00:02:57,760 mind, starts at the top of an organization and goes all the 53 00:02:57,760 --> 00:03:00,840 way down to the bottom. So I work with people top to bottom 54 00:03:01,080 --> 00:03:05,460 and and from horizontal space all the way across horizontally 55 00:03:05,760 --> 00:03:09,240 so touch all different elements of an organization. You know 56 00:03:09,240 --> 00:03:13,200 what we've what we've lost over this covid years, and what we're 57 00:03:13,200 --> 00:03:16,920 trying to regain so desperately now, is connection. We live in a 58 00:03:16,920 --> 00:03:20,720 disconnected world in almost every single respect, and it 59 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:25,700 happened suddenly. So now we're learning how to stay connected 60 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:29,000 when we're not physically connected. And it's not as easy 61 00:03:29,000 --> 00:03:29,840 as you might think. 62 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:34,160 Robert Plank: And what does that look like when we're 63 00:03:34,160 --> 00:03:38,900 disconnected? Like, are people just bored quiet, quitting, not 64 00:03:38,900 --> 00:03:42,460 staying loyal to a company? All the above, like was, what's this 65 00:03:42,580 --> 00:03:43,660 current situation? 66 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:46,360 Larry Dodd: Well, I mean, all of the, all of those things you 67 00:03:46,360 --> 00:03:49,120 described, right, are the unintended consequence, 68 00:03:49,120 --> 00:03:52,600 consequences, sometimes bad behavior, but the result of, in 69 00:03:52,600 --> 00:03:56,320 my opinion, of people not being connected, either with each 70 00:03:56,320 --> 00:04:00,300 other or with really their strengths and when what they 71 00:04:00,300 --> 00:04:02,820 really have to offer, and, more importantly, what they really 72 00:04:02,820 --> 00:04:06,480 want to offer. And we get into a lot of coaching around, what are 73 00:04:06,480 --> 00:04:09,300 those strengths look like? What's your foundation, the 74 00:04:09,300 --> 00:04:13,020 foundation that you have to work with? And a lot of times it's 75 00:04:13,020 --> 00:04:16,860 not the ones we thought it was. And so we enter jobs for all 76 00:04:16,860 --> 00:04:19,380 kinds of different reasons, and careers for all kinds of 77 00:04:19,380 --> 00:04:23,720 different reasons, not always the right reasons, not always 78 00:04:23,780 --> 00:04:27,740 the best reasons. So at open playbook, the whole methodology 79 00:04:27,740 --> 00:04:31,280 is based on the fact that we get a playbook. We have an inherent 80 00:04:31,280 --> 00:04:35,420 playbook, part of our inherent fabric of who we are. We help 81 00:04:35,420 --> 00:04:40,220 you find that. How do I know I made the bad choice early, chose 82 00:04:40,220 --> 00:04:43,900 a career that wasn't well suited for my talents and strengths, 83 00:04:44,380 --> 00:04:47,680 and worked through it, found a niche in it, but I had to work 84 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:51,940 real hard, and it was really draining for a long time. And 85 00:04:51,940 --> 00:04:54,340 out of this, though, was born open playbook, through the 86 00:04:54,340 --> 00:04:56,980 search that I did, through all the work that I did to figure 87 00:04:56,980 --> 00:05:00,960 out who this guy was, and so I developed. Up the methodology to 88 00:05:00,960 --> 00:05:04,500 help people do the same, hopefully earlier in their 89 00:05:04,500 --> 00:05:07,860 careers, but to start that whisper of, what are those 90 00:05:07,860 --> 00:05:11,940 talents? What is that innate thing, that innate path that we 91 00:05:11,940 --> 00:05:15,060 were meant to walk, and it's different for everybody, 92 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:19,200 Robert Plank: very nice. And if we discover that you know, 93 00:05:19,200 --> 00:05:23,780 nothing in life is easy, but it can possibly be easier, right? 94 00:05:23,780 --> 00:05:27,740 And we can do the hard work that gets us excited, that energizes 95 00:05:27,740 --> 00:05:32,120 us, and accomplish great things. And so I'm curious about 96 00:05:32,240 --> 00:05:35,360 recently, what kind of transformation you know applied, 97 00:05:35,360 --> 00:05:39,380 because I am having flashbacks about, there's the the three 98 00:05:39,380 --> 00:05:42,700 playbooks, right? There's the there's the one that I can't 99 00:05:42,700 --> 00:05:45,760 remember exactly. There's like, you build for yourself and pass 100 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:48,460 it on to others and something else. So can you, like, tell us 101 00:05:48,460 --> 00:05:51,340 about that, and what's, what kind of change Have you seen 102 00:05:51,340 --> 00:05:53,740 happen recently? Yeah, so let's, 103 00:05:54,760 --> 00:05:57,400 Larry Dodd: let's talk about the playbooks, right? The first 104 00:05:57,400 --> 00:06:00,300 playbook we start with is the playbook you're given. We just 105 00:06:00,300 --> 00:06:03,240 talked about that a little bit, right? We all have a playbook, 106 00:06:03,540 --> 00:06:06,960 right? It's the fabric of who we are, and we use the Clifton 107 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:10,500 Strengths Assessment to help us understand how that comes 108 00:06:10,500 --> 00:06:14,340 together and start to interpret that playbook. But we go even 109 00:06:14,340 --> 00:06:17,400 deeper than that. So it's not just in terms of an assessment 110 00:06:17,400 --> 00:06:20,900 and what it tells us, but it's like, what, what are all of our 111 00:06:20,900 --> 00:06:23,900 experiences? What are all of the experiences we have in the work 112 00:06:23,900 --> 00:06:28,160 life? And using encouragement, I can help draw that out of people 113 00:06:28,400 --> 00:06:31,460 in a way that they start to become confident in what they're 114 00:06:31,460 --> 00:06:34,100 doing. They start to become confident in this whisper in the 115 00:06:34,100 --> 00:06:38,120 back of their mind that says, Wow, maybe I can be a manager, 116 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,980 maybe I can be an effective leader. Maybe I can contribute 117 00:06:41,980 --> 00:06:44,380 even more as an individual contributor, that's at the 118 00:06:44,380 --> 00:06:48,160 organizational level. But the the big wins, right? The big 119 00:06:48,160 --> 00:06:51,640 wins are when somebody says, Wow, maybe there's an even 120 00:06:51,640 --> 00:06:54,400 greater path for me to follow that's completely different from 121 00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:58,960 what I'm doing. And that's why I'm so frustrated, so that that 122 00:06:58,960 --> 00:07:02,040 comes into play if we don't have that foundation, right? We're 123 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:05,280 starting from a place that's awful hard to teach other people 124 00:07:05,400 --> 00:07:08,820 to be more effective. So that's the first playbook, the playbook 125 00:07:08,820 --> 00:07:12,120 you're given. The second playbook is the playbook you 126 00:07:12,120 --> 00:07:16,680 develop right. Now, picture this, if you had a house, a home 127 00:07:16,980 --> 00:07:20,840 that was built on a hill, right? But you put a foundation under 128 00:07:20,840 --> 00:07:24,920 that that was meant for the desert, flat and Sandy. Now, how 129 00:07:24,920 --> 00:07:28,400 effective is that house or home going to be over the long 130 00:07:28,400 --> 00:07:32,960 period? Not very right, because it wasn't built for that. That's 131 00:07:32,960 --> 00:07:36,380 exactly what we try to do when we say, Oh, I'll be an 132 00:07:36,380 --> 00:07:40,240 accountant, my great idea, because I can make a good 133 00:07:40,240 --> 00:07:43,300 living. Nothing wrong with that. Nothing wrong with that at all. 134 00:07:43,960 --> 00:07:49,000 But the question never comes comes up is, how draining will 135 00:07:49,000 --> 00:07:53,500 it be? How tired will it make you? How hard will you have to 136 00:07:53,500 --> 00:07:58,660 fight just to play even? And is there a better, more effective 137 00:07:58,660 --> 00:08:02,040 way? And when you understand that foundation that you have, 138 00:08:02,460 --> 00:08:04,860 and you can see when you look in the mirror and you see that 139 00:08:04,860 --> 00:08:07,440 person looks back at you, and you understand that person 140 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:10,440 better, you're going to understand other people better. 141 00:08:11,040 --> 00:08:14,640 So just like the house on the hillside needs a foundation of 142 00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:19,740 strength for a house on a hill, we are more effective when we 143 00:08:19,740 --> 00:08:22,400 understand those unique strengths that we have to offer. 144 00:08:23,300 --> 00:08:25,820 So that's the first playbook. The second playbook is the 145 00:08:25,820 --> 00:08:31,160 playbook you develop we apply off of that foundation, insight 146 00:08:31,160 --> 00:08:34,580 into into developing better playbooks and in a corporate 147 00:08:34,580 --> 00:08:38,120 environment, for building teams that play to their strengths, 148 00:08:38,780 --> 00:08:43,300 for for seeing people and finding people who have no idea 149 00:08:43,300 --> 00:08:45,940 what they can do, or maybe they think they can do it, but 150 00:08:45,940 --> 00:08:49,120 they're not sure. And as we build those teams and put those 151 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:53,080 playbooks together, now focus on people's strengths, we build 152 00:08:53,080 --> 00:08:55,540 more effective teams. More effective teams are more 153 00:08:55,540 --> 00:09:00,480 rewarding. More rewarding teams produce more and they're more 154 00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,660 engaged. Big buzzword for Gallup right? Gallup talks about 155 00:09:03,660 --> 00:09:07,020 engagement all the time. There's a reason it's a single most 156 00:09:07,020 --> 00:09:11,760 important thing we have when people are more engaged to 157 00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:15,660 produce better results. Organizations and teams win, and 158 00:09:15,660 --> 00:09:19,800 business is a competitive environment. But the other thing 159 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:29,180 is, it keeps people connected to each other, to themselves and to 160 00:09:29,180 --> 00:09:31,640 the organizations they serve, because they've invested them, 161 00:09:32,060 --> 00:09:34,940 they've helped them to develop them into something more than 162 00:09:34,940 --> 00:09:37,640 they thought they could be. How cool is that I have the best job 163 00:09:37,640 --> 00:09:41,560 in the world, right? Right? So, so, so that's the second 164 00:09:41,560 --> 00:09:44,380 playbook, right? Are the playbooks we develop? We develop 165 00:09:44,380 --> 00:09:49,480 more effective playbooks. The third, and I think one of the 166 00:09:49,480 --> 00:09:53,740 most important, is the playbook we give away. After we've done 167 00:09:53,740 --> 00:09:58,480 this work, the task is to give it away, your most effective 168 00:09:58,480 --> 00:10:01,860 leaders, your most effective. Mentors are the ones that kind 169 00:10:01,860 --> 00:10:05,700 of look inside your soul, right, and then they challenge you, and 170 00:10:05,700 --> 00:10:10,020 they make you excited about doing the hard things, like we 171 00:10:10,080 --> 00:10:13,800 talked about earlier. Get by giving their playbooks away, not 172 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,260 just where they won, not just where they hit the home runs, 173 00:10:16,620 --> 00:10:20,720 but where they struggle, where they fought, where it was hard, 174 00:10:21,260 --> 00:10:24,920 maybe they have a setback, maybe a big setback. And so when you 175 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,500 start to become that humble leader who can give their 176 00:10:27,500 --> 00:10:30,980 playbook back, give it to other people, those other people are 177 00:10:30,980 --> 00:10:33,380 going to become stronger and more connected to you, and you 178 00:10:33,380 --> 00:10:37,580 start to see the organizational fabric tighten. It tightens 179 00:10:37,580 --> 00:10:41,740 because people are connected to people across the board, even if 180 00:10:41,740 --> 00:10:43,060 they don't go to the same office. 181 00:10:44,140 --> 00:10:47,140 Robert Plank: Very cool. And as we're talking about some of 182 00:10:47,140 --> 00:10:49,300 these things like the open playbook and the strengths 183 00:10:49,300 --> 00:10:54,160 finder, for some reason, I'm sensing this undercurrent of the 184 00:10:54,160 --> 00:10:57,400 imposter syndrome, where maybe if someone has this feeling, 185 00:10:57,400 --> 00:11:00,600 well, maybe you are an imposter. Maybe you're in the wrong role 186 00:11:00,600 --> 00:11:04,080 right now, and it and if you take the strengths finder, you 187 00:11:04,080 --> 00:11:06,960 get the data. It says, hey, well, you're just you're working 188 00:11:06,960 --> 00:11:10,020 yourself too hard, because this is not suited for you versus if 189 00:11:10,020 --> 00:11:15,240 someone is maybe meant to be a manager or leader, but they're 190 00:11:15,240 --> 00:11:17,700 just, like, doubting themselves. It's like, hey, look, you have 191 00:11:17,700 --> 00:11:20,600 the test results, you have the data, you have the mentors 192 00:11:20,600 --> 00:11:23,360 around you to, kind of like, pull you up and overcome 193 00:11:23,360 --> 00:11:27,080 whatever that that lack of confidence is, and go forth and 194 00:11:27,080 --> 00:11:30,680 do it. And so we're living in this really weird time, aren't 195 00:11:30,680 --> 00:11:34,160 we, where there's the remote work, but there's also the AI 196 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,760 and and that can be, there's all these tools that can get go one 197 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,160 way or the other, can't they? And I sometimes geek out with 198 00:11:40,160 --> 00:11:44,380 the AI because I can put in my, like, Colby assessment and my 199 00:11:44,380 --> 00:11:47,260 Myers Briggs, and I can, like, find out more things about 200 00:11:47,260 --> 00:11:50,800 myself, and I can only imagine with some of these tests or 201 00:11:50,800 --> 00:11:54,520 these scores, or how, how someone can, like, get this 202 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,520 deeper understanding of themselves, or how to be better 203 00:11:57,520 --> 00:12:00,040 in their team. But like, what have you seen? What are the 204 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:03,300 innovations in AI last couple of years that kind of make 205 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,020 Larry Dodd: your function better. Well, it makes it makes 206 00:12:07,020 --> 00:12:10,500 information available faster, doesn't it? So the information 207 00:12:10,500 --> 00:12:12,960 comes to us faster, but here's the one thing it can never 208 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,440 replace. It's the critical thinking that we bring into 209 00:12:16,680 --> 00:12:19,260 whatever scenario we're in, right? So we get this 210 00:12:19,260 --> 00:12:22,220 information faster, but we got to think about it. What is it 211 00:12:22,220 --> 00:12:25,520 telling us? What do we do with it? Who do we use it with? How 212 00:12:25,520 --> 00:12:29,720 do we make us better for it? Right, in developing people, 213 00:12:29,780 --> 00:12:33,260 it's we're not like computers, and we never will be. We just 214 00:12:33,260 --> 00:12:37,880 aren't. So you can developing people. Part of it, yeah, is we 215 00:12:37,880 --> 00:12:40,960 can do this online. We can get all this information online. 216 00:12:41,320 --> 00:12:47,500 Nothing replaces connection. So so my world, I connect with 217 00:12:47,500 --> 00:12:52,000 people, I spend time with people, and we talk about things 218 00:12:52,060 --> 00:12:55,180 and goals, and we start from square one, wherever that might 219 00:12:55,180 --> 00:12:59,020 be for the person. And cliftonstrengths either informs 220 00:12:59,020 --> 00:13:03,480 and reinforces or it shed some light on maybe a different path, 221 00:13:03,480 --> 00:13:07,680 or maybe anywhere in between, right? My job is to sit down and 222 00:13:07,680 --> 00:13:11,460 help them travel the path so they don't do it alone, right? 223 00:13:11,460 --> 00:13:17,820 Because nothing replaces a guide to take you through that. And so 224 00:13:17,820 --> 00:13:21,020 frequently, one of the frequent phrases I use a lot is I'm going 225 00:13:21,020 --> 00:13:25,640 to challenge your thinking on that, right? What that does is, 226 00:13:25,640 --> 00:13:29,480 it's a safe place where people step back and say, Wow, he's not 227 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:33,560 challenging me. He's challenging my thinking. Let me rethink 228 00:13:33,560 --> 00:13:37,100 that. Well, what does that do? It starts to open us up like a 229 00:13:37,100 --> 00:13:40,540 book, right? And not only do we see it on a piece of paper, not 230 00:13:40,540 --> 00:13:44,140 only do we have it come faster, but we start to look inside, 231 00:13:44,140 --> 00:13:49,720 right? So Carl Young had one of my favorite quotes, and he says, 232 00:13:50,080 --> 00:13:55,360 He who looks outside dreams, he who looks inside, awakes, 233 00:13:55,720 --> 00:14:00,900 awakens, right? So, but it takes time, and it's hard to do alone. 234 00:14:01,140 --> 00:14:06,120 Nothing replaces people connecting nothing. And so a 235 00:14:06,120 --> 00:14:08,940 typical day for me could be anywhere from working with 236 00:14:08,940 --> 00:14:12,120 someone who's just entered an organization to somebody who's 237 00:14:12,120 --> 00:14:15,240 jumping to a manager to somebody who's trying to go from manager 238 00:14:15,240 --> 00:14:21,740 to leader. Right? All of those have different challenges, but 239 00:14:21,740 --> 00:14:27,620 they have one thing in common. They're all humans, and they all 240 00:14:27,620 --> 00:14:30,440 have the same worries, and we all worry about the same things. 241 00:14:30,860 --> 00:14:35,780 And so by building that muscle of of knowledge, that muscle of 242 00:14:36,080 --> 00:14:41,200 confidence, we can now express those with better outcomes, 243 00:14:42,520 --> 00:14:45,520 Robert Plank: and it seems like there's a lot here of like, re 244 00:14:45,520 --> 00:14:48,820 examining and challenging assumptions and just going back 245 00:14:48,820 --> 00:14:51,460 to basics, right? That it doesn't have to be so 246 00:14:51,460 --> 00:14:55,240 complicated. If there's the this lack of connection, or if 247 00:14:55,240 --> 00:14:59,680 there's the frustration, like, ask yourself, why? And so when 248 00:14:59,680 --> 00:15:02,940 you. Have been sitting down with some of these people. Have you 249 00:15:02,940 --> 00:15:07,020 noticed any patterns? Is there anything that you think is worth 250 00:15:07,020 --> 00:15:11,160 noting, as far as where people are struggling, or maybe what 251 00:15:11,580 --> 00:15:14,700 the incorrect assumptions have been from that, like the when 252 00:15:14,700 --> 00:15:15,780 you challenge their thinking? 253 00:15:17,220 --> 00:15:20,300 Larry Dodd: Well, I mean, probably the biggest one that I 254 00:15:20,480 --> 00:15:25,160 that I think about, that I come across, is, is where somebody 255 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:29,000 thinks I can't do something because somebody told them they 256 00:15:29,000 --> 00:15:33,260 can't do it, or because they tried it once and got a bad 257 00:15:33,260 --> 00:15:40,300 experience, or it could never happen to me, right? I am my big 258 00:15:40,300 --> 00:15:43,780 break in my career that came with the San Francisco Giants 259 00:15:43,780 --> 00:15:46,060 when they were acquired by the McGowan group. And we're going 260 00:15:46,060 --> 00:15:50,500 back a few years on this one. But I sat, I I had an interview 261 00:15:50,500 --> 00:15:55,780 in one day, and at the end of that interview, one day, biggest 262 00:15:55,780 --> 00:16:00,460 job in the San Francisco Bay Area, the CFO walks in, claps 263 00:16:00,460 --> 00:16:04,620 his hands, puts on table, says, Larry, some things happen only 264 00:16:04,620 --> 00:16:08,880 once in life. This is one of them. I have no idea what he 265 00:16:08,880 --> 00:16:11,700 said after that, but I ended up as a controller the giants as a 266 00:16:11,700 --> 00:16:14,760 result. So that's pretty good thing. But the point is, is it 267 00:16:14,760 --> 00:16:19,140 happens in a flash, right? And if I if I would have been afraid 268 00:16:19,140 --> 00:16:22,040 of failing, or if I would have thought it could never happen to 269 00:16:22,040 --> 00:16:25,460 me, guess what? I would have failed. It would never happen to 270 00:16:25,580 --> 00:16:29,600 me, right? It was all about the confidence of knowing what you 271 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:34,880 have to offer and then offering not to get something back, to 272 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:35,720 give something more. 273 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:40,540 Robert Plank: So it seems like to overcome this confidence 274 00:16:40,540 --> 00:16:43,960 problem, there's the repetition, there's preparation, there's 275 00:16:43,960 --> 00:16:47,200 being having that abundance mindset of knowing, knowing that 276 00:16:47,200 --> 00:16:50,500 there will be other opportunities. But what would 277 00:16:50,500 --> 00:16:53,680 you say, like, when, if someone has this confidence problem, if 278 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:56,980 they're maybe self sabotaging in these ways, do you have any 279 00:16:56,980 --> 00:17:01,440 secrets or any advice to develop one's confidence. 280 00:17:02,400 --> 00:17:04,380 Larry Dodd: Well, the first thing is to start with Clifton 281 00:17:04,380 --> 00:17:07,380 Strengths, right? The entire instrument is based upon what 282 00:17:07,380 --> 00:17:10,140 inherent talents we have. And then how can we turn those 283 00:17:10,140 --> 00:17:13,440 talents into strengths? And everybody has all of them. 284 00:17:13,500 --> 00:17:17,820 They're just in a different order. But if we never look, we 285 00:17:17,820 --> 00:17:21,560 never have a tool or a lens to understand what we have or what 286 00:17:21,560 --> 00:17:24,140 we're supposed to do with it, right? So that's a starting 287 00:17:24,140 --> 00:17:26,780 point that's available online. It's very affordable way to do 288 00:17:26,780 --> 00:17:32,720 it. Don't try to do it alone. Don't be a hero. So a lot of 289 00:17:32,720 --> 00:17:35,240 times we think that, particularly, you know, we think 290 00:17:35,240 --> 00:17:39,320 we have to do it alone. We have to walk this path alone. And if 291 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,220 we can't do it alone, there's something wrong with this. Well, 292 00:17:42,220 --> 00:17:46,840 we're back to disconnection. Then, right? And, and that's the 293 00:17:46,840 --> 00:17:51,580 worst one, because there are so many people in this, in our in 294 00:17:51,580 --> 00:17:55,360 our environments, that want to help us, as long if we just ask, 295 00:17:55,360 --> 00:17:59,380 or we just pay attention and we just do the work, right? Yeah. 296 00:17:59,380 --> 00:18:01,680 As you do the work, you build the confidence. As you build the 297 00:18:01,680 --> 00:18:04,020 confidence you take the risk. As you take the risk, you get the 298 00:18:04,020 --> 00:18:07,680 result good or bad. And then you go back and you repeat the cycle 299 00:18:07,680 --> 00:18:12,240 over and over and over again. And then before you know it, you 300 00:18:12,240 --> 00:18:14,820 got them. Before you know you have somebody asking you, How 301 00:18:14,820 --> 00:18:15,720 heck did you get there? 302 00:18:17,040 --> 00:18:19,320 Robert Plank: Well, because you simplified and you got out of 303 00:18:19,320 --> 00:18:20,400 your own way. It seems 304 00:18:21,000 --> 00:18:23,600 Larry Dodd: it's all about it. It simplifies. The perfect word, 305 00:18:23,600 --> 00:18:28,340 right? There's nothing. There's nothing difficult about this. 306 00:18:28,400 --> 00:18:32,540 It's just not an easy thing to do, right? Because we're taught, 307 00:18:33,020 --> 00:18:39,380 we're taught that by society, that if, if we are too 308 00:18:39,380 --> 00:18:44,320 assertive, if we if we chase too much, then maybe we won't be 309 00:18:44,380 --> 00:18:49,120 humble enough, right? Yeah. So we, we take our stories and we 310 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:53,260 just stuff them, stories where we win, stories where we lose, 311 00:18:53,260 --> 00:18:56,140 stories where we overcome it and we downplay them because we 312 00:18:56,140 --> 00:18:58,660 think it's humble. Now I'm going to tell you it's not humble, 313 00:18:59,320 --> 00:19:02,760 because the reason people get those stories is to help 314 00:19:02,760 --> 00:19:05,520 somebody else further back on the path wherever they might be 315 00:19:06,660 --> 00:19:09,240 that's wondering right now how you got where you were at. And 316 00:19:09,300 --> 00:19:11,940 it doesn't matter where you're at, there's somebody right now 317 00:19:11,940 --> 00:19:15,840 that's doing that exact thing. And so when you start to take 318 00:19:15,840 --> 00:19:20,420 the focus off of yourself and on how you can help other people, 319 00:19:20,420 --> 00:19:22,640 how you can build other people, how you can build effective 320 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:27,560 teams. You find your teams reflect that, and you find your 321 00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:30,980 leaders that you select from the team. When they start to see 322 00:19:30,980 --> 00:19:36,920 your playbook that's humble, authentic, but also shared, they 323 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,740 stand up, and they stand up in a way you could never imagine, 324 00:19:41,240 --> 00:19:43,960 Robert Plank: a great way to live serving others. And it has 325 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:48,400 me curious about what have you been developing these last few 326 00:19:48,400 --> 00:19:52,480 months? Like, as far as your your attitude, your skills, 327 00:19:52,540 --> 00:19:55,480 like, Where have you been struggling or improving yourself 328 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:56,140 as a person? 329 00:19:56,920 --> 00:20:01,372 Larry Dodd: Me, personally? Yeah. You personally? Yeah. So I 330 00:20:01,372 --> 00:20:07,312 have, I have a discipline I do every morning, I sit down, and I 331 00:20:07,372 --> 00:20:12,472 have a set series of books that I read, and one of those books 332 00:20:12,532 --> 00:20:16,432 is a book of meditations, and it's centered on stoicism. It's 333 00:20:16,432 --> 00:20:23,780 by a guy named holiday and what's what's interesting about 334 00:20:23,780 --> 00:20:26,180 this is there's things I can take from it that I can apply 335 00:20:26,180 --> 00:20:30,920 right now. What can I control? And what can I not control? And 336 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:35,000 let go of the things I can't control and grab a hold of the 337 00:20:35,000 --> 00:20:38,180 things I can control. And the thing is that most of us control 338 00:20:38,180 --> 00:20:41,320 more things than we realize, yet we hang on to more things that 339 00:20:41,320 --> 00:20:45,160 we can't control, right? So it becomes an exercise in futility. 340 00:20:45,160 --> 00:20:48,280 There's always a next step that we can make. It's not always a 341 00:20:48,280 --> 00:20:54,100 home run. So I've run, I've run six marathons in my life. That's 342 00:20:54,100 --> 00:20:56,260 a big achievement for me. I never thought I could do one, 343 00:20:56,980 --> 00:21:01,440 and they were all with the same train, train, train, one foot 344 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:06,000 after the another for 26.2 miles. And on the way out, you 345 00:21:06,000 --> 00:21:08,940 connect with somebody. You encourage them. You start to 346 00:21:09,120 --> 00:21:12,300 start to find their strengths. Because as you get into that 347 00:21:12,300 --> 00:21:15,960 back 13, you're going to want to have somebody that connects with 348 00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,860 you, right? So you build relationships as you run. And no 349 00:21:19,860 --> 00:21:21,740 different than life, no different than life, no 350 00:21:21,740 --> 00:21:24,680 different than business, no different than anything, right? 351 00:21:24,980 --> 00:21:28,640 But when we try to go it alone, or when we try to go it and it 352 00:21:28,640 --> 00:21:31,940 just benefits us, doesn't usually hold up. 353 00:21:34,160 --> 00:21:37,400 Robert Plank: So you're saying rituals and training. But above 354 00:21:37,400 --> 00:21:40,900 all, have that, that bigger purpose that benefits others and 355 00:21:40,900 --> 00:21:44,080 not just yourself and and that helps to get you through Well, 356 00:21:44,080 --> 00:21:47,980 we have jumped around in a lot of interesting topics here, 357 00:21:47,980 --> 00:21:51,760 haven't we, but you're the focus of my attention right now, Mr. 358 00:21:51,760 --> 00:21:54,040 Larry Dodd, and I want to make sure that in these final 359 00:21:54,040 --> 00:21:56,800 minutes, we cover what's important to you. So do you 360 00:21:56,800 --> 00:22:00,400 think there might be a missing question in this conversation? 361 00:22:00,400 --> 00:22:03,180 Is there something I should be asking you? I just don't know 362 00:22:03,180 --> 00:22:03,660 what to ask 363 00:22:05,160 --> 00:22:09,780 Larry Dodd: you, what's your why, what's your why, what's 364 00:22:09,780 --> 00:22:16,440 your why, what's your why? My dad is my hero and and what he 365 00:22:16,440 --> 00:22:22,040 taught me was that we can accomplish anything if we really 366 00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,800 set our mind to it. And he went through a series of setbacks in 367 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,340 his life where he was really challenged and overcome those 368 00:22:28,340 --> 00:22:33,920 challenges, and showed me how to do so with dignity and grace and 369 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:39,620 honor, and that, like most people at 66 I've had challenges 370 00:22:39,620 --> 00:22:44,140 myself, and I've had to overcome those, those challenges, and 371 00:22:44,140 --> 00:22:48,280 each time, it's taken me further. So we have a setback. 372 00:22:49,180 --> 00:22:53,320 Sometimes it's tempting to give up, to let it crush us, right? 373 00:22:53,920 --> 00:22:58,900 And that's the last thing we should do right if we're doing 374 00:22:58,900 --> 00:23:01,980 our work all the time, building our strength all the time, that 375 00:23:01,980 --> 00:23:06,540 setback is only a step that's going to take us further up, and 376 00:23:06,540 --> 00:23:10,020 then we set back and further up. So most people think that, like, 377 00:23:10,020 --> 00:23:17,160 if you look a right hand angle, success is like this, right? So 378 00:23:17,160 --> 00:23:20,220 we think it's just a line that goes up, and there's nothing 379 00:23:20,220 --> 00:23:27,500 further from the truth, success goes like this, right? Setbacks 380 00:23:27,500 --> 00:23:32,120 and breakthroughs and so what I look for are setbacks. Because 381 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:36,140 on setbacks, we're humble. On setbacks, we rethink things. On 382 00:23:36,140 --> 00:23:39,140 setbacks, we search for strength that we might not know we have 383 00:23:39,800 --> 00:23:43,540 if there's only somebody there to help us do that. And when we 384 00:23:43,540 --> 00:23:46,780 have that setback, and we come back from that, we typically are 385 00:23:46,780 --> 00:23:50,800 stronger, more confident and more able to do that for other 386 00:23:50,800 --> 00:23:53,380 people, in a corporate environment for teams and 387 00:23:53,440 --> 00:23:56,800 corporate environment for leaders, and in your personal 388 00:23:56,800 --> 00:24:00,660 life, which is infinitely more important for the people who 389 00:24:00,660 --> 00:24:04,560 depend upon you when they stumble, that's my 390 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:08,160 Robert Plank: very good setbacks and breakthroughs. And you have 391 00:24:08,160 --> 00:24:11,280 to imagine that as you go through life like if you you 392 00:24:11,280 --> 00:24:13,440 don't learn the lesson, you repeat it. But if you do learn 393 00:24:13,440 --> 00:24:17,940 the lesson, then when that similar problem presents itself 394 00:24:17,940 --> 00:24:20,600 again, you say, Oh, I've seen this before. It's not as bad as 395 00:24:20,600 --> 00:24:23,240 I thought it was the first time. There's still problems to be 396 00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:26,480 solved, but you've seen it again and again, and you know how to 397 00:24:26,660 --> 00:24:29,720 solve the problem, and it's encouraging and inspiring in our 398 00:24:29,720 --> 00:24:32,960 business and in our personal life. And so if someone wants to 399 00:24:33,680 --> 00:24:37,220 get in contact with you and find out more about what you do with 400 00:24:37,220 --> 00:24:40,780 the strengths finder and the open playbook, etc, who is the 401 00:24:40,780 --> 00:24:44,200 kind of person that you wish would find you, and if they are, 402 00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:44,980 where should they go? 403 00:24:46,360 --> 00:24:49,600 Larry Dodd: I think the ideal person is somebody who's not 404 00:24:49,600 --> 00:24:53,260 satisfied with average ideal organization is one that's 405 00:24:53,260 --> 00:24:58,480 playing to be the best, but the best in the right way, building 406 00:24:58,480 --> 00:25:04,200 people. Um. Hmm, the way to find me is a www, dot open, hyphen 407 00:25:04,260 --> 00:25:14,040 playbook.com, and my phone number is 207-881-3776, but, but 408 00:25:14,700 --> 00:25:17,580 do you want more? Do you want more from your life? Do you want 409 00:25:17,580 --> 00:25:21,080 more from your job? Do you want do you feel like there's 410 00:25:21,080 --> 00:25:25,160 something missing that you really are meant to achieve? If 411 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,340 only you looked at it a little bit different? I think there's 412 00:25:28,340 --> 00:25:30,680 more people that struggle with that. I know I certainly did 413 00:25:32,480 --> 00:25:35,060 Robert Plank: very good. So if you were that kind of person who 414 00:25:35,180 --> 00:25:38,960 you know there's more, there's potential, you can be above 415 00:25:38,960 --> 00:25:42,280 average rather than average, then it's time to check out that 416 00:25:42,280 --> 00:25:46,300 website that's open dash playbook.com and it's all about 417 00:25:46,300 --> 00:25:50,500 driving successful strategic change through strengths based 418 00:25:50,500 --> 00:25:54,400 leadership team building and execution. It's Larry Dodd, the 419 00:25:54,400 --> 00:25:58,060 creator of open playbook, who created it to help you take 420 00:25:58,060 --> 00:26:02,640 control of your career and to develop more effective winning 421 00:26:02,640 --> 00:26:06,480 teams. It's open playbook that shows you how to drive 422 00:26:06,480 --> 00:26:09,240 successful change, and that phone number you mentioned 423 00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:17,040 there, Mr. Larry, is 207-881-3776, so there's no harm 424 00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,860 in sending a text, picking up the phone, having a quick call 425 00:26:19,860 --> 00:26:23,180 and scheduling a quick meeting and find out about the open 426 00:26:23,180 --> 00:26:26,840 playbook people process and purpose. There's the playbook 427 00:26:26,840 --> 00:26:29,480 that you're given, the playbook that you develop, and the 428 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:34,520 playbook that you give away, and it can be better configured if 429 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:37,460 you're stuck in this kind of rut we've been mentioning, where you 430 00:26:37,460 --> 00:26:40,900 obsess about the things that you can't control, you ignore the 431 00:26:40,900 --> 00:26:43,840 things that you do control. Sometimes you need a better 432 00:26:43,960 --> 00:26:47,140 strategy, better system and people on your site, on your 433 00:26:47,140 --> 00:26:50,560 team, to show you the better way. Well, Mr. Larry Dodd can 434 00:26:50,560 --> 00:26:53,500 and should be that person for you. That's open dash 435 00:26:53,500 --> 00:26:57,340 playbook.com. Go there if you are sick and tired of being sick 436 00:26:57,340 --> 00:27:00,420 and tired and average is over with, and it's time for greater 437 00:27:00,420 --> 00:27:04,380 adventures. So as we're headed to open dash playbook.com, Mr. 438 00:27:04,380 --> 00:27:07,740 Larry, it's time for the scary part of the podcast where I 439 00:27:07,740 --> 00:27:10,980 challenge you, I stump you, put you on the spot by asking you 440 00:27:10,980 --> 00:27:14,640 about a fun or interesting quote or lesson that has served you. 441 00:27:14,640 --> 00:27:17,580 So what comes to mind as far as a fun or interesting quote or 442 00:27:17,580 --> 00:27:18,000 lesson? 443 00:27:19,680 --> 00:27:26,360 Larry Dodd: Um, well, fun. A fun quote is from Mark Twain, is 444 00:27:26,780 --> 00:27:29,360 there are two days that are the most important days in your 445 00:27:29,360 --> 00:27:33,440 life, the day you were born, and then the day you find out why. 446 00:27:34,580 --> 00:27:36,140 So let's take a look and find out why. 447 00:27:37,340 --> 00:27:39,920 Robert Plank: Very nice. It's up to you find out the answer to 448 00:27:39,920 --> 00:27:43,360 that question, and you can begin at open dash playbook.com. 449 00:27:44,140 --> 00:27:51,280 207-881-3776, Mr. Larry Dodd, it's always inspiring and a lot 450 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:53,920 of fun having you and educational. So thanks for being 451 00:27:53,920 --> 00:27:54,700 here once again. 452 00:27:55,300 --> 00:27:58,540 Unknown: All right, Robert, thanks for having me. Hey.