In this episode, David sits down with Meridith Elliott Powell, Award-Winning Author, Keynote Speaker, and Business Strategist, to discuss how to turn uncertainty into a competitive advantage.
Buy David’s NEWEST Book “Trusted Leader”: https://amzn.to/3luyqf1
Meridith’s Bio:
Voted one of the Top 15 Business Growth Experts to watch by Currency Fair, Meridith Elliott Powell is an award-winning author, keynote speaker and business strategist. With a background in corporate sales and leadership, her career expands over several industries including banking, healthcare and finance. Meridith worked her way up from an entry-level position to earn her seat at the C-Suite table. She is Certified Speaking Professional, a designation held by less than twelve percent of professional speakers, and a member of the prestigious Forbes Coaching Council.
She has a cutting-edge message, rooted in real-life examples and real-world knowledge. She is the author of four books, including “Winning In The Trust & Value Economy” (a finalist in the USA Best Book Awards) and her latest “Own It: Redefining Responsibility – Stories of Power, Freedom & Purpose” about how to build cultures the inspire ownership at every level to create profits at every turn. Meridith writes, speaks and is passionate about helping her clients understand everything they need to know about how to make this economy start working for them.
High energy and highly interactive, Meridith’s keynote will help leaders and business owners learn the new rules of success today. Including how today’s economy has changed, how that has changed today’s customers and employees, and specifically how that impacts your business.
In her highly engaging keynote-speaking sessions, Meridith shows her audiences how to attract more business, retain top talent, and leap into position to win in this new economy. No walking on coals, no breaking boards, just real-life strategies you can put into place first thing Monday morning.
Meridith’s Links:
Website: https://meridithelliottpowell.com/
“Thrive” by Meridith Elliott Powell: https://amzn.to/3lIcyfZ
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/meridithelliottpowell/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/meridithelliottpowell/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/meridithpowell?lang=en
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/powellmeridithelliott/?hl=en
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/meridithepowell
Key Quotes:
1. “We’re always waiting for the ball to drop.”
2. “When obstacles get in front of you, if you can’t see beyond the obstacle, you get stuck.”
3. “It’s a myth that there isn’t opportunity out there. There’s so much opportunity.”
4. “In an uncertain marketplace business grows from the inside out.”
5. “You can’t attract new business until you understand the current problems your existing customers have.”
6. “We need to stop seeing responsibility as a negative and see it for the gift that it is.”
7. “Responsibility is a gift. It’s not a burden.”
8. “Build your network. It will change your life.”
9. “Confidence is a humble belief in yourself.”
10. “Confidence is built through progress not through the end result.”
11. “Who you surround yourself with is everything.”
12. “You’ve got to practice what you preach.”
13. “You give people education you can change their lives.”
Links Mentioned In The Episode:
“Thrive” by Meridith Elliott Powell: https://amzn.to/3lIcyfZ
“Own It” by Meridith Elliott Powell: https://amzn.to/3lLzo6N
“Who Comes Next?” by Meridith Elliott Powell and Mary C. Kelly PhD: https://amzn.to/3IyxfFe
“The Best Sales Book Ever” by Meridith Elliott Powell and Connie Podesta: https://amzn.to/3dD8glD
“The Confidence Plan” by Meridith Elliott Powell: https://bit.ly/confidenceplan
“I Love Capitalism!” by Ken Langone: https://amzn.to/304JqrM
Buy David’s NEWEST Book “Trusted Leader”: https://amzn.to/3luyqf1
David’s Links:
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david_horsager: Welcome to the Trusted Leader Show. It’s David Horsager and I am thrilled
david_horsager: to have with us today, Meridith Elliott Powell, Thank you for being with us
meridith_elliott_powell: I’m excited to be. You’re ready for this conversation.
david_horsager: All right. Well me, you know, you’ve been an expert to so many. I was even
david_horsager: reading your top fifteen business growth expert. You are? I know you’re an
david_horsager: award winning author. I know your a word winning speaker. I know some of the
david_horsager: people you can have been seen on N B C. and you’ve got clients that are just
david_horsager: amazing, but let’s go back a little bit. Wh. Where did some of this come
david_horsager: from? And then I’m excited to jump into a specially your newest book, But
david_horsager: you know, tell us a little bit about you that we don’t know.
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, so a little bit about my journey. You know, I’ve had kind of
meridith_elliott_powell: a crazy career. A lot of people get out of college. know exactly
meridith_elliott_powell: what they want to do. I was not that person and my background
meridith_elliott_powell: includes travel and tourism, Uh, financial services and health
meridith_elliott_powell: care, and I never thought my career made a lot of sense That had
meridith_elliott_powell: worked in so many different industries until I was actually being
meridith_elliott_powell: interviewed one day and somebody said, Kind of walk us through your
meridith_elliott_powell: journey. And what I realzed was I enter companies when they’ going
meridith_elliott_powell: through massive disruption. I got into travel in tourism. when a
meridith_elliott_powell: hurricane had wiped out a community. I got into health care when
meridith_elliott_powell: huge cutbacks were coming from the government and I got into
meridith_elliott_powell: financial services when regulation hit, so where most people run
meridith_elliott_powell: away from uncertainty, I tend to run in to it, so I like disruption
meridith_elliott_powell: and change, and that kind of landed me where I am and helping
meridith_elliott_powell: companies really navigate those challenges
david_horsager: You know that gets us into this book and you’ve authored many books. but
david_horsager: this new book thrive strategies to turn uncertainty to competive advantage,
david_horsager: And I even talk about a formula for making uncertainty your competitive or
david_horsager: strategic strategic advantage. I think Hey people want to know right now what
david_horsager: I? I. I’ve you know, been getting blown away by volatility, uncertainty and
david_horsager: complexity and all this change, and I’m overwhelmed. You’re saying it can be
david_horsager: a strategic advantage? What do you mean?
meridith_elliott_powell: well for those exact reasons, you know, a couple years ago, long
meridith_elliott_powell: before we ever heard about Cove, that it was ever on the radar, I
meridith_elliott_powell: kind of became obsessed with uncertainty because every business
meridith_elliott_powell: leader I would talk to was. Saying the same thing, business is
meridith_elliott_powell: good, business is great. we’ having our best year on record. but O,
meridith_elliott_powell: this uncertainty like we always waiting for the ball to drop for
meridith_elliott_powell: the bottom to fall out. And I just started to think why does
meridith_elliott_powell: uncertainty and change have to be a negative, and what could happen
meridith_elliott_powell: in your organization if you could be the leader who could create a
meridith_elliott_powell: team who believed that disruption was exactly what you needed to
meridith_elliott_powell: propel and go to another level, And that kind of turned me on. I
meridith_elliott_powell: wanted to answer that question and I just started studying
meridith_elliott_powell: organizations and businesses that had been around for at least two
meridith_elliott_powell: hundred and fifty years, and from all that research I created a
meridith_elliott_powell: nine step proven formula for what it takes to navigate any level of
meridith_elliott_powell: uncertainty, whether it’s as tiny as putting in a new Crm or is as
meridith_elliott_powell: big as Uh. going through the Delta variant.
david_horsager: let’s jump into that? I mean, what are? where do we start? We’ve got this
david_horsager: uncertainty. We even have uncertainty before we even know it’s a a covet
david_horsager: right there. There’s uncertainty before we even know. There’s uh
david_horsager: uncertainty. Almost so. how do we? how do we deal that? We talk a lot about
david_horsager: building trust in the midst of change. How we do it. It’s not an easy thing,
david_horsager: but it’s critical. so where start?
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, I think it’s you know. I think it’s the same with
meridith_elliott_powell: uncertainty. It’s um. It’s It’s a fairly simple formula, but it
meridith_elliott_powell: isn’t easy. But where you need to begin is you need to begin by
meridith_elliott_powell: shifting your mindset about how you think you feel and you, what
meridith_elliott_powell: you believe uncertainty to be. Um. You know, one of the most
meridith_elliott_powell: fascinating things from doing the research was that Every leader,
meridith_elliott_powell: every company you can look down through their history and how they
meridith_elliott_powell: function today is. The leader has a very clear vision on where that
meridith_elliott_powell: business is going to be and what it iss going to contribute. Um
meridith_elliott_powell: over the next year, And that’s important because when obstacles get
meridith_elliott_powell: in front of you, If you can’t see beyond the obstacle, you get
meridith_elliott_powell: stuck, right you you? You hit that obstacle and you can’t see
meridith_elliott_powell: beyond it. One of the examples I use in the book is just quickly,
meridith_elliott_powell: Martin Luther King Junior’s I have a dream speech. I can’t imagine
meridith_elliott_powell: what it was like to try to fight for civil rights and people didn’t
meridith_elliott_powell: even know if they were going to win if they were going to get them,
meridith_elliott_powell: and they would get exhausted and they would get tired. But with
meridith_elliott_powell: that speech he painted the future. he painted what could be, and
meridith_elliott_powell: that’s what gives people motivation to keep pushing through, so I
meridith_elliott_powell: call it a relentless vision. In the book, You have to be so focused
meridith_elliott_powell: and overcommunicate so that people can see beyond the crisis at
david_horsager: So how do I? You know Th this even on it own, I’m just going to, because I
david_horsager: know how brilliant you are and how you. You can handle the toughest
david_horsager: boardrooms and you been in
david_horsager: them. So And we’re friends. So you know, let’s let’s you know. There seems
david_horsager: like learning comes in the tension sometimes
david_horsager: because you know I think about this and it’s like even last year I, I had
david_horsager: the unique opportunity to be on a call with Uh. General Mcrystal.
meridith_elliott_powell: how fascinating.
david_horsager: right, you know, two months after about the, you know, it was about May of
david_horsager: the pandemic, maybe of twenty twenty, and Um, Basically a couple of things
david_horsager: he said, number one, gone or one year visions, one year, mission statement,
david_horsager: kind of deal. as as an idea, he said, basically, um, one thing that work.
david_horsager: First of all, he said, you’re going to have to tighten up the time frame in
david_horsager: times of turbulence and massive change. You might have to just say this
david_horsager: week. Hey, everybody hears. We’re headed this week because we don’t even
david_horsager: know what next week’s going to look like or whatever. But but he also said,
david_horsager: Basically many that are listening. Remember that he really, um,
david_horsager: Co, took charge of the joint forces in Uh, when Afghanistan took a turn for
david_horsager: the worst, and and basically um, they’re having all this trouble. Can’t find
david_horsager: Osama Bin Laden Canampt, this can’t that. and basically he, he, he said,
david_horsager: Okay, we need to figure this out and he really shortened the time frame.
david_horsager: Any? I, if I’m not mistaken, what he said is instead of having these even
david_horsager: weekly or these meetings with the intelligence officials around the world,
david_horsager: Uh, so every so often he said, For the next Harever many days, twenty two
david_horsager: hundred intelligence officials are going to getting on on the phone with me
david_horsager: at oh six hundred, my time wherever he was, whether he was in Europe or D.
david_horsager: C, that day or wherever, and we’re going to get on the call for thirty
david_horsager: minutes. Anybody with new information? you’ve got to share it. We’re going
david_horsager: to make a plan for the day.
david_horsager: and they found Bin Laden and a host of other things. But he really narrowed
david_horsager: that focus because you know Th this out there a year. I don’t know what
david_horsager: that’s going to be like in a pandemic, Uh, you know, and yet I see, the The
david_horsager: dream of Martin Luther King is even bigger than a year, right, so, um, I
david_horsager: don’t know. Maybe he can give me a little.
meridith_elliott_powell: Ab, absolutely, I think that, Um, I think that absolutely, when we
meridith_elliott_powell: think about goals or accomplishments, they skinny down. they have
meridith_elliott_powell: to be narrow because we don’t know what it’s going to look like. I
meridith_elliott_powell: was just with a Ceo right before this podcast and we were talking
meridith_elliott_powell: about the fact that will the supply chain open up won’ it open up?
meridith_elliott_powell: Those can mean so many different things for his business, but let
meridith_elliott_powell: me give you an example. Just this past Saturday, I was in Anaheim,
meridith_elliott_powell: California, speaking for a fascinating business. It’s called the
meridith_elliott_powell: Oncology Institute and it’s run by this Um, a former A Wall Street
meridith_elliott_powell: banker, their CEO, and when I first talked to him I said, Help
meridith_elliott_powell: me understand what makes you unique, What makes you different, And
meridith_elliott_powell: this was what he said. He said, We’re looking to revolutionize how
meridith_elliott_powell: people get Um cancer treatment. the experience that they have, all
meridith_elliott_powell: while bringing down the cost of cancer’s treatment. Now, imagine
meridith_elliott_powell: you work for the Oncology institute. You have this massive obstacle
meridith_elliott_powell: in front of you. You’ve got to deal with regulation. You’ve got to
meridith_elliott_powell: deal with staffing issues. you’ve got to deal with insurance
meridith_elliott_powell: companies. you’ve got to deal with so much.
meridith_elliott_powell: but every day you’re reminded you are revolutionizing and changing
meridith_elliott_powell: the way that people are treated for one of the most tragic. Um, you
meridith_elliott_powell: know, tragic, you know services in in the world. you’re making a
meridith_elliott_powell: difference And that’s what pushes you through the slog going after
meridith_elliott_powell: and taking down Osama Bin Laden. I don’t know. Maybe it takes a
meridith_elliott_powell: week, Maybe it takes two years, but being reminded every day that
meridith_elliott_powell: that’s what I’m trying to accomplish. That’s what keeps you from
meridith_elliott_powell: getting stuck in the obstacle. Look, I don’t know what they did to
meridith_elliott_powell: try to break down Osama Bin Laden, but I’m going to tell you I feel
meridith_elliott_powell: really safe in saying it didn’t work A couple of times they tried
meridith_elliott_powell: and they had to pick themselves back up. They had to dust
meridith_elliott_powell: themselves back on and you have to try again. Welcome to
meridith_elliott_powell: uncertainty. That’s uncertainty. and as the leader, you have to
meridith_elliott_powell: craft that vision and you’ve got to remember and remind people why
meridith_elliott_powell: they have to keep trying.
david_horsager: You’ve got some great stories in the book and maybe this will make it real
david_horsager: for people. but
david_horsager: I think I think I’d like listeners to think of whether you’re a mom or dad,
david_horsager: leading your family
meridith_elliott_powell: Oh, completely
david_horsager: in uncertainty. Because whether you’re an entrepreneur like me, We, we just
david_horsager: had an outbreak again of somebody with with coved. We’ve had people on staff
david_horsager: that will be vaccinated, people that don’t want to be ent. We, we got these
david_horsager: challenges even for me in my small headquarters. You know
david_horsager: there’s challenges of how do you navigate and lead, even still two years
david_horsager: So maybe you know I. I just would have people whether you’re running a big
david_horsager: company like
david_horsager: some of the stories in the business or you’re running a family.
david_horsager: How can we lead in the uncertainty ahead because it’s certainly better to be
david_horsager: leading in it. Uh, so maybe let’s let’s take a little. go deeper. the
david_horsager: framework. but maybe on one of the stories can do is one that’s most
david_horsager: relevant that you could give to kind of make it sticky.
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, absolutely you know. it’s so funny that you would ask this
meridith_elliott_powell: because when I finished writing the book, I was done of sending it
meridith_elliott_powell: off to the publisher. all of a sudden, it hit me that the Great
meridith_elliott_powell: Depression didn’t end at five o’clock, And these people had to take
meridith_elliott_powell: this home to their. Um, you know, to their to their personal lives.
meridith_elliott_powell: And how do you you know how do you get through this? So the last
meridith_elliott_powell: part of the book I wrote for applying this this to your, um, you
meridith_elliott_powell: know to your personal life, and I’ll give you one this in, come out
meridith_elliott_powell: of the book. But I think it’s aropoke, because I’ve been doing it
meridith_elliott_powell: with my with my husband right now. Is my husband just had foot
meridith_elliott_powell: surgery and it’s going to be a nine month process, he said, The
meridith_elliott_powell: first of three surgeries. Now we are superactive people. We are on
meridith_elliott_powell: mountain bikes. we are on tennis courts, where are on golf courses.
meridith_elliott_powell: We are hiking. We rarely sit still and now he’s been put into the
meridith_elliott_powell: bed for nine months. Total recovery is going to have to keep. Um,
meridith_elliott_powell: reusing his foot, so I sat down with him this weekend and I said,
meridith_elliott_powell: Where do you see yourself? A year from now? What are the very first
meridith_elliott_powell: things that you want to do when your foot recovers and he said, I
meridith_elliott_powell: want to hike a trail in the smokeies. I want you and I to go on a
meridith_elliott_powell: mountain biking. Um trip. I want to see myself back walking with
meridith_elliott_powell: the guys on the golf course. I wrote that all out on a No card, and
meridith_elliott_powell: every morning we read that together because I want his eye on where
meridith_elliott_powell: he’s going. So you have little kids in the house and they’re
meridith_elliott_powell: struggling with junior high school. Keep their eye on the little
meridith_elliott_powell: dreams that they have. You know, winning little league or the
meridith_elliott_powell: difference that they want to make when they grow up. Just put a few
meridith_elliott_powell: things on a no card. Thank God, we don’t all have to be as
meridith_elliott_powell: artdiculate as Martin Luther, getting junior right, and just put
meridith_elliott_powell: them out there and you just read them, But it’s um, like I know
meridith_elliott_powell: with my husband He’s this year is going to be difficult. You know,
meridith_elliott_powell: it’s going to be painful. Is going to be difficult. but I one him,
meridith_elliott_powell: focused on what all of that is for, Because that’s going to help
meridith_elliott_powell: him find a way.
david_horsager: Back to the vision. What would you say for year? You know you’re making a
david_horsager: difference in the world. What’s the vision of your company?
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, every day I remind Mym, I just had a meeting with my staff
meridith_elliott_powell: this morning and I saidmind Um, you know, I always start our
meridith_elliott_powell: meeting and a end our meeting with Uh, with our vision and it is
meridith_elliott_powell: simply that people are struggling with change and uncertainty. They
meridith_elliott_powell: need a path forward, and that’s our job to show them how easy
meridith_elliott_powell: effective and how much opportunity there is in the marketplace, And
meridith_elliott_powell: we start every meeting and we end every meeting like that and
meridith_elliott_powell: remind my team you’re making a difference.
david_horsager: We, we’re very similar. You know,
david_horsager: we’re in a trust. We think the world’s in a trust crisis. We, we have the
david_horsager: way forward and and building trust. It’s a little more articulate in our
david_horsager: policy manual, but we build trust leaders and organizations around the
david_horsager: world, and we believe that we make the biggest difference when we do that.
david_horsager: so um, let’s let’s jump into
david_horsager: one more peace. I want to touch on a couple of the other books be cause. I
david_horsager: think you. You’ve got such a breadth of work, but in this whole process is
david_horsager: there one more thing? One more step, and everybody should should get the
david_horsager: book Thrive strategies to turn uncertainty to competitive advantage. But one
david_horsager: more tipper. Take away from this book on how we can thrive today, Especially
david_horsager: in the midst uncertainty.
meridith_elliott_powell: yeah, I think. Um, you know, really. My favorite step is Um, is to
meridith_elliott_powell: help people make money in the middle of Um. uncertainty because
meridith_elliott_powell: it’s a myth that there is an opportunity out there. There’s so much
meridith_elliott_powell: opportunity and its strategy number five. It’s secure your base
meridith_elliott_powell: that in an uncertain marketplace, business grows from the inside
meridith_elliott_powell: out. It’s not about attracting new business because you can’t
meridith_elliott_powell: attract new business until you understand the current problems your
meridith_elliott_powell: existing customers have. It’s really about being relevant in the
meridith_elliott_powell: marketplace, and I’ll just tell you really quick story, but it’s
meridith_elliott_powell: the story of Proctor and Gamble. A lot of people know it as P&G
meridith_elliott_powell: And while it’s a famous company, a lot of uh people don’t know
meridith_elliott_powell: that it was started in the early eighteen hundreds by two men,
meridith_elliott_powell: Proctor and Gamble, who married sisters, and they competed for
meridith_elliott_powell: animal fat. One made soap, and one made candles, and one night at a
meridith_elliott_powell: kitchen table in Cincinnati, Ohio, they were fighting over the
meridith_elliott_powell: price of animal fat and their future father in law heard them and
meridith_elliott_powell: said boys, Why don’t you ▁quit competing and start a company, and
meridith_elliott_powell: Proctor and Gamble was born now, Proctor and Gamble is rooted in
meridith_elliott_powell: this step. They don’t put a product to market that they don’t
meridith_elliott_powell: engage customers first, they ask, and the first product they were
meridith_elliott_powell: going to put on the market was soap. Um, I loved that it was
meridith_elliott_powell: soapcause. I can’t think of a more product. That’s more of a
meridith_elliott_powell: commodity. How do you differentiate yourself? Well, they went out
meridith_elliott_powell: and they talked to people and they said. What do you like about
meridith_elliott_powell: soap? What do you not like about soap? And what they got from their
meridith_elliott_powell: customers was gold. People loved soap. but there was a problem. See
meridith_elliott_powell: when you use soap and you lather it up. It’ll slip out of your
meridith_elliott_powell: hands, Fall to the bottom of the bathtub and you can’t find it.
meridith_elliott_powell: Customers told Proctor and Gamble that they wanted ▁quote onquote a
meridith_elliott_powell: soap. That floats, Proctor and Gamble shot air into a bar of ivory
meridith_elliott_powell: soap, and if anybody remembers the tagline for ivory soap was
meridith_elliott_powell: always a soap that floats, and by the end of the eighteen hundreds,
meridith_elliott_powell: pro Dern Gamble was a million dollar company. Now their competitors
meridith_elliott_powell: were selling soaps that smelled good, that came in different shapes
meridith_elliott_powell: and different colors, but they were, their competitors were selling
meridith_elliott_powell: products that solved the wrong problem. If you want to grow in
meridith_elliott_powell: today’s marketplace, solved the right problem, and the only way to
meridith_elliott_powell: do that is to talk to customers.
david_horsager: It get feedback. Why don’t we do it? Why don do people go? Just ask what do
david_horsager: you want? More of what do you like? What can I keep doing?
david_horsager: Both appreciative inquiry and feedback
david_horsager: Such great advice over and over and over.
david_horsager: Let’s lets. I want to get personal in a moment, but before
david_horsager: we do, I want. I want to talk about a couple more of books because just a
david_horsager: touch on so people know about them and a couple key ideas. Because we talk a
david_horsager: lot as far as trust around responsibility. And you wrote the book Own it,
david_horsager: you know, and redefining responsibility. Tell what’s what’s the key thought
david_horsager: in this book.
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, you know what. I? when I wanted to put responsibility, um, in
meridith_elliott_powell: the title, my publisher said You can’t put responsibility in the
meridith_elliott_powell: title, and I said why they said Nobody will buy a book on
meridith_elliott_powell: responsibility. Nobody wants it here. Here is the main premise of
meridith_elliott_powell: that book and the main premise was, I just really started to
meridith_elliott_powell: interview a lot of successful people, self made people who came
meridith_elliott_powell: from nothing, and Um, and the thing that I found over and over
meridith_elliott_powell: again was they passionately believed they were successful because
meridith_elliott_powell: nobody bailed them out. When they failed, they had to pick
meridith_elliott_powell: themselves up. I mean, I was. I was interviewing people that came
meridith_elliott_powell: of age during before social security, back when you couldn’t move
meridith_elliott_powell: home with your parents back when if you lost a job, there was no
meridith_elliott_powell: unemployment and they were grateful for the fact that they had.
meridith_elliott_powell: They had to figure away, and I just felt like we need to stop
meridith_elliott_powell: seeing responsibility as a negative and see it for the gift that it
meridith_elliott_powell: is because when I stopped blaming others or blaming my environment,
meridith_elliott_powell: I put the blame back on myself and the beautiful thing about
meridith_elliott_powell: understanding I’m responsible is I can control me. I’m the one
meridith_elliott_powell: thing I can change. I can, I can move, and when I do that, I become
meridith_elliott_powell: empowered to become and accomplish anything I want to accomplish
meridith_elliott_powell: personally. I believe we’ve become a culture that is just too quick
meridith_elliott_powell: to blame everybody else for the reasons that we’re not succeeding.
meridith_elliott_powell: and even if it’s valid, even if it’s valid, Sometimes it isn’t
meridith_elliott_powell: fair. your circumstances. We’re still cheating you out of an
meridith_elliott_powell: ability to get out of that by telling you that it’s not your fault
meridith_elliott_powell: and that you don’t have the power within you. So that book I wrote
meridith_elliott_powell: based on finding the power within yourself to become and be
meridith_elliott_powell: anything you want to be, And responsibility is a gift. It’s not a
david_horsager: Hm, I love it. Oh, don’t we wish this for all of
david_horsager: all those we work with our kids, our
david_horsager: family, everybody, uh, responsibility. I, um. You know we think a lot about
david_horsager: this because we kind of differentiate accountability and responsily. Many
david_horsager: people think they know a lot about accountability. We’ll ask in a company.
david_horsager: So how do you hold people accountable here? and oh, you know accountability
david_horsager: stuff they don’t know. Right, and we. I, I agree with you in that
david_horsager: responsibility we define is that I can hold myself responsible. I, as a
david_horsager: leader can hold others accountable.
meridith_elliott_powell: right, right.
david_horsager: Therefore, it’s easier to have a healthy accountable company if I’ve he. If
david_horsager: I’ve hired responsible people, But um, there’s two sides there.
david_horsager: The you wrote Who comes next? You wrote the best sales book. That’s got to
david_horsager: be. I mean, come on now, the best sales book With’s one of the best tips
david_horsager: from the best sales book.
meridith_elliott_powell: Well, you know. with that you know, David. I wrote that with Connie
meridith_elliott_powell: Padesta, Uh, what else?
meridith_elliott_powell: W. what else was she going
david_horsager: right. of course.
meridith_elliott_powell: to title? You know that book. I would say that my favorite tip out
meridith_elliott_powell: of there. I’m not sure that Connie would agree, But my favorite tip
meridith_elliott_powell: out of there. My best tip for sales is build your network. It will
meridith_elliott_powell: change your life. If you build your network, you will never call.
meridith_elliott_powell: call ever again. Build relationships long before you, Um. need
meridith_elliott_powell: them. Don’t treat it like sales, treated like adding value and
meridith_elliott_powell: investing in in other people.
david_horsager: the old phrases of your network is Netw is uh,
david_horsager: equal to your networ or um, so forth, So there’s one more than I know the
david_horsager: publishers interested in again. You wrote it Awh ago and I, I don’t usually
david_horsager: jump. I usually go deeper, but you’ve written so much. I want people get to
david_horsager: know you. I think we’ll come back and go deep on something sometim, but I
david_horsager: want my audience to know you. Uh, this, uh, those list to the Trusted Leader
david_horsager: show and I do want to touch on one more because it’s interesting to me and
david_horsager: that is the book you wrote a while back called the Confidence Plan. It’s
david_horsager: it’s uh, looks like it’ll be coming out again
david_horsager: refreshed Uh in the future, but I think of you know with this one I even
meridith_elliott_powell: Mhm, yeah,
david_horsager: think of you know. certainly people. uh, but I think of my kids right,
david_horsager: I think of my daughters. I’ve got four kids, but my daughters you want for
david_horsager: your daughter’s healthy confidence, right you? y, and and um,
david_horsager: I think my wife would been say here. It’s been a journey and she is an
david_horsager: unbelievable leader today, but you know this, this work toward having
david_horsager: healthy confidence. That isn’t this ego driven. And isn’t you know certain
david_horsager: things that maybe even our culture said, women should be or girls should be
david_horsager: or whatever? And so I, I’d love to talk a little bit about what. How do we?
david_horsager: What’s a confidence planner? How do we build healthy confidence in ourselves
david_horsager: or our kids?
meridith_elliott_powell: yeah, I think it’s you know so great. The reason I wrote that book
meridith_elliott_powell: was Um. I had a group of women leaders approached me and said,
meridith_elliott_powell: Would you come talk to our group about confidence, and my first
meridith_elliott_powell: thought was me, and Um, they said Yes, you, you. you appear so
meridith_elliott_powell: confident and I and I do believe I am, But boy had to start out
meridith_elliott_powell: that way. I mean not at all, I mean. and and and so it really made
meridith_elliott_powell: me think like. what did I do to build confidence? And I love the
meridith_elliott_powell: fact that you drew the difference between co dence and arrogance.
meridith_elliott_powell: because Um, because any time I speak about it, I really make that
meridith_elliott_powell: difference. It’s It’s a humble belief in yourself and Um, belief
meridith_elliott_powell: that you can accomplish and you can do things well. At the same
meridith_elliott_powell: time, having an incredible thirst for knowledge and input from
meridith_elliott_powell: other people. being okay with not
meridith_elliott_powell: always having the answers you know. And one of the most important
meridith_elliott_powell: things that I think to Um. to build confidence is number one is to
meridith_elliott_powell: to to be in an environment that allows you to try and to fail. Is
meridith_elliott_powell: that Um, for other people not coming in and doing things for you? I
meridith_elliott_powell: believe that confidence is built through progress, not through the
meridith_elliott_powell: end result. So uh, so with that whenever I’m helping people and a
meridith_elliott_powell: lot that we talk about in the book, Is you mean you do you have to
meridith_elliott_powell: have a vision for yourself? You have to have goals of things that
meridith_elliott_powell: you want to um, accomplish, But it’s about taking baby steps. I
meridith_elliott_powell: come, um, I come out of a. A definitely a loving home, but
meridith_elliott_powell: unfortunately my home was riddled with um, alcoholism. Six male
meridith_elliott_powell: members of my family, including both my brothers, my father, my
meridith_elliott_powell: first husband all died of alcoholism and I was really ashamed Um of
meridith_elliott_powell: that, so much so that it eroded my confidence. The funny thing
meridith_elliott_powell: about confidence has nothing to do with me, but it still took you
meridith_elliott_powell: know the wings out from under me and I had to start to look at the
meridith_elliott_powell: parts of my life that weren’t where I wanted them to be and take
meridith_elliott_powell: baby steps. I couldn’t go from ▁zero to sixties. I sixty, I didn’t
meridith_elliott_powell: know how to have healthy relationships, so I had to take a step. My
meridith_elliott_powell: health wasn’t quite where I needed to get it. I was always busy
meridith_elliott_powell: taking care of everybody’s else, so the biggest advice I say to
meridith_elliott_powell: people is you need to look and be honest in every area of your
meridith_elliott_powell: life, your health, your finances, your um, relationships, your
meridith_elliott_powell: spirituality, and professionally rate yourself one to five, five
meridith_elliott_powell: being the highest of where you are and be honest. Just doing that
meridith_elliott_powell: is like getting a weight because confidence is eroded because we’re
meridith_elliott_powell: We’re trying to hide or keep something down. We’re unsure of
meridith_elliott_powell: ourselves and so let’s say that you know your health isn’t where it
meridith_elliott_powell: needs to be. Well. you don’t have to be an Olympic athlete this
meridith_elliott_powell: time next year. But if you could just say I’m going to take a walk
meridith_elliott_powell: twice a week, you’ll start to feel better about yourself and the
meridith_elliott_powell: very fact that you may be a one in health and you want to be a
meridith_elliott_powell: five. Just the very fact that you’re making progress. it builds
meridith_elliott_powell: your confidence. The last thing I’m going to say is who you
meridith_elliott_powell: surround yourself with is everything. You need people who support
meridith_elliott_powell: that and Um, you got enough gremblins happening in your own head.
meridith_elliott_powell: You need people around you who um, who support your dreams and um
meridith_elliott_powell: and support that. I’m passionate. The confidence can be learned and
meridith_elliott_powell: um. and it’s important to work on it and to build it
david_horsager: you become like the people you around, right
david_horsager: we the average, almost an attitude, wealth, brain power, and almost
david_horsager: everything else of the of the people we spend the most time with It seems
david_horsager: um, Wow, be carefully. You surround yourself with
david_horsager: humble belief in yourself a whole lot more. I love this. It’s so good as
david_horsager: long as we talk present so much. I, this is. you know. this is my uh, free
meridith_elliott_powell: Yess, right.
david_horsager: thousand dollar consulting session for me and everybody listens to trusted
david_horsager: Leader show, so we’re just going to suck the mi of life on it right out of
david_horsager: it right now. So thank you from everybody listening to get to sit in the
david_horsager: room with married Elviet Powell, Meredith Elliott Powe, I do have. I do have
meridith_elliott_powell: it’s it’s it’s a. it’s a it. that’s you. Can. you can even just
david_horsager: to like that’s you know. I just want to say Meredith.
meridith_elliott_powell: me Mayor. That’s what everybody in the family does.
david_horsager: yeah, me. all right. well, um, it’s it’s been a journey and a fun. Don’t
david_horsager: even get to know you a bit. But I want to uh, ask another question, because
david_horsager: you know we find at least leaders that are seem to be great on stage are
david_horsager: great in their work publicly. and you have a whole lot of public work I see,
david_horsager: and know. your serve on boards. I know, and been on stage together at some
david_horsager: of the biggest stages, at least in the country. and Um, you know, but the
david_horsager: great leaders aren’t just. They seem like they are doing the right things
david_horsager: privately. They’re leading themselves well,
meridith_elliott_powell: Mhm, Mhm,
david_horsager: and I know you do some things you love outside. But what are some other
david_horsager: things you do To lead yourself Well?
meridith_elliott_powell: Oh, I think that some of the things I do to lead myself well is
meridith_elliott_powell: number one. I’m a big believer that you’ve got to practice. Um.
meridith_elliott_powell: you’ve got to practice what you preach. That my actions are so much
meridith_elliott_powell: more important, Um than my words, And that even means like you
meridith_elliott_powell: know, mornings that I’m frustrated and maybe I’m getting on a call
meridith_elliott_powell: with my team to kind of catch myself before I get on there, not to
meridith_elliott_powell: to bring the attitude that’s going to motivate. That’s going to.
meridith_elliott_powell: Um. You know this going to inspire them. I also am very selfish
meridith_elliott_powell: about taking time to invest in myself. I think as a leader we have
meridith_elliott_powell: to realize that a lot of energy is taken out of us and we need that
meridith_elliott_powell: time to. Um. We need that time to replenish, so I’m incredibly, Um.
meridith_elliott_powell: I’m incredibly selfish about that, and then I would say the third
meridith_elliott_powell: is to make sure that I’m spending the time educating myself. I mean
meridith_elliott_powell: as a leader, I need to stay one step ahead and I need to be
meridith_elliott_powell: providing value for my clients for my team for my family, And you
meridith_elliott_powell: know what am I doing? You know in in order to be able to provide
david_horsager: what do you do? What are some of things you consistently read or listen to?
david_horsager: How do you stay fresh and relevant
david_horsager: and capable? What are you looking at learning from
meridith_elliott_powell: so every single morning I spend at least you know, thirty minutes
meridith_elliott_powell: to an hour reading the Um, reading the economist. Um, you know most
meridith_elliott_powell: of my clients are you know in the corporate? Uh, you know in the
meridith_elliott_powell: corporate world, And so Um, that is, that is an everyday, Um
meridith_elliott_powell: indulgence on Sundays, or if I’m going through airports, it’s my
meridith_elliott_powell: guilty pleasure, is I? if I’m in a hotel, I’ll read the Wall Street
meridith_elliott_powell: Journal. I ▁quit, getting it Um at home because I don’t. Uh, I
meridith_elliott_powell: don’t have the time to you know, to read it every day. Um, so many
meridith_elliott_powell: of our colleagues send me books and things, Um, all the time, So I
meridith_elliott_powell: read those books and then I admitted to you right before we got on
meridith_elliott_powell: this show. I’m a major big nerd, so I watch investment. Um, you
meridith_elliott_powell: know I watch investment shows. The counter to that is that at least
meridith_elliott_powell: for ninety minutes every day, no matter where I am in the world,
meridith_elliott_powell: you will catch me outside doing something, whether it’s a hike,
meridith_elliott_powell: whether it’s a mountain bike, and on that, I don’t think about
meridith_elliott_powell: anything. I don’t think about business. That’s just really time to.
meridith_elliott_powell: you know, sometimes I’m with a you know, my husband or another
meridith_elliott_powell: member of the family or a friend. Sometimes I’m just by myself, but
meridith_elliott_powell: that’s you know. that’s my indulgence to be able to do that.
david_horsager: on that exerciser Outside? Is that your exercise and then is that varied all
david_horsager: the time? So golf can be at this day. Mountain biking can be it that day,
david_horsager: but you just make sure there’s always ninety minutes outside.
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah, there’s always, and it’s um. So if I play golf, I walk and
meridith_elliott_powell: you know I,
meridith_elliott_powell: I carry my clubs. and so, but it’s always I. It’s varied. I got out
meridith_elliott_powell: of the gym years ago. I mean, if I’m in a hotel, I’ll um. I’ll go,
meridith_elliott_powell: but for me it’s much more important, Um for movement and
meridith_elliott_powell: especially, I mean, I don’t know how you are about this, David. But
meridith_elliott_powell: if I have a client with a really big problem or I’m about to do a
meridith_elliott_powell: big major keynote, I’ll choose my mountain bike or a hiking trail.
meridith_elliott_powell: Because just that distance helps me get some kind of realization
meridith_elliott_powell: into a story I need to hone in or I don’t know. There’s just
meridith_elliott_powell: something about getting out in nature like that that clears my head
meridith_elliott_powell: and allows ideas and solutions to open up. When I was a kid, my
meridith_elliott_powell: mother used to always say there’s nothing that a good hike in the
meridith_elliott_powell: woods won’t solve, and as a kid as a kid, I never thought she was
meridith_elliott_powell: right, but she’s a hu hundred and fifty percent right.
david_horsager: my wife would put a triple stamp of approval on this
david_horsager: outside outside outside, so
david_horsager: sometimes I’ll I’ll get on a an elliptical in our home and I’ll put mybs
david_horsager: out. Listen to podcast. I like to do that.
david_horsager: She’s like, Why don’t you get outside? I mean, and in Minnesota, we say
david_horsager: there’s no bad weather, Just the wrong clothes right, so you can handle
david_horsager: anything forty below, ▁zero, But um, but you just got to wear the right
meridith_elliott_powell: that’s right. that’s right. I agree.
david_horsager: meredeth, this has been such a joy. Tons of tips and takeaways here. but um,
david_horsager: where can we find out more? Where’s the best place to find more out More
david_horsager: about you? I know you’ve got courses. You’ve got a whole lot of you know.
david_horsager: you got the books and a whole lot of other things to share. Where can we
david_horsager: find out about you?
meridith_elliott_powell: Yeah. yeah, so you can find me at my website, which is just value a
meridith_elliott_powell: speaker, dot com, just towards value speaker dot com. I’m also uh,
meridith_elliott_powell: I tend to be on link in almost every day. It’s my preferred social
meridith_elliott_powell: media and I’m a big believer in Bulld your network. Change your
meridith_elliott_powell: life. So if you reach out and connect with me, I will definitely
meridith_elliott_powell: connect with you.
david_horsager: Thank you, Meith. You know what? It’s the trust leader. Show who is the
david_horsager: leader you trust and why?
meridith_elliott_powell: Um. Ken Lang, gone, one of the founders of Um. Home Depot. I just
meridith_elliott_powell: finished Um, reading his book. Uh, I love capitalism, but I, you
meridith_elliott_powell: know, the more that I have studied Ken Langone over the years, and I’ve
meridith_elliott_powell: gotten a chance to have dinner with him. Uh, more than a few times,
meridith_elliott_powell: But he is truly a man. I love self made people, people who came
meridith_elliott_powell: from nothing and his parents were immigrants. Um came to Brooklyn,
meridith_elliott_powell: believed in education and he built himself up from there. but just
meridith_elliott_powell: the story of his life time and time again, He always took the right
meridith_elliott_powell: road and has always been about the right things. and now that he’s
meridith_elliott_powell: become a billionaire, he’s invested in, you know, building the
meridith_elliott_powell: Langonn, um, uh, Medical center in New York City, and just really
meridith_elliott_powell: giving back and making a difference. His, his core, um, uh, area of
meridith_elliott_powell: focus is education and I believe in you. give people
meridith_elliott_powell: education You can change their lives.
david_horsager: that’s so true and education motivates
david_horsager: education. Uh, when I learned exactly what was inside of a hot dog, I
david_horsager: stopped eating so many. so
meridith_elliott_powell: that’s right. that’s all right,
david_horsager: Oh, my, everybody. listing what a treat to be with Meredith. We, you know,
david_horsager: this has been the trusted leader show. If you want any of the show notes,
david_horsager: you know they’ll all be there. Trusted leaders show dot com
david_horsager: for everybody listening,
david_horsager: Remember the Trusted Leaders summit is coming up. The best deal is right now
david_horsager: only a little bit longer. Trust the leaders summit Dot com, Meredith Elliott
david_horsager: Powell, It has been a treat to be with you today. Thank you so much for
david_horsager: sharing your wisdom. Thanks for the friendship and that has been the trusted
david_horsager: leader show until next time, stay trusted.
