David Horsager: Welcome to the trusted leader show it’s David Horsager back with you and I have a dear friend of mine, the NBA star, the

David Horsager: Speaker hall of famer, the author the board member and just a dear friend, we’ve been we’re on mastermind group.

David Horsager: 20 years ago maybe together, but his name is Walter Bond and probably I saw him before he saw me because I remember Walter when you played for the great University of Minnesota.

David Horsager: And our basketball team. I was still in high school basketball team. And we came to watch you guys go to the sweet 16 in the Elite Eight and we’re sitting up in the barn wishing we were you guys and I watched you those years. So that was a fun treat. But, welcome to the show.

Walter Bond: Well, thanks day, you know, that was a long time ago, a lot of pounds ago you know

Walter Bond: Core. I’m an athlete and that’s what kind of taught me about life. They taught me about success principles and

Walter Bond: Then I just thank God that I chose the University of Minnesota was a great experience. And, you know, really set the platform for us to launch our training and development company and now raise my kids and myself. And so, thanks for having

David Horsager: Well, I am thrilled to have you. So it’s great to be here and I, you know, when we were starting out, we talked about this a little bit before the show, you know,

David Horsager: 20 years ago or whatever it was worth we’re moving on. I had been Director of an organization you had been of course in the NBA and and

David Horsager: You’ve had some other great leadership experiences because of that. But we’re starting to speak more and

David Horsager: I still remember some of those days were starting out and but now you’ve built quite a company into this great training and development company, you know,

David Horsager: Maybe even start with what are some of the setbacks with some of the challenges. How have you grown what you’ve grown today. I mean, you can start twice, at least in in in leadership business in life.

Walter Bond: We all day. Sometimes you have to reinvent, you know, and I want to cause any leader listening today, it’s okay. You know, because sometimes you have to ship.

Walter Bond: And when my basketball career was over as an athlete you know it’s going to end. One day, you just don’t know when. So

Walter Bond: When you play ball at a young age like 789 with the dream of playing in the NBA. And then you make it right. And then you plan to your 31 resolved literally day when I left the NBA.

Walter Bond: I know nothing about business all I understood was basketball. And so I had a wife and three kids and I never made the big money. And so I looked at my checking account.

Walter Bond: We had about a year to figure it out. And we stumbled into the speaking business and I’ve never had a real job. I’ve never been hired by a company

Walter Bond: So my wife and I literally figured it out from scratch. So everything we do is real, it’s organic. It is free of any corporate muck.

Walter Bond: Or any corporate politics. And for a long time. I thought that was a disadvantage.

Walter Bond: You know, because I want to speak to kids. When I first started speaking, you know, I would go to high schools and middle schools.

Walter Bond: Because at the time I didn’t feel equipped or worthy of speaking to accompany because I never had a real job but parents would hear me speak to the basketball team and high school kids.

Walter Bond: And the parents built my confidence and they will come to me. Dave and say, hey, our company needs to hear this. Oh boy. We’re dealing with this inside of our assumption. And I would say, like, really, and before I knew it, we left the youth market and we got into corporate america and while

Walter Bond: The rest is history, as they say. But you know, I really appreciate not having this huge corporate background and now sitting on corporate boards. So my whole mentality is

Walter Bond: Is simplistic and simple because most companies overthink everything, you know, a massive, massive fundamentals. The same thing is true for this.

David Horsager: Well, I say it all the time. You know I love and I’ve delved into research because I don’t want it to be just some, you know, kind of cheesy motivational idea.

David Horsager: But what we’ve learned is, if you don’t simplify it. No one will use it. It’s got to be so simple, in the midst of our crazy hectic world as leaders, I’ll use it tomorrow. So I, for me, not from basketball so much as

David Horsager: I think we were like one in 19 my senior year of high school, even though I was the captain, obviously, that was a that wasn’t something to be proud of right then.

David Horsager: But, but I think for me was growing up on the farm. You know, it’s like what it’s simple, clear truth that we got to cultivate it you gotta weed it you gotta do this, you get to that and and you know that a lot of that.

David Horsager: overlaps with business, but you’ve been now you’ve been on boards and all this. But let’s go back to basketball because

David Horsager: A lot of what you learn in teams there. You’ve brought to great high performing companies and you’ve spoken. Just so people know, and many do know you, but they know you’ve spoken to some of the biggest companies at some of the biggest events.

David Horsager: We got inducted into the speaker Hall of Fame, about the same time you are ahead of me.

David Horsager: At you are, you’re out there, you’re working and you’re actually leading and you’re asked for leadership advice and advising

David Horsager: Many of the greats even you know boards. So how do you, how do you relate what you learned in basketball or being a teammate to what you’re doing now and how you’re equipping boards to perform at their best, or excuse me, companies.

Walter Bond: Yeah, you know, again, it all started with sports and I’m hoping for that. You know, honestly, my father was my high school principal and honestly that’s really

Walter Bond: When I began to understand leadership and, you know, throughout my sports career. You know, I had some amazing coaches and I had a few bad ones and

Walter Bond: Each opportunity I learned in fact my first team. I played on it was called the eagles, and we did not win one game, the whole entire season.

Walter Bond: And I remember my coach smell flowers and when you seven, eight years old. I didn’t know what that meant. He just had this funny smell. Long story short, my first baseball coach was an alcoholic.

Walter Bond: And he will come to practice drunk every day set no expectations. We didn’t practice. Are we didn’t improve that we were just awful.

Walter Bond: The good news is that team stayed together and we got a new coach same player new coach. His name is Mike

Walter Bond: And Mike flag build our confidence. He said expectations and by the time we were 12 years old, our team was dominant

Walter Bond: And so I saw the transformation, we went from the Bad News Bears with the coach a leader who was alcoholic and bless his heart. He had a problem, but he did not have influence over our team. The Same guy. Same players.

Walter Bond: Different coach different leader transformed us into a dominant team. And so that’s how I begin understanding life before I was even 12 years old.

Walter Bond: And I ended up flunking out of a first high school. I don’t even know if you know that I went to the top academic School in Chicago and these were the smartest kids will Chicago and I got my lunch, hand it to me.

Walter Bond: Because I didn’t think I was the smartest, they were you know I always was competitive athletically always did great socially. But when I got to this high school

Walter Bond: I was basically defeated the day school started because all these kids with smart and I never even competed in the classroom. So I transferred to my dance school

Walter Bond: In the hood and one of the lowest income areas of Chicago, and I saw my badly I saw him operate. I saw him build confidence. I saw him set expectations.

Walter Bond: And before I knew it, I began to not only have an amazing father

Walter Bond: My high school principal was amazing as well. And then I go to college and play for a great coach like Clem Haskins because hassles was a demand.

Walter Bond: I mean, he drove you he made you get better in every year. This player development was off the chain that man produce more NBA players and probably any goal for coaching history and he wasn’t winning in a recruiting that

Walter Bond: He will get his hands on a raw talent and he will develop it. And so that’s my message for any leader, you know, it’s your job to develop your people. You know what I love sports and got into business, David.

Walter Bond: I was disappointed in the player development inside of companies, you just hire, fire people. Oh, you had a person you on board and now developer

Walter Bond: And so that’s what we really bring to our corporate clients and this is my final comment.

Walter Bond: On that little tangent, I just give you the smart companies are really training and development organizations out there. Cool.

Walter Bond: And if any leader can get that, that it’s my job to change the culture. It’s my job to develop people training and development is a no brainer. And that’s what we’re bringing to our fights.

David Horsager: I love it. So, you know, one thing you talked about and you got the new book called swim and you talk about this responsibility of leaders to really

David Horsager: Be mentors, not just run through people but develop them tell it. Tell me, how do you do it, how does it we we got leaders on today from fortune 500 to

David Horsager: Two small companies, but they’re developing people and they they are. They’re about ready to fire him because they’re not doing what they’re supposed to be doing. And, and yet, could they devote. How would they go about that. How would you go about that.

Walter Bond: No, no, here’s a true, you know, we follow sports and everyone focuses on LeBron and Kobe and Tom Brady is so easy for people to focus on superstars.

Walter Bond: But there’s only a handful of, you know, even in the average high school, you got some a students, obviously, you got some brilliant kids.

Walter Bond: You got some kids, causing problems and we always talk about the 8020 rule right where 20% of people do you know 80% of the work or, you know, even in financial services, for example.

Walter Bond: They always do these events and they take their high performers to these incentive trips

Walter Bond: And it’s the same people who qualify every year and always asking business leaders, and what are you doing to see students

Walter Bond: Why do I ask a question day I flunked out on my first High School. He or am as a thought leader sitting on corporate boards writing best selling books and I flunked out of high school.

Walter Bond: But let me tell you what my high school principal did at my second High School. He built my confidence and he said expectation

Walter Bond: He built my confidence and set expectation at the University of Minnesota. I was a highly polluted right but I sat down with my coach every year and I would ask them task is, what do I need to do to play in the NBA.

Walter Bond: And he would tell me. Right. You gotta lose 15 pounds. You got to work with you. Nothing. Come on, let’s get the gym and rebuild your junction

Walter Bond: Right, let’s go and practice this word Carson, get in better shape and four years later, I’m in the NBA. Of course he’s one of my favorite leaders, of course I talk about them all the time.

Walter Bond: Right, so I’ll change any leader or your people talking about, you know, if I sat down with all of your subordinates and ask them, Who is your favorite leader. And why would they even mention your name.

Walter Bond: Right. And so if you go back to school. We all have a favorite teacher. Why, because that favorite teacher had impact.

Walter Bond: They either built our confidence or they supported us so they they work with us one on one. You know, I’ve worked with so many people that the smart companies and smart leaders get this your average employee is who you need to focus on

Walter Bond: stop focusing all your top producers and these incentive trips your C student your air average performer is 60% of your organization.

Walter Bond: That’s my training and development is so important. Your superstars. They showed up as superstars your leadership experience is going to be based on what did you do with your C student

Walter Bond: So my father knows he had impact comes Haskins knows what he did with me.

Walter Bond: As an average recruit average ball player that’s what leaders should be focused on

David Horsager: So I’ve got, I’ve got an average recruiter average players. I mean, that is, how do you instill I mean this could be from people’s kids to people’s employees. Right. How do I build confidence, how do, how did you, how did people build confidence in you. How does that happen.

Walter Bond: Well, you know, here’s what I challenge my audience with and I love the fact that now they were in these big venues these big ballrooms with these big leaders and I don’t back down.

Walter Bond: I challenged them and I basically asked the question I want to ask right now and any leader, I want to ask you the same question right now. Are you a coach or you are certain specs.

Walter Bond: Are you a coach or are you a fruit inspector. You don’t want to be as doing spec fruit. You go to the grocery store and you grab apples and you look at him and say this apples.

Walter Bond: Apples bad this orange looks good. It looks bad this banana looks good. It’s banana looks bad, and you’re just choosing right but but a couch.

Walter Bond: They develop their people and so fruit inspectors have a high turnover. Okay. Fruit inspectors don’t build confidence fruit inspectors don’t build the right culture that is trying

Walter Bond: To get star players to hopefully make them look good. A real coach will take a raw material and say, You know what, this person has potential

Walter Bond: But it’s my job to help them reach their potential. And so what we do with our leadership trainings and all of our leadership programs. And that’s why I wrote the book swim.

Walter Bond: The star. The book swim is a guy named drew, and he on purpose. Went and recruited misfits but he plugged them into their training and development program.

Walter Bond: And he built an amazing at that company with broken people, you know, we have people out here who obviously are imperfect who are flawed, who have weaknesses and that’s what great coaches come in.

Walter Bond: And if you can become a great coach as a leader with simply means I get that you have numbers, you have to hit you have to responsibilities that you have to keep the stock price.

Walter Bond: But a big part of your job is player development. What are you doing with your human capital and if we can teach day that leaders how important if you talk about a trusted leader.

Walter Bond: You helped me develop man. I’m going to trust you. And not only that, I’m going to run through a wall for you.

Walter Bond: So any smart leader will become a coach, instead of being a fruit inspector and when you become a coach, the people that you lead are going to naturally trust you because you help them to though.

David Horsager: I love it. You know, a lot of what you talked about at least over the years since we were in a mastermind. I don’t know, over a decade ago together as you talk about team.

David Horsager: And you talk about discipline and accountability and I still remember you know Karl Malone was an example. The you tell us about that.

Walter Bond: You know Carmelo and john Stockton and I gotta Jerry slow story that I love to tell you know Karl Malone.

Walter Bond: Arguably the greatest power for one of all time. This guy lifted weights every single day and it was very disciplined with his body. I mean, he was 692 hundred and 56 pounds.

Walter Bond: And we will go out and he and I would think he was a jerk and very difficult in restaurants.

Walter Bond: He would tell the waiter. You know, I want a grilled chicken caesar salad. But when you grew my chicken breasts. Don’t put in the chat box on my chicken breasts.

Walter Bond: And I will go behind his back. Apologize. I’m thinking he’s been difficult. Just arrogant me I eat whatever they brought me French rather than order, but they look good milkshake.

Walter Bond: You know, I sit nothing back. And long story short, he had one of the best bodies of all time and my coaches always told me I needed to lose weight.

Walter Bond: Karl Malone was incredibly disciplined and I’m telling you. He lifted weights.

Walter Bond: Every single day john Stockton. My God, he went to a chiropractor four times a day. There’s a chiropractor in Utah, that he made famous Stockton played until he was 14 years old.

Walter Bond: And both of these guys were extremely different discipline extremely focused love playing basketball but just the discipline that I learned for both of these guys.

Walter Bond: was unbelievable. But the kicker with Jerry Sloan Jerry Sloan just passed away and I went out to Utah to honor him because he has such an impact on my life because he taught me something very valuable. We didn’t scrimmage. In practice, and I’m trying to make the team.

Walter Bond: And I’m trying to figure out, Jerry.

Walter Bond: We’re basketball players, but we don’t play basketball. All we did with drills day

Walter Bond: All we did with your so I go to Jerry Sloan. And I said, Jerry. I’m trying to make your team, but since we don’t scrimmage and practice.

Walter Bond: I feel like I can show you what I can do. I’m stressing out my MBA careers on life support. I got a wife. I got three kids, but this was his answer was Dave and it really

Walter Bond: Is one of the pillars of our training and development company, and it really changed my life as it relates to life after basketball. He said, Walter already know what you can do.

Walter Bond: But if you want to make my team, I suggest you listen follow directions and execute. If you listen

Walter Bond: If you follow directions. And if you execute. You’ll be fine. So what he was really saying day is like, look, I want to see if you can follow the Utah Jazz way. I know you are good ball player on your own.

Walter Bond: But if you want to make my team. You got to play the Utah Jazz way chick fil a has a way

Walter Bond: Target has a way so great leaders great companies built cultures, but most importantly they they create a way and they find the right players that buy into the way. See if you don’t have a way

Walter Bond: All the individuals you hire going to bring their own value system.

Walter Bond: And if you don’t have a way their individual value systems are going to take over. That’s why we have so much dysfunction. That’s why we have so much chaos.

Walter Bond: And the only way you can really build a great organization is being a great leader who understands how to build away how to teach away and then to find the right players that fit your way and that’s what greatness is all about.

David Horsager: Let’s jump to, you know, you’ve been on several boards. You’re now on the Jersey Mike’s board as one example. What’s it take to be create a high trust board.

David Horsager: Or be a high trust board member. I mean, you know, I sit on boards like you do. And we’re, you know that I often say the biggest risk of a board is losing trust and so

David Horsager: You know, what do you see as the common out where you see great board members or become a great board a great board what’s there.

Walter Bond: You know, to me, you, you have a team, you know, and just like a basketball team. You know, and we teach teamwork.

Walter Bond: I remember we had a team in college. You remember him and then Richard coffee Richard coffee could rebound.

Walter Bond: And that was about it. And I remember being younger, I should be low critical LIKE ME. YOU CAN’T SHOOT YOU CAN’T DRIBBLE

Walter Bond: All you can do is rebounding but you know what, as I’m a tour.

Walter Bond: I like to do least the big 10 and rebounding. In fact, he’s like the best six foot six rebounder I’ve ever seen in my life.

Walter Bond: And he made the Timberwolves as an undersized power follow it because he was such a great rebounder. And so it really taught me that if you’re going to have a great board your board needs to be diverse.

Walter Bond: In thought and skill set in the ability and any board I come on. Look, don’t give me your spreadsheet.

Walter Bond: Don’t. Don’t talk to me about the fiduciary responsibility because that’s not my specialty. I want to really impact your human capital.

Walter Bond: And that’s why I’m on Jersey Mike’s board because Peter can crawl the founder, understand that kind of impact. I can have on people.

Walter Bond: And he can find anybody to do to the CFO and the spreadsheet and and all the other responsibilities, but I’m on his board because he wants me to impact. His people.

Walter Bond: And he said many times, Walter when the people business you’re an expert with people and I need your voice.

Walter Bond: My people need to hear your voice, not only internally but externally. THIS MAN. HE WAS ME. I DID 25 keynotes across the country for all of his managers. Think about that.

Walter Bond: I mean, these kids are 1719 2021 years old he invested in the managers why watch this analogy, if someone’s in great shape. All you gotta do is check their apps that midsection.

Walter Bond: Don’t tell me you’re in shape and you gotta flabby stomach, right. So, to me, a great organization that’s going to be in shape. You got to get leadership baked all the way down to that middle manager.

Walter Bond: A lot of companies aren’t willing to invest and spend time developing the middle manager. That’s why McDonald’s is so special. Why they created a hamburger University and the focus was a middle manager, the apps that midsection.

Walter Bond: And I say that right now because back in the day I had a six pack. Now I got a big belly.

David Horsager: Still there.

David Horsager: I gotta find it, buddy.

David Horsager: I ain’t gonna say, you know what, we’re back when you played your 200 pounds. You’ve kind of

David Horsager: What 652 hundred pounds of it doesn’t show on Wikipedia. What you are today.

Walter Bond: Right. It’s none of your business.

David Horsager: But, you know, imagine what you’re doing with leaders.

Walter Bond: at the executive level. I mean, and I’m sure you do this, we gotta make this thing all the way down to that middle manager.

Walter Bond: Because until you get down to that middle manager, you really have not built a culture.

Walter Bond: And we have a client, I’m not gonna say their name is a major automotive organization and they lose middle managers and they don’t know why.

Walter Bond: And I know why because you’re not developing middle managers. Now here’s the truth that all leaders need to understand at a subconscious level. This is what people think.

Walter Bond: If I can reach my potential here I stay if I can’t reach my potential here. I leave it happens in sports, it happens in business. It happens in life.

Walter Bond: It happens in marriage and happens in every organization is embedded in our DNA. Can I reach my potential here. So the channels for me leader is that you have to be able to convince

Walter Bond: The day you hire someone that you can reach your potential here.

Walter Bond: And. Matter of fact, I’m going to make sure you do because that is my job for you to reach your potential here. If you can’t reach your potential here. That’s when we have high turnover.

Walter Bond: Okay, that’s when you have apathy. That’s when you have poor alignment. Why, because they’re not convinced. I can reach my potential here.

Walter Bond: And to me, that’s what McDonald’s and chick fil a and great organizations do. And so one of our biggest messages Day to all of our corporate clients is that smart companies.

Walter Bond: Are training and development organizations at that core because of your training and development organization at your core those middle managers who have have potential men, they’re going to start waking up.

Walter Bond: They will start popping like popcorn. You know, they might walk in, you know, a little disheveled and smelling like weed and

Walter Bond: A little Emma tour. But if you’re training and development organization McDonald’s has hired a brand new Chief Diversity Officer and he started with MCDONALD’S WHEN HE WAS 16 years old off the street.

Walter Bond: Wow, that’s what training and development can

David Horsager: I say this often that you know

David Horsager: I think I was reading this was last year’s data, but the container company Container Store.

David Horsager: That’s the CEO, there’s, you know, and they’re beating everybody in their industry doesn’t sound like a, you know, this hot fund industry. But they’re beating me. I said, Well, how are you doing, he said, Well basically we can take every one person I’m tournament, a three in our industry, we have

David Horsager: Most people spend eight hours of training and development on the frontline employees. We spent 200 200 in the first year said, that’s why we are where we are at the top of the industry and you and I both know

David Horsager: There’s people that love chicken land don’t. But the point is, is their number one, you know, meet next is McDonald’s and Panera at 2.5 million

David Horsager: annual revenue average per store and nothing between them and chick fil a without working on Sundays 4.4 million

David Horsager: Average per store revenue per year. It’s unbelievable difference. And how did they win, even as the CEO says it’s just checking it actually is. It’s not laced in crack like people think it’s just chicken.

David Horsager: And and and the deal is said, we went on learning development, we get the same kids as McDonald’s.

David Horsager: They didn’t come out of the womb, saying, My pleasure, we train them and and that’s where training development can change the culture. So I love that it’s true.

David Horsager: That we’re both in this business, we built that that’s what we built, you know, we want to develop people because we can develop them.

David Horsager: Into the greatest leaders and the highest performance when we develop them based on trust, which is in essence what you’re what you’re doing with teams and everything so

David Horsager: Hey, let’s get personal for a second, you know,

David Horsager: Your leadership starts at home. It starts personally. It starts with our own so I know your your wife you married out of your league. She’s amazing. As we know,

David Horsager: And I did the same. So we’re saying that we can show our wisdom of judgment in our, in our marriages. At least that with me to Lisa and you had to Antoinette, but what are habits, you know, as I’ve known you and you’re working accountability and building good habits.

David Horsager: You know it’s we often say you don’t change organization.

David Horsager: You change a person. And when you change one, then they can change a team and then they can change it come in and pretty soon you can change the country but you

David Horsager: You start by changing one and and and and it starts with us. But what are some habits you built, you know, you

David Horsager: You know the importance of discipline and habits you lived it in the NBA and other places. But what do you do today, whether it’s physically you know in your relationships with your, your family, you got some great kids there. What, what are some habits you that every day. I do this.

Walter Bond: Right, well, you know what I try to be positive, you know,

Walter Bond: Because that’s I remember when I flunked out of my high school I was embarrassed.

Walter Bond: My dad was positive, you know, my mother to said maybe enlightens hasn’t clicked on yet. You’ll be fine.

David Horsager: No, Walter. No, that’s right.

David Horsager: No Walter you positively failed. Yeah, I mean I flunked out in you know my dad would wake me up in the morning.

Walter Bond: Wake up, Moses, you know, Moses from the Bible. I remember when I flunked out. I was like Moses.

Walter Bond: I was like it was just that kind of guy he wouldn’t browbeat you we wouldn’t criticize you. I mean, he was a straight shooter and I don’t get me wrong. He didn’t sugarcoat anything but

Walter Bond: After his focus mindset is peace, he would go back to being positive. So that’s why I try and provide for my kids.

Walter Bond: And I believe in ownership, you know, you know I want people to own their lives, you know, and, and with with my wife for me. She’s my business partner.

Walter Bond: And she owns her responsibility, you know, she she negotiates the contract right she manages the website. She does the market, she deals with all of our vendors

Walter Bond: My wife is my business partner. And I’m not saying that in name only. She legitimately is my business partner and she has her responsibilities.

Walter Bond: I have mine and I try and tell her everyday. She’s doing a great job, you know, and she last Sunday I say you did a great job. You know, we just hired our daughter and I needed to get her new word

Walter Bond: Internet, you do a great job. I’m gonna get our daughter her work her own word, but she does all of our video technology or editing.

Walter Bond: She’s been with us for a year and I want everybody to own this stuff, you know, like if I’m on a keynote platform that’s me. That’s my if I’m writing a book that’s me. That’s mine. But I need you to own your slack because think about it they you know you and I in college rented apartments.

Walter Bond: The only thing we cared about was that security deposit

Walter Bond: We never upgraded the property. We never painted it, we never thought about playing painting it, we never thought about upgrading the property. Why, because we rented it but the moment we bought a house.

Walter Bond: The whole mentality shift that we’re going to paint. We’re going to cut the grass who parked on my yard.

Walter Bond: Oh, we get very territorial why because we own it. So when I deal with my clients I asked them when you build a culture, are you hurting renters owners.

Walter Bond: Most companies they hire renters. I’m just reading this job. And so when I give it back to you in two years or three years or 10 years it’s going to be exactly the same.

Walter Bond: It might even be a little worse. But I found that you own marketing.

Walter Bond: If I let you own social media. If I met you own training and development or curriculum. If I let you own it is yours, and you’re going to take care of it much better than I will.

Walter Bond: And so to me, ownership is how you build culture ownership is how you build family, and as my kids with torn progress.

Walter Bond: We got three kids and three jobs and then my little own go smack you know it’s not my job to tell you what to do and and try and control your every move.

Walter Bond: You make your own decisions and understand that some consequences to it.

Walter Bond: Good luck. If you want to help me if you want me to help you rationalize some stuff and you want me to be a sounding board. Cool. But I want you to own your smack

Walter Bond: My wife does a great job owning her responsibilities. My daughter kills owning her responsibility and it’s my job to own my responsibility and I don’t care how big the company is we need to have own

Walter Bond: And stop hiring people to rent, because that’s the culture you build and then you wonder why people keep leaving. Then you wonder why you have high turnover man stop hurting renters and start recruiting owners that’s going to own their response to you.

David Horsager: How do you just give us one quick tip. How do you, how do you hire owners instead of renters.

Walter Bond: Um, well, a lot of is done in the hiring process. But when you onboarding, you know, basically you give them responsibility.

Walter Bond: And you set an expectation. But you give them the room to be themselves, you know, in our teamwork methodology we we coined the phrase, we call them work expressions.

Walter Bond: And people need to go to work and express themselves based on who they are naturally and in sports, you can play someone out of position and evaluate

Walter Bond: Tom Brady’s a great quarterback. Right. You can’t play him in any other position in the NFL, he’ll get embarrassed. Right. But as a quarterback. He’s the best of all time.

Walter Bond: I think the same thing is true inside of a company as a coach, it is my job to evaluate my talent.

Walter Bond: And then put them in a position of success. And I tell you a quick story. Our youngest daughter Cory was a track star in Minnesota and all the upper Midwest.

Walter Bond: My daughter did not lose a 100 200 to 400 meter dash in any state in the Midwest, we move to Florida. So I’m thinking, hey, my girls a star in Minnesota.

Walter Bond: We in Florida. I’m a fan of Trump talk track coach in Florida, and she want to be a sprinter. We can get outside when you’re around, I found the top track coach.

Walter Bond: And for two weeks. I will practice. I will watch it and even say much, and eventually comes up to me says, Man, I like your daughter, she’s strong, but we have to find her, and then

Walter Bond: I’m like, hello. She’s a spirit or 100 200 400. We just moved here from Minnesota. Two weeks ago, she has not lost her race in Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa. What are you talking about, she’s a sprinter. He got no she can’t run with my girls.

Walter Bond: We want to find her and event. I’m upset I’m frustrated that I make a mistake, then he comes to me day

Walter Bond: He goes, Okay, I get it. She’s really a heptathlete but she’s too young. So I want to start her and triple john I’m like dude.

Walter Bond: What are you doing, we’ve been here for two weeks it long story short,

Walter Bond: I did my research, and he was a top coach in South Florida and got out the way and I let my coach that I chose do his job.

Walter Bond: My daughter’s in the in the in the in the sand pit in triple jump is a little bit of an awkward event.

Walter Bond: Man She looks like she’s about to tear her leg or ACL breaker ankle. She’s getting in the car frustrated and I’m like, you know, we got to trust the coach, man. Four months later they my daughter was an All American triple jumper.

Walter Bond: Four months later. Wow. And it taught me just all one that man knows how to coach to stay in your lane that

Walter Bond: Right, I didn’t know track. I know sports but I didn’t know track.

Walter Bond: But a coach’s job is to identify talent and then position that talent, so they they can reach their potential. Right. So the five work expressions that we teach our innovators.

Walter Bond: Initiator initiators instigators Improvers and implemented and in business. We only celebrate innovators, which is crazy to me that’s like watching the basketball game and we only celebrate the point guards. No other position matters, the pointer.

Walter Bond: In business, you mean opposition. You need innovators, right. You need initiators like Mark Zuckerberg. He’s an initiator.

Walter Bond: That was not his idea. He stolen right but he initiated, he brought it to life instigators okay

Walter Bond: I’ll stay bomber owner. The LA Clippers he’s an instigator if you watch this video for 30 seconds you were realized, he’s an instigator

Walter Bond: And I hate to say it is controversial. Our President Donald Trump is an instigator where he gets his who he is.

Walter Bond: And you mean instigators but sometimes instigators need to get coached because sometimes instigators or misunderstood and sometimes they spiral out of control. But the bottom line is an instigator should act as if like the immune system.

Walter Bond: You know, pick about our immune system if anything is not right. It attacks it

Walter Bond: And that’s the role of an instigator

Walter Bond: Not just to instigate for the sake of it, but really seeing what’s not right and attacking was not right, but we know also the immune system can overreact.

Walter Bond: And sometimes the immune system can get out of whack. So an instigator on a team is like Dennis Rodman

Walter Bond: You know, Draymond Green, you know, the Detroit Pistons had the bad boys and hockey, we call them the bruiser

Walter Bond: Right, you got to have an instigator and we teach this so well. We’ve had instigators that we’ve assessed call us and say, Walter. I got fired today and do. You’re right. You won’t need I overdid it like I want to win, but I just I just did it I over instigated

Walter Bond: Right, so we got to teach instigators

Walter Bond: How to instigate and that’s what coaches do so you got innovators, the initiators instigators and then you have improvers when I think about an improver I think Oprah Winfrey

Walter Bond: You know, I think, I think Nelson Mandela, I think Martin Luther King was an improver right he didn’t innovate anything

Walter Bond: But he improved the world he improves society and right inside of every company there improvers there’s instigators right there’s initiators

Walter Bond: And there’s implemented, when I think about implemented. That’s the Lee Iacocca jack Welch just workers just grinders. And so nothing about a team.

Walter Bond: You need to have a team that’s balanced with innovators initiators instigators improves the implements. I’m a sports guy. You can’t have five centers and think you’re going to win. You can have five point guards and think you’re going to win.

Walter Bond: You got to have a team that’s balanced with everyone playing their position and the coast directing traffic.

Walter Bond: And getting all these amazing town of the pieces working together like Richard coffee, who could only rebound.

Walter Bond: But my God my coke knew how to use that I was all around. I could do everything so he didn’t need to duplicate that Richard you rebirth and if we get either out rebound it, that’s your fault. Walter your versatile. So you give us what we’re lacking.

Walter Bond: In any situation. You’re so versatile. You become the wild card and una right Willie Burton, you can score. Do you just score your score your score and that’s how our great coach built a team.

Walter Bond: So if your team is that balance. You don’t have resources and we do case studies with BlackBerry. What happened to BlackBerry.

Walter Bond: Everyone had a blackberry phone now you can’t find one why something was flawed with their team. And so when we get inside of organizations and work with leaders to me. It’s not about leadership as much as it is, it is about teamwork because leader. Your job is to build a team.

Walter Bond: And so we give our leaders, a blueprint on how to build a high performing team and become an ultimate coach.

Walter Bond: Who understands their personnel, they understand the innovator, they understand the initiated instigated the implemented and that’s what great coaches doing football right they understand why receivers. Want to get touches

Walter Bond: They understand eroded back wants to get touches. They understand the quarterback wants to throw the ball is somehow they have an orchestra. They’re the maestro of the orchestra and get all this talent and all these pieces working together in harmony.

David Horsager: I love it. Well, you can find out more, and we’ll put that will put that in the show notes. But my goodness, those five. I love it. And we’ve talked about that. I still remember being in my boardroom at my last offices, when you were just

David Horsager: Heading back to Florida and talking through those five and the assessments and everything you’re building with creating high performing team so

Walter Bond: Let me say that David was saying is

Walter Bond: You inspire me. I mean, we don’t have to go deep on that but you inspired me. We had a we had a conversation he challenged me

Walter Bond: And you’re absolutely right. And since that conversation. You know, I had to work on me and really become more of just a performer.

Walter Bond: Right and really understand like, man, like I can really impact companies like I can really help organizations. He hit their goals. And so since we had our come to Jesus meeting.

Walter Bond: You know, my wife and I got in the lab and start started building content right and started developing a teamwork methodology that can can come and really help organizations.

Walter Bond: And I want to thank you for that and

Walter Bond: You know, you, you, you were the perfect

Walter Bond: Peer to really kind of jerk my chain a little bit and kind of say hey man, you know, you’re great keynote speaker. But, you know, we need more out of you.

Walter Bond: You know, let’s become a thought leader and a true consultant that can help organizations transform

Walter Bond: And we heard you loud and clear.

David Horsager: Well, I’m proud of what you’ve done. And maybe we, you know, we’re friends. So we can be direct with each other and that’s what I get paid to tell the truth, but I certainly wouldn’t want to tell two friends and

David Horsager: You’ve done some just amazing work in life and I’m so grateful grateful that we’re friends. So

David Horsager: Hey, we’re gonna go to a lightning round. Keep them real short here. Here we go. We got to wrap it up. I want to hear what you think about this one thing that motivates you.

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Walter Bond: Getting better

Walter Bond: You know force you have an off season. I love to get better.

David Horsager: Love it. What’s a book or favorite resource these days.

Walter Bond: Swim. Same with

David Horsager: You

Walter Bond: Um,

Walter Bond: You know, actually the first book that comes to my mind is traction

Walter Bond: Traction is a great book.

Walter Bond: Gina Whitman.

Walter Bond: Really helped me because I didn’t have a corporate background to really retraction and get some intel on how to really be a business leader has really helped our company as well. So traction

David Horsager: Yep, on the whole entrepreneurial operating system and

David Horsager: All that rocket fuels the next book if you’re if you’re into that kind of thing. It’s fantastic. What about any quick one. I know you got many but effectively or productivity tip.

Walter Bond: Look out first thing the morning

Walter Bond: Workout. Firstly,

David Horsager: Firstly, what’s your, what’s your, what’s your workout.

Walter Bond: Right now we’re walking right now I’m walking

Walter Bond: Into about two and a half miles. I’m gonna get up to about five miles and I come back and just do some push ups.

Walter Bond: Because you know when you’re when you’re in shape, physically, your mind is sharp as well and coach Haskins had a saying fatigue will make a coward out of us have us all.

Walter Bond: And as you get tired. That’s when you make mistakes. You’ll make turnovers. And so being in shape, physically, you know, releases all kind of endorphins that really helps our mental capacity.

Walter Bond: And so working as a great stress release. I’m thinking I’m being creative. I’m getting outside. So the first thing I do in the morning is go for really hard brisk walk and I’m eventually

Walter Bond: Progress into running

Walter Bond: Good Hope, but the studies have shown that just

Walter Bond: Just walking. Yeah. Is, is the most powerful exercise.

David Horsager: You know when I lost 50

David Horsager: Pounds and five and a half months in 2011 and basically have kept you know most of that off for a decade, almost

David Horsager: One of the things I got back to and you know I was as much as that wasn’t a basketball players all state and football and I love you know I love sports and stuff and

David Horsager: I remember this doctor saying, David, you can’t. You cannot run a cheeseburger and and the deal was, you know, you can’t eat that 2000 calorie deal. You can’t go you know you walk, you know,

David Horsager: Just exercise that off. So you got to think of what your input. You want to run a Ferrari or a Junker you got to put different fuel in the Ferrari.

David Horsager: But the other thing was, he said, you know, one of the best exercises is walking, actually, people think it’s swimming, swimming is great.

David Horsager: But walking, especially walking with wheat. Wait, so I still this morning. I got up and walked on the treadmill with these few pound weights and I walk and it just is a

David Horsager: It’s not high impact. I do elliptical and some other things, but it’s something I still have in my rhythm of working out this walking piece and there’s there’s some incredible health benefits just to walking

David Horsager: Briskly, as you said, so I love that idea. I don’t hear everybody say that and I had learned it from an executive coach, years ago, before I kind of decided that I needed to change.

David Horsager: My

David Horsager: What do you call it just make up. I guess I’ll say right so

David Horsager: Good. What, what’s one left one thing left on the bucket list for Walter bond.

Walter Bond: Ah, you know, for, for my wife and I both. I mean we we want to build a business that lives on beyond us.

Walter Bond: You know, in the model is Dale Carnegie, I mean this guy died in 1954 and he’s still relevant today because he created trainings that are helping people transform. And so for me.

Walter Bond: You know, being a kid and flunked out of high school, the ultimate bucket list for me will be able to leave a business and live on lives on beyond us.

Grant.

Walter Bond: You know that that’s the first thing that comes to my mind.

Walter Bond: Yeah. Also want to travel the world and and my wife. I love to travel. We love nice home you know we love nice houses, you know, so we Snowbird it for years. We just put out three kids to college.

Walter Bond: And so, you know, we like traveling and seeing amazing stuff and and we’re doing a cruise this summer on a Ritz Carlton. They got a new yacht. And so just doing cool stuff like that. But the biggest one is leaving a company that will live on beyond us.

David Horsager: Great.

David Horsager: Well, we’re working people. I got one last question for you, before I get to that. Where can people find out about you. Where’s the

David Horsager: Number one place to go.

Walter Bond: Walter bond.com you know everything kind of builds. From there, we have a bunch of websites and a bunch of different

Walter Bond: Divisions of our company. But Walter bond calm is is the best place and I want to encourage everyone to watch our video sharp mindset.

Walter Bond: We’ve had over 3.5 million views on YouTube, the Cleveland Browns football team.

Walter Bond: One of the coaches saw it on on YouTube and he had me in front of their team like 10 days later shark mindset. And that’s what we kind of break down what’s in the book swim with sharks run the ocean for reason and the shark mindset is a movement now that a lot of people enjoy

David Horsager: Well, that’s something you can be proud of. With how Cleveland’s playing this year compared to the last 17 years. So, you know, I often. In fact, I got one once introduced this way, where it’s like, yes, he spoken to Congress. Twice he must not be very good.

David Horsager: So at least you can say you you put that in front of

David Horsager: Cleveland and look at the turnaround they’ve had. So I

David Horsager: Love that.

David Horsager: Hey we we end the show with one simple question. It’s the trusted leader show who is a leader you trust and why

Walter Bond: Wow alive.

You Peck.

Walter Bond: You know Jesus Christ.

Walter Bond: You know Jesus Christ, I trust that dude.

Walter Bond: That is

Walter Bond: It since I’ve been calling them. That name is things have been working out so that that would be as as a mortal

Walter Bond: Again, Peter came from, you know, Jersey Mike’s subs. My God, like through the coronavirus I’ve seen him lead and they’re up like 20% they just opened 210 stores in a pandemic.

Walter Bond: So to me, his franchisees trust him. I made his franchisees will run through a wall for him. They’re doing renovations remodels and he’s paying for it.

Walter Bond: And we’re talking over 2000 locations that’s unheard of. Right. And so, you know, we talked about family environment and corporate america but very few people

Walter Bond: Really know how to build it and think mom and dad build trust, you know, Mom. Mom and Dad build trust over time. And I think that’s what great leaders do they build trust over time.

Walter Bond: And through your actions, it should become obvious that you love me and Peter can crow in the context of corporate america

Walter Bond: He led America know because through a pandemic. He was on TV, giving stuff away, you know, think about it through a pandemic. They gave $2 million to feeding America and they have a dad giving

Walter Bond: In April, where every store in America Jersey Mike’s they give the whole day proceeds to a charity.

Walter Bond: Of their choice. You know, so not only is he generous. He’s basically convinced his franchisees to become generous as well and Jersey Mike’s is coming on strong and a lot of it has to do with culture and Peter camp rose leadership.

David Horsager: Its culture its culture wins. Yes.

David Horsager: Well, everybody. We’ve heard a lot today and I a few things that come to mind for me. You must become a servant of your team, you can’t be a great leader and be selfish. At the same time, they just don’t go together.

David Horsager: Are you going to coach. Are you going to be a fruit inspector, you gotta let them, own it. If your employees.

David Horsager: You gotta let your employees know they can reach their potential here. There’s a whole lot more unless I love this. And this is so true unless you get down to the middle managers. You have not changed the culture.

David Horsager: All this and more. I hope you enjoyed the show. It’s been the trusted leader show what a gift. IT’S BEEN TO HAVE YOU ON Walter bond. Until next time, we’ll look forward to seeing you all stay trusted