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.