Welcome, everyone, to a special episode of Keep Leading LIVE™ and the Keep Leading!® Podcast, part of the C-Suite Radio Network, dedicated to leadership development and leadership insights. My name is Lou Diamond. Don’t change your channel and don’t worry, you’re in the right place because I’m your guest host for this very special program as this show marks the 100th episode of the Keep Leading!® Podcast. In honor of this historic and momentous occasion, we flip the script and turn the tables of this normal flow of this program because today you the listeners and the viewers on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube get a chance to hear from an incredibly important and wonderful individual on this planet. He’s passionate about leadership. He believes good leadership can transform businesses, communities, and the world. Keep Leading listeners, I bring you The Leadership Excelerator® and the host of the Keep Leading!® Podcast, Mr. Eddie Turner.

Lou, thank you very much. I knew I picked the right man for the job.

So, I am so glad to be here today for many reasons. One is that as a podcast host, I get to have my own forum but the opportunity to flip the script and host someone else who I admire, respect and someone who really has taken this platform, made it his own, and has elevated it and brought you some of the most unbelievable leaders, which we’ll address in a minute, some of the people have been on this program, to new heights to reach a huge milestone because, trust me, you must appreciate the milestones, great leaders do that, and a hundred episodes, Eddie Turner, you should be so proud of what you’ve accomplished just to date and I can’t wait to dig in deep with you and get you on the other side of the microphone for a change. Are you excited about this milestone you’ve reached?

Absolutely, Lou. And that’s why I wanted to bring in someone else, Lou Diamond, the golden voice, the Diamond voice, because this is a time for me just to kind of sit back and reflect. And if I am doing the talking and doing everything, especially for the live show as we’re doing this, it’s not as easy for me to be in reflective mode. And so, I’m looking forward to this conversation with you and other folks who are joining us. As a matter of fact, before I tell you what I was going to say next, let me share that my friends Eduardo is joining all the way from Argentina.

Eduardo Ricciary.

Hello from Argentina. Excellent. Look at what you’ve got, friends.

I love this guy. He’s amazing. He and I used to work together. It’s been seven, eight years now since he and I worked together but a great guy. Thank you for tuning in all the way from Argentina, Eduardo.And then Dr. James who was actually a guest, I won’t try to remember which number she was, but she and I studied at Harvard together and she was a guest on the show probably somewhere in the 40s or 50-episode range.

The listeners need to know this and the viewers as well. I just wanted to give a quick snapshot of these hundred episodes just to give a list. This is just a spattering of the people that have been on this program. Jeffrey Hayzlett, Connie Fife, Phil M. Jones, Tony Chatman, Dr. Laura Sicola, Simon T. Bailey, Joel Block, Marcia Reynolds, Julia Lewis, Dr. Marshall Goldsmith, Lenora Billings-Harris, JJ Ramberg, Beth Polish, Karl Mecklenburg, both Karen Jacobsens, the doctor and the GPS girl, Shae Brown, Alain Hunkins, Ramon Ray and tens of dozens of others have been on this program. These are some of the best speakers, leaders, coaches, developers out there and you have had a chance to sit on the other side and absorb some of their brilliance and share their brilliance with the world. First of all, even hearing all these things has been amazing.

In fact, this year April was the one-year anniversary of the show. So, I did a special episode, number 60, in April to celebrate the one year and I tried to figure out what 10 people can I highlight. And that’s hard, as you know, because you’ve got a great show, right? By the way, you didn’t mention guest number one. So, I was trying to figure out “Which 10 do I feature?” So, I picked here for the first 60 and then it was hard, again, when I was thinking about, this is 40 episodes that we’re going to, right? Number 94 drops this week. And in fact, early access is available on the Keep Leading!® Podcast website KeepLeadingPodcast.com but the other six are going to trickle out. So, I was trying to figure out “What 10 of the 40 do I highlight?” Is it those names that you said or is it the number one CEO coach, Mark Thompson, the number one startup coach, Alyssa Cohn, is it New York Times bestselling author Chester Elton, the Apostle of Appreciation and the Guru of Gratitude? I was going through my list and I’m like “I don’t know which folks to pull out. There’s just so many people but, as you said, many of them have come from the speaking community or the Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches community, a group that I’m so excited to be a part of. So, just some of the best of the best, for sure.

I look at it this way, Eddie, and I’ll get to this towards the end of this conversation. You have a persona, I always joke that you’re like … for those who’ve ever had the opportunity to meet Eddie Turner in person, we’re talking about an individual who is as likable … He’s the big teddy bear. He is the big teddy bear. I mean, I get to him and I feel like I’m getting engulfed whenever I see him and I can’t wait till we get to a world of lack of virtual hugs, we can actually do a nice bro hug and say hello to one another.

The good old days.

But there’s a reason that 99, 100 some odd people have been on this program and that is because any one of these people will step up to connect with you because you’ve done something on this program that I think I want to start our conversation and our questions which I think is just spectacular and that is that you have found how important leadership is to the world, not just a business or a community but literally to changing the world and you wanted to highlight that. So, before you had one of your best episodes of your entire 100, which would be your first, obviously, because I was fortunate enough to be in that spot and I’m honored to be here today, I wanted to ask the question when you came up with the concept of Keep Leading!®, did you have this vision that you would have the ability to tap into such great people. Was that what it was from the very beginning that you knew a lot of people and wanted to bring those folks to your listeners and to an audience?

Oh, absolutely. I started thinking about all the people that I’ve been blessed to meet and develop relationships with. And some, obviously, I know better than others but just the fact that we’ve had that chance meeting or we’ve developed a bond and I’m thinking “I know some pretty awesome people and their views affect me,” all right? As Walter Brown once said you’re the sum of the five people that you associate with. So, I wanted other people to get a chance to know these people and to learn from them as well and I’m really passionate about leadership. I used to be an information technology professional. I revamped my entire career around this one word. And the biggest lesson I learned is, I always say it in the show, it’s not once leader, always a leader. You must continuously work on being a leader. And I don’t remember how I came up with it but one day I was just sitting down as we do when we’re brainstorming things and I’m like “You got to keep leading.” And then that’s how the show became Keep Leading!®.

Let’s talk about sitting on the side of the microphone that I’m on now and that you’re on there. Can you share with the listeners some of the gifts you’ve had and learned in being a podcast host because not many people get to sit in this seat? And I, fortunately, host a bunch of programs and we’re not going to talk about those today because we’re here to talk about this experience that you have. Can you share with the listeners what it’s like to be on that side of the microphone each episode when you connect with these incredible people?

Illuminating is probably the first word that comes to my mind. Illuminating. One of the biggest surprises, there were a couple things I anticipated would come from having a show, the one that I did not anticipate is how much I would learn. And I find myself quoting my guests all the time. And even if I give a presentation and people ask me a question, I will tell them about the guests I interviewed, point them to the show. And on my website, there’s always a listing of that person’s website and all their social media information, their books. It gives me a chance to continue to highlight these people I’m passionate about but I just have an encyclopedia of knowledge now, that part I didn’t count on.

It’s one of the greatest secrets of all. It’s the best classroom I’ve ever gotten a chance to be on is to sit in this seat because …

Really, it’s a classroom. I never thought about it like that.

It is a classroom. I actually, at the end of any episode that I host on my program, I’ve listened to many of your episodes, and what I could tell you whether you’re a listener or whether even the guest that you’re featuring, there’s an engagement that’s happening with that host, your natural charisma is coming up but the questions that you’re asking and pulling from these great people is like the best bright light you can find for that day. I’ll actually find, I just listened, by the way, to the Ramon Ray episode because Ramon was a guest on my show and I love Ramon …

Oh, he’s the best.

And I was smiling at the end of the episode and I want to now flip this to you. At the end of each episode, do you feel almost like “It feels good. It’s got this energy” because I know you, I know when you’re like “Oh man, that was a good one.” Tell me about that vibe that you get after the show is over when you interview a guest. What do you feel, Eddie?

That’s actually an interesting question, Lou. When the episode has concluded, there are some that you go “Wow! That was something special,” right? We think all the episodes are great but there are some that you’re left speechless. When I did the anniversary episode, there’s a couple that I highlighted that I just continue to say that about. I think all of them have been great but when you interview someone like Dave Sanderson, the last passenger off of the flight in the Miracle on the Hudson, I was trembling the entire interview just listening to him tell that story, right? John, I called him Father John, and so now his last name is escaping me, I can’t believe this, episode number 16.

You remember the episode number but the name, it’s totally never going to hit you.

Yes, I can’t believe I’m forgetting John’s name because he was someone who was like a father figure. And in the middle of the episode, I usually do the introductions and then go straight into it, in the middle of the episode, I asked him one question. He sent me into a completely different direction. And usually when that happens, you kind of want to bring it back this way. Some said “Eddie, go with him” and I went with him. And it was a lesson where I felt like I’m capturing history. When that was over, I felt like “Wow! I just opened an encyclopedia.” He was 80 years old. He’d never done a podcast before, hadn’t even listened to a podcast before and he was so excited to have done that with me and I was excited to do it with him. And he heard his episode and he died about six weeks later. And so, that was one that even when I think about it, it still gets me kind of choked up. John Lewis’ name is in my head because of the civil rights figure. I cannot believe I’m forgetting John’s name. It will come to me.

This is what the listeners need to know. As a good host will now start talking …

Perry. John Perry.

John Perry, rest in peace.

I think it’s number 16.

Something that I noticed and I wanted to see if you have as well, when you start off a podcast program, you don’t know where it’s going to go, you don’t know if it’s going to be successful, if you’re going to enjoy it, if it fits into all the things that you do but this is literally custom tailored to what you do. I think the listeners who follow this program know this about Eddie. His passion for leadership comes out and that’s what makes the show so engaging.Now, while as guest number one on the program, you could tell it was an engaging conversation between the two of us. I listened to some of your later episodes, the spottier ones like a number 30, number 50, number 60 and most recently even 90s. Can you tell how much of a better interviewer you’ve become, Mr. Eddie Turner?

I can. And thank you, Valerie. She was just chiming in about the story about John Perry.

Hello, Valerie.

I have found that doing the show, that’s another benefit, good point, that it carries over other to aspects of my life so much so sometimes I have to almost catch myself that I am not in interview mode in other areas but it does carry over, absolutely, because one of the things I do is I’m a moderator on panels. And so, obviously, by training and by profession I’m a coach. And so, I think that the coach is at the heart of everything. And to be able to do it real time in an interview fashion, it just definitely carries over.

I would actually argue, it’s really funny, great coaches are great listeners. Great leaders are great listeners. And it’s kind of a rather ironic thing, I think, because your show is for the listeners to hear great lessons from amazing leaders out there. Yet, the one who’s benefiting the most ironically is you because you sit in that seat where you get to have access to these incredible leaders in this conversation and you get to listen and, as you just said so well, like you let the conversation go into the direction that that guest is taking it. And that’s what really great coaches do to explore new avenues so that the guests can learn something great or in this particular case your clients but the ones who benefit are the listeners because your content is incredible. And that’s what I will say as a listener of your program. You have done a great job of highlighting and getting the show and the platform up and running but when you get into it, when you’re in it, it’s a phenomenal listen because you’re really tapping into some brilliance that your guests have and I’ve noticed this. So, kudos to you from one podcaster to another. Your ability to unearth and draw this stuff out, I hope you’re able to appreciate that.

Yeah, it’s been an amazing journey because, as you know, our friend Dory Clark says the average podcast lasts six to seven episodes or, I think, it was six months or twelve episodes, shorter, it’s short but I thought it was like six months or 12 episodes is the length of the podcast. And so, to reach this milestone has definitely been something that I’m really proud of. And so many people helped me to get here and you were part of that first group that I talked to and I took a little from you, I took a little from Jeff, a little from Julie, a lot of different folks who gave me ideas and then said “Okay, here’s the mash and here’s my version of that.” And it’s such a great honor to be a part of the C-Suite Radio family, of course, where we’ve gotten a lot of support and definitely appreciate that relationship and being with those folks but real quick, I want to just highlight a couple of the major things that have happened. Obviously, the launch. And then something very interesting happens during the launch and that is if you want to become an Amazon bestseller, we know how to get somebody on that list but to get on Apple’s New and Noteworthy list …

You’re sealing my thunder, man!

There’s no algorithm for that. So, hitting that and staying there for eight weeks was incredible. And then later on, of course, making it for the year but then when corona hit, I wasn’t sure, Lou, it’s like there’s this amazing doctor I listened to in our meetings with Dr. Marshall Goldsmith and Dr. Julie … I’m back with babes, that’s one of my Achille’s heels … Dr. Julie, and I use her products all the time but I’m forgetting her last name all of a sudden.

We’ll just call her Dr. Julie for now.

Dr. Julie and I wanted to get her on my show. And so, to get her on the show, as you know, I’m now at a point where my I’m booked out three or four months when I record them. And so, I said “How can I get her on immediately?” because the thing she’s talking about, listeners need to know. And so, that gave birth to the live show that we’re doing right now. So, Keep Leading LIVE™ was born in May as a result of trying to get her information out there. So, now we take these live episodes and we convert them later on to regular audio episodes because 20% of the people listen to this show on their Apple Watch is what the analytics are showing me.

Wow!

I don’t listen to myself when I’m running but other people are. So, I’m excited about that.

This is what I’ll tell the listeners should know this as it relates to the behind the scenes of podcasting. People have no idea that it isn’t just about recording an episode. And I’m sure you’ve learned this from putting together the music, the sponsorship video for those that saw this ahead of time. You have sponsors and promotions which I’m going to give them a plug to in about a minute here to do a really good job as a guest host, those that are helping to promote, bring awareness. You’ve got a time window, that the show’s got to work under a certain timeline. So, what people don’t understand about great podcast programs that have lasted 100 some odd episodes and then some are they’ve figured out a formula of great guests, great content but there is so much work behind it. And my question to you as the guest here, Eddie, would you have ever imagined there’s this much work to put together a podcast show?

No, that’s the other big surprise. We’re in 80 countries now, we’re doing a show every week but I had no idea how much work is involved if you want to do it right.Someone else who I worked with years ago is chiming again. Pablo! Hello, sir!

They’re chanting “Eddie! Eddie! Eddie!” I like that.

I didn’t notice that. Yeah, I just noticed that. Yeah, you’re right. I see the one two three exclamation marks. Pablo is a great guy. He is one of our oil industry leaders here in the Greater Houston area.

Excellent. Hold on, if it’s all right with you because it’s your show but I’m taking over the range here. Can I give a note to our sponsor here?

Yes, these people help me keep going and keep leading. So, please, give a shout out to my sponsors. First of all, this is a chance for them to have a professional orator do the reading. So, I’m going to step out of the way.

I’ll do this one. This is for the Grand Heron International. The key to sustainable leadership lies in the ability to thrive during uncertainty, ambiguity, and change. Grand Heron International brings you the Coaching Assistance Program, giving your employees on-demand coaching to manage through a challenging situation and arrive at a solution. Visit GrandHeronInternational.ca/Podcast to learn more.With that, we have other sponsors. Hold on one second. I’m going to go read this one because you gave me the list of this thing. And should I read all of them?

Yes, absolutely.

Because you’ve got a bunch of them here. And he wanted to read? He’s going to get a read.

They all have paid.

They all have paid. They’re following from the American Express, StandForSmall.com, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, LaunchWithGS.com, AT&T, Progressive, Wal-Mart, Kroger, TIAA, Dropbox, 4X, Marriott from Marriott Boundless Card, C-Suite Radio, and the C-Suite Network, turning up the volume on business and, obviously, as you all know here, the Keep Leading!® Podcast which is what this program is about. Thank you for all your sponsors, all your folks there.Now, let’s get back to our interview here with the host of the Keep Leading!® Podcast, Eddie Turner.

And we want to thank Sunday for chiming in as well. Thanks for the job you did on that, Lou.

Yes, excellent. And as you can tell for those looking out here, the podcast has evolved. You mentioned it that now here we’re doing a live feed on LinkedIn, Facebook, YouTube, it’s everywhere. Hold on. We have sponsors interacting with this. Everyone wishing you a happy 100, Eddie.I have my own messages of people who sent this from my own feed here. You have thank you’s from Drew Tarvin, Jill Schiffelbein, Phil M. Jones, Sylvie De Giusto, Tammy and Corey. All send their best congratulations here on your 100.

Those are all people who I absolutely love.

This is actually one of the biggest challenges that great content creators have. And I think this is something you need to now understand. When you get to 100 episodes, Eddie, because this is a rare audience you’re in here, 100 episodes means that you’ve got something that is working great, has moved on and obviously you already mentioned this, you’ve got a queue for three months out for other guests that are coming on.Let’s do what I do on my program right now because this will be fun. Can you share what’s coming up for Keep Leading!® Podcast and Keep Leading LIVE™ down the road? Not new guests but other ideas because I know you, Eddie, I know that there’s more to this, there’s other things coming up on the horizon as you’re trying to think on the fly here. What other things are coming on the program on your platform so we can share that right now?

Well, this is one of the. I’m always innovating and trying different things and experimenting. So, having a guest host. And you and I did not prepare, people may not know that, you and I have not talked, I sent you a text, I said “Would you host the show?”, you said “Yes,” we did a graphic and here we are, right? So, unscripted. I wanted to be at the water cooler like you and I are catching up. So, this is one thing but here’s the other thing, Lou. I haven’t even told you this.

This is why we asked the question.

So, I normally am definitely ahead and you and I actually really scheduled this for next month, if I want this to come out as an audio episode, I need to do it now.

Timing is always a challenge for anyone who wants to host a podcast program. Anyway, yes.

They have the whole cue done for me but I realized this is the one that still needed to get done. So, this is going to be episode number 100 but right before this one, I just interviewed Bonnie Harvey and Michael Houlihan of Barefoot Wine.

I love them.

So, they’re coming out. We got that done. This is the last live show yeah and this is the last show that’ll be recorded for 90 days, okay? So, I’m taking off all of January because my wife and I are welcoming my first child. I feel like I’m too old for this, Lou. Your kids are grown. All my best friends, their kids are grown but I’m having my first child.

This is the best news on the podcast. This is like a fresh release. At least to me, that’s big. Congratulations, by the way.

So, I want to give that whole month of January to my daughter. So, January, there will be no episodes. You’ll probably see me dumping out a few of the older shows that I’ve run because they’re still evergreen, I love the content but new episodes will start back in February. There’ll be two episodes a month for all of 2021 as I won’t have the energy and bandwidth, so people tell me. It comes with being a new father. So, we’re just going to do two episodes a month. So, those episodes are all recorded. I’ll start back recording in March to go for the balance of the year but the episodes all the way through March are all recorded and can’t wait to share these folks with everybody.

So, the advantage of having a professional podcast host, host your show is that one, you know that you’ll get the things that you had done, done in the time frame you need to. That’s what I would promise, Eddie, and make sure I deliver to all the listeners here but what Eddie doesn’t know is that I’m going to put him on his toes because he loves to be prepared for stuff but I just like throwing him off balance a little bit. So, we’re going to do something that we do on my show which you have never done even though you’ve been a guest, you’re guest number 154 on the Thrive Loud Podcast and that was over three years …

Yeah, what number are you up to now, like 990?

The Thrive Loud Podcast is well into the 500s. At the time of the airing of this, we’re probably at the 555^th.

That’s incredible. We have a triple nickel episode.

That’s another podcast but we’re not here to do that. What we’re going to do here is, Eddie, we’re going to take you down fun street because I think your listeners really would find this valuable because these are things that are important to you and I will end my last bit of fun street on a signature question that you ask on your program.So, permission, Eddie Turner, to go down fun street with me on your program.

Okay.

Okay, a song that you love to hear that pumps you up or gets you motivated? Think of it like the speed round of Family Feud, the thing that comes to your head.

The song that pumps me up doesn’t come to mind but I can tell you the song that always does it for me and puts me in my special place.

Yes.

One of the things you don’t know, I don’t think you know this is that you used to be a saxophonist.

I did know that from Tony Chatman.

We were hanging out at his house, yes.

That’s right.

Tony Chatman, another guest.

Another guest. I wouldn’t leave Tony out. He’d be very mad.

I love Tony. So, yes. And so, I used to do a lot of Kenny G music. So, whenever Going Home comes on, that’s my song. In fact, I was playing that for my wife on her belly. I don’t pull out my horn very much anymore but I pulled it out and it was amazing to have my daughter responding to that. Even she was telling me to shut up because she didn’t like it but she started kicking my wife.

She was kicking to the beat. Let’s go with that. I think she’s going to be doing that.

So, Kenny G, Going Home. That is my song that whenever I hear that song, everything’s going to be all right. It puts me in a different space.

Okay, Eddie. So, a favorite food of yours that’s not a dessert.

Oh, that’s easy. I’m from Chicago and I live in Texas now and I’d say that Texans don’t know what pizza tastes like. I am a pizza snob.

Now, I’m a new yorker and you’re from Chicago.

Oh, yeah, I fight with you guys about it all the time. No, it’s one type of pizza.

Chicago style stays ahead.

You guys fold and all that kind of, I argue with you guys about that all the time.

Neither of us are fully Italian. So, we won’t be able to argue that way. A favorite dessert.

That’s tougher. My wife says I haven’t met a dessert I don’t like. A favorite dessert, I’m going to say ice cream just to keep it simple.

Okay. An activity you wish you did more of.

Exercise.

An activity you wish you did less of.

Work.

If you could snap your fingers, Eddie Turner, and go anywhere in the world, where are you?

Borbor.

Eddie, you’ve had over a hundred guests on the program to date. We know there’s some cued up here. You’ve had some unbelievable leaders out there and you asked each of those guests what their favorite leadership quote, favorite leadership lesson is. So, Eddie, is it fair to stay, at least at this point and 100 episodes in, do you, Eddie Turner, host of Keep Leading!® Podcast and Keep Leading LIVE™, have a favorite leadership quote or a leadership lesson that you would like to share with your listener?

Oh, nice move. I see what you did there, Lou. Well, of course, right behind me is my book. So, most of my favorite quotes are in here. That’s why I wrote this because I quote a lot of people and my favorite quote, I would probably say, in this instance would be my last quote. Let me read my last quote which is, most of them are from other people but this one is mine, “Being an emergent leader does not mean you are not already a leader. You are a leader. You have potential for even greater leadership capacity. Keep developing. Keep growing. Keep emerging.” And now I add “Keep leading” because at the time I hadn’t made the show but, yeah, that was something that really meant a lot to me because so many people, if they don’t have a leadership title, feel they can’t lead. And it was a long time before I realized that my own journey to leadership that I had that capacity and I started leading and didn’t know how to necessarily define what I was doing but it was later on when I went to different programs and studied at different universities that I started to then have the academic language to use for how you do this. And so, that one means a lot to me.

Eddie Turner, we are here 33 some odd minutes in. I did the average. This is about the average time of your episode. And I wanted, first of all, to do something that you should know. One, I am personally honored that you asked me to host this particular episode, get a chance to put you on the other side of the mic even though you tried to jump back over onto this side because I know that’s you. I think every listener to this episode, every viewer on LinkedIn, Facebook, and YouTube is thrilled that you’ve created this platform. It’s a gift that you’ve given to us. So, we thank you for it. Congratulations on 100 episodes and 100 more, 200 more, whatever number you want to keep going. Keep leading this podcast forward, my friend, because we love it.

I appreciate that. And it just came back to me. I cannot leave out Dr. Julie Rosenberg. Dr. Julie Rosenberg, she is absolutely amazing and I want people to know about her because also, she was responsible for giving me a lot of tips for different exercises you need to do and different supplements to use during COVID to boost your own natural immunity. So, I want folks to check out her page on the Keep Leading!® Podcast website.And then also Sonya Ware who’s an amazing woman, one of our coaching leaders here in the Houston community. She is sending her hello to me and I appreciate her so much.

And from Northwestern University, Anne Marie.

Anne-Marie, she was a guest on your show. Anne-Marie Heidingsfelder. Yes? No?

No, Anne Marie is in our coaching community as well. I have to remember where everybody’s from and she’s from the east coast.

Eddie, this is the problem that you have when you have 100 episodes. You’ve got too many guests, you have so many fans, you have so many people tapping in and people who are incredibly proud. And I just hope that you can appreciate these milestones, which I think you do. And if you ever want to just sit back and step back, you could say “Wow! I got Lou Diamond to host my 100th episode. It must be a big deal.”I also want to let you know that I don’t usually get dressed up that much anymore because, like many of us, we don’t have to go out too much. I put on the dates for you. I saw 100. I was going to even put a party hat on.

I appreciate that, Lou. You look good, man. You look good.

I have to keep up with you, man. I may lead you in podcast episode host but as it relates to looking good, Eddie Turner owns that. And Eddie Turner, soon to be papa Turner. I like that. Can I call you papa? Because that’s exciting news and seriously, you enjoy every minute of that, enjoy that bit of joy. I’m glad you’re taking time off to be the dad that you want to be in that moment. And trust me, maybe you could pass the baton when you get to episode 1000th off to the little one and make them do voiceovers. Just to let you know, some of my kids have done voiceovers for my shows, if you listen really carefully. It’s an opportunity.

See? That’s the advantage of having gotten your children of age and you can do those things. I’m just starting this. I’m going to be trying to figure everything out. I saw someone the other day. I’ve never felt more incompetent in my life. So, I’m like trying to figure stuff out.

You just wait. You just wait.

My wife has been reading books and watching videos and she’s like “No, we got to do this now because you can’t do classes right now with COVID, right? Well, you can do on zoom but not quite the same. So, we’re doing all these little things to get ready but looking forward to really seeing if I can keep leading as a parent.

Well, we know you will. And, I think, my heart and all the listeners and viewers out there, congratulations, continued success on Keep Leading!® Podcast and Keep Leading LIVE™ and this great platform that you put together. It’s inspirational, it’s motivational and it is truly what you are all about. and I know that all the listeners out there will continue to listen for the next several hundred episodes more to great content that you put forward. So, thank you, Mr. Eddie Turner.

And thank you, Lou.

And hold on, I’m going to sign off your show. Remember that leadership is an activity. It’s action. We must be a leader at our core. So, whatever you do … Eddie, take us out here … keep leading.

Always keep bleeding.Thanks everybody. Thanks, Lou. You’re the best.

And as we conclude, Marianne Shank, thank you for saying all the way from … I always butcher it. I always want to say Sweden. It’s not Sweden.

Norway?

Not Norway.

Denmark?

It’s Switzerland. I do that every time.

It’s all beautiful people.

She’s supporting me in every show when I do the live ones. Thank you, Marianne. I owe you. Thank you.

Great. Got them coming in from all different forums. They came in from Facebook, from LinkedIn, from YouTube. You’re a man of many platforms. Look at you. It’s excellent.

All right, we’ll sign it off. Thanks so much.

Hello, everyone. This is Eddie Turner, host of the Keep Leading Podcast, the podcast. In today’s episode, we will be reminded of the fact that we cannot truly thrive without powerful connections. To do so, we have to master the art of connecting. We’ll learn how to do that by listening to Lou Diamond right after this message.

Hello, everyone. Welcome to the Keep Leading Podcast, the podcast dedicated to leadership development and leadership insights. I’m your host Eddie Turner, the Leadership Excelerator. I work with leaders to accelerate performance and drive impact.I am incredibly excited today to interview a man with a golden voice. And when you hear his name, his name really says it all, but let me tell you a little bit about my first guest. For over 25 years he’s been a top sales performer, keynote speaker and performance mentor. He is also the CEO of Thrive, making the most amazing people, businesses and brands become even more amazing through the power of connecting. When he isn’t speaking or working on his top-rated Thrive LOUD Podcast, he’s watching his kids grew up way too fast, obsessing over how bad his sports teams are or listening to country music and playing some not so great golf.

Please join me and welcome in from New York City bestselling author, podcaster and former club DJ Lou Diamond.

I’m taking you on the road, Eddie. People say I have the golden voice. You are smooth, my friend. Thank you so much for having me and thank you for that intro.

Oh, man. Lou, welcome to the show. And I got to tell you, Lou, it wasn’t until I read your bio that I was reminded of the fact that you were a DJ in the past. And I didn’t know that until Influence last year, Influence 2018, because you were out there, dude. You got some moves. And I had no idea. I’m looking at you on the dance floor and I say, looking at you on the dance floor because I have no rhythm and I’m on the sidelines, and I asked you where did you learn how to move like that and that’s when you told me that you were a DJ. So just give us a little bit of insight on that.

Yeah. So I think my parents have still been left in the dark on this one. So I grew up in the ‘80s. I think that’s pretty fair. And I think as a New York City kid I always wanted to be cool, rap music was just coming on the scene, club music was out there and I actually had an older friend that I hung out with over the summer who actually had a DJ company. So I was in high school when he was in college. And he actually got these really cool gigs at some places in New York City that are pretty famous. He was actually a popular DJ at Webster Hall. And there were a couple of times I backed him up and that led to him maybe not being able to show up a couple of times and me sneaking into the city in the middle of the night of a weeknight and actually DJ. And I DJ’ed at Webster Hall. I DJ’ed at a place called Limelight. For those who know New York City, these are pretty popular places from back then and it was DJ Louis D back then.

DJ Louis D.

Yes. And that was back in the days of still actually spinning records. There might have been some cassettes that we mixed in as well but for the most part, CDs hadn’t come out yet. So that was actually like real DJ work but I loved dance music, I loved dancing and what you might have had a little bit of liquid courage in me but that’s something I’ve always been. I’ve always liked being on the stage. I’ve always liked doing moves. I did shows and stuff like that when I was in high school and I always loved to dance. I will say that something in those moves I did probably warranted maybe putting them away a little bit. I need to get a little bit more flexible, trying to reenact my teenage years and bring them to life but those DJ days are long behind me and I think I’ve moved on since then but it was always good to bring up and remind others and myself that, yeah, I actually did that.

And move on you did. You’ve now moved on from DJ and being Louis D to really connecting people in amazing ways. And I’d love to hear it because you and I, we met and became friends as a part of the founding C Suite Network Advisor 100 Group in New York City. Do you remember that night?

It was a great night and I can’t remember if it was the first night or the second night because I remembered it was one long day thing. We actually ended up going out to dinner. Sylvie di Giusto was there as well at dinner. That’s when I really got to hang out and chat with you more and a lot of unbelievable thought leaders that have become really close friends of mine and business associates. So, yeah, I remember that instance. And my book was just coming out at that particular point. So I remember you and I were even talking before your book came out, the whole process of writing a book and marketing it and then communicating that message. And you saw me that first time back at that meeting in New York City and wherever we meet, I love meeting people and I love helping people meet people. And somehow I kind of decoded all the skills that you need on how to connect with other individuals and how companies can do that as well. And that has kind of been my specialty.

Yeah, I remember you telling me, Lou, that your book was coming out and your book went on to become a bestseller. So you wrote Master The Art Of Connecting. And it’s such a great book. I have the physical hard copy in front of me, paperback edition, and I also have a Kindle edition.Now tell our listeners how important is connecting for leaders?

It is maybe the most essential skill. Yet it is probably the most underestimated and underrated skill that great leaders, great salespeople, and great marketers, all need to have is the ability to connect. And I recognize that everyone thinks that there are people who sell or people who market and people who lead and there are avenues and ways that you can follow those practice lines effectively and with tremendous success and obviously learn your lessons along the way and there are many practices in each one of those silos. Yet without the ability to connect as your underlying baseline, you cannot succeed or you cannot thrive in each of those specific fields. And recognizing how you can do that and when you focus on, what I like to call, your connecting core, which are those muscles that you have that enable you to lead well, that enable you to sell well, that enable you to market and brand yourself effectively, when you stretch those muscles and flex them, you actually don’t have to worry so much about going out and connecting with others or networking with others. What ends up happening is if you do it properly, others want to be drawn in and come connect with you.

Interesting. Do you have a situation of someone who you’ve coached or one of your readers who has told you about how they have made the shift and it’s worked for them as a leader?

Yeah, I’m going to give a very recent situation. And I want to make this key part that’s important. When you think of a great leader, you always think of the face of an organization and a lot of people have that perception from the outside because there are many more people that are outside of an organization than those that are inside, I mean, except maybe the US government. That might be the only one that the math is a little different but for most companies that’s the truth. There are many more people outside. So the face of this CEO and how the CEO connects that brand or that product or that service or that organization to the rest of the world kind of flows through the leader of the company. What we often forget about though is that only works really well if the CEO is connecting to the people within the company, their peers. Is the CEO actually really understanding the ins and outs of the people in his organization of how they work together, how they communicate? Has he created a culture that has enabled people to be successful, that offers fluidity in the way they communicate, so much so that a great leader connects through to his people and they connect to each other in what I love to call a connecting culture where they embody those muscles which, I guess, I can talk about, Eddie, here within the organization. And I’ll share them with your listeners here.Very simply, I call it the SAFE. I’ll work backwards, just to be difficult. E is the power of empathy, the ability to stand in the shoes of another and see things from their perspective and their world. Great leaders do this effectively not just with other clients and external people but, obviously, as I mentioned, internally, to understand what the learning curve is for a junior person that’s just joined the firm, someone who’s been there a long time, the assets and values that they have and where their careers are trying to go, where the area of expertise that they have that they might be able to share with another organization. Great leaders can help bring those people together.

F is a fearless mindset and that is the ability to move through the fears that hold you back into courage. We all have fears, Eddie, and great leaders are the ones who know how to help their organization address those fears, understand what they are and how to move through them as best as they can by recognizing them, identifying them, and figuring out the best code on how they can deliver successfully through that fear.

A is authenticity. By the way, when I think of authenticity, if I put a picture in a dictionary next to it, it’s the face of Eddie Turner. When you think of people who are honest, direct, heartwarming, really authentic and genuine, I think of exactly someone like yourself, incredibly authentic. And it’s that characteristic that we look for in many different people but for people to shine through their own authenticity, their own uniqueness in an organization, what great leaders are able to almost unearth and bring forward because great companies and great leaders have the ability to make sure that people are using what the S is in our last working backwards for the word SAFE, which is their superpower, their super why – why they are in this organization, why they are on this planet and that’s living and breathing their superpower each and every day.

Summarizing this as best as I could, Eddie, a great leader is able to unleash the SAFE of your connecting core within everyone in their organization. And when that happens, your organization moves onward and upward and starts to thrive.

Wow! Really well said. Thank you for sharing that and I appreciate the acronym that our listeners will be able to use as a mnemonic to be able to remember. Thank you.

You’re welcome.

Well, what I’d like to do here is just pause for a quick word from our sponsor.

We’re back. I invite you to subscribe to the Keep Leading Podcast and share with your friends. Please leave a review for me on iTunes so I know you’re out there and I know what you’re thinking. If you leave a review for me on iTunes or share this podcast on social media, please tag me and then send me a message so I’ll know. I’ll send you a digital copy of my bestselling book 140 Simple Messages To Guide Emerging Leaders and I’ll also give you a shout out on social media and on the Keep Leading Podcast.Okay, everyone. So we’re back with Lou Diamond, the CEO of Thrive and the author of the bestselling book Master The Art Of Connecting. So Lou gave us a very nice tool we can use, the SAFE mnemonic that we can use as a memory aid.

And now, Lou, I want to talk about another memory that you give readers in your book. This is a tool that you use every time you meet someone new for the first time that helps in connecting. Can you share that with us, please?

Yeah, this is one of the more unique visual aids you’ll ever see in your life. The best way to describe this is how I see people, Eddie, and it was a helpful tool for me because I guess everyone always knew my name because Lou Diamond is a tough him to forget. It’s kind of funny. It sounds like a show name. People always might say “Are you Lou Diamond Phillips? Are you the singer Neil Diamond?”

You were born a celebrity.

Born a celebrity, exactly, but there is some difficulty to that and that is that not everyone else has as memorable of a name. And therefore for some reason I have not always been very good at names. So I needed not necessarily mnemonics but I needed to understand the visual assets, for lack of a better word, of what that person was about so I can connect my own memory of who this person was if I met someone. So I’ll use Eddie as a good example here, Eddie Turner. By the way, one of the things I always think about you is you’re a very tall man, larger than life with the biggest smile, but believe it or not, when I look at Eddie, I don’t just see Eddie and the smile and this very good looking gentlemen. Kind of around him I see these visual assets. So I know that Eddie went to Northwestern University and I know he got an advanced degree at Harvard University and I see those logos and I also know that Eddie actually wears a Harvard logo ring on his finger. And I have visuals of those when I see him or when I’m talking to him just as I am right now. And I know Eddie’s also got a certain attire, he’s always well put together – tie and jacket and suit. And he also comes from Houston and I think of the city of Houston and I’ve associated him with the C Suite. So those logos or those images, I actually see floating around Eddie. And then within that I also think of the people that I know through Eddie as well. So I’ll go back to that initial story I started in the beginning. The first time I met you, I met you with one of my favorite people on the planet Sylvie di Giusto who has her own many visual descriptions and we all love her but I see these images around Eddie. And imagine if you would, it’s almost like Eddie has an orbit around him. And the assets that he has in his life, his wife and, and I remember him when he had his wedding pictures and all that stuff that he got out there and the social media pictures because, by the way, if I was able to store all of them, I’d imagine every single one of them around. These visual devices for me enable me when I see someone walk in a room, I almost see them as if they’re like surrounding you like clouds in a planet. And the reason that I do this is this is actually Eddie’s world. And I could see the visual assets outside of it. And when I meet another individual, maybe in a networking situation or other people that I see and I see them similarly, obviously, with different assets but maybe they’re overlapping assets in there. I know Eddie happens to be one of the best facilitators and incredible coach. And there are certain aspects of what I do that that Eddie doesn’t do and vice versa, things that Eddie does that I don’t do. I’m actually always looking to connect people who could benefit from Eddie’s services – what are their messages or who needs a facilitator of a leadership conference that Eddie can actually help out. And I’m literally trying to bring those worlds together visibly in my mind but also when I see people in the room, that’s how I’m trying to connect them. And what a wonderful device for me because I am able to store these assets as I see someone but then I’m also imagining an entire room of people that I know just like Eddie, how I’m able to bring them all together – “Hey, do you know this and that?” And, obviously, those overlaps only continue to make these worlds bigger. If you took a circle of Eddie’s world and someone else that I connected him with, when they overlap, it’s like we’re adding something to Eddie’s world and Eddie’s giving something else to that other person’s world, your world gets bigger. It kind of emphasizes how connecting can actually help you grow as an individual. Literally your world grows through the connection. That’s how I visibly see it and that visual device of literally those visual assets in your orb or your world is the best way I can describe it. And what’s really weird is this is how I see things. It’s not even making it up. That’s just how I need to picture it and, I guess, a very helpful tool for me throughout my career and in my entire life actually,

And you talked about in the book how this made you a more successful salesman. So would you say that for our leaders listening to the Keep Leading Podcast for more insights and how to develop themselves that based on especially what you said earlier and tying it with this visualization technique that this will allow them to do a better job of connecting for not only business purposes but also maybe even in their personal life with family and such?

Without a doubt. Someone had made a comment to me and it was really interesting. When I wrote the book, Eddie, and I received a lot of feedback, obviously, there was a lot of business-related feedback because it was marketed as a business book. So many people commented that they utilize these skills in their personal lives on how to associated better and connect better with their friends or family. Great leaders, obviously, as I mentioned before, that way to connect inside your organization, just imagine if you can look at your whole company and not just think of people and worry about what their name is and what they do but understand all their assets of what make them up and be able to look at them in that way and just to see how those things grow, those skills grow, those experiences of theirs grow. And that’s true in personal life as well, Eddie. What a wonderful thing to do to appreciate those moments. And I can give social media a little bit of a thank you for that because their main purpose was to connect us and getting touch with our friends and colleagues, which we were never able to do, not so much use it as a business and marketing tool as much as it has become but what a wonderful thing. Isn’t it great when you see someone have a special occasion in their life like a kid being born or a birthday party or a big celebration of a family member and being able to utilize and highlight that visual. I see those sometimes and I kind of like looking through them like “Oh, I just saw that you had a wonderful celebration in your family” and to be able to talk about that is such a great thing but also be able to visually use that in the real life. And that’s very important. You can’t just do this in one digital space. You have to utilize it and see people in person.

Very nice. Thank you.

You’re welcome.

So I want to ask you about your concept that you mentioned in your book as well about moving through being afraid they’ll say no. I hear this a lot from leaders and, in fact, in my work when working with emerging leaders, sometimes leaders are afraid to make a connection or take the next step in their career or in a relationship because they are so afraid of hearing that dreaded word. Can you talk about your advice to leaders that you offer in the book?

I love the word ‘no’, Eddie. And most people don’t understand why initially but when I share this point with you, I think they will. You’ve all heard the terminology. If you think about the most successful baseball players, they hit 300 and that’s pretty great in the stats of baseball but we forget that that means that they failed 7 out of 10 times. It’s very true in every instance that you deal with whether in leadership or in sales or any outbound connection with others. You are not going to succeed on everything you do. You are going to fail more times than you succeed. The key is to utilize those lessons from the failures to maximize the opportunities that you can succeed on. So I love getting to the word ‘no’ faster. I want you to get to ‘no’ faster so that you can spend more times on the ones that are more likely to become a ‘yes’. Too often when we are rejected, when we hear the word ‘no, we feel that this failure can totally blow up everything that we’ve believed to be true about our organization or our product. And you can get people sinking in doubt – “Are we doing the right thing? Are we selling the right thing? Do we have the right service? Do we bring the best things to our table? Do we have the right people? Do we have the right organization?” It sounds like a panic attack of negativity brought on by just one simple ‘no’ but when you get to that know, at that moment you probably are given a gift. The gift that you’re given Eddie, is that ‘no’ is actually the perfect example of the connecting I was showing about where they’re not going to overlap, that you’re not actually able to help that particular person at this time because your assets don’t match, there might not be a need, this isn’t the right time it just doesn’t fit. We don’t want to be delayed in that response. We don’t want to waste any more energy to learn that it isn’t going to work. We want to learn that as soon as possible. So the fear of hearing the word ‘no, is just because we don’t want to be rejected, just because we always want to win because there’s such a great feeling when we do win and there’s such a great understanding that win means more money and means your business looks great and the bottom line is going to improve and growth is going to be achieved. When you hear the word ‘no’, you have to recognize the exact same thing for the exact opposite reasons – “No? Okay, now I get to focus more on these yeses.” And we push and don’t waste our time on the stuff that’s not going to move us forward. So I love the word ‘no, Eddie, and I always spin fears like that on its head. Understand that ‘no’ means that I’m getting to those yeses faster.

So it allows the person to get unstuck and use their energy more efficiently.

Hell yeah.

Well, I’ll tell you, I watched a documentary yesterday and there was a quote from Einstein that I do not ever remember seeing him before. And I really think it’s appropriate based off what you said. He said “I didn’t fail 10,000 times. I just figured out 10,000 things that don’t work.”

Love that guy.

Talk about a paradigm shift, right?Well, Lou, thank you for sharing these tips with us. I mean, when you think about what’s happening and as you talked about with social media and so many other aspects, when you think about connecting people in our globalized society that’s so technologically driven, just could you button it up for us nicely the big reason why all leaders crave more connection now more than ever?

Don’t underestimate, they’re craving attention too. So you’re right about all these technologies. If you think about it, Eddie, we have so much screen time today between the time that we spend on our phones and our computers and even a lot of our meetings are done either remotely or on video chats and whatnot that we’re staring a lot at not other individuals and not connecting with others but really just having this foray or this medium to go through. And because of this, our bodies are actually looking for that literally. I think it might have been Freudian but it’s true. They are looking for attention and connection. They want to be with others. We learned this statistic that in 2018 attendance at trade shows was up something like 12% to 13%. And of the attendees that went to these big trade shows, big events, 38% of the attendees represented first time attendees, first time attendees. So more than a third of the people there are there for the first time. And the number one reason that they are there is to network with others. What I question is it’s actually not to network with others. And one of the messages that I’ve been working on is I’ve actually been delivering this speech at conferences, Eddie, called Connect Working. I don’t want them to network at the conference. That’s going to happen anyway. Network is the environment, it’s the place that you need to be to, to meet other people. The networking is the verb though that I have the issue with because you’re not there just to meet and see other people. You’re there to really establish those strong connections that I talked about earlier. You’re trying to get your worlds to overlap and connect. So what I want them to do is how they can utilize their time at events like that to connect in a faster amount of time, expedite the process in which you identify who you need to connect with at that event, soon thereafter, or even building a plan or a pipeline to work on when you can connect next with those that you couldn’t get to at that big conference where all those people were. That ability to maximize and crave that connection because we are craving it, we need it, we want to grow, these screen times that we have, we want to see other people, we want to touch other people, shake their hands probably, obviously, we want to be in a group, Eddie, where we have the ability to take advantage of what humanity offers us, the growth of connecting with others, the benefits of learning from amazing other people. And we have to position ourselves in a place where we can connect because our craving is constantly there. And because of all this incredible technology, you’re right, we’re able to think that we’re connecting with others but we’re really not getting that true in-person deep connections that we can establish with other individuals, which we then can expand and grow further and keep flowing through the technology medium but we need to have that in-person contact.

Well, thank you, Lou. And so the book is Master The Art Of Connecting, available on Amazon, but you also have a podcast. Can you tell us about your podcast?

I have a podcast, Eddie? First of all, Eddie was an amazing guest on my podcast. My podcast show is called Thrive LOUD with Lou Diamond where we are connecting the most inspiring and amazing people that are thriving each and every day. And we are following those that are thriving in their lives, their businesses, and their passions. I can legitimately tell you, Eddie, that if you would have told me, first of all, by the time this episode launches, we probably would have reached our 300th episode and the show would have been out for now a little over two years. And it has grown in so many different ways, it’s actually helped me to create new business lines off of podcasting. I’ve been speaking about the business of podcasting and how you can make money as a host, as a guest, and as a listener. I’ve even been helping other organizations. They have been hiring me to come in as a host to interview their guests and actually help package together great testimonials and endorsements of their business and we’ve created kind of a podcast like package so that those audio interviews can exist very easily on websites for certain brands and companies, even on the podcasting platforms so people can learn more about their brand. So really great cross marketing, helping people to connect through this wonderful audio medium because, as we learned earlier, the SAFE, the E is empathy. And one of the key parts to empathy, to step in the shoes of another, Eddie, is to listen. And the ability to listen really effectively and concentrated in a way that works well, podcasting is ideal for that. So I love using this medium, whether as a guest like I am on your show, which I’m very excited about, or to sit in the hosting chair and meet and connect with some of the most incredible people. It has been a passion project, a guilty pleasure, but also a wonderful way to continue to carry forward this message of Mastering the Art of Connecting through a medium that just continues to, as I like to say, thrive loud each and every day.

Wow. Well, congratulations on 300 episodes. That’s a monumental achievement.

Isn’t that crazy? It’s crazy. It’s actually really crazy.

Wow! Well, it’s fitting. I’m a long way from 300. It’s fitting that you are the very first guest on the Keep Leading Podcast because you and I were bantering before we went live on your podcast probably about this time last year and I told you in confidence that I was contemplating launching a podcast in 2019. And then when we went live, you announced it to everybody. So now I was basically forced into making sure I lived up to the announcement that you made a year ago.

Which was great but I want to make this clear to your listeners. And this is so important. One, you have a great host in here. Listen to this voice. He’s calling me the golden voice. Eddie’s got a great personality. He’s also really connected to great people. And I will say this. When I’m excited about when you ask me to come on the program, I love talking about connecting as it relates to leading. And the ability to get people to understand how that power of connecting is so important for leadership is wonderful. And there are so many nooks and crannies around leadership. I had John C. Maxwell on my show, Eddie, who is literally the guru of leadership books.

Yes.

And I remember to asking him a really fun question because he speaks so often, he writes so many books, and he spends a lot of time doing that research coming up with the concept of leadership. And I found it really interesting where I loved to speak and he liked … and I didn’t like the writing process as much. He loved the idea creation process. He loved coming up with a new concept of where leadership is going to. And I just thought it was great just to have those conversations, which I can’t wait to hear the type of people you’re going to speak to on this program. This show is just going to knock the cover off because ‘Keep Leading’ is such a great concept because so many people are constantly adapting, a vital skill that every organization and every individual really needs in their own lives. Leading your own life is a very important skill. Take these skills for yourself on how you can conduct the way you live on this planet earth. And I’m excited to see and listen to more to come.

Well, thank you. One of the things I’m doing, Lou, is getting a set of quotes and lessons for people around leadership. So do you have a quote that you have heard that you think about that epitomizes leadership to you?

Yeah, there’s still one. And it’s funny. I never would have thought that it was a quote for leadership but it is such an important quote as it relates maybe to what each of us do every day, Steve Martin’s very famous quote – “Be so good they can’t ignore you.” I always loved this message. It inspires me on many levels. And I’ll just use my world to help understand what that quote means to me – “Be so good they can’t ignore you” – as it relates to how I deliver my podcast and the quality of how I want my guests to be. I always want to up the game, not even with the types of guests that we have each time on the show but even the intros and the outros we keep changing and making more fun, the way I ask my question on the interview, what I try to draw out of the guests, I always try to up my game. I always want that show to be so good that they can’t ignore it.Be so good they can’t ignore you. That’s how I want to be as a speaker. I told you I delivered this speech about Connect Working. I also have this whole program called Connect To Thrive and when people work with me, they’re used to two aspects. And my company Thrive, they’re working with me on really everything that happens before the pitch and after the close and to combine that together. That’s why I’ve always been about growing incredible sales, which is all the stuff you need to do before you ever walk into actually doing the pitch itself. It’s that preparation. It’s those connecting skills. It’s setting yourself up so that when the pitch happens, you’re literally walking into how you start working together and not whether or not you will or not. And then once you have those clients, retaining your client is such a vital important component to every business, so understanding what’s needed after you close the business to continue to grow and establish those strong connections. So when I speak on that whole Connect To Thrive platform, those two key messages are the things that I talk about. And I work on being so good that they cannot ignore this fact and they want to hire me to either speak that message to their organization or to work with their companies on each one of those facets.

And I think the last part is be so good they can’t ignore you as a human being. It’s leading my life each and every day. You’ve gotten a good chance to meet my lovely wife and obviously my kids.

You have beautiful family.

Yeah, I know. Well, I married a much prettier woman than me but I recognize that I want to be the best dad, husband. person in my community as best as I can be always, not so they wouldn’t ignore me but more so that that I’m able to deliver something that people respect. And I want my kids to grow up in that same environment. So carrying that quote from Steve Martin into everything I do is something that’s always resonated with me. And it’s actually written on my wall here, Eddie, with Steve Martin’s quote on there. We actually printed it out and one of those little mixed tiles because I liked it so much.

Wonderful. Well, where can people learn more about you?

So people can find me everywhere on social media at @ThriveLoud. I’m also at ThriveLoud.com which is where my company Thrive’s business is and all the platforms of what we do to help the most amazing companies thrive through the power of connecting. And if you’re interested in having me speak at your event or conference or work with your organization, you can also go to ThriveLoud.com or my speaker page which is LouDiamond.net. And, by the way, the Thrive LOUD Podcast is accessible on both of those websites.

Wonderful. And this information will also be listed in the show notes for those who may not be sitting in front of a machine at this point.Lou, thank you so much again for coming on the Keep Leading Podcast. What a joy to have you today, man.

It’s truly a pleasure. And, Eddie, you are so far ahead on the curve. If this was Episode One, you’re a pro. I can’t wait to continue to listen and hear who else you have on the program and continued success to you. Very excited to be on this side of the microphone.

Thank you, Lou.Well, that concludes this episode, everyone. This is Eddie Turner, the Leadership Excelerator, reminding you that leadership is not about your title or your position. Leadership is an activity. Leadership is action. So whatever you’re doing, always keep leading.