Episode 54: Austin Franklin: Hidden Credentials

Ever wondered how to leverage your unique strengths to propel yourself to success? Austin J. Franklin, a nationally acclaimed speaker and author, illuminates how his "five more minutes" principle and concept of hidden credentials paved the way for his triumph over academic struggles. He shares intimate snippets of his journey with us, encouraging listeners to discover and tap into their own innate qualities that bridge the gap between perceived weaknesses and strengths.

Franklin is the founder of Good Natured Life, a company infused with kindness, friendliness, and patience (KFP) that illuminates the intersection of entrepreneurship and faith, building to the power of shared visions - a lesson he learnt from his mother, who is now the president of his company. 

Finally, we delve into a profound exploration of faith, race, and leadership. Unpacking themes from his book, "The Difference Maker Leader," our guest presents five timeless principles for effective leadership. Highlighting the importance of vision as the bedrock of leadership, he underscores the need for adaptability, emotional intelligence, and growth positioning. This conversation is a call to action to embrace uncertainty and change, offering tools to transform disadvantage into advantage. Don't miss out on this episode—it's sure to fuel your journey towards self-improvement and leadership development.

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Podcast art by Mario Christie.

Transcript

Grantley: 0:13

Welcome to Above the Noise, a podcast at the intersection of faith, race and reconciliation, and I'm your Grantley Martelly. Today, my guest on Above the Noise is Austin J. Franklin, a nationally acclaimed clean-out speaker, author, and leadership expert. He is also the CEO and founder of Good Nature Life, the company which he established in 2015 when he was 20 years old and a junior at Hampden- Sydney College. The mission of his company is to spread kindness, friendship and patience (KPF) and to uplift minds across the world. At 29, Austin was the keynote speaker for the Billion Dollar Round Table Summit Induction Ceremony. This is a prestigious group that includes many of the biggest Fortune 100 and Fortune 500 companies in the world. Austin was also named as one of Florida's Black Expo's top 20 under 40.

Grantley: 1:21

He is the author of two books, the Difference Maker Leader: Five Timeless Ideas that Inspire You to Lead Differently, and Wake, Rise and Shine: Four Stories and One Remarkable Ideas That Encourages Us To Rise Above Life's Disadvantages. He was the only speaker who came and used and hip-hop music and energy to get everybody excited and involved. His speech was inspiring and motivational and I said he needs to become a guest on Above the Noise. So here he is today. Let's join the conversation. I hope you enjoy this as much as I will. Austin, welcome and thank you for coming on Above the Noise.

Austin: 2:09

It's an honor to be here. Thank you for those kind words of introduction and again I'm excited to be here. Just want to again salute you. I know I told you off air, but congratulations on your awesome platform and your mission behind this extraordinary podcast.

Austin: 2:23

It's an honor for me to be on as a guest, but I guess a snapshot of my upbringing I grew up two-parent a household from Fleming Island, Florida, which is adjacent to Jacksonville, Florida, so the northeast region of Florida, and had no siblings, had two God brothers, so obviously they kind of played a role as brothers for me, but only child, and so spent a lot of time with my parents and they really helped in my rearing and development on a day to day basis. My father was a dentist, so he worked quite a bit. He had a private practice as well as he worked for the state, so he was really busy with work. However, my mom really was on, I would say, a personal level with me more with the homework, the schoolwork and things of that nature. So her and I spent quite a bit of time with my dad and I spent time as well, but obviously with the working schedule not as much as my mother and I, and so they made that option in terms of how to rear me in that way, and so went to the same school, St. John's Country Day School, phenomenal School, from pre-K through 12th.

Austin: 3:38

A small private school, roughly about 25, 30 students per grade, so you end up really knowing everybody in terms of teachers, faculty students at all levels and a very intimate setting in terms of an academic rearing perspective. Basketball is a big part of my life as well, so I played basketball from, I would say, like second grade, first grade, to senior year of high school. So that was really the primary points of my life in terms of the rearing space. And then I went on to Virginia, Farmville, Virginia. That's where I did my undergraduate studies at Hampden Sydney College, another small liberal arts college, and then I came back to Florida for graduate studies at Rollins College in Orlando, Florida, and so that's kind of a snapshot for me, and then obviously again by my parents. We had a really close dynamic, I think, especially by me having no siblings, and family has always been a big part of my life.

Grantley: 4:48

OK, Thank you for that. I was reading in your book we at Rise and Smile and you talk about this person who was growing up and had some. Was that you that you were talking about in the first chapter of the book?

Austin: 5:04

Right, right.

Grantley: 5:04

Right.

Austin: 5:04

Yes, yes.

Grantley: 5:09

About some your hidden credentials? Exactly yes, can you tell us a little bit about that? The five more minutes principle Right, right, right.

Austin: 5:19

So hidden credentials the term I coined, and hidden credentials the qualities that we innately possess or naturally possess, that bridge the gap between our weaknesses and our strength. And, good news, everyone that's listening to this platform, everyone on this planet, has hidden credentials, but it's incumbent upon us to tap into ours. So for me, I consider myself although I consider myself intelligent I was not a person that can instantly get an A on a test Right. So I could. If I didn't, if I didn't do my homework, if I didn't study correctly, I could easily get a C or D. And so, not that I'm not smart, but I just had to in a lot more effort than others.

Austin: 5:58

So that's where the notion five more minutes came in, because I did struggle at point. Sometimes we'll make C, sometimes we'll make Ds and study, but I just had to take things up to another level to ultimately bridge the gap. And so, for me, one of my hidden credentials was that ability to push forward, to navigate forward, to do extra, and so that's why the phrase five more minutes was birth, and I included it for me, because some of the academic challenges I face, I just had to do a little bit more than others to get to where I want it to ultimately be in terms of the academic standard, and so I've really applied that not just scholastically but also professionally as well, in attaining my visions and goals.

Grantley: 6:41

So the hidden credentials, then, are things that people have within them that allows them to be able to push through, to overcome what may be seemed like disadvantages, or comparing themselves to other people and saying, well, I can't do this because of that, but trying to find out what is it that's in you that will allow you to thrive and survive.

Austin: 7:04

Exactly so. It's really twofold what we naturally possess, so it was already embedded within our DNA, and then something that we also can develop as we matriculate. So it's really two dynamics there.

Grantley: 7:19

Have you found this to be helpful to other people as you're teaching it? I mean, is it clicking with them? Something that people like a light bulb comes on?

Austin: 7:26

Right, I think when I share this, it oftentimes it forces people to be introspective. And so sometimes when we're introspective as you know, grant me so many people, especially professionals, are busy day to day and sometimes they don't have that moment to pause and to think within. And so sometimes I realize, just giving that hour, hour and a half via consultation or a workshop, oftentimes people realize you know what I do, have this skill set, or you know what I need to develop in this area, instead of just going through the day to day, because I know, even for me, sometimes, when schedule is demanding, it's hard to think where should I improve, what can I do a little bit better, because you're so on to what's next. So I think that's been a focal point and that light bulb moment when they have the moment to really pause, think through ideation and collaboration in terms of that dialogue with them.

Grantley: 8:24

Yeah, that's, that's powerful. For instance, I thought when I read about that. I thought that was really interesting and that's even for me right. Growing up I always I was not with the smartest person in the room. It was always people smarter than me in my classes. I realized that I had to read and I had to learn, I had to write things down. It took me lots and more time to study in college than many of my friends who could sometimes not even study and come in and get an A, you know, and I'd be struggling to read and to write and to memorize things, try to memorize. And even in my professional career now I find that you know, lots of times you know people will do PowerPoints and put it up and you think about that, but afterwards I will ask them can you please send me the PowerPoint, can you please send me the written document so that I can read it and get more detail on what I need to know, because I don't seem to always get it in the first. You know 20 minute meeting presentation.

Austin: 9:21

Right. I mean I'm honestly, you're talking literally about me. So we're the same person, grant Lee, and so I think that's why it's also important to kind of know your learning style. And that's for adults and obviously students just because some people are more audio learners and some are more visual learners and then some need the combination of both. And I know for me I think I talk about it in my first book, way, cross and Smile the auditory issue that I face, and so that kind of forced me to figure out what are some ways to kind of combat that, because oftentimes when I hear things, if I'm not laser focused and locked in, it can really just go over my head almost as if I wasn't even in the room, and so I had to be very calm instead of. How can I really remember, how can I focus in on key words when somebody's talking and really be present in that moment, because if not I would not absorb the material.

Grantley: 10:17

Yeah, that is true for me too. So the book we're talking about for our listeners is Wake, Rise and Smile, Austin's first book: four true stories, and one remarkable idea that encourages to rise above life's disadvantages, and I will highlight this at the end of the podcast again so people can remember. So you had your education and you went to school. I think you finished your MBA and then you started your business, and the name of your business is Good Natured Life. So let's talk about your transition in graduate school and then what caused you to start your business, and then what's the purpose of Good Natured Life?

Austin: 10:58

Certainly, so Good Natured Life was formulated in my junior year of college at Hampden, sydney, and I was actually enrolled in an entrepreneurial thinking course. The whole purpose of the course was to curate a business plan, business idea for the sake of essentially a letter grade. Obviously there were numerous great ideas that were shared, but we didn't have to start a business, it was all pretty much conceptual to work that entrepreneurial muscle. And so ultimately that's where Good Natured Life was fostered.

Austin: 11:31

And kind of going back to our earlier conversation, really trying to be introspective and think about what was authentically me that can mesh with a business plan, and really when I was introspective, going back to Hiddick credentials, one of my natural Hiddick credentials is that I found myself being someone who's, for the most part, kind, friendly and patient.

Austin: 11:55

Kind, friendly and patient realistically is what Good Natured means. And so in the course I thought, wow, what if companies, corporations, people adopted more of this KFP, kind, friendly, patient, aka KFP spirit? How much better the world could be. So that was the initial ideation and so that gave me the impetus to create a company called Good Natured Life where we push that messaging. So at first we had merchandise to push the messaging and then we also pivoted to programs speaking in those arenas as well to help push the messaging, and so that was kind of the initial thought process when Good Natured Life started. And my mother is actually our president at Good Natured Life and she also helped in the developing of the company as well to get it established and she has a tremendous background in business but also she actually helped start my dad's dental practice as well, so she has that great business muscle.

Grantley: 12:54

So she's like the foundational entrepreneur, right.

Austin: 12:57

Right, right Definitely.

Grantley: 12:59

Take the vision and bring it to life. Right yeah, you need those people in your life sometimes, right, who you can talk to about the vision, and that's like, oh yeah, let me give me a few minutes, let me see if I can put something together. Right, lo and behold, they come back to you and you say, wow, that's exactly what I was thinking about. Right right, well, how is this to work with your mother as a president of your company?

Austin: 13:23

I think it's a beautiful dynamic and I often encourage entrepreneurs to have someone in your corner that you trust, and this on the same conceptual wavelength as you, For someone might be a spouse, for someone might be a parent, for someone might be a sibling, or even a friend or someone you went to college with. But finding that partner because at the end of the day can be tough and challenging and obviously business can throw you curveballs, but I have someone on your team that can think about whether the next steps five, 10 years down the line, someone you can bounce ideas with, someone who's futuristic in their thinking it can really really be advantageous because, at the end of the day, nothing birth, nothing contributed to society can be done by one person right. So I think it's good to have someone that connects with you conceptually to help move whatever mission forward.

Grantley: 14:19

Yeah, that's a great principle find people who can connect with you. So at Good Nature Life you're talking that ice cools businesses. I mean, how does your business work? Let's tell the audience more what Good Nature Life does and what you do on a daily basis.

Austin: 14:37

Right, right. So we primarily focus on colleges and corporations. That's our primary audience and it's a wonderful dynamic because we have an etiquette specialist who's a retired principal and she leads our etiquette workshops, etiquette programs, and we also have a rhetoric specialist who is our president, Dr Deidre Franklin, my mother. She leads that department which basically teaches people the art of persuasive speaking and writing. And then I conduct the leadership section in terms of keynotes predominantly keynotes and workshops and trainings as well, and so that's really the dynamic of Good Nature Life. And we also host a phenomenal, iconic woman conference as well, for the mature woman I believe is 50 and up. So we have women there from 50 to like 75, 80 and to really empower that demographic as well in terms of their latter years to still be productive and optimistic. But that's really the scope of it. We focus on colleges and corporations and the three subject matters etiquette, rhetoric or leadership powerful.

Grantley: 15:48

What does etiquette mean? I mean, what is that layout? What is that for? Is that for young people, or that's for any person? Etyquette in what sense are you talking about there?

Austin: 15:57

Right. So our etiquette specialist, Ms Carla Thompson. She frames etiquette as respect for yourself and others. So it's simply that. So obviously dining, she does dining etiquette quite a bit how to dress for business and different scenarios, how to communicate ultimately in a networking environment, but ultimately those that just having that professional posture right. So, no matter the arena one is in, virtually or in person, to have that best polished version of yourself when you're showcasing yourself ultimately to society.

Grantley: 16:38

And that's for anybody, not just high school, anybody Right. Or do you primarily focus in that, on your school program?

Austin: 16:45

Right, right. So, like I said, colleges and corporations, so she does both.

Grantley: 16:52

And then let's talk about your faith journey. I detect that you, that that's part of your life, the important part of your life. Tell us a little bit about your faith journey.

Austin: 17:05

Both of my parents of Christian faith and they really embedded the belief in God and in Christianity at an early, early age. For me. My parents, who read scriptures, take me to church and so that was a big foundational point for me and my family. And so, because that was the foundation, I think it's one thing that to hear scripture and things of that nature, but I think it has to really be in your heart. And so for me, I always gravitated towards faith and I think, because I trusted them and knowing they have my best interest in heart, but also having those personal experiences that that God, I know, you know, this didn't, you know this is not something because of man, just because of God. So at the early age I've always had faith and that's been a blueprint for me in navigating forward. And so, yeah, faith, faith is everything for it, for me and my family.

Grantley: 18:10

Have you, have you found that there's been any like intersection of your faith and your race and how you do your job, how you approach the good nature of life? Do you find that, because you're a young black man, that that has any impact on how people may see you? Or is it? Open doors. Has it been a struggle? Just tell us a little bit of the intersection of your faith and your race.

Austin: 18:32

Right. So I think, faith and race, I think for me faith has not posed challenges for me, it's only helped me, and obviously I think it's important to for people. Obviously we have people of different faith, religious beliefs, so for me I never, especially when working with audiences or leaders across the globe, I never tried to force feed my faith on them, because at that point that could be offensive. However, what I do notice, especially those who are of Christian faith sometimes they'll notice it by implicit actions how I might treat others and say do you believe in God, do you have faith? And so that's normally how that conversation connects. And so I try not to force feed it on people because I think that could be disrespectful for anyone. The force be anything on anybody, but for me it hasn't, hasn't posed a problem, and I think race is something that's really man made, right.

Austin: 19:33

When I think about the Bible, God doesn't necessarily, from what I remember, identify someone based upon the race. It's more so the human race, essentially right. What are your actions? What are your virtues? What do you? How are you treating others essentially, and are you serving me right? Not, doesn't matter if you're brown, yellow, white, and so for me I think that the race concept is really a man made distinguishing factor that ultimately tries to just spot differences among each other. But in my opinion, I think everyone should be proud of the race. Everyone should be thankful for their race. No race is better than another and ultimately God made you that way, so you should be thankful for who you are. So that's really my approach on race.

Grantley: 20:31

No, not long ago I was working on a project with a friend and we realized that we needed some 50 foot speaker cables. So I called my friends that perform us audio and I said hey, we need some cables to finish this project. Can you help us? Sure, they said we can. We can make those for you and we will ship them straight to your house. And that's exactly what they did. You just let the cables arrived, we hooked them up to the system and it's been working ever since. A good, high quality, guaranteed speaker cables from performance audiocom. Check them out, performance audiocom.

Grantley: 21:06

In the rest of time that we have left, obviously we can take that topic further if we had more time, but I wanted to talk to you and spend some time going through your second book, the Difference Maker Leader five timeless ideas that inspired you to lead differently in the world. And I, when I heard you speak, obviously I came up on a bot bowl for your books at the same time and came back and read them. But in this book you talk about five timeless ideas that you believe create a difference maker leader. So tell us a little, just give us a short introduction about how you came up with this, and then we can go through each one of them briefly, and then I will encourage people to buy the book as well.

Austin: 22:14

Right, certainly, and thank you again for purchasing Wake Rise. It's my end of difference maker leader. And so for me, I think a lot again, a lot of my formulation or ideation comes from an authentic place, and I'd say that to say, obviously, the difference maker leader, difference maker is common, but no one has ever come up with difference maker leader, so obviously, trademark that idea. And so for me, difference maker leaders make a meaningful difference, no matter their sphere of influence, right? And so for me, in Fawcett in this book, I was thinking okay, what are our red case studies? I've interviewed executives and leaders. I think about what's allowed me to make a meaningful difference and what are things that, regardless of industry, for the most part at a macro level, we can apply. So that was my approach what are some concrete ideas that most leaders can employ to make a meaningful difference? And so then I thought about obviously one was vision. Obviously, everyone needs a vision. When we think about the Nike's and we think about the Facebook's, it was all birth from a vision.

Austin: 23:28

Adaptability, a lot of research around adaptability, of being able to adapt in a certain times and certain situations, adverse situations.

Austin: 23:38

Then relationships are big as well in terms of valuing others and being to connect with others. And then I believe another chapter in there, titled Emotionally in Tune kind of pivots into the connection. So it's a scouting report section as well as an emotionally in tune section as well. And understanding who it is you're essentially leading, going back that we can't paint a broad paint brush. All right, this group of people this way, this group of people this way, we have to really understand what's the fiber and fabric, like you're really doing. Grant me, with this podcast, of those we're leading in terms of our workforce, to lead the most accordingly. And ultimately, the last one is how do we position ourselves for growth? Because anytime we become complacent, anytime we become stagnant, we're ultimately hurting ourselves because we're not on top of the future moment. And so that's really the snapshot of the principles and ultimately just formulated those five because, again, through the case studies, through the research, through the interviews of executives, these are the ones that spoke most to me.

Grantley: 24:47

Okay, yeah, that's a great introduction, so let's talk about them one at a time. Vision Spend a little bit of time talking about vision. You started talking about Nike and Amazon, but what's the power of vision and what's the purpose of vision for a leader?

Austin: 25:06

It's hard to accomplish anything without seeing it first. So, for me, vision is the foundational starting point for anyone If we wanna get X number of sales, if we want to grow our business 40%, if we want to engage in a new market or demographic of consumers, like all of this starts with a vision and seeing it before it actually happens, because once we see it before it happens, we end up, as a reflex, having the actions and basically the thoughts in order to align us to attaining that particular vision. And so, for me, vision is everything, and so in the chapter I actually curated the difference maker, leader vision formula and I formulated it a simple way.

Grantley: 25:59

I was just gonna get to that. Yeah, you said Okay, okay, your formula is vision equals hidden credentials plus resources, plus execution. So let's go through hidden credentials, resources and execution. I think we touched a little bit on hidden credentials before, but-.

Austin: 26:15

Right, right, so, just as a recap, hidden credentials are those special qualities within and those that we can develop. And obviously that's point one, or variable one, because we have to have that in terms of ourself or our team, right, it's hard to attain a vision. That's why I always ask my audience is what's the hidden credentials that's in the line with the vision you want Personally or professionally? Because if we don't have the hidden credentials, that matches, it's gonna be very hard to attain it. Right, if somebody wanted to go to the NBA, but there are four or five, it might be very hard, not to say it's not possible. It may be very hard to attain that, just given the average height of those in the NBA. So that's one point.

Austin: 26:58

What are those things that can connect us and help us to get to the vision? Then we have resources. So what are the things essentially beyond us? All right, check mark we have the hidden credentials, those are within. What are the things beyond us? Those are the resources in terms of partnerships, in terms of capital, in terms of partnerships, to really make this vision materialize. And then the third point is the execution. So, obviously having a sequential step plan, sequence of events that need to transpire, week by week, month by month, in order to ultimately manifest the vision, and so that's really the snapshot of the vision formula Difference maker, leader, vision formula.

Grantley: 27:43

And so then you end that chapter by saying always remember to make everyone on your team aware of the vision. How important is it for the team to understand the vision beyond just the leader.

Austin: 27:54

Right, right, so that's everything. Because I think oftentimes in society, especially with big corporations that have 10,000, 5,000 employees, multinational sometimes what ends up happening is employees are working for their particular tasks or function and they're just doing their assignment. What's told day by day? Obviously the executive level. They know the vision of what they're going towards, but oftentimes the lower tier employees may not. They're just doing their job day to day. But what's beautiful about everybody understand the vision is, even if my assignment is not extremely complex, whatever it might be, I understand why. I understand how I'm contributing to the ultimate vision of our team and how my presence makes an impact. So I think it's everything in terms of the motivation and the continuation of doing your job at a high level for everyone within the organization.

Grantley: 28:54

And idea number two is the difference maker Leader adapts to change, adaptability and coming to accept that change is inevitable. Let's talk about that Right.

Austin: 29:07

So I think, especially even with COVID, that's one of the biggest changes that's been produced over the past couple of years and people are still trying to respond and navigate this new world. What I realize is leaders, or difference maker leaders, really understand how to navigate the uncertainty by really fostering an optimistic perspective. That perspective is really formulated by understanding how to find the advantage and the disadvantage. So obviously, change is inevitable. Things will happen personally, professionally Certain times may present themselves, things may not go according to organizational structure as we plan for each quarter, but we have to find a way to navigate for it in spite of the change.

Austin: 29:54

And we can't let the change hurt us, but we need to let the change help us, because there's oftentimes beautiful moments that can happen only if change occurs. So ultimately, we need to frame our mindsets to have what's the nuance, what's the positive, what's the element that can help advance and propel us forward, even though we're going through these uncertain, challenging times. Because, even if you think about it right, like some, things only produce great results when change happens right. Oftentimes, when the stock market is down, it's ultimately going to be a season where it produces back up, right. But those who know how to handle the down period. It's ultimately the ones who succeed in those up moments in terms of financial, the financial payment right. So that's what we have to really wire our minds to do. What's the advantage in this change moment?

Grantley: 30:47

Yeah, and that's a great example. You said to find the advantage and the disadvantage right, right, I thought that was a great phrase. How did you come up with that phrase?

Austin: 31:01

Right. So I think I don't remember how it came up in the moment, but I just was. My mindset is always all right. Here's the principle. I knew I was talking about adaptability and what's a way that people can adapt, and so, in just thinking, reading, conceptualizing, that was something I even used to help me navigate forward in spite of change. And so I really think about what's the principle and how can we conquer it, based upon again what others successful leaders have said, or even my personal self.

Grantley: 31:33

Yeah, so give us an example of that right. So the disadvantage that you change into an advantage.

Austin: 31:41

Right.

Austin: 31:41

So let's say a leader has they want more employees for their organization.

Austin: 31:49

Right, they want more employees to help delegate tasks.

Austin: 31:53

Obviously they may have the capital at that time to have X number of employees. But that could be a disadvantage because it's going to be more of a workload on that owner, on that particular leader of the organization. But the advantage of that moment is it's going to force that leader to really understand the tiers of that organization at every level, because he or she's going to have to have his hand or her hand in probably a lot of different departments, right, they may have to trickle in marketing, they may have to trickle in operations, they may have to trickle in all these different departments, a county for the business to flow, given the number of employees. And so I think that's an advantage. It's a disadvantage because you don't have a lot of employees, but it's an advantage because ultimately you're going to learn your business inside out. So when you hire more employees you'll know exactly what it takes, the time it takes and what's ultimately the expectation for those in the role, opposed to just assigning tasks, and we haven't done it for yourself.

Grantley: 32:58

The third idea was difference makers. Leaders value people, so you're talking about relationships. Why a relationship? You talk about vertical and horizontal relationships. Why are these so important to difference maker leaders and people in business and people in community who are trying to make a difference?

Austin: 33:19

Right.

Austin: 33:19

So I think oftentimes and I think I mentioned this in the keynote when we connected in Vancouver but horizontal, we think of left or right people who are, quote unquote, on the same level. So, friends, coworkers, vertical up and down, like the vertical jump, those are who are more senior than you, or you are more senior than Boston Puy, teacher, student, parent, child that dichotomy and I think we can't over, I can't overemphasize the importance because I've seen it in real time, where it might be a particular professional or executive that might treat a person in some way or might treat them a certain way, but then root to someone who may not have the prestigious role and what I realize is this world is huge but it's also very small and we're all interconnected. Based upon research and even the advent of social media Facebook scientists have reported roughly three and a half degrees removed from anybody who won in the world. In other words, our actions can really be detrimental to us if we're not treating people and valuing people like they should.

Austin: 34:27

But ultimately, relationships are everything. They open the doors, they allow us to collaborate, they allow us to produce a better society and ultimately again just going back on my faith even if nothing comes out of valuing someone is always important to just have that kind nature, even if nothing's about it. So it's not about an individual game, it's just how one should navigate as a person and leader.

Grantley: 34:52

Thank you. And then you said the next principle is emotionally in tune. Once upon a time, an emotion wasn't materialized.

Austin: 35:01

Right. So emotionally in tune. I talk about really the emotional intelligence. So it's one to have the paper smarts, but we also need to have the emotional smarts. In other words, we need to be able to read between the lines with the employees we serve, those we work with, and understand what are their emotional needs, what are the things that ultimately they need to have in place to thrive at work. And this conversation is so paramount, especially given coming out of COVID with hybrid work, Many people working remotely, some working in the company headquarters. But it's really an important conversation to understand how can I meet my employees emotional needs to ultimately foster the best environment culture for them to thrive in. So that's really the emphasis in that chapter.

Grantley: 35:52

That's principle number four. And then principle number five is difference. Make a leader, keep growing the importance of growth and thriving.

Austin: 36:02

With growth. I think, no matter the pedigree, no matter the leadership experience, no matter the achievements, we never can get to a place where we stop growing, stop learning, stop becoming a better iteration of ourselves. And so that's what the emphasis of that chapter is how can we continue to step forward? Because all the week may continue to age, the society continues to shift, change, there ends up being different and new ways to do things, for example, AI. Ai has emerged, it's on the forefront now, but it's been prevalent for the past several years and I think, if we're not, it's really at a point now where, if your company or your industry is not ingratiating AI in some degree, I'll make it actually be hurting your enterprise. But if we're thinking in a way of five, 10 years from now, we really could have the expired thinking and missed opportunities for advancement and ultimately the best product services for our companies. If we're not thinking forward and thinking, how can we be smarter, better and, ultimately, sharper than we were before?

Grantley: 37:11

Yes, and you say in this chapter that the leader must be self, analytical, open minded, uncomfortable with being uncomfortable. Let's talk about that one Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable.

Austin: 37:27

Right, certainly so. What I've realized is being comfortable, being uncomfortable. Oftentimes we get the best results when we're pushing ourselves a little bit beyond our limit Right. So I can just use an example of working out. If we're lifting weights or dumbbells, if I was lifting weights, if I stopped as soon as I felt a little tingling my bicep, the next day I may not see much growth. However, if I kept lifting, in spite of the pain, in spite of the discomfort, in spite of the uncomfortability, the next day my muscle is going to be sore, and that be tokens a sign of growth. Ultimately, that's going to make my muscle more fine tuned. It's going to be a little bit bigger because of the uncomfortability it face, the strain it placed on the muscle, and so that's really the same ideology that applies to our life.

Austin: 38:18

When we push ourselves to do a little bit more. Let's say we read one book a month. Well, let's say we push ourselves to two books per month, it's going to be a little bit uncomfortable, it's going to take a little bit more time. Imagine how we would be into the year. Let's say we run a certain distance. Let's say we ran a little bit more. Whatever the case may be or scenario might be, conceptually, physically, whatever. If we do a little bit more, make ourselves a little uncomfortable Again, we're not harming ourselves. It can really produce a better, stronger iteration of who we are.

Grantley: 38:51

Well, thank you so much, Austin. I know our time is running out here, but in the last few minutes we have, I would like you to end on the topic that you have in the book about gratitude Choose gratitude. Why is it so important for leaders and for people to choose gratitude? Let's end on that topic.

Austin: 39:11

Right. So for me, gratitude is a focal point. I always wake up and just express thankfulness for the day. I'm thankful for waking up another day, because I think oftentimes we can get consumed with the negativity, get consumed with the noise, and this is for all of us, and it's easy to kind of figure out how we can be negative that day, or bother that day, or irritated or worried.

Austin: 39:41

But if we really take a step back and just think about wow, I'm thankful for this, I'm thankful for this, we can make a list probably most of us of at least 10, 12 things instantly that we were thankful for, whether it be family, whether it be a meal at home, whether it be a roof over our head, just these little things. And ultimately, what's up happening is when we think about life and our situation from that perspective, it forces us to be more grateful and obviously, if we're more grateful, it's going to affect how we act in our days, how we focus our energy and, ultimately, how we treat others. And I think that's what kind of our conversation has been quite a bit about how are you acting and how are you treating others ultimately in terms of as your podcast, the friendly relations, the reconciliation, and so, ultimately, that's what gratitude is for me. How can we think about the positivity and let that consume us, as opposed to negativity?

Grantley: 40:40

Well, thank you very much, Austin. I really appreciate you taking the time out of your busy day and busy schedule to be with us today. Again, the books are the difference. Make her leader. Five timeless ideas that inspire you to lead differently in the world, and then, with rising smile or true stories, and one remarkable idea that encourages us to rise above life disadvantages, and I thank you for coming. I thank you for becoming an acquaintance. I hope we can become friends over time and any closing words you want to share.

Austin: 41:15

Yes, well, well, grandley, thank you again for having me on your podcast. I'm glad we connected and I'm thankful for our friendship. We're talking about gratitude, and so I just want to say kudos to you for all your exemplary work and for you spearheading and leading this podcast, and I hope and pray much continued success. Well, thank you.

Grantley: 41:41

Be adaptable to change, learn to navigate uncertainty, and find the advantage in the the disadvantage. The Difference Maker Leader: Five Timeless Ideas That Inspire You to Lead Differently in the World, and Wake, Rise and Smile: Four true stories and one remarkable idea that encourages us to rise above life's disadvantages. These books can be purchased wherever books are sold or you can purchase them from Austin's website, goodnaturedlife. com. Goodnaturedlife. com. Thanks for listening. Remember to subscribe and leave us a rating. Ratings are very important to help our podcast, succeed in the podcast universe and helping it become known to other people. Email us your comments at above the noise 24@ gmail. com. Above the noise 24@ gmail. com, and follow us on Instagram and Facebook @above the noise 24. Thank you for listening. Please share this episode with your friends.