EP.31 - Momentum Starts with Clarity: How Joe Forgét Helps Leaders Align, Execute, and Grow

What happens when a talented leadership team has everything it takes to win — but still can't get everyone moving in the same direction? In this episode of the Dynamic Business Leaders podcast, hosts Roy Richardson and Sean Murphy sit down with Joe Forgét, founder and CEO of Igniting Momentum, to answer that exact question.

With more than 35 years of real-world experience spanning marketing, sales, operations, finance, and entrepreneurship — and having served as president, COO, and business owner — Joe brings a practitioner's lens to executive coaching and growth advisory work. He shares how he built the Ignition Framework (Align, Activate, Accelerate) and why lasting momentum requires far more than a good strategy document.

In this conversation, you'll hear:

• Why talented leaders often fail not from lack of effort, but from lack of clarity and alignment
• How Joe's three-tier model — Spark Sessions, Ignition Tracks, and Momentum Journeys — meets founders and leadership teams where they actually are
• The three most common growth challenges Joe encounters: founder-dependent teams (Ignite the Vision), owners building toward exit (Ignite the Value), and companies navigating mergers and acquisitions (Ignite the Venture)
• Why Joe's operating philosophy — Purpose + People + Process = Performance — consistently gets underinvested in one critical area
• The real reason "scaling" is the most overrated buzzword in business right now, and what has to come before it
• Where AI genuinely helps leadership teams — and where it creates the illusion of progress without the substance
• Why human connection, vulnerability-based trust, and psychological safety remain irreplaceable in building teams that actually perform

Joe also shares hard-won lessons from his own entrepreneurial journey, including what it costs to chase shiny objects and stray from your niche, how to lead through the heavy seasons, and why his personal "why" has always been the transformation that happens inside the room.

If you lead a growing business, sit in a C-suite, or are working to get your team truly aligned — this episode is built for you.

Connect with the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast Hosts:

• LinkedIn: Roy Richardson
• LinkedIn: Sean Murphy

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Transcript

Welcome, Sponsor, And Guest Setup

Roy Richardson 0:03

Hello, I'm Roy Richardson, and this is the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. Welcome back to the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. I'm your host, Roy Richardson, with my insightful co-host and wingman, Sean Murphy. Sean, another week, another episode. Great to have you here.

Sean Murphy 0:29

Well, thanks, Roy. Great to be back. Looking forward to this opportunity with one of our colleagues. So let's get to it.

Roy Richardson 0:38

Yeah, Sean. You know, today's conversation sits right at the intersection of leadership and clarity, and specifically what happens when talented leaders have everything it takes to win, but can't get quite everyone moving in the same direction. Our guest is none other than our colleague, Joe Forget, founder and CEO of Igniting Momentum, an executive coaching and growth advisory firm helping founders and leadership teams create alignment, build strength, and gain clarity around where they're headed and how to get there. Joe brings an impressive 35 years of real-world experience across marketing, sales, operations, finance, and entrepreneurship. Having served in roles as president, CEO, and business owner before stepping fully into the coaching and advisory work he does today. He created the Ignition Framework as a practical methodology for navigating growth, transition, succession, and change. And his core belief is as simple as it's powerful. Business grow when people grow. But before we get into it, a quick word from our sponsor, Aurora InfoTech, your partner for IT Cybersecurity and Technology Leadership. When your systems are protected and running right, your team can focus on what they do best. Learn more at Aurora-infotech.com. Joe, great to have you here with us.

Joe Forgét 1:57

Hey Roy, thank you for having me on here today. Great to be here.

Sean Murphy 2:01

Roy, when I met Joe about a year ago, the only issue that I had with Joe is he was trying to claim that um Syracuse Orangeman was a rival of the University of Miami.

Roy Richardson 2:13

I think that was back when we were both and and and we're wearing leather helmets. That minor league called the big East, right?

Joe Forgét 2:22

I believe we were talking about those that that day and age. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Sean Murphy 2:27

Well, Joe, like Roy said, welcome. Leaders who are building something that truly lasts are going to fill this one, I believe. When when we sat down and talked about having you on, I thought that you know that this was going to be a really good one. So um let's get into

Daily Running And Clear Thinking

Sean Murphy 2:44

it. Let's start somewhere fun before we the actual work that we're gonna get into. Um, you've been on a daily running streak since May 1st of 2020. That's not a streak, that's basically a religion at this point. What started it and what has showing up every single day taught you about yourself?

Joe Forgét 3:08

Well, it started, you know, we were kind of in that lockdown period, and and I just, you know, I went out and I was running. I ran one day. Yeah, I ran all the time back there, and it just wasn't every day. And yeah, I was like, let me see if I can do a week. And then a week became a month, and a month became two months, two months became six months, and you know, here we are. So it hasn't always been easy. I I broke my arm a couple of years ago, and the first thing I asked the orthopedic was, Can I still run? Run. She said, as long as you don't fall. I would be out there running with my arm and a cast and a sling running past people, and uh probably look like a total freak. But yeah, it's just become part of who I am running daily.

Sean Murphy 3:51

When I when I heard that and read that, I was like, very, very cool. Does it feel like a burden or does it help you, you know, keep everything else on track?

Joe Forgét 4:03

I think you know, there's been times that I haven't wanted to go do it. I mean, honestly, today I ran at noon, so it's not the optimal time in Florida in June. But you know, I I kind of look at it as if I didn't, I'd regret it. So it just I I also look at it as if I stopped, if I didn't run today and I stopped the streak, I don't know if I'd run for a week or a month. You know, I mean it's it's easy to say I'm not gonna go out and do it. Not every day is as good of a run or as fun of a run, if you will. But you know, it it makes me do things that are I'll say not fun and still need to get done. And so I'm thinner for it, so that's good. Okay. Allows me to eat what I want when I want, I guess. I don't know.

Roy Richardson 4:49

But uh you're gonna burn you're gonna burn it off. You're gonna burn it off.

Joe Forgét 4:52

It's become part of who I am at this point. So yeah, fun.

Roy Richardson 4:54

So so I'm curious. I know, you know, I I love to walk and and just you know go on really extended walks and and get into really deep thoughts and and do a lot of problem solving while I'm out there. And I'm I'm curious with your running. Is is that where a lot of your best thinking happens? Some people do their clearest work at a desk. It sounds like you do yours on the road.

Joe Forgét 5:17

Yeah, I actually I I it's uh a longer run, and and you know, I mean, after you get out there for a couple of miles, your brain really does get pretty clear. But even in the first mile, uh it starts to align things going on, you know, so I can have different things going on in my head, and and I get out there and I think through them better, and it just helps me kind of create and flow them together. And so, yeah, definitely that and in front of a whiteboard. So those are my my two clearest thinking.

Sean Murphy 5:44

Very cool. You're an Eagle Scout, very impressive, and you've stayed involved with Scouting America. For the people who don't know, tell us what that in that distinction involved, because not a lot of folks have that.

Joe Forgét 5:59

Well, yeah, growing up in scouting, there's a lot of things it brings to you. I mean, one, you know, I I kind of was in the woods probably every month camping. You know, I grew up in upstate New York, so camping in the winter, sometimes it was in a cabin, sometimes it was actually, you know, I remember one weekend I had a we built an igloo out of snow and slept in that. So you know, it really got me outdoors, but the the path to Eagle Scout, that journey is really it's advancement through achievement. And so it, you know, you the one thing I I well, there's many things I think scouting does really well, but it's a it's a a plan in front of you. And they tell you if you do these things, you have the opportunity to get the next rank, right? And so you might have to serve in that rank for a period of time, earn X amount of merit badges, you know, sit in a leadership position, what have you. And then you once you've met all the requirements, then you have a a border review and you know, and and you actually get kind of like interviewed like for a job or for a promotion. And so, you know, it's not guaranteed that you're gonna get to that next level. And so, you know, the journey to Eagle Scout is really a life lesson of if you put in the work, you more likely than not will, you know, achieve the desired outcome. And you know, there's one piece of being an Eagle Scout, you put together a service project, and so it also kind of helps connect you with your community when you're doing something, whether it's you know, a project, you know, in nature or you know, my my eagle project was renovating the basement of the church that I grew up going to and it was part of the school that I went to for grade school, and we cleaned up the whole basement and waterproof and painted the walls and built shelves and everything down there so that they could use the space more effectively. So very cool. Yeah, I mean it just teaches you that you know, kind of that a life of service, but also advancement and you know, you get what you achieve, I guess. You know, you get what you earn, you know.

Sean Murphy 7:57

So just another tool to help learn the importance of achievement, and I would imagine there's some leadership involved with that as well.

Joe Forgét 8:05

Definitely. There's different leadership positions within the troops, and so my you know, my my troop is an interesting story only because we we we had scoutmasters with those, but it was my father for a period of time, a friend's father for a period of time, and and my buddy Jimmy and I were more far more active in leading the troop than just a standard scout. Like we we picked where we're going, what we're doing, everything. And so, yeah, a lot of leadership at an early age, I guess.

Sean Murphy 8:33

All right. Well, listen, that's some of the beginning, but let's go back to the beginning beginning, Roy.

From Operator To Executive Coach

Roy Richardson 8:38

Joe, you've spent over 35 years in leadership seats, president, COO, business owner, before stepping fully into coaching. That's a long runway. When did you know this was actually good work that you were supposed to be doing?

Joe Forgét 8:53

Well, you know, I I worked for an organization where we we went through this program called Core Clarity, and it was kind of an interpretation of the Clifton Strengths Finder, you know, your top five strengths and my number one strength as a developer and ultimately learning a lot about myself, and and it really connected dots for me. That, you know, one of my big passions throughout my career was was helping others see things in themselves that they didn't necessarily see and helping advance themselves or make themselves better. And so a few years later, was working in another organization and and we had uh different coaches there. We had a EOS implementer for a couple of years that I worked with. He actually is the one that wrote the book, What the Heck is EOS with Gina Wickman. Uh his name was Tom Bauer. Great, great implementer, great coach, you know. And then we we switched to another coach, uh, Rebecca Lockwood, and she was a pinnacle guide at the time. She's still a business coach and she's actually wrote a book called The Cohesive Couple. It's an operating framework for couples to stay aligned and healthy. And, you know, working with Rebecca was when I really just it clicked for me. I was like, I love what she's doing. And one day in one of our sessions, I kind of stood up and and, you know, was helping her get the people's thoughts out of their head onto the whiteboard. You know, just the way they were speaking. It was kind of internal speak. And so she was kind of struggling a little bit of understanding what they're saying. I and I took the whiteboard markers and worked with her for I don't know, better part of an hour. And I realized that, man, you know, I I love this, you know. And so I figured I'd at some point end up going and doing it. And I reached out to her shortly thereafter and kind of inquired, you know, what was her journey? How did she get there? And and ultimately decided to make that leap a couple years later.

Sean Murphy 10:45

So excellent. Yeah. And so so having said that, I've heard you say several times that you waited a little bit longer. What was it that held you back from starting earlier? Was it doubt, identity timing, or you know, something else?

Joe Forgét 10:59

Probably, probably a little fear, a little doubt. Um you know, I'm a calculated risk taker, if you will, right? And I where I was working at the time, I was I I became our in-house coach. So I became the facilitator for our annuals, our quarterlies, and and you know, really took ownership over the development of the team, ran internal book clubs, and just really the people that reported to me, I wanted to help them get closer and become better leaders and just you know, uh grow as individuals, but grow as a team. And I did that for a couple of years, and that was really I got paid for that client, you know, my full-time role. But uh yeah, you know, that was really probably my first client was working with the team I was on for the first couple of years there. And and I finally made the decision, you know, a couple of years ago to to to leave and and go out on my own. And yeah, probably more fear and self-doubt. And I mean, I think everybody goes through things where you know, I love your thing on identity, but you know, the big term in the space is uh imposter syndrome, right? So I think everybody struggles with the what ifs. And you know, one day I just said, what if I didn't go do it? And that that that fear outweighs the fear of going and doing it. So pursue your passion.

Roy Richardson 12:20

So so you in your role today, you've often run into talented leaders that are struggling, perhaps not from a lack of effort, but from a lack of clarity and alignment. So it and your capacity as you know, helping people see beyond what they believe they're capable of doing, what does that look like, you know, when you walk into a leadership team that's stuck?

Joe Forgét 12:42

Um, you know, if I was to to to take a step back, I've worked with teams where the first time they were ever all in the same room physically together was that first day of our sessions. And so they'd been on Zoom calls together, but they'd never actually physically been together in the same room. Right. And uh, you know, for you to to to uh uh achieve true teamwork and and growth and and and business goals you're looking to achieve, you know, uh ultimately the the team has to be on the same page, you know, rowing in the same direction. And so if a team was rowing crew and and one person thinks they're trying to go left, the other person thinks they're trying to go right, the boat's not gonna, you know, but they're they're more in that synchronicity, that harmony of of their cadence of everything. And that's how a you know, uh a winning crew team is gonna go out and row, right? And so it's kind of the same thing with business. It starts with getting the team on the same page, and and usually that requires getting the team healthy, right? You know, aligned, trust each other, willing to debate and have healthy conflict and and talk through all the different avenues of where they could go.

Sean Murphy 13:57

So we're gonna be doing a lot of that tomorrow afternoon, huh, Joe? Healthy uh debate. So you so you grew up in Albany, you've been here a couple of decades, and you've built something on your own. Looking back at that whole arc of you know progression, what's the thread that runs through all of it? Interesting.

Joe Forgét 14:20

I probably have to go back on that, you know, when we're talking about scouting, the advancement leadership side of things. I mean, I went to an all-mill military high school in Albany. So, you know, I I feel like most of my life has been in some sort of advancement achievement type program. When I went to Syracuse, my student work study job led me into the carrier dome where we lost two guys when we couldn't get over the goal line at the end of it. Yeah, I mean, I mean, we don't want to bring that up. Anyway, I remember anyway, anyway.

Sean Murphy 14:53

I remember 77. I remember 77 to nothing at one point.

Joe Forgét 14:59

No, no, no, no, no. I I I told you guys the two worst ones. I drove from Syracuse to Miami to lose 49 to nothing and 52 to nothing. I I I I I felt the pain. No, we we but uh anyway, my my role there, I started as a runner with novelty operations, and within a year I went from a runner to supervisor to assistant manager to getting promoted to the manager of the team. And and you know, so as a student in college, I I was responsible for the whole storeroom inventory, 20 stands, 100 plus people. And and you know, I originally went for electrical engineering and I realized in that year of my life that you know my passion is not engineering, not that I didn't have the academic potential. It was it's just not doesn't fuel me the same way. And so, you know, I knew very early on that I just love working with people and and probably that advancement achievement based mindset has worked very well for me throughout my career.

Roy Richardson 15:58

So, you know, there's you you know it's amazing. You you could actually be in, you know, we we are in the same circle. You could know people for quite a while, and it takes a podcast for you to realize that you both went to an all-male military school. Uh you both went to university that that had orange in its colors, although one was the clear champion and winner. Um and and and and you and you both went in as electrical engineers and decided after year one that it was not for you. So kudos kudos there, you know. But Joe, that's that's not like don't come for money. Yeah.

Joe Forgét 16:34

Trust me, I have more than being at Syracuse, man. You know, I I my mother worked three jobs for me to go through college, and I left with a tremendous amount of student debt, and I owe my mother pretty much everything. So my mother and my father were big influences in my life. So uh I didn't even know what it meant, like private school. I didn't I didn't realize I could have gone to you know a SUNY school for way less money. My mother just knew I felt comfortable at Syracuse and and uh and it was transformational for me. So it was worth every penny.

Roy Richardson 17:12

And you know, so and and and and if you if you didn't go there, I mean we we wouldn't really be talking about all those scores that we ran up on. Right, right, right. You had no fun right now.

Joe Forgét 17:21

No, we wouldn't. We wouldn't. We wouldn't. Talking football right now, right? Not with broads or basketball, right? Yeah, okay, just gotcha.

Roy Richardson 17:30

So so so let's get to the heart of it here. You know, what is your actual why? Not not the company mission statement, but what drives Joe Forge personally when you show up every day?

Joe Forgét 17:40

I think you guys know I I have a you know a tagline, a slogan for my business, but to achieve the ROI on why. And my why is truly the transformation that happens for leaders in that session room and watching a team go from individuals to being on the same page, but but seeing like the body language, love and respect for each other and that clarity, and and uh it just it's a beautiful thing to see, and and you know, I want to see people win. And so part of winning is is doing the work that we got to put in to make ourselves better, and and that's the part of it that I I just truly, truly love.

Roy Richardson 18:19

So awesome, awesome. Great, great segue because I want to talk a little bit about what you're building today and how it actually works.

The Ignition Framework And Who It Serves

Roy Richardson 18:28

And so for our listeners who haven't cr come across igniting momentum, give us the picture. What does the work look like? Who do you typically work with, and why does the three-tier model, spark sessions, ignition tracks, momentum journeys, reflect something you believe about how teams actually build traction?

Joe Forgét 18:47

Well, let's see. Nice, a nice opportunity to work together just to help teams get clear in a short session. But you know, all ultimately what I do, you know, is is I'm not gonna say unique to me. It's my approach to creating clarity for leaders and leadership teams. It comes from you know different things that I've done over the 35 years to get here. And and I and I've been involved in a lot of different things in my career, probably after college, first 10 years, large publicly traded uh consumer electronics company. Then I ran my own, you know, design firm. We did consumer packaging, did that for 12 years, and then went back to working for mid-sized businesses in that $30 to $100 million range for you know 10 years or so before starting igniting momentum. And so, you know, there's three typical things that I encounter when speaking to a company, right? And and there's founder-led teams that are heavily dependent, day-to-day decision making, on that owner or co-owners, but you know, on a on a one or two people make a lot of the decisions. And there's a team, but they're not, you know, they're looking for direction versus being on the same page. Or, you know, and for that, I created a program called Ignite the Vision. There's business owners that are looking to grow and and you know, really operationalize their business focused around building enterprise value. And and often that conversation is driven by a desire to exit their business at some point in the next three to five years, and they understand that maybe the business is too complex or they don't have the right team in place, or you know, maybe they're still too heavily involved in the day-to-day decision making. And so the Ignite the Value program is is focused around getting the team working together towards building that, but also getting the right team in place so that the owner could exit if the opportunity existed. And then there's, you know, the other big component that that I come across is companies that have gone through mergers and acquisitions. And I've been a part of several mergers and acquisitions in my career, some better than others. And the Ignite the Venture program is really about the blending of teams to create a new vision, culture, strategy for this blended entity. And and oftentimes in an acquisition, it's like, hey, we acquired you, so we're just gonna make you, you know, do it our way. And meanwhile, there's things that made the company unique that the whole reason maybe they were your number two competitor. Maybe you feel they're synergistic in in this thing. How how do we like get and build the best version of everything and take company A, company B, and make a you know, rock star company C. And so that's uh those are kind of the the the three most common things that I come across with people. And so those are kind of the the those are the ignition facts. And that's really what does the first 90 to 120 days look like? You know, and then we talked a little bit, you mentioned momentum journeys, and that's really just you know, in order to build momentum, we've got to get the flywheel going, we've got to get people working together, and and and it takes a bit of time to learn this this cadence over time that people you know it just you don't just go into two sessions and come out and everybody's fixed it's not that's not how it works right so so yeah that's that's what we put together so okay cool so how's that so so is that the framework of ignition all that you just explained or is there more to the framework you know there's there there's folks that are doing the EOS system and pinnacle and that's very very popular is not the right word but a lot of the the leadership across the state are big into that so tell me how that works in conjunction with that yeah so the ignition framework really the flow of its align activate accelerate right and it goes back to that you have to learn to walk before you can run kind of mindset which is why when I talk about momentum journeys right in order to accelerate we you know there's a little bit of work that needs to get done but uh you know when you mentioned EOS Pinnacle is an offshoot of EOS you know several years ago Gina Wickman sold it to a you know private equity firm and and they shifted their model and so a lot of coaches left EOS and you know implementers left and so some of them created pinnacle there's a framework called System and Soul which is actually the the the the framework that connected with me the most and and was one of the big reasons that I took the leap to leave my role but it that that one's really focused more around the soul component that that it takes people to run process and I I truly truly believe in that as well but you know the the all of them are kind of scaling up EOS pinnacle system and soul they're built off of you know different the Rockefeller habits Jim Collins good to great Patrick Lancioni teachings around leadership Stephen Covey's rock concept they're just pulling principles of these different business leaders over the course of time and and that's what EOS really is taking you know some of the best business concepts and pulling them together and creating a okay hey if you don't have an operating system if you implement this you will perform better. And there is definitely truth to that statement. Is it a one size fits all situation? No right and so every business has different challenges that they're facing and you know sometimes it doesn't feel right. So that's why I built what I built.

Sean Murphy 24:32

Excellent listen I I I love what you're doing. I remember back in the early 2000s I sat on the board of the the Greater Orlando Regional Chamber Jacob Stewart was running it back then and Ray Gilly was running the EDC and a lot of this leadership development was going on back then and I took it over to ACG and fast forward to you know like 17 I went to the the leadership institute. But listen let's dig a little bit deeper on leadership

Purpose First Then People And Process

Sean Murphy 25:03

itself.

Roy Richardson 25:03

Yeah so so Joe your operating philosophy is purpose plus people plus process equals performance. Most leaders would say they believe on all four of those so what's the one that actually gets underinvested in and why does it keep getting skipped?

Joe Forgét 25:20

Well I think uh of you know the the purpose people process equals performance of the three I think purpose is probably the one that's skipped over the most you know going back to Simon Sinek start with why people can can can can feel that the there's there's there's power and purpose right and when you've identified why you do what you do as an organization why it's important to the world why it's important to your team then everything else can begin to make sense and and I think you know people is a is a a big topic because you know you hear right people right seats you know the Jim Collins concept it's a big part of EOS and the and the frameworks right to have the right people having the the the right roles that you you need that to be successful. And processes right you know if you're having a weekly meeting if your agenda is this agenda or that agenda or this agenda does it make the meeting but maybe the meeting performs better because of your meeting agenda flo follows the exact flow of like what your business needs right so that the meeting agenda and the process doesn't shift things as much it's it's I mean without that I I just look at I think people want systems processes they want to have the right people and all of those are admirable but how do you attract the right people right clarity of why you do what you do and the purpose behind the business and you know now more than ever Gen Z wants to understand why you know how are we going to change the world what's the impact why would I come work for you? Right? You know I've heard business leaders say it's the audacity they're interviewing me. It's like I mean honestly just because I was Gen X and I would have taken any paycheck to do anything right because that's how I was raised but you know that they do I mean and and so the more clarity of purpose the more people can rally behind what they're what you're doing and and feel that they're a part of something bigger than themselves and and that's what people want. Right. And so yeah purpose for sure.

Sean Murphy 27:20

So so what you work with founders and and leaders who are often the ceilings of their own businesses where the company can only grow as fast as the business owner or the business leader can let it grow how do you help someone recognize what the shift actually look like to allow them to grow the business?

Joe Forgét 27:43

Well I think you know it's not always that they are the the the the roadblock or the barrier for sure you know or the ceiling as you put it but I I think you know people have there's a book called Positive Intelligence it talks about your judging saboteurs and and you know we all have saboteurs right I mean at the end of the day they were defense mechanisms that helped us you know get through our childhoods and as adults they kind of get in our way right and so you know whether you're a a stickler or a controller or a pleaser you know if you're if you're a stickler it's my way or the highway. My way is the best way right well it's really hard to to expect somebody to do something your way every time I mean you can create processes you want them to follow it. They're probably not going to do it exactly that way. A controller I've worked with CEOs that I don't understand. We empower them to lead I don't understand why they come to me for every answer and it's you know okay but you may not want to be a micromanager but because of your controller saboteur you have this need to know what everybody's doing. And so that's kind of the definition of micromanagement Sean what did you do today you know what I mean like how did you get that done what steps did you take right I mean that's kind of micromanagement right and then a pleaser if you want everybody to like you that's a really hard thing to hold people accountable right and so you know and those and to know that we have these it doesn't make us bad right there that they work for us and they work against us and identifying that we just have these tendencies allows us to then say okay I feel that coming on shift my brain and my thoughts over to okay hey that's just my need for I want somebody to do it my way. Right right and and and I think and that and this got to me earlier in my career you know stickler was definitely one of my saboteurs and you know there's allowing people to do it their way if they fail you can't really point out to them but if you had followed my way it would have worked right it you know it doesn't help in in the conversation and so you know I I I had to learn you know hey look this is when I need you to do it my way versus or the right way right versus we're we're after the desired outcome right and and so if we give you 30 60 90 day milestones and clear expectations and you get that done then you know what I mean then do I care if you you know weaved and I would have gone straight maybe a little more right who cares we hit the desired outcome right and we're not clones of each other. So so it's really understanding you know but a lot of times that shift is just in the sessions themselves right you know the the these offsite sessions with the team I'm always doing things to bring the team closer together. And so you know regardless of the exercise typically it's to create vulnerability based trust right it's it's for us to get to know each other at a deeper level so that people feel more comfortable debating topics. And one of the reasons that you know a third party coach or facilitator provides so much value for company strategic planning sessions is because it puts the leaders all on the same plane for a day right you know you you might be my boss every day but in this room today we all have an equal input into the conversation and and a good facilitator is going to see you know Sean has something to say and he might not agree with Roy but he I can tell he's not saying it. So how am I going to tactfully say Sean do you agree with that statement or Sean do you have something you'd want to add to that and and like pull it out of them because if they just go with the flow and they just agree to say yes, they're not there's not alignment. That's that's false alignment, right? And so just saying yes because you feel like you have to is not actually alignment.

Roy Richardson 31:43

So yeah and I can I can imagine those sessions probably touch us a lot on on culture the establishment of culture because once once you have people who like you say are on the same airplane and realizing that you know there's no particular pecking order here because we're we're all we're all breathing the same oxygen today, right? And it it it gives and people start trusting each other and and that naturally leads into you know that formation or at least the the foundational aspect of of establishing a culture within within that organization where people start trusting each other and start really you know going to bat for

Hard Seasons, Discipline, And Focus

Roy Richardson 32:20

each other. But I want to share real quickly here let's talk about the hard seasons.

Sean Murphy 32:25

Yeah you've been honest that owning and leading businesses and has had moments where the weight of it felt overwhelming right the people the payroll the performance the uncertainty what did you do in those moments and what did you learn about it yourself?

Joe Forgét 32:50

I'm just kidding I I I I I cried myself to sleep in the corner but it's fine no I I you know I I've been through a lot of different scenarios in my career and whether intentionally or unintentionally I handled things differently at different times and and had different outcomes. And so it's I like to say if I knew then what I know now I you know things might have been different. I I mentioned I owned a design firm and and one thing that we shifted gears on was we left our niche you know we left what made us unique what made us special thinking it would add more revenue and the reality is it it was the beginning of downturn that didn't need to happen right and so that's one thing I definitely work on with people is you know what's your what's your swim lane what's what's what truly makes you unique and and what is the the you know we talked about purpose but you know what what is the the the super fuel of your business right that makes your business unique is in the lane you love to work in and and fuels your purpose and and you know don't stray from that because entrepreneurs love to shave shiny objects love to sh chase shiny objects I can't speak but and so it's like but if we do this we can make an extra 50 grand okay but at the detriment of what over here and and that and that's I've seen it a lot in my career chasing something to make a little extra money costs you way more in sales of your core business when you get out of that focus.

Roy Richardson 34:24

So and you so throw on on chasing the shiny objects but as you as I would say as you mature through the entrepreneurship process you start realizing the things you shouldn't be chasing versus the ones you you really should be focusing on. I want to shift a little bit to your principle and how you operate and and your principle is that momentum doesn't always come from breakthroughs. Sometimes it comes from doing the next discipline thing when things are hard.

Joe Forgét 34:50

Where did you first understand that and what did it change for you great question when I first probably 10 years ago 15 years ago but you know I I went through a tough period with my my business back then. And I mentioned we we shifted gears from what made us unique and and then that I had a business partner decide he wanted to to leave and then a few years later I had another business partner my you know the one that I'd worked with every day for 18 years. He he wanted to leave he actually we're just texting yesterday so we're still on really good terms. But he actually left to go be a teacher and head wrestling coach and he's really found his purpose and and enjoys what he does. Super talented designer unbelievably talented creative guy but he he's fueled his passion for the last 10 10 11 years doing that. And so the the focusing on what's next I think when things are really tough and I've had different scenarios in in my career when working inside a company that when we take on too much and and things start to to feel heavy you know the job of a leader is to really to to whether it's they personally take a step back and create clarity or they bring the team together to create clarity to get what are the priorities because we can't do everything with the scenario we've got going on. So what are the things we need to be doing to get us out of this rut or to get us where we want to go and I worked with a gentleman funny guy really brilliant technology guy and and he would always say we always try and boil the ocean and and it's really you know when you try and do too much it's it's hard for people to follow right and so if you want your team you know as a leader it's how do we break it down I and you see football coaches and we're talking football earlier but a lot of times when football coach comes in they say the team's just on discipline and they're going to break it down to the basics the blocking and tackling right and that's literally like you have to simplify the playbook to get everybody working together before you can start to add things in it's the same thing in business. And so that's really just how do you get aligned on I'll say the most important things that we need to do today, this week, this month so that we can get ourselves back into that that good healthy pace.

Sean Murphy 37:14

So you spent years gaining real operating experience right then at some point you realize you'd probably wait it longer than you needed to give yourself permission to fully step into your entrepreneurial self what does what what does that cost someone to wait?

Joe Forgét 37:35

I think obviously it was the cost them time get it getting started is the best time to plant a tree 20 years ago next best time today. So if you're noodling on an idea and you've got a plan and you think you want to do it probably you know sooner than later but it costs you time and at the same time you have to be ready right and and and you know that you hear people say we want to have kids we're gonna wait till we're ready. We want to buy a house but you know when the time is right is there ever the right time but there are certainly the wrong times I mean if you're gonna get into something and you know that you have to have the runway of of capital to cover six months a year two years of your your personal life before the business is going to start to generate profit to actually contribute to you and you don't have that access to capital probably the wrong time to get started and maybe start socking it away so you can do it when you can make that that flip but for me it was it was definitely you know it really was fear and questioning myself right and and I think if you have a good plan and you know you're gonna be good at it and people are telling you you're gonna be good at it you know just listen to them and and take the leap for sure.

Sean Murphy 38:46

You you also listed extreme ownership as a book that's deeply shaped you. Radical ownership sounds clean in theory but what does it actually look like inside a leadership team that's stuck in blame culture? How do you move that needle?

Joe Forgét 39:05

Well extreme ownership is a great book it's written by uh Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, two former Navy SEALs and they do business consulting now but the book's a great great book it's it's the audio book I mean literally they have things going on in Afghanistan the background it's it's in Iraq it's it's interesting to listen to the book. But the biggest premise and takeaway though is is the term commander's intent, right? When you're going into a mission, everybody going into the mission understands what winning looks like they all have different roles in that in that process they all sit in different seats but they understand why they're doing what they're doing and what does mission success look like. And so from a business perspective when you've broken things down into this is why we're doing it, right? And this is what it looks like, then everybody's making good strategic decisions daily because they understand what they're trying to achieve together. And then if let's just say obviously if you're in their situation as a Navy SEAL or in the military if you're you're in a battle and and on you know somebody's wounded or or killed and that was your leader, somebody else has to step in and lead like the the the mission doesn't just end right so like it can't just rest on the leader's head that of like everything that needs to get done. Everyone needs to understand it. They need to know their role in it. They need to know you know if if so and so's not there who steps in or do I you know I mean and and it really translates well to business. It's an interesting read and I I played there's a clip from Saving Prior where talk about complaining up you know so it's a great scene for private Ryan but it's probably like a minute long clip and I I play it in sessions sometimes if you kind of hear that people are complaining to each other or they're the team they lead they're kind of complaining about other people to that team like you can't as a leader right as a leader you're you're neutral you not you don't get to chime in right the coach doesn't get to to commiserate with the players right it's their job to to to change that. And so uh just great lessons on leadership like for me.

Roy Richardson 41:15

So great stuff great stuff. And

AI Value Versus Fake Progress

Roy Richardson 41:18

we've been talking about the hard work of clarity ownership and doing disciplined things. And right now there's a tool that's promising to do a lot of that work for you. And of course I'm talking about AI or artificial intelligence the buzzword that's everywhere it's in the boardroom it's in the coaching conversations it's in the strategy deck. From where you sit where does it genuinely create value for a leadership team and where does it risk giving them the feeling of progress without the substance of it?

Joe Forgét 41:48

I think AI is it is it's everywhere. That's the conversation we hear about every day. I think there's different schools of thought right if you ask a lot of CEOs of what was the ROI from what they did in 2025 with AI, many of them would say they invested a lot of money and got very little in return. And a lot of that is not going into something with a a a plan or a strategy and a and an expectation and and how you're going to measure success to begin with right but for people that say hey I'm gonna use AI to replace my team well that that's in in some situations you can right but most businesses can't replace all the humans in the organization they can streamline processes they can maybe use AI to automate different things right an AI chatbot can only take you so far before it hands you off to a to a human right even the ones speaking to it's not coming to fix that broken pipe in your in your uh well it's definitely not going to do that yeah but when you look at it as a force multiplier versus you know how can I take my team and make them more productive versus how do I replace everybody. And then I think as a leader you also have to be very clear with your team of how we're going to use AI from a perspective of hey if you're communicating with them that we're bringing this in to make ourselves more efficient so that we can be faster and nimbler, but it's not here to replace you, then you're gonna put people at ease. And you know when people are fearful for their job, when they're fearful of change, it's a leader's job to give them comfort, right? And it I think for most business leaders, you can't we talked about boiling the ocean earlier you can't just say we're gonna throw it everywhere in the organization and expect great outcomes. I mean you have to have a plan right otherwise you know really with what you do obviously data security governance what what is that I mean there's you open yourself up to so much liability by just throwing it into the yeah and it's crazy.

Roy Richardson 43:48

You're right we we we haven't scratched the surface on it yet. And I I think you're you're absolutely right there in the sense that you know companies that go into this and leadership teams that go into this and say, hey, we're gonna use AI as a technology to make our company better and make our workforce work smarter and and and better you know will come out f further ahead than those who are going into this from a replacement point of view but let me ask you a question on that note is there a version of AI assisted leadership that actually makes your work more effective or does it mostly create more noise for the leaders you work with?

Joe Forgét 44:25

I I think you know there's a lot of conversation in the coaching space of where can AI make coaching different better you know there's clients that are using AI to to help them solve complex problems. I think that when you look at can it replace the humans I mean maybe someday but it's still about the prompting you know an average prompt gets an average response that may or may not actually be accurate and and if you don't know the difference like you know the adage garbage in garbage out I mean it's I was just gonna say that you know I mean and so like it can make if you understand what you're talking about it can make you 10 times 100 times more productive right but you still have to understand it. So like what what I do when we're talking about leadership alignment and getting teams healthy and that sort of thing if you don't see the gaps if you don't see the blind spots AI is not going to point out to so you still need humans to help you take come down that path and process but it's not going to replace us yet.

Sean Murphy 45:30

So right well we've been saying that you know a lot of leaders are using AI to generate frameworks build plans even draft for their team communication and stuff like that. You spent 35 years learning that clarity isn't a document that it's a conversation what does does AI get fundamentally wrong about how alignment actually happens inside a team well I'm not sure it's AI gets it wrong.

Joe Forgét 45:58

I mean I honestly I I think the path to clarity and alignment is is including your team in the conversation you know I had a mentor early in my career he said the problem with most people is they think about the best case scenario maybe they think about a second scenario but he said anything could happen and and you've got to think about the three five ten different different things that could happen and then you have to weigh are the really bad scenarios worth like it if we do this but this happens is it even worth going down this path because we always look at the people it's human nature we're gonna look at the at the best case scenario and and so from a getting people on the same page debating the topics agreeing on why we're gonna do what we're gonna do right you know we could go left we could right we can go straight we talk through you know the the merit of those ideas and we decide we're gonna go straight okay now we're gonna leave the room and go straight together. And so AI might be able to give you what your options could be from what it understands. But you know there's probably a lot of stuff in you know the team's head that that would make even that prompting even if you were to use AI to help you get down this path if it's me communicating with the AI it's just one set of thinking right if the three of us were to talk through a topic and use AI to get to the you know you you guys see things differently than I do with different experience and and with different purview inside the organization. And so I might not even know that if we did that you'd break this over here you know and and Roy's like wait a minute if you did that you'd put us all at risk and in jeopardy. Okay well then we're not going to do that. Right. And so does AI know all those things you know right now it doesn't so here's the question that I think a lot of leaders are wrestling with right now.

Roy Richardson 47:45

And and you kind of hinted on this earlier and and and I don't necessarily want you to answer that now because I I'm kind of planting the seed for the legacy segment that's coming up but if AI can surface insights build frameworks and analyze team dynamics what is the irreplaceable thing that a coach with real operating experience still brings to the table and where do you become more valuable in a world where information is no longer scarce?

Leading Beyond The Algorithm Event

Sean Murphy 48:12

So I wanted to plant that seed feel free to chime in but I know we'll cover it we'll cover we'll cover it coming up I I will uh I'll wait till later but I just wrote a note you know it's very interesting that we're having this conversation right now about um what leadership actually requires in a world where AI is doing more and more and it's literally the conversation that a community that the three of us are involved with that we're gathering business leaders and owners together in August the CEO leadership forums we're hosting an event called Leading Beyond the Algorithm what great leadership looks like in an AI driven world and what I love about this is that it's not a tech conference or event it's a leadership conversation. The premise is simple the organizations that thrive won't just be the ones that adopt AI the fastest. They'll be the ones led by healthy aligned teams that know how to combine innovation with judgment culture accountability and human connection now Joe I said a lot there.

Joe Forgét 49:28

That's basically your entire body of work right pretty much yeah no I uh I you know I I think it's interesting it's gonna be a great event and and you know one of the things we keep hearing about AI and and it's something that the word that comes to mind for me is lead right and it's one of these things where as business leaders we always want to improve performance but you know this is a leadership opportunity for people right to to guide their teams through it and create comfort and clarity versus fear and wonder right and you know we talk about change management a lot of people say people hate to change but it's it's not that they necessarily hate change they don't understand why you're asking them to change so the the bigger fear is that with a lack of understanding or lack of context some people just can't embrace change right and so when we talk about AI from a leadership perspective this is hey we're not going to do everything all at once we're not gonna replace we're gonna look at at the pockets that we can create the greatest impact and and the event I I truly believe is going to be an outstanding take on that right you know having different business leaders talk about how they're leading their teams through this because I mean I have a daughter that's graduating in July from UNF and and you know she was talking about there's so much conversation within you know the student community of jobs and and jobs that are going to exist and and you know it still takes good human prompting in most situations to even use AI for things. You know I mean you can automate systems we we didn't even been able to do that for years. I mean marketing automation platforms you could automate you know workflows that made decision based logic based decisions and would automate tasks. I mean we've been doing that for 10 15 years right 20 years. So that that didn't replace humans still needed humans to to figure out what could the logic look like or should the logic look like but I think it's been a great event. And I mean that that student fear I think you know our partnership with Valencia and bringing the students into the events and trying to make that connection between students and leaders I think it's a topic that that the students should want to come listen to as well because there's so much question and and and fear of what it means for the future and to stick our heads in the sand and say it's not going to change how things are done you know it certainly is but you know if I hold up my cell phone no one thought in was it 2006 when the first iPhone came out like no one expected a a phone that you could surf the internet on to change the world as much as smartphones have I mean so AI is just doing that faster.

Roy Richardson 52:23

So think about that change to you know that's 15 years or 18 years or whatever it's been since then I guess 20 years right and but AI in two or three years has just like it's the wild wild west and the problem is it's the wild wild west I I think we're we're gonna we're really gonna have a great event and and you know if you've been wrestling with with any of of what Joe and Sean spoke about before in this segment as as a business leader this is the room to be in come come August. And I I know Sean you're gonna mention somewhat about the the details on on that event right?

Sean Murphy 52:57

Yeah yeah we'll we'll talk about it at the end but but for right now I'm gonna go in some quick hits Joe you know first thing that comes to mind when I when when when I ask the questions books you've given away more than any other and why well there's many books I feel like I have a library of books around me but five dysfunctions of the team by Patrick Lancioni and why you cannot have alignment without conflict and without vulnerability based trust you will never actually have alignment.

Joe Forgét 53:27

And so if you want results getting a team healthy and aligned and feel comfortable debating topics right you have to create the psychological safety for your team and actually say great idea and if we did this it would be even better or you know terrible idea you'll blow up everything we built over here just saying yes does not get you where you want to go most overrated buzzword in the leadership and coaching space right now scaling uh it is a word you hear all day every day and I will simply say you cannot scale a house of cards and so you know we talked a little bit about trying to automate everything at once with AI. It's like in general in business right if you've got breakdowns and processes in different departments different systems different workflows you know you can't scale something that isn't scalable and so people use the term loosely scaling is not growth scaling is systematic process oriented you know repeatable ability to grow and there's a huge difference between rolling up our sleeves and growing and building a truly scalable entity and so scaling for sure. Favorite place to think clearly running or a whiteboard if I could have a running whiteboard it would be great. I mean I used I used to literally I I mean I can't even drink out of a water bottle and run so I'm not gonna be on the whiteboard that'd be dead but but I I uh I I I used to because I I run with with with headphones where it's got a microphone and there were people I used to work with and I'd be out running and I go oh man that's how we could do that and I would literally call them I remember there's this guy Lauren that I worked with and he brilliant brilliant guy and and I I called him like and I'm out running and and we're talking through this thing and he's like are you running and I'm like yeah he's like how are you having a full on conversation I'm like I I don't know we're just like out talking through but but like we solved how this whole automation thing worked in Salesforce Marketing Cloud like while I was out running. So it's uh funny yeah very cool. One habit that makes tomorrow easier if you do it today creating clarity at the end of each day you know really tying up loose ends that that needed to get done that you could get done you know whether it's I mean I I hate when people send emails at eight or nine o'clock that's why the productivity tools have the ability to schedule it but it doesn't mean you can't write the email you know and schedule it to be sent at 9 a.m but putting some of those things at rest so they don't sit in your mind so that you can actually be present at home and rest at night and then you know kick off the day the next day because you've already put today to bed and I've got a plan for tomorrow and then I can go you know tackle tomorrow tomorrow.

Sean Murphy 56:28

So best piece of advice you've ever received and give it to me in 10 or fewer words.

Joe Forgét 56:36

I have two and I think they're less than 10 words. Praise in public coach in private and some of the best decisions in my life were made for me awesome awesome that's that's great I like that I like that so so let's slow things down for a moment.

Legacy, Human Coaching, And Closing

Roy Richardson 56:53

Joe, you know and and in our many conversations you said that for you work-life balance isn't quite the right frame it's more about integration running daily protecting family time staying physically strong.

Joe Forgét 57:06

What does that actually look like in practice and why does it matter so much to the work you do well I made a commitment to myself when when launching my practice that I was going to stay focused on me and my health and so I think also as an entrepreneur you you don't have standard work hours right so so if I block the morning to go to the gym I want to go to the gym because working out gives me it gives me clarity it gives me energy and I feel good for the day. When I let things derail me and I don't get there I I know it. And years ago I had a therapist said to me you know he he he said you're a top gun you know you want to be the best at everything. He said you've got to learn that when you're at work, be the best at work. When you're at home be the best at home when you're at home don't be thinking about work and when you're at work don't be thinking about home. Now that's not what everybody wants to hear from their partner or their spouse that you're not thinking about home when you're at work. But if you're the type of person that's a high driver, you know find a way to be present in the moment of of where you are and and that for me I just really try and they're integrated together because I'm always working. You know what I mean? Like my brain's always going on something.

Roy Richardson 58:23

So and so you've mentioned that being the dad of your two daughters is one of the most important roles in your life and and I I can relate with my kids.

Joe Forgét 58:33

As someone building something for the long term how has fatherhood shaped the way you think about legacy well there's two people in this world whose opinions matter most to me and that would be Sasha and Talia but I posted something the other day about active listening you know it it used to be my nature to kind of dive in to try and help them solve things and and you know we created some clarity around that when they were teenagers of do you want me to you know do you want me to hear you do you want me to help you or do you want me to handle it and and I and I've used that language with them because if they just want me to listen I'll listen but you know you can also overreact as a parent right well it's the same when you're if you're a a senior leader in an organization and somebody's coming to you and and they're sharing a scenario and you blow up at them they are never going to come back to you know the same way right you you you consume an awful lot of social capital if you erupt at somebody. If they tell you they did something and your body language says man I disapprove you're eroding a lot of social capital because now they're going to come to you to ask you how to do things because they can tell you didn't like the way they did it. Right. And so it's like as a parent that was something I really had to do. There were times that they would share things with me that I didn't like what I was hearing but I didn't want to be judgmental. And you know what I mean and because that's one of the biggest challenges right like to fail, you know it's the first attempt in learning. So you know we can give them all the best guidance at the end of the day they're gonna make mistakes and when they make mistakes how we react is whether or not they come back and talk to us about it again or if they go never going back there. And so I I you know I definitely do not always have a poker face as far as but I wear my emotions on my sleeve for the most part but I have with them tried to give them the safe space to to be themselves and to grow and and they know I'm here when they need me and you know but I think it it stems to leadership too for sure.

Roy Richardson 1:00:52

So if you had the opportunity to put together a dream board of advisors anyone from any point in time you know past the present who would be on your board and why it's a great question.

Joe Forgét 1:01:07

One of my favorite authors is Patrick Lancioni so I I feel like I I just connect with his take on leadership for sure. Tim Collins so much great stuff from Tim Collins we talked scouting earlier Lord Baden Powell the founder creator of scouting I think would be a really interesting person to have on the board just somebody that had that much foresight in creating this youth program that would be such a big part of of developing healthy leading young people. Terry Francona former manager of the Red Sox because man he took a band of misfits he had a couple of superstars and a bunch of you know I mean some of the guys had their best seasons under him I remember Bill Miller had an unbelievable year at third base. He he hit you know way above his career batting average just an outstanding year. Bellhorn just a bunch of guys on the team that he just he found a way to blend a team for sure. You want to talk about a guy that knew how to play different personalities and and and speak to their different personalities right and then Bill Parcell I mean you can tell I'm split between I'm a Red Sox fan and a Giants fan so it's a it's an interesting one but I think you know when you hear Hall of Famers talk about Bill Parcells he might have been hard on them but man he had their best interest at heart and he bit big big influence there. And then I mentioned my mom earlier but my dad actually you know my dad was somebody I used to talk to about a lot of things and he was a lifelong learner and really gave me the desire to to dig into things and uh he's the handiest person I've ever known and unfortunately he's not around anymore but I've learned a lot from him so he'd be on it for sure.

Roy Richardson 1:02:53

That's that's an amazing board. And you know one one thing I would say every guest that has come on the show has sort of outshone the previous guests with their board right and you have a stellar board there so kudos let let's let's look forward a bit. Ten years from now what does success look like for igniting momentum not just from a revenue or client count but what does the work look like and what does it mean for the leaders and the teams you've served well you know for me I mentioned my why earlier is the transformation of leaders.

Joe Forgét 1:03:30

So you know I I feel like the companies I work with the teams I work with I'm on their team. I get to know them at a personal level you know one of my clients one of the guys just had his second kid last week and I look forward to seeing them a couple weeks for their quarterly but you know just you get to know them on a personal level and and and I I feel connected to their ups and downs right when things are going really well I can feel a little bit of pride that hey I had a a part of that or I played a you know a part in that and when they go through tough times I own it as if I was on the team. Yeah you know it's it's just I want people to be successful. And so I don't really measure the success of ignite igniting momentum beyond that. So the client count the the desire to work with more clients it's really it's always been the passion I I love to learn about different businesses. And so one of the things I loved about my marketing business was you know learning so many different businesses. And and so for me it's that this is the part of my career I get to take what I learned and and what I've developed over you know 35 years and and put it to work where I get to enjoy the next 10 15 years and and and really know that I'm giving back to others by helping them become more productive healthier teams.

Roy Richardson 1:04:49

So nice nice so earlier we planted a seed in the AI segment the coaching and advisory space is crowding fast and AI is changing what information and frameworks are accessible to anyone coming back to that where does a human coach someone with real operating experience the 30 something plus years you just spoke about actually matter more in that world and not less?

Joe Forgét 1:05:16

I think human connection can't really be replaced if we think about social media smartphones texting Snapchat it it's it's actually created while people may say it gave us great communication tools that the human interaction the human communication many young people do struggle in that scenario and so for me from a coaching perspective it it there's a human element to everything. Most of the business challenges are not black and white right there they're very much gray area things the facilitation the coaching the empathy you know I mean maybe AI will get to that point that it's empathetic and it can see the Room and see the body language and make that, you know, those same deterministic calls. But I think a good coach is like a therapist, right? I mean, there's many therapists that are qualified to do couples counseling or trauma counseling or what. But if you don't have a connection with that person and feel comfortable enough to be vulnerable and allow yourself to grow and to to to to say, I don't have all the answers. You know, I don't know everything. AI, I just don't know how that would replace that human element. That's that's the the power of a good coach. It goes beyond the systems. It's the it's the human element side of it.

Roy Richardson 1:06:40

You're so right on that. I mean, you know, you you see today where AI is being used, for example, even on calls to try and and determine and guide people with re and how to respond in conversations, et cetera. So maybe you're right. Maybe in the future it it may it may contribute in one aspect or the other, but it's never going to have that real world experience and the the the coaching side, your your 35 plus years of you know spanning multiple different companies, seeing companies go from zero to a hundred plus, companies that failed, companies that thrived, and and then of course the real world experience, right? And bringing that all from a coaching perspective. So, Joe, you've talked about giving yourself permission sooner. If you had fully stepped in five or ten years earlier, what do you think that would have unlocked for you and for the people you serve?

Joe Forgét 1:07:32

You know, I I I think one, I would have worked with five years more of of different companies and people, but you know, I I also look at the timing was when it was, and and and I wouldn't have had the experiences that I had there. So it's it's an interesting take on that one. Probably two or three years before I did was when I really probably should have made that leap, just because it was when I was really focused on on that. And so what that would have brought would have been the things I learned in the first couple of years would have been a couple of years earlier, and I would be a little further along in helping people. But you know, my path is my path, my journey's my journey, and and I look forward to the next 10, 15, 20 years of working with people.

Roy Richardson 1:08:16

So it's the old saying of you know, if if we could if we had the experiences today, but at the age that we were back then, what what a difference it would make, right? And and and and what an advantage it would be for us, right? Back then thinking probably thought we knew it all. So right.

Joe Forgét 1:08:35

Oh, I remember in in one of my classes in college, the the professor said money's not a motivator. And everyone in the class laughed at him. And and we were like, What are you talking about? Money's a motivator, that's why we go to work. And and he said, No, like you're gonna learn money's not a motivator, and it's one motivator, but it's only one of many, right? Whether it's you want to be a part of something, you want to you want the ability to grow, you know, motivation isn't financial compensation, is only one form of compensation. And as leaders, we have to really understand the people that we work with and and and you know, connect with them. But yeah, I mean, I I wish I knew what I know now, then.

Roy Richardson 1:09:17

I think we could all probably say that, you know.

Sean Murphy 1:09:20

That's right, that's right, that's right. Well, it it's it's good to feel the way I do with the insight that I have now.

Roy Richardson 1:09:28

You know, Joe, first and foremost, before we let you go, for anyone listening who wants to continue this conversation to learn more about igniting momentum, where's the best place to find you?

Joe Forgét 1:09:41

Probably the best place to find me is online at ignitingmomentum.com. Uh the company website. And I'm on LinkedIn. If you go to LinkedIn and search Joe Forger, it's spelled like forget. And those are probably the two best places to find me online.

Roy Richardson 1:09:55

And and on that note, Joe Joe definitely wants to forget about those beatdowns that Miami put on Syracuse back in the day.

Joe Forgét 1:10:05

Man, we just keep circling back here.

Roy Richardson 1:10:08

But but all jokes aside, Joe, thank you. Thank you for for sharing your journey with us and and for sharing with with our listeners what you do and how you help organizations. And what I keep coming back to is something you said early in our conversation that most teams don't fail because of lack of effort. They fail from lack of alignment. That's a deceptively simple idea and it carries a lot of weight because it means the work of leadership isn't just strategy and execution. Uh it's creating the conditions where people can actually do their best uh work together. That's what you do. And it's a contribution that matters in ways that don't always show up on a balance sheet. Uh we're grateful you spent time with us, Joe. Thank you. And thanks for all you do uh here for our community and and our CEO leadership forums as well.

Joe Forgét 1:10:59

Well, thank you guys for having me on. I appreciate it.

Sean Murphy 1:11:03

I'd like to say, Joe, what stays with me isn't just what you know. It's the fact that you've lived it before as a leader yourself. You've been in those leadership seats, dealt with the hard calls, felt the weight of building something, and then chose to take all of that and help other people grow through it. That's not a coaching story. That's a leadership story. And I think a lot of people listening today are going to walk away thinking differently about clarity, alignment, permission, what it actually means for their journey. Thanks for sharing all of it with us today, Joe. I really appreciate it. And so, with that being said, we talked earlier about an event that we're gonna be a part of around the AI story. So that event's gonna take place Tuesday, August the 25th at 10,000 Legends Place in downtown Orlando. You can go to CEO Leadership Forums.com's website or you can go to the LinkedIn page. We're all big LinkedIn guys around here. It's from 4 30 to 6 30. And the speaker, we're um finalizing a keynote speaker as we speak. So, with that being said, we'd love for folks to come out and be a part of it and get some more knowledge around this whole AI thing. We know it's a buzzword, but we're actually trying to put it to practical work. And so, with that being said, to our audience, thank you for tuning in to this episode of the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. Until next time, stay curious, stay driven, and keep leading with purpose.

Roy Richardson 1:12:46

Hi, I'm Roy Richardson, host of the Dynamic Business Leaders Podcast. Are you a business owner or leader of a successful business? If yes, we'd love to have you as a guest on our program. Our goal is simple: we provide a platform for leaders to share their experiences to benefit others. We want to hear your story, how you got started, the challenges you faced along the way, and your passion today. If this sounds like you or you know someone who fits these criteria, then be sure to get in touch with us by visiting our website linked in the episode description below. Also, don't forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the notification bell to be notified when our next episode goes live. Or if you'd rather listen to us during your car rides, you can also follow us on your favorite audio channel using your podcatcher. Thanks again, and remember, keep crushing it.