17. Selfless Leadership with Tim Scott

On this week's episode, I sit down with Tim Scott, to talk about his book, “The Table Maker,” a fable on work and meaning with underlying themes of leadership. We also about what he has learned in his journey of leadership and how the mistakes he made during this journey led him to the leadership methodology he uses today. 

Tim Scott is a husband and father as well as a storyteller with extensive experience in the corporate world, working in the recruiting and talent development functions of Dr Pepper/Seven Up, Inc., Trane Commercial Systems, Yum! Brands/Pizza Hut, and Southwest Airlines. Plus he built a dynamic NextGen Ministry at The Branch Church in Dallas and served two terms as a city councilman for Farmers Branch, Texas.

This episode is perfect for anyone who feels like they make mistakes (part of being human, right?) as a leader, want to learn about selfless and values-driven leadership. 

Learn more about Tim here: www.timothywscott.com 

Purchase “The Table Maker” here: https://www.timothywscott.com/shop

Reach out: leadintoitpodcast@gmail.com Instagram: @leadintoitLogo Design: Kamry Rose Creative, kamryrosecreative@gmail.com   

DISCLAIMER: Any opinions or comments made by the host, Sara Greco, and/or her guests are their own and not endorsed by any external entity. 

Lead Into It now offers coaching!  Visit leadintoit.co to learn more. 

Transcript

Sara Greco  0:00  
You're listening to Episode 17 of the lead into a podcast.

I'm Sara Greco, and I have over 10 years of experience in various roles and industries. During this time, I want to just how crucial leadership is as both employee and a leader myself. This has led me to a mission to inspire and provide resources for those who have a desire to be a leader in their field. The lead into a podcast is designed to help you learn how to be a leader with advice, tools, tips, and inspiration from people with all different types of background. Let's get started.

So I love it when episodes just seem like they were meant to be. On this week's episode, I have Tim Scott, and he and I met at Southwest Airlines. And as I was building this podcast, he recognized that he might have something and reached out to me. And we ended up talking about his leadership experience and his journey to writing a book, which is a beautiful book that can really be for some younger ages who might be interested in leadership. I think you all will learn a lot from him. I learned a lot from him. And there's some stuff that I feel like that you could relate to as you're growing into becoming a leader, some things you might encounter along in your leadership journey. And it's just such a great conversation. So anyways, I hope you really enjoy this week's episode. Thanks, Tim, for coming on. I'm so excited to have you on the show. How are you doing today?

Tim Scott  1:54  
I am doing great. And I am so excited to thank you for for your gracious invitation.

Sara Greco  2:01  
Oh, please, I'm so excited. And I want to have the audience get to know you a little bit better. So why don't you go ahead and give us a little bit about your background.

Tim Scott  2:11  
Okay, awesome. So currently, I I'm a team leader in talent acquisition at Southwest Airlines. I lead the team that goes and hires for our technology group. And I've been at Southwest about three years. And prior to that I've had kind of two careers. I had a corporate career where I worked for several other kind of fun large companies, I worked for Dr. Pepper seven up in talent acquisition for a while I work for Pizza Hut yum brands and pizza hut in talent acquisition for a while. And then I had this other careers, I spent eight and a half years as the next gen minister or the director of the next gen ministry, at a multi site church here in Dallas, where I lead our ministries from birth through high school, and basically led ministers for a while and really enjoyed that and really enjoyed kind of that aspect of leadership. And then three years ago, I left that and came to Southwest Airlines, which is which has been amazing. And then yeah, all along through all of that I have just a passion sounds like such a trite thing to say. But but but I have, I have a passion for storytelling and for writing. And so I've written a couple of books in my spare time, and just really enjoy taking lessons, putting them into a story form, throwing them out there and letting people read them. And so that's been been definitely part of my kind of career arc as well.

Sara Greco  3:44  
Okay, and we'll talk about one of your books, the one that you sent me, which is beautiful, by the way, too. It's a beautiful story and beautifully illustrated. But first, I want to kind of talk into like your journey until the leadership and how you kind of found your way into that. So what made you want to become a leader?

Tim Scott  4:04  
Well, that's such a good question. And I will tell you that my answer to that has changed, as I've grown as a leader, all right, and, and the answer to that, in the beginning when it when I began kind of this leadership journey, like the reason I got into it basically led me to realize I was doing it for all the wrong reasons. And once I realized that I became better, but I digress. Right. But um, you know, I, I've just always naturally been someone who just kind of wants to step in and say, I'll take care of that. I'll handle that. And so I thought, when I was younger that what a leader is, is a leader is someone who drives action, right? There's someone who takes responsibility, gets out in the front makes things happen. So that kind of mentality of mine. led me to have some issues. To lead some small teams when I was at Dr. Pepper, and at Pizza Hut, and then also I didn't mention this while I was at Pizza Hut, I ran for city council in my little suburb. Wow. Yeah. So I served two terms as a city councilman in farmers branch and loved, absolutely loved it. But even then, like my kind of impetus was for leadership was how I could make a difference and kind of drive things forward. And also, kind of just advanced myself, if that makes any sense, right? This isn't just that I've got this career arc that I want. And the way to do that is to step up and say, I'm going to be the leader and get behind me, and let's go, well, that mentality even carried into when I was, you know, in ministry, and I'm leading a team of, you know, eight to 10 ministers and children's ministers, youth ministers. And I, I approached it from this the standpoint of, Okay, we're going to have the most amazing children's ministry in America, and everyone's going to know how great we are, and I'm gonna be the leader. It's gonna be great. Even to the point at one time in, I distinctly remember in a meeting in a conference room, someone was kind of griping about how ambitious we were trying to be. And I made this comment, Hey, I know this is a ministry. But it's also my career. And we're gonna make this great because my career, right, I know. And I'm a minister, and I'm talking about my career. So it was, it was ridiculous. And so because of that mentality, I got things done. And some people liked me and some people didn't. And I had this kind of this, this moment, this summer, several years ago. And this is actually where this book that I gave, you kind of came out of where I was making the right decisions for the wrong reasons. And I'm leading people in the right direction, but the wrong way, and I kind of got crossways with some of my team. And I had some conflict, and it started to kind of snowball out of control. And I ended up going and spending a week very begrudgingly, I spent a week with a guy in southern Louisiana who specialized in burned out ministry leaders. And we just kind of talked about what was on my heart, what I wanted to do and how I was leading and my frustrations. And if anybody could just see things my way things would be great. And he was the first person that kind of got me to see that my approach to leadership was wrong. And that a true leader is all about making other people successful. And a true leader is knowing where we need to go, but then utilizing the talents of everyone around us to get us there. And it's not about me, it's about how I can serve you and kind of turn it into this servant leadership model. And it was like, it was it was it was this breakthrough, you think I would have had way before then at my age but but it was this this huge shift in how I approached what a leader is. And a leader is not selfish leaders selfless. And it completely changed the dynamics of me and my team and ministry. And then I come to Southwest Airlines, which is just the most amazing servant leadership machine that there ever is, right? I mean, it's,

I can't tell you how thankful I am that I get to kind of to lead at Southwest and be led itself West. Because it's just, it's just re emphasize to me that true leadership is servant leadership. And that my role is not to draw attention to myself in any way. It's to, it's to identify, it's to know and identify my people that I'm kind of interested with, and help them get where they want to go and be successful and just maximize their talents. And I'll tell you that, that mentality is that it's a lot easier to sleep at night than the

Unknown Speaker  9:18  
opposite.

Sara Greco  9:20  
So true, because you learn what they I mean, drill in us in the military, it's as being leaders, nothing about you. It's all about people. And it is just one of those things that when people do the opposite, it literally makes me cringe. I'm like, this is not about you whatsoever, as a leader. And it's so funny because I have a hard time when I do things for Southwest because sometimes they want to recognize the leaders, which they should, but I know you shouldn't recognize the leaders because things should be recognizing their people, leaders, the recognition, and so I have to backtrack sometimes because Southwest is so great that they also recognize that leaders But it's just, it's one of those things where I'm like leaders shouldn't ever, ever expect recognition, the recognition they get is the success of their people. 100%. Right,

Tim Scott  10:09  
that's, it seems so simple, but like, hard, it's such a hard lesson to learn, because we're all kind of wired to be self seeking, right? We're all kind of wired, that I want you to think I'm amazing. And I want to do things that impress you. And so I'm going to do that. But in a leadership role, it's like, Whoa, you need to take a backseat, you need to, you need to recognize who you have around you, and then go get them recognized, go push them out, help let them be successful. And, and that's the way to accomplish things. And that was, that was a, that was a such a such a great lesson that I learned and I'm still continuing to learn, right, I'm still continuing to develop that. And it's just Yeah, it's a lot more fun to go to work. What did

Sara Greco  10:56  
the person do to make you realize the different types of like servant leadership versus not a servant leader?

Tim Scott  11:04  
That's a really good question. It was, it was a combination of things. It was, you know, him just talking with me and just, you know, therapy, for lack of a better word. And, and to get me talking and saying things out loud to hear myself talk, and to hear me, you know, express kind of my desires for what I want. And then for him to go, okay, you, you lead a ministry, and all you're talking about is yourself, right, and all the words that are coming out of what, what other people can do for you, you're frustrated, because you can't get what you want. Because these other people aren't doing things for you, right? If you can only get your team to do things, your way, things would be great. And they will do things for you. Everything you say is about yourself, when in reality, you're trying to make other people successful, you're trying to your ministry trying to help other people get where they want to go, right. And so it was a combination of that. And then some, some long walks under some tall pine trees by a by you in southern Louisiana and talking and listening to God saying, you haven't figured me out at all, because everything is about being selfless. Everything is about being selfless. And it was it seriously, in that week, it was like a switch was flipped.

Sara Greco  12:23  
But it's really hard to to like, internalize that and completely switch gears. So how did you do that?

Tim Scott  12:30  
Um, very humbly, is the first thing right? very humbly. And, and it's not I will tell you it's like a flip of a switch in my understanding of what a leader was. But it's still it's a it's an ongoing process over years of becoming that leader truly and fully in every situation, right? Like, like, I still have problems where I'll get mad, or I'll try to, to lash out because I want to control things or I don't want it to be about me. And I just have to remember Okay, I'm still learning. A leader selfless. Let's, you know, let's, let's do better next time. So, yeah, please don't think that when that flip was switched, that I completely changed, it was more. Okay, now, like, my recipe is different. I'm gonna go make this recipe over and over and over and over again until I get it completely right.

Sara Greco  13:26  
But the environments always changing. It might be more humid, sometimes it might be more dry

Tim Scott  13:30  
my percent right?

Unknown Speaker  13:32  
Yeah. ever changing. And you have to adapt. I wish I had

Tim Scott  13:35  
like, it's always, it's always different. And so in that kind of scenario, and even with me and my continual journey, like true north is selflessness. Right. And so as long as I kind of stay moving towards selflessness, servant leadership, I think I'm moving in the right direction. Mm hmm.

Sara Greco  13:53  
That makes a lot of sense. Have you read Bernie Browns dare to lead? No,

Tim Scott  13:58  
but it's on like, it's on my very, very short list of books yet.

Sara Greco  14:01  
I don't even know if it's a dare to lead. It might be one of her earlier books, but she talks about picking two values that you align yourself with, whether it's for the next year, five years, whatever it is, and it makes it easier for you to gauge your actions and how you should take them by aligning them to your values. So like, for me, I picked authenticity and courage, I think, last year, and then so that's what it sounds like you picked you picked selflessness, and you aligned all your actions with that.

Tim Scott  14:31  
Yeah, it's interesting. If you were to like, as you were talking, I was like, hey, if I had to pick two, I would pick selflessness and courage, right? Those would be the two I would pick right? Because even if you're not a leader of people, like we're all influencers, right? We're all writing something that your influence over others is so maximized when you're selfless, rather than when you're like all about you. And so that that huge and then just the courage to to be authentic and to take chances and keep moving forward. I think those are the those are connected. And I think that I think it takes a lot of courage to be selfless, to confront all of the things about you and about me that are screaming, hey, make it about you make it about you, you know?

Sara Greco  15:16  
Okay, so I'm gonna ask, you know what, you're gonna have to dig deep into memories? Probably okay. But if you can, I'd love to have an example of what you consider your old form of leadership, and then how you transitioned into your new form of leadership and why that was better. Okay, that's

Tim Scott  15:35  
interesting. Boy, that's a good question. So my old form of leadership, I would, I would get everybody in the room. So when I was directing a ministry, at this multi site, church, I had a staff of about 810 people, my kind of typical Mo, when we needed to put an event together or plan for what we're going to teach for a semester or whatever, I get everybody in the room, I'd have all the eyes on me, I would stand up in the front of the room with a whiteboard, and I would lay out exactly what we're going to do, we're going to do this, we're going to do this, we're going to do this. And then I would point you're going to do that, you're going to do that you're going to do that. And it was very directive, and it was all my ideas, right? And so I would come up with, here's what we're going to teach, here's how we're going to do it, here's what's gonna look like, and here's how we're going to execute it. And my expectation was, that they would all think that my deal was amazing. And that they would throw their talents in behind it, and they would, they would do it to the fullest durability, and then I would look like a genius. And and I would tell you, we'd like we would do that. And these things that we would do, they would not turn out exactly as my brilliant mind would conceive it right. And my team would get frustrated, because I felt like I'm this I am this super friendly, easygoing, great guy. They see me as a little bit, you know, dictatorial and directive and inflexible and kind of, you know, arrogant. Because I know and this is, and at the end, when this wouldn't work out the way I wanted to, well, why didn't y'all do this the way I felt, this should be right. It's not my fault. My vision is, it's perfect, right? Y'all the execution of this was terrible. It must be awful. And that was kind of my old, like, in a make that sound like I was this terrible person. In some ways. I was but but you're learning.

Sara Greco  17:38  
It's already right.

Tim Scott  17:41  
And so so now, you know, transition to this new recipe, this, I'm trying to be selfless. It's, hey, let me sit at this table with you. Mm hmm. It's so much easier at Southwest because it's such a culture thing. But let me just sit at this table with you. Let's put up on the board the problem we're trying to solve. Now, what do y'all think? Why don't you help me walk through this? What do you think? What do you think we'll do? You give me you know, what, you're really good at this aspect of it. Let's talk about what you think. And, you know, from your perspective, and and then let's work together to come up with the idea of how we're going to tackle it. And then let me spend time with each one of you, you know, individually, knowing your strengths and skills and how that relates to this problem we're trying to solve and encourage you and plug you into the right situations, for you to go and solve this to work this solution that we came up with together, right? And there's gonna be times in there where we're a leader, or I would have to step in and go, you know, what, I'm gonna decide this, I'm gonna decided we're gonna do this, just because you know, a different decision points that just require someone to make a call, right. But the whole process of deciding where we're going to go, and deciding how you are going to plug into it is much more collaborative, and is much more about what you want to accomplish what you want to get out of it. You know, I was telling another Southwest leader, we were talking about just how we're working from home now, right, the last 100 days, and how it's kind of hard to stay connected with your team, right? And sometimes, you know, I'll have a one on one with someone on my team. And we'll just talk about, you know, how they can't go to the donut shop anymore, or just or whatever. 20 minutes, right. And sometimes it seems a little counterproductive. But in reality, and this was this was a big learning for me. Anytime you spend getting to know someone on your team, it's valuable time it's time that the more you know the people on your team, the better you're going to lead them and the more effective you're going to make them. So even if you just talk about You know, whatever for 20 minutes, I know them better. I know how to get them where they want to go better. Anytime you spent getting to know someone is time well spent. And, and so now instead of me saying my vision, your role in it, go do it. It's all out kind of, you know what we kind of need to do. But it's our vision together. And then it's me knowing you well enough to know how getting you plugged into this part of the project, helps get us get the project done, but also helps get you get to where you want to go. Next.

Unknown Speaker  20:35  
Mm hmm.

Tim Scott  20:35  
If that makes any

Sara Greco  20:36  
sense. That makes total sense. And it really is. I love hearing when leaders learn from their past experiences. Yeah, and change where they're going. Yeah, I think this is a lesson for anyone. And it's something that I had to learn in past like five to seven years is your leaders aren't perfect, and they're learning just as long are alongside with you in a way they're going through experiences that they haven't had to go through before. And they're trying to be the best leader they can for you. But they're also learning just like 100%.

Tim Scott  21:12  
Yeah. So on the podcast, you had Cheryl on the podcast? Yes, yes. Right. Yeah. And one of the things that she said that stuck to me You asked is a leader made or born? Right, right. And she said, it's a little bit of both. Well, it's but it's this, like true leaders. You're not a great leader at 23. Right? You're, you're a great leader, because you made mistakes, and you fall on your face, and you stand up and you take a look around and go, Oh, I screwed that up so bad. I won't ever do that again. Right? And you it's you have to learn and continue to grow, or you can't teach without learning all that yourself.

Sara Greco  21:48  
Right. And that's the whole point of this podcast, because I want everyone to learn from every guest on here.

Tim Scott  21:53  
That's so great. I love it.

Sara Greco  21:55  
So that hopefully they don't have to go through all the scenarios. Because, I mean, I even remember, I look back when I left an office of like, 20 some people and I'm just I cringe now I'm like, Oh my gosh, I can't believe I did that. How did people not hate me? They probably some of them probably did, but other ones were probably like, she'll get it eventually.

Tim Scott  22:15  
Yeah, she's learning. Yeah.

Sara Greco  22:18  
So Oh, my gosh, that's so funny. I love those lessons. Thank you so much for sharing them. Oh, 100%. Say Do you want to get into the book?

Tim Scott  22:25  
Yeah. Let's talk about the book. Because like this the story, this book, I wrote it while I was in southern Louisiana at that kind of Retreat Center. Yeah, it came out of that. Yeah. Which is kind of amazing.

Sara Greco  22:40  
So the book is called the table maker. And can you buy this online?

Tim Scott  22:44  
You can? Yeah, absolutely. It's on my website. And so Timothy W. Scott comm you can buy it there

Sara Greco  22:50  
as well. We'll put that in the show notes, too, for anyone who's interested.

Tim Scott  22:53  
Totally Great.

Sara Greco  22:53  
So Tim messaged me on Facebook and talked about the book. And he was like, it's kind of about leadership. And I think it would be really good for your podcast. I'm like, Yeah, sure. That sounds great. So I was expecting like, kind of like a not a self help, but like a grown Oh, yeah. And then a beautiful, like eight by 11 cover book that has beautiful trees on it came and I was like, I don't know what I just got intrigued, and I read it was so good. So go ahead and talk about how you came up with it. And

Tim Scott  23:24  
yeah, so it is interesting. It's kind of it like, it's hard to explain to people because it looks like a illustrated children's book, like it does. And it's beautifully illustrated by this local artist named Kendra Drew. I mean, it's amazing. Um, but it's a fable about finding meaning in your work, right. And it's, it's about this guy that makes tables. And, and he's good at it, but he's bored with it. And one day a guy shows up and says, I'm going to show you a better way I want you to do something different, do the same thing, but doing a different way and kind of realize some things about yourself. And, and about, you know what, what we're intended to do with our work, and came out of that same place where I was struggling with what it meant to be a real leader. And some of the themes in the book were those same themes that I was was dealing with, which is I was very caught up in how I was perceived and what others thought of me and my need to show you in the world that my work is significant, right? And for you to draw my value or for me to draw my value for how you felt about what I was doing. And some themes around just me wanting to be different and wanting to pursue a different path with my work. I wanted to write more. I wanted to have a bigger impact, but being afraid of how some of those things would be perceived, being afraid to start. And so one of the the major themes of the book Like become my mantra this past year, which is to just begin, right just begin, just stop worrying about what others think or if it's going to be successful. Or if I launched this and it fails, then I'm a failure, or I won't be good enough, just put all that aside and just began and see what happens. And so, so it's kind of this marriage, like going back to my two key words, which I didn't even know about 20 minutes ago of, of selflessness, and courage that's very much wrapped. Both of those are very much wrapped up in, in this story about a, a guy who wants to make tables and gets an opportunity to do it in a pretty special way.

Sara Greco  25:43  
Yes, and I can't again, we can't express how much this book is just beautiful. Thanks. But I think when we were talking before, we brought up classic, or I brought up Classics Illustrated Jr. And the story behind this reminds me of it. And I don't know if anyone else has read these books or comic books when they were younger, too. But they're, they have Classics Illustrated, which is like a comic book for like the classics of books. So Three Musketeers. Yeah, Moby Dick, I think was another one. Classics Illustrated Jr. was more of like fables. And there was one where it was about a prince trying to win a princesses heart. And all the people who were suitors for the princess had to pick teams. And usually the other people picked all the strong men. And doesn't I picked random people with different traits, such as a guy who could sit on ice. So yeah, it's just like, you I feel like you learn lessons more from the fables than you do from early through story tie. 100%

Tim Scott  26:42  
agree. And that's what one of the things was, like, there's a lot of little nuance lessons in in the pages of that book, that even I kind of didn't even intend for that to be there. But hey, I learned that something new from reading it, that it's kind of fun to discover those lessons on your own through the story, rather than just get a self help book and have them just kind of spelled out for you. That makes any sense.

Sara Greco  27:07  
The way you were describing I actually and this, I don't know, if you intended this lesson, the lesson I got from it was, as a leader, provide all the tools

Tim Scott  27:17  
100% and wait and see what happens. So yeah, I think there's two whole there's two tracks kind of going in parallel in this book that are, by

Sara Greco  27:25  
the way, spoiler alert for anyone who doesn't

Unknown Speaker  27:28  
know what happens in the book.

Tim Scott  27:30  
Yes, there's this, this one track of the table maker, this guy who feels like he can do more, right feels like he wants to get more out of his life, but doesn't know how to do it. And but then comes to realize the things of himself that are limiting him in those ways. And then there's this track of there's a character in the book, if you might, is the man in the coat, he didn't have a name, he's just the man in the code that comes to offer this, this table maker a new opportunity. And yeah, his brand of leadership is what we were describing before, right? It's this, I'm going to give you what you need to be to be successful, I am not going to tie up my view of you with how well you do, right, like, I'm just going to try to help you and move you forward. And I'm gonna put you in a position to make you most successful, and give you everything you need. And then say, go like just go, you know, and so I think that's a big theme. And then without giving away too many spoilers, there's, there's a major theme around kind of the purpose of work and how, you know, we're all gifted and blessed to gift and blessed to others. Right? And that you just do, we just need to do what we're meant to do and kind of tasked to do and then let it go and see what amazing things happen after we let it go.

Mm hmm. Yeah.

Sara Greco  28:56  
And speaking of let it go. So I was just watching frozen too. And you say just begin. And there's actually a song and frozen to where it's just do the next right thing. And I feel like that can apply to so many aspects of your life where it's just like, sometimes you're just stuck. And I know I've felt this a lot. During this time of pandemic, you're like I don't even know where to begin with all of this. And it's just figuring out okay, well, what can I do right now?

Tim Scott  29:20  
Right? What can I do right now today,

Sara Greco  29:22  
right? And then if that's for our project or your job, like what can I do right now. And sometimes it's just getting that one step done. And then it'll lead you to the next it'll lead you to the next and I love that.

Tim Scott  29:33  
I will tell you just like with me, like I like to write and there's times when like I want to write but then I don't because I'm too busy or I want to have a whole thought thought out before I put it all together. And I will get frustrated with myself because I know I want to begin but I don't because I don't have it fully thought out yet or I'm not sure what will happen. But amazing things happen when I just sit down and open up a notebook and take out a pen Without any really deep for thought ahead of time, and just start to write like things just happened. And I think that that's so true of everything in our lives, right? There's, there's a million different reasons for us not to do that new thing or not to do what we think we're supposed to do. And we keep ourselves from that, when in reality if you just begin, like the whole world seems to open up in front of you.

Sara Greco  30:23  
Mm hmm. I that's exactly what it was like for me to start this podcast. I

Tim Scott  30:27  
Oh, yeah.

Sara Greco  30:28  
I remember I procrastinated editing, I had three or four interviews that I had recorded procrastinated, editing them for weeks and weeks. And I was just like, I was so intimidated by the tool that I was using. And I was just like, I can't, it's gonna take me forever. And then I finally got through that first episode. And now I know exactly how to use the tool. It's been months, but it took me I'm a I'm a procrastinator at heart. But it just, it took that step of like, Okay, well, I gotta tackle this today. Otherwise, I'm not going to make it any for any steps forward.

Tim Scott  31:05  
Right, right. Now, I think that and I think, myself included, we're so glad that you push forward with the podcast, right? It's so good. Yeah, it's great.

Sara Greco  31:16  
And it's been so much fun. So if anyone's looking for that project that they've just been holding off on just yet, and you're pushing forward, just figure out what to do next,

Tim Scott  31:24  
just again,

Sara Greco  31:25  
we talked about in the book that there was this man and the coat satisfied? Yeah, man, the coat the man in the coat. He essentially provided the resources for the man to create something new. Have you ever had a leader who did that for you? And if so, what did they do?

Tim Scott  31:42  
I will tell you that the best leader I ever had was my manager when I was at Dr. Pepper seven up. I was younger. And at the time, Dr. Pepper was owned by a British company called Cadbury Schweppes. And so my manager at the time, her name was Pippa green Slade, she was from London, she came over to Plano, Texas, just, you know, for this role at Dr. Pepper. And she was about, you know, four foot seven and completely British and, and, but just a just a great believer in her people and a great leader. And, yes, she was just a great example of, she was like my, and the other people on our on our team, our biggest advocate, and would basically put us in positions to shine and be successful, right. And so she would, you know, come to me and say, Hey, Tim, I'm going to put you on a project, you know, and, and would put me in these places to where it would stretch me, but allow me to kind of use my natural gifts to grow and develop and get to be a part of a whole lot of different things. And it was amazing. And she was like she was my leader probably for about three years. But she really did personify that idea that's in the book of I'm going to recognize the innate talent and skills that you have. And then I'm going to drop you in this place and surround you with everything you need to be successful. And then let you go right. One of the great things about her was, she had with all of us a very high degree of equipping, she would equip me and kind of put me in the right spot, but then just kind of let me do and hold me accountable in a very honest way for whether I was handling or not, it was almost like the whole am gonna throw you into the pool and you're either gonna swim or you're not. I mean, it was wasn't that drastic, but it was she wanted you to be able to flourish and grow on your own. She wasn't gonna do it for you put you in the right spot. But it's up to you to do it. I've had other subsequent leaders not at Southwest because alluded to Southwest agree that yeah, that were like more like the way I was was leading earlier in my career, right? They're not so much concerned about putting you in the right spot. You just just take care of that and handle it, make sure I don't have to deal with it, right, keep things away, right, and everything will be fine, right? You make sure that your whole world is handled. And if if nothing's rolling up to me, then we're fine. Right. And that is disheartening. You know, that is

Sara Greco  34:26  
not 100% because when something goes wrong, then it's your fault.

Tim Scott  34:30  
Right. Right. It's disheartening. And so yes, I would say that the way that in the book, The Man in the coat, kind of believes in and empowers and equips the table maker. For me the person that modeled that was Pippa green slayed from Yeah,

Sara Greco  34:51  
I love that. So I'll share mine really quick because I definitely did have a leader like that and luckily he was my very first place. It made it completely set the tone for my entire career. And he's actually the first person I interviewed on this podcast, Ken Bryson. Oh, yeah. And he's fabulous. But he literally, he also, like, pulled me through the knothole even told me this, but he would just be like, I need you to figure this out. I'd be like, okay, so I guess I'm doing this now. One of them was actually, they wanted to make sure and have a naturalization ceremony for somebody who just became a citizen of the United States. I think that's what's called naturalization. Right? Yeah, that's right. Yeah. I should, because I had to, in three hours, create a ceremony. Oh, wow. And he was like, Sarah, just figure it out. I was like, Oh, okay. And he didn't tell me how he didn't. He was like, you have this at your disposal. Just go and run, they know that you're gonna call them. I was like, Okay. And he it was on my performance report for that year. It was. He was just like, you, you got this? I know, you do. It's, you just figure it out. And he did that in multiple cases, not, he gave me more than three hours most times, right. It was always like, he never told me to do it a specific way. He was always just like, you figure it out. And you do however you think is best. And as a leader, I look back on trying to do that. And I feel like that's so hard. Because the other side, the ego side wants to take over and you're like, but I would have done it this way. And yeah, I really want to tell you. So for PIPA, I feel like these types of leaders have a lot of patience, and can kind of hold back in a way and just kind of let people shine, which is great. I just, it's really hard to do. And so

Tim Scott  36:47  
you'll why it is so hard to do, because we all seek our own glory, right, we all seek our own path. And if you're a leader, it's probably because you have some level of drive and you want to get things done. And so you're naturally kind of inclined to say just do it this way. Just Just do it this way. And yeah, it's very hard to be like, you know, what, I am going to be secure in knowing that you're going to figure this out. And I want you to figure it out. And I'm going to take a step back and let you do it. That can be it's a it's a high wire act sometimes. So I'm grateful for the leaders who have done that with me.

Sara Greco  37:28  
So what would you say to the people who are struggling to do that as a leader?

Tim Scott  37:33  
Wow, I would tell them to, to listen to themselves, right? Just to, to kind of kind of ask yourself, what what it is you're trying to accomplish as a leader and trying to accomplish for the people that you're leading. And then just hear your words and find out listen to see if your answers to all those questions, has I or me in it, right? If If what you're trying to do with your team, is to make yourself look good. Or if what you're trying is to get the next job and to get ahead or to get where you're going to be? Or the reasons why that it's two things, though, what do you want, if it's all about you, and why you're not getting it? If that's all about somebody else, you got it all wrong, right? It's time for you to swap that around a little bit. And, you know, try to go seek out a servant leader who will mentor you to help you be more of a servant leader, to to go in and help, you know, get other people where they need to go.

Sara Greco  38:35  
Are there any books or references that you use to kind of help you along in this leadership journey?

Tim Scott  38:44  
So it's, it's fascinating. So you know, as a ministry, I believe in Jesus, the the book of john is like the gospel of john is this amazing, selfless letter, right. And so there's leaders that I follow and listen to, to kind of help with those practical things. There's a there's a guy that he's a church consultant in Canada and in Cary new off. Okay, that's amazing as it relates to just all things leadership. But to me, I need this like, it goes back to what you're talking before. My kind of leader path is more about values than practices, if that makes any sense. Yes, it does. And so I just, I need to stay focused, and stay grounded on that value of selflessness, which I get, you know, from the Bible and from john. And then I augment that with, you know, kind of the mechanics of it. Its values first for me. Mm hmm. Yeah.

Sara Greco  39:35  
And with the values when it's values driven, it makes it a little bit more simpler. Yeah. As you can ask yourself, does this align with courage or selflessness and if you see your actions and you could do that in the same as if your statement start with I or me, yes, look at how you're having a conversation with somebody who you supervise See, are those actions of me interacting with them? Are they selfless? Or are they selfish?

Transcribed by https://otter.ai