The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership with Jim Carlough

We explore how integrity, empathy, and accountability turn promotions into real leadership. Jim shares his six pillars, the nightly question that keeps him honest, and tactics that earn trust at work and at home.

• moving from contributor to leader without a roadmap
• why integrity is non negotiable and how to live it
• direct truth paired with compassion in feedback
• authoritarian past versus collaborative present
• spotting human signals and acting with care
• three rules for rising leaders to start now
• avoiding popularity traps and favoritism
• leading at home by modeling the work
• book giveaway details and how to reach Jim

For the first three or four people who make a comment on this episode, in the reviews, do not put your address in the review. One of us will reach back out to you after the review is posted, and we'll get your home address, and I will mail you a signed copy of the book, free of charge. No shipping charge, no nothing.

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Disclaimer:

The views and opinions expressed in this podcast are those of the speakers and guests and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization or entity. The information provided in this podcast is intended for educational and informational purposes only and should not be considered as professional advice. Listeners should consult with their own professional advisors before implementing any suggestions or recommendations made in this podcast. The speakers and guests are not responsible for any actions taken by listeners based on the information presented in this podcast. The podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional advice or services. The speakers and guests make no representations or warranties of any kind, express or implied, about the completeness, accuracy, reliability, suitability or availability with respect to the information, products, services, or related graphics contained in this podc...

Transcript

Welcome And Guest Intro

SPEAKER_01 0:00

Welcome to Unpack Podcast with your host, Leadership Consultant, Ron Harvey of Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Ron believes that leadership is the fundamental driver towards making a difference. So now, to find out more of what it means to unpack leadership, here's your host, Ron Harvey.

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Good afternoon, everyone. This is Ron Harvey, the Vice President, Chief Operating Officer for Global Core Strategies and Consulting. Back with you again for another episode of our podcast, Unpack with Ron Harvey, with guests from around the world with all backgrounds. And one thing we do promise we'll talk leadership. Other than that, we don't know what the questions will be or where we're going to go. But we have fun. So hang in with us for at least 20 minutes. We're guaranteed to give you something or share something with you that you can use today. With that being said, I want to get out of the way and invite our guests to introduce themselves as we normally do with all our guests and tell you who they are, where they are, and whatever they want you to know about them as we dive into the podcast. Then we'll start unpacking. So, Jim, let me invite you to the microphone, man, and get out of your way.

From IC To Leader Without A Map

Writing The Six Pillars Book

SPEAKER_00 1:01

Well, Ron, thank you for having me here. I'm really excited to be here today. Um, I love talking about leadership and my leadership journey. Uh, I have been in the health insurance, healthcare industry for my entire professional career. I have served both at the insurance company level, the technology level, and on a technology level, splitting my time between providers and payers. Um, and I've learned a lot in that journey. And one of the things that I see happening a lot around the country is we seem to go to great individual contributors and say, hey, you've done such a great job. We're going to make you a manager, we're going to make you a leader. And they give you a promotion and they give you some more money, and then they say, good luck. And nobody gives them a roadmap. And I, in mentoring people for the last 25 years, consistently saw the same struggles with leaders that no one took the time to give them some of the rules of the road and some of the tricks for some of those the most profound leaders that create these large followings of loyal employees. And so about two years ago, I started thinking about retirement. And for about 10 seconds, I thought about going fishing every day, and then realized that is not going to be how I'm spending retirement. So um, and my and I look to my mom. My mom is 100 years old, lives by herself, cooks every day, is active. And I said to her, Mom, what's your secret? And she said, I stay busy. I don't have time to die. And so I figured that in following in her footsteps, if I keep myself busy, I don't know that I want to live to 100, but I certainly would love to see 90 and see great grandchildren or something like that. So I started thinking about what I could do to give back, and I decided to start speaking about leadership at corporations, at conferences, um, at universities as well. And as I was thinking about it and talking about these things that I thought were important characteristics, I realized I also needed to have some credibility. So I decided to write a book. And not only write it, I finished it. Which, if you've written a book, you know there's more people that start writing a book that stop than those that write a book and finish. And I was dead set on finishing it, and I wanted it to be able to be something that if someone picked it up and read it, they would say, I worked for him. This is exactly how he operates. That's number one. And number two, I wanted them to say, I can hear him speaking these words to me. And I've heard both of those things from people who have worked with me. So I consider that a success. I've sold it's only been out for a few months. I've sold a thousand plus copies. Um, so I'm off to a great start, but I'm here to talk in in generalities or how my journey is gone, or anything that you'd like to know about the six pillars of effective leadership, a roadmap to success.

SPEAKER_02 4:35

Wow. I love it. Jim, thank you. Thank you for the intro and sharing. And and kudos. I mean, like your mom said, 100 years old, I don't have time to die. So she's constantly moving. So that's worth unpacking by itself. Congratulations, 100 years old. Um, and she's still living by herself and taking care of herself. And I think a part of the secret is to stay busy, to stay active, to keep the body moving. With that being said, you know, now that you've had several careers, you thought about returning, you're out speaking. Um, and what's you have a book. Tell us tell us up front because I want to also tease people there'll be a surprise at the end. So hang in with us for 15 to 20 minutes here. But what's the title of the book?

What Readers Gain From The Book

SPEAKER_00 5:14

Title of the book is The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership: A Roadmap to Success.

SPEAKER_02 5:22

Yes. Yes, yes. Thank you, Sharon. And Jim was going to tell you something at the end. So hang in with us. He's going to tell you a little surprise at the end of this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 5:30

And it's it's it's it's packed with not a lot of blah, blah, blah, unnecessary wording or theory. It is very to the point, which is kind of how I manage and how I how I operate. I don't believe in sugarcoating things, and I also am pretty direct in the book, is that way. But one thing that you're going to get in the book, you're going to walk away with a couple of things. The first thing you're going to walk away with is a good foundation of the soft skills that nobody teaches you in school that you need to do or need to have in order to be a great leader. That's number one. The second thing you're going to get is a story about that pillar in action or that characteristic in action. But there's a third component of the book, which I think is very important. I also list people that you would recognize who use that characteristic or pillar in their own leadership style. And that will, and with references, and so that will allow your readers or the readers of the book to be able to say, Hey, I didn't know Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, uses integrity in his leadership. I need to go read about him. And so the reader can then say, you know, learn more from reading about what Satya Nadella has done at Microsoft. Um, so anyway, that's that's what you get in return for investing the time in reading the book.

Directness With Compassion

SPEAKER_02 7:07

Yes, yes, I love it. And and thank you for taking the time to first start and complete a book and get it out there and selling a thousand copies. Is you're you're definitely off to a great start. I want to unpack for us a second though. In the book, you talk about you know things that you live by. And one of the things you said is is I'm I'm kind of bottom line up front. I don't uh I'm gonna you know be candid with people. I don't sugarcoat. How do you manage to to how have you managed to be straightforward but while also practicing, you know, taking care of and not being too harsh? How do you do how do you balance that healthy in a healthy way?

SPEAKER_00 7:45

You know, it's not only a balance, but it's also some things that a lot of leaders have trouble doing. Yes, and that's showing compassion at the same time, it's showing compassion and or empathy at the same time you're trying to work with an individual to help them be better. Yes, and um that's difficult and it takes years to develop. And so anyone who's new to leadership or anyone who's in leadership will tell you it is always evolving and it is changing as our communities change and as our environment changes. So, for example, when I entered the work world at when I graduated college, and I'm gonna give away my age here in 1983, um it was still a carryover from the 70s and 60s, where a lot of management was still authoritarian in nature, and people and bosses or managers giving um orders out as to what their expectation was for the day. And today, leadership is a lot more collaborative and a lot more allowing the employees to be creative, to get the work done, and to work with others to collaborate and to deliver the best possible result for the customer. And when I look back at the first team I managed, I was horrible. I don't, I it's nothing like how I manage today. So I know the journey and I know the investment of time that it takes to get there for people to be an excellent leader and one that will have a following.

SPEAKER_02 9:26

Wow. So when you think about how you got there, are there any practical steps that you will share with the leader? Because it is very difficult. I want to hold you accountable, but I also want to make you better, but I also want to make sure that I don't destroy you in the process. What are some steps that you actually had to practice over time? You've been in the industry for a while. What are some things that you you actually have done over time that worked?

Leadership Then Versus Now

Non‑Negotiable Integrity

SPEAKER_00 9:50

So, number one is there's one pillar that is non-compromising and non-negotiable in my book. Yes, and that's integrity, integrity and transparency. And there is no wavering in my mind or in my actions, other than going down that road as straight-laced as possible with ultimate integrity and being able to make the tough decision, even when it's going to impact somebody. Um, because it doesn't do anybody any good to allow a problem or an issue to just fester around and become even worse. And so that integrity line I learned immediately when I got out of college. And I was lucky enough at the age of 23 at the time to be elected to a city council position in the town I grew up in. And it was November 1983, and the city the election was a couple of days past, and I got a call from the city administrator who said he'd like me to come in and spend a couple minutes with him. And I knew the man, and so I went in and he congratulated me on winning. And he said, I want you to do me a favor. Now, at first I thought, oh my gosh, somebody's asking for a political favor, and I've not even been sworn in yet. What's this gonna be like? And he must have saw the scare in my face, and he said, Don't worry, this isn't anything, you know, this is for you, just for to benefit you. And I said, Okay, well, what is it? He said, Every night I want you to do one thing when you go to get in bed and put your head on the pillow. All I want you to do is ask one question of yourself. And that question is, did I do anything today for my own personal self-benefit that was at the expense of another individual, group of individuals, or organization? And he said, if you say no to that question, you can rest peacefully. But if you answer yes to that question, you need to immediately take two actions. The first one, and this is before you go to sleep, the first action is figure out if you can unwind what you did. The second action is figure out how to never do it again. I have asked myself that question every night since 1983. Wow, wow.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Personal accountability.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

Personal accountability. Personal accountability. Yep. The golden rule, personal accountability, being that's that center down the line. And, you know, when I left the political side of the that the career, um, I was transferred, and the city councilman's only a part-time job in these small towns, and I was transferred, and the company I worked with at the time was an insurance company, and they were moving me to Texas. And one of the best compliments I got was from a fellow council person who was from a different party than the one I was from, who said Jim was sort of like a maverick, but one thing's for sure, you know he made decisions based on his heart and his mind, regardless of his political convictions.

SPEAKER_02 13:34

Yeah, you know, one of the things, Jim, thank you for sharing. You're absolutely right. I love that you shared you know, personal accountability. One of the things that when it comes to leadership, I've said, how do we, you know, I'm a I'm a veteran, uh, 21 years of military service, and always, you know, and I don't make it a political show, but how do we make sure, regardless of what party line you're on, that you work with everybody? How do we get better at that? We're struggling with that across our country. How do we get better at doing better? Just respecting regardless of the party, but we do the right thing. That question you asked, did you do anything at the expense of others for your own personal gain?

A Nightly Integrity Question

SPEAKER_00 14:10

Let me tell you, it's hard. It's hard, but you know, I didn't grow up in a family with a lot of money. Okay, and the town I grew up in was a classic middle class town. Um, there was always food on the table, maybe not enough to have seconds. Um, the homes were typically 12 to 1500 square feet and raising three to five kids. Yes. Um, and so you the reality is you learn to you learn in those environments how hard it can be, and you also recognize that the world is only going to get better if you help each other. Yes. And our parents instilled that in us. And by the way, before I forget, thank you for your service to the country. Thank you. I did not serve. I am a gold star family member, unfortunately. But um, I do appreciate the fact that that you volunteered your time to to help keep us safe. But back to leadership, though. You know, I avoid those political discussions. We're so fragmented today in this country um and around the world. And I think my message on integrity is needed now more than ever. And and I think, and I probably should get a tattoo on my arm that says integrity. Of course, my wife won't let me get a tattoo, but regardless, I think we're lacking it today. I think we have seen it evolve in a downward trend, and it goes back more than five or six years and ten years, it goes back 15 to 20 years. It is not something that um happened yesterday or happened in the last election. It it has been an evolving process, I think, probably since the 90s. Um if if you were to say, if you were to ask me the question, who do I think was the the best president of our generation? I probably would say Reagan, and because he had the ability to unite both sides of the aisle. Yes. He also admittedly would say he's not the smartest person in the room, but surrounds himself with smart people.

SPEAKER_02 16:36

Yes. Yeah, which is leadership at the end of the day, um, being able to talk about, you know, who's who's the person that can unite leaders bring people together uh for a common purpose and a common good, and it's not for their own personal gain. So I have to agree, like, are we using that as a measuring stick still? Um, you know, so when you think leadership, the question I've never asked anyone on podcasts is has it become more of a popularity contest, leadership in general, um, for people that are that you're seeing, have you seen it change to become more about a popularity contest for leaders um or control for leaders? Have you have you seen a shift?

Beyond Politics: Respect And Service

Popularity Traps And Real Merit

SPEAKER_00 17:13

I I've seen some concerning trends. Um, and so I've seen situations where and I've heard of situations where in companies, the most senior person every year or a year and a half or two years is changing out everyone on the layer below them. And I I call that the changing of the moving, the moving of the chairs on the Titanic. Yes, the Titanic is still going to sink, it's just a matter of when. And all that leader is doing is changing the chairs and not fixing the problem, which is themselves. And so I have seen more of that, and at the same time, I've also seen the other which you mentioned, which is the popularity contest. I worked for a company for eight years or nine years, and I won't not mention the name, and I was fairly new. I had been there about a year, and an executive position opened up, and my manager suggested I apply for it. The company decided that they were going to put all of the candidates through a series of testing through an outside organization. Psychological, IQ, all kinds of testing, and then also a full day of on-site testing where they were throwing real live situations at you, and you had to resolve them or perform. And they put us, they put four of us through this. One person didn't complete it, and that one person got the job. We were allowed to go back to have a personal debrief with the organization that did the assessment. And the person said to me, Did you get the job? And I said, No. And they said, Really? Do you know why? And I said, No. I said, I'm assuming it's based on the performance here. He said, actually, your performance was very well, you you did a very, very well job. In fact, you did things to manage what we threw at you that nobody else has done. One simple example was they gave you a computer on the desk and they had timed emails that came in that told you certain things that, like you're in a retail store and they're getting a massive flooding, and you're you don't have sump pumps. I forget the scenarios, but and you had to react quickly and decide which things are most important to be handled and in which order. But it wasn't like using Outlook where you had a filing system. So I used the delete folder as the filing system. And they commented that nobody had ever done that. And I said, but all I'm doing is removing the noise of the things I already resolved. If I keep seeing those staring at me, I'm gonna get down into the weeds of things that I've already pushed off and made a decision on. But in that situation, I didn't get the job, but I learned I did get the full copy of the full assessment, and I'm very proud of the way I performed in that. But yes, it it still happens where there are places you work and and people will play favorites.

SPEAKER_02 21:03

Wow. Wow. I mean, and I love it. I think as you think about you know, integrity, you think about what you live by with the questions you ask yourself every night and you've asked since 1983 to hold you accountable and personal accountability. Well, the people that are that are listening on the podcast, you've you've had a lot of experience. What are the top three things you would tell a young and upcoming leader to be successful without chasing the position?

Three Rules For Rising Leaders

SPEAKER_00 21:31

The first thing is be true to yourself. Second thing is don't be afraid. Leadership is hard, and it's a 24 7 job because it doesn't end just because you walk out to your car in the parking lot. You could have an interaction on the phone, you could have, you know, um a meet an evening meeting. Um, and in fact, somebody once asked me on an interview so when does leadership start? Every day when you get to the office. And my response was no, it starts when my feet hit the floor and I get up out of bed. And it doesn't stop till I get horizontal when I get back into bed at night. Because there's opportunities to interact with people at every point in the day that will have a positive that will have an impact on people and hopefully positive. And just simple good morning, good afternoon, hello, people that may be having a rough day. And you know, people I think leaders today have to be able to perceive when an employee is just off, even just a little, so that they can intercede to see, to say, hey, Ron, what's happening? You you look a little off today. Is there anything I can help you with? No, it's okay, my dog's sick. It's I I just got to get him to the vet. Well, do you have an appointment? Well, go take him to the vet. You you obviously are worried, let's make that happen. Those little things make a big difference in an employee's relationship with their leader because they see the leader as caring and showing empathy and compassion to helping them solve a problem that's they're faced with.

SPEAKER_02 23:19

Yeah, yeah. And I think that's super important for all the leaders that are listening is do your people see that you care? Not hear or or read on the wall, um, but do they see it in your actions and your activity? I think you live it out every day. You know, so thank you for sharing that. One other question. When you when you think of leaders being better, they do a good job, but then they're not as good at practicing what they preach at home. They're they're the first one and the last one out, and they're not necessarily being as effective now. And I say that because sometimes leaders are better at work than they are at home. How do you help them be a whole person in both locations?

Caring In Action At Work

Leading At Home And Beyond Business

SPEAKER_00 23:59

So it's interesting. Um, I have three children, they're all off the payroll and all off the cell phone plan as well. And um, they're all they're all successful. I give all the credit to my wife. I traveled a lot, I worked long hours, and one of my children recently got a pretty big promotion. Um, and the child's in their early 30s. And I congratulated, I congratulated the individual because it was noteworthy, and he got to a place uh in his career that took me longer to get to than him. And he said to me, he said, Dad, I had a great teacher. And I said, what teacher? Because I know he had some good teachers, and he said, You he said, the only reason I did my homework was because I saw you doing your homework. And I knew that if you were doing your homework, I better be doing my homework because if I don't and I have an issue in class, you're not gonna be happy. Smart kid, very smart kid. But I I think you know leaders have to be able to show their leadership at home as well, and including some of these soft skills. Ironically, I wrote the book thinking it was for corporate America, I got a call from a podcast host who wanted me on a show that she had for stay-at-home moms. And I said, I but I'm not a fit. And she said, I read your book, and I want you to focus on compassion and empathy and really dissect them. The stay-at-home moms in my podcast audience need help in that area really, really badly because they feel like they're on an island and nobody's supporting them, and they need somebody to help them learn how to be compassionate and when to show empathy. And I was I was totally taken by surprise because I never expected it. On the other hand, I also got a call from a podcaster who ran a podcast for executive chefs. And I learned that being in a kitchen is very, very stressful for the executive chef, and that leadership skills are very, very important because there are sharp instruments used in the kitchen. And um, and so I was very pleasantly surprised to hear that my principles really resonated with that group as well, and got some very positive responses from that. So it's taken on a sort of a little bit more of a life of its own, because my thought process was I was helping business people. But I'm help help I've helped, I've been on a podcast for superintendents of schools, school principals, school teachers, chefs, as I mentioned, and stay-at-home moms. I they were not in my thinking when I was putting together this book.

SPEAKER_02 27:31

Yeah, and thank you for putting it together, which leads me to as we get ready to wrap up here. I mean, phenomenal information. I mean, as we're in the green room, you you want to you want to offer something to the guests. So let me let me hand you that microphone again, um, and what do you want to offer to the guests, and then we'll get your contact information to wrap up.

SPEAKER_00 27:48

Absolutely. So um, this is the book, The Six Pillars of Effective Leadership, a roadmap to success. I'm always looking for feedback, and I know Ron is as well, in terms of what resonates with you, or what maybe you don't you don't believe in from what we're talking about today. So for the first three or four people who make a comment on this episode, in the reviews, I think, is that where you'd like them, Ron? Absolutely. Do not put your address in the review. One of us will reach back out to you after the review is is posted, and we'll get your your home address, and I will mail you a signed copy of the book, free of charge. No shipping charge, no nothing.

SPEAKER_02 28:36

Thank you. Thank you, Jim. And and I love it when people give away something. So please go on there, the first three people um that drop in a review. This this will be released in four weeks. So um, when you're listening to this, we have already had the show, it's recorded. Soon as you put in a review immediately, we will reach out to you and get your address. And Jim is gonna put it in the mail for you. So the first three, we're looking forward to having you and tell your friends about the podcast. What's the best way to get in touch with you, Jim? If someone wants to invite you to a podcast, or even come in and do a talk for them or do some of the work since you're not retired and you're not gonna do that anytime soon. How do they reach you?

Giveaway, Reviews, And How To Reach Jim

SPEAKER_00 29:10

So the easiest way is to reach me through my website, which is very, very easy. It's www.jimcarlo no spaces.com. Um, you can you can buy the book there, you can buy the book on Amazon, uh Barnes and Noble, and some other sites as well, or you can buy it through the website uh if you're not one of the lucky winners. Um, but there's things on the website that might be helpful to you. I I do encourage you to sign up for my newsletter, which I'm about to launch, which will probably be a monthly newsletter to keep you in in touch with leadership and things that are going on. Um, but um that is really the best way to reach me.

SPEAKER_02 29:50

Love it, love it. And for everyone that's listening, um go on to the website, Jim J-I-M-Carlo, C-A-R-L-O-U-D-H. Um, reach out to him, his website, and you'll see a lot of things. And a lot of our podcast guests will they got things on their website. So this is uh they'll share information with you, but also to give you access to either one of us. So if there's a way that we can support you or serve you um in any capacity, we'd love to have a conversation um at any given time. And if you're looking for someone to come on your podcast, reach out to Jim, um, invite him to your show. And if you want to go on this show, reach out to me and my team will get you on the show as well. Um, so thank you, Jim. You've been phenomenal. Um, congratulations on starting and finishing the book and enjoying you know the second or third phase of life since you're not retiring. And for everyone that stayed with us, thank you for joining us. Thank you for being on Unpack with Ron Harvey. And until next time, Jim and I will sign off. Y'all have a wonderful day, and we'll look forward to you following us in the future.

Closing And Ongoing Community

SPEAKER_01 30:45

Well, we hope you enjoyed this edition of Unpack Podcast with leadership consultant Ron Harvey. Remember to join us every Monday as Ron Unpacks Sound Advice, providing real answers for real leadership challenges. Until next time, remember to add value and make a difference where you are or the people you serve. Because people always matter.