"Who Factor"

Author, speaker, and life coach Brad Lomenick sits down to discuss life strategies like the "who factor" people in life that encourage, equip, and empower.  Be a positive catalyst in an organization and the importance of being humble, hungry, and full of hustle.

We explore how gratitude beats entitlement, why access plus hustle changes careers, and how H3—humility, hunger, hustle—becomes a durable edge for students, educators, and leaders in agriculture. Brad shares the “who factor,” feedback loops, and the art of creating mile markers that last.

• gratitude as a leader’s temperature setter
• entitlement contrasted with service and hospitality
• R2A2 framework for turning ideas into action
• Brad’s journey, mentors, and the who factor
• building networks and using access without entitlement
• curiosity as a core leadership habit
• H3 framework: humility, hunger, hustle in balance
• rhythms that prevent burnout and enable generosity
• agriculture’s future: tech, relationships, communication
• feedback loops and practical self-awareness
• memory moments and creating mile markers for others

Go out and do something great for somebody. You might just plant that tree under whose shade you may never see

Learn more at MyTexasFFA.org

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome & The Purpose of Growth
• 2:55 Meet Brad Lomenick
• 4:55 Gratitude Over Entitlement
• 10:20 Setting the Temperature as Leaders
• 13:40 R2A2: Learn, Assimilate, Apply
• 16:40 Brad’s Origin Story and The Who Factor
• 25:55 Networks, Access, and The Hustle Mindset
• 31:20 Curiosity as a Leadership Superpower
• 37:00 Catalyst and the H3 Framework
• 45:20 Balancing Humility, Hunger, and Hustle

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:10

Agricultural science education leadership development and insights from subject matter experts and sponsors who provide the field to make dreams come true.

SPEAKER_05: 0:30

Well, good morning, good afternoon, good evening, or whenever you're tuning in to the Growing Our Future podcast, uh first off, we're gonna start with a thank you. Thank you for stopping by. You know, uh time is such a precious commodity. The only thing we can do with it is spend it. We can't hoard it, we can't save it. We just got to spend it. So the fact that you're willing to spend a little time with us, we want to start by saying thank you. The Growing Our Future podcast is all about exactly what it says growing the future. I tell people if agriculture's taught me anything, it's taught me that. If you want to know what the future is, grow it. Well, how do you grow it? You got to plant the right seeds, you got to take care of it, you got to harvest it, and then you got to share it. And that is the essence of life. I'm always on the lookout for great speakers, great presenters, folks with incredible insights, experience, and expertise. I was recently at Leaderfest, Wichita Falls Chamber of Commerce, and I heard this gentleman speak. And when I did, I said, I've got to reach out, I got to ask him to come on and pour into us like he poured into us that day. So it is an honor to welcome author, speaker, mentor. I mean, you probably got more titles, collaborator. But we've got Brad Lomanick here. Brad, thank you so much for joining us today.

SPEAKER_01: 2:00

Honored, man. Honored to be on. That was a great day in Wichita Falls.

SPEAKER_05: 2:03

It was. Yeah, it was bookend from uh from the time it started to the time it ended. It was just drinking from the fire hose. Just great, great information.

SPEAKER_02: 2:13

Yes.

SPEAKER_05: 2:13

And again, I wanted to say thank you. Um, we had a chance to visit uh before you went on stage. And uh again, uh I I picked up real quick, you know, I didn't know a whole lot about this guy, but I knew that he was uh definitely humble. Uh he was hungry, and I could tell that he was full of hustle. There you go. I don't know if we'll hear anything about that later, but I bet we will.

SPEAKER_04: 2:37

But let's go.

SPEAKER_05: 2:38

Brad, let's start off with this. I I ask every guest that comes onto this podcast the same first question, because I think it's just a great way to reflect on a day and a life. But that question is, what are you grateful for today?

SPEAKER_01: 2:55

Yeah, it is a great question. Thank you. By the way, Aaron, thanks for having me on. Seriously, I'm I'm honored. And uh, as John Maxwell always says and taught me when I was a knucklehead 20-something, if we can help one person a day, we're winning. If we can add value to one person. I hope we add more value than that to many people, but if we can help one person, then this is a good use of our time. Um, grateful. What am I grateful for today? I'm grateful for uh life. I'm actually, I won't tell you where I am, but I'm somewhere that the ocean is close. And, you know, to be able to see the ocean, to to know that there's a creator, that there's a God that's you know, orchestrating all things and to to have a I would say an abundance mindset, you know, in in general. And this is hard. This is hard. We find ourselves everything about us as leaders, whether it's today or next week or last month or a year from now, it tends to pull us down, right? I mean, we we tend to get pulled down to to cynicism, to to what feels like um division. We move the wrong direction. And so I would, you know, I'm I'm grateful for hope and optimism. I'm grateful for the a vision that says, you know what, like tomorrow can be better than today, and today matters. So that that's my general response.

SPEAKER_05: 4:21

It was perfect. By the way, we could stop right there. We're not going to, but we could. Um by the way, I agree with everything you just said. Um, you know, uh a mutual friend of ours is a guy named Tom Ziggler, and uh Tom was on the East Coast, he's with he's the son of the late great Zig Ziggler, and Tom was on the East Coast and he was talking to some college kids and he he talked about gratitude, and they talked a lot about the emotion and things that go with gratitude, um, energy, optimism, hope. And they go through all of these things associated with with gratitude, and then he asked him this question he said, What is the opposite of gratitude? And it got quiet, and everybody thought about it. And finally, Tom said, the opposite of gratitude is entitlement. Yeah, and just like that, the emotions change. That's not fair. I'm angry. Give that to me. And so I think if we can just take one little nugget to start this podcast, it's that if each day we wake up and we say, you know, today I've got a day, like you just said, to make a difference, to encourage someone, to empower someone, to equip someone, to be that person that brings hope to somebody else in their life. What a blessing that is to have that opportunity. And so I'll start by saying thank you. I'm grateful that you came on the show.

SPEAKER_01: 5:51

Well, and and you and I both speak, you know, we go places and and either we're being hosted or we host people. And you could to your point of what Tom said, you know, the the entitlement, like I I want to I I love it when people honor me with great hospitality.

SPEAKER_04: 6:09

Yes, right?

SPEAKER_01: 6:10

So do you. Yes. But here's here's where it gets weird or it gets where it's where it's dangerous is that I expect that. So now I'm showing up and I'm I'm looking around going, okay, where where's the person that's supposed to be getting me the right snacks? And you know, the proverbial we've heard the story of the green MMs, you know, in the green room. And that is that's both dangerous for us as leaders or just as people, but it also it also pulls people down. But when I'm the person who walks in the room as the speaker or the athlete or the coach or the principal or the superintendent and says, Man, I'm so grateful that you all would host me with such a level of hospitality. I don't expect it, but I'm really grateful for it. Um compared to I'm here and I expect it, and now if you don't meet my expectations, then I'm gonna pull all of you towards cynicism. And that's just that's part of our role as a leader is to change the temperature in the room wherever we show up.

SPEAKER_05: 7:16

Well, that's good. You know, it's real simple. That's like I tell I what I like to tell folks is a fountain can only rise as high as its head. So to your point, there's a responsibility that comes with that. And um, I'm gonna have to get some tips from you because I've never had those opportunities for expectation. I just try to show up and get an opportunity.

SPEAKER_01: 7:37

So listen, take it to the you know, the the person in charge of their of their local FFA chapter in the high school, right? Or take it to the principal of the school, or take it to the captain of the football team, or the head football coach.

SPEAKER_04: 7:48

Yep.

SPEAKER_01: 7:49

Everywhere we go, the the leader always has to set the temperature by being grateful and walking in with a sense of a sense of, hey, I'm honored that you all would host me well.

SPEAKER_05: 8:00

Yes, that is exactly it, right there. And by the way, what you just said, and I hope everybody heard it, it's a choice that we make. Yeah. It's an easy choice. It we purposely walk in and say, I'm gonna be grateful today, and I'm gonna try to lift everybody else up around me. Um that that was that was excellent. Uh, one of the things through this podcast that we kind of encourage people to do is practice R2A2. I don't know if you've ever heard this before, but I tell people to R2A2 things. So planting seeds of greatness, we're gonna learn to R2A2. So as we listen to Brad today, he's already given it to us, by the way. Just watch this. He's already given it to us. We're gonna recognize, we're gonna relate, we're gonna assimilate, and then we're gonna apply. So he's already shared with us this importance of being purposely grateful. I recognize that. So I related to that. Now I've got to take in that, I've got to take that in and assimilate it. And then the law of reciprocity, I've got to go share that. I've got to go give that back to somebody. So as we go through these podcasts and we are to A2 things, that's why I told y'all he was going to be a great guest. Because immediately now, immediately, we're talking about that role of a leader in setting that grateful compass. Um, because we recognize that that's a responsibility good leaders have. So thank you for that. I want the audience to know a little bit more about you. Uh, again, you're you're an author, you're a speaker, you've got a very accomplished career. Uh, something tells me, I'm just guessing, something tells me you did not just fall into that seat. Something tells me that there was a journey that kind of got you there. So share with the audience how did Brad Lomanick get to where he's at now to have this passion to write books, to pour into others. Give us a little bit of that journey.

SPEAKER_01: 10:01

Sure. Well, I grew up in Oklahoma, just outside of Tulsa. So Boomer Sooner to all my Sooner friends. You know, every other school in Texas, we have a similarity. We all we all can't stand the burn orange. So for all my Texas friends, you know what I'm saying, because you hate me just as much as I hate you, uh, in, you know, in deep respect and admiration. But I was a son of a football coach, uh high school football coach, and grew up in a small town and and really felt the I I would say this, I felt a sense of purpose on my life of being a leader. I didn't know what that meant, you know. I I remember first grade Aaron, you know, showing up and my parents didn't tell me this, but just this sense that I needed to be somebody in that class in first grade who was going to step up and step out and make a difference. Now, again, you don't know what that is when you're six, but there was intrinsic things in me that felt like I needed to be a tone center. And uh, you know, ran did all the school, uh ran for all the school offices and played sports and and then went to the University of Oklahoma and got a history degree. But for and I was gonna go to law school. But then I about three or four years later, I met John Maxwell, and he was uh he had an organization that was doing conferences and events. And it was the first time for me that let's take leadership as an industry, that it felt like there was an organization and a person that I could connect my wagon to and perhaps and perhaps have a let's call it a career or at least an assignment that would start to connect the dots for me of let's take all these things that feel like breadcrumbs in my life around leadership and now let's turn them into something. So I started doing events and started putting on big conferences and and then that gave me runway for for having a platform to write books or be an advisor or to you know be a gatherer of leaders. Um, but I would say this again, practically, for all my all the students listening, the the the key lesson for me that I want to pass on is um there are things in your life when you're a kid that are truest about you. And part of our job as a leader is self-awareness. And so to when when people start asking you, what do you want to do with your life and what are you gonna major in? And you know, how are you gonna get to the finish line of the job or the industry or the organization you want to get connected to, you got to pay attention to those things. Um, but also you have to equally give yourself freedom, especially let's call it in your first quarter of life, to have a bunch of different things that give you experience. Because you can only reverse engineer and look back on a bunch of different things and feel like, wait, that one seemed to be a great fit for me. That one didn't necessarily. I tried to be a good, a good steward and be faithful in that job or that role. So you've got to have some things that you can you can look back on. And also the who factor. The who factor for me was three or four people. Three or four people over the course, let's call it for me, from 18 to 30. Three or four people, the who factor. In fact, I probably need to write a book or somebody needs to write a book on the who factor. But the who for me gave me runway for the what. And that who in my life, it was a pastor, it was a a business leader, it was a mentor, it was John Maxwell, they gave me enough evidence, or at least runway, to then start to get clear on the why and the what, the where and the when. So if you're if you're in a season where you're where you're navigating questions of what's next for me, find a good who. This is why teachers and coaches and administrators and people who are mentors in the early part of your journey, they're why they're so important, because they're the who factor for you. Every single one of us, Aaron, I know you would have them, and I have them, but the coaches in my life who said, I'm gonna invest something in you when you're 14 that you don't even know is gonna be that big of a deal. But um, so I'll stop there and let you and let you ask questions or follow up on anything specific. But that's the the number one story on my life is I was given opportunities I didn't deserve, but many of those were because of I was hanging around the right people and had proximity.

SPEAKER_05: 14:31

Well, there's there's some really good stuff there, by the way, Brad, just the way you just shared that. So one of the programs that we have through the foundation is called the Foundation Ambassadors, and we'll have about 300 kids apply and about 70 that get chosen. We put them through a leadership development program, and then they host executives, dignitaries, policymakers. I mean, the number of people they will meet in one week is incredible. But one of the things that we do through that program is we teach them what's called the three-foot rule and we tell them to get to know anybody within three feet of them because those people will one day become their colleagues, their constituents, their customers. But but people with strong networks, they they solve problems quicker. They're able to capitalize on opportunities. And again, when I R2A2 things that you say, that one really jumped out at me. Be on the lookout, both with your ears and your eyes. Be on the lookout for those who factors, those those people that may be in that network, that one day build that runway, that create an author or a coach, or you know, what whatever it may be that you choose to be successful in in life. But I I think what I like that you said was number one, you know, it's like I say it this way we were not created to be the Lone Rangers. Life is not a solo project. Uh, none of us is as strong as all of us. And when you said that, I thought that that's a nugget right there. Identify people. One one of my board members, what he tells the young people, he said, get your own personal board of directors. Yeah. Build your own personal board of folks that will pour into you and make you better.

SPEAKER_01: 16:20

And it's never been easier to find to have who factors mean multiple, meaning it doesn't I want it to be prox proximity for people, sure, but but even the idea that now I can have people and voices and resources in my life that are far from me. So the ability for us to in in many ways, again, create our own runway of learning, personal growth, development, that we have more resources and content and podcasts and voices at our fingertips than we've ever had in the history of mankind. Uh, so there's really no excuse, you know. And the other thing is true, Aaron, about about where we find ourselves is accessibility is actually now something that has come to all of us, meaning the ability for for anybody to get in touch with anybody that's a and I think that's a good thing. I mean, I think it's it's remove the barriers of of you know, does the 18-year-old have the ability to to reach out to a CEO of a$20 billion company and get some kind of response? Now, the challenge for many of my friends who are younger goes back to entitlement. It goes back to how am I going to approach the hustle that it takes to reach out to 20 people and get no response compared to, you know, I'm expecting somebody to now like be in my world and to mentor me and to, you know, meet with me every Friday. Um so I think the the hustle factor has to be part of this of hey, like it's your job. It's your job. That's the beauty of once we graduate, uh, once we get into the you know, let's call it the adult world, now we have the ability to curate our own learning journey. And those are the people I mean, work working for John Maxwell, uh he's 77, 78 now. And some people may not know his name, but you know, you and I both know he's a pretty significant leadership voice. And he still goes to the events and the gatherings and the and the the the round tables, and he's got his notebook out. And he's learning from everybody sitting at the table. And that's a posture, again, just like we talked about with being grateful, a posture of of curiosity, of of of having a mindset of I'm still hungry. I may be the goat in the room, I may be the the grand poo-bah, but I'm still gonna I'm still gonna have a posture that says everywhere I go is a classroom. And that's so attractive. It doesn't take talent. Wow, just like gratefulness, it doesn't take talent to be hungry. You automatically gain influence and credibility when when you are the most curious person at the table.

SPEAKER_05: 19:13

I mean, uh one of the programs that we put, we have a program for teachers, by the way, and we put 36 teachers, three from each of 12 areas on the state of Texas on a bus, will travel a thousand miles, they'll visit 17 locations, they'll hear from over 70 speakers. But when they get their notebooks, when they open it up, the first thing they see is just the simple word question. And I always ask them, what's the root word of the word question? Quest. Go on an adventure. Every chance you get to listen, to learn, ask questions. Go on an adventure. And I and I agree with you that when I think of John Maxwell, by the way, I recently taught a Bible study over 21 Laws of Leadership from the Bible. Let's go. It's a great book, by the way, but I love a lot of John's. I use so many of his one-liners. Uh, never underestimate the status quo. A lot of people worked hard to get it there. And that just so many cool things about dissecting leadership and success. And but but it's what you just said, Brad. And what you just said was exactly what triggered my thought on that. You know, in our world of agriculture, we always say when you green, you grow. When you ripe, you write. And I've always noticed that great leaders are always growing. They're always asking what's next. I I just shared the other day that of all the people that I've been blessed to come in contact with, the word next is in every vocabulary. It doesn't matter if it's a success, what's next? If it's a setback, what's next? If it's a trial, what's next? It's always looking forward. Uh they take time to celebrate. Don't take me wrong. They take time to celebrate, to dissect, like John Maxwell talks about. Do an autopsy on that success. Do an autopsy on that failure. But but keep looking at what's next. And um, you know, the there's a gentleman that works for the Texas Workforce Commission, Joe Esparza, he's one of the commissioners. And he said something in a meeting the other day. And I I wrote it down and I went up to him afterwards. I said, I want to make sure I got this right. I said, Do you realize what you just said? And he said, Well, I don't know. I said, Well, let me just tell you what you said, make sure I got it right. And you you said it, accessibility. And this is what he said. He said, Small towns are just one click away from big business. Wow, I love it. I has a powerful quote. Small towns are just one click away. Now think about what that means to go back to your Who Factor. Go back to what you just described. That's one click away now. It doesn't matter if you're in Dallas or Houston or New York, you could be in Paducah, Kentucky or Paducah, Texas. You've got that opportunity just to have that one click to accessibility, that chance to grow, that chance to learn. Yeah, so good, man. All right, let's stay with some of your projects here. So um if we're gonna post your website so everybody can go and check out and see what all you have. But um, I noticed that you've written several books. Uh, by the way, one of them I years ago, years and years and years ago, I'm going all the way back to 1992.

SPEAKER_01: 22:36

Oh gosh.

SPEAKER_05: 22:37

Um, I actually started uh a consulting company called Catalyst Dynamics because I love the word catalyst. I love the word catalyst because it invokes action and movement and change. And I know that that you talk a lot about catalyst leadership. You talk about H3, which I would like for you to talk about, but would you mind just sharing a little bit about why it's important, why catalyst leadership matters, and why does this H3 approach matter?

SPEAKER_01: 23:10

Yeah. Yeah, sure. Well, and Catalyst was a as it was actually a conference, it was a number of conferences, and it sort of became a a pretty big movement, let's call it that, back from the year 2000 to 2020 for about 20 years. And this was all part of you know, when I got connected to John Maxwell. And um, it it was a gathering primarily of younger leaders, and it was focused on under 40 leaders in America, and it was a great run. I agree, Aaron. Like, you know, the idea that a catalyst is it sparks a change, but it leaves no residue of itself. So it creates change, but it's not about itself. Um, and the the premise that you know we can we can be those kind of change agents, everybody's creating some kind of impact on the people around them, and to just be an agent of change, a spark for other people. Um, H3 for me is really my framework. I would call it my framework of of influence. And you know, over the years when interns would come in to our team who were you know 21 and they were ready to change the world and sort of wondering, okay, how do how do we approach things here? And how do I how do I get your job? How do I how do I become you know the the standout? And my answer was always be humble, stay hungry, always hustle. Like that framework of be humble, stay hungry, always hustle. And so that you know, it it turned into a book title, but before way before it was a book title, it was it was for me the framework of leadership and humility, hunger, hustle. And within those three buckets, you know, there's a number of different of different things that I would say are habits that allow you to live those out well. But you know, to give people just a quick, a really quick flyover, I think the the important piece of humility is self-awareness. And you know, we've all we've all been around leaders or probably work for leaders who uh who wanted to be humble, but they were living such a um insecure life as a leader. They they they hadn't really tackled the the issues of self-awareness, and now they're they're running something that is significant, they're in charge of something, they they have like they have hierarchical power, they have they have uh authority based on a title, but there's everybody who's around them, they they would look at them and go, you you just don't get it. And that's a very dangerous place to be as a leader. Here's the answer, here's the antidote, which is hard for a lot of us, the antidote to to insecurity as a leader is to lean into self-awareness and and start to understand that the people who work for you or that are being led by you, they already know. They they already know the things that you may not be good at, or the things that you wrestle with, or the times when you get mad, or the times when you lose your temper, or so part of our job as leaders is to create congruency between what they know and what I think they know or I tell them I know, right? Um hunger, we've just talked about it, you know, the posture of a curious curiosity, the willingness to walk into any room and feel like you're still the most curious and willing to learn. Uh and then hustle, the hustle factor for me is is a is a con it's a holistic hustle mindset or a holistic hustle perspective, which says, I'm willing to work hard, I'm willing to stick things out, I'm willing to execute, I'm willing to be the person that solves problems, but I'm also gonna be aware that because of my ambition, there's probably some things I need to put into my life that are going to regulate my life. And what I because what I don't want to see people do is hustle and then burn out or hustle and then crash. And so part of what we have to do as leaders again is when it comes to hustle, is you have to start to create rhythms of life. And that means margin, it means Sabbath, it means uh collaboration, it means generosity, it means gratefulness. So my definition of hustle is a again, a holistic definition. I'm not saying that the the focus here is a zero-sum scarcity game. Right. Let's just go chase it and then whoever wins, you get it all. No, the proper hustle factor is one to say, I'm gonna hustle to create a space for generosity to occur. And that that's a different perspective on on the word hustle, at least the way I look at it.

SPEAKER_05: 27:53

Well, that's gold right there, though.

SPEAKER_01: 27:55

Um and we can dive into any of those if you want to.

SPEAKER_05: 27:59

That's where my mind was going. I'm sitting here and I'm thinking, um, so on a well, let me take it 30,000, then we're gonna bring it back down. So, you know, one of the examples that I use is, you know, I ask students, I said, how many high schools are in the state of Texas? And never fails somebody to say a lot. I said, Yeah, there's a lot. I said, There's actually over 3,000 high schools in the state of Texas. And then I ask them, how many of them are gonna have a graduating class this year? Every one of them. Now think about that. All these kids are gonna get be out looking for a job, a scholarship, or an opportunity. And at the end of the day, you've got to have a competitive edge. What's gonna be your competitive edge? It could be a firm handshake, it's it could be a yes or no, sir, yes, ma'am, no, ma'am. But there could be something that gives you that little bit of edge that opens that door of opportunity. And I think what I really appreciated when you shared the H3 is I immediately viewed that as a competitive edge. I thought, immediately, if we can plant that seed of realize and walk in there. Um, let me just brag on Brad here, real quick. Let me give you an example. He and I were talking, and I knew that he was one of the speakers on the program, but I did not identify him right away. He and I are sitting there talking, he's asking me questions. He's inquiring about what I do and who I am and what's going on. And then it dawned on me, I go, this is the keynote. But but but the reason I share that, but by the way, that's happened to me before, too. But the reason I share that though is because when your values are clear, your choices are easy. When you're when your values are clear, your choices are easy. He wrote a book about that. I got to witness it in practice.

SPEAKER_01: 29:47

Yeah, and I better live it out if I'm writing about it. I better be a good example of it.

SPEAKER_05: 29:51

That's what I'm saying. I loved it because you know, everybody that knows me on social media, I go by the hand to live your brand. And and I tell people that what we like. Share, comment on, and what we do, that becomes our brand to the public. To your point, when you did that, you became that brand that I began to know. So again, when I think about planting seeds of greatness, and we can think about being humble, curious, going on an adventure to think about that I've got to be hungry. I don't know it all. I loved when you said the first quarter of life. Um, because I've you probably have friends that talk about the first, second, third, and fourth quarter. And I'm in that third quarter right now. And it's just the reality of, you know, uh, but at the same time, though, Brad, I'm in the third quarter. In the words of Zig, I'm not gonna let up, shut up, give up until I'm taken up. I'm just getting warmed up. So let's go. We're still moving, right? We're still trying to be that catalyst. And I think that's what creates some of that hustle, by the way.

SPEAKER_01: 30:59

Yes. Yeah. And and ultimately, you know this, Aaron. Like you're probably look at those three legs of the stool. Let's just call them three legs of a of a stool.

SPEAKER_04: 31:07

Okay.

SPEAKER_01: 31:08

The the humility, hunger, hustle. Um, and by the way, Pat Lincioni, who's a great author, you know, wrote Five Dysfunctions of a Team and The Advantage.

SPEAKER_04: 31:18

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_01: 31:19

Uh, he he wrote a book called Ideal Team Player. And Ideal Team Player, he talks about humble, hungry, smart. And there's a lot of crossover there, a lot of similarities. Um, but if you think about the three legs of the stool, we can't choose to only do one of those legs. And I I know a lot of leaders who have a huge amount of humility. Like they they understand it's not about them, there's a bigger story, they're self-aware, they they they walk into a room with even a sense of curiosity, but they don't do anything. They just talk about it, they they don't ever make anything happen. Their hustle factor is very low. Um, and then there's just the opposite. There's people who who are hustling and they're crushing it, and they get things done and they're winning and they have ambition, but their humility is non-existent. So now they they run over everybody and they they do think it's all about them. And so these things have to be kept in balance. You you have to look at your your whole scorecard as a leader, and you can't just get an A in hustle and get an F in humility, or vice versa. Um, so this is a this again, this is a holistic perspective on what does it take for me to, you know, to be the best kind of leader I can be. And there's lots of different, again, there's lots of frameworks. Man, there's so many frameworks out there, but for me, this was this was truly like a playbook that I could then like pass on, especially to younger leaders today. So that's you know, when people ask, well, who do I write that book for? I kind of wrote it for the 22-year-old who's just coming out of college and is trying to figure out how do I, as you said, how do I create a core value system that's gonna allow me to have a 50-year pathway to influence and greatness.

SPEAKER_05: 33:10

Let's bring this back to a little bit to the ag world real quick. So the other day I was asked to come and talk, and it was about what is the future of agriculture. And I said, Well, you know, it didn't take me long to figure that out. I said, by 2050, we're gonna have about 9.8 billion people on this earth. 41% of the earth's surface is arid land. To feed 9.8 billion people, we would need two additional planets. So I said, I think the future of agriculture looks pretty bright. But but with that are gonna come some real challenges. Um, we're gonna have to embrace some new technologies. And as I began to think about that, and I thought about what you just shared about the three H's, I thought, you know, it I talked a little bit about AI. I said AI is gonna be a reality. I said, but there's really gonna be three things that I think are gonna drive where we're headed, and that is relationships, collaboration, and effective communication. I think AI is gonna be a part of all those. But let me tell you what they won't replace. And I'm I'm sharing all that to share what you just said that really hit me. One of my favorite books that I read on leadership is by Wes Roberts, Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hun. And I love when Wes described how Attila would put the young Huns around a campfire, and then he would put the older Huns behind them, and they would begin telling stories of battles and victories and defeats and strategies and techniques so that the young Huns could hear their emotion, they could hear their tone, not what they read on an app, not what they read through Chat GPT, but they hear what Brad just said when he found his runway and the who factor, and then he plugged that in. And what did it do? It gave him tools to grow a career. And whoever's listening to this podcast, again, go back to what we're talking about growing the future, competitive edge. Brad has shared some great stuff right here. I love the analogy of the three-stool that because that would be wobbly if it got out of out of balance. Yes. You can't have one without the other, or you're working too hard.

SPEAKER_01: 35:49

And how do how do I know, Aaron? That's always a good question for leaders, is well, how do I know if I'm out of balance, or how do I know if I'm if I'm winning in my framework and in my playbook? Well, a lot of times we're we've got a feedback loop that is built into us with with obviously your family, with spouse, with your friends, circle, uh, the your employees, your co-workers. I mean, the the thing that most leaders fall short on is they they don't allow back to this question of every everywhere you go is a classroom, but also everywhere you go is an opportunity for you to get better because you're giving permission to people around you to help you understand what it's like to be on the other side of you. And and this is where most leaders fall short. They they don't do the hard work of they'll say, I have an open door policy, and everybody says, Yeah, but last time somebody went in there, it was ugly. And this is the this is the power of again leaders who go to the next level of intentionality, is you you now start giving people permission, saying, Hey, like give me feedback, give me feedback, help me get better. I want to be better as a leader, I want to be better as a as a team team member. Um, and the the other thing here is is you we are all in charge of that. Do not wait on an organization to set the tone of your level of intentionality. Um, because most organizations will fall short. Because there's too many, there's too much bureaucracy, and there's too much, you know, there's too, there's too many things that get in the way. So don't ever let the excuse be, well, I'm waiting on my principal, or I'm waiting on my school district, or I'm waiting, don't, don't wait. You set the tone. You be the one that is the catalyst for that, for that group of teachers that's now gonna say, we're gonna take it to another level.

SPEAKER_05: 37:54

I don't know about you, but I've always come to the conclusion that God doesn't have a problem hitting a moving target. So to your point, don't wait, move. Um, because you're gonna learn one way or the other if you're willing to be open to that feedback, that loop. I love that that loop. Um that's good stuff. Good stuff. All right. Well, like I said, I knew this would go fast, and I knew that we'd cover some really good seeds. Um I've got a lot. I wrote a whole page down of stuff, so I'm like, this is gold, gold. And I'll be sharing it, by the way, with others. Um it uh and I'll tell them who it was, I'll tell them where to come to find it because it's that good. Um, Brad, but as we get ready to wrap up, uh every guest on the show gets a fun question. I like it. So you get a fun question. So I'm just curious. What is the best concert you've ever been to? Best concert?

SPEAKER_01: 39:00

Oh. Uh well, I'm I got one. It's U2 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, the old Mile High Stadium.

SPEAKER_05: 39:11

Really?

SPEAKER_01: 39:12

The original Mile High Stadium in Denver. Yeah. How cool is that? Back when U2 was doing their tour with the massive like claw. This was this was circa probably 2015 or 16, maybe somewhere in there. So yeah, and and here's the thing, like I don't I don't roll like this, but I had because of some friends, I had access to to the uh behind the scenes. I'll just say that. So that added to the whole experience. And so I mean and and some family and some friends got to stand at the front of house and experience the from this from the from the floor or from the you know field level watching one of the best bands ever. Yep, create such an amazing experience with people singing along. And I mean it was it was uh yeah, it was next level. So that one stands out.

SPEAKER_05: 40:10

Well, let me tell you, I'm a fan, just so you know, I uh I've I've regretted I had an opportunity. There's been two times I've kicked myself here here we are talking about going and doing, and I'm telling you, there's twice now, but I get to tell this story because I didn't move. Um, I had an opportunity to go hear Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers on the pack up your plantation, pack up the plantation tour, and I missed it. And I had an opportunity to go see U2 Joshua Tree. Oh, and all I had to do was just detour, pull in, and I I didn't do it. And uh, but I'm still a fan.

SPEAKER_01: 40:55

So well, these are you know how these things are there, you know, whether it's you two, whether it's Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, whether it's whether it's your family going on a vacation, whether it's you like um, you know, taking somebody to a to a sporting event, whether it's a you know, uh, hey, the the old days of FFA, by the way, I don't know if they still do this. We when I grew up in Oklahoma, we would have the drive your tractor to work to to school day back at our high school, but those are all memory moments.

SPEAKER_03: 41:28

Yes.

SPEAKER_01: 41:28

And what I would call what I would call like their mile markers on your journey. And don't be so don't be so driven by by getting to the next thing that you miss the mile markers. Because mile markers, what they are, is they're they're moments of of of memories in your life. And this is again, this is the power we have. And this is, you know, that maybe this is a good challenge, inspiration to lead people with, but um, we have the ability to create mile markers and moments for people, and that's that's part of our job as leaders and influencers and catalysts is be the mile marker creator for people in their in their journey. Um many times it's just it's just remember remembering a name, it's just sort of the next level of intentionality with that person. Um, but we have the power to to transform people because of that.

SPEAKER_05: 42:22

All right, Brad, brag on you here for a second. I've done about 90 of these episodes, and that right there is probably one of the best wrap-ups we've ever had. That that was good. Be a mile marker for somebody's journey, and and to have those mile markers for your own journey. Um, boy, I can relate. I was diehard Bruce Springsteen, I'm diehard Jimmy Buffett. So I've got so many mile markers that I just because that's part of my brand, I like good live music. And so I'm I was blessed to be able to do it. And you know, uh the folks that know my story know how and why. I'm so grateful. Um, grateful to have met you, grateful that you took the time to join us, and more importantly, grateful that together, you know, Mike Rose said something one time when we were talking about this, the podcast. And Mike Rose said, you know, he said, Aaron, you do realize what the term broadcast means. He gets it's an agriculture term means to spread seeds. Yeah. Yeah. And I thought, you know, how cool is this that we got this tool that we get to jump on and we get to share things that maybe somebody at the right time at the right moment needed to hear. Yes. So uh I just want to say thanks, Brad, for thanks for joining us.

SPEAKER_01: 43:48

Absolutely. Thanks for having me on. Thanks, thanks for doing what you're doing and continuing to give people a platform and a and a a place to learn. And again, as you said about me when we first met, I would say about you to honor you, like you had a posture of curiosity, like you were, you know, now that was your people, like the the the leaderfest gathering in Wichita Falls. I mean, you know, you know the folks in that room, these are friends of yours. Um, but but you actually made you you were intentional about about actually like connecting with me. And I think that's also a thing just to honor you and encourage this audience with is be the person that that is willing to step across the bridge of friendship and of connection. And know it most people most people they they just stop short, but you did that for me, and now look what's happening.

SPEAKER_05: 44:45

We're helping people, and I and I suspect we'll continue this dialogue. And um, I again, um, folks, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for stopping by, the Growing Our Future podcast. Uh, again, if you want to know what the future is, grow it. Today, look, look at all these incredible seeds of greatness that were shared today. I meant Brad just really poured into us today. Uh, check out his website, read, watch his podcasts. Um, he's got some great stuff out there. And um, I again, Brad, I'm a John Maxwell fan too. So uh I love the fact that these folks are my mentors and they don't even know it. So uh, but thank you for sharing some of your time with us. Ladies and gentlemen, until we meet again, go out and do something great for somebody. You're gonna feel good about it. And who knows, you you might just plant that tree under whose shade you may never see. So thanks so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_00: 45:48

We hope you've enjoyed this episode of the Growing Our Future podcast. This show is sponsored by the Texas FFA Foundation, whose mission is to strengthen agricultural science education so students can develop their potential for personal growth, career success, and leadership in the global marketplace. Learn more and my Texas FFA.org.