Guess who's back? Sam and Travis return for another engaging 2-part episode, diving deep into the traits that define triumphant leaders. Discover the art of cultivating a unifying and all-encompassing vision that propels your team and business forward. Stay synced with your followers by tuning in—you won't want to miss out on this insightful discussion!
Key takeaways to listen for
About Sam Salah and Travis Revelle
Former corporate executive Travis Revelle switched to entrepreneurship in the internet and healthcare sectors, founding many successful businesses and raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients.
Sam Salah is a well-known businessperson and a lifelong serial entrepreneur interested in everything from technology to high-performance vehicles.
This episode is suitable for the C-Suite, entrepreneurs, business leaders, managers, and front-line employees because each of them is a wealth of material and a powerhouse when combined.
Connect with Sam and Travis
LinkedIn: Travis Revelle | Sam Salah
Connect With Us
Master your context with real-results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate Salah on his Social Media
Guess who's back? Sam and Travis return for another engaging 2-part episode, diving deep into the traits that define triumphant leaders. Discover the art of cultivating a unifying and all-encompassing vision that propels your team and business forward. Stay synced with your followers by tuning in—you won't want to miss out on this insightful discussion!
Key takeaways to listen for
About Sam Salah and Travis Revelle
Former corporate executive Travis Revelle switched to entrepreneurship in the internet and healthcare sectors, founding many successful businesses and raising hundreds of millions of dollars for his clients.
Sam Salah is a well-known businessperson and a lifelong serial entrepreneur interested in everything from technology to high-performance vehicles.
This episode is suitable for the C-Suite, entrepreneurs, business leaders, managers, and front-line employees because each of them is a wealth of material and a powerhouse when combined.
Connect with Sam and Travis
LinkedIn: Travis Revelle | Sam Salah
Connect With Us
Master your context with real-results leadership training!
To learn more, visit our website at www.greatsummit.com.
For tax, bookkeeping, or accounting help, contact Dr. Nate’s team at www.theincometaxcenter.com or send an email to info@theincometaxcenter.com.
Follow Dr. Nate Salah on his Social Media
[00:00:00] Dr. Nate Salah
Do I have the traits, do I have the qualities to become a successful leader? I've asked myself this question and I know you have too. It can develop us, but it can also haunt us. There's so many different ways we can look at this topic, this question. At the end of the day, we want to be successful leaders. So we've begun to uncover this question on this two part series. Sam Salah and Travis Revelle back on the show to co host this very important series on what an effective, successful leader looks like. Some of the answers might surprise you. Can't wait for you to listen in. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership. Fellas. Hello. How are you doing? Good morning. Good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. Wherever you are on the show. Good to see you too. Do you guys ever work for someone who was the crappiest manager you could ever imagine? Yes. Yes. Yes. I think probably our listeners said yeah, same here. It's an interesting conversation.
[00:01:04]
One of the questions we get for the show is around what makes a quality person quality for a successful organization as a leader. What are some of the traits, the skills now, I suspect even between us, we're going to have some debate because someone might think that there are universal traits and qualities that are necessary and they're universal across all leadership. Someone else might say, no, in this position with this company, it's a completely different set of skills that's necessary to achieve success. Before we get there, let's start with this. When you've experienced management, I say management, and leadership and management have a lot of overlap, that has caused you to want to leave your company. Just throw it in. I want to start with the kind of traits and skills that are universally crappy for success, right? And then we'll go into some that aren't. Let me preface it with this. When I was young, my first job was at Chuck E. Cheese's. Back then, before it was, uh, The Showbiz Pizza? Showbiz Pizza Place, yeah! I was 16 years old and actually I applied at White Castle and because White Castle paid more and basically whatever is the walking distance I applied and I couldn't get the job at White Castle and I figured out why because One reason I was paid more and I had to be, I'm going to be completely honest. It was all girls working there at White Castle. I was like, Hey, it's a great way to pick up chicks, right? And this is what we used to call them back in the day.
[00:02:26] Travis Revelle
Don't judge. I've never heard anybody say working at White Castle is a great place to pick up chicks.
[00:02:31] Dr. Nate Salah
Times have changed. So anyhow, I find out I didn't get a job cause there was one manager, which who was a dude. So obviously that's why it was all ladies. So I went over to showbiz, which was right across the street. I applied there, I got the job and I worked for some decent managers. There was a manager who came across and he got hired newly and was first, it was great. My goal as a new employee. was to just knock it on the park. Wherever I worked, I want to knock on the park. They didn't start me at the front. They didn't start me with customers. They started me in the kitchen, not only in the kitchen, but washing dishes, right? That's what, that was my first spot. And as I was washing dishes, my goal was my dishes. are going to be so spotless, like you're gonna be able to see your face in my dishes. Right? So management saw my aptitude, my drive, I got promoted. Then I got promoted to cook pizzas and I was gonna make these pizzas phenomenal. Sometimes I add a little bit of Nate's special sauce in the pizza. Of course, Cajun Nate's. And then I got promoted again. Basically I did everything that you could do in that.
[00:03:36]
I got to the point to where they're like, well you know what, you'd be a good candidate. So I was 17 years old. They're like, you have to be 18 to be a manager. And then the new guy shows up and he is the kind of manager who could care less about your achievements, care less about you as an individual, only cares about bottom line, the numbers, the customers, and nothing about the employees. Well, it got to the point to where I felt as though I was not only so unappreciated that I wasn't going to go anywhere. So one afternoon. I took my apron and my little cap and I asked him to come to the front with me so I could throw it in the trash and walk out in the middle of my shift. Now, I don't recommend that for anyone, but that was my first real experience with somebody who I knew could care less about the individual. And I was the kind of person where I wanted to know, Hey, Do you want me to succeed? And do you have a pathway for me to grow in this organization? And if the answer is no, I'm out. How about you worst manager I've ever had?
[00:04:35] Travis Revelle
I've had a few, but I would say the qualities that they had. were selfish, right? Like, so they were only concerned with their own performance a la what you did for me today type deal. Respect personal time at all, so it could be midnight on a Saturday and you're getting emails or text messages or phone calls, I need this report, whatever. And then when the team was successful that person just took all the credit for themselves. Right. But I do think there's different qualities for different levels of leadership. I think there's some universal truths, a few. I think that leadership at different levels and different types of organizations need to be different.
[00:05:22] Sam Salah
I think we really know what doesn't make a great manager, right? Based off our experiences, you know, like Travis said, selfishness, entitlement. Big one, because I'm a manager, I'm entitled to you being beneath me because the hierarchy, right? One thing as a leader that you want is someone to follow you, not because of your title, but because of how you lead, right? And they fall into that by not being forced or feel like you telling them they must. It's a inclusiveness in how you lead. This is affecting all of us as a team, right? This is a team. Like I always say, us, we, my team, taking personal credit for their performance. I'm always first saying, my team did X, right? It's a decision. How are you going to lead? Are you going to lead by title, entitlement, or inclusiveness? And lead by example. Right? I think that's a universal trait. I always say that if you are able to execute something very well or a skill, and you are the manager, right? The people below you or the employees are going to follow you because you are a master at their craft. Right? I know some would argue that you don't necessarily have to be better than the people who work for you at something, but if you are, if you can do their job better than they can, It's very impactful.
[00:06:53] Dr. Nate Salah
Well, I mean, but you're going to get to the point where you're a CEO and there's going to be people who perhaps do some roles.
[00:06:59] Sam Salah
But a manager and CEO, in my opinion, like CEO has a much different, a lot of time they're directional now directional on a much bigger scale. So that how you approach that, the calculations a lot different, right? But like when you say manager, I'm thinking like you said, you know, are you a manager in a Burger King? Right. We're all going to succeed together. Right. And how we're going to do that is, Nate, you're going to clean the dishes better than anyone at any other location, right? Our customer service scores are going to be better than any other look. And if we succeed here, we're going to get these accolades. We're going to show corporate how great we are. And then in that as a team, we're going to all benefit, right? That's a different conversation to have that gets inclusiveness in what your goal and vision.
[00:07:42] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah, no, I think the way you describe it, yes, in a Burger King and a fortune 500 company, political leadership, there's going to be different ways in different parts of your journey. Like you said, there's some foundational pieces to it, but then there's going to be some pieces that perhaps are essential for different types of roles, right? Let's talk about some of the foundationals. Like what are non negotiables in successful leadership?
[00:08:06] Travis Revelle
I think you have to have vision, right? And whether you're leading a team of five people or 5, 000 people, you have to know where you're leading your people. So I think that's number one. And then I think there's softer. So I think that's the most important is having a vision and being able to bring that vision to life. to your team so they understand where they're going. I always use the analogy. Hey, here's where the bus is going. You know what I mean? So here's where we're going on this bus, right? We're all jumping on this bus together. Here's where we're going. Here's why it's important. Here's why it's important to you, right? So here's why it's important to all the stakeholders. But then I think depending on what type of organization you're in, right? How many people you're leading, it starts to change.
[00:08:47]
If you're the CEO of a large multinational corporation, your skill set is dynamically different than if you're leading a team of 10 to 15 people. If you're leading a team of 10 to 15 people, I think that you need to be empathetic. I think that you need to be able to understand what your team is going through. I think the softer skills are more important, right? When you're leading, let's call it a public company. Your loyalty changes from your employees to your shareholders. Right? And when you're operating in a stance where you're trying to return, you know, an investment to shareholders, you're not as soft, you know what I mean? Like it's more task oriented. Like, here's the things that we have to get done. And either you're going to be able to do this, or I'm going to find somebody who can. Right. And in a smaller organization where you're trying to focus on the culture and you're starting to focus on how to get people to operate it in, you know, their genius zone and operate at their highest level, there's more carrot, less stick. That makes sense.
[00:09:44] Dr. Nate Salah
Yeah. Let's talk about vision because you brought something up that I think a lot of people, even, you know, the listener now might think, I don't know that I've done this effectively and I've done this in a way that is. Articulated. And I'm glad you started with that because vision, I agree. I think that vision, I don't know how you feel about it Sam, but vision to me is the first step of effective and successful leadership. Always. If you don't know where you're going, nobody's gonna know where they're going and you're like a ship without a rudder. You're never gonna get there. It is the foundation of all leadership. But not only having vision, communicating it in a way that's appealing. To your followers or you're not leaders as we call them. You know, the whole idea behind leadership is shared purpose, right? It's like, Hey, are we all going someplace?
[00:10:28] Sam Salah
The first word is important, shared, and that's where leadership misses a lot. The mentality of not to cut you off. But again, that's the number one, in my opinion, failure in leadership is. The whole me and I approach like I'm the manager. I'm the CEO, you know, you're beneath me.
[00:10:47] Dr. Nate Salah
So let's start there, right? Because that's not something people share and that's not how I lead and that's not how you lead and that's not how you lead.
[00:10:50] Sam Salah
Right, and then we're successful in leadership because we don't lead that way, right? But I've seen many times where I'm the entrepreneur. I'm the business owner. I sacrificed. It's me me me. I And then you have no value for your employees because everything's about you. It's never about them. So your organization is your organization, not theirs. So why would they care for anything above a dollar? You haven't offered them anything. That's not shared vision. That's your vision.
[00:11:22] Dr. Nate Salah
You make a good point because The old way was, Hey, this is my deal. And we're talking about small to medium sized businesses. Let's just frame that. And I agree. Once you get to the larger businesses, yes, you don't know. Even Walt Disney says this when, as soon as he started selling equity, when he went public, he knew this isn't my company anymore. It's my name. It's not my company. I now have other owners and they can be thousands, millions of other owners who ultimately I have to answer to now. It changes the entire dynamic. However. The vision doesn't change because even those shareholders have to share in your vision for where this company is going. Otherwise, even they'll leave, right? I don't want to beat it, but you're listening to the show. And we just cannot underestimate the power and the value and the importance of starting with a compelling vision that is shared. Has to be. If you're not there, like, I wouldn't say stop doing business, but I would say at night when you're done working. You need to get that dialed in.
[00:12:23] Travis Revelle
Yeah, and the easiest way to do this, right, because I want to give people some actual tangible ways to do this, is to literally just vision cast, which is no differently than just daydreaming, right, about where you want your company to be and start a year from now. What do you want it to look like? What do you want it to feel like? What do you want those profits to be? And then you just start working backwards, right? So, okay, if this is where I want to be 365 days from now, And then you have to take a hard look at where you currently are, identify what that gap is between where you are right now and where you want to be a year from now, and just work a daily plan. It sounds easy, maybe it's not as easy as I'm making it sound, but that's really all it is. It's all it is.
[00:13:04] Dr. Nate Salah
Start with that year out, then go to nine months, and then six months, three months, one month. Four weeks, one week, one day. That's it.
[00:13:15] Travis Revelle
Work it back. That's it. And then it's just constantly re-evaluating. Where am I? Am I hitting my targets that I need to hit? Maybe you didn't dream big enough, right? I think that's something that we're facing in our company right now, and I'll give you an actual story about it here in a second, but we didn't dream big enough when we were setting out our yearly goals this past year. Maybe you dreamt too big and that's okay too, right? But it's readjusting so some things that we're doing it on wired which we're getting into This really heavily is we're taking a little bit further and we're saying okay Where do we want to be five years from now? Right if we really look out because we're a larger organization. It's harder to You can't just move a big organization like us like quickly. So it's okay. Where do we want to be five years from now? And that's more of a dream, right? What does it look like? What does it feel like? And what I like to do when I'm working with my partners and with other people in the organization is I want to get them.
[00:14:10]
It's almost like a manifestation. Yeah. Right? Yeah. So really visualize. Tell me what you feel. Tell me what you see. Tell me what it happens day to day. Like, what does your job look like if we do X? And then you start working back, right? And so the five year plan is kind of a wish list of things that you want to do. But we work that plan back all the way to a year. That's what we're doing now. And then we look at it and the year is really crunch time, right? These are what we actually think is within reach. And where we messed up. In January at our sales conference, we put a number on the board that we really wanted to hit. And the problem is, is that we then hit that number in May, right? And so congratulations, great job, right? Awesome. We hit our number that we were looking for for the year, but that's a glaring problem for the leadership team. Because we don't know our business well enough to be able to potential to underestimate where we should be. And so there's a lot of re vision casting for the year. But I think it's important that the one company I worked for that was very numbers focused. If you were off on your forecast, either more than 5% over your forecast or 5% under your forecast, you'd think, great, I'm at 120% to my goal. My ass was in trouble, like in trouble.
[00:15:26]
Like I was getting grilled by the CEO on why I didn't know my business that I couldn't forecast within 5%. Now this was 5% with 200 plus employees, a billion dollar P& L. Like this was not a 5% like I hit an extra 20 numbers, right? I mean this was a major thing, but it taught me at a young age that like you have to know your business good and bad. And you can't set goals that are just layups, like you've got to stretch people on their goals. They have to be attainable, but you want to say, okay, if everybody's working, cause nobody ever works at a hundred percent. So at 95%, what does our organization, what does that output look like? How do I define that? And then that's where you drive people to hit their.
[00:16:07] Sam Salah
Yeah, that definitely is. You know, it's funny from my perspective, when you crush that number, I'm excited. And it's funny how you talk about different skill sets and different backgrounds and different perspectives. Right. Which is great. And that's why Travis is amazing at what he does is that he gives me a new perspective. So instead of looking at it, like, yeah, I'm excited that we crushed her number, but like we really didn't know our business potential. So it's a learning process and we're learning fast, right? And entrepreneurs, we put blinders on a lot and sometimes those blinders are not removed until you have other people around you to remove them, right? I've experienced that myself. So I think that the biggest calculation and growth If you're not a solopreneur, if you're not someone that's like, wakes up every day, this is me, this is I, this is my product, it's me, I'm, you know, whatever. I'm talking about everyone else who wants to scale and have a... And lead!
[00:17:02] Dr. Nate Salah
Leadership, because leadership is leading others, right? If you're a solopreneur, and you have your craft, and you have your technical skill, you're not leading anyone in a business. And it's totally cool, but the model is stay small, keep it all.
[00:17:15] Sam Salah
Yeah, so people is the number one calculation in growth. How you get people, how you maintain people, how you find new people. It is the formula, right? And then you talk about vision and leadership, which is, you know, the bones of that. Finding people. Those are the bones. That's the core. And people are everything, and talent's everything. We're just having a conversation about talent. I'm a guy who gets excited when he sees talent. Like when I see someone who's good, that's available, and I respect, I probably get overly, like, aggressive in trying to grab them. But my track record shows that if you go back in the history of me grabbing talent, it's always paid off. And the reason is, is because talented people will get you the results that you need to be successful. Higher up. I always say that higher better than yourself. If you're a manager, you know, you want to hire people that you feel like can elevate your status within an organization. People are the sauce per se in growth. And the only way to get them is have an inclusive vision that they understand that they're a part of, and they're important enough. And you have to communicate that how important they are in order for this company or your organization to get to this.
[00:18:30] Dr. Nate Salah
Goal. I like that point. And one of the reasons is when we think about leadership traits or qualities, we're often thinking about they have extroversion or they sociable or they have integrity or they intelligent or rarely do we think about, well, one important quality of a leader. One essential quality is how do I attract great people around me? Because that is a necessity for successful leadership. Whether you are in any place, any company, any type of business, any industry.
[00:18:57] Sam Salah
Law of attraction applies to leadership. So, if you're in a circle of leaders who are very good at leading people, people will come and want to join that circle. I believe that. So, if you have a company built up of great leadership, people see that. People see the excitement of the people who work there, and they want to become a part of that organization, right? Which in turn, creates that. We bleed it at Unwired, without getting too deep into Unwired, but that's...
[00:19:24] Dr. Nate Salah
There's a piece to that I want to just hit. Because... We rarely think about the vision of the individual in believing in the leader. As a decision making piece to whether I want to join you on this journey to that future place that you've described. Right. Because we have to emulate that. We have to exude that. You have to, again, the law, you have to attract that. Well, my friend, we did it. I'm so honored you were able to join me on this episode of A Call to Leadership. Now, This might not be for everyone because you really have to be in a certain place in order to take the kind of steps to level up your leadership. And I want you to be taking steps. And for those of you who feel like you're ready for something like this, there's a place you can go. You can go to our website, greatsummit. com. I'll make sure that's in the show notes. But here's the cool thing that we have. We've got a master class. We have all different kinds of events. We even have our leadership club where you can meet other people just like you. Thank you. To go deeper in your leadership journey, you and I all get to spend some time together and really focus on aiming for greatness. I can't wait to see you there. I'm Dr. Nate Salah, and this is A Call to Leadership.