The Journey to Freedom Podcast
Journey to Freedom serves as an exclusive extension of the Living Boldly with Purpose podcast series—a platform that inspires powerful transformation and growth. Journey freedom is a podcast hosted by Brian E. Arnold. The Journey to Freedom is an our best life blueprint exclusively designed for black men where we create a foundational freedom plan. There are five pillars: Identity, Trust, Finances, Health and Faith.
The Journey to Freedom Podcast
From Helicopter Flyovers to Presidential Travel: Daryl Williams Leadership Story
The journey from the streets of Compton to the corridors of the White House might seem impossible, but Daryl Williams shows us that leadership built on trust can take you anywhere. Growing up during the era dramatized in "Boys in the Hood," with helicopters circling overhead nightly, Daryl found his path forward through military service—a decision that would transform his life in ways he never imagined.
Through an extraordinary career that saw him rise through military ranks to eventually support presidential administrations, Daryl shares the leadership principles that guided his ascent. What's truly remarkable isn't just where he ended up, but how he led along the way. His leadership philosophy—taking responsibility when things went wrong while giving his team credit for successes—created an environment where trust flourished naturally.
The conversation unveils powerful insights about mentorship and the responsibility great leaders have to develop the next generation. As Daryl eloquently puts it, "The greatest leaders are evidenced by how many leaders came from what they did." His own transformation was sparked by mentors who made him feel valued, something he deliberately paid forward throughout his career.
Beyond professional achievements, Daryl offers wisdom about maintaining positive mental health, balancing faith with leadership effectiveness, and the importance of checking in on others during challenging times. His leadership toolkit—loyalty, discipline, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage—provides a framework anyone can adopt regardless of their current position.
Whether you're looking to enhance your leadership capabilities or find inspiration in an extraordinary journey of perseverance and purpose, this conversation delivers profound lessons about how serving others ultimately creates the pathway to personal success. Connect with Daryl through Alliance Seminars Coaching to continue learning from his wealth of experience.
So, basically, as a leader, I set the parameters of. This is what I expect. This is also what you're going to get from me, you know. Whatever you need to be successful, that's what I'm here for.
Speaker 2:Okay, welcome to another exciting edition of the Journey to Freedom podcast. And I am Dr B, I'm your host today, and, as I get excited every time I get to do one of these and I was literally just sitting down and I was thinking about the podcast, I was thinking about what can I do to enhance it, what can I do to make it better, what can I do to get more subscribers and more listeners, because that's what we all want, right? We all want the whole world to listen to our podcast. And I was just thinking about how blessed I have been to be able to do this podcast, because last year in 2024, I went to a meeting. It was about a year and a half ago. I went to this meeting. It was called the Living or the Trusted Edge podcast, and it was or not podcast, it was just Trusted Edge seminar.
Speaker 1:And a guy named David Hortzanger. He was in Minnesota.
Speaker 2:Minneapolis. I don't go to Minneapolis too often, but I was in Minneapolis and you know a friend had taken me there and there was this group of about 500 folks there that were learning about leadership and how to how to interact with trust and how important trust is, and we have to start with trust and you know, I used to call myself.
Speaker 2:You know, a person who said, well, people would say, well, I need to see somebody who looks like me in order to know that I can do the thing, or at least similar right. And I said, well, I don't need that, it doesn't matter what I do, I'm going to be successful at whatever I do. I don't need to see people who look like me.
Speaker 1:But every time I go to a room, like this.
Speaker 2:Right, I'm counting one, two, three, four People. Look at me, I'm just fooling myself, thinking I don't care. Well, I go to this seminar and there's 400 people. There's only about 30 people of color in the room and I'm trying to ask myself why, and I'm thinking about the different rooms I've been in. And why are we? Because we have trouble. We have issues with trust as a culture. We have issues with trusting ourselves. We have trust for men. We have issues with trusting ourselves. We have trust for men. We have trust issues with our women. We have trust issues with our own community and then the white community as well, and other races.
Speaker 2:We just don't trust. And I don't know if it's because we haven't taught to trust, it's because we've been burned a few times in our lives when we try to trust. And so I said how can I come back? And so I started Journey to Freedom as a coaching program to say how do we get into this trust, how do we get into this thing? And I said, well, in year one, I don't know what other men think, I don't know how they interact, and so let me interview and start finding out. And so I said I'm going to interview 100 black men in 2024. And then I started doing it and go, that's a lot. I'm not going to get to 100 black men. And how am I going to find all these men? Because I want them to be successful, I want them to be pillars of the community.
Speaker 2:And when I started thinking of what does the success mean and trying to define success right, because success isn't the amount of money you have, it's not your ability to communicate, it's not your you know, it's a lot of what you do in the community. And then you go back and do people respect you? And you know, you know, would somebody say, I want to talk to Daryl Williams, go talk to him because he's got answers To me, that's successful. That's the person you want to go. If they say, no matter what, don't go talk to daryl because he's not going to tell you anything, but then you're not in that success group, I agree. What I found out is, as I you know, did one person or two people and I got some famous people in there, some non-famous people know, did one person or two people and I got some famous people in there, some non-famous people been some, I guess, themes. One of the things is the one I said looking, trying to see people who look like us and so in a role that we could do. Another thing was it had been fatherhood and what it means to be a dad and being excited about being a dad, uh. But I would say, more than anything, it's our ability to live in purpose and serve others. And when you're willing to serve others, success just kind of goes in. And so I got to do. I ended up doing one hundred and five last year. I've done almost 40 this year.
Speaker 2:I don't want to stop because I get to grow, I get to learn, I get to know, like a couple weeks ago I interviewed a gentleman from Chicago who was in prison for 19 years as a result. But here's what the kicker is he was in jail the day that the crime was committed. That put him in prison for 19 years and it took him 19 years to let this man out of jail. I mean you just go, oh my, but to see his heart. I mean he's been out of jail for 11 years now and he's one of the most thankful people and gratitude and not mad and forgiving. And I'm like you put me in jail for one year, I won't be mad, forget 20 years. How do you do it? But I learned and I grew, and so all of these interviews are so fun to do.
Speaker 2:Today we have Daryl Williams on, and just before the show we were just talking about being an excited life. Sometimes we do things and we do it well, but it doesn't mean it doesn't stop being challenging. It doesn't mean that we get to our. I've been doing this for 15 years and so I just show up and I'm on autopilot. If you do stuff that makes you successful, you get in positions where there's a reason why you're successful. People are asking you questions, people are putting you in positions that they want answers, and Daryl is that guy. But we're going to start out, before we chop it up and all those cool things, we're just going to talk about his story and where he came from.
Speaker 2:Because another thing I found is, in all these stories, I'll ask somebody, somebody to tell me their you know, you know who are you, and they'll just give me their bio. They tell me everything about what they do, but when they tell you their story, then you know them a little bit better, because it's not, it's not. Well, I, you know, I went to harvard and I went to harvard. You know that. I don't see that I'll change my've changed my voice, like people who talk from Harvard. Right, right, right, what I don't know, you know, but you just go. No, wait a minute, where did you come from? Well, I came from X and X and X, and then how did you progress through that? I think that's what people love to hear more than anything. And so here we go. We got Darrell. Please share with us your story in the best way that you can tell.
Speaker 1:Sure, first of all, thanks for having me Dr B Appreciate being on here today. My story, basically, I would have started from high school. I grew up in Compton, california, so those that saw the movie Boys in the Hood, that was the era that I actually grew up in Compton, california, so those that saw the movie Boys in the Hood, that was the era that I actually grew up in. And my brothers and sister grew up during the era straight out of Compton. So growing up there, you know, just wanted to figure out you know what's my purpose in life? What else is out here? It's got to be more than helicopters flying over your house every night. Purpose in life what else is out here? It's got to be more than helicopters flying over your house every night.
Speaker 1:And for me that journey began with the military. I ended up meeting. I ended up meeting a recruiter my junior year and had no intention on joining the military. And the guy came to me. He was asking you know what they normally do? What's your plans? And I think I made up something, dr b, like I'm going to go to university of arkansas and study business, and just seemed like this guy just opened up a book and said just how much it cost to go to university of arkansas. And then the family I grew up in it was four of us in a small apartment and, it's a matter of fact, I knew it never should have been an apartment because it was too small, because when I went back to go visit um after during the military, they tore it down. So I knew it was that small. Yeah, it was real small, just a little something. Somebody sold just to get people in there. But, um, yeah, once that guy opened up the book and showed me, like this, how much it costs go to college, I was like, okay, my grades are nice, but money is not even an option. We don't have it like that. And I just started getting real serious like, okay, tell me about this military thing. And the more he talked about it I was like you know what that might be my way out. So for me, I'm not joining the military. The job specialty people would call it today is human resources Professional, and once I did that, it's interesting because all of my brothers and sisters followed suit because I was the oldest, so they all joined the military as well, which lets me know that. You know people are watching, watching you, whether you think they are or not.
Speaker 1:Then I joined the military um went to germany my first assignment. I just wanted to get as far away from the united states as possible just to see something different, and then from there went to germany and then a military doctor b. They have different ways that they kind of see what type of stud you are. However, you want to call it superstar, and one of the things is if you're good in physical fitness Right, they kind of like that. And then also if you have a lot of military knowledge, right, those two things that kind of move you ahead of the line. Besides, you know being a great soldier and all that. So I used to go to these competition boards because somebody said that's the way to get promoted, and I went to every board that I could and I went all the way to soldier of the year for my region. I didn't win, but I told people I still had a great time.
Speaker 1:Some senior leaders saw me. I had an assignment to go to Fort Hood Texas after Germany. Some senior leaders saw me and assigned me to go to Fort Hood Texas, out to Germany, and one of those senior leaders said, basically, I see something in you. I'm changing your orders. You're not going to Fort Hood, texas, you're going to the Pentagon. And I'm like, why am I going to the Pentagon? Nope, the soldiers don't go to places like that.
Speaker 1:But I didn't know, dr B. He was preparing me for a purpose that I didn't know about and basically what he told me was it takes special people to go to what they call special assignments and I think there's something in you that can allow you to thrive there. And um went to the pentagon. Um, it was nice, it was different, but it just wasn't what I was used to, right, I was used to the marching and all that type of stuff and to be in a place where it was self uh motivating and, you know, you didn't have to show up in formations. It was just new to me and I was just too inexperienced to realize how good I had it. So I spent a lot of time just trying to get out of there and go to a regular unit, um, and eventually I saw an ad for the White House Communications Agency and a friend of mine we're scheming and that's really what we're doing. We were scheming, dr B. It was like if we go to this interview Friday morning finished by 10, we can be off for the rest of the day. Had no intentions on joining, had no int-, didn't even know what they did and a couple of months later I get a note saying congratulations, you've been accepted to the White House Communications Agency. I'm like, oh my gosh, what is this? What do they do? White House, oh my gosh, yep. So come to find out.
Speaker 1:When you see the president traveling right, there's different groups that support him. There's Secret Service, which everybody's familiar with. There's different groups that support him. There's Secret Service, which everybody's familiar with. There's White House staff, and then there's the White House Military Office and we fall underneath that group, which is the White House Communications Agency, which basically any piece of equipment that the administration touches comes from, basically our organization. We make sure that they can talk secure any place, at any time, anywhere, and once you get there, they take your normal job that you have in the military, but then they also give you auxiliary jobs.
Speaker 1:So since I was a non-communications IT person, they took my HR background and said well, we're going to make you kind of like a logistics coordinator. You're going to coordinate trips, be in charge of the teams logistically. You still had an officer or communication officer that was over the teams. But I was kind of like that right-hand person, so just being able to travel all over the world. At that time I got there with Bush, senior within office. Then it changed over to Clinton and I just traveled all over just supporting the teams that supported the office of the president.
Speaker 1:Just an amazing opportunity to place up, able to travel all over the world, did that for about six years and I left, went to Korea for about a year 501st in my brigade, just you know, military intelligence unit.
Speaker 1:I do that for a year. 501st in my brigade, just you know, military intelligence unit. I did that for a year. Then they brought me back to the White House because of my clearance and then at that time I was traveling on a different roster supporting the vice president. So now I'm actually in charge of the smaller teams. So at that time vice president Gore was in office. Then when he left, vice President Cheney came in and I supported Cheney until about 2004 when I ended up retiring out of the military and I just got a job at the contractor for about five years teaching leadership and things of that nature, and then I started my business, which was Alliance Seminars, coaching, which basically just my way of paying it forward. Because of all the different things I experienced. It was like I cannot share what I learned and help other people based on my experiences. So that's kind of my story.
Speaker 2:No, I love it. There's so many questions that I have, because most people never even understand your life or what you could have been able to do.
Speaker 2:I think a kid in Compton in the 80s and early days, whatever going, not even knowing that the White House is just a picture in a book that you know because you're on the other side of the United States.
Speaker 2:You're not even on the East Coast where you visit DC, maybe if you'll get family or once or twice, but no, you hardly get to the beach right, because you live by the beach in the West Coast, right, and you're thinking the White House that's the president, that's like the person who runs our country, and what it makes me go to is our identity, right, and the identity that we hold for ourselves and how that is shaped and how that is formed.
Speaker 2:Because your identity, if we're able to become a person that we need to be in order to do the thing, there's got to be a transformation and I think some people, especially, especially nowadays, want that transformation to happen like that. But there's no way you're a kid in compton that gets to go to the white house without going through some identities, just in who you are. So maybe you can kind of share what that was like, you know and what you learned and who the people were, the things that happened that allowed you to become that man that you are today and to be able to be trusted, you know, with the highest clearance available. You know, to be able to work at what it is.
Speaker 1:Well, one of the things I definitely learned probably that prepared me before I even got there was just being in Germany and, like you said, growing up in Compton, like I knew what was around me, I knew I had to keep my head on a swivel. I knew I had limited choices as far as you're going to draw in a game, you're going to sell drugs or you're going to be in sports or whatever, and I was, like you know, I'm somewhere in the middle of all of that. So, just being able to, when I went germany to see these men that were leaders, that's what really just piqued my interest. Like, what is a leader? Why are these guys have so much rank on their shoulder, you know? Why are their boots so shiny and their uniforms? Look like you can cut your finger on it, like I want to do to do that. What does it take to get that? So I think for me the transformation started. I had to see something that was out there that I didn't know existed, and that was leadership. And for me, I've always been fascinated with that topic, because I find that that topic can lead you to a lot of different things, particularly the five pillars that you talk about.
Speaker 1:So then, by the time I got to the wine house, once I got past, a shock and awe. I immediately started thinking about OK, how do I survive here? How do I make it? How do I excel? Because maybe they might find out oh, this is a mistake, send this guy back to the regular army. How does somebody from Compton get to, basically from the hood to the house? That just doesn't happen. I immediately surrounded myself with people and I was like hey man, what does it take to be the best here? Not just to be here, but to be the best.
Speaker 1:As I traveled, I saw different people, some that you know, some that look like me, some that didn't look like me, but they were really good at what they did. And I made it a point, dr B, to pick all those individuals' brains right. Guys, young ladies, like why are you so good at what you do? Why is it that when they say your name going on a trip, people get excited? So I was doing kind of like my own internal research of what is it that made these people tick? What made them be the best? Only the top one percent of the servers even get to serve for the White House Communications Agency. So even within that one percent, there's still a pedestal there of now who's the best radio lead, who's the best operations NCO? Now who's the best radio lead, who's the best operations nco? Who's the best?
Speaker 1:Artificially, like, I wanted to be the best and I think what helped me was being able to talk to those people, take honest feedback, honest criticism, to say, hey, if you want to be the best, this is what it's going to take, and I I just took on that challenge. I loved it and, like you said when we were talking before the show, you end up becoming one of those go-to people and people always ask you well, when did you know you were a leader? I was like for me, I think it came when other people were asking me different questions about how to help them in different things, or how did I get promoted, or what would I recommend. And they could have went to a lot of other people. But when they start coming to you, that kind of lets you know that there's something inside of you that people see.
Speaker 2:Was there something that you know and I'm through your, your childhood and stuff that made you decide I want to be the best? You know, when I think about my childhood, think about I didn't have the best grades. In fact, I was a special ed student that you know. I could care less about grades a kid, you know and then I got to be able to be an athlete and start competing in. You know I wanted to be the best there. But then just you know what makes us that switch, that turns on, that says you know what mediocrity isn't going to be my life. Can you pinpoint that to any word? Just god just gave that to you. What, yeah, what is it? What did you see or hear that said I can't't continue to do this below the rim? You know I think about playing above the rim, right? So what made you start wanting to play above the rim?
Speaker 1:I think for me, like I said, it was first that visual when I got to Germany to see all these sharp leaders and it's like no matter where they, where they were, you know, you see the shiny boots, you see the nice uniform and you're like I want that, like how do I grow to do that? And then when I got to the white authentication agency, it was like okay, now, everybody's good right. It's like everybody's an all-star right. So now, how do you become the star of stars? And I think for me that was a challenge. It was like all these people that are showing me how to do it it's almost like a kobe bryant mentality. It's like, yeah, I respect you, but I'm going to carve out my own path. And I think that was it for me. And then the other part too, you know, on the back of my mind, was okay, you're out of compton eventually you're going to meet people flying on Air Force Two and out there in different places.
Speaker 1:Everybody oh so where are you from? Where'd you grow up? And just when I would tell people I was from Compton, I didn't say LA, I was like I'm from Compton. Almost everybody said how did you get out of there? Like that was the common question from a lot of people. How did you get out of there? Like that was the common question, uh, from a lot of people. How did you get out of there? So, after a while, I was like how?
Speaker 1:did I get out of there like I mean, everybody has a hood, everybody has places. That's not as glamorous, I said, but still, life is life. So I think the more I heard that question, the more I wanted to show people this is how, all right, and I would tell them. I'm just fortunate that I had opportunity that other people did not have, because I tell people all the time I used to go to class with some gangbangers. They were smarter than me and the few times they would come to class and I forget this one guy, man, he was so sharp.
Speaker 1:He only come to class every now and then and we're in like I don't know if it was the geometry class or something. He show up, sit in the back and I'm like trying to figure out this. Formulas on the board. I'm halfway through the formula, dr b, and he's like, oh, x equals four. I'm like, wait, how'd you get that? And he told me how it was. I'm finished, finished on my form. I'm like dude, like that's it. You should come here like every day and make the teacher look bad and make us look bad. But he was like, no, that's not my thing, right, that's for people like you. I know what I want to do, and this ain't it. So part of me also was I want to be good, to represent those individuals that didn't have the opportunity that I had.
Speaker 1:I want to be good to represent those individuals that didn't have the opportunity that I had. So I had a lot on my shoulders. Maybe I put it there it wasn't there, but it was just. I want to represent my city, I want to represent my family. Right, competitive juices, like you said. You know, started meeting people that were just as good as me. Ok, now, how do I get better than that person?
Speaker 2:so I think it was a lot of things that allowed me to kind of go through that transformation wow, well, and I love, I love how you took you know them asking the question, because somehow your identity you weren't going to let your identity be tied to what people think the city you grew up in was like, because they don't know, they haven't been there. Right, hollywood, because it it's in Burbank. I went to school at Zuzup Symphony University, so I moved from Denver to California and I stayed there for 25 years and so I was a track coach and I spent a lot of time back and forth in Compton. But I know what the portrayal of the medium is of Compton. I know some really incredible people that are from Compton. Right, that just happened to live in the city.
Speaker 2:That turned into this belief that, well, you must be super special, because if you aren't still in Compton as if everybody who ever lived there is still there, you know, and you look at that and go well, wait a minute. No, I had some great people that are around me. I had a community of people. Whether I lived in a small place or a big space, I had a community of people. Not all of it was good, not all of it was bad, but I chose to make sure that I'm going to represent my community and I'm going to do the best that I possibly can, because you've already you've already decided who I was based on, where I grew up.
Speaker 2:You know there's so many. You know what you call the jungle, or pretty green, or you know all you think about all the different. You know low-income neighborhoods that are in the United States.
Speaker 2:And you almost you know, I guess, identify people based on well, you know, either you are not white or you are. You know, but no, you just said I'm going to be the best. I want to kind of shift over to trust because you know, as I was telling you before the show, this thing called trust is such a big deal We've got to start with trust, lead with trust, and you're a leader.
Speaker 2:Trusting people has to be something that you navigate. What's kind of cool for me in your story is people trusted you Because of why? Because you don't get to work in the White House and they don't trust you. They don't trust your integrity, they don't trust your character, they don't trust that you're going to walk out of there without taking a statue with you, whatever it is, based on Asian Compton, we better you know. So how do you just trust in your own belief and trust people before you know it and then you give them the benefit of the doubt? And then I guess the other side of this that I don't usually get to ask my guest is what did you do to get people to trust you?
Speaker 1:so this is the big piece about leadership that I love. Every leader that I've met in the, the military and outside the military um, they have a lot of different characteristics, right, that make up a leader, and everybody can come up with their own. But trust is obviously one of those things. So, for me, when people ask me like, how do you get people to trust you? And to me it was simple you look out for them. It's no, no magic formula. It's now you know so many years. It's like from day one, every trip that I went on, we had a different team, so I had to almost I reintroduce myself. Every time I did a trip, I said, hey, you know, this is who I am, this is where I'm from, this is what we're going to do to be successful before the vice president arrives. Right, we're going to do this. We're going to work to be successful before the vice president arrives. Right, we're going to do this. We're going to work as a team, right, we're going to help each other. Right, I'm not too big and too important to lift the box, so I expect everybody else to lift the box, right? Uh, if my job is finished, I'm gonna go check on somebody else right. So, basically, as a leader, I set the parameters of. This is what I expect, but this is also what you're going to get from me. And then the biggest thing I would tell them is you know, whatever you need to be successful, that's what I'm here for. Like, I already have the rank, I already have the role, so that's not going to change. My job in this role is how do I get the best out of Dr b on this particular mission, on this particular trip? And if dr b has a smaller team, how do I help dr b lead his team? And when I did that, it automatically won. The trust was there because they saw my actions matched right.
Speaker 1:What I said, the second thing I used to do, dr b, was when people would make mistakes on the road it wasn't that many, but stuff that they did make and whether the military aid or the people back in DC was like man. What happened on that trip? Like it was me, like I took the hit for when things didn't go right, but when things went well, it's like man. I heard that trip was hard and man, you pulled out some miracles. I said it wasn't me, it was actually Dr B. I would give the team the credit when they did well, but I took the credit when it wasn't well.
Speaker 1:And then team members would come up to me and say, hey, why didn't you die me out? Why didn't you tell them the truth? I was like because I don't want people to label you just because you had one bad incident, one bad trip. That's not who you are. Right, I know that inside of you you had a mistake. You're going to grow from it. You're going to learn from it. Right, I said, but sometimes in life people don't give you that second chance and I didn't want you to have to be that Person, to be a situation where I made one mistake and everybody says, oh, watch out for dr B on this trip, because that guy forgot to do this or that guy had this reputation and I would always do that. So the more I did that, just like you said, the more my name got out there. That people like, hey, I want to travel with that guy because he looks out for people.
Speaker 2:What you're saying just means if people can just and I hope you guys go back and you watch and listen to some of this if you're really trying to understand what it means to be a leader right, because leaders have to serve and sometimes you think, well, I've got to be like Mother Teresa or I've got to serve and I've got to be this big organization. I've got to serve millions of people or hundreds of people. If you can just serve one person at a time, and sometimes not when they're doing their best, but you're willing to say my job is every day that I'm going to get up, I'm going to figure out a way to serve you that begins to stack, and it begins to stack and then people trust you and then they give you more responsibility and you keep doing that. You develop what they call a reputation, a reputation for not just just it almost and you can tell me if I'm wrong or not. It doesn't really mean with the skill set you have, it's your ability to communicate with people and get stuff done. You know, obviously you have to have some skills that to be doing what you're doing, but in the long run people don't care. I mean, we hear this all the time care how much you know they until they know how much you care. Then you get the responsibilities, then you get to move up, and if we could do that right, I believe everybody got up and said that every morning. You know who can I serve today and find a way to do that.
Speaker 2:Most of the issues in our world are dead, like flat out complete, done Without saying what are you going to do for me today? And I just love the fact that you've kind of figured that out in relationships and so is some of that, just the way that you listen or the way that you just care about the person. In most of your career, I guess, when I think not most of it, but part of your career was like mine, where we didn't have these devices in our face all the time and not like literally conversations where you're trying to have. You go to restaurants, you go to places and two people are across from each other and they're both doing this as if the outside world is more important. How did you bring people in to believe that? So they felt like they were the most important, because I feel like that's what you do the most important person during that time right, I did, and I have to give all the credit to my favorite mentor.
Speaker 1:I've had many over the years. I still have them now, even though they tell me don't call them mentor, call them colleagues. I'm like, yeah, but you don't understand. I always have a place for you as a higher esteem, right? But this one guy, dr b, and they were steve smith and man, this guy, um talking about the ultimate mentor, um, that story about making a mistake and somebody taking off, like he's the first one that did that for me. I got lost one time, just before gps and all that.
Speaker 1:You had to find your own way from the airport to the hotel and get ready for the motorcade set up and I got lost man and I was like man, do I tell this guy I'm lost or do I try to fake it and try to figure it out? And I just told like hey, sir, I'm so sorry. I ran this route five times yesterday and I'm lost. And he was like, don't worry about it. He said pull over. We pulled over. He went to somebody right there and was like hey, how do we get to the back of the Miami airport? And he gets back in the car and he goes guy gave me the directions, just go ahead and go this way. We'll go a different way. And then, dr B, he proceeds to go.
Speaker 1:So tell me a little bit more about you. I'm freaking out dr b like dude, we're late, the motorcade is going to be set up, they're going to be looking for our car and he's just basically showed me who you are. Right now is more important than us getting to this motorcade. He was like we're going to get to the motorcade I. I just need to know who. You know more about who you are, and all that. And man to this day like this is like 2025. That happened back in 1991.
Speaker 1:you still remember but I still remember, like it was yesterday and I asked him at the end of the day, I mean at the end of the trip, like sir, why didn't you tell the people? Because the people were asking like, why did you got so late what happened? And he was like you know partly the truth, we got. And he was like you know partly the truth, we got lost. And he got us there. That was his answer. And I'm like, sir, why didn't you tell the truth? And he told me the same thing I just told you. And his warning to me was now you do that for somebody else. So when he gave me that instruction, I'm like, like man, this is like my number one mentor. Like every time I'm around this dude, you know he's special, he's making me feel special. But then, dr b, I got the harsh reality. Like man, he makes everybody feel like that. It's like everybody's like oh yeah, mrs smith is my guy. Like no, he's my guy.
Speaker 1:But then I realized the specialness of what he did, and it goes back to what you said. Every time he spoke to you he made you feel like you were the guy you can do anything, whatever challenge you had. You have to go through this challenge because it's about to take you to this next level and I was like I'm going to do that. When he's not around, he's not in the room, I want to be that guy that they go. Man, mr Smith's not here. I got a question oh D, come here for a second. And I just wanted to be that.
Speaker 1:It was so cool because I got to a point where, you know, he retired and left the agency and then I came back but I was like, you know, one of not D, but I was one of the Mr back but I was like you know, one of not the, but I was one of the mr smiths in my agency and I would tell people. You know, there's a guy that you know was my mentor and I'm just trying to do what he would have done in today's time and it was so cool and I had um breakfast with him last month because he still comes out to dc, because he's actually in colorado actually still comes out to dc because he's actually in colorado, actually, okay, okay, yep, and he comes.
Speaker 1:He's cool dude man and we were talking and here's how cool he is, dr b. I'm like, hey, so now, sir, you know, just so you know, you know, I was like the mr smith of my generation, right, let him know, and I'm thanking him, right, for showing me that path that he's like no, no, no, he's like don't say it like that. He's like you were the leader for your generation. He's like there's only one mr smith that was me. He said you did things in your own way. You did things, uh, that I probably couldn't have done, but you were still resourceful and you were there for the people. So being around people like that, that's what makes me like want to be that trustworthy Cause. Now I learned that it wasn't about helping people as much as. That was one phase of your leadership life. The second phase is you got to create new leaders.
Speaker 2:Duplication right, it isn't you just being there if you don't have a heart for bringing up who's next? Absolutely oh my gosh. Yeah, I mean, you have it. It's like so you can't die with the person, and the greatest leaders are evidenced by how many leaders came from what they did absolutely oh my gosh.
Speaker 2:So. So let's talk about the uh, the, mr williams, three to four steps to developing leaders. What are some of the like these things that you would say if you want to develop leaders? These are three or four things that you must do in order to do that.
Speaker 1:So one thing about the military they always change up the leadership definition over the years. So the one they had back in my day.
Speaker 2:I used that Because they don't use it anymore, so I can claim it as my own now.
Speaker 1:There you go, the people that know, during that time that serve, they know what to talk about and that is acronym of leadership right l uh d r s h I and the p? Right for leadership. And I tell anybody you want to be a leader, definitely have these things. And that's loyalty, discipline, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity and personal courage. To me, if you have all those things, there's no way you cannot be an effective leader.
Speaker 2:And you have to develop each of those right. I mean, it's not like you just were born with them. That's what people think. Well, I was a natural born leader. I think just about everything that you do you learn. When I was born, I didn't know nothing, I didn't know what my hand was.
Speaker 2:But those are skills that I guess, if you see them modeled, it know is a big thing If you can be in fortunate enough to be in places where you get to see some of those models. I mean, honor is something that you you know. When you say that you almost have to see that model, you almost have to see what that looks like, because you don't just understand it. That's like an emotion or a feeling. It's not a just a word you can define, it's. You see somebody in a situation and you see how they respond to it exactly.
Speaker 1:And I think it's funny because some people do say you know, just get your argument our leaders born or they made. And I always tell people that it's both right, because if you look back when you were younger and I know people that might be listening to this might not understand about what a playground is and things of that nature but back on the playground you always saw that one kid I don't care it was kindergarten or first grade, right like everybody followed dr b when he was like in kindergarten. Well, why? Why were the kids enamored with dr B? Because dr B, instead of coming down the slide, will say hey, guess what? I'm gonna jump off the top of the slide. No way, no way, you're gonna get killed if I watch me.
Speaker 1:And you take that one young kid, male or female, and they the first time they jump off the slide immediately. They're a leader. Yeah, because they have done something that nobody else would do, right. Or if they were in the swing and instead of doing the regular swing, they would go to the highest point and say watch me jump off the swing at the highest point. So what does that have to do with leadership?
Speaker 1:Basically, that individual at that young age showed people that you have to be brave, right, you have to trusting yourself right, and it's okay to make a mistake. So if they jump off the slide and they fail and hurt themselves, right, nobody says I was done, that was done. They go Wow, don't need to jump off the slide, he was bleeding, right, I mean it's just it adds to the playground legend of that person being a leader. So that's what people say Well, I was born with it. Yes, you have some leadership traits when you were young, because you were brave, you were bold, you were different, I said. But everything else you definitely had to learn and then have developed.
Speaker 2:The thing about associations and the people that you hang around with, and you hear now that the big thing now is well, if you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. That's the big thing that we talk about in this day and age. But we all have our group of friends. We all have our group of associations. How did you protect yourself? Or maybe you don't even know, it just happened naturally To make sure you were around people that could help move you forward, instead of people Because I'm sure there's people that you can go back to that grew up in the same neighborhood you are and somehow your associations put you in the White House and their associations put them somewhere less desirable. I guess I'll just say that no, it's the truth.
Speaker 1:No, it's the truth. And for me, I always tell people, you know, I have, you know, different sets of friends, right, I have some friends that are more professional. All right, these are the people that are either gone to where I want to go or done those type of thing. And then there's friends that still, like you know, they're my homeboys, like back in the hood, like when I used to do trips to la, like I'd go through the neighborhood, like I have to call them, say, hey, man, you have to see this rental car, it's going to, right, that's going to be me coming through, because they see a car that they don't recognize. They all might be start, you know we're having weapons and trying to defend what's happening, right.
Speaker 1:But I think for me, I knew the battle, even when I was in Compton man, like I was to tell people, like I was friends with the smart kids, was friends with the gangsters. I was friends with the smart kids, I was friends with the gangsters. I was friends with the sports guys, right, like I just knew, like, how to maneuver through all those different types of groups and I kept that when I joined the military. So I knew that these are the officers that I hung out with. These are the enlisted people, right? These are the people that are hard charging and they're always searching for that next rank. And then these are the people like, man, I'm just glad I'm in the military and I got three squares and I can send money back to my family, like, I'm not trying to get promoted, I'm good right now.
Speaker 1:So I love just being around all those type of people and not trying to change anybody, but just accept who they are and what they bring to my life. But just accept who they are and what they bring to my life, right? So, like I said, when I would go back to the hood on different trips, like the guys always tell me, like, hey, man, we appreciate you coming to visit us, but we know you don't have to, we know you can't stay long, right, we know that the stuff that we do you can't be around, but the fact that you still would come and just check up on us, like we, you know that's cool, we appreciate that. So I think that was for me was one. I had to make sure I surrounded myself with people that were going to help me, but also I had to be around people that I could help.
Speaker 2:Yeah, when I think of one of the things that that delineates or separates leadership for me as I'm getting older and I'm finding is leaders talk about where they're going and non-leaders talk about where we've been. And I keep going to these rooms where because I have friends right that I grew up with, ones I went to college with but so many of them want to continue to talk about the way it was and how it was and what we did. That's great. The first time we have a conversation, I love to reminisce, but then every time I see them they're talking about how it was. And great leaders always talk about where we're going. What are some of the things? Even today, because you've had your military career and now you're doing beyond military career, how are you continuing with leadership, talking about the future and not living in the past?
Speaker 1:So for me, one of the things that I try to do, especially as a coach, I'm still in the constant mode, leadership mode of okay, how do I help you get to where you want to go? Okay, so a lot of times when I have conversations with people and, like you said before the show, you start hearing themes, you start seeing patterns, right. So then when I come into a circle with, say, high school kids like there's a high school close to my where I stay, where they do mock interview day, all the juniors go through the library or the media center, whatever they call it, and you know you help them practice doing an interview for a job. So when they say, right, because I always ask them, you know, what are you good at? Right, and what do you think you want to do when you get older and they go, well, I think I want to be an engineer. I was like perfect, let's make this interview seem like you're doing an internship as a young engineer. And I just started asking them questions like hey, so what do you do now? That does not can, but it's going to make you a great engineer. What class are you taking now that when you, when you look back from your engineer career and go, like man, I'm so glad I took that class. So what I do, dr B, is I put that vision in them because you brought up a great point.
Speaker 1:Sometimes people don't see the vision because they don't know that they could be a part of that. So, like even when I used to go back to the neighborhood and guys like, yeah, man, you know, one day I'm going to do this, I'm going to do that, I'm like, ok, I get it. I said, but what are you doing now, man, that even tomorrow you can have three more customers instead of one and they'll go? Well, you know, I guess I probably could go outside of Gardena and I probably could, you know, sell myself at a different swap meet, you know. So, basically, just asking them open-ended questions so that they can see like, hey, man, there's a whole other piece over there that you can conquer while still being fresh on this side of town.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's so good to be able to, because people can't see what, sometimes what they don't know, and somebody has to be the artist that paints that picture for them of what's possible and, you know, a sign of a really good leader. I feel like we get to talk about leadership, kind of pivoting a little bit. How has faith played a part in your journey?
Speaker 1:So faith for me has been a huge part. Uh, because that's one of the things that even got me through compton like my mom prayed for me so much, like I didn't even know she was praying for me, right?
Speaker 1:I just yeah, yeah you know, go to a house party and you come back and be like you know a bullet could have easily hit me at that party versus somebody else, or even at the school, um, and then I remember, man, like I'd be so mad. It was some party I want to go to and my mom would be like I got a bad feeling, you can't go, and I would be so upset. Doc could be like man, everybody's gonna be at this part. This is like the party of the year. And then I get back to my boys after gonna be at this part, this is like the party of the year. And then I get back to my boys after we're like, hey, what happened? How's the party? Oh, man, lucky you didn't go, man. They ended up shooting up and, uh, we didn't even get to have any fun. So I had to go back to my mom like, hey, thanks for not letting me go to that one, because you know, I heard that, you know it wasn't the best, and but she was saying, okay, but this next one you can go to. And she just had this feeling about her that I didn't know, man, at that time. Right, so I took that faith with me when I went to the army, it was like, yeah, believe in yourself, you know, believe in you, know your training and the people. Like you're talking about having that trust. And she was like but don't forget where you came from, right, like you know, god has a purpose for you. I used to hear that a lot, you know in church. Like god has a purpose for you and only you'll know what that is. Um, but don't worry about getting to whatever that purpose is right, but just enjoy the journey alone. That I guess you had a long time ago. And, um, so it was so funny.
Speaker 1:When I found myself as a leader. I ran across some leaders that were like you go in their office and they had a bible right, which nothing wrong with that. That's just who they were. But then I would go into some other leaders. Often they didn't have a bible, but I knew they were people of faith. So I would ask them the one that went to bible like, hey, why do you keep your bible out in the office like that? And they were saying that's part of my identity. I want people to know that you know when you come talk to me, this is the preference I'm going to come from.
Speaker 1:And then I asked the people, the leaders that didn't have the bible. I'll say hey, how come you don't have the bible out? And then I asked the people, the leaders that didn't have the Bible out hey, how come you don't have the Bible out? And their answer, dr B, was I don't want to miss out on the opportunity to help somebody. No-transcript weighed both of them. Both answers were correct, but to me it was which one is going to be more effective? So I chose the one where my bible's in my drawer. I don't have it out, right? Um, because I never wanted to miss opportunity. Somebody said I was going to talk to you, but nevermind, I'll wait for Dr B, talk to him next week. And I found that to me it was more effective because later on people would find out that I was a person of faith and they would come back and cause you know, they go talk to me.
Speaker 1:I went to go talk to him man. He was really good, he gave me some great advice. And then they would say something like oh, you know, they go talking, man, I want to go talk to him man, he was really good, he gave me some great advice. And then they would say something like oh, you know, he's a associate pastor, right? No, we didn't even talk about that, we were talking about the raiders. And and then they will come back later and they'll say man, why didn't you tell me you were like? You know, due to faith, man, I wouldn't have been cursing him all that. I'm like dude. Dude, my faith should not keep you from being who you are. I I'm okay with you cussing man, like that's.
Speaker 1:I'm good, yeah, like that's not a big, yeah, man but I don't feel comfortable, so I had to release them from that like dude, don't do that, be who you are, and if you're around people that don't do that, then that's on them. I just want you to know. I want you to be yourself whenever we talk.
Speaker 2:I love that. I think as we get older and we get wiser, you know, I remember times when you know, like when I went to Europe and I was sharing my faith and that was who I was. That's what I did and I got to the point later on where I was like I believe people can see it in me and that's my prayer is God, show who you are through who I am, not through any props or what I show people or what I have to say to people. I shouldn't have to say some Christian words for people to know. They should just know by my spirit. They should know, like, what I'm doing this podcast. You know I I asked people that's one of the pillars and the questions but I can tell through doing the podcast which people I should ask the question, to which ones I should.
Speaker 2:to that right, because I want to embarrass somebody go no, no not your faith, and then they're going well, I don't believe in anything, you know.
Speaker 2:I don't believe in anything, you know, I don't ever want to put somebody in that situation. But there's so many people I can tell just through their countenance, just through the way that they run, that they believe that there is somebody bigger than them. That is kind of running the show and giving us the free will of a free choice, and so I appreciate so much that you shared that with us and I think it almost frees people up to say wait a minute, I don't have to, you know, strap my Bible on and put it on and carry it around and show people that I got to do stuff, cause you can be just not even more effective in being the example of faith than talking about it, because we spend so much time talking about you don't know what just got in me as far as my throat. I want to do it one more time. You get it. I don't want to run out of time before I ask you another question, but no problem you talked about health, you talked about being this, like you know.
Speaker 2:You kind of skimmed over, like it was this little bitty thing where you were. You're an athlete, not kind of an athlete, but the soldier of all soldiers, like the ultimate soldier, right, well, I didn't win, but you were probably like in the top echelon of folks who ever do that. What do you still do to keep healthy, and not only physically, because I think that's important, but mentally, because I don't think you can be physically healthy if there's a whole bunch of stuff going on in your military and so and you're you know, I think, like the stress it has to be at the white out, because every four years you got a whole different team that you're working with right all different administration and everything else, like I gotta redo this, and then all the fighting and all that kind of stuff.
Speaker 2:So how did you keep that sane and you keep your body up and all those things?
Speaker 1:So for me, one thing I did is, you know, everybody's like oh man, I want to be like that guy or I want to do like that guy, I want to drink what they drink. And for me I just found what works for me Right, like there's some people, you know, they have their, their ritual, their routine that they do every morning. Well, I have one like that, but mine just fits my style Right. So, like, like I said, mentally, I just try to, you know, stay around positive things. I stay around positive people. I'm not saying that I'm around non-positive people. I'm around them too because you know how do they love Dr B with people who say you know what, you know you're the only one that talks to so-and-so, like everybody else avoids him. But you purposely go to him and ask him about his family and how he's doing, and he doesn't bark at you. Why is that? I was like because that's who I am Like. I want him to know that if everybody else is running this way, I'm not going to run away from him because he's still a person too. So well, how do you be around a person like that? That's so negative they're.
Speaker 1:So this I said because I know for me, I do things to stay positive. So when I go and I say my positive meter is at 100. By the time I'm around that dude, I'm dropping to 50. I'm going to go back and reload and get, you know, boosted back up. And I do that through different things, whether it's, you know, jazz music or gospel music or reading. Right, I love my boy, marshawn Lynch, when he got ready to retire, and they was like how are you going to tell all the players coming after you? And it was funny. But, man, I love what he said. One of the things he said was take care of your mentals. I love that, cause you knew what he was saying and basically what he was saying was you got to stay mentally strong, right? You can't let the highs take you too far and let the lows take you too down. You know, just try to stay even keel. And I think for me, mentally, I always try to stay even keel. Things aren't as bad as they seem to be and they're not going to last that long. Things are going to change. So it was so funny Like I had a guy, dr B b I haven't seen like years and I saw him at a location.
Speaker 1:I was like hey, mark, how's it going? His introduction response was hey, the most positive man in the world, what's going on, right? And I just love that because that's what he walked away with our relationship like. No matter what happened, this dude would always find a way. He wouldn't sugarcoat it Like you know, I wouldn't sugarcoat it, but I would always show them. There's always the opposite side of whatever's going on and even if we can't understand it or can't see it, we're still going to learn from it. So that's why, for me, mentally, I just try to do those things that keep my mind right, my health, as much as I can, and I just try to do the things that fit me and my discipline, versus trying to do something I know I can't do.
Speaker 2:Well, I would love to be called the most positive man in the world. I mean, what a compliment that is. What a that means the impact you've made in somebody else's life, because that's what they got out of it. It's so cool. Now, don't get me wrong here, because I believe what Daryl is saying is you got to be you and you got to find out what works for you. He's not saying that fried chicken, cakes and candy is going to work for anybody. He's not saying that. So you don't hear him saying do you and what works for you? Because I promise you diabetes is what works. Get the heck out here and eat and take care of yourself.
Speaker 1:So he's got the old version of common sense in there, right?
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh. You know this has been like such an amazing conversation and I know you don't believe an hour went that fast, but I would love for you to take some time and whatever we didn't talk about that you want to talk about how to get ahold of you, all those things. If you could kind of just share some of that with us in our last few minutes, I would sure appreciate it.
Speaker 1:I think the biggest thing I want to share right now and I know that as we're doing this podcast there's a lot of different things going on in the United States and people are affected in different ways. Definitely not trying to shy away from that, I'm realistic that things affect people different ways and more people than others. But I would say and I've always said this even before that there's not a problem in this world that can't be solved without good leadership. I just really believe in my heart that leadership can solve anything, even if we're going through some challenging times. If you find that leader that you respect and maybe you don't talk to them that often or you haven't talked to them in a while, I just want to tell people, whoever that person is for you, reach out to them and just say, hey, I haven't talked to you in a minute. I apologize, I'm not feeling my best right now. I just need to talk to somebody.
Speaker 1:If you are that leader that does that type of thing, you know, pay attention to what's going on, pay attention to people, try to check in on them a little bit more, because people could be going through a lot right now, and that's one of the things I purposely try to do. I value relationships, so I will call people you know, know so often, whether it's every two months, every three months, and they always say, oh man, I feel so bad. Man, I haven't talked to you in like six months, but you always call me, like right on this time I'm like, man, don't, this is not a, I do it, so you need to do it back to me. This is me. Just I don't know how you're doing today, man, like how's your family, how's this? And so I just say all that to me falls underneath the umbrella of leadership.
Speaker 1:So what I want to share with anybody, all your listeners, is you know, try to be that best leader that you can. Even you may say, well, I'm not in charge of anybody or anything. Well, you know what, you're in charge of yourself. So lead yourself first and then take it from there to see who else can benefit from your leadership, because everybody has something inside of them that somebody could use, somebody could learn from, could grow from. And I know a lot of times, especially as men, you know, we kind of downplay a lot of stuff like I'm not a superstar, I'm not this, I'm not that, but you know what, but you are somebody and you mean something to someone, so don't take your life for granted that you're not making an impact. That's one thing I love about leadership, man. Leaders can make an impact, no matter where they are and who they're with, and sometimes they don't even realize it, as long as you're doing it for the right reasons wow, thank you.
Speaker 2:Thank you for sharing that, because sometimes we we get to talking about all these things and where to go, especially when you're leaders and you have vision and you're thinking about the future. But the relationship is everything and serving others we've talked about that several times today and I just you know, I love how you put that If you're feeling led to call somebody, call them If you haven't talked to them in a while, even if it's been years and you haven't talked to them, that one phone call can make such an impact in such a difference. And if we do that a lot more you know even me, you know we can, we can put on these facades like we're doing great, you know all the time and the positive man in the world. But I guarantee you that daryl got some calls from some people. Sometimes that changes countenance. It changed who we, you know what he was thinking about. Time changes the direction sometimes of how you react in the next two or three months and then how you react to other people, and so what a great way to end the show is.
Speaker 2:Hey, remember that we all are going through stuff and I don't know if you remember when I went to the historically black church, there was always these ladies who were sitting in the front row that had the white hats on, and you know they were the mothers of the church. And so I was saying you know, miss Jones, how are you doing today? You know, she said bless the Lord, bless the Lord. And I'm just going through it, just going through it. And one thing that came to me is, miss jones, when you will get through it? You know, I knew you since I was five and now I'm 13 and you're still going through it. Well, how you help somebody get through it is you those phone calls that you make, because nobody should be stuck in that same situation five, ten, fifteen years later, and you could be the catalyst that allows them to progress. So I thank you for sharing with us today and thank you for just spending the time with me.
Speaker 2:Like you said, I get stuff. I'm the luckiest one. You got to do one of these with me and I hope you'll be able to come back.
Speaker 1:But to be able to oh sure, anytime.
Speaker 2:All the time. It's just fantastic. And so for those of you who hey, got something out of this and want to contact, do you have a website or something? I know you got seminars and stuff. Is there a way that somebody could find out more about them?
Speaker 1:Sure, they can find my organization, alliance Seminars Coaching, right. We're on Facebook. We're on Instagram the website. We're on Facebook. We're on Instagram the website allianceseminarsorg. And again, I exist just to help people, really. I mean, I tell people my career has been so high where I can't get any higher than that.
Speaker 2:So you know, the rest of my time on this earth is just pouring into my family and pouring into others. Well, and because if you're on Air Force Two, you're pretty much above every other plane that's out there. You can't get much higher than an astronaut on the moon or something like that. Oh so cool, hey. So subscribe, share this with somebody. If there's somebody you think that can utilize what we talked about today and it can make their lives a little bit better, share it with them and then I'm sure you'll find if you go through all the rmbs we've done, you will find somebody that resonates with you in a special way. I want you to forget, don't forget, that you're god's greatest gift. He loves you. If you allow him to, and you, my friend, will look forward to, uh, seeing you exactly on the next one that we do here. Whatever we can do to help, let us do that. We'll talk to you guys.