IMPACT Unveiled: Leadership, Influence, and the Story Only You Can Write

In this episode of IMPACT | Leadership & Legacy, hosts Jeremy Melton, Daniel, and Maddie dive deep into the essence of leadership and its undeniable connection to the impact we make on the world. Together, they explore thought-provoking questions like, "What kind of impact are you making?" and "How is leadership influencing your story?"

From personal journeys to reflections on iconic leaders throughout history, this episode unpacks how influence shapes legacies, why leadership is foundational to change, and how your story—unique and unwritten—holds the power to inspire generations.

Join us for an engaging conversation about purpose, leadership lessons, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. Don’t miss this opportunity to uncover key takeaways and answer the meaningful questions that could redefine your journey.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01: 0:35

Welcome to Impact Podcast. My name is Jeremy Milton and I'm your host along with Daniel and Maddie. For the next 30 minutes to an hour or however long you choose to tune in on this show, we will uncover or eliminate some things about life that can help you on your journey to make an impact on the world that we live in. We're going to broadcast an episode from time to time when opportunities arise. We're going to shoot for once a month, maybe bi-weekly, whatever we can do to keep up. We'll have guests join us, including leaders of all walks of life. Our highlight question, what kind of impact are you making on the world that we live in? And I believe the answer to this question can change generations of people. For some, the answer may be on the tip of their tongue. For some, they don't know. And for some, they may not even care. But I believe for most, it is a point of inflection. a point we all yearn to understand at some time in our life, a point where we embrace the question and seek to build it up. And our goal, Daniel, Maddie, and I, is to generate the desire to understand it sooner than later. I believe the pursuit to answer this question is where we find purpose and value in life. And I also believe in order to make an impact, you have to lead and serve people at some level. And so this is where the study of leadership comes into play. So just hear us out. For the balance of my life, whatever I have left, I intend to explore and understand this at its deepest level of meaning. And the truth is, everything in this world rises and falls on leadership. That's my mantra. Try to live by that. The presence of leadership can change the world along with the absence of it. Presence or absence. Presence. of leadership will drastically affect everything around you and the world that we live in. So, we're getting started, and you might say, well, how do you measure the impact that you have on the world? And I'm going to put Maddie on the spot. So, Maddie, what do you think? How do you measure the impact that you have on the world?

SPEAKER_00: 2:53

I don't know. I would say that it's more case-by-case, person-by-person, to be honest with you, because... I feel like if you've got an impact on people that are directly next to you or who you're raising as human beings or who you're leading at work when you're a manager or a friend, I think that the impact is totally different for each person. But I think that it's... you know, I do think that it impacts the world because then it trickles down. So then that person carries it to the next one, hopefully. Your kids grow up doing, you know, what you've taught them to do their whole lives, hoping that you've made a positive impact on your kids. So I think that it's kind of a bold question, but I think that it's definitely just based on who– is receiving your impact, I guess.

SPEAKER_01: 3:54

Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 3:55

Brown, what you think? Who is... I love that. Who is receiving it and how are they receiving it? And to me, I mean, when it comes to impact, I think of my kids. I think of my kids first and foremost. And like, what kind of people am I leading them to become so that... And honestly, don't we all just want our kids to be able to contribute to society in a positive way? Oh, yeah. And, you know, be leaders in themselves. Right. Whatever that looks like. And I totally agree that if impact looks different, if I'm communicating and working with my children compared to working with my team at work and what goals we're trying to accomplish there... or anywhere, other relationships, church, it doesn't matter. But impacts are different, but it's just about what do we want to share and who do we want to be and who do we want to lead and guide.

SPEAKER_01: 5:10

Right. So it can be measured in many ways, right? I mean, you could say, well, look at what I've done or look at what I've been able to do Or, you know, I built houses, I started businesses, I have nice cars, I've worked here and there, I went here and there. I mean, you could try to, I mean, lots of people can measure it in different ways. But is that it, right? So the question is, how do you actually measure your impact? And I don't know how many funerals you guys have been to, probably a lot, been to a bunch. And that's, to me, that's where you're measured, right? Right. Your lifespan is measured right there. And what does your friend say to your kid when you're gone, right? And the impact that you had on their life. And so at the end of the day, I believe your impact is measured by the people around you, okay? And the reason I believe that is because material things die and rot. And you're really one generation away from everything you've ever built brick and mortar that will decay and go away forever. or be someone else's to tend to for their life, right? And so, you know, one day when you die, your family and friends will gather and celebrate your life at a funeral of some kind, and they'll talk about the impact that you had on their life, and some good and some bad, maybe some bad, you know? In the end, there'll be a story, and a story that only you can write. And so God gave you life and pleaded with you all along the way to have a relationship with Him, and yet you still choose the life that you live. And so you have a responsibility to leave an impact, a positive impact on your kids and the world that we live in. And so this show, the idea is that we begin to uncover the impact that you have or create a mission inside of you to make an impact better in the future. And so that's kind of... why we're here, right? Let's do it. To generate some impact desire. So, you know, we'll get started. What is the definition of impact by, you know, the definition is, in the noun form, it's the action of one object coming forcibly into contact with another. And as a verb... It is to have a strong effect. This is all Google, by the way. Have a strong effect on someone or something. And so if you Google it, that's what you come up with. And then, of course, the synonym is influence. And so influence. So if an impact is an influence, then we're tied to leadership. Because leadership is influence. Leadership is also influence. And So when we start talking about impact, that's where the leadership comes in, and that's how important it is. So these are synonymous with one another. So you've got impact is synonymous with leadership. It's pretty important. Because earlier I said everything rises and falls on leadership. And so here we go. Your measure of impact on the world is directly related to your level of influence. or leadership. And so your ability to lead others and follow correlates with your impact. And so when you talk about your kids and you do want to leave an impact for your kids, then it's almost a duty to learn to lead, right? And because leadership is obviously a gift, but it's something that can be worked on and improved upon And practice makes perfect. So leadership is very interesting. And so the podcast, we're going to talk about leadership and impact and how those correlate. And we're going to bring some guests on at some point to share with us about their leadership style. And so that's the goal of the podcast. So leadership has always interested me. It's always been fascinating to me to watch people get things done. In life, I always found that I thrived on what people said could not be done. Have you ever had a time where someone said that's going to be very difficult or that can't be done, and you did it, either of y'all?

SPEAKER_04: 9:44

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, what comes to mind is career and where I'm at now. as a business and also think back in the past and like, you know, when I was 29, 30 and I opened a restaurant and I didn't have any money.

SPEAKER_02: 10:07

Right.

SPEAKER_04: 10:08

I just kind of believed it and dreamed it and put together the right team. And, you know, I'm not saying that I was sole leadership. There was a team of us, but, but lots, I didn't believe it was going to happen. Yeah. We started putting together business plans, and I'm like, this is fun, and I like talking about it, but I don't know if this is going to happen. It did. So that stands out. Maddie?

SPEAKER_00: 10:41

I have two different instances that just stick out in my head. One is kind of, I got my real estate license recently, which was one of the hardest things I've ever, you know, book smart wise, had to do. Because it was, I mean, it's a tough class. You've got to study and study and study and the tests that you have to take to get there. And I did it for work. And, you know, it was kind of like one of those things where I just, they said that they, it would be a great idea for me to do it. So I did it. And I was kind of doing it incognito. Like they didn't really know that I was doing it. And I was very proud. Everyone's like, oh, yeah, have fun trying to do that. It's really hard if you've got kids and a family and a life that you want to uphold your social life. And so that kind of drove me. They were kind of telling me that I couldn't do it, so I just did it. And then on the other side, more of a personal side, my husband and I, we got pregnant really young. And it was one of those things where, you know, everyone looks at you like you're stupid and, oh, you're never going to– this is going to be bad. You're going to live with your mom. You've got to move back in with your mom. And we took the ball and ran with it and now have two beautiful children. And they're 12 and 9, and we're living a great life. But it was one of those things where– The family, and not that my family's never been supportive. They're very supportive, but it's always the, are you sure that you guys don't need help? Or how are y'all going to do this? How are you going to make it work? And with every negative comment, we just rose above it.

SPEAKER_01: 12:34

Right, and that's what's so great, right? So when you overcome obstacles and when you overcome the naysayers, we'll call them, that's when you really feel something inside. And that's when you really grow.

SPEAKER_03: 12:48

And

SPEAKER_01: 12:49

so, you know, the moment someone said it's hard or could not be done, I was like, sign me up, right? Because that's where I want to be. And that's where you do your most growing. So I'm sure that my mother and father could attest to this. But when I was young, I had the desire to be in charge. Imagine that. And I guess that hasn't changed. But I wanted to be the courageous one, okay? And courage is something that ought to be sought today because there's so many people that are not courageous. And so part of being a leader is you must be courageous. I wanted to be the one that jumped in and out, figured it out. And as I've gotten older, I realize more and more every day how much I don't know and that I need to learn, right? And in learning that, I realized that I needed to study and learn a lot. And Daniel and I talked before the podcast about learning and how important learning is. And, you know, we ought to always be in a state of learning. And so it's funny. I told Daniel earlier, when my wife and I got married in 2011– I began a study of leadership because I wasn't a good leader, okay? And my mentor once told me, he said, you know, in order to lead, you've got to be able to follow. And I didn't really understand that because I was thinking, well, you want me to be in charge or do you want me to follow? I didn't really understand until later when I figured it out that you need to be able to submit and follow someone in order to lead at any given time. And so anyway, I got married in 2011 to my wife and began a journey to study leadership because I needed it. I bought my first book. It was a John Maxwell book. I bought it on my honeymoon. So literally, we went to a bookstore and I bought a book and I started reading. And I don't read enough now, but I try to read as much as I can. I'm intentional about it. And since then, I've read and listened to lots of teaching on the subject. I've sought out some mentors at every level along the way. I can never list them all here. Lots of people have credit for what I've been able to do. You'll hear about some of that in this show. But I've observed lots of leaders make mistakes, and some do well, right? So there's good leaders and bad ones, but nonetheless, they're leaders. So they have influence, and therefore, they have an impact. And so... Um, good and bad, uh, could be relative based on person's values and principles, but, um, so, all right, let me ask you, Daniel, give me, like, just tell me five leaders that you know that you can think of. Five.

SPEAKER_04: 15:48

Just in general or a bit

SPEAKER_01: 15:49

personal? Well, five leaders that, that you know have had a big impact on the earth, on the, on the world, right? So just, who comes to mind? Well, first comes to

SPEAKER_04: 15:58

mind Bill Gates, Elon Musk, We'll say Donald Trump. Okay. We'll say Oprah Winfrey.

SPEAKER_03: 16:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04: 16:12

And we'll say Barack Obama.

SPEAKER_01: 16:17

Okay. Maddie?

SPEAKER_00: 16:20

Ditto. No, I was going to say Elon Musk, for sure. Oprah Winfrey. But then I start kind of thinking to get out of my own head and my own, you know, who I've kind of grown up as being told who are leaders and think about, like, my daughter loves Taylor Swift.

SPEAKER_01: 16:45

She's a leader.

SPEAKER_00: 16:46

And that is, I

SPEAKER_01: 16:47

mean,

SPEAKER_00: 16:48

everything that she does. Everyone knows everything about her and influence, you know, that's what we're talking about. Then I think of people that are in, you know, like a... Female that's, there might not just be this one person, but that's in an all-man's world. So I'm in the golf world. I'm one of very few females in the golf world. So it's like those types of people that I resonate with, I can't think of off the top of my head at the very moment. I'll come prepared next time. That's okay.

SPEAKER_01: 17:20

That's all right. So the interesting part is, to me, everyone's list of leaders is different. If I sat down, you can go sit down with anybody right now and have lunch and just say, tell me five leaders. And they're going to give you leaders that they've been impacted by, oftentimes. Or the world's been impacted. If you really think about it, yeah. But at some point along the way, those people that you named have impacted you at some level. They're on the tip of your tongue, maybe not. And you've given time, you can think about it, but... Everyone's list of leaders is different, and that's fascinating to me, okay? So Nick Saban is, you know, he's an Alabama football coach, or he was, right? So I read that guy's book, because I was an Alabama fan, okay? Let's just get that out there.

SPEAKER_00: 18:10

Sure, sure.

SPEAKER_01: 18:12

You know...

SPEAKER_00: 18:12

I'm out.

SPEAKER_01: 18:15

I'm not a diehard any football fan. I didn't go to school anywhere, but... Nick Saban ran a program that was nothing short of fascinating. And so when I was on my leadership journey, they were winning, and I was in that point in my life, and I was reading. I read a couple of his books, listened to his stuff, and that dude has got it sorted out. I took a lot of his principles and used them through my life, my career, and they work. And so I'm a fan of that guy. But why do I mention him over any other football coach? Well, that's what's interesting. Because why did– I mean, Kirby Smart's also a leader, right? Debo Sweeney's also a leader. But why did I pick out Nick Saban? Well, because of his leadership style. And he and I– I learned a lot from him. But lots of football coaches are great leaders. And so– but it's just fascinating to me how we gravitate towards certain ones. And so– Nick Saban, Bill Belichick, I mean, I wrote a list here. Abraham Lincoln, Ronald Reagan, Franklin Roosevelt, Donald Trump, Martin Luther King Jr., Winston Churchill, George Patton, Ulysses S. Grant. You look, wartime leaders, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Andy Stanley. You got pastors that are dynamic leaders. Andy Stanley's one of them. Louis Giglio, Stephen Furtick. Now, we won't get into all the ins and outs of these guys. We won't debate what they do or don't do, what they believe or what they say. At the end of the day... they maintain influence with a large body of people. And so there's lots to go around, but we won't debate them. Again, they're leaders. And so we may not agree with everything about the leader. There's certain leaders out there that have said and done things that I'm like, ah, that guy. But at the end of the day... he still has a following, right? So he still has influence. And so all the leaders that we could talk about have commonalities. And so I'm a student of that. What is in common with all these people? And how do they do it? And of course, the greatest of them all, Jesus Christ himself, Jesus. And we'll get into that at some point too. But as my interest in leadership grew over time, I've been honored to lead some good people. I've got really good people. in my career that I've worked with, I've been led by some great people, and I'm sure you have too. If you thought about it for a minute, and we'll pause for one second, think about someone that has led you in your life, someone that has mentored you. And then you can also think about people that you may be leading yourself. And yes, you could say your kids, because you're leading your kids. And as you know, the world is leading them. Right? That's right. Taylor Swift, she's an influencer. So anybody want to share anything on that?

SPEAKER_00: 21:16

I mean, personally, I mean, a high school teacher was one of mine that got me into marketing. I mean, and that's something that, like, I never would have even thought about. I would have just kept, you know, C's get degrees kind of thing, you know? to go to school, and then when I really found that passion for marketing with the kind of graphic design background, and you don't have to be the artsy kid to be in marketing, so she kind of helped me pave the way to where I am now.

SPEAKER_01: 21:46

Excellent. And I'm sure you're grateful

SPEAKER_04: 21:48

for her.

SPEAKER_00: 21:49

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_04: 21:51

Brown? Actually, it's interesting. The person that comes to my mind is a client, odd enough, that a long time ago, He saw something. Wanted to invest. I didn't know what the... I didn't know what I was doing. But he saw something. And to this day, he's still investing. And I've grown. I mean, this is eight years ago. And I had a$50 camera and a drone that used to... It was this big. Things have changed. And... yeah to this day and I just and his investment has encouraged me to invest in myself nice his investment has encouraged me to okay I can do this and then let's go do something else let's go grow somewhere else and let's fine tune these skills we're very close and he's you know he's a client but he's a friend that's good so Jeremy Mathis shout out bro that's good you're my boy buddy

SPEAKER_01: 23:02

I love

SPEAKER_04: 23:03

it. So that's what comes to mind.

SPEAKER_01: 23:05

That's good. So part of the reason this show came about was a desire to share with others what I've learned in my time here on the planet and as I've battled through my story to make an impact because, I mean, at the end of the day, that's what I'm trying to do. When I get to the finish line, I want to have made an impact. We want to leave the world better than we found it. So it is our duty to share and help others all the days of our life. So if, you know, I would challenge you guys to let those people know that have had an impact on your life, let them know. Because there's really nothing more rewarding than that when it's done on this side of the finish line. And you don't think about it along the way. But, like, I had a guy come to me one time and he said, hey, man, I just want to say thank you for... investing in me right along the way and i was like man that's strong that made me feel something that i had never felt and so you can do that you can bless someone with that let them know that you appreciate what they did for you at some point in your time

SPEAKER_00: 24:11

wait i'm interested to hear who someone in your life is

SPEAKER_01: 24:14

it was one of our one of my guys at work um he came to me here so i i got him in the i was in local 72 as a pipe fitter and um essentially i was a foreman General Foreman, whatever. I don't know. I was one of the foremans. And I hired a guy in. And years later, he came to me. Probably 10 years later, he called me one day. And he's like, hey, man, I just want to say thank you for getting me in the trade and, you know, picking me up out of the ditch, essentially. And I'm not going to name any names. But he essentially said that I was in a bad place and didn't know where I was going. And you've seen something in me, just like Daniel said. Somebody's seen something in him. And I appreciate it. And so it changed my life. And I was like, man, that was strong. So good stuff. But I believe the human race will always seek to follow good, strong leaders. And God will gift many with the ability to lead. I mean, there's an abundance of material on the subject, but it's really important. And so in this show, we're going to review as much of that as possible about the leadership journey of many people and how they feel that correlates with the impact they have on the world. So experience is the mother of all learning. But, I mean, at the end of the day, we've got to remember in the end there will be a story, a story that only you can write. And for each episode, we're just going to do these episodes. We're going to talk about the impact. At the end, I want to take some time and have a key takeaway, right? So right now, what is one thing that was uncovered during our time together, you know, like a conclusion? So if you had to give one key takeaway from the however many minutes we've been chatting, one key takeaway, what is it?

SPEAKER_04: 26:15

How can we make an impact? Okay. And... who has made an impact on us. How can we grow? What's next? Yeah, that's good.

SPEAKER_00: 26:29

I think that I came into this thinking about people who have impacted me, and I haven't really thought about the impact that I've had on other people. And so my key takeaway is, you know, kind of... those people that I am impacting and just, you know, the guy that you talked about just now, you had no idea that you had such an impact on him. And so I feel like now, I mean, honestly, day to day, it's like I live with a purpose every day, but now I kind of have the takeaway of like, I'm going to wake up and I'm going to be the best human being that I possibly can be because they're so telling who's looking at me.

SPEAKER_01: 27:08

Correct. That's good. That's solid. So, and, you know, we're going to probably get into this at some point because I've got it in my stuff, but, like, if you're intentional about mentoring someone, there's power in that, right? So a lot of times we get caught up in ourself, and we have to, I always tell it, deliver yourself from yourself because you have to get away from yourself. And so... If you're intentional about, you literally can pick someone out, and you can probably think of someone in a few minutes, you can pick someone out that you know needs you in some level. And you can give part of you to them, right? And so that's part of the journey of a leader, at least should be. He should be, or she, they, they should be picking someone out that they're following, right? And then they should be picking someone out that they're growing, that they're investing in consistently. And that's pretty strong. And then I would ask a meaningful question. So if you had a meaningful question that comes to your mind that the answer to the question would modify behavior or make change in your life, what would that be? And Daniel kind of hit it while ago. So kind of the key takeaway and the meaningful question can kind of be the same thing. But what, you know, a meaningful question, what can make change in your life? And the answer to it anyway. But like you said, Daniel, you said, what's my impact?

UNKNOWN: 28:53

Oh, right.

SPEAKER_01: 28:53

Yeah. So anybody got any comments on that? Anything?

UNKNOWN: 28:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04: 29:03

I just want to get out there and make an impact. You got me inspired. You got me inspired. That's good. I love it. I'm ready. Let's go. I love it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00: 29:14

I think that one of the things as you were talking, I was thinking about leadership in so many different walks of life. So, like, you think of a leader as someone that's at work or, like, your manager or your boss or the owner of a company and, like, Obviously, we also think of leaders in our church that we go to and different things like that, but you never think of someone that's influential. I never really put the two together. I do, but I don't. I think that there are so many different ways that you can be a leader and you can make an impact. What we're doing right now, hopefully, will make an impact. When you go home and you're with your kids, obviously, you're making an impact on them, but then In the grocery store, you're talking to the checkout lady and you just ask her how her day is. It's like there's so many different walks of life that you can make an impact that you just got to choose to do it.

SPEAKER_01: 30:07

Yeah, we're going to talk about that too, being intentional about hearing and listening to someone. Again, the world that we live in is so crazy and political and all the... Anyway, we won't get into that part, but... We're going to get into some fundamentals in this show where we talk about how you can make an impact on someone in the grocery store. And you don't even realize how you can change someone's life with one conversation. And there's a lot of power in your words. But we're always on the run and we're on the gun. And so the purpose of this podcast is to slow down Take a minute. Let's talk about life. Let's talk about the impact. Let's keep the goal the goal, right? The goal is the goal, and we've got to keep it in front of us. So in closing, man, we're pretty much wrapping it up, but if anyone ever has anything that I can help with or just wants to chat, feel free to reach out. You know, at some point I'll share my cell phone number on this show just because it's that important. You know, somebody might need something. But, you know, and I'm just a guy, a layman, per se. But I just want to share and help everybody. So I'm really looking forward to the show, and I'm glad that Daniel and Maddie have decided to come along my side. And Daniel's... a wizard on this podcast stuff. He's going to be the brains. Maddie's going to be the encourager.

SPEAKER_04: 31:47

We'll see how it turns out. It'll be great. I'm looking forward to it, though. I'm having fun right now. Thank you, Mr. Jeremy. Good stuff.

SPEAKER_00: 31:58

We're starting episode two next. Is

SPEAKER_01: 32:06

that it? I think so. Yeah. I think so. That's a wrap. All right. Yay.

SPEAKER_00: 32:15

Thank y'all. That was awesome.