Become the CEO of Your Life: Michael Dillard on Vision, Leadership & Lasting Impact

What if leadership wasn’t about striving but about aligning?
In this powerful episode, I sit down with Michael Dillard - U.S. diplomat-turned-leadership coach - for a deep conversation on what it really means to lead with purpose, overcome setbacks, and take ownership of your life.

Michael’s story takes us from growing up in poverty to coaching global teams and empowering thousands through his Lead With Impact framework. But the transformation wasn’t linear - it was marked by detours, reflections, and bold pivots.

We talk about:

• How to become the CEO of your life
• The myth of external success vs. inner fulfillment
• Tools for sustainable leadership and personal discipline
• Rewiring your mindset around growth, money, and meaning

This is more than just a leadership conversation -  it’s a call to action for anyone ready to stop drifting and start leading their life with vision, clarity, and courage.

Transcript

0:05

I noticed something that in order to succeed you have to put in work. I realized that in life you have to have a vision. When you have a vision, you have to take action. And when you take action, success comes.

I started noticing a pattern in my life: 0:19

When I was in high school. I studied, I got my diploma. After high school, I was working and I realized that I can't work full time and also go to college. So I took a step back once again, I joined the military, got money to help pay for my college education. What I realized David and to the listeners is that you have to pivot when it's time to make a change. You have to make sure you have all the tools and resources that you need to achieve your goal. Sometimes in life, the way forward might be for you to take a temporary left. Then you get back on the highway. And that's what I did. I realized that you have goals. You have timelines, but sometimes it might take you little longer than you envisioned to get there. But the most important thing is when you get in your car and you're driving down the highway, going on that five hour trip, you have to take a couple rest stops. But when you get there, it was all worth it. Leaders need system and programs to lead with impact. And that's what I've been doing. I've been going around the world teaching other leaders and organizations how to lead with impact and which I'll break it down throughout this conversation today. Leaders need tools and resources. So I joined a coaching program and that coaching program changed the way I lead today. And it helped me to develop the "L.E.A.D. with Impact" framework that I teach, which is to help leaders listen with empathy, to help leaders empower others, to help leaders adapt to change, and most importantly, to help leaders develop other leaders. Everybody wants to be the CEO of their life. What does that mean? That means they are the chief executive officer over everything that happens for them every single day. When you wake up, what's your goal? Is your goal solely to go to work to make money for other people? Or is your goal to wake up and to become the best person that you can become? And that's what it means to be the CEO of your life, is to become the best person that you can become today with the tools and resources that you have. That's what it means to be the CEO of your life. It means that when you wake up, you have a goal to pass that exam. You have a goal to get a new certification. And today, you know, it's going to take you 100 hours of studying time before you're ready to take that exam. One bite at a time. Carve out two hours, study. Next day, carve out another two hours, study. The weekend, do triples, two early in the morning, two during lunchtime, two at night. But you're taking one step forward toward your goals that you set for you. And that's what it means to be the CEO of your life. It means have a plan that includes your mindset, your career goals, your financial goals, and your time with your family. You have to set goals. When you reach one goal, set another goal. You have to have the discipline to keep going when it gets tough. Keep going when people are doing other things. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Worry about what's on your plate. Worry about what's in front of you right now because I've lived it and I've seen others."Vision plus action equals success"."Vision plus action equals success". And I want to break it down because we're, let's focus on discipline. People want to lose weight every single day. People want to save money every single day. Here's what I tell people to do. Choose a goal or something that you want to accomplish. Now, research three other people who have achieved that same goal. For me, I want to run longer. I want to go from running 30 minutes to running an hour and a half. So I did a Google research. I searched how to increase my running time and distance. I watched YouTube videos from three different people. Then I settled on one program that I felt like that I can actually do for myself. And this is how discipline is created. You don't have to do what somebody else did. Do the one thing that you can do, the thing that you believe in. For some, if they're trying to lose weight, it might just eat 10 % less every single day, because you don't want to exercise. Bam. That is what's going to work for you. For others, it might be to walk an extra 30 minutes every single day, no matter what. But the point is choose something that you believe in that will allow you to commit to it, to have the discipline to do it when it's raining, to have the discipline to do it when you're tired, to have the discipline when your family's telling you, no, no, no, you can do it another time. Because Vision plus Action equals Success." Hello and warm welcome to the Life and Leadership Connected podcast. I am David Dahlén D'Cruz and I'm so excited you're here today. In this podcast we dive into what really matters. Finding your life's purpose. Discovering your 'why'. and learning how to connect life and leadership in a healthy and sustainable way. What fuels your energy and passion? How do we grow and stay as leaders who make a real difference? inspiration to live with greater purpose and lead with heart. Want to learn more? Visit lifeleadershipconnected.com. I'm your guide and coach, David Dahlén D'Cruz. Let's get started. Hello and welcome to a new episode of the podcast life and leadership connected podcast. And today I have the honor of welcoming special guest here whose life journey is nothing short of extraordinary. It is Michael Dillard. He's a former U S diplomat, a leadership and burnout recovery coach, a first generation college graduate. He's a powerful voice in the conversation around purposeful leadership. From growing up on food stamps in a single-parent home to leading multicultural teams across six countries and managing over 300 million in budgets serving his country on the global stage, Michael's story is a testament to resilience, transformation and purpose-driven action. But his real power comes not just from what he has accomplished, but from what he has overcome behind the scenes. And how he now equips other high-achieving leaders to rise again after seasons of burnout, disconnection and transition. is the creator of something called"L.E.A.D. with impact" framework and also system called a "Saver system," which help individuals and organizations reset, recharge and lead with heart.

Michael's message is clear: 7:42

Its purpose is not just a destination, it's discipline. And his wisdom is born from experience and his tools are practical, personal and powerful. So welcome to the podcast, Michael. David, I'm glad you have me on this wonderful international podcast that is reaching thousands of viewers. Thank you, thank you Michael. And your story, would like to hear your story first. Your story is like a story from poverty to purpose, from burnout to resilience. And it carries such a relevance for our listeners, because many of our audience, they are aspiring leaders. Early in their journey, or navigating through personal and professional transitions. And I know you have lived through transformation on multiple levels. And today we are going to unpack not just what you have done, but what you have become along the way. So um I would like begin with your story or with your journey. So, and you have gone from growing up on food stamps, as I said before, to serving as US diplomat. to now leading others through some of the most important shifts of the lives. Can you take us back to those early years Michael? formative experiences? Yes, definitely leaders. If you want to lead with impact, listen up. I know David is going to unlock many stories along the way. I will keep them short and brief so that you can keep up. So it's not too much information at one time. The question is, how did I go from growing up low income poverty to becoming U.S. diplomat traveling the world from country to country? Listen up. The story is one of those fairy tale movies. Picture this. Young boy born to a young mother who fell in love at a young age had a baby boy named Michael Dillon, most handsome baby in the world, of course, right? Fast forward, I go to high school, I get my high school diploma, the first person in my immediate family to graduate from high school. That was the standard. But thanks to Upward Bound, I had a different goal. That goal was to get an education. Why? Because education is the key that unlocks doors. And I wanted the key to unlock the education so that I could make more money, David. Fast forward, I joined the military. I get money to help pay for college, come back, get my four-year degree. And then I was walking across the stage, but I was sad, disappointed because I did not have that dream job waiting for me when I walked off the stage. I had to take one step back to go two steps forward. What do I mean, right? You're wondering, what does that mean? That means that I applied for job after job and they said, Michael, yes, you have the diploma, you have the degree, but you don't have the experience. So I took an internship paying less money and I got that experience and then the door opened. And that's how I started my career in finance. From then, I continued to set goals. And then I found myself working at one of the top companies in the world, Dell Computers. Everything was going fine until the recession hit and they let me go. I'm unemployed, no job, no paycheck, but many people know I have an MBA in personal finance. So there's this saver program that I implement, which is secure your life insurance, access your phone and case savings, vanquish high interest debt. Empower your IRA savings and the last reiterate financial literacy to your children. So I have been following those rules for myself. So I was able to weather the storm month one, no job, month two, no job. Then month three, I started saying, wait a minute, my money is draining. Month four, I finally got an offer to interview, to be an assistant store manager in the mall. Applied, interviewed, I felt great about it. And then the next day I checked my email and there was an offer to go interview, to interview to be a financial controller. When I looked at the job description, they said you have to learn foreign language. You have to pass a top secret security clearance. You have to pass a medical background. I said, what job is this? Did the research realize I had applied to be a US diplomat? I went on of course to pass the interview and to travel the world. Changing everything in my family tree because of education. Wow, Interesting. I wonder what values were instilled in you upbringing, because our values are so important. They are like the compass, I would say. Would you agree? Can tell us a bit about what you learned from your upbringing? What I learned from my upbringing is to have goals, take one step forward. Eventually, you will achieve your goal. Did you learn some more values, many speak about core values? Did you have something you came back to again and again and again that were guiding you? Or did that come later? No, it came early in life I noticed something that in order to succeed you have to put in work. I realized that in life you have to have a vision. When you have a vision, you have to take action. And when you take action, success comes.

I started noticing a pattern in my life: 13:20

When I was in high school. I studied, I got my diploma. After high school, I was working and I realized that I can't work full time and also go to college. So I took a step back once again, I joined the military, got money to help pay for my college education. What I realized David and to the listeners is that you have to pivot when it's time to make a change. You have to make sure you have all the tools and resources that you need to achieve your goal. Sometimes in life, the way forward might be for you to take a temporary left. Then you get back on the highway. And that's what I did. I realized that you have goals. You have timelines, but sometimes it might take you little longer than you envisioned to get there. But the most important thing is when you get in your car and you're driving down the highway, going on that five hour trip, you have to take a couple rest stops. But when you get there, it was all worth it. Thank you. Was there any defining moment when you realised that you were meant for more, Michael? It was after I got the job working as a U.S. diplomat is when I realized I was made for more. I started hearing other people's stories and how long it took them to become a U.S. diplomat. And I compared it to my journey. I was the fastest person that I know of to go from applying for the job to getting the job. That's when I realized that I was meant to impact the world. I was meant to help eradicate poverty. I was meant to help develop other leaders. Wow, interesting. Thank you. story has included some pretty intense turning points, as you said, like losing a job on Friday and becoming a US diplomat on the following Monday. But behind those leaps were also deep struggles, I imagine. saw that you have... struggled with burnout, leadership burnout, as you said massive transitions and maybe also emotional tolls you know. What have been some of the toughest moments and and how did those shape you as person and leader Michael? Yes, burnout is real everybody. Burnout costs organizations $322 billion every single year. Imagine that.$322 billion. Why is it happening? It's happening because organizations, they don't have systems to help their leaders. They don't have programs that are long-term. They might tell you, hey, you do a good job at making all these sales. We need to promote you to be a leader. That person who was good with their technical skills, They're not good at leading other people. Just pause and think about it as a listener. Think about it. You're good at selling the widget. You're good at managing that process. But now someone takes you and says, look, I need you to manage and lead human beings that have emotions, human beings that have problems, human beings that have their own ways of being motivated. What I realized Leaders need system and programs to lead with impact. And that's what I've been doing. I've been going around the world teaching other leaders and organizations how to lead with impact and which I'll break it down throughout this conversation today. Great, great. What internal mind stone shaped the leader you are today? What shaped me David and listeners is this, listen up, this was a pivotal moment. It actually happened when I found myself managing five different budgets across five different countries. Being responsible for the finances of over 400 people. People who are needing budget assistance, people who are looking for payments to be made, people who are looking for projects to be funded. My inbox was flooded. I found myself going from meeting to meeting nonstop. As a result, I was just working, working, working. No tools, no resources to help me be in all places at one time. If you're a leader, you've ever been there before where you find yourself waking up, checking your email, going into work, all of a sudden you get pulled into an urgent meeting. Then you have no time for lunch. Then you clock out, you're back home checking emails as a leader. Think about it. How many times has that happened?

Going from one meeting to the next, one meeting to the next, I realized that: 17:55

Leaders need tools and resources. So I joined a coaching program and that coaching program changed the way I lead today. And it helped me to develop the "L.E.A.D. with Impact" framework that I teach, which is to help leaders listen with empathy, to help leaders empower others, to help leaders adapt to change, and most importantly, to help leaders develop other leaders. Wow, thank you. We'll come back to your framework in a little while, but uh absolutely I want to hear about, want you to explain that. But first, this podcast, as you listeners and viewers know, I have four signature questions that I ask everybody in the podcast. Here's the first one. And this one is about leadership, are just talking about. would you say was the unseen cost of leadership during this time when you struggled with leadership? unseen cost was low team morale. That is an indication of a leader who's burnt out. It shows up as low team morale. It shows up as low productivity and employee turnover. In my case, it was low team morale. I would come into the office, the energy was low, people's spirits was low. And then at that point in time, I realized that something has got to change. And that's when I realized I needed to take a leadership training, but it was more than training is what shaped me and changed me. It was the coaching which gave me the tools and resources that allowed me to get my time back, my energy back. And once I made that switch, I found myself enjoying time with my family on weekends, not checking emails on my way to work. Team Arow went up and trust went up. Wonderful, great. The change came when you start coaching. What would you say was the most..., Can you share one thing that was transformational for you when you started, had your first uh coaching conversation, which is something that like, you know, changed you instantly or, you know, that made you change? Yes, a tool that I teach leaders is how to truly empower other people in your organization to take on more work. A lot of times leaders will come to me and they'll complain. They're like, Michael, I gave a task to John. He wasn't able to do it. I gave a task to Lisa. She kept coming back needing more help, more help, more help. I could have done it myself and it would have been done on time. How many times have we heard that? Come on now, put a chat, a response in the email, in the chat. So here is what I realized. A mistake that people are making. They're empowering the wrong people. So now I teach people how to empower the right people. So I'll give you one simple visual and tool that you can use. The person that you're trying to lead for your next project. Make sure that they are an 8 in motivation and that they are 8 in technical proficiency. That person is someone that you can empower and only check in according to their schedule. Let them know how often do you want me to check in with you? They'll tell you once a week or I'll come to you when I have issues. Great. Give the project to that person and you will gain at least one hour of your time back every single week. Yeah, delegation is very important. There's so many, it's so easy that, you know, as you say, as people, leaders micromanage. So yeah, that's true. You, Michael, you, I know you say that transformation doesn't come from luck, but from mindset, faith and purpose. And I wonder, how did you become the kind of leader who could guide others? Was there like a shift in identity for you? And how did that come about? Yes, I had a pivotal shift in mindset. When I started to realize that employees are the organization's most valued asset, I switched because I wanted more for those people. John Maxwell said it best, everything rises and falls on leadership. I knew that I was not going to be working in the country that I was assigned to be working in. Typically as a U.S. diplomat, we travel every three to five years changing country to country. I realized that I needed to develop other leaders to continue to take on the great work that we were doing. I would pick out two or three people and I would have quarterly meetings with them. I would follow up and find out what are your career goals? What are your aspirations? What's some projects or things that you want to do within this next three months? And I would help them to achieve those goals. And as I started to see those leaders take on more responsibility to achieve more, then I realized I was onto something. I realized that, wow, small changes can impact the culture in an organization and in people's mindset. Thank you. Many leaders, we talked about burnout before, they lost their energy and so on. What would you say gives you energy in the work you do now? Helping leaders and reset and lead with purpose. How do you your own energy aligned day by day? What gives me purpose is that I just got a referral from somebody who said, Michael, the conversation that you have with me changed my career. It allowed me to make a career pivot that I've been putting off, getting feedback from others who were able to implement some of the tools and resources that I share with them gives me mindfulness, gives me purpose. gives me clarity because it signals that I am doing the right work to impact others. Cause I truly want other leaders who are struggling, leaders who are burnt out, leaders who are suffering from fatigue to be able to lead with impact. Now, what does that mean? That means that you walk in the office on Monday morning, you sit down, nobody's knocking on your door. No one's trying to get you to hurry up and come to a meeting because guess what? You have implemented all the tools of how to lead with impact. You have a nice schedule. You take your 10 minute. micro break at around 10, 10.30. You take lunch with your team members, your peers, your family. You take another evening break in the afternoon and then you go home and you don't have to keep looking down at your email. This is able to be accomplished when I work with people to do this. Stop trying to micromanage. Stop trying to be a task-orient leader. Look at people in your team. is valuable resources. You all are connected, one in the same. What can you do today that will impact their career? What can you do today that will make that person a better leader? Now, I challenge leaders to do this exercise. It's Friday, the weekend is coming. Ask two people, what are you gonna do for the weekend? Truly listen with empathy, emotion. And then Monday morning, I want you to go to those two people as soon as they walk in the door and follow up and find out how was their weekend. Someone might've said, I'm going to a friend's for a barbecue or cookout. Find out how it went. Somebody else might've said that their child has an event that they're going to. Find out how the event went. Now you will be a leader who listens with empathy. instead of a leader who's always trying to give a task to every single person when they see you. Yeah, wow, that's really good. To see the people before task. That's really good. And many people have different views about leadership, what it is. And I believe there might be some misconceptions. And I wonder misconceptions do people have about success, leadership or purpose that you like to challenge or something that you have learned that, is different? Yes, Simon Sinek said it best."Leadership is not about being in charge. It's about caring for those in your charge". The challenge I have for leaders is how are you truly caring for those in your charge? Or is it all about you? It's all about your accolades. It's all about how you look to upper management. Because if your team is not performing at a high level, Whose fault is it? Is it theirs or is it yours? It's their fault. Okay, what about last year? Whose fault was it? You have to start to sit back and reflect and realize that true leaders are able to uplift other people. True leaders are able to get the best out of other people. And that comes from not just trying to be like, today I want you to do this, today I want you to do that. It comes from having a system. That's one thing a lot of people fail to realize is that leaders need tools and resources. They truly do, just like there's a training manual and there's follow-up training and hands-on training for how to sell that particular item. There's resources and tools on how to do a proper demonstration on that product, on the kitchen that you're selling, on the car that you're selling, on that new IT software that's gonna help save X amount of man hours. This automated tool that's gonna help change the world? Well, what about that same focus and energy with helping your leaders? And a lot of time that comes from leaders working one-on-one with a coach because every situation is different. It's true, I know people are saying, yeah, but easy for you to say. Trust me, been there, done that, have lots of experiences, seen lots of things. But I do know is that when you can work with coaches, they are gonna able to help you

see things from a different lens because there's a saying: 28:03

"When you are in the picture, you can't see the frame". That's good. That's really good. Thank you. Now we come your framework. And so you've developed framework that you called "L.E.A.D. with Impact" also another framework that's called "Saver Systems". And can you maybe give us an overview of these and what make them so transformational for leaders who feel stuck, burnt out or off track? Yes, I'm glad you asked David. This system is proven. This system is something that I've seen transform leaders. The L.E.A.D. with Impact system has helped other leaders get promoted. It's helped them change the way they spend time at work. It has also helped organizations change their culture. Imagine that. Imagine your organization team morale is low, productivity is low. And then within 90 days, you're able to see increased productivity all because you invested in your leaders. And once again, it goes like this, listen with empathy. Listening with empathy shows that this leader cares about me and they're not all about the work. When I'm doing the workshops, I really dive into how to empower the right people. As I described earlier, you want to empower someone that's an 8 to motivation and an 8 in technical knowledge. Then the 8 you have to adapt to changes within the working environment. You have to adapt to changes with tools and resources. Right now we have a tool called AI. Everybody's using AI, but here's something that you have to remember. If you don't use it, then you're going to lose out because other people are using it. It's kind of like this, think about it. 20 years ago, remember that cell phone you had 20 years ago? The resources, the apps, its capability. Do you still have that phone from 20 years ago? You don't. It's old, it's sitting in a drawer, recycled, et cetera. You have a new phone that's more advanced. It can do more things. The phone can help you go from A to B. No more using the paper maps, right? You used to go to the gas station, you buy a map and you kind of trace out where you're gonna go and then you try to remember it. No, now you type in your address, put it in whatever software system and it tells you where to go, it tells you how long it's gonna get there. But if you keep on using that paper map, it's gonna take you longer to get there if you get thrown off course. So you wanna learn to use new tools and technology that's available for you. Then "D" is develop other people. And that comes from having quarterly meetings with each member on your team. A question that I always ask leaders to do is ask each team member what did they do before they worked for you? What did they do before they joined the organization? You will be amazed at the skills and resources that you have within your office. That's the overall how leaders can lead with impact. Your guests, the first two that reaches out via email or direct message, I will offer them coaching on how to lead with impact as a courtesy for having this great platform. Now, leaders often suffer from personal finances. And that's why I created the Saver system. It's simple, easy. Only takes you 10 minutes to implement. S, secure your life insurance because most of the time people are working for organizations and they have life insurance with that company. But when they quit the company, they leave. They don't have life insurance. And so I say buy life insurance like you buy your car insurance. You buy it from your own provider so that you're free to come and go work for whoever you want and you still own your policy. If your income goes away, Who's gonna care for your family? Who's gonna care for your children? That's why you need to ensure your life, like you ensure your car. And nowadays, David, people have insurance on their cell phone. Imagine that. Then A, take advantage of resources at your work that allows you to invest your money and to get a free match. Some companies will give you $50. If you invest, other companies might say, look, you put in 3 % of your income and we'll match 3 % of your income. That is free money. That is a 100 % return on that $100, the $500 that you put in the piggy bank. I don't know about you, but if I put $500 into a jar and somebody said they're going to also put it $500 in, I'll take that every day. And then the money is going to compound. The vanquish high interest debt credit cards, 24 % interest, 27%, 20% interest. Guess what? If you keep making monthly payments that are only one, 2 % of the balance, it's going to take you over 20 something years to pay off. You could have had a child and that child could have graduated from high school and college before you would have even paid it off. Like picture that. That's why you have to pay off the high interest credit cards. And then in the US we have something called the individual retirement account. Other countries probably have something different, but it's an incentive for people to invest into a financial retirement account on their own and you can get a tax discount. I don't know about you. But it's kind of like going to the store, you see a new pair of shoes, it costs $100, and then there's a coupon that says 10 % off. So you can save $10 off. That's what's happening when you invest in a properly secured retirement account. That tax advantage is your coupon on your earnings. You might be in a 10 % tax bracket, 20 % tax bracket. That's 10 % your saving, 20 % your savings. Now, let me go into a little bit more depth because what some people are doing is they have apps on their phone and they're investing in stock through different Robinhood, maybe Cash App, all these different software tools on their phone. But if it doesn't say it's within a retirement account that the government recognizes, your earnings are going to be taxed at your full income rate. You're not getting that discount because you don't have it in a retirement account where it signals to the US government or your local government that this is for retirement savings. The last one is reiterate financial literacy by teaching your kids about money. I wrote a book it's called "Build generational wealth, Retire early". It's on Amazon. It is a fun and entertaining book that will keep you captivated. It is family friendly, teaching you how to save today, teaching you how to live life, making the right financial decisions so that you can retire early. So these are some of the tools and resources, David, that I'm now sharing with the world because these are things that has helped allow me to live an abundant and prosperous life. Wow, thank you. You speak a lot about purpose. I wonder how do these tools help someone reconnect with their purpose specifically? Can you maybe tell us something about that? Yes, it allows them to have clarity in their life. A lot of times people wake up, they go to work and they don't have clarity because they don't have goals. They don't know where they're going. They feel like they're lost. Imagine knowing that you implemented the financial saver system. You have life insurance. So you know if something happens, your loved one is protected. Or you know as a spouse that if something happens to either you or your other spouse that the income is going to be protected, that you're not gonna have to downsize and sell the house, that the kids' college tuition is gonna be paid for. That's gonna give you clarity and a peace of mind for your future. When you have a system put in place, you already know that next week you have more money in your retirement account. Two months from now, you look back and say, wow, my account is growing. I have less bills and more income. As a leader, you have more clarity and purpose because you have more time and your team, they're coming to you saying, wow, I love working in this division. I love working for you, David. I love working for you, Sarah. I love working for you, John, because the chemistry is a 10 out of 10. The organization is changing. HR directors are saying, wow, we have an improved list of candidates who are applying for jobs every day. More and more people want to work for us because they realize that our leaders have clarity, our leaders lead with impact, our leaders truly care for each other. question here. You say that people can become the CEO of their life. What does that look like practically? You've given us a little bit, but can you maybe develop that a little bit more? Yes, Everybody wants to be the CEO of their life. What does that mean? That means they are the chief executive officer over everything that happens for them every single day. When you wake up, what's your goal? Is your goal solely to go to work to make money for other people? Or is your goal to wake up and to become the best person that you can become? And that's what it means to be the CEO of your life, is to become the best person that you can become today with the tools and resources that you have. I'll give you an example. Right now, my goal is to increase my running time. So I have a spreadsheet and I have time markers saying today I need to run for 30 minutes. Tomorrow I need to run for 30 minutes. The next day I need to take a rest day, then 30 minutes, 30 minutes. But next week I need to increase it by 10%. So next week I'm running 33 minutes. 33 minutes rest, 33 minutes, 30 minutes, two days off. So what I'm doing is I'm looking at my life and saying, how can I become better? How can I achieve my goals? But using tools and resources, you see, if I would have said, hey, I want to increase my running time. I just would have said, go out there and just start running more every single day, increase it by 20, 10, 15 minutes. But guess what, David? You will injure yourself. People say if you, if you increase the intensity on your legs, your body is going to break down because it has not built up the endurance. And that's why people need to have a system in place to learn from other people. So now I'm, I'm happy because I have a goal. I know that today, when I get off this podcast, I'm going to run my 30 minutes today because come December 31st, when everybody is, you know, getting ready for the new years. I'm putting on my shoelaces, tying them, and I'm going out there to run an hour and a half nonstop because I started preparing 90 days ago, 85 days ago. That's what it means to be the CEO of your life. It means that when you wake up, you have a goal to pass that exam. You have a goal to get a new certification. And today, you know, it's going to take you 100 hours of studying time before you're ready to take that exam. One bite at a time. Carve out two hours, study. Next day, carve out another two hours, study. The weekend, do triples, two early in the morning, two during lunchtime, two at night. But you're taking one step forward toward your goals that you set for you. And that's what it means to be the CEO of your life. It means have a plan that includes your mindset, your career goals, your financial goals, and your time with your family. Wow, thank you. Thank you Michael. We are going to take a short break here for maybe 20-30 seconds and we'll come back very soon. Hi there, just taking a quick pause. If something in this conversation is resonating with you. Maybe you are in a season of transition, or you starting to ask deeper questions about purpose and direction. I want you to know you are not alone. If you would like to explore what coaching could look like, or just take the next step toward clarity and impact, you're warmly invited to visit lifeleadshipconnected.com. And while you're there, grab your free copy of my brand new ebook, the "Identity to Impact Starter a Guide". It's full of practical reflections to help you reconnect with who you are and where you are going. of this is waiting for you at lifeleadshipconnected.com. Now back to the episode. Hello and welcome back to the Life and Leadership Connected podcast. And today I have a conversation with Michael Dillard. Michael, you talk about purpose not being a destination, but discipline. And I wonder what gives you meaning in the work you do today and what is your deeper why behind it all, behind what you do. Yeah, what gives me purpose and why I want to go back to discipline is this, is that I didn't show everything. When I was unemployed month one, month two, it was the discipline that allowed me to go from being unemployed on a Friday to becoming a US diplomat on a Monday. So what happened is that before I got laid off, I went back and I got my master's in accounting. Before I had my master's in accounting, I had my MBA in personal finance. Why? Why did the pivot, why did it change? Because I started feeling something inside me mentally and spiritually said, 'Michael, things change every day. How are you changing? How are you evolving? Technology is changing'. But at first I resisted it. I said, no, I'm good. I have my MBA in personal finance. I'm making good money. Then I call it the personal development bug, asked me, 'Michael, when you're driving down the street, do you still listen to music when you put in a cassette tape?' I said, no, no, no, no, I don't put cassette tape in. I put in a CD, that nice shiny CD to listen to music.'And when you watch a movie, do you put in a VHS tape or that big, big beta tape?' No, no, no, I'm listening on a DVD.'So Those tools and resources aren't around anymore'. Nope. I said, mm-hmm, time for me to invest in my mental capacity. It's time for me to go back and get my master's in accounting because I started to pivot and shape and tell myself, why not go work for headquarters where I'm in the corporate office, where I'm able to help shape how an organization accounts for its financial resources. That pivot, the discipline. To study on the weekends, study at night. Knowing that I was comfortable making good money is what shaped my entire life, not only for me, but for my family. And that's how I ended up getting the job to become a US diplomat because it required me to have a master's in accounting. Imagine had I not been disciplined enough to realize that You have to set goals. When you reach one goal, set another goal. You have to have the discipline to keep going when it gets tough. Keep going when people are doing other things. Don't worry about what other people are doing. Worry about what's on your plate. Worry about what's in front of you right now because I've lived it and I've seen others."Vision plus action equals success"."Vision plus action equals success". And I want to break it down because we're, let's focus on discipline. People want to lose weight every single day. People want to save money every single day. Here's what I tell people to do. Choose a goal or something that you want to accomplish. Now, research three other people who have achieved that same goal. For me, I want to run longer. I want to go from running 30 minutes to running an hour and a half. So I did a Google research. I searched how to increase my running time and distance. I watched YouTube videos from three different people. Then I settled on one program that I felt like that I can actually do for myself. And this is how discipline is created. You don't have to do what somebody else did. Do the one thing that you can do, the thing that you believe in. For some, if they're trying to lose weight, it might just eat 10 % less every single day, because you don't want to exercise. Bam. That is what's going to work for you. For others, it might be to walk an extra 30 minutes every single day, no matter what. But the point is choose something that you believe in that will allow you to commit to it, to have the discipline to do it when it's raining, to have the discipline to do it when you're tired, to have the discipline when your family's telling you, no, no, no, you can do it another time. Because Vision plus Action equals Success." Yeah, that's good. When you have a stairs, if you want to climb a stairs, you cannot jump, take 10 steps at a time. You just take one step. Exactly. And when we take one step today, next day another step, and finally you're at highest, up on the stairs. important to remember that every day. Yes it is. help achieving leaders and organizations build cultures of resilience and trust and reduce costly burnout. I wonder what are some of the first steps someone can take to reset or rebuild, especially if they have lost touch with their purpose? Yeah, the first one is bring me in. That's right. Bring Michael Dillard in. Let me work with two of your leaders, two of your team members, and you will have transformation within 90 days. If you can't bring me in, let's do a virtual call. Your culture will change. The environment will change. If you can't do that, watch this podcast and hit rewind because I've said it so many times the tools and resources to lead with the impact. You have to listen with empathy. Listen with empathy. Empower the right people. I hinted at it earlier. Empower people who are eight in motivation and eight in technical skills. I start with seven, but since it's not a workshop and a workshop, I can explain how you take somebody that's a seven in motivation and a seven in technical skills. But for the podcast, since it's not a workshop, let's just go with eight. Do that. You're going to save time. You're going to transform your organization. You're going to empower more people every single day. And now people are saying, well, Michael, what do I do about the people who are three in motivation and a three in technical proficiency? Give me a call or bring me in and I can help you out. I'll tell you exactly what to do. But no, you have to figure out, you know, what motivates those people, figure out what training programs are available to increase the technical proficiency. It's a proven system. All you have to do is implement it. and it will change everything around you. It'll change everything around the organization. HR leaders, listen up. Your leaders need a system that's proven. I'm gonna go back. I'm gonna actually explain a little bit more why it works. It works because imagine this. I worked in Dominican Republic, multicultural team whose culture is different than mine. The language was different than mine. Went on to work in Zambia. Another culture, another continent. We had success. Afghanistan, we're working in a war zone, but we're improving the culture. We're improving the resources that's available to the everyday citizens despite what's happening around them. I worked in the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa. So I'm talking from experience. I'm talking from things that I learned being in the rooms, working with people whose first language is not English. But I see these things work every single time. Every time I went, I was improving team morale. I was improving team productivity, but it wasn't about I. It was about we. It was about what can we do to become better? What can we do? that will make our office better. Okay, great, thank you. What would you say to a leader who is succeeding externally but silently burning out inside? Because I know many they compare themselves with other people and they measure success by what's happening outside, not inside. your solution be for that? I have two solutions for that situation. Number one is you have to realize that what's meant for you will come. Because a lot of times if you compare yourself to other people, you're going to get despair. You can get discouraged because here's something that you don't realize. Nepotism happens all the time. That person who's in that position, somebody helped them out. That person that's in that position. was in the right place at the right time. There was three vacancies. They looked around and they just promoted that person. At that point in time, that person had did a favor for somebody and they got promoted. So there's so many variables, but that's not your life. That's not your destination. So I always tell people is to, know, be realistic and realize that there are outside influences that you can't help. The other thing is always say that, like you said earlier, you you alluded to is you gotta take one step at a time. We all want the million dollar bank account. We all want the big mansion. We all want the fancy car, the fancy jewelry. We all want to go to five star restaurants every day. We all want to take the luxury vacations, but they all cost money and they cost time. And that's something that we just don't have enough of. So we have to reset our mindset and say, what's realistic? Because a lot of times you'll see there's people who have millions of dollars who are sad and empty on the inside. So what does that mean? It's not about the money. I heard a joke. It kind of went like this. There were two guys, they were at the dock and they were fishing.

One person said to the other guy: 51:43

"You know, if you got a better fishing rod, you catch more fish. And then if you catch more fish, then you can sell the fish. And then if you started selling the fish, you can have a big company and then you have employees working for you. Then all of a sudden you can take nice vacations and you can sit back and relax and enjoy your hard work and you can fish whenever you want." So the fisherman looked at the other

person and said: 52:11

"But that's exactly what I'm doing right now without all the problems and headache". Exactly. Yeah, that's good. tell about one practice that helps you stay anchored to your values and vision? What helps me stay anchored is that I create a vision. I tell myself, okay, what do I want to accomplish one year from now, three years from now, and five years from now? I break it up. And I'm realistic. I don't set a goal that I think is gonna happen in year one. There's really a five year goal. I said realistic goals. I give room for error. I give myself time to achieve those goals. For example, I shared that I want to increase my running distance by December 31st. I'm not gonna go from running 30 minutes today to running an hour and a half tomorrow. It's not realistic. I'm setting baby steps, realistic milestones that I need to meet that's not going to mess up my mental capacity, right? Because if I try and compare myself to somebody that's running an hour and a half and two hours already, I'm setting myself up for failure. I'm comparing myself with someone who's put in years of time and energy to get where they're at. And I just started. If I just started, if you just started, there's no way you can be at the same level as that other person. A lot of times we see successful people and we're like, wow, they became successful overnight. No, what you didn't see is when they had project number two, business number three, investment number five, when it didn't work, they kept going, but they learned from their mistakes. They took one step back and they reset and they took two steps forward. They lost again, take one step back. to learn, regroup, pivot, to take two steps forward. Now you see the new version of them. You see the person who has learned that, a minute, when I opened up my coffee shop, I mispriced my goods. So now that I have my second business. I didn't make that mistake again. You see the person who's working 60 hours a week, nonstop, waiting on that next promotion and it never comes. So they reset and they start focusing on time with their family. And then three months later you see them and like, wow, you look so, so energetic. You have a glow on you. What's changed? They have peace of mind that it's not always about the money. It's not always about the title. It's about life. Enjoy the moment. There's a saying I like to say is enjoy the moment, enjoy the day. Just pause. If you just enjoy that moment, that experience that you had with your child, enjoy the moment that you had with yourself, enjoy that achievement that you had, no matter how small, how big, then it's gonna give you the energy to enjoy the day. Thank you. Thank you Michael. You often say that it's not about how many times you fall, but how many times you get back up. So I wonder if you could speak directly to a young leader who's feeling overwhelmed or unsure, what would you want them to know today? I want them to know I've experienced it. I've faced setbacks. You're facing a setback right now, but no, it's not permanent. It's temporary. Go and look at some of the great leaders. Look at Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan didn't make his high school basketball team. He was cut, but now he has a billion dollar global industry. People are wearing his shoes. People are talking about him. Some people even say he's the greatest basketball player of all times. But imagine what would have happened to his legacy if he stopped when he got cut from the basketball team. Will we still be talking about him today? Do you realize Oprah Winfrey was let go from a TV station? She pivoted. She regrouped. She had a vision. She kept going. So the person who's down, realize that sometimes the door that's in front of you may be closed, but the door beside you is waiting on you to unlock it. It's waiting for you to get the key to open it up so that success will come. I truly believe that when you lock in with your vision and you use actionable steps that you know that you can do, don't try and do something that you can't do. I feel like a lot of times people fail when they over... Achieve their goals what I mean overachieve their goals when they over achieve in their mind that they can do something like Let's go back to the running analogy. I cannot run two hours today. I can't do it. I can't do it. It's unrealistic. So set realistic goals It goes back to Michael Jordan putting in lots of our practicing all these Olympians think about it. They train every single day for the opportunity to be on that podium to hold the medal so that you can see them with the medal. The medal signifies the hours that they worked when nobody was looking. The medal signifies the times when they lost the race, but they kept going. The medal signifies the coaches, the trainers, the resources that was poured into them to help them get to where they are at that point in time. Wow, yeah, thank you. That's so true, Michael. Thank you. That's really good. We are about to finish the podcast. And I'm really thankful for having had you as a guest and hearing you speak and share your wisdom. I wonder where can people connect with you, Michael, to learn more about your executive reset programs and dive into your books, for example. Yeah, all you have to do is go to Michael Dillard speaks dot com. Also, I know you're going to put in the show notes that the link tree, the link tree will have a link to all my resources. You can also Google Michael Dillard and you can look at the book on Amazon type Michael Dillard Accidental Success. It'll pull up the book that shows you the mindset, the tools and resources that I use to go from being unemployed on a Friday to becoming a U.S. diplomat on a Monday. For those who are looking to have a financial future, who want to retire with hundreds of thousand dollars in their accounts, all they have to do is buy the Bill Generation of Wealth Retire Early book. It's fictional. It's on Amazon. And then for those leaders who truly want to lead with impact, tell your HR people, send me an email, bring me in. I'm going to coach you for 90 days to help you listen, empower, adapt, and develop so that you can increase team morale. So the employee productivity goes up and we want to make sure that employee turnover goes down. That's something that people don't talk about employee turnover. We want to make sure it goes down. They can also, I know you're to put in the show notes link tree backslash. Michael Dillard has resources that's available to be able to connect with me, to be able to schedule that coaching call with me. Two of your listeners, the first two that reaches out, I'm going to coach them through the Lead with Impact framework as a gift to your listeners. Wow, thank you. That's a really great offer. So thank you, Mike, again, thank you again for being on the podcast and it has been pleasure to listen to you. yeah, now we have to, I wish you a good run after the podcast. Thank you, appreciate it. Okay viewers and listeners, thank you for being here today. I hope you've had found some key nuggets from this podcast listening to Michael and viewing him. Subscribe to the podcast so you don't miss when the next episode comes out. So thank you for the day and have a nice day now. Bye bye.