The Power of Mindset in High Performance Leadership

Jim Madrid, a resilience expert and mindset coach who overcame stage four cancer, shares insights on leadership, mindset, and creating a positive organizational culture in the vacation ownership industry. Discover how high performers leverage belief, vision, and contagious positivity to excel under pressure.

Voices of Vacation Ownership is part of CRTA, Furthering vacation ownership in Canada and throughout the world. Learn more about CRTA and the benefits of being a member here: https://canadianrta.org/#

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

This episode is brought to you by Hama Campai, the first vacation ownership project on the northern coast of Ecuador.

SPEAKER_01 0:12

This is Voices of Vacation Ownership, the only podcast where the vacation ownership industry's top executives speak openly about what's really driving the business forward. Hosted by Gay Tan Babin, president and CEO of the Canadian Resort and Travel Association. Each episode digs into the trends, challenges, and opportunities shaping our industry. One conversation at a time. Let's go.

SPEAKER_03 0:44

Hi everyone, my name is Gaitan Babin, and welcome to Voices of Vacation Ownership. Swear the podcast when we speak with uh leaders who are shaping the future of our industry. Now, each episode focuses on practical insight that helps us build stronger organizations, stronger teams, and ultimately better owner experiences. Today's guest is someone who has coached Fortune 500 executives, professionals, athletes in the NBA, NFL, and high-performing teams across the continent. Jim Madrid is a mindset coach, author, resilient expert, someone who has personally overcome extraordinary adversity, including two stage four cancer diagnosis with less than 1% survival odds. In an industry like ours, where high pressure, sales-driven, and service-intensive leadership mindset and team culture aren't soft skills, they're competitive advantages. And on that note, Jim, what a pleasure to have you on our podcast today and welcome.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

Thanks, Gateheim. Well, you've done great. I love it. Thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_03 1:56

Well, it's a pleasure. We've known each other for a long time, and it's uh I was really excited having you on uh on the podcast today, especially because of your expertise. Like you've coached uh top athletes, top executives. So, what separates the high performers when the pressure becomes high? What what differentiates the mindset?

SPEAKER_02 2:17

It's all mindset, you know, um and you know, belief in themselves of what's possible. And I think that's where everybody, you know, uh and at times uh, you know, even though I coach it uh and teach it and have been for the last 30-some years, it does and sorry, um, it comes down to what I believe is possible that I can make happen. And I think a lot of people, you know, have doubt, um, past experiences and so on. My job is to help them not go back in the past. I mean, that's more psychology, which psychology has been about for the last 60 years. But most of the time they know they're doing well, and same with organizations, they know they're doing well, but they know they could be doing better. And that's where I come in. And I apologize. Medication I'm on gives me that. I'm sorry, you guys.

SPEAKER_03 3:09

No, hey, you're you're here with me. This is great.

SPEAKER_02 3:11

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:12

Um let's get back to our industry, the vacation ownership. You know, uh leaders face a lot of rejections, sales, economic shifts, uh, staffing shortage, rising owner expectations. No, how should they think, how should leaders think about adversity differently?

SPEAKER_02 3:29

What it starts with is vision. Okay. And they have to be vision-driven because that's what drives them. And that's what where the question that you asked is how should they approach these things, right? Because if they don't have a strong, and that goes for all of us, if you don't have a strong vision, um, it's like I didn't go set to be cancer free. I goal set to be healthy. Cancer was in the way. So when I, you know, when you focus on the end result, the creativity starts to happen, right? And but you have to have that strong, strong um belief and that strong vision. And it can't, you can't be giving lip service to yourself. That's the word. You can give lip service to everybody else. But when you give lip service, and meaning you don't believe it, but it sounds good. And we've all seen that.

SPEAKER_03 4:23

Well, you've touched on something that um I know all touched us because we a lot of people in the industry love Jim Madrid for for everything that he is.

SPEAKER_02 4:31

Thank you.

SPEAKER_03 4:31

And when that cancer hits you, uh, I remember going to your place and we we had a we had a really good heart-to-heart talk. But what did that whole experience teach you that leaders you know in our industry could apply to themselves? Like what did that cancer journey that you've been on?

SPEAKER_02 4:48

Well, I tell you what, it's like I mean, you came down, you were on the east coast, weren't you at the time?

SPEAKER_03 4:53

I think I was on our property on the east coast. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 4:56

And you came all the way to Southern California.

SPEAKER_03 4:58

Jim Madrid. I had to go.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

Well, but there you go. I mean that gives me chills right now, right? That you did that. And that, but you guys believed in me. Um, like even Paul Matamo, you know, because that first conference after I was diagnosed was in Canada.

SPEAKER_03 5:19

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:20

And you know, when I showed up, you guys all noticed that, hey, there's something, something going on. Yeah. But what it taught me was is that you know, the work that I've done and that I've shared meant something to all of you. And to me, it was like that was pay value. I mean, that's the that's the that's the money ball, if you will, right? Um, that yeah, uh I you know, out to serve people. And I think if more leaders took that, yeah, we hear that servant leadership. But you if you really look at that, the leader's job is to help you get, you know, here's the organization, here's where we want to go. But what part can you play in that? And how can I help you play a bigger part? The number one thing that inspires people at work is being part of something bigger than themselves. And you guys rallied around me. My family, my friends, you guys all rallied around me. And it wasn't just that you showed up for that birthday party, you showed up in many places. I know you showed up in prayers for you guys for me. And I know that you pray, you know, for thoughts and sending energy. I mean, if you remember that party, if if everybody said the the response I got back, I even my brother said it, it's the most positive energy I've ever been around. And if we can create that inside an organization, hell, that's why people want to go to work. That's why, you know, people ask me, when are you gonna retire? I go, I retired 30 years ago. I'm having fun, you know. And so if you could approach your job that way and just think, how can I make that positive impact to the people uh that uh that work with me, not for me, but with me. And you can hear that in leadership. Oh, these people work for me. She works for me, he works for me. I've always said, my staff, they work with me to help me get to and achieve that vision.

SPEAKER_03 7:15

Absolutely. Well, just to make the record clear, I just showed up at your house because I knew you had a Steinway in the living room. That's right. That's where I went. No, seriously, it was a privilege being there. And you often say that mindset is contagious, you know, and I've heard smile is contagious, you know. But you you you're influenced by uh by your surroundings, and you always say that the mindset is so contagious that the leaders that uh apply a positive mindset, does it really influence their staff and their subordinates?

SPEAKER_02 7:48

Yeah, but you're always gonna have the people, you're always gonna have uh, you know, there's always one person in the group or several. And it could be in because now we're talking about culture.

SPEAKER_03 8:00

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 8:01

Okay. And you know, when I work with teams, we talk about a championship culture, okay? Then there's two types of people and two types of groups, either culture builders or culture destroyers. And so if you could be the leader that is has a that is looking to make that championship culture, um you know, uh Mike McDonald, the head coach for the Seattle uh Seahawks, this was his second year as a head coach. He's 38 years old. He created that culture, and you know, and it was just it was infectious. And when you have that, and look, he's a young man and he's got staff older than him, and you know, players are you know younger, say you know, younger than him, but he's he did that. So you brought that energy and that kind of positivity and optimism to you know to the culture, it's contagious. But you can't be fake about it, okay. You've gotta you've gotta really believe that that's the energy that you're putting out, is that kind of uh, you know, optimism and positivity. And come on, we we've been hearing positivity, hey, be positive, you know, and all that. And it's not simply looking through, you know, uh rose-colored glasses and looking at it, it's a more realistic approach to life. And I'd rather have that kind of outlook than a pessimistic. And Dr. Martin Seligman in his signature book, Learned Optimism, he did all the research between optimism and posit and um pessimism. And the re it's it's evidence-based. So it isn't just we're talking being positive, the research is there now.

SPEAKER_00 9:51

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SPEAKER_03 10:17

Well, in in our industry, as you know, leadership controls the outcome of all the way down through their teams and whatnot, but the end user, you know, our our our members, let's say, if if I want to call them, are impacted by the mindset of the team and what they're exposed to. So if there's steps, let's say imagine yourself as a leader of a sales organization, and you obviously you you have the best intent, you have a good product and whatnot, you you want to say, let's create a very, very positive environment versus a high pressure environment, which at times you see in sales centers. What kind of steps can a leader do to help his team, the frontline team? What kind of steps can he do to implement that culture of a positive environment and give the the option to people to buy versus being sold? Right. Give them the option to say slowly buy in their product.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

They bought from me. Well, first thing, hire me. Uh you know, that's good. Go on. It's cheap, it's cheap. Yeah, I mean, but but the thing about it is is that, okay, as you've already mentioned, you know, what I bring to the table, okay, but what if you could you know bottle that and bring that in? Because look, energy is everything. And it's like, okay, you come into a um home field advantage, right? Why? Why does that a home field because you have all your fans that are creating that positive energy and and supporting you, right? But you walk in, you know, I I was on the line for many, many years. I've been on those tables. I had four kids, I got bills to pay, I gotta make the sale, I have to, I have to make this. But if you can walk in and go, okay, I don't have to, I get to show these people around, I get to show them the benefits of what we have. I get to instead of I have to, that's a big deal right there, right? That's a that's a big switch. But if I can have make sure that you, them, and everybody else around is supporting me, look what happens.

SPEAKER_03 12:27

Well, sales, from my understanding, has always been uh sharing information of something you truly believe in. And one thing I've learned about our vacation ownerships from 30 years ago when I first started is I heard a person at the table say financially, if you want to save money, stay home is probably cheaper than buying a vacation club and whatnot. But if you take two exact families, same situation, same income, same job, same amount of kids, two boys, two girls, whatever it is, one decides to embark into a vacation club and commit to a vacation club, and one doesn't, the one thing guaranteed is this family will vacation and have experiences that others will never have. So anonymous uh sales presentation, if you want to use that format, will show people the lifestyle that's gonna happen that you go, but mistakes are done sometimes because you see the rah-rah-rah, let's go get him and whatnot. That's not really a positive mindset, is it?

SPEAKER_02 13:27

No, that's that's that's lip service, right? That's the that's the motivational stuff. And hey, we all need to be motivated, but I can't motivate you, and sales managers can't motivate people. I've got to have that internally. I I've got to be able to have that internally. I've got to come, you know. I will I I say this a lot in front of groups is um, how many of you are really not morning people? And some people actually raise their hands. Then don't go to work until noon. In fact, don't come around me until you've got a better attitude, right? Um, but you know, I'll give you an example of that. Um this is a few years ago, working at a uh at a at a property in um Mexico, and I was staying there for a few days, and I was in the uh the shuttle and I met this elderly couple, and um I asked them how they liked the resort, and they said they liked it, but this is our first time visiting, and the uh salespeople, salesperson told us that our first visit we get to use the presidential suite. Well, there is no presidential suite, okay? But people hear, the mind hears what it chooses to hear. The mind sees what it chooses to see. So, salespeople, you have to watch the words that you use. Okay. So I said to him, got to know them, then we went out to breakfast and the next day, and and he told me he had been just retired. He had 34 pharmacy, you know, uh pharmacies in the Midwest and sold all them. But what he was really proud of, his name was Bob, he had this barn. He used to go big game hunting in Safaris, and he'd bring the heads and you know, and schools will come in and take a look at it, and they bring their children in, and they're wow, they all get that, right? But he was there with his son-in-law and daughter and their two kids. Son-in-law and daughter, and the two kids are having the time of their life. So he said, Oh, yeah, this was an investment. And I said, Well, it is an investment. He goes, Yeah, he said I can get my return on my money and blah, blah, blah. And I go, well, then that was wrong. Yeah. Okay. But, you know, I'm looking out there, we're we're at the uh restaurant on the beach, right? And we're looking out and we're watching the kids in the water and having fun, and the daughter and son-in-law having the time. I go, so Bob, when you go and you're gonna go, you're gonna leave Bob's barn to them. I mean, when's the last time they decided to go into Bob's barn? And the wife goes, tell them, Jim, tell them. And so uh I went odd on that. Long story short, he went back in, bought 30 grand worth of more timeshare.

SPEAKER_03 16:07

It's a commitment the same as um a gym. If you're a member of a gym, there's likely you're gonna work out more than if you're not a member of a gym. You buy a bicycle, the odds of you go rent a bicycle, you can't go rent a bicycle if you need a bicycle. But if you have a bicycle in your garage, right, you can take the bicycle as a whole. Exactly. So, you know, you look at organizations that are really focused on giving members the the ultimate, ultimate value, ultimate vacation, ultimate experience. Then you see those that maybe make mistakes along those ways. And if you could identify, and it usually has to do with the mindset, it comes from the top, the leadership comes from the top. So what's the one big mistake that most leaders do that influence their team from 1910?

SPEAKER_02 16:53

I think it's you know, uh setting goals for the your team. Now that sounds weird. Okay. Because the data shows that the people that achieve their goals, yeah, and yeah, they that takes a while to do it, right? Um and they have to go through some stuff. And the reason why they're able to get through push through is because they have that mindset. They have that that end result mind, and it's bedded in their minds. Um we in the Catholic Church, when we go to church and the priest is gonna say the gospel according to Mark or Luther or whatever, and we make the sign of the cross on our forehead, on our lips, and on our heart. You know what that means? That the the the words of the gospel are is in my mind, it's on my lips, and it's in my heart and soul. That's how leaders should be with their vision. It's in their mind, it's on their lips, and it's in their heart and soul, mainly in their heart and soul. And if they can do that and they can portray that and be, you know, uh one of the things that we do with leadership is ask them to do uh some exercises in uh you know different situations, situational leadership. And we ask them to say, okay, here's what we're gonna do, blah, blah, blah, and this is the end result. And the one thing that's always missing is the vision. And if you can get more people locked on to what the vision is, then and it's not, and it's not a vision mission statement. That is so part you know, passe, right? I don't walk into the grocery store to buy a gallon of milk and say, wait, first off, I'd like to see your vision mission statement before I buy anything. And and how many times do the uh the employees walk through the back halls looking at the stopping at the vision mission statement and read it? No, they don't. But if I could say that, you as a leader can say it from your heart and soul, and you can talk to it all the time. Now I have a chance to say, okay, me as a staff member, salesperson, marketing person, whatever, I can now attach what I want to achieve personally and professionally to the organizational goals. And that's where the leader, speed of the leader, speed of the team.

SPEAKER_03 19:03

Well, you know, experiences um being in the industry as long as I know I've seen and have you've been. You wish the could the end consumer could see the interactions, the the passion that we're trying to do as a community to improve our product, to give consumer even better value, to give him better experiences. Is my my son and I, as an example, we're big F1 fans. And I remember seeing an interview one time with Lewis Hamilton, and I always thought this would be cool because I like driving fast cars and and that kind of thing. I've tried some go-karts, and my son might like to do that if possible. But he said, I wish people could experience what I experienced inside of F1, which I never will. But in the vacation ownership world, you can. And if people at and I think it's progressing, we're seeing a lot of positive things now that people are proud to say, I've committed my family to some great vacations. But your mindset as your positive uh output to to to the group of the people that are influencer into this business has been huge. And I'm sure everybody would really, really appreciate that are viewing this, your contribution to this. And if you have an issue into your property and you feel that it's lacking a little bit, you'd be a good source to go to. And I've read uh one of one of your books. You got a second one that's out right now. Why don't you mention that?

SPEAKER_02 20:31

Get over and get on with it. It was my first one, and then Meet Malls and Mindset, baby. Recipes for a positive life. Now I wrote this um because of what I've gone through in mindset. And and then the goal of this book was to have it uh people go through this and see what my story is and how I approached, you know, what I was going through and my mindset through it, and even the on the dark days, right? Um, if you can approach and apply this same to any kind of challenges or setbacks that anybody's experienced. Because we deal with life's everyday challenges every day.

SPEAKER_03 21:10

Well, your first book, Get On With It, I I loved it because we get sometimes so stuck, oh God, here we go. And uh Jesus, I gotta deal with this now. And this person's giving me get on with it.

SPEAKER_02 21:20

And I I love it, it's actually it's been by the way, by the way, every election, every four years, yeah, I post that up the day after the election. I don't care who got voted in. Get on. Get on it and get on with it. You know, it's like, come on.

SPEAKER_03 21:35

And here we thought in the industry that oh, now he's done a cookbook on the mead bones. No, it's not a cookbook.

SPEAKER_02 21:42

It's a cookbook for your brain. Now, how did I come up with the so I was writing a book before I got sick. I was writing a book based on all the um, you know, helping uh sports, um, the Seven Fundamentals of Mental Toughness program that I wrote years ago. And so I was writing a book called It's All About. Mindset. Then I got sick and sat back and started journaling, but it hit me with the mindset that I was approaching with, right? Look, stage four pancreatic cancer, take it as a death sentence or an opportunity to triumph. And I chose the latter. And now that took work. And so all that's in here. So there was a choice I got to make, right? And then as I got to writing this about a year and a half ago, you know, my friend that has a restaurant in Laguna Nigel, Angelina Bottega Angelina's up there on the hill. Beautiful Italian restaurant. So Filippo and I were sitting at the bar one time talking about our Italian, you know, heritage. How I grew up on the Italian side of my family, and he grew up and born in Naples, Italy. And we talked about the love, the compassion for food, for you know, sharing and so on. And then hit me about 1.30 in the morning, I went, that's it. I honestly got a gut up, went into my office and started going, okay, I've got to put all that together into the book. And then about a week or two later, I'm putting together, making some meatballs, and I go to the grocery store, I'm getting all the ingredients to make the perfect meatball. And as I was sitting there rolling them, right, like this, I'm going, that's it. I stopped, washed my hands while in the middle of making it and said, uh, meatballs and mindset, recipes for a positive life.

SPEAKER_03 23:22

Love it, love it. Well, I always get something talking to you, Jim. I just I feel energized. I feel great. And I just wish I had a little Jim Madrid beside me all the time.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

But we're working on that, by the way.

SPEAKER_03 23:33

We're working on that.

SPEAKER_02 23:34

We're working, we're working on that in an AI uh, you know, voice activated. We're working on that. That's coming. That's coming.

SPEAKER_03 23:41

Can't wait to see it. And I'm sure everybody out there has appreciated Jim's output. He's just one of the great leaders in our industry.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

So any final words, Jim, before we You know, Gaiton, uh you know, you and I hang around uh as what 15 years now or so. And you say, you know, you and I can get together any place in any kind of you know uh experience that we've had, uh whether it be here at GNX conferences or you know, on properties at Carta meetings and so on. Doesn't matter, golf, especially golf. Um, we create that, you know, you and I always, and you do that too. And and that's what attracts me to you, and that's what attracts me to you too. It's like we generate, and that's who I, you know, going through this whole thing, I just want to surround myself with those kind of people. I do not need, nor does anybody need drama in their life. And at some point, you just gotta make that cut if they just can't see it. It doesn't do you any good. So surround yourself with that positive energy, people that want to support you, and you can support them.

SPEAKER_03 24:46

Well, thank you so much, Jim. Thanks for having me. A real pleasure, as always, talking with you. And I'm sure everybody's got something out of this interview. Jim Madrid is just one of the greatest leaders in the industry. So thank you for watching. We look forward to our net podcast. Thanks for watching, and have a great, great travel life. Bye-bye. This episode is brought to you by Hama Campai, the first vacation ownership project on the northern coast of Ecuador.