The Leadership Secrets Behind Building Winning Teams | Kevin McCarthy, CEO of Unreal Snacks

The Leadership Secrets Behind Building Winning Teams | Kevin McCarthy, CEO of Unreal Snacks

What separates companies that scale from those that stall?

According to Kevin McCarthy, it isn't luck, funding, or even a great product. It's building a team of exceptional people, creating absolute clarity around the mission, and leading with humility instead of ego.

In this episode of Rockstar Talent, Rita Baroody sits down with Kevin McCarthy, CEO of Unreal Snacks and EY Entrepreneur of the Year winner, to discuss what it takes to build high-performing teams, hire transformational leaders, create a culture rooted in trust and accountability, and scale a mission-driven business without losing what made it successful in the first place. Kevin also shares the leadership lessons that helped simplify Unreal's business, accelerate growth, and inspire people to rally behind a common purpose. 

Whether you're a founder, executive, entrepreneur, hiring leader, or aspiring CEO, this conversation offers practical insights on leadership, hiring, company culture, business strategy, and building teams that thrive through every stage of growth.

In This Episode

• Why great companies are built by great people—not just great products

• How trust, clarity, and accountability create high-performing teams

• Why simplifying your business can unlock extraordinary growth

• The biggest leadership mistakes companies make while scaling

• How the best leaders inspire confidence while taking complete accountability

Memorable Quotes

"There's no substitute for great people when building a company, a culture, or a team." 

"You need to build trust with people. You need to be human with them." 

"Culture is everyone's job." 

"As a leader, you need to take accountability for everything your team does—or fails to do." 

About Rockstar Talent

Rockstar Talent features conversations with founders, CEOs, executives, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders who share how they built high-performing teams, created exceptional cultures, and achieved extraordinary results. Each episode uncovers the leadership lessons, talent strategies, and defining moments behind their success.

About the Host

Rita Baroody is the Founder of Selective Insight, executive recruiter, talent strategist, and author of Find Me a Rockstar. She helps organizations attract, hire, and retain exceptional talent while empowering leaders to build winning teams.

Follow Rita Baroody

For more insights on leadership, talent, hiring, executive leadership, AI, innovation, and building high-performing teams, connect with Rita on LinkedIn.

SelectiveInsight.com

Transcript

– How Great Leaders Build Winning Teams

SPEAKER_00 0:22

And cultivate a culture of excellence. Because in business, your greatest ROI will always come from your people. Welcome back to the Rockstar Talent podcast. Today's guest is a leader who knows how to scale a brand without losing its standards. He is EUI Entrepreneur of the Year winner and CEO of Unreal Snacks. Unreal didn't just enter the snacks space,

– Kevin McCarthy's Rockstar Leadership Moment

SPEAKER_00 0:47

it challenged the entire industry to rethink ingredients, transparency, and what BetterFor You should actually mean. Under Kevin's leadership, the brand has continued to scale while staying true to that mission. Today we're talking about leading at scale, building high-performing teams, and what it really takes to grow a mission-driven brand in a competitive market. Kevin, great to have you.

SPEAKER_01 1:11

So happy to be here. Thank you for having me. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 1:14

Amazing. Just wanted to let you know my family loves Unreal Snacks. We always have the coconut dark chocolate as well as the milk chocolate candy pieces.

SPEAKER_01 1:24

Amazing. That's awesome. Makes me happy to hear that. Thank you.

SPEAKER_00 1:28

Great. And let's let's get right into it.

SPEAKER_01 1:31

Cool.

SPEAKER_00 1:32

What has been your most rock star moment in your career? And what did you learn from it?

SPEAKER_01 1:39

I I always think the most uh rock star, influential, or biggest moment of my career has always been when really able to bring truly great people onto a team. And you know, looking back at my 10 plus years here at Unreal, the most important moments were uh when I knew we were trying to hire a key leader in the team after a long search. And uh you get to the end of that, you give an offer, maybe it doesn't work out, but you know, you find a way to like make it work, um, and you just know that like the future is way brighter because this person said yes. Um and I think learning from that, um, and that's happened you know a few times, fortunately, over you know, my time here at Unreal and my career. Um but uh you know learning from that is just like you there's no there's no substitute for great people when building a company, a culture, a team. Um and though those moments are just so, so important. And it takes a lot of leadership to be able to know the type of person you need on your team, uh, be able to identify and search through and say no to a lot of people, frankly, in order to find that you know those right people to be on your core team. So um it's been a you know pivotal lesson for me over the years.

SPEAKER_00 2:57

That's a great point that you make. No substitute for great people and a lot of transformation, it sounds like when bringing on the right leaders. What helped you attract, do you feel, that right talent into your organization?

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Yeah, um, I think uh just really getting to know the person and uh you know, obviously being informed by their resume or CV and their you know reference checks and backgrounds and everything, but like really getting to know who this, you know, that person is. Um and uh you know make sure that you know you both um your differences make each other better,

– Why Great People Change the Trajectory of a Business

SPEAKER_01 3:35

your similarities make each other better, um, and you have the right diversity of thought um in the in the full team. Um but be really clear about what you need on the team and uh you know what you're looking for in a certain role or leadership position. Um, and so have a have a healthy gut when you know interviewing people and getting to know them, but um making a first and foremost is values alignment to make sure that the human being that you know they are is is the right person that you know you need on your team and just in your life, um and then making that deep connection with them, uh, knowing that you're gonna go through a lot of stuff together, you know, ups and downs, left and rights, um, and you're gonna be standing with them your throat that whole time.

SPEAKER_00 4:15

Thanks, thanks for sharing that. So diversity, certainly having a clear vision of what impact they're going to make. And certainly it's not the easiest decision. Um, maybe if we can, if if it's okay with you, can we talk about one specific leadership role that you felt when you hired the right person, it really expedited success at Unreal?

SPEAKER_01 4:42

Yeah, there's been there's been a few that I can think of off the top of my my head here, um, really all within our leadership team. Um, and all at different points in the company and for different reasons. Um I'd say uh you know, the most recent one is our chief commercial officer, who we were introduced to. We were kind of thinking about how how best do we lead in growth uh the company for this kind of second mountain that we're climbing, you know, really trying to scale the business uh into places that you know we may not have done before, know how to speak about growth at a certain level. Um, and uh, you know, with Allison coming on as our chief commercial officer, has really galvanized a full growth strategy and building an organization underneath her uh in our commercial team and really just like clarified our growth path forward and has you know accelerated our growth as a company at scale, which is really difficult to do. She has been a tremendous asset to our team and as a leader, as an executor, as a manager, um, and for frankly helping me uh you know become better as a CEO. And it's just been transformative for you know the momentum that we've been able to galvanize uh with her.

SPEAKER_00 5:52

That's awesome. No, I'm happy to hear that. And and you did mention you have to be a certain type of leader to be able to attract that talent. What mindset do you believe is required for achieving success as a leader?

SPEAKER_01 6:05

I think um being being able to or being willing to uh throw your whole self into something, but not make it about yourself. Um, you know, as a as a leader, you're serving uh the mission or the business or others, um, and you're never serving yourself. Um that can be difficult for some people. I think, especially in today's media environment and social media environment. And there's nothing wrong with that, but I I think you know you need to uh make sure that you're you're relinquishing some of yourself to like serve the business in the if you're in a mission-based company, the mission itself. And that really drives like the holistic uh cohesiveness of the team uh for inspiring a path forward. Because you know, what you really need, it depends on the scale of a business. But for us, at least, like, you know, uh you need to inspire a team to be on a mission, to go solve a big problem in the world. Uh, you know, for us, our mission is to unjunk the world, which is like a really big mission. So you need to have a lot of inspiration to tackle that through uh you know, reinventing you know, confection. It's really you know being focused on that that that purpose of the company and your core values as a business or as a team uh and making it about you know what's what what you're what's connecting all of you uh move forward.

SPEAKER_00 7:24

That's awesome. And you're talking a lot about values and aligning values with talent that comes into the organization and really helps the mission. When building and growing Unreal, how do you know if the right culture is in place? And it seems like you've already taken foundational steps with values and the mission and making sure people are on board. But I'd love to hear more from you about that, how you know you have the right culture in place.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

I think you it it's not a binary thing. It's not a, you know, you have it or you don't. It's it's a constant um tension

– The Leadership Mindset Required to Scale

SPEAKER_01 8:00

of like moving in a good direction or moving away from a good direction, especially in a remote. I mean, we're an 80-person remote company. So it's really difficult to like, you know, you're not all in the same office in the same room, seeing interactions, interacting with people in different ways. Um so it's it's difficult to like really measure and know where where you are. Um, and I think we've done a really good job at that. Um, I always like to think about uh how can you have the private conversation match the public conversation of how you're doing and what you think of your job and your team and your work. Um and I always equate it to like if someone asks you, if I ask a team member, like, how's it going? And they're like, oh, it's great, you know, it's love it here and everything, but then they go to a 4th of July family gathering, it's like, this place is terrible, you know, I can't wait to get out of there. It's like how can we narrow those um discussions to be maybe not it's great on both of them, but like it could it make it okay to say like I'm struggling or this is wrong in both places, and and and make sure that that level of transparency and honesty um uh and in kind of reducing the wall of fear um is is present in the in the culture. Um but you know everyone has their own view of what our culture is, and that's that would that's that's great. Um and uh you know it's it's it's something that we do our best to really keep a pulse on as we continue to scale and grow.

SPEAKER_00 9:28

I love that. How having your team members really be open and not afraid to be open in a lot of environments they might not feel comfortable, right? Maybe just a quick follow-up question there. How do you make them comfortable? What is a tactic or tactics you've used to kind of really help that transparency on both sides?

SPEAKER_01 9:51

Yeah, you need to build trust with people, you need to be human with them, you need to let down your own guard to be able to connect with individuals in the right way. And you know you need to be able to trust them and they need to be able to trust you, and importantly, each other. Um, and again, that's difficult, especially in a remote environment where things are more technical and you know uh structured, um, but you need to inject a level of humanity above and beyond what you think is probably uh necessary for the good of the person, for the good of the team. Um, and also clarity, clarity in expectations, clarity in their role. And that can be that can be tricky, especially in probably messier, smaller, growing businesses or companies that like everything isn't clear. Um, but maybe that's the clarity that you need to give people so they can prepare and act accordingly. Um but you have to be doing your best. You know, when you bring someone onto a team, you have to do your absolute best to set them up for success.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

Yeah, I like that you said, hey, things aren't maybe always very clear, direct. And you just mentioning that it isn't clear, there's some ambiguity here can just help for them to even know.

– How to Build a Culture People Believe In

SPEAKER_00 11:05

That's clear communication. It's hey, this is what you're getting into. The job description says this, but doesn't mean it ends at this.

SPEAKER_01 11:12

Yes, absolutely. Yeah. And things are always changing. You know, I think the world's always changing, people are always changing, and you can't control you know everything, but being clear about how you see things and you know, um, the expectations around what is expected out of people, and that's where values come into play of like these are the behaviors that we will value, no matter if they're a competitive disadvantage to us, right? And like make sure those are concrete and honored.

SPEAKER_00 11:36

Yes. And I'm sure that helps with retention of your team members, the ability to stay clear with that communication.

SPEAKER_01 11:44

Yeah, yeah. Um, yeah, it definitely does. Um uh and you know, we're not perfect here. I don't want to make it sound like you know, we're we're we're perfect because we're we're not by you know by a long shot, but we try our best. And I think that's what um you know people at our team respect. Um, I hope they do. Um and we're all you know, culture is everyone's job. It's you know, I said at the top of the organization as a CEO, but like interactions between everyone and expectations that are inherently set or un you know, unwound between everyone, like they all impact culture and they all impact the productivity and experience of the team. And you need to be really, really on top of how that uh can snowball uh into you know a good thing or you know, hold you back in many ways.

SPEAKER_00 12:32

Yes. And Unreal has gone through a very high growth stage, a lot of momentum. During high growth stages of Unreal, how do you have a centralized way of communicating where everyone understands the path forward? How do you get people to kind of buy into, okay, this is our next growth stage. This is how we're you know doing business now. It's not like day one, day two, but how do you how do you go about doing that?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

Yeah, that was one of the evolutions we had, I think, with um we we I always thought about our first 10 years as a company was really focused on the first mountain, which was really proving product market fit and brand market fit. And then the second mountain was really trying to scale. Um, so we made a commitment to try to double our business in three years. And we made that very clear as like this is where we're going. And then as a leadership team, we built, you know, here's how we're gonna get there. Here, you know, here's what needs to be true in order for us to get there. And of course, here are the actions and expectations, and here's how those apply to you know the current year. Um, you know, that that was a really helpful process for our whole team to just get really clear. And if you asked anyone in our team, I hope, uh, you know, what are you trying to do? Like they could all you know at least remember we're trying to double our business in three years and get their energy around that. And you know, it's culture is also like, you know, language too. So like how much do you you speak through those goals and priorities and objectives and key results just to like continue to bring that up so that it continues to you know seek or you know, go into people's uh memory. Um it's it's all about clarity. You want everyone rowing in the same direction as much as you can uh and not rowing in you know separate uh energy vectors that you know cancel each other out, right? Uh and that that's really difficult, but um uh especially in high growth periods, but you know, we we do our best.

SPEAKER_00 14:24

Yes. No, that's great. That's great. And you mentioned the energy around a mission and and the goal. When someone is misaligned with the new goal and where the company is going, how do you identify that? And maybe give us an example without, of course, mentioning names and maybe the action steps that you took when you identified someone as misaligned.

SPEAKER_01 14:48

Yeah, I I would say that when we set that ambition a couple of years ago, you know, it was different for some people who had been here maybe for a bit, right? In a different way of acting, it seems a bit more structured. Having a high expectation is inherently a little bit scary because you're you're you're pushing yourself, right? You don't know um if you can achieve it. Um and collectively across the company, that can be really um you know detrimental. So it's communicating that goal, but then also showing people we and I know how we're gonna get there. And here's your role within that. And you know, with that, you know, we had to bring some people along to like see that, you know, hey, you have this role in this in this process. It's a really important role, and you can do it, and we're gonna be here to help you. It's not just like, here's what we need to go do, go figure it out. You know, we're gonna be, you know, not helping you, or I'm not gonna be helping. It's it's really like we are all in as a team, and you know, we gotta roll up our sleeves and and be inspired about this path forward.

SPEAKER_00 15:47

Awesome. Yeah, I love that. That you're giving them confidence in the process, um, not acknowledging that you're their support system too. And that automatically makes people feel better. Hey, well, Kevin's got my back, or you know, another leader has my back and they're gonna show me the right path. And of course, I'm here to execute. So I yeah, I love that. I love that. Great.

– Building Trust Through Transparency & Accountability

SPEAKER_00 16:10

Um, can you share a decision that completely transformed your business and those businesses or those customers that you help?

SPEAKER_01 16:18

I would say, you know, early on when I first assumed this role, I was on the team for a couple of years before the board asked me to run the business. Um, we were going in a bunch of different directions. Um, you were doing a lot of things, and we we weren't getting the value out of our uh actions that we probably should have. We were we weren't really focused. Um, we would say we were focused, but like we weren't focused. And we were a small team. Um, so when the board asked me to run the company as a CEO, uh, we simplified the business as much as we could. We we cut down the number of products or you know, SKUs that we had from I think it was 90 down to nine. Um we said no to a lot of things. Um we had to you know make sure we had the right people on the team and create the right culture, um, especially as a small uh company. Um and we focused on you know customer service to our retailers, uh to our distributors, and also um you know, focusing on getting our our product uh out into the world uh and leading with you know the our our brand. Some of that, you know, uh those changes were unsettling to people, but you know, it ultimately allowed us to focus on what really mattered, which was how well are we um operating, how efficient are we, where are we falling short, and really you know, give retailers uh and customers a a reason to believe in us that we could deliver on our promises. Uh and that that that really set us off in the right way to really focus on our main metrics versus like focusing on the main result metrics versus the actions we were taking. Uh and that that shifted our mindset in a really healthy way.

SPEAKER_00 17:54

Wow. Yeah, so simplification 90 SKUs to nine.

SPEAKER_01 17:58

For a very small company, yes. For a very small revenue company.

SPEAKER_00 18:02

That's amazing. To get a little bit uh controversial here, what's the biggest mistake that you feel most leaders make when building a winning team?

SPEAKER_01 18:16

I think getting getting comfortable um and not uh or getting complacent, uh, especially when you're winning. It's very easy to uh when you feel like things are good, things are uh you know going well with your team, your company, your business, to kind of take a uh, especially if they haven't been good going well for a while, like you tend to relax a little bit and maybe fall fall back. Um but I I think it's really important to always stay focused uh because just because something is going well now, like can guarantee you it won't be going well at some point. And it's either from your own mistakes uh or from uh competitive you know nature of you know people see you as a target to go after in whatever industry you're in, or you just you know lose uh focus on what really matters uh because there everything's just okay. And that level of uh uh self-scrutiny and just attention and like being on your front foot is really, really important. And that's hard to do. It's a lot of energy, right? It's a lot of focus, it's a lot of uh time. Um and uh but it it's if as long as you're in a position of leadership, uh you need to be that way.

SPEAKER_00 19:26

What areas of the business do you maybe on a consistent basis reassess? Are there certain areas that you're always looking at and saying, okay, we might have to pivot here? I would love to hear a little bit of that.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

I think it's always like about setting that high-level goal. What are the areas that you need to focus on and the actions you need to take? And what does success look like importantly in each one of those areas? And then if things aren't working, or if you know you're you're going off uh pace on a or achieving a metric, um it's always you know, reevaluating that, understanding you know, is the metric still viable? Is it still a priority? Um, and then or do we need to better resource this uh to achieve this uh this goal? And uh but you don't want to, I'd say you don't want to do that too much because you don't want to be constantly changing and like panicking because something may be off track. Um trying to remain calm, uh you're not overly excited, not overly you know, panicked, but just right in the middle there. Um because you're really flying a plane through turbulence, maybe. Um so just you know stay focused on what matters and try to give you know confidence and a vision for the team. So again, you are setting them up for success. And also look inward. What can you you as a leader do better to help solve the situation and achieve you know what you've believed you could achieve when you set a certain metric or goal for the team?

SPEAKER_00 20:51

Yes. Yes, and so def certainly success is tied to that that overall goal and and of course you have to look at metrics, but not overly um be in those details every on a on a regular basis, allow the team to kind of execute too and be able to to help. Great. And speaking about success, a little bit more controversial here. What's one lie about success that you wish people would stop believing?

SPEAKER_01 21:23

I think it's there's a there's a mindset of or a perception of like you either made it or you didn't. Um it's like um or through like uh you know awards or or anything, but it's it's it's not a world of like have and have nots when it comes to success and leadership and anything in life. It's like uh things are you know uh constantly changing. And you know, like it's it's it's it's interesting uh for me personally um you know to try to understand that. But uh it's like if you're always chasing success, then like You're always just chasing it versus really understanding what does that mean for you and as a whole person, as a whole human being. You know, what do you want your life to be about? How do you want to spend your time? Um, and I think a lot of probably successful business leaders are held up on a pedestal as far as like these are successful people. Um, but maybe in one aspect of their life, um, you know,

– Scaling a Business Without Losing Your Culture

SPEAKER_01 22:20

maybe not in the whole person sense, and that's okay if that's what they want, but making sure you're you're you're treating yourself and others as a whole person. Um, and uh and also recognize that you know those you know success points or areas of focus like are never set in stone, it's not a binary thing that you've made it or you didn't, you know, it's you're always just living your life every day.

SPEAKER_00 22:44

Right. And it's not only on the financial side.

SPEAKER_01 22:46

So exactly. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 22:48

How's your personal life look like? How's family life? And is there a good synergy there? Um, and speaking of that, I know you have a younger family, and it's your daughter's birthday today. Happy birthday to her. Thank you. Yeah, I'd love to hear how you've balanced everything. What's the synergy? How do you how do you be the CEO of Unreal, high growth, making sure you're attracting, retaining great talent, collaborating, setting great goals and making sure everyone's in alignment and then coming home and making sure everything's good there?

SPEAKER_01 23:24

Yeah, it's really difficult. Um, it's really difficult, and I I I think, but it's really rewarding. My my mantra is like try to be the same person in all aspects of life, um, but also be able to compartmentalize between each one. And I I think the my one of my goals for this year is really just to be be where I am, be focused, be present where I am. Uh, because there's so many things to do at any one time, you know, for family, for kids, for uh, you know, work, of course, for myself, whatever. Um, and there's like when you think about it in that way, it can really distract you and make you don't do anything, right? So it's really about being present with where you are, how you're showing up, and staying like as calm and as cool and collected as possible. So that you're trying to be your best self uh in every every spot. But it's it's really difficult. And I'm I'm okay at it. I try my best. Um but it's um it's it's a challenge, uh, but it's really rewarding. Um, and I guess one thing to say as well is like there's not really a work-life balance for me. It's kind of one big mash of things, um, which is you know, it's challenging, of course. Um, but uh that's just like what's required. And you know, when you sign up for a job to run a business that's scaling quickly, and um you need to one love the the mission and brand and be again all in, um, but not about yourself. Um, but also like figure out how how do your family life and different focuses, you know, intertwine with that, with that company focus. And that's really difficult to do, but um, it's really rewarding to be able to again think about all aspects of success as you know, I want to uh be and make sure all of those, you know, glassers, glasses are as full as possible.

SPEAKER_00 25:12

That's awesome. Great. And I know it seems like you do have a pretty great demeanor about life and how to kind of have a good synergy. Are there certain action steps you take to stay in that nice neutral zone instead of going up and down? You know, it could be emotional at times with um growth in the business, but you know, at home, how do you what do you do for you to help with that?

SPEAKER_01 25:40

Yeah, uh it's changed a lot over the years, I would say. Um, but now that you know we have two kids, a three-year-old son and a one-year-old daughter, um, it's it's I I always make sure that I can do my best to have some some perspective time, right? Um, and sometimes that's like if you're in a difficult situation, you know, at work um or receive a difficult message, and then you go downstairs and see you know our daughter eating pasta, it's like, oh, like puts it in perspective really quickly. Or, you know, uh if if there's a you know good situation uh at work, let's say, uh, and then you come in and like you know, someone's sick, or you know, our kid is you know not not or you know, say our son like maybe is sick or you know is in a great place, like okay, like it you can't you can't be like way up high and then way down low, and you just need to try to just always you know be where you are and and try to be as even keeled as possible. Um, but I think being able to break away and just get in your own mindset uh that you know is reflective and kind of puts things properly into order and let the dust settle around, especially some things that may seem you know high anxiety producing or very stressful. Just try to take a step back and see you know where does that fall uh in importance and urgency, uh, true risk, uh, and how does it all stack up in your whole you know, whole person um rank of things to focus on, which is really difficult. Again, I'm I'm saying a lot of these things as if like I do them uh well, but you know, it's it's always a it's a it's a struggle.

SPEAKER_00 27:17

Yes, yes. Well, I appreciate you sharing that and being honest about that. That hey, it's not every day that maybe you bet you have a the best synergy or reaction to something, um, but you're always mindful of how you're reacting, it seems like. And that mindfulness helps with a good balance in general.

SPEAKER_01 27:42

I would say I think it's I I'm saying it as if I'm doing all of this myself. I would be remiss to mention like having the right people outside of work in your network, right? So that you can have people, friends, partners, um, to to be able to say something and just hear a total outside perspective on it that maybe is just super clear and also like maybe diminish not diminishes, but reduces the importance that you see about it and puts it in a more rational way. I think that's so important just to get outside of yourself and having the right group and ecosystem uh uh to bounce things off of and just get like other people's perspective. So you're not just inside your own mind all the time.

SPEAKER_00 28:24

Yeah, that's awesome. Like removing your own bias, getting another perspective and helping you kind of make the best decision on certain things. And that's awesome. I I love that you shared that. Okay, as we wrap up this episode, I'd love to hear maybe one great piece of advice that you you can give to aspiring leaders, uh, maybe having a dream to be a CEO or those that are CEOs and you know, they might be struggling, you know, they're feeling a very challenged in their role. What's one piece of advice you would give them?

SPEAKER_01 29:02

One piece of advice I would give is uh to always have confidence and conviction about yourself. Never be arrogant about that confidence or conviction, never go overboard with it. Always recognize where you know you you you need to maybe work on yourself a bit or look inward. Um, you know, I think some people conflate confidence and conviction with uh you know not having accountability for things, right? Um so you have to be real about you know who you are, um, the confidence in yourself, your abilities, and like those are often, you know, uh people can do a lot more maybe than they can think, and that's that's amazing.

– Why Simplicity Accelerates Growth

SPEAKER_01 29:45

Um, but also as a leader, you need to take accountability for everything that you and your team fail to do or do. And like that's it. You can't be pointing fingers. Even if something is like uncontrollable, like sorry, like it's your fault, you know. And I think that's that's a very humbling experience for people and really difficult to internalize. Um, but as soon as you have that mindset of like, you know, you're responsible for everything you do or fail to do as a team, it puts you in a place of accountability, but also like confidence and conviction in yourself. And uh that's a uh you know a lesson that was um you know taught to me a while back in different ways. Um and it it puts you in the driver's seat for things. Um and that's ultimately what you do when you sign up for a role of of leadership in a team.

SPEAKER_00 30:32

Yeah, no, I love that you shared that. And without confidence and conviction, how can you influence your team to get on board to the mission and the goals? And that's great. I I love that piece of advice. I mean, that's great for anyone, not even only a CEO. I I love that you shared that. And yeah, it was a pleasure having you, Kevin. I really enjoyed our conversation. And I look forward to also seeing you again sometime soon.

SPEAKER_01 30:58

Likewise, thank you. I appreciate it.

SPEAKER_00 31:01

Thanks for tuning in to Rockstar Talent. I'm Rita Beruti, co founder of Selective Insight and author of Find Me a Rockstar. If this episode helped you think differently about building high performing teams, follow the show and share it with a leader who values excellence because the companies that win are the ones built on Rockstar talent.