buy-in Archives - Customer Experience Podcast

Nathan Jamail Notes Page

Nathan Jamail was given orders from his boss and like so many other leaders he tried to get his people to buy-in to the direction. But he learned that what every leader has been taught about buy-in was all wrong and he lost the trust of his people.

Nathan was born and raised in Texas. Nathan was the youngest of 3 boys and although his parents divorced when he was 12 years old his family is still very close. At the age of 46, Nathan will share with you that his family still spends most every Christmas together. His parents Sherry and Sid have been great role models for them showing them the power of “The love for family”.

As two very hard-working parents, Sid and Sherry also showed the kids the value of hard work and being proud of what you do no matter what you do. “Take Pride” has always been a belief of the family.

Although Nathan’s first job was at the age of 15, he says he started his sales career at the age of 12 selling snow cones in the park during his summer breaks.

Nathan kept following his dreams of growing his career. He went from electronics and retail to insurance sales and then Technology sales and then Leadership. Nathan went from a sales person selling the first digital beeper to a top director at Sprint wireless for over 9 years.

Nathan has spent the last two decades helping and coaching leaders and organizations on how to build winning cultures and helping great leaders become great coaches. He is the author of three best-selling books, The Leadership Playbook, The Sales Leaders Playbook and The Sales Professionals Playbook and is latest release is Serve Up Coach Down.

Nathan wants his legacy to be founded upon the impact he’s made on other’s lives through his work and his relationships. He wants to be someone his grandkids and great grand kids can be proud of.

Nathan Jamail is a Texan who lives in Southern California. He’s married to his lovely bride Shannon and they have 4 kids, 1 boy and 3 girls plus a brand new 2-month old Granddaughter.

Tweetable Quotes and Mentions

Listen to @nathanjamail to get over the hump on the @FastLeaderShow – Click to Tweet

“The leader in the middle is the follower and the leader on every action, decision or response.” – Click to Tweet

“You have to take direction and give direction simultaneously.” – Click to Tweet

“The real reason we don’t achieve greatness, isn’t because the lack of skills or attributes, it’s because of lack of discipline.” – Click to Tweet

“The knowledge gap is the gap between what we know we should do, based on what we are doing.” – Click to Tweet

“Anybody who is staying for money, is staying for the wrong reason.” – Click to Tweet

“Serving up is not sucking up.” – Click to Tweet

“Don’t ever decline someone’s help if they can help you, because you’re taking away their blessing.” – Click to Tweet

“The more we’re willing to develop, the more success and happiness we’ll have.” – Click to Tweet

“Being a leader in the middle and serving up and coaching down is difficult.” – Click to Tweet

“Be so humble, that you can be coached.” – Click to Tweet

“Be so confident, that you can serve.” – Click to Tweet

“A person’s job is to make your leaders look good.” – Click to Tweet

“We spend more time convincing those we pay that change is good than those that pay us.” – Click to Tweet

“It takes longer to convince the employees than the customers that change is good.” – Click to Tweet

“You should not get feedback if you can’t use it.” – Click to Tweet

“That’s why it takes us so long to get change in business, because we’re trying to get buy-in.” – Click to Tweet

“The number one thing holding all of us back is not anything else other than our own self-discipline and focus.” – Click to Tweet

Hump to Get Over

Advice for others

Be more humble to be a better coach and better leader.

Holding him back from being an even better leader

Discipline, the absolute drive to do what I need to everyday. Even the stuff you don’t want to do.

Best Leadership Advice

Your job is to make your boss look good.

Secret to Success

I love the job, the fight.

Best tools in business or life

My willingness to learn and listen. I take notes all the time and I always try to be the dumbness person in the room.

Contacting Nathan Jamail

Website: https://nathanjamail.com/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/nathanjamail

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/thesalesleadersplaybook/

Resources and Show Mentions

Call Center Coach

An Even Better Place to Work

Show Transcript:

[expand title=”Click to access edited transcript”]

212: Nathan Jamail: Buy-in almost ended my career

Intro: Welcome to the Fast Leader podcast, where we explore convenient yet effective shortcuts that will help you get ahead and move forward faster by becoming a better leader. And now here’s your host, customer and employee engagement expert and certified emotional intelligence practitioner, Jim Rembach.

Call center coach develops and unites the next generation of call center leaders. Through our e-learning and community individuals gain knowledge and skills in the six core competencies that is the blueprint that develops high-performing call center leaders. Successful supervisors do not just happen so go to callcentercoach.com to learn more about enrollment and download your copy of the Supervisor Success Path e-book now.

Jim Rembach: Okay, Fast Leader legion, today I’m excited because I have somebody on the show today who’s going to help, I would dare to say every single person who is in this particular spot. Nathan Jamail was born and raised in Texas. Nathan was the youngest of three boys and although his parents divorced when he was 12 years old his family is still very close. At the age of 46, Nathan will share with you that his family still spends most every Christmas together. His parents, Sherry and Sid, have been great role models for them showing them the power of the love for family. As two very hard-working parents, Sid and Shari, also showed the kids the value of hard work and being proud of it is something that’s important and that you want to do that no matter what you do. Take pride has always been a belief of the family. Although Nathan’s first job was at the age of 15, he says he started his sales career at the age of 12 selling snow cones in the park during his summer brakes.

Nathan kept following his dream of growing his career and he went from electronics and retail to insurance sales and then technology sales and then leadership. Nathan went from a salesperson selling the first digital beeper to a top director at Sprint Wireless for over nine years. Nathan has spent the last two decades helping and coaching leaders and organizations on how to build winning cultures and helping great leaders become great coaches. He is the author of three best-selling books, The Leadership Playbook, The Sales Leaders Playbook and The Sales Professionals Playbook and his latest release is Serve Up Coach Down. Nathan wants his legacy to be founded upon the impact he’s made on others’ lives through his work and his relationships. He wants to be someone his kids and grandkids and great-grandkids to be proud of. Nathan Jamail is a Texan who lives in Southern California. He’s married to his lovely bride Shannon and they have four kids, one boy, three girls plus a brand-new two month old granddaughter. Nathan Jamail, are you ready to help us get over the hump?

Nathan Jamail: Man I’m ready, let’s do this.

Jim Rembach: I’m glad you’re here. I’ve given my Legion a little bit about you but can you share what your current passion is so that we can get to know you a little better?

Nathan Jamail: Man, I’ll tell you, my passion for is—what I get to do every day is crazy that I get paid to do this job. I just came back from two city visits and I get to get on stage and work with groups, whether small or large, and I get to change–I know people always say, I’m not so big I want to change people’s lives. I don’t mean this as arrogance, what I mean is I want to be that guy, I think I changed people’s lives and so I give myself that value. And maybe it’s wrong. I think that’s what—let me go to this journey that I’m just loving and I get to do it with, as you mentioned my awesome family and some unbelievable people.

Jim Rembach: You know it’s interesting that you say that because I would dare to say that a lot of people have to probably embrace that feeling and not be ashamed or embarrassed or feel that it is arrogant. When you look at one of the core attributes that is necessary in order to really help people to succeed it is just that I mean is that. It’s that, hey, I want to do this. I want to help people. I want to serve up and coach down, quite frankly coach all-around.

Nathan Jamail: Yeah, and so I say that and I always like to tell people, listen, I don’t say that I’m going to change your lives because I’m not smart or powerful it’s that I want to be that significant to people. It’s not based off a need of self-worth as much as—it’s just so much fun.

Jim Rembach: It definitely is. I think for me, and it took me a while to figure it out I think you figured it out much sooner than I did, but I get significant joy from that. There are some points in the book, quite frankly, the individual chapters standalone as themselves I don’t think it isn’t necessarily a road map all the way through, however, I think they would help you on your road and where to step going through the book. I think it’s really important when you start talking about this leader in the middle thing because it’s easy to think that, oh, I’m a middle manager and that’s not what you’re talking about.

Nathan Jamail: In the book you talk about one of the most difficult leadership positions in business today is also one of the most common, the leader in the middle. Leading from the middle simply means that you lead a team, sometimes many teams are hundreds of people, and simultaneously reports someone as your boss. And then you say, how many people do you know who do not answer to anyone? Because it doesn’t matter where you are in an organizational structure or in an ecosystem for that matter I mean you’re always have to answer to answering to somebody, minimally it’s yourself.

Here’s the thing, so no one wants to be called the middle manager because it’s degrading and we think it’s low level managers. That’s why I use the leader in the middle because I was doing a bet and the president who reports to the CEO, he’s a leader in the middle even though he runs hundreds and thousands of employees. And so the problem with it is this, the leader in the middle, from the frontline manager to the president or even the CEO answer the board is the follower and the leader on every action decision or response. You are both, you have to take direction and give direction simultaneously. The mistake we have made in the past is we were taught to do it from two different perspectives and not only that the wrong perspectives. And so my challenge, as we talk about the leader in the middle, is it’s so hard because we don’t teach people how to balance. We’ve told them for years serve your people. What I say in this book is you should serve those who pay you and the way you serve your people is by making them better so you should coach them not entitle them.

Jim Rembach: I think you bring up some really important points. You kind of alluded to this—you talk about how did this happen in this particular issue you’re talking about? And you’re saying that the way that most leaders have been taught, train, condition, lead, serve and follow is not only misdirected but it’s hindered their path to greater success, innovation, creating cultures filled with stronger and happier employees. And so for me I often find, going back and reflecting, I’ve done it myself and I still do and I try to make sure that I don’t but I actually caused disservice so many times to other people. Just the other day I was having a parent-teacher conference with my wife about my youngest child and I said, what I’m seeing is that a lot of people have a problem with self-discipline, including me, and I think it all starts with a dis-serving. Like for example, we tell people, you can do and be anything you want. That isn’t really true. What we have to do is methodically go through a process by which we figure out strengths, we figure out opportunities, and we execute upon being able to get to our goals and becoming the things that we want to become.

Nathan Jamail: Well, add to your point, we can say, you can try to be anything you want and you can do all the work and you might succeed. If you have the right skill sets and you have the right—and you said it discipline, the problem with this is we don’t say you can try to be anything you want to be, we say you can be what you want to be. By the way, we say it as if discipline’s given and the real reason we don’t achieve greatness isn’t because of lack of skills or attributes it’s because of lack of discipline to your point. I always tell people –you read in the book there’s a section called the knowledge gap. And the knowledge gap is the gap between what we know we should do based on what we are doing what we know. The missing piece you mentioned is the discipline.

Jim Rembach: And that’s also when we talk about developing as a leader, it isn’t a situation that having the knowledge being transferred to us through either reading book, classroom, workshop, whatever. It isn’t that that actually assists us to be being successful down that pathway it’s the actual practice component we have to apply it we have to take action. I think that’s often talking about that self-discipline piece. You even talked about it the book—the skill versus the will thing—that we have to oftentimes get past.

Nathan Jamail: Yeah, a leader asked me, actually I was doing a workshop, and he says, Nathan, I got to tell you the one thing I struggle with his help, you seem to have a move people up or out kind of rapidly process I got a sense you’re in or out. And I said, yes but no. What I mean by that is I want people committed to either be in or out. As a leader our job when someone’s not performing instead of just constant letting them not perform like most leaders do. Because they’ve never been taught how to coach they’ve been taught to manage the way they were managed. I want you to grab that employee or that team member identify, is it they don’t have the skills or they don’t have the will. You can’t take the next step if you don’t know which one it is. If it’s a lack of skill then you as a leader have to identify, can you teach the team? Is this in their will-house? And do everything you can. If they can’t help them find a job that is in their will-house, they can’t thrive because everyone wants to thrive. If it’s a lack of will then you have to get them to make a decision. Are you willing to do this? Are you willing to commit? Because if you’re not let’s go find something you will be willing to do versus stay here and both of us just tread water. As a leader it’s detrimental to the organization.

Jim Rembach: It totally is. It sabotages that engagement of everybody else around. And you start talking about these issues associated with why do people leave for example, I always kind of chuckle when I hear people talk about, well it’s actually was the pay or I left for a greater opportunity. And I have to pause and say, well whatever made you come to that conclusion? Whatever made you decide that I am not getting paid enough for this or, hey well this is a better opportunity. It’s those things that has actually driven you. Oftentimes it’s I look at everybody else around me and I’m the only one carrying the weight. I see people getting away with things that I know I wouldn’t do or shouldn’t do. I’m not getting recognized for my work. I don’t feel valued. I’m not given the tools. It’s those things that are really driving the decision say, you’re just not paying me enough I’m out of here.

Nathan Jamail: It’s an easy excuse to leave without blaming someone and hurt someone’s feelings. It’s the same reason why I constantly work with leaders on my executive coaching never match an employee’s leaving salary and offer. If someone offers your employee—if they say, I’m leaving for money don’t you ever match it. Because you’ve said two things, one, I’m only going to pay you more if you make me which is not a good thing to be. Two, if someone wants to leave for truly growth opportunity, let them go let them be great. But ultimately you might find to your point it had nothing to do with money opportunity. You can say listen—and really dig into it and you’ll find that many times your point is it’s not usually money or opportunity.

Jim Rembach: There’s a lot of studies that have also proven that when that does occur, and it does in other words I paid them and they stayed, the amount of time or tenure and duration as far as them actually staying is not as long as you think it is.

Nathan Jamail: Anybody staying for just money it’s staying for the wrong reason.

Jim Rembach: Most definitely. And so in the book we talked about you cannot identify those that are serving up and I want to be clear, serving up is not sucking up. Sucking up is a manipulative behavior to mitigate once action. Serving up as a genuine sense that says, hey, you pay me and I want to do everything I can to make you proud and achieve the goals you give me. And you can’t serve up if you’re working for money alone, it’s impossible.

Nathan Jamail: That’s totally true. You bring up a really interesting point because I have had this conversation before because even as a youth I made the mistake when I talked about that sucking up, brown-nosing and things like that, I am like I am not going to be part of that. However, I didn’t take the aspect of serving and supporting and committing and all those things that are loyalty and trust based, I just said I’m not going to do it. And so because I chose not to do it well therefore I didn’t get the loyalty and I didn’t get the trust and all of those things back and I had to get over myself and it really take a different mindset approach.

We learn as we get older and more mature and I had some great mentors that helped me early in my life thank God. I don’t serve up and out and **people because I’m some noble person I’m not that good of a human. I do it for selfish reasons. I do it because it makes me feel valuable. I do it because I love doing it. It’s like, yeah, I did that. And in return I don’t feel bad for asking for help. Or hey, can you help me here? I had one person tell me a long time ago, don’t ever decline someone’s help if they can help you because you’re taking away their blessing you’re taking away their blessing. Your taking away what gives them value and purpose. Again I don’t look as some saint, I do it because I believe it’s what I get paid to do and the more I do it the more people will pay me and the more happiness we’ll have.

Jim Rembach: What you just described right there is the word grace and graciousness. You need to allow that to happen. You’re right, it’s a hard thing for some of us to actually accept but we’ve got again get over ourselves. You mentioned something about the back of the book there’s another part at the back of the book, which quite frankly I just love in a lot of different ways, you talk about the snowboarding story. Now I’m going to stir your thunder I’ll just let you share what that’s about.

Nathan Jamail: In the book I share a story about—my wife and I were going snowboarding with some friends of ours in Canada. And so we get ready to go and our friend of ours kind of young kind of taken the world by chards and a tough guy and he says, hey, you’re ready goes mount? I said, well we’re taking private lessons in the morning. He says, wait a minute I thought you ski two or three times a year and have done this for over ten years. I said, we do and we take a lesson every year, the beginning of the year. And he says, why? You know how to snowboard. I said, his name’s Nathan ironically, I said Nathan because you come here thinking you know everything and you never get better my goal is I know one thing no matter how good I am that kid who and I call them kickers cause their young men and women but that person who is 10 times better than me will make me better this year. And I’m safer and I have more fun and I’m constantly improving. I use that story as a reference to how we should be as leaders in business and people. I read how to be a good husband books. I read how to be a good father books. I’m always looking—I have a 22 year old son, a 16 year old daughter, an 8 year old daughter, and a 6 year old daughter and I’m telling you I’m pretty much the worst parent in the world but I try every year and every day to be a little bit better of a dad a little bit better of a husband and a little bit better of a leader. So it’s kind of like when I start my speeches I say don’t listen to what we discuss as in the mindset of, yep, I know that or yes I do that. I want you to listen with the mind says, okay, yes I do that. How can I use or how do I find—to be better at what I’m doing even though I’m really good at it? And that’s what the snowboard stories about, it’s that constant hunger, and almost humility and again I don’t want to represent some humble, nice guy but it’s the humility to say I can always get better and truly not just say it but do the discipline and the action to do it. The good news about being a c-minus student, five-foot-three athlete, a backup quarterback to the backup team, is I’ve always had all my life plenty of places to improve and I do it. I got to say I probably didn’t do it as purposefully as I do now. Since 1998 when a mentor of mine, who was my boss, walked in my office and said, Nathan Jamail, what books do you read? I said, I read magazines. He looked me in the eye and he says, hey kid, if you don’t learn to read and get better you will get past behind. And so that changed, I don’t know why I listened to him but it changed my entire development of life. So I tried to pass that on to others.

Jim Rembach: I think that’s a very great point. For me what I’ve tried to, talking about their mind set pieces, tried to tell myself that it’s really a duty. It’s a duty that I have to actually execute upon because I have, and I’m responsible for the development of three kids. I’m responsible for the development of those who report to me. I’m responsible for those who part of call center coach and part of our Academy and trying to develop frontline leaders. If you can look in the background I got books all over the darn place, my office—

Nathan Jamail: You look like a public library.

Jim Rembach: I may have to have a book sale, but I don’t want to let them go. The point being is that if I’m not invested you know in my continuous learning there’s no way that I can continually teach others, it’s just not going to happen.

Nathan Jamail: It’s interesting, everyone wants to know the secrets of the top performers, they’re really wealthy, they’re really successful, the super leaders of the world the top CEOs. When you tell them the greatest secret of the top CEO we won’t change. You take all the active skill sets away and everything they do whatever interest they’re in, there’s one thing top CEOs have in common, now if we realize this the average CEO makes 500 times the average employee. Oh My gosh! I can’t believe they make that much money. They should first of all. And why they do is nothing to do with what they do in the job, it’s what they do in the development. An average CEO reads 52 books a year. An average person buys one book a year and only half of those read it. It’s about that constant personal development. I always tell people listen, if you’re looking for the secret of what CEO’s do that you can do tomorrow, I don’t care if it’s books, audio books, classes, lectures, I don’t care what, but it’s the discipline to focus and grow as a person and a leader. And take that, and I found that the more we’re willing to develop the more success the more happiness we’ll have.

Jim Rembach: I think that right there is really kind of a little bit of the trick on the word fast leader in the Fast Leader show, is that it doesn’t come quick. It comes with doing the correct things and then I’ll be darned if what happens is all this velocity and all of these things start coming easier, you can’t shortcut it, it’s not the way that it works.

Nathan Jamail: When I wrote the Serve Up, Coach Down, I said, I don’t need to write another book to write a book. The three books I read every single year and they’re my staples are, How to win Friends and Influence People, Dale Carnegie, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill and The Four Agreements. Those three books are the books that I read every year. When I wrote, Serve up Coach Down I wanted a book that leaders wouldn’t just read and put away, I wanted that book that in 30 years from now people are doing what I’m doing, reading every year. Because being a leader in the middle and serving up and coaching down is difficult. What really made this book such a big deal for me, you probably felt this when you read, I tell people when you first read my book as you first read the first ten pages you’re going to shake your head no no no no no no, and then about 12 pages maybe okay maybe, and then you’ll get through you’re like, okay I’m in. I always tell people, read the beginning. And the reason why is—I’m telling you everything you’ve been told for the last 20 years is wrong. And we say we want to hear something new but when we hear something new than what we believe, our first emotion is to push away. And so that’s when I knew I had something that was the most common feedback I got. I don’t know if you felt that way as you read it but that’s the most common feedback I get.

Jim Rembach: Well, yeah, and I always tell people I’m a little bit backwards because I’m left handed and a lot of times I’ll go from the back of a book and then come to the front. So, for me I found the conclusion about the snowboarding first and I was like, ugh, ugh, I’ve got to talk about that. I would dare to say that I could definitely see how those things would happen people have that type of reaction. I will go back and try to read from that perspective so that it can open up even more in my mind. Okay, so, what we’re talking about here as far as managing in the middle, leading in the middle is we need a lot of inspiration in order to be able to that. And one of the things that we look at on the show are quotes in order to help give us some inspiration. Is there a quote or two that you like that you can share?

Nathan Jamail: I’ll give you a couple. One is, to be so humble that you could be coached and be so confident that you can serve. A person’s job is to make your leaders look good and when people hear that the first response is no it’s not that’s not my job my job is do my best I can. Let me rephrase the quote or let me rephrase the statement, do you want to be the person that your boss and your organization can count on? And they say yes. I said the same thing when I said that your job is to make your boss look good. One is self-serving in ego, I want to be the one my people can count on. The other one is selfless. I want to make my boss look good by doing the best job I can and exceeding expectations. So if people can live by those three simple quotes to be so humble that you could be coached, so confident you can serve, and understand my job is to make my boss look great, you’ll understand the umbrella that the serve up coach down mindset of a leader falls in. I don’t know if that helps or matches what you’re looking for.

Jim Rembach: I think that was perfect. Now I do have to say, and can we kind of touched on this a little bit ago, is that you didn’t come to all these conclusions at an early age and, I know I haven’t I’m still learning, but there’s homes that we’ve had to get over that kind of bring us to where we are. Is there a story that you can share with us to help us get over the hump?

Nathan Jamail: Yeah, okay, I got more mistakes than my six-year-old daughter spelling test. I mean tell people all the time there’s two things that all my knowledge and, if you want to call it wisdom where information I put my books comes from it comes from two places, great leaders and great people I learned from and everything I’ve done wrong and continue to do wrong. A story for you is this—I talked about the speed of change and the reason why we struggle. We’ve been talking about change management since change existed. The number one reason why we struggle with change management is because these organization, I’m going to say this slowly because it sounds confusing, is because as leaders in an organizations we spend more time convincing those we pay that change is good than those that pay us. It takes longer to convince the employees than the customers that change is good and the reason why because we’re taught on buying. Let me tell you my hard lesson on buying, I told you I get invoice buying as a young director in my career and so I was taught you ask everyone the situation and you get everyone’s feedback but I didn’t know that you shouldn’t not get feedback when you can’t use it. Sometimes in business you get marching orders and sometimes people want your insight, well

I got marching orders but I wanted to get my people to buy-in to the marching orders. So I got everyone’s feedback and they gave me all their feedback the only problem is none of it matched the marching orders. And so I go down and say, okay I’ve got all your feedback and we’re going to do this. You know what my employees took from that not that I got buy-in they said, yeah, Nathan doesn’t care he just gets our ideas and ignores it. What I learned about buy-in is two things, one, if you can’t use it don’t ask for it. If you can’t use don’t get buy-in by making it their idea get buy-in at least, Simonsen got a great book, The Why behind the Why.

Get buy-in by explaining that people while we’re going to do it and how we’re going to own the decision, not the making the decision, but we’re going to own the execution decision. I think the second piece of it is, is that let our people know before there ever is a question a change or anything else and direction, let our people know, listen I want you to work for an organization leader that you believe in, that you believe that I have you’re interest in mind and the leader’s organization know what’s going. Because sometime whether in the near future or later in the future there’s going to be a decision made it’s going to have a negative impact may be on us but (27:38 inaudible) believe in those that made the decision know what’s going on and our number one job is not to question why it happened we can ask why so we understand but not why to prove wrong and let’s be the ones to move the fastest forward. If you can have that mindset and explain that before you ever have this discussion that Nathan had to do and make a big mistake a buy-in you won’t have to ask for buy-in again because it’s inherent. I will tell you that almost ended my career as a director because I lost the trust and faith of my people and I didn’t just do it one time I did it three or four times.

Jim Rembach: I think that’s a great story. As you were talking as I started thinking about the formula to actually receive the buy-in if you want to talk about that as a ultimate goal is that the ingredients do not include BS anywhere.

Nathan Jamail: No, no, no. That’s why it takes us so long get change in business because we’re trying to get buy-in instead of saying, hey, guys here’s what we’re doing you might not see it but it is why. I tell people it’s not about blind faith it’s not about being a yes-man it’s about being in a place that you’re proud to wear the company name, organization name on your shirt and you work for a leader that you believe in. by the way, if you don’t have either one of those things you shouldn’t work there.

Jim Rembach: I think it’s a great point. I appreciate you sharing all of this knowledge and wisdom and the Fast Leader Legion wishes you the very best. Now before we move on let’s get a quick word from our sponsor.

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Okay, Fast Leader legion, it’s time for the Hump day Hoedown. Okay Nathan, the Hump day Hoedown is a part of our show where you give us good insights fast. So I’m going to ask you several questions and your job is to give us a robust yet rapid responses that are going to help us move onward and upward faster. Nathan Jamail, are you ready to hoedown?

Nathan Jamail: I’m ready to hoedown.

Jim Rembach: Alright. What do you think is holding you back from being an even better leader today?

Nathan Jamail: The absolute, and I’m pretty disciplined, the absolute constant drive to remember every single day do the stuff even the stuff you don’t want to do. I believe the number one thing holding me back and all of us back is not anything else other than our own self-discipline and focus.

Jim Rembach: What is the best leadership advice you have ever received?

Nathan Jamail: Your boss your job is to make your boss look good.

Jim Rembach: What is one of your secrets that you believe contributes to your success?

Nathan Jamail: I love my job. Every job I’ve ever had I love what I do. I don’t love the widgets I love the job—the fight.

Jim Rembach: What do you feel is one of your best tools that helps you lead in business or life?

Nathan Jamail: My best tool is my willingness to learn and listen. I take notes all the time and I always try to be the dumbest person in the room.

Jim Rembach: What would be one book that you’d recommend to our legion, it could be from any genre, and of course we’re going to put a to your book on show notes page as well?

Nathan Jamail: I would say my books are always the best. Think and Grow Rich is probably one of my favorite all-time books.

Jim Rembach: Okay, Fast Leader legion, you can find links to that and other bonus materials by going to fastleader.net/nathanjamail, Nathan, this is my last Hump Day Hoedown question, imagine you were given the opportunity go back to the age of 25. And you’ve been given the opportunity to take the knowledge and skills that you have now back with you but you can’t take everything back you can only choose one. So what skill or piece of knowledge would you take back with you and why?

Nathan Jamail: Humility. Because I think if I were taken back, if I had the humility today that I have today back then, I would have been a better coach I’d have been willing to learn and even take the things that I learned and implement them faster. I’d have been a little better leader a, better follower and ultimately a better person.

Jim Rembach: Nathan, it was an honor to spend time with you today can you please share with a Fast Leader Legion how they can connect with you?

Nathan Jamail: Yeah, www.nathanjamail.com, send us emails, subscribe to our newsletters, if you have any questions send it to us we will respond, Facebook and LinkedIn as well.

Jim Rembach: Nathan Jamail, thank you for sharing your knowledge and wisdom the Fast Leader legion honors you and thanks you for helping us get over the hump. Woot! Woot!

Thank you for joining me on the fast leader show today. For recaps, links from every show special offers and access to download and subscribe, if you haven’t already, head on over the fastleader.net so we can help you move onward and upward faster.

END OF AUDIO

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