Episode 1388: Interview with Brent Pohlman About His Book Leaders Look Within

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1, 388 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:07] Brent Pohlman: I'm Brent Pohlman. I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, talent, And your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to dig deep and understand what's in your heart is key.

[00:00:24] And one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this, the inspired stewardship podcast with my friend, Scott

[00:00:33] Maderer.

[00:00:40] Yeah.

[00:00:40] My why and my how I always say it together. I'm a person of faith who coaches people up and leads from the heart. And I have to say that every single day and it gets me excited every single day. Because I want to bring my A game. As a coach, you've got to be prepared for the game that's ahead every single day, what's happening.

[00:00:58] And you want to [00:01:00] coach people that went up. You want to see the best in people.

[00:01:03] Scott Maderer: Welcome and thank you for joining us on the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. If you truly desire to become the person who God wants you to be then you must learn to use your time, your talent, and your treasures for your true calling.

[00:01:17] In the Inspired Stewardship Podcast, you will learn to invest in yourself, invest in others, and develop your influence so that you can impact the world.

[00:01:34] In today's podcast episode, I interview Brent Pullman. I asked Brent about his journey to not only being a heart led leader, but teaching others how to do the same. I also asked Brent about how his faith has informed his leadership and Brent also shares with you how important it is to make a change in your leadership if you find yourself focusing on reaction instead of relationship.

[00:01:57] I've got a new book coming out [00:02:00] called Inspired Living, Assembling the Puzzle of Your Call by Mastering Your Time, Your Talent, and Your Treasures. You can find out more about it and sign up for getting more information over at inspiredstewardship. com. Inspired Living. That's InspiredStewardship. com Inspired Living.

[00:02:21] Brent Pullman is the owner and CEO of Midwest Laboratories. He strives to bring his A game to work daily. At 15, Brent landed his first job at Midwest Laboratories, the company his father founded in 1975. He became the CEO in 2016 and is passionate about teaching others to lead effectively. As a person of faith, he coaches people up, leads from the heart, and has achieved success by focusing on people, processes, and technology.

[00:02:50] In that order. Grateful to build on his father's legacy, Brent aspired to be a leader and owner of a great company. His transformation has convinced [00:03:00] him that leaders must look deeper within themselves to find their true identities. He believes the only way to lead is from the heart, and is passionate about helping others learn how to lead others effectively.

[00:03:11] He is also the author of Leaders Look Within. Own your heart to live a life of gratitude. Working out and reading are among Brent's hobbies, and he also enjoys attending Kansas City Chiefs games and live concerts by artists from the 70s, 80s, and 90s. Brent and his family live in Omaha, Nebraska. Welcome to the show, Brent.

[00:03:30] Brent Pohlman: Thanks, Scott. I can't wait to get into this discussion.

[00:03:34] Scott Maderer: You've put this book out there, we talked about it And you've got a podcast. You do a lot of different work out there in this field. And then, of course, you're a business owner CEO yourself on top of that. I always love the people that I run to that.

[00:03:50] It's here's my third full time job. Kind of thing. And yet I shared the intro and I always laugh and tell people our intros are always like the [00:04:00] Instagram photos of our life. We highlight all the great stuff, but we believe out some of the detail a lot of times that dirty clothes is a little out of frame.

[00:04:08] So talk a little bit about your journey and what caused you to want to write this book about leaders and leadership and put it out into the world. Yeah.

[00:04:18] Brent Pohlman: As I thought about this who is this arrogant guy who thinks he knows anything about leadership? And that was really, we have that kind of feelings about ourselves. And then I really thought about it is, I don't know about you, but I have so many management books, leadership books on my shelves, and I've never found the really the one that really spoke to me. And then as I dug into that, I started writing my own book.

[00:04:45] I think my whole purpose and goal was, hey. Leadership is really personal. You got to find it yourself. And I think that message as I was writing the book was my book is like a work in process. It was the last five years coming together and I was [00:05:00] working through things as I was writing the book.

[00:05:02] And I think that's how more and more of us are. It's not about some 10 steps to be an effective leader or you follow this all the way through and you're going to be a successful leader. It's everything. It's your it's your whole mantra. It's everything about you and you got to find it. And I think that was very powerful for me.

[00:05:21] And so that was really the purpose in writing the book was just giving that message to people so they can find it themselves because I don't have the answers. I'm still working through it. I'm still every single day learning more. And I think that's what it's all about to be an effective leader.

[00:05:37] Scott Maderer: So that's interesting because one of the things that I've put out. In the podcast before, and I've talked about before myself and I've got a book coming out later this year that, that recognizes this as well is that idea of leaning into the journey, as opposed to thinking about the destination, and it sounds like you're talking about the same thing[00:06:00] in leadership is.

[00:06:03] It's not looking up and going, I have arrived. I'm a leader. It's I'm on a journey towards leadership and maybe I'm a little better today than I was yesterday, but I probably haven't gotten there yet. Is that kind of what you're talking about?

[00:06:14] Brent Pohlman: Absolutely. I remember the day when my dad his two other partners was retired and it was he and we were, that was it.

[00:06:23] We had to leave this company and it was it was a little terrifying and it was a little bit. Hey, I know my dad started this company. He's really the person in charge, but how do we do this transition? How do we take over? How do we work together? All these things coming together. There's really no book on that.

[00:06:42] You have to find it. And again work together to see what's going to work and what's not going to work. And I would say the first three or four years, there was a lot of learning, a lot of tension a lot of good things, but also it was just a lot at that time. And yeah, it's, it [00:07:00] was.

[00:07:00] I don't remember. There's no class. There's no book getting prepared for that. There just isn't. You're in it and then you just got to figure it out. So

[00:07:08] Scott Maderer: did you have any particular stories or kind of events in that transition that were some of the triggers for you to start thinking about this?

[00:07:17] Brent Pohlman: And I did because, I really saw, I really wanted to build on my father's legacy and he had a way of seeing things. He kept a lean, he drew, grew a lean, a mean business. Didn't want to have too many employees, really watched costs, very profitable. And I had I had the goals as I want to grow this organization. I want to have, I want to grow the value.

[00:07:41] He did not want to grow the value because All he saw was taxes on that, and so it's two different philosophies coming together. And again, you have to work through that. And I think for me, it was going in the past. I'm not one who likes to go in the past, but I had to really see, okay, how did we get here?

[00:07:59] [00:08:00] And this is how my dad did things. I see why it works then. Does that still work today? And that's, those are the questions you have to wrestle with and really come together. I'm again, I've got one that I don't like going into my past, but you have to do that at some point and understand why things happen for a reason.

[00:08:17] And then you can build on that. And then it's not a right or wrong. It's understanding and then

[00:08:22] Scott Maderer: building on that, right? And leaning into the what lessons do I need to learn from this and what. And what lessons do I need to not learn from this or leave behind too, because there's always a little bit of both, I think, with the show, we talk a lot about faith as well how did your faith journey intersect with this business journey that you're going on and what and what you're putting out in the book?

[00:08:52] Yeah.

[00:08:53] Brent Pohlman: It really happened. Unfortunately when my mother passed away from cancer and [00:09:00] I know she was, she has like hundreds of journals and my sister and I are going through those now and she prayed for all, for our family, for friends, and she would even write these prayers were answered.

[00:09:12] It's just amazing though, to go back and look at those things. But I will never forget when she died. I said I want to be more intentional about my faith. I just made that statement. I said it in a prayer and I had no idea what I was asking. I had no idea what I was even saying. And I think that was my start of my journey of transformation was intentionality.

[00:09:34] I need to be more intentional. And again, through faith, that was growing again spiritually getting a better understanding. Of God and what his purpose. And then myself, I needed to understand myself so much better than what I was. I was not on a, I was not a good journey with myself. I was very reactive.

[00:09:55] I was not taking care of myself and I needed to be more intentional about who I was. [00:10:00] And that's where I really discovered my why. And that's where I really things again, started to really pick up in that transformation really started to happen

[00:10:11] Scott Maderer: If you don't mind what is your why?

[00:10:14] Brent Pohlman: Yeah, my why and my how I always say it together.

[00:10:18] I'm a person of faith who coaches people up and leads from the heart and I have to say that every single day and it gets me excited every single day because I want to bring my a game as a coach. You got to be prepared for the game. That's had every single day. What's happening and you want to coach people went up.

[00:10:35] You want to see the best of people and. It's really just spoke to my, and leading from the heart, that's the only way you could do it. You have to have strong core values and again, protect yourself, protect your heart. Your heart's, I think your most vital organ, and you really need to protect that. So all those three, all those things coming together was really who I was.

[00:10:55] And it took me a while to get there. I thought I had a strong why before that. But I never [00:11:00] said it. It would change all the time. Now. It's purpose driven. This is who I am. This is where I get up every single day,

[00:11:09] Scott Maderer: And I think again, back to that destination journey kind of conversation we had before.

[00:11:14] I think our wise do sometimes evolve. over time. And again, that's not a right or wrong. That's not a, Oh, you had a bad Y before and now you have a good one. It's just cause our lives change and our outlooks change and our learnings change. So of course our

[00:11:28] Brent Pohlman: Y changes. Yeah. I have a funny story about that is where we're leading a conference and our flight got changed from Austin to Dallas.

[00:11:37] So we're on a. Two and a half, three hour Uber ride and the person I work with, Dana, she kept asking me, what's your why, and in three hours I could not tell her. I had no why. She kept pressing me and I said, I don't know what it is. I was just, and she would hold me to it and she says, that doesn't sound like you.

[00:11:56] That doesn't sound like you. That doesn't. And I think that was my wake up [00:12:00] call was like, I did not have a strong why at that time and three hours into a conversation and I still couldn't figure it out. So that's really what I had to really work on. And and she was right. Without that there was no direction.

[00:12:12] There was no vision. So I really thank her for really putting that in front of me to really find that.

[00:12:20] Scott Maderer: And as a Texas native who's made that drive from Austin to Dallas, there's not much else to do other than talk. It's a pretty long, it's a pretty long drive on, on, on pretty much just either sitting in traffic or barreling along the highway.

[00:12:34] That's pretty much what you're doing.

[00:12:36] Brent Pohlman: Yeah. That was the longest Uber ride I've ever been on. So yeah.

[00:12:40] Scott Maderer: So for those folks that aren't, haven't made that drive, I can attest to the fact that is a bit of a drive from Austin to Dallas. So you talk a lot about leadership and being personal and you just mentioned it that why and making it something that was your personal meaning and what you mean [00:13:00] by it.

[00:13:01] Why do you talk about leadership being personal? What does that mean when you talk to a leader about it being personal?

[00:13:07] Brent Pohlman: I, and I think it was more about growing an awareness. I think my awareness was really low. I don't think I really care. I couldn't sense you hear these people say they can feel the energy in the room.

[00:13:19] I thought that was all like, yeah, fuzzy stuff, but there's a truth to it. Once you really grow your awareness, you can start to see, and have better conversations and stronger relationships. I think of about a meeting you have somebody who will say something really off and you're like, my initial reaction and used to be would be totally reactive.

[00:13:43] Where's that coming from? What are you saying? What's going on? Versus if you just take a step back and think, okay, something's off here. This is not normal behavior from this person. And then you go back and you find out maybe it's something, a situation at home. Maybe it's something personal, maybe person's just [00:14:00] not feeling well, or just not having a great day.

[00:14:02] And then you can get their best self at some point and you don't get tied up into what's happening right away or right now. And then by being reactive, you don't, you just totally miss that and you don't even go back and you don't try to understand. So I think. I think growing an awareness is really the key there to effective leadership.

[00:14:23] Scott Maderer: I talk a lot about as a coach one of the frames that I try to have is one of curiosity. And it sounds like you're talking again about a similar thing where it's not assuming. This person's an idiot. Why'd they say that? It's but instead getting curious in a good way of asking wait, there's got to be something else here.

[00:14:45] What is it? What, what's going on? What's behind that statement or that question or that behavior?

[00:14:52] Brent Pohlman: And the other one too, and I think from my father having a small operation, he knew everybody's name. He knew everybody's story [00:15:00] and now from going from 120 people to a 300, I don't know everybody's name, but I'm trying to learn more and more the employees names.

[00:15:08] And when you can tell, call someone by their name, people stop. They want to hear their name. And I think that's another personalization piece that really has stuck with me. I think of. Yeah. a lot of my life. I don't think I ever heard my name mentioned in a in a meeting or anything. It's, Hey you, what do you think?

[00:15:26] What do you think? But when you use someone's name you, they, we all are attuned to our own name and we hear it and then we stop and it personalizes conversation. It shows that we care. We're actually taking time, just a little bit of time to stop and really care about what we're saying or what we're listening to.

[00:15:45] Scott Maderer: And in the book too, you talk a lot, and you've mentioned it already today about reactive leadership versus relational ship leadership, which is what you're talking about now. And I want to dig in, not just to what is a relational leader but you just [00:16:00] talked about a big challenge that you have as you grow or as you scale or you go from.

[00:16:06] 15 to 50 from 50 to 500. It's a different kind of thing. So as a leader, how do you focus on being a relational leader, even though there may be that challenge of size and scale and numbers and that kind of thing?

[00:16:22] Brent Pohlman: I really think it's about even when you're passing people in the hallway. Just stopping to say hi or how are you?

[00:16:31] What's just those little pieces. I remember being fearful of being seen with the CEO. I didn't want to be around the CEO of a corporation or be called into his office. That always meant something bad. But I think here, when you just take the time, whoever whoever it is, it's just, and you don't even have to talk work.

[00:16:51] You're just showing that you, again, there's just a personal. Personalization there that you care that Hey. How are things? [00:17:00] How's your family? How's your kids? There's more to life than just work all the time. And I say that, but if you can get, if we can get our people to bring our best selves and know that they're, they feel safe when they come to work and they know that they can the income that they make and pursue, they can pursue their own dreams.

[00:17:21] They can support their families. There's a little There's a bond there. And I think it's really that growing that bond and that strength, but it takes time. You got to take investment. You got to care. You could spend your whole day. I could spend my whole day in the office, closed doors and, or work from home and never see anybody.

[00:17:39] I just think that's wrong. I think you need to, people need to see you and people need to know that you do care that you basically are there and they can see you. There's a, there's. There is that piece, I think, to having a healthy work work culture and growing in relationships.

[00:17:58] Scott Maderer: I know too, for me, even [00:18:00] when I was in, in leadership in a corporate position I actually had to learn to be careful of what my face looked like, even like when I was going to the bath running down the hall to go to the restroom because I actually am thinking about something.

[00:18:14] So my face looks a certain way. It has nothing to do with anything. And then pretty soon there's a rumor that there's about to be layoffs and it's wait, where did that come from? And it's you were frowning and I'm like, no, I wasn't but so I had to learn to be careful about what I look like and what I said because it would send unintentional messages as well.

[00:18:34] Brent Pohlman: Absolutely. No I, in the meeting, people laugh at me now, because if they're. Let's say the question comes up. I think somebody says, Hey, I think everybody in this room should get a 20 percent increase in salary. You might hear this big, deep breath. That's how I deal with things now. Big, deep breath and they'll go.

[00:18:51] Is everything okay? And it's really just me slowing down because I used to be, I would used to just. off the cuff would just say that's a crazy idea. Oh, [00:19:00] that's stupid. Who's saying that? But now I just take a deep breath. And then I say, you know what, what's happening what's going on.

[00:19:07] Help me understand more. And I think that it's that whole when we can control ourselves and not be reactive, it makes us uncomfortable. And now those things I do write those down, those things that are uncomfortable. I write down And it helps me to take the power out of it. And by doing that, then I can decide, is this a priority?

[00:19:28] Is this something I really need to think about? It can put more thought into it. Sometimes it isn't sometimes maybe it's not the right time or I have to think about that more, but no, there's, it's that uncomfortability, which is nothing wrong with that, but it's learning to how to deal with that better.

[00:19:48] Scott Maderer: And I think as a. a leader and as a person too, depending on how we're wired, how we were brought up our past behavior. Some people, my wife, by the way [00:20:00] she can walk into a room and in 30 seconds she's she knows who's depressed, who's happy whatever. She just reads the room.

[00:20:06] Beautifully I walk into the room and I'm lucky if I happen to realize there's people in the room it's I have to work really hard to pick up on the other clues. So I think it comes differently for different people too. So how do you work with that going on? Maybe a leader that's challenged in that area.

[00:20:26] What are some of the things that they can do to focus on it and get

[00:20:30] Brent Pohlman: better at it? Yeah, I think that's something too I'm working on that is being present in the moment like you said we all bring things to a meeting. We all bring things home. And I had the, for the longest time, I could not shut off my brain.

[00:20:46] I could not shut off. I'd go, I'd fall even going to sleep. I'm still just thinking about things constantly. But now when I'm around, like my wife, she I just take the time to, okay, I'm with my wife. What is she? [00:21:00] I'm thinking, what does she want to hear? What do I tell her? Because before I would just either be silent and then just be processing or thinking all the time.

[00:21:08] And then that's not good. And then I'm not listening to her either. She may be telling me something and I'm still back. My heads or my ears are still back at work, listening to something or thinking about something there. So I think there's being present even with our kids too. They can see it too.

[00:21:23] We don't need to. Okay. We need to stop and put things aside and know who we're, who our audience, who are around. It just really being the moment and a good part of that, even this summer, I had 2 getting married. I really worked on some people. Like you said, it comes easy. I really wanted to be in the moment with those 2, my 2 getting married and I just really worked at hey, I got to put this stuff aside.

[00:21:47] Hey, today by Saturday. The wedding day, I don't want anything. I am not thinking about anything, but this day, cause it's going to be so special. So I think for me, I have to work at that. I have to [00:22:00] really be intentional about those things.

[00:22:04] Scott Maderer: So when a leader is hearing all of this and maybe they're recognizing themselves a little bit and the stories that we're both sharing they're thinking, yeah, I probably am a little bit more reactive than relate relational.

[00:22:16] I'm not necessarily where I want to be. What's one or two things that. You feel are really important to focus on first to begin to make that show

[00:22:27] Brent Pohlman: for me. It's journaling. I have to do that as part of my daily routine. So journaling in a daily routine by journaling again, I write my attention for the day.

[00:22:36] I write my top goals. I write what is I was uncomfortable with the day before. I write down my wins for the day. But that really does, there's a power in that by writing it down you're giving thought to it and it's not consuming your thoughts all the time and you've just put it down on paper.

[00:22:56] I think to the daily routine in the mornings, I [00:23:00] just know I need some personal time. I have to get out. I have to work out. I have to get outside. I got to do those things because I know that'll make me a better person going into the day. And by doing that, by having that. I just know I've set up for much more success than if I don't have those things and that's why I do it every day.

[00:23:17] That's why it's a daily routine and I, it's just part of me trying to bring my best self every single day and I have to be intentional about it. That's again, that's the only way it works. I can't just say I'm going to do it. And then not do it or be inconsistent because I did that again for years, but there's got to be a purpose behind it,

[00:23:37] Scott Maderer: And I'm going to share the pushback because I've heard it before as a leader, I've got too much on my plate, I can't really take that time to set aside for a personal routine or for planning or the other, you hear it now it's taught, they call it white space where you as a CEO, you need to clear your desk and have some time to just think.

[00:23:58] Yet there's just too [00:24:00] much going on. There's too many emergencies. There's too many things on fire. I can't possibly waste time with that. What would you tell the leader that's thinking that right now?

[00:24:09] Brent Pohlman: What you're going to struggle. I'll just say I don't know how else to say it, but you've got to find that what works for you.

[00:24:16] No one can tell you whether the time it's at five minutes, is it 10 minutes, is it half hour? You got to find what's best that works for you, and it's got to be consistent. That's what I would say. And I know there's gonna be times when you travel that it's going to be interrupted, things like that.

[00:24:33] But just do a piece of it. Just know that every day, if I do a little bit of this every single day. It will make a difference and it does. It's like anything. But yeah I was that person too. Or how early can you get up? And can you I used to work on 4 hours of sleep. Maybe you did that too.

[00:24:53] Now I'm learning. I have to have some more sleep than to make myself better. So again, it's really that intention. [00:25:00] Do you want to be intentional about it? And finding that and again, it's hard. I'm not going to say it's easy. You got to really, I had to really work at it.

[00:25:11] Scott Maderer: If it was easy, everybody would do it.

[00:25:13] Yeah. So excellence usually isn't easy. Otherwise everybody would be excellent and then excellent would be average. It nevermind. I've got a few questions to ask all of my guests, but before I transition to those, is there anything else about, leaders look within or the work that you do that you think is really important for the listener to

[00:25:37] Brent Pohlman: hear?

[00:25:38] Yeah we've touched around it, but self care. I used to think self care was selfish. That's how I just, I thought these people who have spent time with a trainer, with Jim, with a coach, I thought that was all selfish. I don't need to do that. I can find the answers myself.

[00:25:56] When we admit that there's something wrong and we seek to get [00:26:00] help, That is probably the biggest step. And if you find, obviously there's, you gotta find the right coach too. You gotta find the right trainer, those things. But when you find those, man, the energy involved with that, the energy that gives back the you become so much more productive, but self care is not selfish.

[00:26:19] It's actually needed. You've got to bring your best self. If you don't feel good about yourself, if you're not healthy, How can you lead others? How can you expect others to be? And to your point, you gotta bring your, you gotta bring a fresh face. I cannot be, I can't frown. I like that. I can't frown, I can't show my bet.

[00:26:35] Negativity. 'cause people will feed off that too, and they'll it'll, and I didn't realize the power of that, but there is a yes. You can't bring in negativity to the, out the workplace either. You gotta really work out those things. But I would say self-care really is. is key to being an

[00:26:52] Scott Maderer: effective leader.

[00:26:53] What I would add to that as a leader, especially the higher up in leadership, you move, I hate the term [00:27:00] higher up, but the point is the more visible, I guess is a better way of putting it, you are as a leader, the more important it is that you find outlets for talking about that negativity and sharing that in a way that's healthy and good, but that doesn't necessarily mean you're doing it in the workplace because you've still got to have an outlet for that or else it just builds up and builds up and that's part of that self care that you're talking about.

[00:27:29] Yeah,

[00:27:30] Brent Pohlman: absolutely.

[00:27:31] Scott Maderer: And whether it's a coach, whether that's a mentor, whether that's a friend, you've got to find those out a mastermind lots of different, like you said, I think there's lots of different ways of doing it. Different people find different ways, but they're, you got to find that way.

[00:27:45] So my brand is Inspired Stewardship, and I run things through that lens of stewardship, but like leadership. That's one of those words that I've discovered means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. So I like to ask my guests, what does the word [00:28:00] stewardship mean to

[00:28:00] Brent Pohlman: you? Yeah.

[00:28:04] How do I take this time and talent and give it back, give it to the, give it to your, whether it's your community, maybe it's your family, your workplace. And again, I think these things we're always told, Oh, you got to give to the community. I got to do donate my hours, don't look. I think for me, I have to really look at stewardship is not a checklist of items.

[00:28:29] It's not I gave to this right? I put in my time here. Where does it speak to your heart? Where do you need to work? What? Where can you give the most for me? I'm even working back in my family. My kids are all out of the house. It's I think back some of the things I don't like I work too hard maybe and I didn't get enough time, but now I really want to work that time that they're over.

[00:28:53] I want to be in the moment. It's little things even like that or the community. I want to learn more [00:29:00] about this particular organization and what do they do for people? It's not about putting again your time 1 hour and 2 hours in, but stewardship encompasses. I think all of you. Are you willing to learn more?

[00:29:12] Are you willing to invest and learn and grow and understand? So I think it's a big thing. I think stewardship is really a big term

[00:29:21] Scott Maderer: in my book. Absolutely. So this is my favorite question that I like to ask everybody. Imagine for a minute that I invented this magic machine. And with this machine, I could pluck you from where you are today and transport you into the future, maybe 150, maybe 250 years.

[00:29:41] But through the power of this machine, you were able to look back and see your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts that you've left. What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

[00:29:52] Brent Pohlman: Oh, goodness. And I thought about this. I've thought about this question before.

[00:29:58] I think [00:30:00] there's probably two words there, but again, I'm always working through that. I'm not saying that I have it, but it'd be no regrets there. I have no regrets. If you could put that even on your tombstone, that would just be no regrets. That's what I'm working toward is that, that you did give.

[00:30:21] That as a leader, I really take seriously the employees that we have here and their families. I want to give them the best that they can have their dreams, even if it's not here, if it's outside of here, great. But I do feel responsibility at home, family, again that you gave everything and because you can't take it with you.

[00:30:43] So basically it's no regrets. I think this is it all for me in that piece. So what's

[00:30:51] Scott Maderer: coming next? What's on the roadmap as we launch here into 2024 and move into the rest of the year,

[00:30:58] Brent Pohlman: there's so many exciting things.[00:31:00] Our company has grown last five years, double digits. We're moving.

[00:31:05] So we're moving to a new campus. So there's all that innovation. But at the same time you're constantly fighting the unknowns right now, the health care costs, the insurance costs. I think there's really opportunity. What I'm learning is there's opportunities in any of these issues.

[00:31:22] You just got to really spend the time. And thankfully, I have a great leadership team that we really want to own these things and we want to do what's best. And if you have that mentality, you have a group of people that. Do that you can surround yourself. You're going to go far with those type of things.

[00:31:38] I've learned the value that if you put people first, you'll go farther than any process or technology. So I really think people make the difference and they're going to continue to do that. So let's invest in our people. I do think as far as a book, I'm probably going to write another book.

[00:31:54] There's more to it. This first book, I left my family out of the book [00:32:00] intentionally, because I really wanted to find it for myself, but family is a big part of being a good leader too, so I need to incorporate that more in the next book. I don't have the title yet, but I'm gonna, I'll probably be working on that.

[00:32:12] It was fun writing this book, and giving it to my kids to actually see, they had no idea that I went through some of these things, so it's really, if I have another, I would say if you are a leader, right? Think about writing a book, putting it down on paper so people can see your story because Believe it or not, my kids didn't even really, it helped them understand where I was coming from too, a lot I think all those things together, it's very exciting.

[00:32:36] I, I think I'm in a very exciting time, position, even with all the uncertainty in the world, and all the craziness we're gonna get through this. I do believe that.

[00:32:49] Scott Maderer: You can find out more about Brett Pullman and his book over at CEOofyourheart. com. Of course, I'll have a link to that over in the show notes as well.[00:33:00]

[00:33:00] Brent, is there anything else you'd like to share

[00:33:01] Brent Pohlman: with the listener? Yeah, as far as the book, just type my name in Amazon. There's not too many home ones out there in Amazon and you could buy the book there. Again, I think it's just a way for you to unlock your heart and to live a life of gratitude.

[00:33:17] Follow me on LinkedIn is probably the best social media side. I usually typically post things on a daily basis. And, thanks again, Scott, for having me on the show.

[00:33:32] Scott Maderer: Thanks so much for listening to the Inspired Stewardship Podcast. As a subscriber and listener, we challenge you to not just sit back and passively listen, but act on what you've heard and find a way to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode. Please do us a favor, go over to inspired stewardship.

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