Episode 1469: Interview with Frank Favaro About Creating Real Customer Service

[00:00:00] Scott Maderer: Thanks for joining us on episode 1469 of the Inspired Stewardship Podcast.

[00:00:08] Frank Favaro: I'm Frank Favaro, and I challenge you to invest in yourself, invest in others, develop your influence, and impact the world by using your time, your talent, your treasures to live out your calling. Having the ability to embrace the fire in life is key, and one way to be inspired to do that is to listen to this.

[00:00:29] The Inspired Stewardship Podcast with my friend, Scott Maderer.

[00:00:41] It has to happen internally first. You'll never get there until you change that because what happens is you start losing all your top people because they want to go work for someone that is great. And A players want to play with A players. And that's just the way it works. So you have to do that work internally.[00:01:00]

[00:01:00] 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. 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.

[00:01:35] In this podcast episode, I interview Frank Favaro. I asked Frank to share with you why authenticity is a big part of customer service and of his journey. I also asked Frank to share with you why real customer service is something we often think we have when we really don't. And Frank also shares with you more about his own faith and his life journey, and how he's come to discover the keys he shares.

[00:01:59] I've [00:02:00] got a new book coming out 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@inspiredstewardship.com. Inspired Living. That's inspired stewardship.com.

[00:02:20] Inspired living. Frank FAU is the founder and president of Serve Centric Coaching in Cleveland, Ohio, and he's a leading CX coach. With a successful tenure as one of MSCA's top account executives, Frank doubled the national average for net margin, focusing on authentic relationships and superior customer experience.

[00:02:43] Recognized as the CX Coach of the Year back in 2022, Frank empowers others with innovative strategies to enhance business profitability through exceptional customer experiences. As the host of the People Business Podcast, Frank shares insights and strategies for [00:03:00] building strong professional relationships.

[00:03:02] Additionally, he advocates for industry initiatives like Athletes in the Trades and conducts customer experience seminars designed to drive profitability through enhanced customer interactions. Welcome to the show, Frank!

[00:03:17] Frank Favaro: Thank you for having me, Scott.

[00:03:18] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. So I talked a little bit about you in the intro in terms of some of the work you've done and your focus on coaching and what you've been doing.

[00:03:30] But I always think of intros as like the Instagram photos of our life, right? We frame everything. Just right, we make sure the dirty laundry is out of the corner of the picture and all of that. Can you talk a little bit more and share what, what's left unsaid in the intro about your journey to arriving where you are today and focusing on what you focus on now?

[00:03:51] Frank Favaro: It's a great question. So what's been left out of that? And I think, in all of our lives, right? It's give me your life in three [00:04:00] paragraphs. By the way, you've got 140 words. Go for it. . Take your 47 years and put it in three lines. But yeah. No. For me I grew up I was very fortunate to grow up and I had two grandfathers that were very instrumental in my life and.

[00:04:16] They were almost like the yin and the yang. They were polar opposites, but they both had these strengths, these gifts, and they both. were important and I believe that, from my one grandfather, I learned strength and courage. And I, and then from my other, I learned empathy, love and care.

[00:04:39] And, through the, through that it really has wired me to have the beliefs and values that I do. And in serving, I was in sales my entire career and I really wouldn't consider myself a salesperson, but I would consider myself someone who served and that was the, my model [00:05:00] for success was the more value you bring to people the better it's going to be for, and it's the tide that raises all ships.

[00:05:07] So go out there and out serve the competition. And that's. What I did in a nutshell. So I would say, why do I have that but and I've also really invested always in continuous learning and trying to improve and never believing the spirit within me is always, I'm always, trying to be a little bit better than yesterday and some days, maybe I'm just, treading water because it's a tough day, but I'm not going to go backwards.

[00:05:32] No matter what happens. And I think that's a really also a big part of my journey and story that, wasn't in the description.

[00:05:40] Scott Maderer: So when you think were you raised by your grandfathers or they were just very active in your life?

[00:05:44] Frank Favaro: They were just very active in my life. And they were both just prominent figures.

[00:05:48] One, one was just a great human being in terms of the ultimate family man celebrated 60 years of marriage. Within the community of the church and was the head umpire and the [00:06:00] head of the school board and just all these.

[00:06:02] opportunities to give and serve and to help people. Then, on the flip side of it my other grandfather was a professional prize fighter, right? And and then had this incredible, faith and spirit also, but it was just that combination. They didn't raise me, but I was around them both an awful lot.

[00:06:18] And just, we're a very tight knit family. And because of that, I had that opportunity to spend so much time with them, I think we all go back and at least we should do this exercise really question. Why are we the way we are and take that time? And for me, it was all back to my grandfather's and don't get me wrong.

[00:06:36] My mom and my dad played a big role in my life, but. With that being said, my grandfathers were very influential and the way I do things today.

[00:06:46] Scott Maderer: And I think a lot of times too it's, and you alluded to this a little bit, we learn, we take characteristics and beliefs from the environment that we're in a lot of times, both as children, and [00:07:00] honestly that happens to us as adults too, but it's, being aware of that and being able to sit down and go, wait a minute, that voice is in my head or that, that belief is in my head.

[00:07:09] Where did that come from? Did, what, where did that actually come? Is that mine or did that come from somewhere else? And then it's a matter of, and is it one I want to keep or, nurture, or is it one I need to prune and get rid of? Because, we have both, we have enabling beliefs and then we have limiting beliefs that get programmed into us sometimes, just from what happens to us.

[00:07:31] Frank Favaro: Yes, we do. And those. There's been that time in my life with those limiting beliefs I think those limiting beliefs. So another thing that would really, that I think is important in my story is the fact that I was a an athlete and I was very fortunate to experience athletics at the absolute highest of levels.

[00:07:51] I was on a high school wrestling team and we won 4 state and 4 national championships in 4 years. So the number one team in the country, four years [00:08:00] in a row. And, I got some, I wasn't at the absolute best level, but I was pretty good. I finished, in the state of Ohio, a second in the state and fourth in the state, but I was projected to win two state titles and I didn't win those.

[00:08:13] And I took those limiting beliefs in that for 15, 20 years until I really found my faith and it got me, out of that funk, but. Those limiting beliefs. I could have continued to just go right down the same road with them and I would have ended up in the grave and never doing anything that I should have set out to do.

[00:08:32] Yes, you are 100%. Those are really challenging to rewire yourself. in a way that gets you out of that thought process.

[00:08:43] Scott Maderer: So you brought up faith and that's one of the things I like to highlight in the podcast is that kind of intersection between our life journey and our faith journey and how those feed back to into each other.

[00:08:54] Expand on that a little bit, what you just said about how, finding your faith is something that helped you begin to [00:09:00] reprogram some of that, that limiting belief that you'd put into yourself and find your worth. Talk a little bit about your faith journey as well.

[00:09:06] Frank Favaro: Yeah, my faith journey. I grew up like I said, my, my grandparents were very faith driven both sets, but my parents weren't really, so I didn't grow up with going to church and being involved, it was just checking the box, right?

[00:09:22] It wasn't really absolutely something that was, being lived every single day. And for me, I went through life that way, through my twenties and through my thirties. And at 41 years old, it's just, I realized, and I'm just so grateful that I started thinking about understanding, like I'm not.

[00:09:41] There's something in me that is growing and I'm not happy and I've been masking happiness for a long time with, just not doing things the right way, just maybe not eating properly or maybe, it was drinking beer and, just doing things like that constantly that was making me just not a happy [00:10:00] person and I didn't understand it.

[00:10:01] And I was stuck in jobs that even though I was performing at the highest levels, I just was so unfulfilled and just not happy in life. And it, that voice and understanding what was really happening. And it was me finding, fuller expression in life and it was finding God. And, that, that voice just grew and has grown.

[00:10:23] And I believe that, I love Philippians 4. 13. I can do all things through Christ, which strengthens me, right? And to me, that's, When I have God in my life, everything is so good. And, it's just, I have so much gratitude, but, for me, that faith journey is every day and it's keeping the eye on the prize and continue to be going down the right path.

[00:10:48] And making sure I'm making good decisions and don't get me wrong. I screw up every single day, but I'm, I'm trying, and I'm really working to improve and continue. And honestly, that's what makes me [00:11:00] happier. Life gets better, the more I improve. Disciplined I get in the better I do things.

[00:11:06] Scott Maderer: So earlier you said something offhandedly that you don't consider yourself a salesperson per se or that's, not even though you've been in sales your whole life, I think is how you said it. So I, and I've found this over the years. I think some of the best salespeople I've ever met will tell you that sentence.

[00:11:25] I don't really think I'm in sales and it's wait, dude you're in the millionaire sales club. You sold over a million dollars worth of product in the last six months. How are you not in sales? Why do you think that is that kind of presentation of some of the best sales people will tell you, Oh, I'm not really in sales.

[00:11:40] Frank Favaro: Yeah, I know exactly why, because I talk about it in my trainings. And it's a, it's the first thing anyone thinks of when they hear the word sales. or salesperson. There's a salesperson to see you and you're like, oh my goodness. And there is a negative stereotype with the words sales [00:12:00] and sales people.

[00:12:01] And those are from sales people who say it because I asked them, what's the first thing you think of when you hear sales? and it's fast talking, snake going, we put this in our mind. So that's one of the things I love to work with people is help them rewire that process of, no, you're not a salesperson, you're a provider of value, and it's your job to help people, serve them, and Zig Ziglar, one of my all time favorite quotes.

[00:12:30] You can have anything in life that you want if you help enough, other people get what they want, right? But I love that. And I think that's the prescription. That's what works and stop trying to sell because sell is me focused. How can I benefit myself first and start helping people? How can I solve their problem?

[00:12:53] How can I make their life better? As a result of that, the by product is sales come. So [00:13:00] you're a receiver of sales, right? And that comes from the great work that you do to help people.

[00:13:06] Scott Maderer: Yeah I distinguish. So a couple of words that I've distinguished between because I think. similarly, they have connotation to them that we forget is, I use the word influence a lot and I have people tell me, Oh, that's a bad word.

[00:13:18] You shouldn't influence people. And I'm like actually here's my definition. And I do think we need to define our words because we don't all mean the same thing when we say things. So to me, manipulation is whatever I get you to do something because it's good for me. Influence is when I help get you to do something because it's good for you or good for both of us, and it's the other focus part of it that makes it influence, not manipulation.

[00:13:47] Problem is that I think there are a lot of sales situations where people use manipulation, that fast talking and the, that, that sort of thing. And like you said, it becomes self focused instead of other focus. If that's taught so much and [00:14:00] it's out there and people do it.

[00:14:03] How do you help overcome that negative stereotype or that, that this is the way to do it because that's the way, obviously it's what's in all the movies. It's what's in, this is, it must be the way to do it. How do you help salespeople overcome that mindset?

[00:14:16] Frank Favaro: It is a continuous process of rewiring yourself and looking at, I'm not.

[00:14:24] It's a different way of thinking. It's a paradigm shift and it's putting yourself in the shoes of other people, understanding what they want and then helping them achieve it. But that also comes with us, and it takes an incredible amount of work to change a mindset because it's a habit.

[00:14:42] and habits take time to change and they take reps and they take consistency. The biggest gap in life is knowing and doing. So most people know this is how it works and, but if they're in that continual thought process, that, that same [00:15:00] paradigm, that same way of thinking day in and day out, then they have to reprogram.

[00:15:03] And that only happens with working on it, and getting consistent. So we get people and I use a it's called a relationship ladder. It's a level of getting from a peddle, which is a pro. Anybody can be a peddle of a product or a service, right? To becoming a person of value, a person of influence, and I look at influence.

[00:15:23] I love what you said about influence. I think of influence also. Influence to me is getting people to do things. They want to then do it because it's best for them,

[00:15:34] Scott Maderer: right?

[00:15:35] Frank Favaro: You're helping them see value of what the opportunity could be and why, what's important for them. Everybody loves, WIIFM.

[00:15:45] We do think that way. People want, some people don't want to deny that, but we are all me focused at first and you have to change yourself. Be like What's the forest through, through the trees look like I, we just got [00:16:00] brand new windows installed in my home and what a crazy experience, and they, the company, they ordered all the windows incorrectly and they're all backwards.

[00:16:10] We've got just windows everywhere in our home and they're all made incorrectly and backwards. And, the company, they couldn't see past this one, sale what's the long term value, right? Of doing the right thing for someone, it will pay, but you have to do the right thing.

[00:16:31] How would you feel if you were in Frank's shoes? It just had all these windows, they moved all their furniture, they had to get their kids, that are a little away and their dog and everything, all the craziness of life. But no, they only think about, one thing and that's, oh, how much money are we going to lose because we screwed up?

[00:16:51] That's a rambling answer, but at the same time, I think that it all comes back to service. and understanding what's important and it's [00:17:00] not being I focused, it's being you focused.

[00:17:02] Scott Maderer: I'll give you a different example. So my, my wife was rear ended a few weeks ago and of course we're dealing with insurance and it is the other person's insurance.

[00:17:11] And I'm not going to name the insurance company, but to their credit, they are, they took full responsibility. Yes. She was, we're in, yes, we'll take care of it. And they're taking care of everything. But in dealing with the other insurance company, It's we'll call them and three, Oh, we'll call you right back.

[00:17:28] Three, four days go by and then they call us back, Oh we'll give you a link so that you can upload the documents. It's four days before we get the email about the link. And I looked at my wife and I said, here's what's funny. When I called the insurance company that I'm paying and file a claim, they're incredibly responsive to me.

[00:17:46] And that's good. That makes sense. A lot of time, I know people that have this insurance company and had very good experience with it. So I know they're good to the people that are already working, in them paying the money said here I am a totally external person.

[00:17:59] I [00:18:00] don't have this insurance. And my experience with the company is completely different. I said, honestly, in a way they should be more responsive to us. Who's the outside person not using them, because I'm more likely to potentially either switch to them or go tell people, yeah, we had to deal with this insurance company and they were so responsive and they were, because quite frankly, most people don't talk about who they have for car insurance and random conversations, their internal, the people already paid them.

[00:18:30] They're not talking about them. I'm the guy that's out there going, Oh, this has been a pain in the butt. And it could have been me going, Oh, this has been so they've made this so easy, and it, but it's a mind shift because from their point of view, it's I'm costing them money. It's a similar thing, different example of that.

[00:18:47] Frank Favaro: So true. Yeah, it's exactly a different example, but same scenario, premise of, and it's just, it's unbelievable. And yeah, our experience was great early in the sales process. [00:19:00] But now it's, my wife had the email four times, no response at all. And it's, now they're costing us money.

[00:19:09] Yeah. It's going to cost you a lot more money if I don't burn you to my. network, right? People don't see that.

[00:19:19] Scott Maderer: So the, why do you think so many companies, if you go to an average company and you say, how's y'all's customer service, they're all going to tell you they have fantastic customer service.

[00:19:30] I don't think I've ever heard a company actually answer that question with it could be, we could do better. It tends to be, Oh yeah, we're great. What, why do you think there's, that mis disconnect sometimes between how the company thinks they're doing and how maybe they're really doing.

[00:19:47] Frank Favaro: Perception. 100 percent it's the customer's perception is a completely different perception, a different view, a different lens than the people who are answering the question. They're not there on the [00:20:00] front lines. They don't experience it. They probably haven't went through the entire process of what it looks like, feels and as a result of that, they have a completely different perception. But what really is a good indicator is referrals. And that's a report card. If you want to know how you're doing, go to your referrals. Your word of mouth referrals will tell you how well you're actually doing with overall, the experience.

[00:20:27] How many customers do you have? How many new customers and what percentage are referring?

[00:20:32] Scott Maderer: What about, and this is a different, Tack on it. I think also, and I've been in the corporate world and I was in leadership and, ran a team and all of those sorts of things and I think not only is there that kind of measure of referrals for kind of our external clients, what do you think about how we deal with.

[00:20:53] what I always called our internal customers, which were not just the employees that reported to me, but the other departments and the other, [00:21:00] the trade offs and the handoffs and the, all the intersection points that we had, I always tried to think of those folks as clients and customers too, that I need to have a good relationship and all of that.

[00:21:11] And that's another area I think I've seen struggle in companies is looking internally and recognizing, wait a minute, we've got, we've got people in here that we have to serve too, if that makes sense. How do you do you work with companies on resetting that kind of thinking as well?

[00:21:28] Frank Favaro: That's really the majority of my work, is that right there. Because that has to happen first. You think about world class customer service companies. Let's take, for example, the Ritz Carlton. They're just this People think of them as expensive and luxury, and don't get me wrong. Some of that might be true, but it's their service.

[00:21:48] But it's their North Star for how they serve. It's ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen. That doesn't happen until the ladies and [00:22:00] gentlemen who work there are treated like ladies and gentlemen. They actually feel like they're being treated like a lady or a gentleman. So if I work for the Ritz Carlton, they're going to treat me like they would treat one of their guests.

[00:22:14] right? And as a result of that, they are going to win me over. This is going to be the best place I've ever worked. It's more than just a paycheck, right? At that point in time, I'm invested in the company and I'm going to pill every single day because I believe in something bigger than just that transaction.

[00:22:33] So it has to happen internally first. You'll never get there until you change that. Because what happens is you start losing all your top people because they want to go work for someone that is great, right? And A players want to play with A players and that's just the way it works. So you have to do that work internally.

[00:22:53] And one of the things I do to help that process is we've created what it's called the voice of the [00:23:00] employee employee assessments. And we come in and we really assess what is that overall experience like it's a beautiful thing because we're a third party. And we promise it's 100 percent anonymous.

[00:23:12] And as a result, we get genuine input. From the employees. Now, the worst thing that could happen is a company goes and does that and then doesn't do anything about the results, right? But most of the companies I work or have the will, they commit to that and they go through that process. And yeah, that's where I like to roll up my sleeves and really get into it.

[00:23:34] And, that's, the gift I have to give this world is to help that process because, we spend more time at work than we do with our families a lot of times out there today. So we have to have an environment that is healthy. And I love doing that. Yeah.

[00:23:48] Scott Maderer: Yeah. I think it's funny.

[00:23:49] I often hear companies will say things like, Oh we're a family here, and as one of my. One of my family members who's going through a bad job situation right now and is looking for other [00:24:00] work because of it. And their comment the other day is, I love my work. I just don't like my leadership.

[00:24:06] . And it's, I think that's true for a lot of us that, most people don't leave a quote job, they leave the leadership team, they leave the culture, they leave the managers, they leave that more often than not.

[00:24:18] Frank Favaro: You nailed it. Absolutely. Yeah, I couldn't have said it better. They do.

[00:24:22] LinkedIn studies are showing, in fact, it's almost 75 percent of the time. They are actually, yeah, it's that direct, manager who they have to interact with. Or it's they don't like the vision of at the top, right? But it's typically 1 of those 2 things and it's so true. And, there's another interesting thing.

[00:24:40] The majority of the workforce today John DeJulius, my mentor mentioned it in his new book, the employee experience. And what he talks about is 80, I think it's 84 or 86 percent of managers today are considered accidental managers, meaning they took a job getting [00:25:00] into management right around pandemic or post pandemic, and they've never had any leadership management training whatsoever.

[00:25:07] So that's the majority. How can you be a great leader if you've never, went through that process before and experienced leadership and failed or had some really good education, coaching and training, right?

[00:25:19] Scott Maderer: And I'll think a lot of times, the way people become managers.

[00:25:23] because they're good at the skills of the job, not because they're good leaders or good managers. It's, they're not identical skill sets. Yeah. You could be the best salesperson in the world and a terrible sales manager.

[00:25:37] Frank Favaro: Absolutely. Ted Williams was the greatest hitter ever. They say he was a lousy hitting coach.

[00:25:42] So even that, so yeah, they

[00:25:44] Scott Maderer: completely different skill sets. And yet that's often how we quote find managers. It's oh they're really good at the job. So promote them to manager. I know.

[00:25:57] Frank Favaro: It's like it keeps happening. And I'm like, [00:26:00] what's the definition of insanity?

[00:26:02] Scott Maderer: Do the same thing over and over again and expect a different result. Yeah, why? And why do you think I know one of the things that you talk a lot about a lot is, authentic relationships and the authenticity factor. And I think, first off, what do you mean when you say that authentic relationships are so important to this process?

[00:26:23] Frank Favaro: Until you're, until somebody feels comfortable with myself or you or anyone listening until they have that that level of trust, that comfort. Whatever you want to call it. They're not gonna be open to, understanding and hearing who you are. And, being authentic is just, it's not to your point, it's not being manipulative, right?

[00:26:48] A lot of people try to be authentic, but it's, it comes across. It's not in the words, but it's in the feel, it's in the body language, it's in what we do, who we are, and we just have this energy, and a lot, most of us [00:27:00] have high BS detectors, right? As a result of a strong BS detector, I typically am going to, and don't get me wrong, I'm never 100%, but, We typically, Feel like we understand something about someone over time.

[00:27:16] And once they show us who they really are and they're authentic and they're genuine and maybe they, it's something they give us some truth, right? That, that maybe we weren't, no one else would, or maybe they did something and they're like, just, it's fine. Do it, enjoy it, take, but whatever that process is, it's a building authentic relationships.

[00:27:36] is I believe the most important thing anyone can do to be successful in life. And success is not just business. It's personally and professionally, right? Because we're all still people. And at this moment in time, at least we're not robots, we're people. And, the, those things matter. It is everything.

[00:27:56] And for me, I was again, a very [00:28:00] introverted boy. young man, and I've trained myself to not be that. So I think there's a piece of me also that likes to show people like we can connect even us, extreme introverts. Can connect and it's just a desire. It's the will. It's want to and it's understanding that we need that.

[00:28:20] We need the camaraderie and fellowship and people like when I didn't have God in my life, I was the lone wolf people would like, want to move. I'd be moving. We'd be moving our family and people would volunteer to oh, can we come help you move? And I'm like, we got it. We got it handled. Like I, so you're never going to be where you want to be in life until you understand that you need relationships and people, and we're here to help each other.

[00:28:46] So without that, how do you'll never get there without authentic relationships.

[00:28:50] Scott Maderer: And I think, going back to what you said earlier about the, doing the internal. Employee surveys to find out how people were feel. And you quickly pointed out, we're an [00:29:00] anonymous third party.

[00:29:01] We don't track it back to the people, that kind of thing. I know I've been part of some company surveys, where they send it out to the employees and it goes to your email, your work email. And they're like, this is anonymous. It's yeah, sure it is. I don't buy it. And we do have to bring in.

[00:29:22] Sometimes when that culture has, I've been part of other places where if they sent me an email asking me about what I thought I'd tell them what I think, because I trusted that there weren't repercussions that would come back because I had seen that I had, I had said hard things to my boss and my boss went, Yeah, we needed to hear that.

[00:29:42] That kind of thing. It, the culture was such, it comes back to that culture that they'd establish where, okay, I can say the mean thing or the bad thing or the hard thing and they'll, they're not going to fire me for it. And in other places, it's dude, you don't say things like that out loud here, and [00:30:00] by the way, if you don't know whether or not you have that culture, do the secret boss thing, right? Get hired, because the employee, about 30 seconds after that employee's been hired, the other employees are telling them, what the, what is the culture here?

[00:30:13] What do you do? What do what do you say? What are the lines? That kind of thing. We create that, this through our own actions. And the actions that people observe, I think.

[00:30:23] Frank Favaro: Absolutely. It's funny you say that that's how I actually, I broke through in my business was doing that secret shopping type stuff.

[00:30:30] Cause I couldn't get companies to see the blind spots. Like people weren't interested in hiring me. They didn't think they had a problem because they were experiencing record years. And it's we're

[00:30:40] Scott Maderer: great,

[00:30:42] Frank Favaro: right? But then when you show them what do you actually, you think, might think you're great, but what are you leaving on the table?

[00:30:47] You're right. How much better could you be if you had, weren't losing 25 percent a year, a year. Employee attrition or, turnover and, like all these things that aren't a line item on many of their P& [00:31:00] L statements.

[00:31:00] Scott Maderer: But employee attrition is expensive. Rehiring and retraining employees is one of the most expensive things companies do.

[00:31:08] And not to mention the fact that sometimes it's, oh, you're doing great. Yeah, but it's because. Everyone's doing great right now, and it's six months, the economy, tanks or something else happens. And now all of a sudden it's okay, now we get the real picture of how you do.

[00:31:23] Frank Favaro: So true.

[00:31:24] And and unfortunately though, that's when people get started. I think John F. Kennedy said the best time to fix the roof is when the sun is shining and, why do we wait till the tough times to do something about it?

[00:31:38] Scott Maderer: Yeah, my favorite version of is the Warren Buffett quote about that, where he says, when the tide goes out, you can tell who's been skinny dipping.

[00:31:47] Yeah. That's a great one. And it's yeah that's true. Cause you know, if you didn't, if you didn't fix the problems before the tide went out now we know you've got a problem. So I've got a few questions that I like to ask all of my guests, but [00:32:00] before I share that, is there anything else about the work you do or what we've been talking about around authentic relationships that you'd like to share?

[00:32:09] Frank Favaro: Yeah if companies out there are not really talking about this on a consistent basis, then there's a good chance their employees are not thinking about this. And, and if this isn't something that is being highlighted, then there's a chance that there's definitely room for improvement.

[00:32:24] People really don't care how much we know until they know how much we care. So with that being the case the top companies are getting in front of that and they're trying we, we need to care more like we, we have to improve or else we just keep losing people and we keep, going through this process.

[00:32:39] Start thinking about these things a little bit more. If you're out there listening to this today I it's just a higher level of awareness and consciousness. And. I think we get so caught up in the day to day and the fires of the day that we lose focus on what's really driving our business.

[00:32:57] Scott Maderer: So my brand is Inspired Stewardship, and I [00:33:00] run things through that lens of stewardship. And yet I've discovered over the years that word means a lot of different things to a lot of different people. Like we were talking about influence and manipulation and some of those words earlier.

[00:33:10] So when you hear the word stewardship, what does that word mean to you?

[00:33:14] Frank Favaro: Stewardship to me is, I think it's camaraderie, it's connection, it's relationships it's coordination it's leadership it's management and it's inspired with a higher purpose. And it's a purpose to, to, we're here we all have gifts, we all have opportunities, and we should all be using them to help people and to do the right things.

[00:33:41] And that's what we're here. And that's what makes us happy deep down when we have to look in the mirror every day. So utilizing stewardship and all of those things that I said is, I think, where it's at. And, to me couldn't imagine living a life that wasn't, in that world.

[00:33:58] Scott Maderer: So this is my favorite question that I like to [00:34:00] 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. And with the power of this machine, I was able to let you look back and see your entire life and see all of the connections, all of the ripples, all of the impacts you've left behind.

[00:34:21] What impact do you hope you've left in the world?

[00:34:23] Frank Favaro: I hope I make my grandparents and my parents I hope they're proud of the person I was, and I hope my wife and my kids and my people I serve and the people I work with and know and. Always say boy, that guy always had our back and would do whatever it took to help us get where we wanted to go.

[00:34:44] And, hopefully there's an impact made and whether that's the youth or, whether that's, businesses or, whether that's, out there and all different walks, but it's about just doing the right things and keeping after it every single day for me. [00:35:00] and to keep my eye on that prize, that, that vision for what my life should be cause I know it could always continue to get better.

[00:35:08] I just have to continue to get better. I got to get better for it to get better and, to continue on that purpose. So hopefully it's to impact a lot of good people in companies and have the things I do every day, make an impact in people's personal lives. And maybe it changes their relationships with their kids, or, maybe it's something that happens a hundred years from now, who knows, but at the end of the day, I hope to make the impact.

[00:35:35] Where when I die, my spirit, and it's God says, great job, Frank. You knocked it out of the park.

[00:35:42] Scott Maderer: So what's next? What's coming on the roadmap for the rest of the year?

[00:35:46] Frank Favaro: We've got big things coming up this year. We're super grateful for. A new podcast that's kicking off with the Mechanical Contractors Association of America.

[00:35:57] That's all the union [00:36:00] mechanical pipe, fitters, plumbers, HVAC, technicians, sheet metal, all within that world. The union side of it. So I'll be hosting that. It's inside the MCAA, inside MCAA, the blueprint for mechanical contracting. That'll be releasing actually in the next seven days. I'm an executive producer on a new documentary coming out called Clash of Dynasties, highlighting a 10 year series of high school wrestling between two Ohio teams, Walsh Jesuit and St.

[00:36:34] Edward, and they were 35 miles apart. And for 10 years straight, two teams, 35 miles apart, won the national and state championships for 10 years in a row. So we had the entire epicenter of high school wrestling be here in Northeast Ohio for a decade. And the stories are crazy. The duels were legendary. The cast members [00:37:00] are nuts.

[00:37:00] It's going to be an absolute amazing docu series and that's going to be coming out before the year is out. Just great things getting into new industries, incredibly grateful and feel very blessed. So thank you for asking Scott.

[00:37:14] Scott Maderer: Absolutely. So you can find out more about Frank over at serve centric.

[00:37:20] com. And of course, I'll have a link to that over in the show notes. So you can find that as well. Frank, anything else you'd like to share with the listener?

[00:37:28] Frank Favaro: I just say, if you're thinking about your life and it can get better, right? And it's just changing the mindset, starting to rewire yourself.

[00:37:37] It's worth the work and God bless you. Thank you.

[00:37:46] 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 [00:38:00] to live your calling. If you enjoyed this episode please do us a favor. Go over to inspired stewardship.

[00:38:09] com slash iTunes rate, all one word. iTunes rate. It'll take you through how to leave a rating and review and how to make sure you're subscribed to the podcast so that you can get every episode as it comes out in your feed. Until next time, invest your time, your talent, and your treasures, develop your influence, and impact the world.