Revolutionize and Transform Your Leadership | Full Conversation

Summary

In this inspiring talk, the speaker emphasizes the importance of an infinite strategic mindset over short-term goals, drawing on his experience in leadership and business. He passionately advocates for a world where people wake up inspired, feel safe, and are fulfilled by their work, urging the audience to embrace a legacy mindset that focuses on long-term impact and ethical leadership. The speaker also addresses the challenges in the healthcare industry, the need for human skills in the workplace, and the potential for companies like Vituity to lead by example, ultimately contributing to a greater societal good.

Takeaways

• 😀 The speaker emphasizes the importance of having an 'infinite strategic plan' aimed at long-term goals and a vision that extends beyond immediate financial success.
• 🏨 The speaker acknowledges the challenges of filling a hotel for an event, suggesting that the audience's presence is significant and appreciated.
• 🤝 The speaker highlights the mutual benefits of collaboration, focusing on shared values and a collective push towards a greater good.
• 💡 The concept of 'infinite mindset' is introduced as a driving force behind making decisions that positively impact future generations within an organization.
• 🚑 The healthcare industry is criticized for being behind in leadership theory, with a focus on short-term financial decisions over patient care and staff support.
• 🛑 A real-life story illustrates the negative impact of poor leadership and communication in a healthcare setting, emphasizing the need for change.
• 👶 The infinite mindset is likened to the parental instinct to provide a better future for one's children, extending this to the desire to leave a thriving organization for future generations.
• 🎯 The speaker stresses that having an infinite mindset does not mean the absence of finite goals, but rather, it provides the context within which those goals are pursued.
• 🛤️ An analogy is made comparing business to a journey with a clear destination, where the path may be winding, but the direction is steadfast.
• 🏆 The speaker argues against the sole focus on hitting goals, stating that the process and the manner in which goals are achieved are equally, if not more, important.
• 🧗‍♂️ The importance of perseverance and the ongoing nature of business is highlighted, comparing it to a marathon where metrics and continuous effort are key.

Q & A

What is the main theme of the speaker's discussion on leadership and business?

The main theme is the importance of having an 'infinite strategic plan' and leading with human skills, focusing on long-term impact and creating a positive work environment where people feel inspired, safe, and fulfilled.

How does the speaker describe the concept of an 'infinite mindset'?

The 'infinite mindset' is described as having a long-term vision that is so distant it may never be fully achieved, but it provides direction. It involves making decisions that contribute to a greater cause over time, rather than being solely focused on immediate outcomes or goals.

What is the speaker's view on the healthcare industry's approach to leadership and administration?

The speaker believes that the healthcare industry is behind in embracing modern leadership theories, with many hospitals run like businesses, often prioritizing short-term financial decisions over patient care. The speaker emphasizes the need for leadership to prioritize frontline staff who directly care for patients.

Can you explain the speaker's personal anecdote about a friend's experience at a hospital?

The speaker shares a story of a friend who had a miscarriage and went to the hospital for help. The friend faced a series of inefficient and inhumane processes, highlighting the lack of trust among hospital staff and the negative impact of poor leadership on patient care.

What is the speaker's opinion on the importance of setting and achieving goals in business?

The speaker believes that while setting and achieving goals is important, it should not come at the expense of the values and ethics that guide an organization. The focus should be on the quality of leadership and the behaviors that lead to success, rather than just the success itself.

How does the speaker define 'human skills' and why are they important in the workplace?

The speaker defines 'human skills' as the abilities needed to be a better human being and a better leader, such as listening, giving and receiving feedback, and having effective confrontations. These skills are important because they contribute to better team dynamics, leadership, and overall work culture.

What advice does the speaker give for dealing with short-term focused partners in the healthcare industry?

The speaker suggests serving as an example of long-term thinking, offering support when asked, and focusing on one's own business practices. It's important to recognize that change cannot be forced on others, but a strong example can influence others over time.

How does the speaker relate the concept of 'infinite mindset' to the idea of legacy or long-term impact?

The 'infinite mindset' is related to the idea of legacy in that it involves making decisions and taking actions that will have a lasting impact beyond one's tenure, improving the lives of future generations within an organization or community.

What is the speaker's perspective on the role of incentives and rewards in shaping organizational behavior?

The speaker believes that incentives and rewards play a crucial role in shaping behavior within an organization. They should be aligned with the desired behaviors and values, not just the achievement of goals, to encourage a culture of ethical and effective leadership.

What does the speaker suggest as a starting point for improving 'human skills' in an organization?

The speaker suggests starting with the simplest and most effective program that requires little friction and cost. This initial step should be something that interests and engages the individuals involved, which can then lead to broader development and improvement of human skills.

How does the speaker view the potential impact of Vituity's approach to leadership and business on the healthcare industry and beyond?

The speaker sees Vituity's approach as having the potential to significantly influence not just the healthcare industry but also the broader corporate landscape. By embodying values of long-term thinking, ethical leadership, and human skills, Vituity could inspire a shift towards more responsible and impactful business practices.

Outlines

00:00

🎤 Opening Remarks and Infinite Strategic Plan Introduction

The speaker begins with a light-hearted acknowledgment of the audience's preference for the guest speaker, Simon, over himself. He expresses gratitude for their presence and introduces the concept of an 'infinite strategic plan.' The speaker shares his vision of a world where people are inspired and fulfilled by their work, committing his life to this cause through leadership and businesses. He recounts the initial conversation about the infinite strategic plan, which intrigued Simon, and discusses the importance of supporting leaders and companies that contribute to the greater good.

05:01

🤔 Reflections on Leadership and the Role of Business

The speaker delves into his idealistic vision and the path he has chosen through leadership and business. He emphasizes the importance of supporting leaders who align with his vision and discusses the distinction between companies that merely state their purpose versus those that use it to make decisions. The speaker shares his realization about the long-term impact of the company's efforts and the profound ripple effects on the community, highlighting the mutual benefits of their collaboration.

10:02

🏥 Critique of the Healthcare Industry and Leadership

The speaker critiques the healthcare industry, particularly in America, for being behind in leadership theory and practice. He argues that hospitals are run like businesses, often led by administrators with no medical experience, leading to decisions that may not prioritize patient care. He shares a personal anecdote about a traumatic hospital experience, illustrating the negative impact of poor leadership and communication on patient care and staff morale.

15:03

🔄 Balancing Short-term Goals with Long-term Vision

The speaker discusses the challenge of balancing day-to-day goals with the overarching infinite mindset. He emphasizes the importance of not losing sight of the long-term vision while addressing immediate concerns. The speaker also highlights the novelty of creating an infinite strategic plan, acknowledging the absence of a precedent and the need to build something new.

20:06

🌱 The Infinite Mindset and Its Misunderstandings

The speaker clarifies misconceptions about the infinite mindset, explaining that it is not about the absence of finite goals but rather the context in which they exist. He illustrates this with an analogy of a journey with a clear destination, emphasizing the importance of direction and adaptability. The speaker also discusses the difference between finite and infinite mindsets in terms of decision-making and the importance of values and ethics in achieving long-term success.

25:06

🤝 The Importance of Human Skills in Leadership

The speaker introduces the concept of 'human skills' as distinct from 'hard skills' and criticizes the term 'soft skills' as misleading. He argues for the importance of teaching human skills such as effective listening, confrontation, and feedback in order to improve leadership and teamwork. The speaker shares his vision of the Optimism Company, which aims to fill the gap in education by teaching these essential human skills.

30:08

🧡 Personal Cause and the Ripple Effect of Positive Change

The speaker shares his personal cause of inspiring people to feel safe and fulfilled in their work, emphasizing the importance of personal and professional alignment. He discusses the ripple effect of positive change in the workplace on personal lives, relationships, and the broader community, highlighting the interconnectedness of personal growth and professional development.

35:09

🤔 Navigating Bureaucracy with Empathy and Effective Communication

The speaker addresses the challenge of working within a bureaucratic system and offers advice on maintaining a positive approach despite potential administrative obstacles. He encourages empathy, affirming others' feelings, and leading with questions to better understand and navigate the system. The speaker also discusses the importance of avoiding negative narratives about others and focusing on humanizing interactions.

40:09

🏆 Staying Humble and Committed to Continuous Improvement

The speaker warns against complacency and the danger of believing one's own positive press. He emphasizes the importance of humility and continuous improvement, suggesting that any success is just the 'tip of the iceberg.' The speaker encourages viewing challenges as opportunities to demonstrate the true quality of a team and to maintain a mindset of perpetual growth and learning.

45:09

🌟 The Broader Impact of Corporate Culture and Values

The speaker discusses the broader impact of corporate culture and values, suggesting that companies have an opportunity to influence not just their industry but society at large. He draws a parallel between a company's commitment to improving lives and the concept of world peace, emphasizing the potential for positive ripple effects. The speaker encourages companies to lead with their values and to inspire others through their example.

Keywords

💡Infinite Strategic Plan

The concept of an 'Infinite Strategic Plan' refers to a long-term, forward-thinking approach to business strategy that focuses on continuous growth and development rather than short-term gains. In the video, the speaker emphasizes the importance of this approach, suggesting that it can lead to profound impacts on the community and the organization's legacy. The idea is introduced in the context of a conversation that sparked the speaker's interest due to its potential for advancing a greater good.

💡Leadership

Leadership in this video is portrayed as a critical component in achieving a vision of a world where people are inspired, safe, and fulfilled by their work. The speaker believes that by supporting and celebrating leaders who embody these values, the goal of a better world can be approached. The term is used throughout the script to highlight the role of leaders in shaping company culture and driving positive change.

💡Purpose Statement

A 'Purpose Statement' is a declaration that expresses an organization's core goals and values. In the script, the speaker criticizes companies that have purpose statements but do not use them to guide decision-making, suggesting that these companies are not genuinely committed to their stated values and are instead focused on short-term gains.

💡Long-term Oriented

Being 'Long-term Oriented' involves making decisions and plans with a focus on the future rather than immediate results. The speaker in the video discusses how many companies claim to be long-term oriented but often make decisions that reflect short-term thinking, such as focusing on quarterly financial results instead of sustainable growth and development.

💡Investments vs. Bets

The speaker distinguishes between 'Investments' and 'Bets' in the context of business decisions. Investments are long-term commitments with a view to future growth, whereas bets are short-term, high-risk decisions made with the hope of immediate gains. The script criticizes companies that confuse the two, suggesting that they are not truly thinking long-term.

💡Healthcare

The 'Healthcare' sector is a focal point in the video, with the speaker discussing its shortcomings in terms of leadership and administration. The speaker argues that healthcare is behind in adopting modern leadership theories and practices, which results in inefficiencies and poor patient care. The term is used to highlight the need for reform in the industry.

💡Frontline Staff

'Frontline Staff' refers to the employees who interact directly with patients in healthcare settings, such as doctors, nurses, and support staff. The speaker asserts that the priority of hospital leadership should be to support these staff members, as they are the ones directly responsible for patient care. The term is used to emphasize the importance of prioritizing the well-being of those who are directly involved in patient care.

💡Toxic Geniuses

The term 'Toxic Geniuses' is used to describe high-performing individuals who, despite their talent, have a negative impact on team dynamics and company culture due to their toxic behavior. The speaker warns against the retention of such individuals in an organization, as their presence can erode team morale and undermine the company's values.

💡Human Skills

The concept of 'Human Skills' in the video refers to the interpersonal and emotional competencies that contribute to effective communication, teamwork, and leadership. The speaker criticizes the lack of emphasis on these skills in traditional education and training, arguing that they are essential for personal and professional success. The term is used to advocate for the development of skills like listening, confrontation, and feedback.

💡Service

'Service' in the video is presented as a fundamental human value that involves helping others and contributing to the community. The speaker suggests that focusing on service can lead to personal fulfillment and improved well-being, as well as having a positive ripple effect on society. The term is used to encourage a mindset of contribution and support within and beyond the workplace.

💡Worthy Rivals

The term 'Worthy Rivals' is contrasted with the concept of 'competitors' in the video. While competitors may be viewed as threats to be outdone, worthy rivals are those who inspire and challenge one to perform better. The speaker advises to focus on learning from worthy rivals rather than being preoccupied with what competitors are doing, suggesting a more positive and growth-oriented mindset.

Highlights

The importance of having an infinite strategic plan for long-term organizational success.

The concept of an infinite mindset in leadership and its impact on creating a positive work environment.

Simon's personal vision of a world where people wake up inspired and fulfilled by their work.

The role of leadership in advancing towards a greater good and the mutual benefits of cooperation.

The distinction between investments and bets in business decisions and their long-term implications.

Simon's perspective on the healthcare industry's leadership and its need to prioritize frontline staff and patients.

A real-life scenario illustrating the negative impact of poor leadership and communication in healthcare.

The idea of balancing short-term goals with an infinite mindset for sustainable business growth.

The metaphor of the infinite game and its application to business strategy and leadership.

The significance of focusing on the quality of leadership and the values of an organization over just hitting goals.

Simon's personal story of how initiative and behavior were rewarded over outcomes in his career.

The importance of aligning incentives and rewards with desired behaviors in organizations.

The founding principles of Vituity and the focus on improving lives through human skills.

The impact of teaching human skills like effective listening and confrontation in both professional and personal lives.

Simon's personal 'just cause' of inspiring people to do things that inspire them, and its influence on his daily actions.

The potential for Vituity to become a leader in its industry and a model for others, promoting a shift towards an infinite mindset.

The advice on dealing with short-term focused partners in the healthcare industry while maintaining Vituity's long-term vision.

Simon's final thoughts on the opportunity for Vituity to influence not just its industry but also the nation's approach to leadership and idealism.

Transcripts

I know that these rows would not be

filled and the whole uh the whole hotel

wouldn't be full unless I brought you

because they really don't want to hear

from me so I appreciate you coming Simon

no pressure no pressure no pressure yeah

yeah so

[Applause]

simonon so I'm sure that you can

actually I can leave and you can

actually do a fantastic presentation

since um everybody wants to hear from

you but I want to talk a little bit

about this infinite strategic plan

because you know I I think I stalked you

or maybe I found you somewhere and

wouldn't let you go until you helped me

um but I I want to kind of walk us

through how that happened and so we

initially had a conversation about this

idea of doing an infinite strategic plan

and you you were kind of intrigued by

that so tell me tell me what your

feeling was when we brought that idea to

you so

I am an

idealist and the world that I'm trying

to build a world in which the vast

majority of people wake up every single

morning inspired feel safe wherever they

are and in the day fulfilled by the work

that they do is just that it's it's

something that is it is a an

unachievable Vision but I want to commit

my life to getting closer and closer to

that and the the path that I've chosen

is leadership and businesses right I

think that if we can find support and

celebrate the leaders and the company

that are that are doing the right thing

and leading in the way that I think

people want to be led we're more likely

to get closer to that to that goal to

that Vision to that just cause and so

when you called and said we want to do

this immediately light bulb goes off and

says this is one of the companies that's

help advancing towards the greater good

in other words it's mutually beneficial

right your goals are your goals your

vision is your vision but but we can

cooperate and work closer so immediately

I'm curious um

uh and a lot of companies

are full of

it uh and not because they're bad people

it's because you know they don't really

either understand the concepts or

believe in them but they kind of have to

like every company has a purpose

statement but how many companies use

their purpose statement to actually make

decisions you know sure companies say

they're long-term oriented but they

don't make decisions that would actually

set them up for the long term you know

they've confused bets and Investments

right they say they're making

Investments they're really taking bets

one is short-term one is long term and

getting to talk to you and getting to

know you I realized what you're doing

and how you're leading this company and

what this company is trying to do

actually actually has benefits beyond

your tenure Beyond everybody's tenure

here and if we do this right the impact

that we can have and the ripples that we

can have the people you serve and the

ripples in the community are actually

profound and so it was an easy answer

that's awesome we I appreciate you

spending the time with us um spending

the time with me you had some you talked

about healthare though you you know when

we first started talking you you were

not complimentary of healthcare what is

your you know what what is your feeling

about Healthcare in general um the way

it's educated here in America I mean so

there there's two ways I would go at it

both are related um if you look at

leadership Theory and the changing views

on leadership from the times of Milton

fredman from the 70s and Jack Welch in

the 80s and

90s um uh the military is so far

ahead uh in terms of embracing

leadership Theory and how to help teams

Thrive at their natural bests um

corporations pretty good they go in and

out you know some are much better than

others um but if you look at Healthcare

you're probably 10 or 15 years behind

you know um hospitals are run like

businesses um people who are in

administrative positions in

hospitals sometimes have no medical

experience whatsoever um and they've

completely missed the boat when you hear

Hospital administrators say my number

one priority is patients will certainly

doesn't look like that way when they're

making decisions when they make

short-term financial decisions which

sometimes Ripple down and hurt patients

um but worse than that that's actually

not the priority of any Hospital

leadership it's to take care of the

doctors and nurses and support staff who

are taking care of patients it's the

Frontline staff whose priority should be

patients leadership should be

prioritizing the people taking care of

patients and that's how patients get

better care because the number of

experiences I'll give you a real life

scenario a real life and I can't

remember I shared this one with you but

it's this is an awful story that really

captures my cynicism right A friend of

mine a very dear friend of mine um at

1:00 in the morning uh had a

miscarriage the good news was there was

a friend staying with her and the two of

them went to the

hospital

um the the the bathroom is is sort of

like past the registration desk and she

says to the woman working the

registration say can I just go wash my

hands please she's covered in blood and

the woman said no you have to fill out

the form to be registered before I can

let you go to the bathroom because it's

it's in the hospital she goes can I can

I please just wash my hands and I'll

fill and they wouldn't let her in in to

wash her hands so she sits there and

fills out the forms with bloodied hands

right she gets

administered and she has the same tests

repeated over and over because the nurse

or the doctor performed the test doesn't

trust the other nurse or doctor who

performed the test so she has the same

test repeated over and over and you know

better than I do than how this works but

apparently some of those tests reveal

that you're pregnant so one of the

nurses congratulated her on her

pregnancy and again again you know this

better than I do there were no

complications you know from a medical

standpoint It's relatively

straightforward she should have been

discharged in a couple of hours 13 hours

later she was discharged because the

medical now this is not gross negligence

there's no death but the

absolute and I don't even want to say

incompetence because that would be at

least a metric but the the complete

mistrust that all of the staff had for

each

other not only ruins how they feel when

they come to work I can guarantee you

none of those Hospital staff are happy I

can guarantee you none of them have any

Joy helping people because of the

horrible conditions they have working

with each other and the ripples of

people who don't like going to work and

who don't trust each other directly

impact a patient my friend a decade

later doesn't want to have children

because of the trauma of that experience

there's no negligence there's no lawsuit

but healthc care sucked in that

situation and unfortunately this is one

case which I know is being repeated over

and over and over again in this country

not because of lack of Education not

because of lack of Technology not

because of lack of go down the list of

how we usually weigh the quality of

healthare it's because of a distinct

completely broken leadership structure

nothing else

yeah we we hope that wasn't one of our

sites um you know I don't think it was

we'll talk later I don't think it was

but we'll fix we'll fix it we'll fix it

no I don't think it was well it's a

different conversation I know it wasn't

yeah awesome so sorry to make light was

I was feeling so down I had to bring

myself back up a little um but you know

so we met for so just so you you all

know uh I went out and I got information

from all of you um got information from

my team and I brought a bunch of like a

bag full of papers to Simon's office um

there actually a very cool office by way

very cool office so and I and I sort of

I get in and he says hi and I Fanboy him

for a little bit you know and then I

sort of throw the the the papers on a

table and he's like oh my God I got so

much work to do but um we we worked that

day and and and there's some bones there

right there's the goals um there's some

really good stuff there

and we spend about six seven hours was

it about six seven hours working

together um he looks into my eyes as we

uh as we get ready to leave and he says

how do you

feel and and a single tear rolls down my

eyes but but you know I wasn't ready I

wasn't ready it it didn't feel right it

didn't it didn't feel right and so that

that infinite mindedness that infinite

game it's a tough it's conceptually even

when you buy in and even when you really

understand um from a business

perspective I mean they day-to-day goals

right there are people here that are

worried about their site today yeah um

how do you balance and how did we

balance that you know short-termism

goals and really kind of pulling up to

that infinite mindedness that infinite

strategic plan which another note is

that it's never actually been officially

built before so we were kind of building

something yeah so um I think everybody

here already knows what an infinite

mindset is you just don't realize it

which is how just a quick show of hands

um uh of those who have children um how

many um are absolutely singularly

devoted to ensuring that you're happier

healthier and more successful than your

children okay turns out you would

actually like to pass something on and

you would actually like to whether you

call it Legacy or whether you just want

to see your

children happier more successful

than you could have ever dreamed of for

yourself and you will attempt to make

decisions to achieve that sometimes you

do well at it and sometimes you do badly

you know where you say your kids are a

priority but you're working so much and

you're missing the baseball games and

you're missing the school plays and

something will happen and you realize I

got to reorganize because I'm playing

too finite minded It's too much about me

I got to sacrifice a little bit to to

actually put in for the kids it's it's a

difficult job and it waxes and wanes and

it has pride and guilt associated with

it but the point is is you understand it

it it's the same

mentality um which is which is what an

awesome experience to leave behind an

organization that will be in better

shape than you found it and 10 or 20 or

30 years after you've left it will have

greater impact in the world and the

Ripples and the people who come through

your system both employees and and

patients um uh than you could have ever

dreamed of and you get to sit back in

your rocking chair on your front porch

at you know in your in your later years

and say I I help do that um so we have a

sense of it now the biggest

misunderstanding of having an infinite

mindset is that it is not the absence of

finite goals they are not mutually

exclusive the infinite game the infinite

mindset is the context within which

those finite goals exist in other words

the goals you choose are building

towards something right I'll give you an

analogy

um of how businesses usually think and

how this changes it so

here's here's a metaphor so you you walk

out your front door one morning and you

see your

neighbor packing their

car and you say where you going and they

reply

vacation and you go oh cool where are

you going they said vacation

like no no no I I got that where are you

going and they look at you and they go

vacation and then you try to get past

this ridiculous line of questioning and

you say well how are you going to get

there then and they say well I'm going

to take 95 we're going to drive 150 mil

a day du

North uh and uh that that's that's how

we're going to go that's how most

businesses operate right what where

what's your what's your what's your

vision

growth

cool to to what end growth well how are

you going to get there and they'll tell

you their financial goals and what they

want to achieve and how much money they

want to make in the year right and

they're all excited if they drive 200

miles in the day really depressed that

they only get 100 miles in the day

rewarding everybody for driving faster

on the

freeway in what

direction and the problem is is this is

where um finite mindedness over takes

infinite mindedness right that is a

finite mindset with amorphous Vision

useless Vision infinite mindedness is

having a very clear sense of cause of

vision that is so far in the distance

that we'll never get there but it gives

us a direction and absolutely you need

to have finite goals we want to drive

this many miles on the freeway every

single day the difference is if the

freeway is blocked you take a side road

that's slow because the road to success

is not straight

nor is it easy but you don't go veering

off over here and you know which

opportunities to say yes to and which to

say no to if somebody says I've got a

plan you're like oh my God planes go so

fast we're ABS the plan's going in that

direction right and so you turn down the

airplane and rather take the bumpy side

road because it's going kind of in the

right direction and people accuse you of

being unfocused but actually you're more

focused than anybody else it's that

you're focused on the destination you're

agnostic as to the root but absolutely

you have to have goals and I think the

other big mistake that make is that

they're more obsessed with hitting the

goal and ignore how they got to the goal

right Trend data and how you do things

is as if not more important than the

goal itself so I went to visit um uh OCS

uh uh officer candidate School uh in

quanico Virginia for the Marine Corps

any Marines in the audience okay there

we

go so you know what I'm talking about uh

um

OCS

uh the Marines take choosing their

officers very

seriously and amongst many of the

selection uh elements they have they

have something called the lrc the

leadership reaction course the lrc is

basically 20 mini obstacle courses

they're problemsolving courses like take

uh three you know take all your men and

material across this what they call a

water hazard we call a pond uh you know

with planks of three planks of three

three different planks of wood blah blah

blah right once it's timed once it's not

timed once they assign the leader no

they're always timed sorry it's always

timed once they assign the leader once

they don't you run it

twice and I was standing next to the

drill instructor as they were running it

and nowhere on

that grading sheet does it say if they

made it to the other side or not

nowhere so I leaned up to the the drill

instructor I'm like don't you care if

they succeed in the mission that you've

set to them and the drist said no I care

if they're good leaders I said well how

do you know if they're good leaders he

says we judge them by the quality of

good leadership and he went on to

explain that the Marines understand that

sometimes good leaders suffer suffer

Mission failure and sometimes bad

leaders enjoy Mission success you can't

tell if someone's a good leader or a bad

leader if they hit their numbers at the

end of the year you just know that they

hit their numbers at the end of the year

but if you look at the qualities that

make somebody a leader they're more

likely to succeed more often over time

and there's that infinite mindset again

over time and again Trend data matters

and so the analogy that I like to use

and I think I wrote about it I can't

remember but the analog to use is like

think about health like if somebody says

I want to be healthy okay there's many

things you have to do you've got to

exercise you've got to eat right you've

got to nurse your personal relationships

you got to sleep well there's probably

30 other things you can't do all of

those things right all the time it's a

striving right they wax and Wayne it's

the same in business you got to get

leadership you got to get culture you

got to do Market marketing you got to do

sales you got to do Finance you're never

going to do it all right all the time

it's a striving they go like this

right um and it's totally legitimate to

have arbitrary

goals within that I want to lose x

amount of weight by X date totally fine

just like in business the annual goals

that we set are usually made up a bunch

of people sit in the room and go I think

we should hit this number and somebody

goes I think we can do better okay this

number okay that's the number right

right it's nonsense and it's usually

annual because that's when we pay taxes

no other

reason um uh and we strive towards that

goal well like human beings not like

human beings human beings need metrics

metrics are super important you can't

run a marathon without metrics it's

actually unnerving because metrics tell

us speed and distance we need to know

how fast and how

far and we stand on the scale in the

morning we it's good it's not good we

have good days we have bad days and you

hit your goal and you're ecstatic but

here's the problem you have to keep

doing it for the rest of your life it's

not an event it's a journey and business

is the same you know you hit your goal

congratulations now you have to keep

doing it and so if all you're do is is

hitting goals hitting goals hitting

goals and moving the goal post each time

over time it's ex it's thrilling when

you're new it's thrilling when you're

young do that five six seven 8 nine

years it starts to lose its thrill it

starts to lose the joy and I find that

senior people actually even high

performing senior people are actually

find more malays in their careers than

Junior people they may happiness is

hitting the goal happiness is fleeting

Joy is something it's like you you you

you love your children every day you

don't like your children every day right

like happiness you get happiness

happiness comes and goes but you should

be able to have joy at work no matter

what the conditions are that's because

you feel like you're contributing to

something bigger than yourself what's

more interesting about this analogy

about this metaphor is what happens if

you miss your

goal you know what

happens

nothing in fact you're way healthier now

than you were when you started because

you were doing all the right things you

were not just trying to hit the goal you

were building a strong team you know

John Wooden coach K all of these world

famous coaches not a single one of them

was obsessed with winning none of them

and yet they're the winning most coaches

in history they were obsessed with

building strong players who cared about

the team and it turns out that they won

more often than they lost then they lost

like the Marine Corps and so having an

infant mindset is understanding it's

it's understanding that there's a

practice not an event you know and we

treat business like sports but business

is not like sports because there's not a

beginning middle and end it's more like

healthcare it's just ongoing it never

ends and you have to keep working at it

and sometimes it works and sometimes it

doesn't but we want to pay attention to

how we got

somewhere because I want to know the

values I want to know the ethics of an

organization I want to know the if

they're training people right I want to

know if people are performing in a way

that is that we recognize as high

quality leadership and though you may

miss the goal I guarantee you you'll hit

the goal in 14 months you just got the

timing wrong and more importantly you're

more likely to keep hitting your goals

year after year after year when you have

that

mindset that's powerful that's you can

drop the

mic yeah you yeah yeah don't be be

careful we have to pay for

so so I you know I'm a little bit uh so

I think I think I think I'm you're my

friend but I don't know if I'm your

friend but I'm going to call they call

that a parasocial relationship yeah yeah

so so we we're friends and all the

conversations that we've we've had um

and I've seen you do this with other

other friends that we've been around you

you always say I want to push you you

actually did it to me back there yeah so

I want to push you a little bit on us um

because I I think everybody's sort of

wondering so you've heard of our

infiniteness and what we really look

back at Teo talked about that's kind of

how we were founded you've heard the

stories you've seen you've actually

helped build uh a lot of it what do you

think is going to trip us up what do you

think as you look and you doing your

premature albeit assessment what do you

think that's you know could potentially

trip us up so I mean there's there's

some pretty consistent

culprits incentives and rewards are a

big part of it I mean talk is cheap

right um you'll get the behavior that

you

reward um and so um there's nothing

wrong with rewarding hitting a goal

there's no problem with that so long as

you also reward um uh the behavior that

got you to the goal and don't reward app

parent Behavior you know I think

underperformers believe it or not are

not the biggest culprit of

underperforming organizations

it's keeping toxic Geniuses on the team

for too

long the lack of courage to get rid of

high performers who are who are just

everybody knows destroy the the

performance of everybody else I think

that has more of a negative impact on an

organization because you're chipping

away your culture Bit by Bit by Bit And

by the way you lose respect from your

teams because everybody knows this

person is toxic and they've and by the

way when I say toxic we've attempted to

coach them you know they like they that

there's no change like um and uh and you

talk a big game about values and ethics

and yet you keep somebody who obeys none

of it they just happen to be a high

performer that has more damage I think

than underperformers underperformers you

can usually coach up it never happens in

healthcare no of course not yeah um I I

think I think incentives and met

incentives and rewards are a big deal as

well so quick personal story so when I

was young in my career I worked for a

big Ad Agency and and uh the we had a

big new business pitch that was

happening I don't the the early the

beginning of the new year and usually

the senior folks do the pitches and the

junior folks do the support and I was

Junior and I was assigned to this pitch

so supporting role um and it happened to

be Christmas and all the senior leaders

went on vacation but Yahoo was still at

the office so they gave me and another

Junior person an assignment which is

called prepare the War Room

which basically means hang the research

on the walls Well that took an hour and

so we still had a week to kill and so we

decided to comb through the data and

comb through the research find insights

and write the whole pitch ourselves you

know kill

time and uh when the leaders came back

we presented our document to them and

they actually used our document and our

strategy in the pitch and we lost the

business we did not win the pitch and my

boss gave me a huge promotion he

actually moved me up two levels I

skipped a

level because he wasn't rewarding My

outcome he was rewarding my behavior and

guess what he got he got a lot more

initiative because that's what got me

promoted was initiative and he was smart

enough to know that if he only if he

came up to me like great effort but you

didn't win so there's nothing I can give

you next time I'm not helping or I'm

playing it safe or I'll just leave it

for the other folks to do the work cuz

that's the behavior her rewarded so I'm

very impressed by organizations who who

who adapt their incentive reward and

recognition programs to align with the

behavior that they actually

want yeah that's that's that's profound

especially in healthcare it's hard it's

hard and I'm not saying abandoned

performance I'm saying balanced

performance we we over it's tipped too

far on performance for for for

legitimate reasons it's just easy to

measure right one's quantitative one's

qualitative and it's easy to recognize

count and reward quantity that that's

why we do it um it is more difficult the

other one and it and sometimes you have

to trust the

leaders that they know what they're

doing and who they um who they're who

they're building up um you also want to

be careful about not making Heroes out

of people but that's a different

conversation so can we change gears a

little bit I want to change gears

because I know you always wear orange

yeah and it's actually the vituity

orange um so I want to act like I gave

you that watch but I didn't yeah you did

not but but you're welcome yes yes or

thank you yeah yeah but tell us tell me

a little bit about the optimism company

because I think it's actually

interesting that we talked a little bit

about what you were building in our

strategic plan in vituity tell us the

audience about uh your optimism comp so

as I said before

um what the vision

was um inspired safe and

fulfilled and uh um I recognize that

there's a missing skill set there's a

there's a skill Gap to achieving this

Vision right we talk about hard skills

and soft skills I despise The term soft

skills because there's nothing soft

about them number one and number two

hard and soft are opposites and these

are not these two things are not working

against each other hard skills are

clearly the skills you need to do your

job you know I wouldn't trust you to

give me medical advice if you didn't go

to medical school and pass some of the

tests that they give you those are hard

skills right I like human skills

not soft skills and human skills are the

skills you need to be a better human

being and human skills make you a better

leader they give you a better bedside

manner they get make you a better team

member and teammate right um and we

don't teach human skills we just don't

teach them so a lot of people are bad

team members or substandard team members

or substandard leaders not because

they're bad people they just have never

been given the education I would never

expect you to know how to do surgery

without training how can I expect you to

lead without

training it's skill and so we've we

built the optimism company to fill that

Gap and teach human skills only things

like how to listen things like how to

have an effective confrontation like

somebody screwed up badly how do you or

you need to go up the chain of command

your bus is an idiot how do you tell

your bus they're an idiot thank you in a

way

[Laughter]

um in a way that they will hear the

information information rather than just

be defensive right and it goes in every

direction in an org chart um how to give

and receive feedback I like to we all

give feedback the way we like to receive

it turns out not everybody likes to

receive uh feedback the way we like to

get

it turns out so these are some of the

skills we're we're dedicated to teaching

and the amazing thing is when you talk

about improving lives like you're

devoted to helping people improve lives

um turns out if you teach the skills at

work in order to help them improve work

turns out once you have the skills you

have those skills and you find that

companies that make companies that do a

good job of teaching human skills they

the people who work at those companies

tend to have better marriages they tend

to have better relationships with their

kids because all those skills come home

you know if you get better at listening

guess what you get you're better at

listening to your spouse you know if if

something goes wrong at home and you've

learned how to give feedback or receive

feedback guess what it works at home too

so when you talk about improving lives

this is what I'm talking about the

ripples of our work

you

know so I'm I'm going to kind of weave

in some of the questions that people are

asking and then I I'd like to hopefully

we can get some mics yeah you can just

shout we can repeat the question from

the audience or we can find them but I

do want before we do that I um somebody

asked uh a question that I want to weave

into being grateful to you so you you

know I'm grateful personally um I think

by two is grateful for the time that you

spent with us um really trying to push

us like you do uh towards towards what

we already knew yeah but wanted to make

sure um we could it could manifest in

how we impact the world but for you

personally you you've told me this

before so I'm cheating but what's your

what would you say your personal just

cause

is well it's the

same to inspire to to create a world in

which the vast majority of people wake

up inspired feel safe wherever they are

and end the day fulfilled by the work

that they do and I I show up as a

friend in the same way I show up as a

leader of my company in the same way I

show up as a you know to to support

somebody I work with um you know my why

is to inspire people to do things that

Inspire them and that's it's why I get

out of bed in the morning that's why I

wear orange it's not for you it's for me

I'm human I I get I get sucked into the

daily details I'm I can be emotional I

can be reactive I can be shortsighted

and so these little flashes of Orange or

simply to remind me and I'm obsessed

like I carry a notebook and a pen in

case I have any in case I hand any uh

ideas and so it's an orange pen turns

out and I had them made so on the side

of the pen it

says it says

Inspire because that reminds me of my

job every time I write down an idea what

it's supposed to be doing and so improve

lives you know if if I can push you I

looked at your document over there it

said improve lives and it said there

were three things and they all had ing

they had all had the jirens which is

passive as if it's just happening and

they should be in the imperative improve

lives because it's everyone's

responsibility every day and improving

lives of course it's built into your

product of course of course it's built

into your profession of course but if

you're truly showing up to improve lives

that means for the person that left in

the person to the right as

well and so to show up as a leader

committed to improving lives like I want

you to be the best doctors in the world

because you're going to improve people's

lives I want you to be best leaders in

the world because you're going to

improve the lives of the people who work

with you and work for you um

uh so for me it's it's I don't separate

personal and professional it's me

awesome it's not just something I do at

work awesome awesome all right so I want

to where are

questions any any qu Vanessa's like me

pick me I'm I'm standing up I mean have

okay go we got we got a mic hold hold on

Vanessa because I don't think everybody

can hear

you we got one coming I can take if you

shout if you shout we oh there you go

here it Vanessa I appreciate you

speaking up I know you're shy

so moo you called on me man I was just

sitting here so I do the wellness work

for the Enterprise and a lot of what you

said really spoke to me because I do

think when we say improve lives we need

to start with our own lives first and so

I'd love to hear just maybe from you a

little bit more as to like

how what what happens when you do focus

on improving the lives of the people in

this room what happens outside of this

room and to the organization and to the

lives that we're trying to help outside

of this

room

so I'll come at the I'll come at it from

the side

we have forgotten the value of service

as a nation we

over indexed on rugged individualism

malor man type of stuff right we

celebrated the individual we made Heroes

out of

CEOs um and we forgot about the team and

the group and the company and the fact

that it's always a team effort cuz human

beings are social animals we're not that

good by ourselves and no one on the

planet has achieved anything alone it

all became somebody took a bet on us

somebody believed in us somebody was

there with us late at night somebody

gave us a shoulder to cryon and so you

know there's an there's a great irony in

Personal

Achievement which is you can't do it

alone it's just not you don't have the

nobody's got the stomach for it and if

you look at the highest performing quote

unquote individuals on the planet um and

you and I have talked about this

individual athletes are terrible gauges

because they organize their whole lives

around me and so like I have a friend

who's uh uh she's an Olympic

medalist and in on an individual sport

an ice skater and she'll freely admit

that she missed birthday she missed

Thanksgiving she missed Christmases

because she had to be as they as all

Olympians say I have to win the Olympics

as if there's one winner right and the

and the even thicker irony is is she won

a silver medal at the Olympics um the

gold medalist

fell in her routine my friend fell twice

so you're not the best in the world

you're just better that day than one

other person right

um anyway my point is is that is like I

like it when people commit to helping

each other uh in Alcoholics Anonymous we

know there's a 12-step program right and

we most of us are familiar with the

First Step admit you have a

problem and Alcoholics Anonymous knows

that if you master 11 steps but not the

12th you're probably going to still

succumb to the disease but if you master

the 12th step you will more likely

overcome the disease the 12th step is to

help another alcoholic service and so

when we say you have to be healthy you

have to protect your health you have to

exercise you have to eat right it's so

much stress and except for the few

people who are that disciplined the

those disciplined people make the rest

of us feel

insecure um uh really the best way to

get yourself healthy and get yourself

well is to help somebody else who's

struggling with the same thing if

somebody's struggling with their weight

if you're struggling with your weight

help somebody else who struggling with

their weight if you don't have the

discipline to exercise help somebody

else is struggling to have the

discipline to exercise and when we

commit to helping somebody else overcome

the problems that we're struggling with

it is amazing how much we overcome those

problems ourselves and we get the

intense intense oxytocin

Joy of helping someone else which as we

said is infinite minded It's help

helping your children as opposed to just

helping yourself so I I I love Wellness

programs especially when when when those

Wellness prog programs are organized to

help us not only get healthy and take

care of ourselves but to have the

incredible Joy of serving those who are

struggling with the same

things

service

awesome so I I have a question here

that's percolating its way to the top

while somebody takes the mic away from

Vanessa um

I'm kidding um so we feel like uh and

I'm paraphrasing here but we feel like

we're on an island um we feel like we

have this infinite DNA that we've you

know learning about now but we always

felt that way we feel like a lot of

people in the industry are super finite

you know Health Care Systems especially

you know where they have you know

quarter to quarter something their

leaders may only be in for a year or two

maybe three max what's your advice

device as we interact with them how do

we how do we help to move them to be

more infinite in their thinking you

don't I mean you can't change other

people you can serve as a beacon as an

example you can offer support if they

ask for it can't force anybody to do

anything and we go back to incentive

structures I can guarantee you they have

Mis they could agree with you but

they're not going to change their

behavior because their incentive

structures organized in the wrong

direction you know if they're only

incentivized by quarterly performance

guess what they're doing so you

know

you you wish them luck and sometimes

feel sorry for them

and go about your business I mean like I

know sometimes you have to interact with

them and sometimes their short minded

their short- termism affects you because

it creates stress for you but that's

part of the joy of working the system I

mean this is a this is a creative

Enterprise you know

[Music]

um you you yeah I mean you serve as an

example because your business will

outperform everybody else your business

will outshine everybody else your

employees will be happier your doctors

will be um higher performing and derive

more joy and they want to stay here and

over time they're going to actually make

more and do better and all of the

standard metrics also go up all the

money goes up also that's the great

irony of this and it's at some point

other Healthcare Systems start looking

at you going maybe we should copy pitu

because they're doing better and so the

early adopters will be curious about you

early and want to learn and are willing

to take risks to change but most

companies won't because there's risk

associated until the pressures are so

great that they actually start looking

for a new way I wouldn't worry about it

and over time it's their problem over

time we might attract different clients

based on yeah of course of course you

become a object yeah yeah

awesome okay we need one from the

audience I think that's part of the

problem is we we like we're so obsessed

with what everybody else is doing yeah I

think it's part of the problem with

thinking about competitors versus worthy

Rivals which is we were one of the

things I did when I first discovered

these Concepts and started talking about

them and writing about them is I

canceled uh my subscriptions to all my

trades because I realized that when I

would read these articles about what

companies in Myspace were doing I either

felt bad that I wasn't doing it or um I

copied them so I was johnnyc come

lately and what I started doing was

reading other companies trades other

industry trades because they were doing

things that weren't being done in my

industry that I could just steal and

learn from or they were having ideas

that were helping me solve the problems

that nobody in my category were solving

I was more curious what other people

were doing because I was always late to

the game if I was only reading about

what my people were doing now if you

have to read things obviously to keep up

but but I stopped thinking of them I

stopped reacting to those things um uh

at

all got M right

there we got a mic we got a mic coming

so I I think this is wonderful my name

is Jason so I live up in Marin I have a

phenomenal site can't

complain but what was resonating with

that last question you answered and the

question I have for you is more about

how do you work with Hospital leadership

when they are our partners we are

actually beholding our contract yeah you

know

is it's in our best interest to keep

them happy yeah but so if they don't buy

in we can't just turn away like you

suggested I I didn't say turn away well

not turn away but it is what it is I

mean there still has to be a give and

take so but let me take it a step

further so I understand as the medical

director walking that fine line between

my partners and the hospital sure but I

think the hardest part for a medical

director is getting our partners to

understand what you're saying and still

remain positive despite Administration

not supporting us the way that say a new

grad at a residency wants to feel

supported and so we're in that fine line

so what would your advice be for me to

take back to a young partner because

it's easy for me in my mind to

understand why the administration can't

do X Y and Z so what we're what we're

talking about is like you don't have to

be a bureaucrat to still function with

within a bureaucracy you you you you

play by the rules of the game right

clearly you can't be all high and mighty

because a it's not appealing but B it's

not going to work and so I always like

to bring it down to an individual right

what if one person

is I mean at the worst obstructionist

but the least

cynical and they're cynical for all the

reasons we've talked about misalign

incentive structures Etc maybe they were

just that's how they were raised you

know so I if it was one person you'd

actually know exactly what to do which

is you'd have a little empathy like like

I went for a walk with a friend of mine

who's struggling at work and this is how

the conversation started um my boss is a

terrible

person I I hate working for she's a

she's she's a terrible person and I said

oh my God does she abuse her children

and kick her

dog and she said no I said ah so we

don't know that she's a terrible person

we just know that she's a terrible

leader right and so and so it's the same

thing here which is a little bit of

empathy which is they have pressure on

them that you and I can't even

comprehend right maybe they weren't

given an education about how to lead

maybe they have had terrible role models

maybe they've got screwed up incentive

structures maybe they have a terrible

boss you know like we don't know what

they're operating in and we have to

assume that they're doing the best they

can with the circumstances and the tools

they've got so for us to come in with

empathy and to affirm rather than argue

H this you know you have to do it this

way they say with you know confidence

You' be like oh I can only imagine

that's you know I I know that you're

interested in some of the stuff that

it's frustrating and I think just

leading with empathy and affirming their

feelings um they're more likely to be

partners even if they can't do the thing

I think it's very very

human um uh we have to be dangerous

about the narratives we create about

other people and as Leaders we do this

to our employees and employees do this

to us right like I'm not talking about

after work venting that's perfectly

healthy I have no issue with that but

we've all had the experience where we're

sitting in a leadership meeting and the

name of an employee comes up and

somebody goes that guy's such an

idiot or G so lazy oh my God what an

such an underperformer I don't even know

why they're on the team right and the

problem is as all the other leaders hear

that and then that starts getting

repeated now the other leaders start

saying uh Lazy Steve again oh surprised

we got another problem with Stacy right

and that narrative now becomes toxic

because we now start treating those

people as lazy stupid um unmotivated

right and none of that is true it might

be true like they might be lazy

unmotivated and disengaged or they might

be struggling or they might have issues

at home or they might be in the wrong

job or they might be freaking out or

maybe they have a bad boss I don't know

I just know it's not necessarily that

and it's incumbent upon us as leaders

that if somebody starts to form a

narrative about one of our people that

we immediately cut off and say maybe or

maybe and then you give the list and by

the way it goes the other way around

which is we also sometimes make Heroes

out of people oh she's if you just give

it to her she's she'll fix everything

because then the one time something goes

wrong you there's you can't give

feedback because you created this public

hero out of somebody who does no wrong

and that that's equally as toxic and you

create your own toxic

Geniuses I've done it I know I'm talking

from experience right but we do the same

with our clients a that idiot just

doesn't get it and now we all treat that

person as an idiot who doesn't get it

rather than be like I know deep down

inside they love what we do and they

wish they could do it they're never

going to tell us that they're never

going to show us

that so I think empathy and and patience

um are remarkable things and to bring it

down to a very very very human level um

and and then you play the cards you

dealt you it's not your system that

you're you're dealing against it's their

system but you're not in their system

you just have to work alongside of it

and help them achieve their goals based

on their metrics in their system which

you'll try and do to the best of your

your capabilities and you will tell them

that we're going to help you achieve

what you need to an a million questions

lead with more questions there's data on

this which is a a good

salesperson let's start with a bad

salesperson a bad salesperson will ask

an average seven questions in a meeting

a good salesperson asks an average

32 so it's over Forex so the more

questions you ask the more data you'll

get the more you know how to lead with

empathy that would be my

suggestion let's uh go back to the

audience yay for empathy we got an

Applause for empathy yeah we got an

Applause for empathy you know I I just S

I will say you you said this to me

before um in a different way but I it

struck me when we were talking about

Health Systems we actually internally do

some of that too and what you're talking

about and I always say to people you

know I don't I don't think you should

ever interview for a

position because I think every day that

you interact you're interviewing for

that position right like you kind of

know how people behave most days right

until you say hey there's a job

opportunity and then then they behave

like someone totally different so it's

it's very interesting right um Southwest

airl Unfortunately they don't do this

anymore but Southwest Airlines if you

were um applying for a senior position

they would fly you to Dallas for the

interview right but what the candidate

didn't know is that before you walked

into your interview they talked to the

gate agent who checked you in in your

home City they talked to the flight

attendants who served you on their

planes they talked to the chauffeur who

drove you to their office they talked to

the front desk who let you in and they

talked to the secretary who who said um

he'll be right out and they already know

exactly who you are before you had the

interview I love

that all right who has the

mic I do hi I'm Tiffany I'm by T's

director of leadership development so I

love this leadership content you're

talking about and I love the way you

frame the term human skills uh because

I've been asked to help our leaders

improve myself included improve our

human skills so I'd love to hear a bit

about from your

perspective what your approach would be

um toward helping people be more

human so you're asking me the same

question as how do I

exercise I'm like well you have to do

arms you have to do legs you're going to

have to do core you're going to have to

do back you're going to have to do chest

well where should I start

yes you eventually have to do it all

just start and so my advice is usually

what's the fastest simplest thing you

can do with the highest probability of

success start there like what program

can you implement with very little

friction acceptable cost that will have

some degree of of success pretty quickly

do that one

first right like curls are much more fun

than

sit-ups so start with

curls you know um eventually you're

going to have to get to all of it but

you're you're getting buying and people

are starting to see and feel the

difference and so they become more open

to to more things later I I tend to um

encourage people to not start with some

big multi-year program that costs

millions of dollars to implement and

then launch it and then the marketing

launch that goes with it and then very

low adoption I I don't believe in

launches I just believe in starting like

I said the analogy is Healthcare not

Sports it's not an event it's a

practice um and or or start with things

that interest you like I need the skill

I'm going to start there because I want

to take the course or read the book or

whatever it is um

yeah I wish I had a better answer for

you nope that works I appreciate it

thank you awesome I think we have time

for one more question and then um I'll

give you closing some closing comments

one more amazing question no

pressure oh thank

you hello I'm a new medical director

with vitu uh just started in October so

I have

officially I was going to say I've drink

the Kool-Aid it's a very different group

than any that I've seen before um they

seem to stand for really that servant

leadership and and it's a different

experience than I've ever seen My worry

is coming into it when they're at the

Pinnacle we're at the top we're people

are seeing our difference people are

giving us contracts left and right how

does our senior leadership balance that

and keep the quality when we are being

recognized and we are winning over these

contracts people see the difference um

how do we balance growth with our our

mission being as many lives as possible

and balance that with keeping the

quality that pitu is known for yeah

great

question

um so number one is don't believe your

press right so if the bar is low so

Donnie Deutsch was a famous advertising

guy who said it's not hard to stand out

in an industry full of idiots right so

it's like you're doing great you're

being recognize but where's the

bar you know you know you have a lot of

room for improvement and I think the

analogy is the iceberg which is no

matter how much of the iceberg the

market can see which is your performance

your growth your your remarkable culture

you know that there's way more work to

be done beneath the ocean and so no

matter what people say and how other

people celebrate you the answer should

always be the mentality should always be

tip of the iceberg it's tip of the

iceberg you know and I think you have to

be careful about believing your own

press um um you can enjoy it you can

reward yourselves you can Pat yourselves

on the back and then you get back to

work you know um um uh humility matters

here and I think where a lot of

companies go sideways is they start to

actually believe we are the best and my

an infinite mindset CEOs do come up to

me they say but Simon like no offense to

you or anything

but we are the best

on every

metric and my answer is always for

now for now and we can't judge the

quality of a crew by how a ship performs

in calm Waters we can only judge the

quality of a crew by how a ship performs

in Rough Waters so while things are

great sure you guys are amazing let's

see what happens when you get pounded a

little bit some by some waves and some

storms let's see how the team comes

together then let's talk about how how

great this team is um difficulty is is

the test um um so yeah enjoy it it's

nice but don't necessarily believe it um

and remember it's just the tip of the

iceberg yeah I think

[Applause]

uh I think it's in it's interesting um

you know it gets to be personal once

you're in the fold sure um and uh you

know you want to advance the cause you

want to improve the lives of vitan you

want them to enjoy unless unless there

are new vitan out there and so I think

the the key is with growth or with any

of those things that we should always

look to people who aren't enjoying what

we have and give them an opportunity um

so that that's it's a great question so

I I have a maybe a final thought we have

about five minutes left and

so what what what was your what would be

your final thought to vituity your final

advice V

so growth is fine remember but growth is

the fuel for the car where are you going

companies don't exist to make money

companies exist to do something to have

some sort of impact or make our lives

easier or offer some sort of ease or or

um some sort of contribution to the end

user and money is the fuel that helps

them to keep doing that so I want you to

have more fuel in the tank otherwise the

whole thing dies so that's fine just

again context context context but if we

take it up a few thousand

feet I'd say that you have an

opportunity that you don't even realize

that's way bigger than the category in

which you operate which is if you look

at our

nation there's a few funny

Trends one is people don't trust

politicians anymore

shocker like their trust level is at an

all-time low but we have this strange

moment in time where they seem to trust

Corporation ations more than anything

else right which means corporations are

the the better leadership models than

our own actual Civic

leaders and if you look at our nation

there's been a total loss of

idealism we've lost idealism in our

country if you go back to Ronald Reagan

or johnf Kennedy I don't care what your

politics are our presidents used to

literally stand on the stage both of

them did this in their inaugurations and

talked about peace on

Earth they literally used the terms

world peace to explain the motivations

for their

actions in other words they were

infinite minded it was an ideal that

they knew they would never achieve but

my God they would die trying which was

the point and we don't talk about world

peace anymore as a

motivation in fact in in in invoking

those words actually sounds cheesy it

sounds corny to say oh I believe in

world peace right it didn't used to be

that way and I think when you look at

your cause to improve the

lives of as many people as possible that

is World Peace if people are healthy if

people know how to talk to each other

and treat each other and listen to each

other with whom they may have

disagreements whether they're political

or business if you those people are

happier people they're more fulfilled

they're more inspired they go home

happier more fulfilled they treat their

kids better they treat their spouses

better they treat their neighbors better

you Ripple that out a few thousand feet

you get world

peace I think the impact you can have on

the world in your industry and beyond

your industry is greater than you

realize simply by doing the things that

you fundamentally believe in and

committing yourself to a cause bigger

than yourselves believe it or not if you

get this

right other companies will copy you in

the 80s and 90s GE was the leadership

factory in America

because it was a different form of

capitalism a different form of it Jack

Welch made he was the poster child for

short-termism and made short timism the

standard that it is today at Great cost

to the

nation and

uh and if you had GE on your resume they

let you run a company you knew nothing

about sure you can run Home Depot

whatever you know like if you had G on

your resume everybody wanted you imagine

having vituity on resume makes you

eligible to lead any company in any

industry just because of your reputation

and guess what they take all the values

and all the lessons and all the things

they learned here and they bring them to

the other companies the reason Jack

Welch's model spread and became

normalized in our nation why Mass

layoffs have become standardized why

short-termism and quarterly results has

become standardized is because all those

GE went to lead other companies

[Applause]

now imagine that it's all vituity

Alum or people who you worked with who

saw the world differently and all of the

sudden over the course of about a year

or two started leading differently just

because you were so nice and you made

the feel you made them feel seen and

heard and understood which is all

anybody

wants I I want to instill in you that

the impact that you can have on your

company on your industry and the

nation is riper and more available than

you

realize the time is now and I'll tell

you the nation is sick and we need our

lives

improved if not you who

[Applause]