Episode 9: Dick Biggs on Leadership and Mentoring

So here's the secret. If the listeners don't hear anything else today, hear this: in order to have a greater quantity of self-motivation, surround yourself with the greatest quality of inspiration. What are you reading? Who are you hanging around? What are you listening to? That will determine your level of self-motivation, or the lack thereof.

Welcome to the Club Capital Leadership Podcast, where you will learn to grow your business, grow your leadership, and grow and develop your team. And now tune in to another great episode brought to you by your hosts, Bradley Hamner and Chris Ferretti. Chris really enjoyed this podcast with Dick. I think people are going to get a lot out of it. One of the things that he mentioned was his 5 tiers of leadership, and the first one being the titled leader, the task-oriented leader, the team-focused leader, the teaching-based leader, and finally, the treasured leader. Dick has been doing this for a really long time. Obviously, that comes out in the podcast. I think he said 34 years, if I'm not mistaken, that he's been doing this. And so he's just a treasure trove of information and knowledge and expertise. Chris, what's a couple of things you picked up on?

Definitely following the theme of the one-liners. So two one-liners that I really enjoy about him and could 100% relate to is, "He who is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else." Could not agree with that more. And also another one-liner that I really liked is that, "In order for you to have the greatest quality of self-motivation, you have to surround yourself with the greatest quality of inspiration." Basically, it's just telling you to be a lot more more selective of who you surround yourself with, because most likely that's what you end up going to be like. So I think this podcast is going to be packed with a ton of value and wisdom. So I'm super excited to hear what our listeners are going to have to say about this. All right.

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Thanks for the opportunity.

So we were reading and studying up on you before the podcast, and You have an amazing story. So I think it's only right that we start the podcast with that. Tell us just about your childhood journey to the military, starting a business with just $2,000, and of course now being a speaker and a coach.

I'll give you the Reader's Digest version. Yeah, I grew up in the Salvation Army, so we moved a lot around a lot. My parents were Salvation Army officers, and finally we landed in Atlanta at the Southern Territory headquarters in 1960. And prior to that, my first 9 years in school, I was not a good student. I was making Bad grades, bad conduct. And I landed at East Atlanta High School and an English teacher in my sophomore year said to me something that changed my whole life. Eloise Penn said, "I think you have a gift for communication and I'd like to work with you over the next 3 years." And I'm telling you this to brag on Miss Penn, not me. By the end of that 3-year period, this was a guy that couldn't put 2 sentences together. I was editor of the school newspaper, class graduation speaker, just some incredible things happened. Went off to college. We didn't have any money. I don't even remember how I got in the first semester. At the end of that, I was broke. So I came back, went down to visit my buddy Pete James, and he said, I've joined the Marines. Well, Pete had been our waterboy. I was the quarterback and free safety. So there was no way he was going in the Marine Corps and me sit on the sidelines. So I went down that day and joined, came back to share my joy with him. I've been singing from the halls of Montezuma and telling him my serial number, 2110713. He's glaring at me. And I said, oh no, I'm in trouble. He said, what's the matter? He said, Dick, I didn't join the Marines. I was just putting you on. And that's an absolutely true story. But the next day I joined, or he joined it because I took him down there, and off we go to boot camp. And I spent 4 years in the Marine Corps, was very fortunate during the midst of Vietnam, spent 2 years on the East Coast, 2 years on embassy duty at Warsaw, Poland, and Rome, Italy. And when I came back, I got back to journalism. I'd been a cop errand boy for the Atlanta Constitution. I went to work for the AP, and I loved the job, but I was starving to death. So I got into sales, spent about 13 years in sales and sales management. And one day in May of 1982, it was the biggest turning point of my life that year. I quit my job, didn't work for 5 months, trying to get up the courage to start my business. Started it in October of that year, met Judy in December, who would become my wife 2 years later. And that whole year just changed my life. So that's kind of brings you up to how I got into business.

Wow. That was a great story. I have to tell you, I mean, one of the things that really stood out to me right there is just the importance of having a mentor and somebody that saw something in you, poured into you for 3 years, and look where it's been able to take you.

And she's still alive, Bradley. She lives out in Decatur, Georgia. She's probably about 85 years old and just as sharp as a tack. And I gave her the 6 books I had written, and I was a little nervous because she's an English teacher, but she sent me back a very nice letter compliment. And I said, well, it just shows what a good teacher will do.

Wow, that's an amazing story. So thank you for sharing that. It definitely cleared up a few of the questions that I had, but I want to know more about your travels. You know, like, what was it like being abroad? Because you weren't just like a person traveling or just like the average Marine just doing duty abroad. Like, if I'm not mistaken, you were security for ambassadors over there in Warsaw, Poland, and in Rome, Italy, correct?

That's right. Marines are in charge of internal security of an embassy. The local police are in charge of the external part. So in 1979, when they overran the embassy in Iran, it was just too big of crowd for the local police, but it was a great job. And one of the benefits of that 2-year period, in addition to great guys— I just came back from my annual reunion with my Marine buddies out in Tucson, so that was the best part, meeting some great guys— but I got to travel, literally traveled all over Europe, got to see some places I never would have gotten to see. And at the time, not only was I getting paid by the Marine Corps, but I got just as much from the State Department. So we had a pretty good amount of money back in then, and I used most of it to travel. Unfortunately, I didn't save as much as I wanted to. But I got to see Europe, and of course that was a fun time.

Yeah, Europe's amazing. I was actually just in Rome in September, and I just fell in love. I was actually in Rome and Madrid and London. Madrid stole my heart. Rome, same thing. Which part would you say that was your favorite?

Well, when you go on embassy duty to a communist country like Poland was, they only stay one year, and they guarantee you can get one of your top 3 choices. So I picked Rome, Madrid, and Lisbon, and got to Rome, but also did visit Madrid and Barcelona. But I love the Italians. The people are so much fun. Everything is joyful about them. They love food. They love presenting their food. They love it when you can speak their language. I was able to do, you know, enough conversationally to have to be able to go out every day and it was just a great time. And in December of 1968, I got discharged as an E-5 Sergeant and came back to the real world.

Nice. Just so you know, io sto imparando l'italiano. I'm learning Italian right now.

There you go. Yeah, their favorite word over there is "manja." They put the tongue out and they say "manja," which is "eat." Eat.

Yeah. One thing that fascinated me about you is the fact that you're super active. So I saw that you have run over 200 races, 7 marathons, 13 half marathons, and even more. How'd you get into running?

You've done your homework, Chris. Thank you. I got into running because I wanted to be in shape for boot camp. My Uncle Carl had been a Marine drill instructor during before World War II, then he fought in World War II in Korea and is buried at Arlington Cemetery. And he said, one thing you want to do when you get to boot camp, you want to be in shape. Well, I got in shape with running. My buddy Pete didn't, and he about died the first 2 weeks because they run you everywhere. And I just kept the habit down through the years. I just like to be physically fit. I'm 74 years of age now. I don't race anymore and I don't do long distances anymore because I can't do physically what I did when I was your age, but I still get out I go out there and do about 15 miles a week, 3 days a week. Sometimes I walk, sometimes I run, but for my age, my doctor told me I'm in the top 2%. So I want to keep on keeping on. I'm not retired. I've cut way back, but I just can't see the benefit of retiring when you enjoy what you do.

I'm so happy you say that. So 2 things that I want to bring up after the last point that you talked about. So number 1, I'm actually training for my first half marathon right now. It's supposed to be happening—

Good for you.

On March 28th of this year. And a quick announcement that the world does not know. I have a suit business that's also launching and I'm going to be running it in suit. So, uh, wow.

Yeah.

So I'm excited about it. I like the suits already, like on its way and everything. So I'm pumped. So like, that's one thing. And then another thing that you mentioned regarding not retiring. So my grandfather has a very similar mindset to you. This man, is still working to this day. He's got his own business, but he's like, why would I want to retire and just sit and do nothing? Like, I love what I do. So I'm happy that you are doing something that makes you say that. And I think that that's a great example for all of our listeners.

Well, Betty White, the actress, when she turned 90, they said, why are you still working? She said, why should I retire when they keep asking me to do something I love to do? And I kind of subscribe to that philosophy.

So let's get into your business. I mean, in 1982, you Quit your job, a few months later you start your business. So take us from that point kind of up to present day. Certainly, I know I've read a lot of your blog posts and emails that you send out of your leadership articles, and you're certainly well known for the book that you wrote, Leading Your Insurance Agency to Greatness with Scott Foster. And we're certainly going to get into that today. So just talk to us about your business and what you do to support business owners across the country.

Yeah, thanks for asking. You're right, I did start my business in 1982 with little money and lots of enthusiasm. I tell people I was either too naive or dumb to not know that wasn't enough money, but somehow I made it and did a lot of work for a different industry up until about 1989 when I did meet Scott Foster. I know there are people listening on here that aren't with State Farm, perhaps Allstate or Farmers, but the things I'm going to talk about are applicable to any agent. Scott is a living legend. He just retired in December. Uh, I think he finished first out of 19,000 agents, probably half of his 42-year career. And you know that, Bradley. And we met in '89. In 1990, he asked me to come speak to his agency team, about 20 minutes. Little did I know that little 20-minute talk would literally spiral me all over State Farm. Started in Georgia, branched out in the South, and next thing you know, I'm all over the country. This went on all through the '90s. Then I got a huge break in 1999. As you know, Bradley, State Farm changed their model and they came out with State Farm Bank and mutual funds and car loans and credit cards and all that kind of stuff, all those financial services. And I happened to be at the home office and there was an executive there. That had hired me named Gary Lukovich. And he said something that literally catapulted my career within State Farm. He said, "With this new model, agents are gonna have to quit thinking like salespeople and start thinking like the CEO of the small business." I think that's the way he worded it. Now he said, "That doesn't mean sales aren't important." He said, "Sales are always gonna drive an agency." But he said, "They can hire people to sell. They have to start spending more of their time as leaders." So I went back and created a program called Beyond Agent to Small Business CEO. Started out, it was about a 90-minute program. Today it could be 2 or 3 days. It's actually based off the 5 tiers of agency leadership, which I'll talk about more if you want me to later. There's 20 modules and that just kept me going. I was traveling nonstop for you guys. Then finally in 2009, one of the field leaders up in Chicago said, you need to have an agent mentor program. So I went back and developed, based off his tips, developed a year-long agent mentor program for agents. And that's been very successful. And then as you said, in 2014, Scott said, hey, we need to write a book. So I wrote the book. Scott funded it and gave me a lot of his strategies and Leading Your Insurance Agency to Greatness, which is right here, came out in 2014 and sold thousands of copies. And that also led to he and I going out and doing a lot of joint seminars where Scott would talk about agency operations and financial services. And I would talk about leadership and teamwork. So that kind of gives you an overview of where I've been in the last 30 years doing work for State Farm.

I've got your book right here.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yeah, I know a lot of people purchased that book across the country. I just specifically want to talk to you about leadership, and there's so many different definitions of leadership, and so this may allow you to get into your 5 tiers of agency leadership. But just what is leadership in your eyes? How do you define it? What have you seen to change over the years regarding leadership, if anything?

Yeah, basically everything I do, it revolves around those 5 tiers. I'll just give you the quick overview of that. So, 5 tiers of agency leadership. The first tier is what I call the titled leader. That's about the agent and positional pride. That is, the agent goes through agency school or whatever training they go through, and at the end of that, they get a title— an agent, insurance agent— and they should be proud of that. Not everybody can do what you do. But at that point, and I always say the key word there is ego. There's nothing wrong with ego as long as it doesn't get excessive. I always say, you know when it's excessive because ego stands for esteem gone overboard, thinking too highly of yourself. But if you sit around patting yourself on the back saying, hey, I'm an agent, you're going to starve to death. So you better get to Tier 2 pretty quickly, which is the task-oriented leader. And that's where you get the work. I say the key word there is energy. It's all about the customer, making sales, and servicing those sales. So you go from the agent to the customer, and then the smart agents realize they can't do it by themselves, so they get to Tier 3, and that's the team-focused leader. And now it's not just about the agent or the customer, it's about the agency and deliberate delegation in which the agent actually entrusts a team of other people to do what he can't or she can't do by themselves. I always say many agents, not M-A-N-Y, but M-I-N-I. Your team is a group of many agents, and if you delegate properly, they can do a lot more for you than you can do yourself. Tier 4 is the teaching-based leader. That's generally the weakest leader for most agents. That's where you not only go from agent to customer to agency, But now you go to people development and getting peak performance out of these team members. And that's where mentoring takes on, or coaching, whatever you want to call it, where you really develop these people, some of which can go on to become agents. And if you do all of those long enough, you will get to Tier 5, which is the treasured leader. And that's where you've left an inspirational impact the way Scott Foster and many other great agents have done. So that's the way I look at leadership. It's kind of a 5-tiered process. And one of Things that I always ask agents early on in my seminars, I tell them it's 3 observations of having been around the industry for 30 years. The number 1 observation is every agent has the opportunity for growth and greatness. That's in your head, not somebody else's. You determine whether you want to grow and become a great business. Number 2, every agent knows what the leadership qualities are to get there: self-discipline, self-motivation, hard work, the right attitude, getting the right people, all those kind of— they know that. But are they doing it? And number 3, the agents that are doing it aren't focused on excuses, they're focused on execution. And I always loved Ben Franklin's quote. He said, he who is good at making excuses is seldom good at anything else.

I need to print that. I need to print that.

That's a Ben Franklin quote, and he's a pretty wise man.

Yeah, his autobiography, I would say, is second to none. Probably like one of my favorite books and would strongly recommend it to anybody just into self-development. Well, speaking of leadership, I would say leadership is all about making sure that A, you're leading yourself, and B, your team, others. So let's talk about teams for a little bit and teamwork. What does that mean to you? Like, what are your thoughts on hiring and firing and building a culture?

I can't tell you how many times, Chris, that agents have come up to me and said this: I've had a team member for 10 years or 15 years. They're absolutely not performing anywhere close to where I need them to be. And they're still there. And my attitude is every team member should be a peak performer. You don't need any slackers. The hardest thing to do as a leader is to fire somebody. Scott would always say, I don't fire them, I just find them another job. Sometimes within the industry, but in a different capacity, sometimes out of that. But if you aren't surrounding yourself with people like you, how can you expect to ever grow? And as you know, within a team, the worst thing that can happen is bad chemistry. And all it takes is one bad apple. My first sales manager, Charlie Osmond, he hired me out of journalism. I didn't know anything about sales. He said, the quickest way to get fired around here is to take my good people down with your bad attitude. And I saw him fire a couple people for that. So a leader's job is to set that environment and set those expectations. If the leader has great expectations and high energy, so are the rest of the team members. And if they aren't, then you need to replace them. And that takes a lot of guts because nobody likes to go, particularly in a small town. I hear that all the time. Oh, I go to church with this person. I see him at the grocery store. I can't fire. Technically, you're doing them a job when you let them go because it's good for them. It's good for the other team members and it's certainly good for the agency. So I look at teamwork in that respect. When the chemistry's right, the production's going to be right.

I like to say often that people want a high-performance team. They don't want a high-maintenance team.

Ah, great.

So I'm really curious, I mean, just because you've been around leadership development for so long, what has changed and what has stayed the same over 30 years?

Of course, technology is the biggest change, and I'm guilty of it. I mean, you saw that when we were trying to set up all of this stuff. I said to Terry Brock in 1993, guys, this is one of the great technology speakers in the country, used to live in Atlanta, now he lives in Orlando. It was my words to Terry in 1993. I will never have a computer. And I was dead serious. He took me back. He showed me a few things. I went out the next week. I spent $4,000 on a computer and printer. That was the going price back then. And I hated that thing for 6 months because I was trying to figure it out myself. So finally I went to a computer class and the day before the class, it was supposed to be 10 people in there. Everybody canceled but me. They said, well, we'll honor the date or you can Pick another day. I said, no, no, I'm coming. And I had that instructor all day and learned more in one day than I did the whole 6 months. And it taught me something. It taught me that if you're not good at something, find people that are good at it. So obviously the biggest change has been technology, but I think I just wrote my latest article. You know that Bradley, it was called the Power of Face-to-Face Communication. State Farm in particular has built their agencies off of that. Getting in there and seeing the people face to face. And a lot of that's going away now because a lot of these new agents, everything's on a device. And that's okay if you get an auto or you get a fire policy through a device, that's great. But then how are you going to develop them? You're not going to sell them life insurance and mutual funds and retirement and all that stuff, probably aren't going to do that over a device. And so I always encourage agents to get them in there, talk to them, do the reviews where you go over everything to see what they have, see if that can be improved. And to see if there's anything else you can help them with. So technology is a great tool, but it should never replace face-to-face. But change is hard, as you know. Every time I think of that, I think of the Italian immigrant that came over to live with his brother who had lived in America for many years and spoke fluent English. And so the immigrant Italian said to him that night, I like to get up early. And he said, I like to go out to a place and get something to eat, drink, and just relax. So his brother said, well, there's a little place down the street. He said, I'll tell you what you do. You go down there tomorrow and you say, "Able la panna coffee." So he goes down there the next morning, orders his apple pie and a coffee. This goes on for weeks. Finally, one night he said to his brother, he told him, he said, I need to change. I'm tired of that apple pie and a coffee. So his brother said, well, here's what you do. You go down the next morning and you say ham and an egg and a toast. So he goes down the next morning, ham and an egg and a toast. The waitress says, white or wheat? He goes, ham and an egg and a toast. And the waitress says, white or wheat? He goes, apple pie and a coffee. And that illustrates for a lot of people how hard it is to change because they like to go back to the tried and true ways. And sometimes that's good, but with technology, if you don't embrace it to some degree, you just get run over.

So I'm curious, what is the biggest mistake that you find? And this could be now, or that could be over the years. What's the biggest mistake that you find with business owners when it comes to leadership?

There's a lot of them, but if I had to name one, Bradley and Chris, I would say if I go in and I ask an agent, What are your goals for this year? Most of them will pull out a business plan or they'll point to their whiteboard and they'll say, here's what I'm going to do in 2020. And I say, great. Then I say, okay, where do you see your agency, your small business, 5 to 10 years from now? And normally there's silence because they're so wrapped up in this year that they don't see where their agency is going 5 to 10 years later. And one of the jobs of a leader is to cast that vision. To see where you're going. When Martin Luther King Jr. said, "I have a dream," that was the most basic vision you've ever seen. But if he had given that talk, "I have a goal," we wouldn't even be talking about that talk because everybody's got goals. But generally, it's the leaders who have the vision. So I would say that's the biggest mistake they make. Another one they make is they confuse inspiration with motivation. Now, in 38 years, I have never referred to myself as a motivational speaker, and let me explain why. Inspiration is about thinking. It means to stimulate thinking, which I hope I'm doing with this recording. Motivation has to do with doing or behavior. So I can go out and I can do a seminar, I can inspire them, but am I going to be there the next day to do it for them? No. And that's why they have to do it themselves. It's internal. Inspiration is external— a book, a speaker, uh, what, something on the outside. Motivation comes from within. That's why they call it self-motivation. Now there is such a thing as motivation by force and fear. When I was growing up, my parents would motivate me with spankings, with restriction, or when I went off to Parris Island for Marine boot camp, that was a higher level of motivation by force and fear, but I didn't have any choice. At home, I couldn't leave when I was a kid without severe consequences. I certainly couldn't leave Parris Island surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, but you try motivating by force and fear on a small business. They can walk out that door anytime they want to. So here's the secret. If the listeners don't hear anything else today, hear this: in order to have a greater quantity of self-motivation, surround yourself with the greatest quality of inspiration. What are you reading? Who are you hanging around? What are you listening to? That will determine your level of self-motivation, or the lack thereof.

Well, I think that's great. Can you repeat that for our listeners?

In order to have a greater quantity of self-motivation, surround yourself with the greatest quality of inspiration. It's huge. I mentored a kid from the first grade to his high school graduation, Scotty Cole, and we spent more time in those 12 years talking about outside influences, the people you hang around with, the things you watch, the things you read. And the kid turned out good. He wasn't a brilliant student. He came from a pretty troubled background, but he stayed out of trouble. He got married, he's got a kid, he's working. And so I like to think I had a little bit of influence on that kid. When I could have been just the opposite, considering where he grew up and the things he dealt with— drugs and alcohol in his family and all that kind of stuff.

First of all, I love that quote. That's one I'm gonna remember and write down. Also just wanted to say, I totally agree with you that casting that vision is not something that the leader can delegate. Then one of the things I believe that a leader, a CEO, a business owner can't delegate is the clarity on point A and point B, where they want the business to go. I mean, that can't be delegated. There's other things that can be delegated. That's definitely not one of them. That's one of the most important things that you do.

Absolutely. Another thing I tell people all the time is I rarely teach somebody something they don't already know, Bradley and Chris, very rarely. These are grown people. I may tell it in a different way. I may illustrate it in a funny or an inspirational way, but they probably know it. And so I've taught a principle for many years that I call— probably on my obituary, I want this to be in there. I just revised it the other day. I wrote my own obituary. I call it the greatest gap in life. The greatest gap in life is the gap between knowing and doing. Almost every agent and small business people, they know what to do, but they don't do it. And so I have dedicated a lot of what I do to getting people across that gap, bridging the gap between knowing and doing. I preach it. Forgive the word preach, but basically when I get on that subject, I pretty much become a preacher because I know it works.

So I'm totally fascinated by the things you said, especially regarding surrounding yourself with people that you find inspirational. I would say that I am where I am today because of that, and where I'm going is going to be exactly because of that too. I 100% believe, and people have heard this many times, but you really are who you surround yourself with. And there's a saying in Spanish that he who hangs out with wolves is soon going to know How to how, which is—

I love it.

Yeah. So I am 100% behind that message. And to anybody, I want to reinforce what Dick just said. If you want to change your life, simply change the people that you're hanging out with, change the content that you're consuming. And I can guarantee you that if you do that, it'll definitely, definitely, definitely impact your life.

My ideas only work if you do. Think about that.

Yeah. And that leads to my next point, which is once again, I fully agree with you that the biggest gap that exists today is the gap between knowing and actually doing. I mean, if information was enough to change us, then we would all have six-pack abs and be like super brilliant billionaires on a yacht somewhere. But that's not the case. Inspiration, action, that's what's going to change us. Thank you for saying something that like, the feeling I have had in my mind, but the way that you just worded it is just perfect. So thank you for that.

Well, I want to give you another little pearl of wisdom. Somebody handed me this pamphlet in 1973. I don't know if you can see it. It's called Common Denominator of Success, 1973. I still carry it with me today, except it's worn out. I keep changing them. And it was written by Prudential Insurance executive, given as a speech to the top life insurance people in 1940. In Philadelphia. And the theme of what he said is the common denominator of success is successful people learn to do the things that failures don't like to do. What the failures don't like to do, particularly in the insurance business, they don't like to prospect, they don't like to get rejected, they don't like to do the paperwork, plan, cast the vision. And he said, neither do successful people, but successful people learn to do what they don't like to get what they do like. So you're running a marathon, Chris, You're doing probably some things you don't like, going out on those early morning runs and putting in those 20-milers. But when you cross the finish line of a 26.2-mile race, you're going to get what you wanted because you put in the work and you did some things you didn't want to do to get what you really want. And it's the same in any endeavor in life.

Yeah, believe me, believe me, there's been some mornings where getting out of bed was the toughest thing to do. But I know on the flip side of that, The feeling that you get, like, once I personally started going, I actually asked myself, like, why did I wait so long? I actually feel so good right now. Like, me doing what I didn't want to do actually feels really good because I'm proving to myself that my lazy side is not in control of me. Like, I have a goal, and despite me not feeling like doing the things that are going to get me to that goal, the fact that I'm getting up and doing it, it's just inspiring me. Because once I do that, then I ask myself, like, what else What can I do if I just simply start doing? And that's a message to our listeners too, like, just get started doing the bare minimum thing on whatever it is that you want to do. And I can guarantee you that just taking that step is going to beget another step and another step and another step. And like, I'm still in my journey, but I can tell you that it's been a great ride so far. By no means easy, but it's enjoyable. Like sometimes whether it's prospecting, whether it's running, whatever the case may be, it sucks getting started. But once you actually do it and get going, it's a great feeling.

Well, Jeff Henderson, I heard him say recently, he's a pastor in the Atlanta area. He said, commitment will get you to the starting line, but consistency will get you to the finish line. There's a lot of committed people out there that get to the starting line, but they don't make it to the finish line because they're not consistent. And you got to be consistent. With anything in life, running a marathon, you really got to be consistent. You can't go out and run one week, quit for two weeks. You got to build up to that over several weeks. And how do you do it? One step at a time.

That's the thing that I really like about running. Like, there's not enough wishing that you can do that's going to get you to actually finish it. Like, you have to actually put one foot in front of the other until you get—

hey, I'm 74. If I can do it, what's your excuse? What's your excuse, man? I mean, I'm probably twice the age of most of the people I'm talking to, and they're making all these excuses. Execute. Just put the excuses aside and execute and do it daily. Days turn into months, months turn into years, and here I am, 38 years into a career and still going at it.

I tell you what, this is that inspiration you were talking about, right?

This is definitely that.

I'm trying, I'm trying. But remember, you gotta do the work.

I love it, I love it.

I'm ready to start running like right after this.

All right, Dick, well, listen, I think we could just stay on here for an hour and just let you continue to drop pearls of wisdom. But we always love at the end of our podcast to ask you an E9 rapid-fire question. So we're just going to fire off some quick questions to you and do your best.

I don't know these in advance, so I hope I can answer them.

I think you'll be fine. All right, what's the last book you read?

I'm reading it right now. It's called The MAGA Doctrine. I may get in trouble politically with some people, but that's what I'm reading.

Oh man, okay, that's pretty cool. Actually, I'm probably gonna have to take a look at it. What book would you recommend to others?

Oh gosh, there's so many, but probably one that stood with me— anything by Og Mandino. I got to meet Og when I was going to National speak associating meetings, and he wrote a ton of books. And he wrote one called The Greatest Salesman in the World, still sells hundreds of copies every year. And it's not just about sales. It's really a philosophy of life. The Greatest Salesman in the World by Og Mandino. It's a fictional story with a lot of real-life truths in it. So that's one I would recommend. Of course, the Bible. That's it. No, they don't call the Bible the motivated word of God. They call it the inspired word of God. It can't make you do anything, but it can inspire you. So I always recommend that one. And again, I may get in trouble with some people that don't believe as I do, but you asked the question and I answered.

We appreciate the honesty.

Og Mandino. That's a good book. That's behind me on the shelf for sure. That's a great book.

There you go.

You've traveled the world. Favorite place you've ever been?

I'm just going to give you the one we go to the most often. My parents honeymooned at Lake Junaluska, North Carolina, up in western North Carolina. So I've been hearing about that place all my life. Judy and I, my wife, we go up there every fall when the leaves are changing, sometimes 2 or 3 times a year. And it is the most beautiful property you've ever seen. It's a lake with, uh, hotels and other buildings around it, and then the mountains kind of ringing around it. It's right close to Waynesville and Maggie Valley, North Carolina. Love that place. Lake Junaluska, North Carolina.

Oh man, well, where have you not visited that you would love to visit?

Well, right before I came back from the Marines in Rome, I'd already planned a trip to Greece and the Greek Isles, and I got a school cut to get out early, and I had to cancel that trip. And a friend of mine just came back from Greece. Of course, now who knows with all this virus going on, but I would love to have seen Greece and the Greek Islands, and maybe one day I will, but so far that has not happened.

I think I know the answer to this, but when you're not coaching and mentoring, what do you love to do? We certainly know your love of running, but what else do you love to do?

Well, I've been working crossword puzzles for 40 years. Judy works them with me sometimes, and she calls herself my able assistant. So we do that on a regular basis. We travel. I read a lot. I love the Georgia Bulldogs. I know you're in Alabama, but I'm a big Georgia fan since 1960. And this will go really deep. When I grew up in the 1950s, the big music was doo-wop, very harmonious music if you've never listened to it. And I love to listen to doo-wop music all these years later. So again, I'm dating myself.

Yeah, I am from Alabama, but I'm an Auburn guy, so—

Okay. Well, good thing I can't rub it in about the Alabama-Georgia game coming up.

I've actually been to Athens before for a Georgia-Auburn game, and the Dawgs won that one.

Sorry about that. That series, after all these years, is pretty close. After all these years, it's a pretty big rivalry. It's—

I mean, Athens was crazy after the game. It was so bad. Oh yeah, could not drive.

I watch them on television now, Chris. I'm too old to watch those young kids out there.

Well, I mean, if you hadn't gotten into coaching or speaking, what do you think that you'd be doing now?

Well, I always tell State Farm agents sometimes, I say, I always wonder if I knew I knew what I knew when I was 25, I might have pursued that career. And they say, why don't you love what you do? I said, yeah, I love writing and speaking, but I could have done that and been a State Farm agent. But the reason I say that is in my business, of course, now I don't have to worry about it because I've got retirement income. But back when I had a mortgage and kids and all that, if I didn't produce, I didn't get paid. But at an agency, you get those renewals. So if you have a bad month, you still get a paycheck. So that might have been a course I would I would have pursued had I known what I know back when I was 25.

So you traveled the world speaking, and I'm sure you've spoken on all kinds of stages. Who is the one person you would love to share the stage with, the speaking stage with? Who's somebody you would love to present with?

Well, you know, it's funny you ask that question. I met John Maxwell back in the late 1990s because I was speaking at a dental convention in A guy came up and said, you remind me of John Maxwell, some of the things you talk about. And he sent me one of his books. So I was reading the intro of the book, The Success Journey. He had just moved his company from San Diego to Atlanta. So we met for lunch about every quarter for 5 years. He became one of my mentors. I used to do a lot of his programs, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership and The 17 Laws of Teamwork, but we never spoke together on the same platform. So that's That would have always been something nice to do. But again, that never happened. But hey, there's still time.

Well, I mean, what are all the books that you've written so far?

I've written 6 books. I wrote one called If Life Is a Balancing Act, Why Am I So Darn Clumsy? I wrote another one called Burn Brightly Without Burning Out. Both of them are work-life balance books. Of course, I wrote the leadership book for State Farm, Leading Your Insurance Agency to Greatness. Wrote another book called Wisdom based off the biblical Proverbs and Solomon being the wisest man ever. Wrote a little book, I call it a gift book. It's called Be Intentional Today. And I talk about intentionality in the 7 major areas of your life, your faith, your finances, your family, your friends, your place of business, those kinds of things. Very short book, but very powerful book. And then my last book, which I think I sent to you, Bradley, it's a book about my career. It's called Chronicles of a Career Communicator, because I was a Marine Sergeant, a journalist, a salesman, professional speaker, and author. So everything I've ever done has been in communication. So is there a 7th one coming? I don't know.

That's great. Well, last question on the E-9 and you're off the hot seat. Dick, what's the legacy that you hope to leave behind?

Yeah, I kind of summed it up probably with my purpose statement, which had to do with trying to live a life of of integrity, trying to influence others, and then trying to have some kind of immortality in that somebody else along the way might learn from something after I'm dead. So kind of integrity, influence, immortality. And I hope I've done that. I'm never going to be famous. I can go in any airport, nobody knows who I am. But within my little realm, I've tried to live life the way I think it should be lived, to try to influence others. Hopefully when I'm dead and gone, others will pick up a book or something that I've read and say, hey, wish I could have met this guy.

Well, Dick, it's been an absolute pleasure having you on the Club Capital Leadership Podcast. We are so grateful for your time. I mean, learning from your just years and years of wisdom, and you've just dropped so many different pearls. I know people are going to get a lot out of this podcast. If they want to learn more about you, your programs, how to be able to purchase some of your books, what's the best way for them to be able to do that?

Yeah, I'll give you, uh, 3 things. My cell phone number, and I don't mind giving that out. I still like getting phone calls instead of text. 770-262-0340. Email is my name, dickbiggs@att.net. And then my website is Biggs Speaks, B-I-G-G-S-P-E-A-K-S. It's kind of run together in the middle because when I did that one, you could only have 10 letters. So biggspeaks.com. They can go to the store thing there and they can see the books I've read. They can see the kind of programs I do. And if anybody wants to be on my free email newsletter, which is all about leadership, teamwork, inspiration, just contact me and I'll put you on there and you'll get it every month.

Dick, thank you so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Glad to have you on.

Yes, thank you, Dick.

Glad to do it. Thanks for asking me. Enjoy talking to you young guys.

Have a good one.

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I love the fact that he really lives up to what he preaches, which is doing what you love. I mean, he does what he loves and he's 74 years old, still not retired. And that's because of the fact that he actually loves what he does and he sees no sense in stopping what he loves. Another thing that I really liked and impressed me about Dick is the fact that he runs 15 miles at 74 years old every week and still does some aquatic training on top of that. So that to me is just simply mind-blowing. Definitely a very inspirational guy. And I hope that our listeners walked away with the same level of inspiration that I walked away with because now I'm ready to run through a wall, baby.

If you're interested in learning more about Dick and how he can help you and your business and your leadership, give him a call at 770-262-0340 or visit his website, Biggs bigspeaks.com. Bigspeaks.com. Want to thank our sponsors, Matt and Maddie Jones with DirectClicks. Great people. If you ever have questions about your Google Ads, internal inbound marketing, give those guys a call. Until next time, Chris, lead well and stay classy, baby.