The Impact of the WHY on your Team

Three, two.

Hello, everyone, and welcome to Y2Y for the month of April. Can you believe it? It's April and it's not tax month because we got a reprieve this year. So tax month is actually in May. Normally we're doing something not so fun right about this time of year is writing checks. But today we're going to talk about the importance of the YOs for teams. And we've got a great, great panel today. So I'm going to introduce them one by one. If this works well, we're going to bring them on one at a time. I'll say a little bit about them and then we'll bring on the next guest. So the first person I want to bring on, he's our host, our coach host this month is Mike Knapp. He's business growth coach and strategic advisor with Incrementa Consulting, and he's also one of our YOS certified professionals. His why is to find a better way. His how is to make sense of the complex and his what is to simplify. So look at that nice banner just appeared right when we said all those things. Welcome, Mike Knapp.

Thank you, Dan. It's a pleasure to be here.

It's great to have you. I'm looking forward to our conversation today. The other person we're bringing on that's also a certified YOS professional is Chris Kenny. He is the head coach at the Conscious Leaders group. So, Chris Kenny, wave hello to us.

Thank you for being here. Chris's why is to clarify. His how is make sense and is what is simplified. His how is mastery. I'm sorry. And is what is contribute. I'm getting him confused with the next very, very important guest that is joining us, and that is Debbie Kenny. He is a managing member and co founder of two organizations Right at Home and Alianza Family Services. Her why is contribute? Her what is make sense and her how is make sense and are what is simplified. So if you notice that both Debbie and Chris have a very similar last name, so we'll have them talk to us a little bit about that. Debbie is not only Chris's spouse, but she's also his most important client. So I can't wait to get into that conversation. And then finally, I want to invite on Leslie Morris. She's a managing director at Lights Tooling in Canada. She is a client of Mike Math and her why is contribute? Her how is trust and her what is better way. So we're going to talk about all of those three whys that each of us have Our why, how and what and how they've affected the work of all of these amazing guests. So, you know, I think what I'd love to do is have each of you just give us a one minute introduction about yourself and what your why journey's been like. I know, I know a little bit about all of you, but I want to learn a little bit more. So Mike, why don't you kick us off?

Thank you, Dan. My why journey started about 18 months ago when you, when you guys came in and did an amazing presentation for our coaching organization. Now, even then I thought I understood my why, but what when you started peeling the onion and going through that why framework, it was just this series of aha moments for me because not only did it align with my purpose, but it got one level deeper and really helped reflect why it is that purpose was so important to me and how I and what I bring to the world through it. So, you know, I spent 20 plus years doing process improvement and helping develop leaders and create that better way than to have this come back and say, hey, you are better way.

That's who you are.

It was just like, oh, well, part of it was well done and the other part was incredibly reaffirming. So very powerful for me.

Excellent, Excellent. Thanks for sharing that, Mike. And I know we're going to get into a little bit more. We're going to talk about how you've worked with Leslie and how that work has bore some fruit for you guys. The next person on my screen, I hope it's the same for everybody, is Chris Kenny. Chris Kenny has been with the Y Institute for a long time. And so he is, you know, I kind of, kind of think of him as the Y sage because he knows more about why than just about everyone except Gary. So, Chris Kenny, tell us a little bit about your why journey and how, how it's been for you. And we've made a lot of changes in the last year and a half.

Yeah, it's been a great journey, Dan. Thank you. Thanks for having me. My journey started about seven years ago when Gary Sanchez, Gary, of course, the founder of the Y Institute, we are friends and know one another here in Albuquerque. We were having coffee as I was describing to him how I was helping businesses define their purpose.

And Gary said, well, I think I might have a better way. Which of course is like Mike, it is Gary's why. And indeed he did have a better way. And it really is this why discovery process that Gary and you and the team at the Y Institute have developed. Over the years, very powerful. It's been a great journey so far, and I'm excited to share what I can with about how we're using it with clients.

We've got lots of people tuning in. For those of you who don't know, I'm the chief Growth officer at the Y Institute, so I spend every day talking to people for the first time about Y, helping people figure out what the heck is Y, what is the yos. So it's a lot of fun. So a lot of things that I do also is I talk to people who. Who say after they discover their why and their yos that say, ooh, I want to know more. Can you do this for my team? And so a lot of those people have said, yeah, I want to do this for my team. How do I learn more? So I invited them here today, and Bailey is going to keep track of those people. Bailey Nielsen is in the background making sure this live goes well. So she'll put your questions, put your questions in the chat. Let us know what questions you have. I know all of us are eager to talk to you and hear from you and get your feedback as we go through. So I'm going to invite Leslie to give us a quick introduction. I think of all of us.

She's a managing director at Light Schooling. She has a great why of contribute, a how of trust, and what a better way. So, Leslie, we'll let you introduce yourself.

Thanks, Dan. I appreciate it. So excited to be here. The journey started prior to probably a better part of a year ago, even a little bit more so than a year ago. Just kind of came on board. I reorganized the business and needed to understand what was the purpose, why was I here? Aside from trying to drive sales, revenue and brand recognition, what was the core why? So started working with Mike, and we did this assessment with. With me and my entire team, and it was smack me in the face type of moment. I kind of understood everything. I understood why I was there, but now I really had the right terminology to ground me and to share with the team and the journey that we're going on and to communicate. So it was incredible, and I'm excited to be here.

Excellent. Well, thank you, Leslie. And I love the way you said it was like, smack me in the face. Clarity. Right? And clarity, I know, is a word that Mr. Kennedy loves. So, you know, when we talk about the YOS and Hawaiian Institute, we believe in finding a better way. We believe in finding clarity, giving you clarity and simplicity. So it's better way. Clarify simplify And I know that that's. That's near and dear to Chris. Kenny, so glad you brought that up. And even though you were working with Mike, I know Chris was cheering for that answer. And then finally, introduce Debbie Kenney. So Debbie Kenney is Chris's wife, but she's also a client. So now, Debbie, I'm going to give you the description that Chris gave me and you tell me if it's correct. He said, not only is she a client, she is my toughest client. And so he brought in the big hitter. So I'll let you introduce yourself, Debbie. You've got a couple of businesses that are both very successful and you use wireless in both of your business. So tell us about it.

Okay, so about seven years ago, when Chris was exposed to this, he likes to use my companies as the guinea pig before he tries it out on other clients. So he tried it out on Alianza, because my partners in the company, we were really strong, struggling. We were struggling with communication. We were just struggling to get on the same page. So he's like, let me try this. And we did the why. And it was really interesting because the first thing we noticed was what we had in common, which all of us had contribute. And Alianza is a company that works with adults that are developmentally disabled. So it's really important that we all have that kind of core. We want to make it better. But when we dug a little further, we understood, like, somebody had trust and somebody had better way, and I make sense. And we quickly discovered that was what was causing some of the friction and conflict. And as we learned more through Chris and Gary, we learned then that we could maybe change the way we speak to each other, provide a little more clarity. And things started to be smoother. Not perfect, but smoother. A few years later, we bought right at home, and.

We were talking about our how and our why and our what and all that. And my co workers there were just like, we want to know more. I mean, they were just so excited. So we've. We brought it to them and we use it at both companies.

So you mentioned something really important. It helps you communicate better when you know not just the why, but the why, how and what of everybody else on the team. And I'm a contributor also, Debbie. So when you. When your why is contribute, and you're working at a place like, like Alianza, you guys are, you know, obviously dedicated to that mission. So you're going to attract people with the wife, contribute. But there were. I love the way you said it. There were. There are other parts to it. So when you get to the how and the what, it really helps you understand everybody else. So I wanted to start with. With a quick definition, though, because there are people that are watching or that are listening that are saying, what is a yos? Right? What the heck are you guys talking about? So I'm going to give my version, but then I want to have Chris and Mike give their definition, because I like the perspective of different people. And that's why we're here, right? That's why we have five of us instead of one of us giving a lecture. So the way I look at the Y operating system. So YOS stands for Y operating system. It consists of your why, your how, and your what. And the reason we call it an operating system is because it's just like on a computer. A computer computer has an operating system. It's how that computer does everything, right? It prioritizes how you communicate. It prioritizes which programs go in front, which ones go to the back, and which ones are just run in the background. Right? Well, guess what? Our why, how, and what does that for us, doesn't it? I think your why is what drives you to do what you do. Your how is how you go about it, and your what is what people can expect from you.

So.

So when you're talking to, for example, Leslie, her why is to contribute. She's driven to help people. And how she does that is our building trust. But ultimately, what people can expect from her is a better way of doing things. And so that kind of is her operating system, and it's also her filter. So those are the two ways that I describe it. But I know for a fact that Mike Knapp's got a better definition. So I'm going to go to him and see how he explains it when he's thinking of bringing YOS to someone for the first time.

So I have two definitions I use. The first one is really simple. Your YOS is your gift. It's what core piece you run on the operating system for your brain. For me, that's to create a better way. Everything I do gets layered on top of that. My. My purpose, the things I try to give to the world, everything layers on top of that Y operating system. But, Dan, like you, I love the computer side of things. The computer side of things. It's where it came from. I was the IT geek for so long that when you guys switched to yos, I little piece of me got excited, you know, because your body is the hardware, your Brain is the hardware and then you have an operating system that runs on top of it. And what you choose to do with the operating system is a whole different story. And your operating system might be incredibly simple and easy to use like a Mac and it might be, or it might be incredibly detailed and powerful like Linux or it might be Windows. But no matter whichever one that is, you find the best way to accomplish things through that operating system.

How about you Chris? Let's go to you. I'm looking for comments. You see my eyes wander a little bit. Perfect. Chris.

Yeah, I mean I, I mean I love what you guys have, have shared already. I mean someone said this the other day, it's not my original idea, I'm not sure that I have any of those anyway.

But.

The YOS is really sort of like your why it's heart, head and hands. Right? So why is really your heart.

Really the thing that motivates you? It reaches you at a deep level. The how is sort of the head. How do you want to present yourself in the world? And the hands part, part what is, what can you be counted on? What do you bring to a situation every time? And so yeah, the operating system is really about, you know, what drives you and it drives you at a deep level. It's learned and sort of becomes part of who you are at a very, very early age. And so the great thing about the Wye operating system as the Wyoming Institute has put it together, is that it gives people language.

That is very simple and understandable for things that get to a core feeling state. And you know, you don't have to get into brain biology and everything else. But the fact of the matter is that what we're trying to describe with these words, better way clarify, etc. Are really sort of feeling and emotional states which are hard to describe. And so the Y Institute has done a great job in terms of putting some language that people can really understand very quickly. Which is I think part of the reason as Debbie shared, that it helps with communication when you have this essential first step towards self understanding and you're able to articulate it in language with other people that other people can, can understand now people can start to get one another much more quickly.

Yeah, I love how you said that because it really so amazing. Chris and Debbie are on the same page. It's about communicating better, right? It really does improve communication. So thank you both for, for those two definitions. I think it's important that you know, by the way, if you're listening, if you're watching Put your comments in the chat. Bailey's doing a great job of getting him to us. And the first question is so easy, I'm gonna let Chris Kenny answer it. Chris, will there be a recording of this event?

Yes, there will.

Yes.

I didn't even prompt her for that. Yes, we are going to have a recording. So thank you for listening, Kathy. I know. I was just on the phone with Kathy Simmons and she's like, oh, it's coming up, so I'll see you on there. So thanks for joining, Kathy. I'm sure we'll get some more questions as we go along. Before we go further, Mike, you have a giveaway that you're going to give at the end of today's recording. So I want to give you an opportunity to talk about it and let people know what you're going to give away so that they stay on till the end. Because we're not giving it away till the end. Bailey's going to pick a name from all the participants and give your gift away.

So one of the first things I do with every leadership team I work with is a yos discovery for the, for that team where we actually go through, figure out everyone's Yoshi and then start aligning them in a matrix so you can understand the strengths and weaknesses of the team and how that team dynamic is created. So what I'm giving away is one of those for, for a team of up to five. It's about a two hour workshop that Dan, I know you guys, you guys sell it for around US$2,500. So I'm looking forward to finding a new team to play with and, and walk them through this and see a whole bunch of aha moments and lights turning on.

You know, I love that you talked about how it's the first thing you do. I think with people. I don't talk to anyone. I used to, I used to talk to people without knowing their why. Somebody would be call and say they'd be interested in learning and it was such a struggle to try to talk to someone and try to connect with them without knowing their why. And so I've almost, I've remained it now. Not almost. I have made it a requirement if you have an appointment with me and you haven't been through the Y, I'm going to reschedule you because it takes five minutes. So take five minutes before our call. It's really good about sending reminders the day of, hey, you haven't taken it yet. Make sure you take it and if it's Time for our appointment, and you haven't taken it. I'm going to respond because I don't want to guess what's important to you. I want to know. And if I know your why, I want to talk to you in your language. And so I think it's the same for teams, right, Mike? If you know the yos of the team, you know how to talk to that so that your message resonates. And then you got to know the yos of the leader. So I'm going to go with Debbie and Leslie. And Debbie, we'll go with you first. I want you to take me back when you first learned the yos of your team, and let's go do the first one. I think it was Alianza that you did first. You remember the feeling coming out of that workshop.

So.

We did the workshop after. After the partners did it, we brought it to the rest of our team, and we have about 20 employees. And so we did the matrix that you're talking about, and everybody was really interested and excited to learn about this tool. And then what we did next was everybody partnered up with one person that had a different why or how or what. And they went off over the next week and they talked about it and how that would change how they would communicate with each other. And then the next week when we had the meeting again, we all shared. And I think people really enjoy understanding that it helps people, like you said, communicate better and that a challenged person needs different things than a trust person. So we found that very successful.

Everybody that's listening, we're going to take care of this feedback. So everybody, let's mute ourselves.

Okay.

Let'S see. Debbie, unmute yourself.

Okay.

Okay. It's not you. Okay, Chris.

It's Chris. There's background noise in your. In yours. Chris, how about you? Mute again. Chris.

Go ahead and unmute Leslie.

Okay, so I think we've got to figure out. Go ahead and mute Leslie, and then let's unmute Mike. This is all very high tech stuff we're doing. All right, Mike.

Go ahead and.

Then let's unmute.

Leslie, can you mute, please?

All right, perfect. Okay, so I think the majority of the background noise is coming from you, Leslie. So let's keep you muted unless you're answering, which means you're answering right now. So we're going to have to unmute you. Let's all keep ourselves muted unless we're talking. But, Leslie, same question for you. What was it like? What was that feeling like when you first learned the yos of Your team?

Yeah, it was an interesting experience, to say the least. I think Mike recalls.

Was eye opening. It was informative, it was interesting. There was a bit of conflict.

It was just an incredible experience. I don't think the team was really, really prepared for what it was. And I don't think they were prepared for sort of the steps that we went through it. And that is because they were really never exposed to anything like this. Totally new for them. So I think there was a lot of apprehension. But afterwards, going back to this one word, there was clarity. They understood what was driving them, what innately drove them. They understood the how and the what. Even though we sort of tried to manage people to understand why they were certain ways, overall it was a great experience and it helps me understand. It helps me how to communicate to the team too.

Of course, as we said, Leslie, we knew Chris was going to be cheering for that clarity because it really does bring clarity, doesn't it? And we've got a comment here from Kathy. Chris, I love the head, heart and hands analogy. So you got kudos to Chris on that. I love what you said there. Your heart is your why, your head is your how. It's kind of how you go about it. It's more mental. And then your what is what you bring. And so it's your hands, it's what you do. So thank you for that, Chris, and thank you, Kathy, for the comment. So now that we know how you felt and Chris and Mike, you guys can add color to this. But we talked about how you felt coming out of the workshop. How did your team dynamics change once you knew the yos of the people on the team? Let's go with you first this time, Leslie. What changed in your team dynamics when you knew the why, how, what of each member?

There was always a resistance to very clear and open communication. It seemed that everyone felt or implied that the others understood and understood the reasoning for actions. Understanding and being. You know, bringing to light what everyone's why was helped people communicate better, interact better, develop trust, lean on them, just. Just work better as a team. Even though we've had a bit of shifts in our organization, the fundamental group that still remains here interacts with each other in a much, much deeper level. I think meeting our goals at the end is better because we all know how to communicate with each.

Other. There we go. I had a unmute and I couldn't find the screen. So that was a direct output of the workshop. Leslie, thank you. Mike, do you have anything to add in working with Leslie's team.

Well, I've been working with Leslie's team for going on a year and leslie for longer, and as soon as we started to understand Leslie's why, it actually got through a lot of the conflict she was having. You know, having trust in your yos at all is an amazing thing, but sometimes it can be a. There's some. Some challenges with it, too.

Right?

So where at first, when we'd run into a people issue that she was dealing with, it was unclear as to why. As soon as we understood her yos, it was, oh, that's a trust issue and help. And it was much easier to get her through it. One of the things I found with their team is we all have this bias.

I communicate this way, therefore people should understand the way I communicate.

Right?

It's about me. When you understand the people in the teams as YOs, you actually start to realize that they aren't the same as you. They don't think the same as you. They don't process the same as you, and you understand some of the. Some of the strengths and weaknesses there. So it's not just. Well, I mean, Chris, clarify. I'm sorry, it doesn't get much farther away from my way of thinking than clarify.

Right.

But understanding that about Chris means I don't sit there and go, well, he doesn't think the same way as me or he's not getting it because I'm describing it my way. Much deeper relationship really quickly where I can communicate and make sure I can make things clear. So Chris gets it.

I just want to piggyback on what Mike said. Another important component of this for everybody, and I think it plays out in team dynamics, is that.

You described. I think, Mike, you described it as your gift, right? Your yos is really your gift. And that's absolutely true. And at the same time, the other thing that is important to keep in mind is that it can also be your Achilles heel. So as an example, I'm a clarified person, right? So I'll take time to say things over and over again until I'm satisfied that I've said it the way it ought to be said. That can be a real irritant to people, as Debbie can attest.

That's one. The other is, for a clarify individual like me, if I am not clear on something, if Mike has explained something or has tried to explain something to me and I'm not getting it for whatever reason, it's not clear to me. It's hard for me to agree and move forward with Mike because I'll be digging my heels in. Right. And that can be really frustrating to the other members of the team. So what I'm trying to point out here is that when you know the other teammates, yos, you can recognize where they may be getting stuck. They're getting stuck because in my case, I'm not clear on something. It's not that I'm trying to be resistant to what's going on or whatever. And at that point, it's not necessarily a gift. It's a source of frustration for everybody else on the team. So it's important to understand these as both great strengths, but also the things that can get in your way or maybe getting in the way of your teammate. But what's important is the understanding. The understanding that that's what's going on. I think that's the value that the language we use around the yos can bring to a team dynamic. So I just wanted to share that with everybody.

And I think that's what we learn from Chris being our coach. The teams really learned the gift that this other why brings to the team, but it's also their biggest need. And so if somebody's a trust, I need to approach that person differently because their need, it's their gift, but it's also what they need. And I think we learned that from Chris. And that was just a perfect example of.

Well, and Debbie, you had a last thing on this. So in that example, so she was dealing recently with a colleague who is a trust person. His why is he's got trust as one of his.

His yos.

And Debbie is a makes sense person.

Right.

And so this individual had presented some information to Debbie that for Debbie didn't make sense. So Debbie was asking him all sorts of questions about his reasoning and had he thought of this or that or the other thing. And he became rather defensive. And what she later. Debbie knows this stuff better than I do because she uses it every day in her work. But what she realized was she was her makes sense was running smack up against this. This individual's need for. To be. To feel like he was a trusted individual. But with all the questions Debbie was asking, he began to take it personally that she did not trust him or his reasoning, when in fact she was just trying to. To make sense of it for herself.

So when I started to realize that, you know, then you. You do need to bring clarity. And I had to say, you know, you know, my. My how is to make sense, and I need it to make sense. So when I'm asking these questions it's because it's my need for it to make sense, and that really helped. We got on the same page and then we were able to solve that problem. He happens to be the person that deals with our money. So trust is a really good thing. He wants to be trusted and we trust him. So it's important. But it was also important to understand where I, you know, why I was, like, on it and needing to ask questions and ask questions. So it was, it was a. It was a really good example.

Excellent. No, thank you so much, Debbie. And that makes so much sense. Thank you for that real life example, Chris, because sometimes a CEO or a team leader will ask me, what's the benefit of it? It's really hard to explain. So that's why I invited all of them. I know Melanie Ake just joined, so welcome, Melanie. Thank you. And I'm going to invite everybody that's watching live, put your comments in the chat so that way we know you're there and then we can acknowledge you and then enter your name for the drawing at the end of the show today because we want to make sure we give away that valuable prize, amazingly valuable prize. And just the time with Mike. You know, I've gotten to know Mike really well over the past, I guess, 12 months. Just about right. And he's a tremendous coach. So I'm so glad he's willing to give some of his time to somebody, a lucky person that's going to be on the, on the show today that's listening or watching, and it's going to get a chance to get work with Mike. Let me ask a question. So we've talked about how you felt after learning the yos of your team. We've talked about how your team dynamics changed. Does your communication and Chris and Debbie kind of addressed it a little bit. How has your communication changed? Does it change from person to person? Do you literally say, oh, I'm talking to someone with a y of clarify. I'm going to make sure I do this. I'm talking to someone with a y of contribute. Has that changed since you guys now know the yos of your teams? And let's go with Leslie. Let's go with you first.

Yeah.

It certainly has changed the way I talk to my team. It helps me narrow in on how to communicate, how to be very, very clear and concise based on what's driving them and what their why is. There's a clear example of one of my team members. He's a sales rep and he just needed to understand how he was of value value to his customer. And we broke it down for him because his. His why is contribute, how is he bringing and how is he contributing to the impact of his customer? And so we broke it down and it made so much sense for him. That clarity was astronomical and really helped him win over the customer. So that was such a powerful example of knowing his why and communicating his why to him.

Excellent. Love that. Melanie says clear communication allows you to make a bigger impact. That is so true. And everybody's kissing up to Chris, Kenny and his clarify why. You know, when we have our team calls or we have the coaches together, he's always talking about the best why is clarify. And I don't know today he's making a good case for it. And the comments are matching up with that. So, Chris, you know, we might have to give you a gold star here at the end.

So all of my checks must have cleared for Melanie and Kathy. So thank you for that.

Yeah, good stuff. How about you, Debbie? Tell me about how you again, you're dealing with two teams that you work with. How do you communicate differently based on knowing the people's why?

So I've noticed that when we have a barrier or a problem, one of the first things that the managers or myself will do is what is their why, how, or what? Because you can't really fix it. You can't help them break it down without understanding where they're coming from. Another way that we use it.

Maybe we don't know somebody's how, why or what. But sometimes we can say, this person seems to be a right way. They might have a right way of why. And. And I can give you an example. We had an accountant who all of us were having a hard time dealing with. And I was like, well, she's probably a right way and we want her to be right way. It's our money. And how would you deal with that person? And so then we would modify our style to fit her needs so that we could still get what we wanted out of her, which was to do it our way anyway. So we use it a couple of times. You know, we use it when there are barriers and we also use it even if we don't know that person's why, but it helps us describe that person and how maybe is the best way to communicate with them and interact with them.

That is so, so brilliant. Because one of the things we talk about at the Y Institute is how knowing the why of the why operating system of the person you're talking to is an unfair advantage. It's almost unfair in that you know exactly what words they're looking for. Right? So if you're talking to Debbie or Leslie or Dan, you want to talk to us about how what you're doing is going to help people. We're looking for words like make an impact, help people contribute. Right? So if you include those words in your presentation, Leslie, Debbie, and Dan are much more likely to go like this. Right. When we're talking to Chris Kenney, we want to talk about clarity. The more we talk about clarity, the more Chris is going to nod his head because that's important to him. Right. And with Mike, I remember just even our first conversation way back when, I was telling him about the yos and the why. And I remember, look, he cares about how this is better, so talk to him about how this is better than what he might already be doing. And we get a lot of head nods. I think it's whether you're in the growth space, sales space, or you're in the human resources space, I think it's not. I almost don't want to call it unfair advantage. I think it's the responsible thing to do. Right. It's to know your client as best as you can. That way you're not throwing stuff against the wall and hoping they get it right. Because we all have a general presentation we can give, but if we can make that presentation stand out to you so that you feel in touch with what it is that we're presenting, the better. So.

So.

Hey, Dr. Pauline Crawford, welcome. She says clear communication is the key to new narratives for business today. And her why is contribute. I've had a few phone conversations with Dr. Pauline Crawford. She is an amazing, amazing individual. So thank you for joining us today, Dan.

She also wrote in. I appreciate this comment. Let go being right. Tune into the other person. And you know what's brilliant about that and why the yos really helps with that is, you know, here's the bottom line. If you want to get anything done in this world, it's by and through people.

Yes.

And people want to know. The first thing that they want to know is that they matter.

To you. The owner of the business, the CEO of the business, they want to know that they matter not just for the skills that they bring, but for the person that they are or who they are. And so when you understand a person's yos, if you're a CEO, right. You can do just. What you're describing is communicate to that individual in language that resonates with that person. And when you do that, the message that it sends to the other individual is that they matter to you. You are sensitive to what they need. You are sensitive to the gifts that they bring. You're talking to them in their language. All of those things send signals to the other person that they are important to you. And when you communicate that as a business owner or a CEO, you're going to get far more productivity out of your colleague than if you're not sensitive.

Sensitive to that.

So I appreciate what Dr. Crawford wrote in the comment.

Yes. And Chris, you probably want to meet Dr. Crawford. She does some amazing work in the field of the difference in genders and how we communicate. So, you know, we should probably have her on our podcast. But I'm so glad she's here because she really resonates with the why. Because regardless of whether you're male or female or how you communicate, your why doesn't change. There are males with why of challenge. There are females with the why of challenge. All of us share the whys. Our communication styles are built on our why. And then what she brings is just that knowledge of the different ways we express it. Right. A challenge why my express differently depending on their background. And so she brings a lot of knowledge of that. And so glad to have her on and that you guys are on. So, Dr. Crawford, we'll have to get you on our podcast here soon. Let's ask another question because, and by the way, if you're listening and you have a question, please, please put it in the chat. We'll get to it.

We talked about whether your communication changes from Y to Y. Let's talk about the performance of the team. Has working this way, knowing the yos of the team helped you reach goals faster? What can you think of an example? I know, Debbie, for you it's been a while since you started, but what's changed in terms of your performance as a team?

So I think as a performance of a team, it's really understanding and the communication.

One thing that we've done is when we do annual reviews, we do have everybody's why, how and what at the top. So that as we're discussing our core values and challenges and opportunities for the next year, we can be reminded to put it in terms that are meaningful to them and draw on their strengths. So I think more of it is just that we use it and we rely on it and we refer to it when we're interacting.

I love it. We do that at the Y Institute. Our why, how Wets are at the top of the chalkboard when we have our meetings, because we just keep in mind where people are coming from, right. Why they're saying the things they do. How about you, Leslie?

Yeah, it certainly made a huge impact, especially recently, and Michael attests to this. We've just been honing in on what's driving us, what the whys are and how each person works differently and how we can sort of circle everyone together and collaborate and execute the way that we need to execute against our goals. But I will say, Debbie, I am going to steal that, and Dan, I'm going to steal that. Putting the whys, the what's and the hows on the top of the performance reviews. We are a young team, and so knowing and understanding the whys, the what's and the hows has been fundamentally impactful to how we are laying the foundation for the growth of the team and how we're building those. Those bonds. Because I think we're still kind of all dating each other. Being so young and having this understanding of what's driving us is really helping us figure out our relationship with each other.

Other. You know, you bring something great up in. In that you bring out the. The greatness and you understand each other. And you know what, What I have found, Leslie, is it doesn't matter the age. I was talking with a CEO, a local CEO recently, and this often happens, and coaches that are listening or, you know, Chris and. And Mike who are here. What we find is, I'll meet with the CEO and we'll do their why and their yos, and their next question is, oh, I want to know this about my team. How do I get this from my team? But a leader, a recent leader I worked with, he said to me, you know, I think it's going to be important for me to know the why, how, what of my team. But even more important, I think, is them knowing my why, how, and what so they know what makes me tick. So have you guys gotten any feedback, Debbie and Leslie, from your teams that say, ah, now it makes sense why you do what you do or why you go about things the way you do. So, Debbie, why don't you lead first?

Well, not only with my team, but my husband.

As you said, contribute is important if it's going to make something better. I'm usually the first one to jump all in. But understanding that that very strong makes sense. It needs to make sense to me, and you need to break it down into a format that makes sense. I can't just jump in because it's a good cause. And so I think it helps, it helps my team understand, like the example with, you know, my financial person.

Right.

That I'm not just asking questions to be an irritant. I'm trying to make it makes sense.

Perfect. How about you, Leslie? Yeah.

My team knows that I'm contribute. I want to be there. I want to impact, I want to do everything. I want to be the hero. I want to help everyone succeed. I want to add so much value. But they also know how important the trust is for me. And that moment that trust is broken, it becomes a challenge. It becomes so hard. And it can be the Achilles heel, like Chris said. So that understanding of what they are, you know, and being aware of it is important because from there then we can figure out what is the better way of doing everything. So it's a full circle loop. When they understand and know.

Yeah. And they know how to communicate with you. Right. If they want to bring something to you and they want you to, like I said, to nod your head, it doesn't matter what it is. You know, I always say this. You know, it's going to take a lot to get me to jump out of a plane now that I'm older. I used to do it when I was a young soldier. But if you come to me and tell me how it's going to help people, I'm going to consider it much more than if you just tell me, hey, you ought to jump out of a plane because it's fun. If you tell me how, hey, look, we're doing this because it's going to help raise money for children in impoverished neighborhoods. Whatever. As soon as you start talking about helping people, I'm going to start considering now there's some things I just won't do. But it makes it easier for you to make your presentation if you take those things in common. I'm going to take a break and read a couple of comments. Dr. Pauline Crawford says gender dynamics intelligence embraces why for sure, a great combination to her world. So we're going to get on one of her roundtables for sure to talk about that gender dynamic. So thank you for that comment. And then Melanie Eik made a comment. She says this system is so much clearer than other systems that are being used in organizations that try to find the right method compared to, for example, the EOS system, which is about process and not about people. So this is, you know, she talks about this being more people oriented. So, Mike and Chris, you guys have lots of experience with different assessments and different systems as longtime coaches. Do you agree with Melanie's comment?

Go ahead, Chris.

Well, I think Chris is still muted, so thank you. So, yeah, I totally agree. And.

The different tool sets and frameworks runs at different levels. You can implement a great framework like EOS to run the business, but in the end, it's really about the people.

Building the strong team. And understanding the why of that team ends up being foundational to whatever tool set you decide to use. On top of it.

You want to use this strategic planning framework, that playing framework. It's great to go through that process. But if you aren't taking into account why and some of the issues and challenges inside that team, your execution will never be as good or all it can be. And you'll end up with conflict. And in the end, you will not end up with the results you want. You won't create a great company.

Excellent, Chris. Thank you, Mike.

Yeah, I don't care what business you're in, you're in the people business.

It doesn't matter if you're interacting with anybody else, customers, vendors, employees, you're in the people business. And if great leaders are ones who get people to do the things that must be done because the people want to do them, well, that is all about being able to interact with other people in your organization. The list goes on and on and on. I mean, Jim Collins in Good to Great talks about getting the right people. First you find the right people, then together you figure out what you're going to go do. There's another great book out called first who, then what?

It all comes back to the same thing. Multipliers by Liz Wiseman. Why is it that there are some leaders who get multiple units of pro productivity out of a single person, and then there are others who are called diminishers who get less than one full unit of productivity out of a person? It's all because of the way the leader interfaces with other people. And so if you want to get great, the essential first step in understanding other people and what makes them tick is not understanding what their skill set is. The number one thing you need to do as a leader is you need to understand what drives the people who work for you. Then once you have that great understanding and you've got a great cause that you are pursuing, you can put these people in the right seats on your bus because they're going to want to do that work. You know, the work that you have them do. When you understand their wireless, they're gonna do it because they love doing It. I mean, if you don't give me something where I can create clarity and where I can dive into details and understand stuff and where I'm not feeling like I'm contributing, you put me in some other, you know, sort of a bean counter role, I'm gonna jump off the top of the roof. I mean, so, you know, if you want to be great as a leader, get really, really good and use this yos. I know this sounds like a commercial.

But.

It unlocks your ability to get the highest level of performance from yourself and from everybody else in your organization. It's just. It's amazing.

Thank you, Chris. And I know you're not trying to sound like a commercial, but I think that the importance of having you guys here is this is proof this is done. It's not. We're not talking theory here. And that's what makes it really cool. Got a couple of comments I want to make sure we put up.

Dr. Crawford says the why really helps to build the understanding of differences because differences misunderstood turn into difficulties. Right? And then she says people matter first. Too many CEOs focus on execution of business without feeling how people feel. And their business will fail. In today's pandemic world, if you're not understanding people, then Kathy added something too. As coaches, we are taught to meet the clients where they are, the yos. Using the yos just makes it that much easier. Just really great comments from the folks that are listening and watching. We've only got a little bit of time left. This has flown by. How about you guys? I don't know about you, but it's 52 minutes in and I feel like we just got started. That's because you guys have been great. You've got great answers and we're having such a great conversation. I've got a couple of contributes on. So I want to talk about something that came up in my LinkedIn feed this week. And that is one of the challenges of being a contribute is it's really hard for us to say no. So you guys are both very successful. So how do you find a way to say no to that stuff that gets in the way of you accomplishing your goals? Because one of the things we tend to do as contributors is spread ourselves so thin and that sometimes our high priorities don't get taken care of. So I'd love to hear from both of you. So let's go with you first, Debbie.

Me first.

I really don't know.

I think maybe just relying on my other two oss trying to make Sense. Does the contribute the thing make sense. And then to try to simplify it.

But I still do tend to have lots of things going because I know.

Because that's who you are, right?

Lots of good ideas and it's going to make it better. And so excellent.

She just said yes to buying another business, by the way.

So.

Buying another business.

Yeah. And that's a challenge we all have, right? I think we all. You know, I remember when I found out my why was control, and Gary said, well, you like to help people, Dan. And my first. My answer to him was like, yeah, doesn't everyone? And he said, no, not everybody is primarily driven by that. So, you know, Mike's why is better way. So he likes to find a better way and then sharing it. That's how he contributes. But his why isn't contribute. Same thing with Chris. Right? His why is to clarify, that's how he contributes, by making things clear for people so they can move forward. So, Leslie, how about you? How do you say no nicely? We're every. Every contribute that's listening wants to know, how do you do it?

Oh, Mike knows the answer to this. I don't think I've mastered the art of saying no. I'm not a no person, I'm a yes person. But at the end of the day, my gut and the trust factor, if it's not there, then I will say no. It just, it needs to feel right. It needs to feel like it's impactful for me. There has to be a lot of authenticity and resonance in what I'm saying yes to.

Yeah, excellent. No. And listen, I, you know, I'll give my two cents. I always say you got to try to find a nice way to say no. And the way I've done it is, look, I know what you're asking and I know what it's going to take for me to be able to give you 100% and I can't. And you deserve 100%. Right. And so that's a contributing way of saying, if I can't give you 100%, I can't say yes to you. So I'm going to refer you to someone who might be able to give you 100%. So there's my tip for the day. Any parting words? We've got five minutes. We'll go around the room. Everybody gets one minute to say, what's one last comment? You would want somebody that's listening for the first time, and then we're going to give away your prize, Mike. So let's Go with Mike first, since we're going to come back to him at the end.

I have no idea here you pop a question on me like that. I need a minute to think it through and become clarify.

All right.

All right, go for it, Chris. Last, last words. I'm just.

It's a, it's a repeat. It's that, you know, it doesn't matter what business you're in, you're in the people business. So unlock the keys to the kingdom by understanding, you know, what drives people, what motivates them. This is a great resource for doing it. It creates almost instant understanding of what drives someone so that you can make great decisions about how to communicate with them and where to put them in your organization.

Perfect. Thank you, Debbie.

I guess just to piggyback on that, it's helping you put the right people in the right seats so that there isn't this constant conflict and you get where you want to go faster.

So, yeah, perfect. All right, Leslie.

I think if you're looking to make a connection with your team, with anyone you interact with daily, understanding and using this model is the ultimate way to form that authentic connection. It's really an incredible resource and tool.

Perfect. Thank you. Thank you so much for saying that, Leslie. All right, Mike, you get last, last, last words, and then we're going to give away your prize. Bailey's going to put the. The name that she drew on the screen and we're going to congratulate that person and get you guys in contact with each other. So, Mike, last words.

Awesome. There are a lot of assessments out there. There are a lot of tools to help you dive into how somebody works and try to understand them. I've been part of full day sessions for Myers, Briggs and for other tools like that. There is nothing out there that is so simple that everyone gets it in the first 10 minutes. And that. Aha. That light bulb just shines instantly.

Yeah.

And there's no extra fluff. There's no need for, for that because once you start to understand that core of the person, their why, connections become more natural. You know, there's a natural bias that, that Patrick Lencioni talks about in creating trust. You start to ever overcome that very quickly because you understand people better. So this is one of those tools as a leader that I said, it's the first thing I do with every leadership team and it's worth every minute that you spend on it.

Perfect. Thank you so much, Mike. So before we give your prize away, Bailey, if you put the person the winner's name in the, on the screen, we'll know who that is. And then, Mike, we'll get you in contact with that person. By the way, everybody that's on this call is on LinkedIn. So if you want to get a hold of Chris, Mike, Leslie or Debbie, they're on LinkedIn, you can search up them. They're connected to me, I believe, so you can find them through me or just send me a note. And then the other thing I was going to say before we go, because this is the commercial part of it, I got to do this part is if you don't know your why, go to whyinstitute.com and discover your why. And if you have a question about how to do this for your team, contact myself, contact Chris, contact Mike, contact Leslie and Debbie to get more insight from them. But we are just so glad to have so many of you on. Thank you, Dr. Crawford, for being on and, oh, we have our winner, Dr. Crawford. Pauline Crawford is our winner. So, Mike, you're going to get a chance to learn more about Gender Dynamics with Dr. Pauline Crawford and Melanie and Kathy and everybody who's on. I know not everybody got a chance to get put on the chat, but we appreciate you being on and listening and learning more. This has been extremely valuable. I can see we're going to get some clips from this and use them with other people. So thank you again for being on and we will see you guys in the month of May with a brand new topic and a brand new coach. But Mike Knapp, I want to say thank you to you because this was your session. You did a great job. Number one of bringing a tremendous guest on. You brought on Chris, who also brought a tremendous guest on. And I think this is the right number. I think we're going to keep this at five people from now on. Okay. We'll let Gary in next month. He's on a plane right now. That's why he's not on. But it's been, it's been a great session. Thank you, guys. Have a great rest of your day and I look forward to connecting with all of you.