WHY Not Wednesday with David Gregory

Hello and welcome to why Not Wednesday for March 16, 2022. We are so excited today because we have a special guest who is coming to us all the way from Indianapolis. Now, I don't know where he is today, but he's always. He lives in Indianapolis. And so our guest today is David Gregory. He's a business development leader and the head of partnerships at People Forward Network. And here's what I got to say about him. David is relentless in his pursuit of excellence in every area of life. He is incredibly grateful for opportunities to achieve that and to help others do exactly the same. As a matter of fact, he sent me a book. He recommended a book that we read together, and I love. It's called Relentless. Maybe we'll get to talk about that. He is a dedicated father of four uniquely different and incredible young men. And being a father has always been his greatest source of fulfillment in life. He has been an entrepreneur his whole adult life. His passion is around inspiring people's growth and impacting lives in a positive way. And you'll understand that a little bit better as we talk more. He understands the stresses, challenges, and the joy of the entrepreneur who pursues their dreams in business and. And in life. His personal commitment around is around overcoming massive obstacles to achieve big goals. And that's really the why behind the way he approaches every single day. Welcome to the show, David Gregory.

Thank you, my friend. Thank you, Dan. It's great to be here. I'm really excited to spend some time with you.

Well, it's been a little while since we met, but we've had a lot of conversations since we first met David. And so the first thing I like to get started with is let's figure out. Let's let everybody know who you are in the language that they understand, because we are at why Institute, and everybody who listens to us wants to know, okay, what is his why? And if you listen to the bio, you probably have a pretty good idea that David's why is to contribute to the success of others. His how. How he goes about contributing is by challenging the status quo. And his what is to create relationships based on trust. So. So David, did. Did we get that right? And how. How does that. How does that feel to you, man?

You know what's crazy about that, Dan? I. I haven't read that in a while. And just listening to you read that, I wrote that long before I took the Y assessment. You know, and then taking the Y Y assessment just, you know, seals all of that. And. And, you know, it's. It's incredible. I remember when I took the Y assessment and realizing like, wow, this is so spot on. As everyone who does take the Y assessment, you know, your first reaction is, what? How do they know me so well? You know, and so, yeah, it's spot on.

So, so you've always been somebody, by the way, say, let me say hi to Lynn Everard who, who just put a comment in and somebody ascend New Jersey. You're going to have to put your name in the, in the comments so we know who you are. Hey, there's Al go. He's there. He's an Indianapolis guy. David.

Okay.

Hi, David. And Dan and then Watson, Jordan, all the way from North Asheville, North Carolina is, is with us today. So, so you mentioned how spot on that was. And you and I, you know, it's interesting because you and I share our, our top two contribute challenge. So you lead with wanting to help others and then the next thing you lead with is challenging the status quo, doing things differently, doing things your own way, bringing a different perspective to everything that you do. That's how you contribute. So how do those two, how have those two impacted the way you run your life, the way you run your business? You met in your bio, we talked about.

Your passion for serving others that you've always had. Tell us a little bit about that.

Well, so in the Y assessment, when I got the, the challenge was the second piece and it was straight on, I hated that it actually used the word rebel. It said you like to rebel against like the confines or what is historically done. And I was like, oh, man, that kind of touches close to home. It's, it's pretty accurate. I'm definitely one that doesn't, you know, I like to challenge, you know, the way things have always been done and, and rules. And I always have a, a funny thing that I say. Rules are just suggestions.

Right, right. I say that all the time, by the way.

Yeah. And it, you know, but something like the Y assessment just gives you a very clear lens to look at that through the, you know, this is just part of who I am. You know, interestingly enough, when I took the Y assessment, you know, contribute is who I am authentically. And you know, I love to help other people's lives be better. And, and it's, it's where I find my most joy and fulfillment.

Right.

So naturally, when I took the Y assessment and was so excited about it, I mean, you know, I take it, I get it all back and I'm, I'm so excited about it because Contribute is who I am. I wanted to make everyone else's life better by sending them the Y assessment as well. And so what I did, as you're well aware, is I got super excited, and I. Several people that I thought, man, they're going to love this as much as I did.

Right.

I send them my Y assessment. I'm like, you got to check this out. And I give them my login and password and say, here you go. Look at it.

Right?

And then a few hours later, Dan Dominguez is blowing my phone up saying, hey, what's going on with your why?

Everybody keep changing it.

You were having other people take it using your username, so. Okay, well, David, I'm going to stop you real quick because we're early in the show, and we. And. And there's, you know, Watson, Jordan's one of our coaches. Lynn is one of our coaches. TJ Davidson. I. I think he should be one of our coaches because he's. He listens every week. Linda Kirkpatrick, thank you for being here. But here. Here's the. The. The one correction I have to make, David. Okay, we call. We call the why the why discovery.

Yep.

Everything else is an assessment where we're a discovery. So I'm gonna ask you, see if you can remember everybody that's listening. Call him out if he says assessment one more time. It's when David discovered his why and his how and what, he was so excited, he shared it with everybody. And you introduced me some great people over at the People Forward Network. Who was the first person you shared it with, David?

Well, Nikki runs People Forward Network, instantly fired it over to her and was, you know, jacked up about that. And then the People Forward Network is something I do because I. My why is contributed, and I believe in a cause bigger than me. And the things that they have going on at People Forward Network are incredible. And. And so I got Nikki involved, but also sent it to the CEO of the company that I work for, and. And I get to do my contribute there. So it's so profoundly affects my professional life, and I don't know how long we have to talk about both of those, but I sent it to people that I work with, people that I help with in their business and contribute, and also people that I thought would, you know, kind of understand, you know that and feel the same.

Yeah, well, it's your show, David. I mean, tell me. Tell me about that. You know, we're. We're interviewing you. We want to hear about you because you're a bus, you're in business development. And in your profile on LinkedIn, it says, Passionate about helping companies accelerate growth through strategic partnerships. So that, that's a great tagline, you know, passionate about helping. That's. That tells us about your contribute. Accelerating growth through strategic partnerships. What does that mean? If somebody calls up David Gregory, what does that mean?

You know, Dan, where that really shows up loudly is.

My, My role is helping business owners achieve growth. And, you know, because it's authentically my. Why? It's not something I'm forcing. It's not inauthentic. It's who I am. And, and that being, you know, what I do every single day is helping business owners figure out ways to achieve growth and through strategic partnerships. So that's what I get paid to do every day. And when I took the Y assessment and that, it just makes sense. It's no wonder I love what I do. And, and so when People Forward Network, you know, started in the Y Institute, that connection, being involved in both is just, it's an incredible opportunity.

So some of my favorite people are in, in Indiana. So you're there, Nikki's there, Stephanie, Stephanie Hicks, all of you guys are there, but Melanie Ake, who's one of our coaches, is in Indiana also. She's in Indianapolis, actually, and so is Al Goal, who's been a supporter of us for a while. So where does People Forward Network have an office there in Indianapolis? Is everybody local or is everybody remote?

Great question. Yeah, People Forward Network is remote. Just kind of a quick background. People Forward Network, started by Nikki, became a passion. She was passionate about highlighting people first. Leaders, right? And, and people that are really, you know, authentically empowering their employees, elevating their work experience. Because she and all the People Forward Network believe that if you do meaningful work, you live a meaningful life, and that if you are better, you enjoy your work, you authentically enjoy what you do, that you're a better person in every other area of your life. And I, I have found that to be true myself. You know, often that doesn't really amount to how much you get paid or, you know, obviously that has a big effect on it. But at the end of the day, if you feel that your value, you feel that you, whatever is it is that makes you tick, if you feel that you're being fulfilled at work, you show up better as a parent, you show up better as a spouse, you show up better, you know, with your friends. I mean, so People Forward Network is all about elevating the work experience across, around the globe.

And so you're, you're always looking for people oriented leaders.

Absolutely. Yeah.

And so what's the difference, what is the biggest difference, you would say, David, between a people centered leader and other centered leader? What's the difference in the culture? What's the difference in the company? What differences do you see in performance?

Wow. Oh, man, that's a great question. You know, the reality is every company wants to attract the best, the brightest, the top talent that, that's goes across every industry. But, but the, the real truth is, is that if you take an average talented person that has average skill sets doing something that they truly love and enjoy and they feel appreciated and, and empowered by their employee, they will perform at a much higher level than probably what they're normally capable of. But you take the best, the brightest, the most skilled, and they're doing a job and they're disenfranchised. They feel like there's toxic leadership, it's a toxic work environment. They're performing at a fraction of the level that they would normally perform at.

Yeah. And that makes a lot of sense. And so.

One of the things that I loved about People Forward Network is the people that you're involved with. So is there a vetting process? I mean, you're obviously involved in bringing people in, but it seems like you're the filter. Right. In terms of strategic partnership. So how does that work?

Great question. So really I'm the filter by default. It's more of a passion project. You know, some people coach volleyball teams, some people coach softball teams or kids sports. I've done all of that and now this is my passion project that I love to pour into. And you know, the, the filtering process at People for Network is simply this. It's leaders who are authentically pouring into their people. It's content creators like the WHY Institute who come up with the why discovery to help people discover their why people creating great content to empower the best of the best leaders and then aligning brands and corporations who are authentically focused on being a people first company. And you know what, in today's world, Dan, I think we all notice is the, the companies that are authentically getting out in front of. Is that Madea?

Yeah. She says, I love David and pfn. And we'll give a shout out to Watson. He said when you talked about the importance of putting people first, he said absolute truth, all caps. He yelled it out at us. He wanted to make sure. And look at jt. JT is a former colleague of mine at Baxter. She says True leaders make a difference. You're speaking their language, David.

Yeah, and you know, it's something I feel really passionate about. I mean it's, you know, and so when, when people forward networked started growing, it was just a natural.

Fit for me to be passionate about helping them align. You know, what I was getting ready to say is, is we're, what we're seeing right now in the industry is companies who are struggling with leadership skills and being, and pouring into their, their people and empowering their people, elevating their people, making the, the work experience a fulfilling one. The people, the companies that are struggling with that are having a really hard time getting help and a really hard time filling seats while the ones that are just crushing that aspect of it, you know, man, they're, they're maximizing this, this economy right now for sure.

Well, as a father of four boys, I mean you, you've got a challenging enough situation. Right? But I gotta ask this question because it's the name of the show and the name of the show is why not Wednesday? So David, what's the what is your biggest why not moment? A time when you said why not to an opportunity, a circumstance, a choice and it made a positive, significant impact for you.

How many stories can I share here, Dan?

You know, with it, with the how of challenge? I bet you've had a few times when you've said why not tell us your most significant one.

Yeah, so I'll share a couple. I'll share one. And how this shows up in a, in a personal way is, you know, when an opportunity gets presented for me and my 18 year old son and one of his best friends and his dad and it's hey, we have, I love golf. And hey, we've got an opportunity to play Pinehurst Golf Course, which if, if there's any golfers on here is one of the top golf courses in the world. And man, it's going to be a quick trip. We're going to get down there in one night, play golf a couple days and a quick trip back. Most people would be, man, that doesn't make sense. That doesn't. But because it's important to me based on my why discovery, it's important to have fun. I'm really going to turn down an opportunity to make things really fun. I'm the type that's why not, why not? Let's do it. If it's an adventure and it's fun and it's gonna, my son is gonna have a great time and it's going to Be a memory that he'll remember his whole life. I usually throw logic and, you know, historical reasons not to do it out the window. And I'm like, let's go.

By the way, by the way. Oh, Al, go.

You.

You've got to get David. David and I are coming down and playing. We have a foursome, you and your brother, David and me. My brother plays there. Go. North Carolina says watching. So. Al, go. I'm going to be calling you afterward and we're going to get that set up because why not? Right, David?

Yes. Well, listen, hang on, Dan. I gotta tell you, if I go down there without my 18 year old, we're gonna have some father son issues, so. Well, he's gonna take him with me.

Well, here's the, here's the question that'll make us a five some. So I don't know if the, if the folks that, that are. That are down at Pinehurst. T.J. you're gonna. I'm sorry, Al. You're gonna have to get us a, a special exemption. I know if you play at our home club, we can play five sums sometimes. Right. We had to talk to the pro. But here, here's. Here's the question. You just reminded me of it. Your, Your son is a pretty good golfer, right?

He is, yep.

What's his. What's. You tell me a little bit about his golf accomplishments.

Oh, man. So he's a high school golfer. I'm glad he's not watching this. I'm assuming he's not because he'd probably hate me talking about him. But, but he, he's a high school golfer. Great kid. You know, it's interesting how this, the Y discovery shows up in your parenting.

Yeah.

You know, and part of it is that. And taking this Y discovery helped me understand a little bit better of how I've always parented and you know, I was always the dad and always have been the dad that get home at 10 o' clock at night. I haven't seen my kids and you know, boys pile in the car. Oh, we're gonna go get some ice cream to have fun, you know.

Challenge.

Yeah. Yeah.

It's fun, right?

Yeah. The interesting thing is, you know, understanding also how that, you know, kind of translates as you as. As they get older and reading that and. Yeah. And it helps you understand. I. I will tell you, this is not meant to be a plug for the wide discovery on this show. I guess that's okay, right, Dan? Is it okay?

It's absolutely okay.

But you know, it certainly helps you in your professional life understand, you know, your. What fulfills you in the way, but it really helps you in your personal relationships.

Right.

You know, it helps you in how you parent understanding or come from and. And maybe not being as judgmental and hard on yourself in some of the ways that you show up.

Well, I think we hear that a lot from the coaches that we work with, David especially even when. When I work with them just to go through their own results prior to them becoming certified. You know, our coaches come from all walks of life. We have. We have lots of coaches that are IPEC certified, icf, John Gordon, Gordon Marshall Goldsmith, and. And. And obviously our JM tears. There's a bunch of John Maxwell trained coaches that work with our system, but they all say that when they first get that. That yos result and they see that language that puts words to what they've always done. It's almost. It's almost magical that. That moment. But I want to recog. First of all, Al Go said, why not? So I think we're on David with. With Al and. And his brother. Bella says TJ Davidson. Love that you're jealous. You're in golf weather. It's about to snow. Bellas, I think in Denver. And Bill Summer says, come to Kawaii and play Princeville.

Why not?

We're. We're on Bill Summers. You're gonna have to. You're gonna have to arrange for that too. So I'm never gonna not notice that somebody invites us to play golf. So I'm gonna. I'm gonna make sure. There it is. Bill Summer says come to Kauai and play Frenchville.

You know. Yeah. Is it okay if I have a favorite? Y. Coach? Can I say that on this?

Yeah, I think. I think you can. Who would be your favorite why Coach?

Oh, man. The. The best. My most favorite why coach is Dr. Rosie Ward. She's also a member of yes. You know, the People Forward Network. And her energy and passion for helping people discover their why and live that out in a. In a fulfilling way is incredible. She is, hands down, my favorite white coach. And I don't know if I'm allowed to have a favorite, but if I do, if I am allowed, she is my favorite.

You're allowed to have a. I'm not allowed to have a favorite because I. I know all of them and they're all amazing. They all bring their own special gifts, obviously, and I just enjoy the heck out of every single one. I learned from all of them. I definitely have a top three and a top five. And I know Watson Jordan says as long as it's him, you're allowed to say it. Right. Doc is awesome. You know, we had him on with. With one of his clients recently and just gave us so much insight. I recommend listening to him. Keenan Lake was his guest and they came on to talk about the difference the yos made for them.

Yes.

But he talked about his foundation where he helps kids who don't have fathers, fatherless kids. And it's a foundation to help those kids. So your boys are incredibly blessed with an incredible dad who cares about them. And, you know, you're even analyzing the way you parent. Imagine not having that and having to grow up without it. So Keenan Lake was also a privileged. It felt privileged to have a father who helped father him and, and raise him. And now he's doing something with, with other men to help kids who don't have that advantage get that fathering. So his, his foundation is called My Dad. He me that. And if you listen to it, there's a, there's a rap song that comes with it when you go to the website. Keenan's a was a great guest and, and Watson did a great job with him. So I thought I'd share that with you. Might be someone else you. You want to connect with too, David. So let's get to the. The question. So how have you since learning your yos, David, incorporated the tools, the teachings and the, and the mindset of your why into your business practices?

Yeah. Contributing as a team is. Is what, you know, part of being a contribute. Having that as my why is seeing my team elevated. Seeing my team win is a. Is a natural, authentic way. That and understanding that, that, that is part of who I am and how I like to operate. It's right. I get my most fulfillment when my team wins. And, you know, if I could get more people to operate like that, that, that would be better. But that's probably the biggest and loudest discovery professionally is that that is authentically how I'm wired. And it is authentically how I'm wired to see contribute to other people's success when. When I, when I know that I am really helping someone be more successful or reach goals that they never dreamed possible or overcome obstacles that they thought were so big that they couldn't overcome them. And I, I. That is my, you know, most fulfilling things for sure. And it's all part of being a. Having contributed as my why.

You know, Gary often says some of the best leaders he's met had the why of contribute. Because contributors Truly care about the people that, that work for them. They want to know something, they want to get to know them personally. And it makes them great leaders. Not that there aren't other great leaders with other wise because every why has their gifts and they bring something to the table. It just seems to be that some of the greatest leaders happen to have the why of contribute. And you, you talked about that because you said you're. When the team succeeds, you feel successful. When others succeed, you feel successful. And I think as leaders, we're called to help others succeed. Whether our why is better way challenge makes sense, trust, whatever our why is, if we're doing it for the good of others, I think we're, we're elevating others and the good of the team comes first. And I remember the military, we talked about mission first people always. And you know, the, the people forward network. That's people first, right?

First word.

People forward network. Yeah, let's see. I've got a LinkedIn user that says that's JT saying, incredibly rewarding. Incredibly rewarding to see your win. It's about how you motivate, enable and support.

Absolutely. You know the, the why discovery is said that contribute challenge, trust that that is my why, how, what is off. Those are often great CEOs. You know, I was going to send that to the CEO of my company and just, you know, share that with him, but I didn't know if that was a good idea.

Not until we know his yos. David. It might, he might already. He might say, you know what, you're right, David. I think I stay in my place.

Right, right, right. Yeah. No, but you know, all jokes aside, the trust piece and I feel like, I felt like that really spoke to me because I always operated that way, you know, wanting to be someone, not only is it contributing to the team success, but be someone that you can count on to, to do what you say you're going to do. Show up the way you know, and that's really important to me. And reading that in my wide discovery and all the details about it, it just, it's, it's pretty enlightening.

You know, it's interesting because that is a combination when you're, when you're a challenger, somebody who likes to break the rules and do things differently. But your what is trust? So how do you reconcile the two? Right? Because in your challenging, you're often going out outside the rules a little bit, bending things. How do you reconcile, how do you build trust by challenging and contributing?

You know that great question. So it's probably confusing. I think I confused myself sometimes. But the reality is, is exactly what we touched on earlier is, you know, being that person that isn't just empty words or empty promises, but. Yeah, yeah. Bending the rules, trying to find ways that maybe not traditional, maybe not, you know, and doing things that might be outside the box or whatever, but always being reliable and. And doing what you say and following through on those things.

Facilitates and generates and the LinkedIn JT, and have fun while you're doing it. You. You basically described me right there. You know, I mean, and that's also, you know, part of the parenting thing where it comes in, because I'm just authentically wired that way. If we're going to the grocery store to pick up groceries, we are going to have fun while we're doing it. I promise you. And I don't know how yet, but we're going to.

Right?

We're going to challenge every rule in place when we do it.

I love you just said that. Because here's the thing. One of the things I know about people with challenge in their top three is it almost means by any means necessary. You're. You're gonna. You're gonna trust. You're gonna build trust, whatever it takes, and you're gonna contribute whatever it takes.

Right?

And so if that means you got to bend the rules a little, too, in order for somebody to understand that, hey, I'm dependable, I'm gonna get. If I said I'm going to do it, I'm going to get it done. And if it means I got to do a little things a little bit differently in order to get there, that's how I'm going to do it. You know, as Lynn says, rules are just suggestions. I need to put that up on my wall. And so, you know, there's some rules that. That, you know, they're just made to be broken. Right? Let's do it. Let's do it. Al goal. Well, I got one more question for you before. Before we go, and I want to make sure give you some time for this, because I know you work very closely with Nikki, and I know that this is probably going to be part of the answer. So how has discovering your yos and maybe the yos of Nikki impacted your personal life?

Wow. You know, that's a great question. And I. I tell you, part of the contribute. Being a contributor is just spending time together doing something. It doesn't matter if it's, you know, when you're your. Why is contribute? It doesn't have to be anything elaborate or crazy, you know, a big trip or something. Go, like I said earlier, going to the grocery store. So for me, just spending time together if, if anyone has done the study the five love languages, I feel like quality time and contribute kind of go hand in hand, you know, because. So the answer to that is it's made me very okay and comfortable with being the type of person that, you know, I just want to operate as a team. I just want to spend time together doing anything and everything. And as long as we're breaking rules and having fun, that's all I care about.

And she's, she's contribute better way challenge. So you share two of your top three, but she's doing the bet. She's finding a better way to do it. And you're challenging the status quo, right?

Yep. All the time, in every way.

That's. That's so awesome. So, so what Bill Summer says, the closer, what you say and what you do are increases your trust. That's absolutely being genuine. Right. And Watson Jordan said, you know, showing up on time and doing what you say you will do, it's odd, but it's a great way to stand out. Right. You said, I'm gonna do it. You know, it's so funny when you, when you've got the why of trust and you've got challenge. Hey, if I said I'm gonna be there at 3 o', clock, I'm gonna be there 3 o'. Clock. Even if I have to speed through a school zone right. To get there, I'm gonna be careful. But I'm gonna, I'm gonna get there so I can, so I can, so that person can know that I'm reliable. And I love Bill, Bill's comment. Bill Summers, he says, you know, the closer he, what you say and what you do are increases trust.

Yeah. Dan, you know, one of the things I'm most excited about and just as a part of being a contribute, I get so excited about the Y Discovery that and I know we're all the same. You know, we all man, we want so many people to take this and experience it. So we've worked out a deal with the Y Institute to get the Y discovery on the people as a part of People Forward Network. That's right.

Yeah.

People for that. So that people can go on the People Forward Network website, take the Y discovery. It's not there yet. I know we're working through some back end stuff to get that done, but that will be super exciting. So then they can. If they Want to know more about their why discovery. They can find a coach, a Y coach to help them just, you know, learn more about that or help their team facilitate an entire team, a business and, and you talk about next level when you get a whole team within a company knowing and understanding their why and the, the great coaches that you have on staff to help people do that is it's such an exceptional thing. So excited about the Y Institute and.

What they're doing and we can't wait to do that. I know we're going to be meeting with your, with the People Forward Network team and working on that partnership still. It's going to be amazing. And we can't wait to meet more of the People Forward Network to introduce you to the Y Society because as you said, you know, we've got so many amazing coaches. A few of them are on the show today and they're commenting and you can see and, and what you'll do, what you'll see if you follow us on LinkedIn. All our coaches are always helping each other out, commenting and supporting each other because they're all in different areas of the country, different areas of expertise and they work with different clients. So we're just so excited to have you. David. That half hour flew by, didn't it?

Yes. Dan, one question before we go. One question. What are we going to put on the game when we go down to Pinehurst and play with these guys? What, what are, what's the gamble?

You know what, I, I don't know what it is but it'll be me and your son versus anybody else. And I'll put, you can bet anything if you put him on my team, I'll take him.

We'll give you guys, we'll give the other guys strokes if necessary. But you know what? I, I'm, I'm favorable. I'm not, I'm in a, I'm in a challenge right now. So I'm not drinking but I'm favorable to good. A good 18 to 20 year old scotch and so we put that on the line. We're going to play hard.

That sounds great, brother. That sounds great. Appreciate it, Dan. Really appreciate you and the Y Institute. Great.

Thanks so much for being on. David. We'll talk to you soon.

Take care, man.