From Notebook to Transformation | Klint Guerry | 668

And welcome, welcome, welcome. This is Peter Winick. I'm the founder and CEO at Thought Leadership Leverage, and you're joining us on the podcast today, which is Leveraging Thought Leadership. My guest is Clint Gary. Clint is the group vice president at Sewell Automotive Companies and served in myriad, myriad support, productive, and leadership roles since joining the company back in 2001. And he's held a senior leadership position at Sewell for 16 years as a group vice president and is responsible for day-to-day operations of their BMW, MINI, and INEOS campuses in the Dallas-Fort Worth marketplace. It's a 114-year-old family business. They've got over 4,000 associates. And he is also on the board of the Magdalen House, the Dallas College Foundation, and a number of industry-related committees. He's the author of, and this is what we're going to get into today, A Guide to Self-Disruption: 5 Principles and a Daily Process to Transform Your Life, as well as the, the Gary Notebook Companion. He's got a BA in business administration and he and his wife have 3 children. So there we go. How are you today?

That was a mouthful, Peter.

That was really a lot. That was a lot. So, I mean, you and I were chatting a little while ago. Why don't we start with sort of your origin story? Cause yeah, you know, running a bunch of car dealerships and a family, but that's kind of fucking dandy. But, but let's start with the life story because that's where the real, I think, no pun intended, the rubber meets the road in terms of your story.

And I also appreciate car puns greatly. So feel free if you need to.

That was an unintentional one. I will, I will shift over to you now. So thank you.

Uh, it was really good. No, I really appreciate it.

Thank you, Peter.

I, no, it's a, it's just an incredible privilege to get to talk to you about my little book, A Guide to Self-Disruption and the Gary Notes Process, which For all intents and purposes is the thing that has led me to even having any sense of qualification to being able to talk to you today. So I was a kid, I'll just give you the nickel, the nickel story.

Right.

Because it's, uh, I think it adds value at least to the process and to the book and, and why it happened. I grew up in a kid, I mean, no different than probably a lot of your, uh, if not most of your listeners, not the world's greatest childhood set of circumstances. Mm-hmm. Uh, Mom and dad were both tragic alcoholics. My mother passed when I was 16. And my dad, my dad, who was this really, really bright guy, although I really never knew that guy, he, best I could tell, he was really pretty well already gone to his addictions by the time he was 18 years old. And so by the time I came around, you know, things were pretty long gone, but he had done really well in banking in Texas. He was, at 30 years old, he was the president of a bank in Texas. Which was a pretty dang big deal. I mean, that was a little town in West Texas, kind of second only to the mayor in power and prestige at that time. There was a very, very serious savings and loan scandal in Texas in the 1980s, which I can see you shaking your head, so you know exactly what I'm talking about. But my father's bank was one that was rolled into that and he kind of lost everything, but he really, from that point forward until the until he died, he was really just a shell. And, and, you know, people go through those challenging circumstances in life and some of them don't make it out and some of them add to their quiver of capability and they grow from it. Unfortunately, my father's case and my mother's, quite frankly, I think they were already so sick emotionally and physically that, uh, that they really didn't have the ability to, to pick back up and move on. So to get to me, So by the time I was 8 is really when I first started recognizing that home life was not quite like my friends.

Mm-hmm.

And, um, and it, you know, I, I just had to grow up early. I had to grow up really, really young, you know, taking kind of, uh, being responsible for myself. By the time my mother passed when I was 16, uh, I was really just kind of on my own. I did live with my father, but we were as close to homeless as you could be with a roof over your head. Um, while we, we had, uh, No water for most, most of the time. No electricity. Trying to study for school by candlelight is not as cool as you might think it was back in the 1700s and 1800s.

No.

And, and so as you could imagine, like, uh, the thought of, of, of really excelling at school or, uh, even where I was gonna go from there, I, I would, I lived a, a very, uh, hand-to-mouth lifestyle.

Sure. So how'd you feed into where you are today. I mean, give us the fast forward on the career track and then I want to get—

Yeah. So it's a long fast forward here, but I think it's important to kind of set it up because when I was in my early 20s, just by providence, I ended up in an organization with a job for $10 an hour that I really loved. And that was at a cardio ship. And it was at a company called Sewell Automotive Company. And, uh, I had piecemealed a little bit of school, but I, I, I really had never taken it seriously about trying to pursue an education beyond high school.

Okay.

And, uh, I found myself in this organization that I really thrived and that, uh, I think it's a fascinating point that I, that I got to see firsthand is how a company and great leadership can almost fill the gaps for a kiddo. In many ways, the company provided the parenting and the structure and the expectations for me that I never had for myself and I had never been given and encouraged me to pursue an education, et cetera, et cetera. So I did all of these things.

It almost sounds like right, right time, right place, right?

Oh, for sure. But, uh, and then, then there's another piece to this, which is probably equally important, is that, uh, I started to have a, a, a tremendous amount of success. I mean, I, I moved my way up the ranks and started doing really, really well financially. And I started gaining, gaining some confidence professionally. And then I met this girl and this girl, she was amazing. And she, uh, she was everything that I was not. And she grew up in precisely the opposite set of circumstances that I, that I did, you know, very, very strong family, mom and dad, family faith, family of financial security expectations. I mean, my, my wife. She's now my wife. That's the good part of the story. But when we were in our early 20s, she was already contributing her full contribution annually to our IRA. And I thought that was a guy named Ira.

Yeah. Who's this guy that's spending money on her?

I've never even heard of such a thing. And so I found myself in this confluence of pressures between a career that I knew that I had found something that I could maybe do, do more than expected. And then also a, a young lady that I had high expectations placed upon me by virtue of the fact that I, I didn't, I didn't want to bring her into my controlled chaos.

Sure.

And that I really needed to grow up.

Okay.

And so that's where the notebook starts and that's where the process starts really. Uh, May the 31st, 2004, I went to the office one morning. I decided I was going to set my life for change. I didn't really know what that looked like. I knew that I suffered when it came to being responsible, accountable. I was very good with people. I've always been a good talker. Like I've, I've never struggled in that regard. And, uh, but you know, charisma only gets you so far and I needed to figure out how to become more of a, quite frankly, what I viewed as is a boring old stable person. And, uh, I didn't know if I could do it. So I congratulate you for achieving a goal of being old. Yeah, you can't see me. You know, if you're listening to this, you're not seeing me. I mean, I'm old. I refer to myself often as old gray face, you know, big white beard. But I picked up what I did. This is just the really cool part is I picked up that morning, my, I picked up a notebook and, uh, you can't see it. Peter can see it, but I picked up a notebook and, uh, it was just a blank, really just stationary. I felt like I needed an accountability partner. Okay. When I went to the office that day and that morning, May 31st, 2004, I sat down at my desk and I spent the first 15 or 20 minutes and I really just began and journaling about what it was that I was trying to accomplish, this transformational change in my life. Love that. And so I journaled and then I carried that notebook through me, through, through with me through the rest of the day, which ultimately became days and weeks and months and years. But I hatched upon a process that really transformed everything for me in how I was able to, uh, keep track of to-dos, manage my time, make sure that I was managing my time most effectively to, to have the biggest impacts. I found I cracked a code for me to become a learner and really to become a student of the world and started this fire of insatiable desire to try to learn and grow. I started to see this immediate kind of revolutionary moment in my life that ultimately became something that I have done now faithfully in its entirety. I didn't give you the whole process there, but I gave you a flavor. I've done that process faithfully, Peter, every single day of my life, literally with very, very few exceptions. Since May 31st, 2004. And so it completely changed everything for me. Now, there was a point in October of 2012, which I'm sure you'll ask me about next, whenever there was a great mentor of mine that dropped a, you know, a pebble in the ocean and said, I want you to create this process for other people and write a book. And that's why you and I are here. So there's the backstory.

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So this becomes your operating system, right? Your personal operating system.

I love, I love that. Yes.

And then, and then you start mentoring people, right?

Yes.

In this methodology. And then somebody says, well, you, you need to really codify this and disseminate it and be the evangelist, the ambassador of this process. And the process is basically basically a 99-cent notebook, right? To start, obviously this is the blank page. So tell me that. So you start mentoring people and I'm assuming that over the, whatever, 10 years or 8 years it was between when you started— Yeah. —with somebody said write it down, you tweaked it, you modified it, you refined it, you, you know, you got it down to categories that you would be writing about, right? Whether that's, uh, or what is the typical template and the things that you focus on and—

Okay. And why?

Oh, so there's really to it, right? Yeah.

So there's, there's two, there's two things we're discussing here. One is the notebook and the process itself, and that's very simple. Yep. And that's a, a roughly a 5-step process, which, you know, is now it's called the Gary Notes process and, and you're, and it's on Amazon and you can buy it. It's very simple. There was the other piece, which was October of '12, my mentor, a guy named Dr. Jim Dennison, who said, I, I really think that this has value. It may not have value for the masses, but there's going to be a few people out there that really this could have that same transformative nature for. And so the book, A Guide to Self-Disruption, is really 3 things. The first part of it is really about the processes in and of itself, the daily process, why you should do it, how you should do it, and really just the inspiration associated with— I'm just trying to sell you on the fact that whether you use my process and its rote behavior or not, it's that every successful person that I've ever met with literally no exceptions has some kind of discipline methodology that they manage their life. Yes.

So, second though, so in your world, how many sales professionals are in all the dealerships that you're, you're involved in?

Just sales associates by themselves?

People out there selling cars every day or some?

Oh, we have about, well, we have about 300 probably in cumulative total.

And I would argue that when you onboard them, when you recruit them, when you put them on, you don't just say, oh, you're, you're a charming, charismatic young man or young woman. Just you do what you do, you, right? Correct.

We do have them a process. We give them a methodology for which to find success. Right. And in essence, uh, or yeah.

And I think that there are people that think all salespeople are quote winging it or, oh, he's got such charisma or he's such a warm fellow or like blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. And if a process is done well on the buy side, it's invisible. You, nobody wakes up one day and says, I feel like a, an unqualified lead. Like nobody identifies, I feel like a warm prospect. That's—

you wake up this morning, Peter? Yeah.

You know, that's not how you identify yourself. So I think there's a parallel here professionally and personally in terms of the power process. And, you know, like anything else, it's almost like an athlete. You know, you can say, wow, that, you know, of course that guy's a basketball player or a football player. Look at him.

Yeah. Well, I'm never going to be a basketball player.

I'm 5'9", right? I'm never going to be a football player. I'm too old. But even if I had the physical sort of hardware, I would still need to apply to that a process. There's plenty of 7-foot-tall people out there that aren't playing basketball professionally. There's plenty of guys that are 6'5", 250 that aren't playing football. So it's not just the hardware, if you will.

I think that it's the difference between somebody being good and somebody being great. Exactly. Being the— because you'll, you will find, not certainly not at our stores, Peter, but in my industry, you're going to find a lot of sales associates, I would imagine, that wing it. But, you know, if you transition this over to just your personal life and using all the gifts that God gave you, all the amazing things that make you you, is that a disciplined methodology of which you kind of harness those talents and keep yourself focused hold yourself responsible, look for ways to be curious and grow, look for ways that you can serve and really empower other people around you. That's, that's the process that brings the most out of you. It's the, oh, it's kind of like the, the pursuit of being extraordinary. Right, right.

So now the book's out, right?

Well, you, you get the notebook done. Notebook's done, book's out.

Yep. And what, now we're on the other side of that process, right? And what, what has that meant for you? What is that? What are the doors that have opened? What, where has it met expectations and where has it disappointed you at, you, you from that standpoint?

Well, uh, getting to do things like this has been a plus. So I, when I, when I finished writing the book, I mean, it took me a lot of years. It took me 12 years to write this dadgum book. And it, and it took me 12 years to write the book, not because I didn't have a lot to write. It was actually much more the opposite. It took me far more time to refine it down into something that was simple. I spend a lot of time with young people, and when I say young people, kiddos right out of the university, and, and I, as much as I try to inspire them, I find that reading is not as prevalent as I would like for it to be. And maybe that's true in, in adults as well, but that's another one of those core principles of folks that you meet that you really admire their success is oftentimes you will find that they're they have a very healthy method or means of learning and reading. You know, they're, they're voracious readers oftentimes.

And so knowing that— learners, it's not just— so, I mean, I'm— yeah, I love to read, but I think it's this commitment to lifelong learning, this commitment to, you know, adopting new tools and learning new ways. Doesn't mean you have to take on everything you ingest as a reader, but being aware and exposed to the ideas that are bubbling up out there.

So was write something that wouldn't intimidate somebody who isn't a reader. Right. It was going to be something that would be attractive to people who already are, but at the same time that it wouldn't be intimidating. And, and then what it does, so the first half, as I've already mentioned, is really the process. The second is the 5 principles, which the 5 principles in and of themselves are the refined points, basic fundamental or foundational points that I found in studying all of my years of studying. It's like the greatest CliffsNotes. That's basically it. And so I refined that down to 5 principles, which are responsibility. I've kind of mentioned them already, but it's responsibility, it's focus, it's curiosity, it's humility, and it's service. And then each of those 5 principles unpack into why they should matter to you. It's like curiosity. You just hit that nail on the head. It's learning to find in yourself a lifelong effort and desire to be curious, inquisitive, learn, expand your mind, push yourself into other, uh, other things. Maybe, maybe other comfort zones or outside of your comfort zone. And, uh, and then in each of each chapter has a prompt. It has several questions and kind of provocative questions and, and exercises and things to, to help push this learning along. And then the third section of it is, I, I, I love quotes. I love all the nuggets of wisdom that I've been fortunate enough to gather over the years. And so there's, I didn't pick, I picked a random number, but there's roughly 287 bits of learning in there that are just from my own notebooks. And then there's 50 great books list in the back. So in essence, what the book became is kind of a bit of a mentor in a book. Yeah. You use that word and that's one of my favorite words. You, the book in and of itself can help you mentor yourself. It works spectacularly well. However, if you're in a mentor mentee relationship. Peter Winick, you and I have talked about this before, but, you know, uh, as, as two great lovers of mentor relationships and think that that's really important is that when you are introduced to a mentor for the first time, often that can be an awkward exchange. Yeah. I don't really know. It's like a, it's just a weird interview instead of interviewing from me front.

The other part of that is it could be awkward without structure. Hi, I'm your mentor. Okay, well, what did I sign up for? What I have found in my experience is the mentor-mentee relationship has totally evolved from what it probably was when you and I were coming up to more of trying for it to be an equal exchange, right? So if I'm an insecure 22-year-old and you're, you're the old dude, right, in your 50s or 60s or, you know, whatever the case may be, the burden is on me to say, what is it that I can do to provide value to Clint for giving me of his time and of his interest and and all those things. And it could be things that I take for granted, like maybe I'm better at social media than he is, or tech, or slang. I don't know, whatever. There's things that I've got as a younger person tuned into a different generation that I, I could give to you as well. And I think it's gotta be mutually beneficial because the old model of, all right, hey Peter, will you mentor so-and-so? It's like, oh God, you know, like how many training wheels do I need to do? But if I'm feeling that it's more mutual, That's number one. And number two, if the mentee doesn't, doesn't live up to the expectation, I think the mentor has every right to say, all right, I'm out. Like, I, if I'm taking this more seriously than you are, then I'd rather give up myself to someone that is keeping up with me or at least trying or whatever.

Yes. And in essence, you know, that's what I wanted to make. I wanted to make a book. I wanted to write a book that would help to codify that relationship. And to bring out the best in both parties. Yes. And also get both parties to dig deep and really get the mentor to share deep wisdom and learning and get the mentee out of their comfort zone of, uh, and get them to be more vulnerable inside of that relationship. And so, um, and, and really you asked what are some of the great things that have come as a result of it besides getting to do things like this has really been seeing the fruits of of the mentor mentee type. You know, I've gotten, that's something I probably, I, you know, I didn't think anybody would even buy the daggum thing. And, and, uh, and now to get letters and, and to get feedback from people and talking about how it has knocked down some of those barriers and, and, and some of the meaning, meaningfulness that people have found by, by capturing their own story.

I think by design and intent, when you, you know, words matter when you call something a book. My brain goes to, I love books. I read 2 a week. That's where I, you know, I sit with a cup of coffee by myself and read a book, or at the end of the day, or on an airplane or whatever. Yours is a book, but the click that it should have in the brain is it's really meant to be shared. If you're doing this only by yourself and only alone, you're kind of missing the point. Maybe that's the first read through it you're doing solo, but I think it is to be done with the intent of being a mentor or a mentee. It'd be great to be a mentee and say, hey, I read this book, boss. I think you should read it too. Maybe we can do some stuff together.

It really is personal. If you, you can really apply the, the information and the questions however you choose. So you can think about it from a really deep introspective standpoint. Yes. And you can also think about it again, like we're talking about this mentor mentee, but you can also take the exact same questions, the same principles, and you can apply it inside of a team environment, inside of work. It doesn't have to be this deep personal reflection. You can think about it in terms of your individual job functions and how do we function together and really where are the opportunities for us to, to grow together and, and to build a, an even higher performing team. So, yeah. So it's been, uh, incredibly rewarding on all fronts. Uh, and I'm just excited to try to get more and more of them out there. That's my, that's my primary goal at this point. And really just get a chance to share more wisdom. And then quite frankly, I'm getting, as much as I love to learn, I'm getting to meet a lot of very fascinating folks where I'm learning more and more and more from them. So this has been an accelerant in many ways.

I think that speaks to, you know, your mindset of being a lifelong learner. It's that, what does, you know, the old adage of, you know, when the, when the student's ready, the teacher appears. And I think there's a lot of truth to that. Anyway, this has been great. I appreciate your time and thank you for sharing your journey and your story. And I look to hear more about it in the years to come.

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