Building Your Extraordinary Life

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What's working on purpose anyway? Each
week we ponder the answer to this question.

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People ache for meaning and purpose at
work, to contribute their talents passionately

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and know their lives really matter.
They crave being part of an organization that

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inspires them and helps them grow into
realizing their highest potential. Business can be

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such a force for good in the
world, elevating humanity. In our program,

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we provide guidance and inspiration to help
usher in this world we all want

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Working on purpose. Now Here is
your host, doctor Elise Cortes. Hither

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Welcome back to the Working on Purpose
Program. Thanks for tuning in again this

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week. I'm your host, Doctor
Release Cortes. Join you live from Dallas,

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Texas, which is home base for
me by Wave interned auction of a

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management consultant specializing in meaning and purpose, organizational local therapists, inspirational speaker,

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social scientist, and author. You
can learn more about me at gustodashnow dot

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com or at least cortest dot com. Before we get out of the program,

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I have to thank my partner and
my sponsor Work Proud. We are

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a perfect collaboration. Everyone wants to
know they matter and that the work they

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do is meaningful and appreciated. Work
Proud is a mobile platform built to encourage

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employees to share stories and recognize each
other's contribution. Work Proud empowers hr and

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business leaders to help create company cultures
where all employees are inspired to feel proud

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of their work and proud of their
company. You can check them out at

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workproud dot com. Now onto this
week's program with us today is Robert White,

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who is a speaker, author,
leadership trainer, and executive coach who

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specializes in integrating a heart centered,
result oriented, and transformational leadership approach to

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being effective. We'll be talking about
what he's learned by serving in the personal

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growth and leadership transformation industry over a
half a century, and he joins us

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today for Wheat Reach, Colorado.
Robert, Welcome to Working on Purpose.

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Hello, Hello, it's great to
be with you. Oh my goodness,

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it's just wonderful to be literally talking
with a living legend, Robert. It

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is so great to have you on
the show and share you with listeners across

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the globe, many of whom you've
touched with your programs, and so thank

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you for being with us. It's
a great pleasure and I'm looking forward to

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it. Well, we have to
first get started by asking the simple question

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of why. As far as I
can tell by looking at your background,

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you got into the personal growth and
transformation industry. It looks like nineteen seventy

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three, and so we got it, and you've been doing this ever since,

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right, you got the bug and
you never really left. And so

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first we have to know why this
space. Well, I got into the

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industry actually in nineteen seventy one,
but in nineteen sixty sixty eight, I

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attended one of the early human potential
movement trainings. And it's a cliche all

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these years later, but it changed
my life for the better. That led

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to my enrolling a lot of people
into that training. They found out about

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me, I got hired as president
of that company that sponsored that original program

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to run the business of their business. So that's how I got started.

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Okay, So now just now on
this conversation. This is one of the

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greatest things about hosting the show,
Robert, is every single week I learned

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something new and amazing and I get
amazing insights in myself. So I just

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know, maybe put something together,
And I'm wondering if you could speak to

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this. I am a Maslow fan, I'm a positivest psychology kind of a

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person, and I know his earlier
a realm would have been the sixties,

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And I'm just wondering, you know
this, there was clearly something in the

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water, if you will, at
about that time when you got involved in

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this personal growth and transformation sort of
industry in space. What were all these

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clemingling factors? And was Maslow's work
a part of that contribution? You know,

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I didn't really know about anything except
that original program, mind Dynamics,

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But when I joined the company and
moved to California, the kind of the

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hotbed northern California was the place where
all the at that time fruits and nuts

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hang out. And you know,
so I learned a lot about all of

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these other programs that add and started
around that time, about where they came

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from, about the commonality about the
differences in approach, and minded Amics was

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probably the first one to do large
group and successful worldwide kinds of programs.

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It's really it's really phenomenal to me
to really witness bear witness just really what

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you and your team have done over
all these years. It's just phenomenal and

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I want to This is really fun
for me to showcase because I am very

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riveted on the role and function of
the education space. And of course you

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have something very cheeky on your LinkedIn
profile and that you sort of playfully declare

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that you are. You declared yourself
a college dropout, So at first I

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want to know what did you study
and why did you drop out? What

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was that whole experience of being in
college and dropping out like for you,

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well, I mean good company as
a dropout, of course, with Steve

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Jobs and a bunch of others.
Mine was not directly by choice. I

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walked into a finals after my first
semester and walked down to the front road.

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I saw a seat in the front
row of this big amphitheater, so

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I walked down intending to get that
front seat. In the meantime, a

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quite attractive young lady walked in from
the side door and took the seat.

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I turned around, took one step
up and had a heart attack. It

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was the first of three. So
I got taken out of college, not

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because I didn't like it or you
know, any of those normal reasons.

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I got taken out because I was
pretty ill. So that's Robert, how

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old were you? Nineteen? And
I had another one at twenty three,

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twenty one, and twenty three,
So it changed the trajectory of my life

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quite a bit. Well, how
so you can't just dangle that and stop

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there. How So what happened after
having a heart attack at nineteen and then

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another twenty one and twenty three.
I have what's called a right bundle branch

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block, a breakage in the nerve
tissue on the surface of my heart.

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And it's also one of the things
that got me into the business, because

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I had daily chest pain until I
was twenty seven, and then I went

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through this training. I learned how
to relax and how to ineffect heal myself,

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and the chess pain stopped, and
with the exception of a divorce later

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in life, I haven't had any
chest pain since then. That's amazing,

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Robert, Wow, what a testament. Well, I guess because I have

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been really profoundly curious to understand just
how it is that you've been able to

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stay riveted in this space for so
long, so dedicated, and I didn't

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know this part of your story at
all. So thank you for sharing that

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really important personal part of your past
and what doesn't that just speak to the

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power of the work that you've been
doing. You know, I did not

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understand that training that I went through
at twenty seven. I just know that

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when I left it, things started
to clear up in my life, just

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in the process of life itself.
You know, when I went into the

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training, I did have the daily
chess pain. I had been told I

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would die by thirty five, and
there was nothing they could do about it.

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I was I had failed in marriage, an early marriage, and I

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felt guilty about it. I was
late in paying payroll in my little company.

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My life was a mess. Of
course. I walked in with the

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big image, you know, everything's
okay, which is kind of more of

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a male thing, I think than
female, but hiding all of my problems.

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A good friend knew of them,
and that's the and he kind of

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leveraged me into that training. But
you know, the chefmans stop. The

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income went up three times in one
year and ten times the following year.

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My relationships got better. So what's
driven me all of these years is I

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find a great pleasure in facilitating a
space for that to happen for other people.

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You know, everybody comes into those
trainings in a different place, and

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some in more of a need,
and some of them just because sounds like

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fun. But I don't care why
they're there. I know what's possible for

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them in a high impact experiential learning
event, and I get great, great,

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great pleasure when I know I had
something to do with that delivery result.

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I think it makes sense for our
listeners to hear a little bit about

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just your background. And you do
really quick do a beautiful job in your

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book of sharing just how it is
that you got into that training, and

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I really did appreciate learning that.
I don't think I read about if you

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put the heart attack part in there, I did not catch that. But

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did you write about art attack in
your book? No, I really had

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been hiding it for years, and
people do ask me about my story,

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and I would just tell them that
I went to the training and I made

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more money and better relationships. I
think there's probably a very deep part in

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me that where there's some shame or
something, or you know. I think

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for men, particularly, our physical
vitality is so important to us, and

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so to talk about a weakness is
difficult. Later in life, I had

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a couple of friends at different times
commit suicide, and I've learned a lot

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about the link between a lack of
physical fatality in men and suicide. I

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mean, I never got to that
point, but it's very important to us,

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so I've hidden it. And also
I don't talk about healing when I

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talk about our training, because then
you know, you get all these psychologists

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and medical doctors come after you.
So but recently are in the last five

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years or so, I don't have
any secrets. I think it's so healthy,

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right. I had Renee sarmak On
with me from PSI a couple of

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weeks ago because I had recently gone
through the PSA training. Like you know,

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I probably like you, I've spent
a lot of my life going to

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these because I want to become the
best version of myself. And of course

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being able to tell our secrets is
very very important. I think it makes

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sense, Robert, could you just
quickly showcase for our listeners and our reviewers

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just what you've done. You've built
several companies, and you've been in Japan

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and such. Can you just showcase
that force really quick to situate just really

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who you are. I was with
Minded Havings for four years. I learned

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a lot from the originator of this
kind of work, Alexander Everett. He

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was a mentor, he was a
friend when he left the company when he

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sold his shares, I ended up
working for a probate judge. That was

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not good, so I left.
I started a company called Lifespring, which

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I later sold it. It went
on to reach over half a million people

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in seventeen US cities. But when
I sold it, I sold it for

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nothing down and forever to pay to
the team. And so now I've put

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all my money in it. So
I've got a wife and a child and

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a mortgage and no money and no
job. And years earlier I had been

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to Japan. It was the only
foreign country for mind and amics, where

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I said no, and they kept
pursuing me through the about a three year

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period, and they changed the offer, and it was literally the day after

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I left live Spring they called and
said, please come for ninety days to

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Tokyo and we'll pay you for one
year. And years later people say,

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well, did you go to Japan
because you had a vision of spreading this

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kind of work in Asia, And
the answer really is no. I needed

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a job, and I wanted that
job to be in an area that I

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love doing, so that part of
the purpose thing was there. I went

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for ninety days. I stayed twelve
years the first time. And so our

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international was in seven cities in Japan, two in Taiwan, one in Guangzhoud,

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Mainland, China, one in Sydney, one in Manila, a failure

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in Seoul, Korea, so we're
all over Asia. We became Asia's largest

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training company. The two hundred and
forty professional staff, seventy full time trainers

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and great fun. What an imprint, right, I always have Anybody who's

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listened to me even a couple of
times would recognize that I always have this

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saying, and what will you do
with your one precious life? And you

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certainly have touched a lot of other
lives with your precious life, And I

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just really applaud that and making that
difference, as you say, you find

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a lot of fulfillment and knowing you've
been somewhere on the journey with them.

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Yes, And in the early days
I did the trainings because in a startup

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you do everything. But for me, leading trainings at that time was not

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personally fulfilling. What was fulfilling was
being in the back of the room knowing

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that I trained that trainer, knowing
that I had something to do with putting

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those butts in seats, and I
just got tremendous pleasure from that. And

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only in the last six years have
I reconnected with the joy of actually doing

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the work in the room. So
I've always received great personal rewards, great

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pleasure from doing this work. I
mean plenty of problems. You know.

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I slept on a partner's sofa for
eight months at the beginning of the company

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and had no salary for the first
two years, you know. I mean,

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we've we had guest events where nobody
came you. I mean, I've

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got all of those failure stories also, and it happened. But overall it

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worked out well, and you know, it gave me a tremendous lifestyle in

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addition to doing work that I felt
was meaningful. What I appreciate about your

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sharing, Robert and listeners and viewers, please pay attention to this the real

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deal, right, there's no punches
here. It wasn't all glamorous. It

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was hard. I love the story
of sleeping on the couch and nobody's shown

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up kind of thing. I mean, that's what it takes, right,

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If you're going to go for something
in life. That's what it takes and

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there's no way around it. So
thank you for being real. You know,

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my partnership was actually in our sales
training business, which was chewing up

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a lot of cash and not bringing
in very much at first. And my

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partner had nine children, actually they
had ten, and unfortunately lost one to

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leukemia. But you know, there's
something really special as a memory to what

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waking up on a sofa because you
sent the person standing next to the sofa

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like four inches from your face when
you wake up in the morning, because

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he's eager to get on with life. You know what am I doing sleeping?

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So I have a lot of those
kinds of stories. You know,

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my wife and son had to return
to the US and we had to live

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separately for a year. That was
hard, but at the same time that

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provided a basis for everything that came
after that, which was incredible. Now

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it's just a good memory. You'll
broke up there a little bit here,

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but I think we've got most of
the Just that, Robert, but let's

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grab our first break. I'm your
host, doctor Reli's Cortes. We aren't

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there with Robert White. He is
a speaker, author, a leadership trainer,

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and executive coach who specializes in integrating
heart centered, result oriented, and

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transformational leadership approach to being effective.
We've been talking a bit about how he

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got into the personal transformation space.
After the break, we're going to talk

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more about the mechanicsibitor, Why does
it work so well his particular approach.

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Stay with us, we'll be right
back. Doctor Release Cortes is a management

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consultant specializing in meaning and purpose and
inspirational speaker and author. She helps companies

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visioneer for greater purpose among stakeholders and
develop purpose inspired leadership and meaning infused cultures

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that elevate fulfillment, performance, and
commitment within the workforce. To learn more

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or to invite a least to speak
to your organization, please visit her at

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Eleasecortes dot com. Let's talk about
how to get your employees working on purpose.

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This is working on Purpose with doctor
Elise Cortes. To reach our program

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today or open a conversation with Alise, send an email to a lease Alise

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at Eleascortes dot com. Now back
to working on purpose. Thanks for saying

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with us, and welcome back to
working on purpose. In response to some

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inquiries that I've gotten from a few
of you about helping companies care for their

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employees as the bendemit continues in anxiety, stress, depression, and feeling disconnected

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her on the rise in the workplace. We have launched a wellbeing webinar and

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learning series to nurture and build individuals
from the inside out. So if you're

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interested nor more about that, contact
me at a lease Cortes or at a

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leaseolasecore test dot com. I'll give
you more details and give you the chance

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to be able to learn how to
customize that, et cetera. But it's

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it's just fresh into our program if
you're just joining us. My guest is

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Robert White. He is a speaker, author, leadership trainer, and executive

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coach who specializes in integrating a heart
center, result oriented and transformational leadership approach

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to being effective. He joined us
today from Wheat Ridge, Colorado. I

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am your host at least Cortes.
So, Robert, one of the things

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that's really terrific about about the work
that you do, and I know it

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too because I've been in enough traininges
that I can distinguish this, But what

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you really specialize in is experiential learning. So for listeners and viewers that don't

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know what that means, if you
could first distinguish what are other ways that

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learning is often taught and how is
experienceial learning different. You know, a

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common metaphor that's used is riding a
bicycle. There's actually a book published by

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somebody here in Denver. I do
not recommend the book, but the title

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is great, which is you don't
learn that from a lecture. You've got

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to get on the bike and there's
probably a coach there, there's probably someone

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to help you. There's probably some
fear. You're taking a risk being on

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those two wheels instead of two feet, and you might fall down, skin

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your knee and cry. But you
never forget how to ride a bicycle.

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If you don't ride a bike for
ten years, you can get on one

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and maybe you're a little shaky at
first, but you have had the experience.

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There is a muscle memory, and
you know, there's all kinds of

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brain science now about this that that
is something you know how to do.

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And so what we do in our
trainings are a series of very structured,

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safe, but occasionally a feeling of
in your desire in how you want to

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show up in the world. And
there are a lot of examples that maybe

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take a little too long to talk
about. But the reason that a million

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and three hundred thousand people have been
through the two companies that I've found and

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led is because the experience is so
vivid and so long lasting in terms of

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shifting your perception on your life,
what it's about, and where you want

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it to go. All of our
programs are structured around three things, pretty

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simple things, but not easy,
and profoundly useful. The verse is to

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complete your past. Many of us
have some negative energy on some aspect of

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our past. It might be blame
and shame, regret. It might be

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success that was appropriate five years ago
or ten years ago but no longer works

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for you. It might be unfortunately
abuse. It might be too much praise.

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I mean, all kinds of things
that we carry with us as a

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burden. So shifting that energy from
negative to positive has incredible freeing effect on

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a human being. So that's one
third of our program is learning how to

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better tell the truth about current reality. Human beings, especially in the developed

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world, developed this unmatched ability to
pardon the term bullshit, ourselves to not

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be able to describe what's right in
front of us and that other people can

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see, but we don't see it. The you know, the the two

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Buddhist statements in that area are that, first of all, fish don't describe

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water very well whatever, you know, whatever we're swimming in, Uh,

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we don't see it. And you
know, there's a video on YouTube.

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And actually I think if you just
if you google a girl with nail in

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the forehead, I've seen that.
Yeah, you know, she's got a

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nail on her forehead and she's in
total denial about it. Right, And

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the Buddhists also say that a different
way of languaging it is to develop up

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a selfless regard for reality. Usually, our image, our need to be

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right, our need to feel kind
of interimally good about ourselves, gets in

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the way of our ability to tell
the truth about ourself, about other people,

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about the events in our life.
So if you get better at that,

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your life will clear up just in
the process of telling the truth.

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And then finally, if you've done
the first two steps, if you've cleared

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your past, completed it somewhat,
if you've gotten better at receiving feedback about

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what's really going on in your life, then you have created a space where

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you can actually choose your future.
And for many people, your future has

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not been chosen. It has been
a product of what your parents wanted for

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you, or what the culture says
is a good thing for you, a

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product of a limiting belief perhaps that
you have about not being enough. There's

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a lot of things that prevent us
from actually being at choice about our future.

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And yet if we just go to
the library and read a bunch of

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books on people that have accomplished a
lot, a commonality and many many of

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them is they were really, really
clear about their future. They chose it

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free of their past and paying attention
to rigorously, paying attention to telling the

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truth about current reality. So those
are the three kind of structural aspects that

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all of our programs and my executive
coaching. Okay, so I heard what

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you sort of cut out there again. So what I heard you say is

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those three aspects are in all of
your training programs and your executive coaching.

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Is that right, correct? Okay? Great? All right, So what

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I want to do next, and
this was, as you know, I

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read your book. I read my
guestbook cover to cover, and one of

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the things that you say in your
book that I think really speaks to the

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visceral nature of what I think you
were starting to queue up there for us.

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I'm going to quote it from your
book. Is you say, quote

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there can be no transformation, no
awakening, no personal growth without the here

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and now experience of life, which
involves every part of us our bodies,

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minds, feelings, and spirit,
not just our intellect. So you're already

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saying that this notion of experiential.
But what I hear though, that's much

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bigger. That's a bigger statement,
that's more encompassing. Say more about why

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that's so powerful and so important to
really commingle all those pieces of us.

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You know, a four day or
two four day experiences are even you know,

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six months of executive coaching are no
substitute for simply noticing what's going on

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in your body, in your mind, and your feelings in your spirit.

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That developing a greater awareness, a
greater sense of no sing makes you the

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trainer, makes you the educator for
the unique person that you are. You

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know, there's not another person like
you out of seven billion plus, and

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so who's the best expert on you? It is in fact you it's not

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me, it's not a teacher,
it's not a guru. So if you

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can start to really notice, you
know, let's start with body sensations.

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Generally, the people in the East
are better in Asia, are better at

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this than we in the West are. But what is it that causes that

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little tightening around the eyes or that
slight feeling of nauseus nausea when you're in

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a certain situation, what's the real
message when you're doing a little five minute

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public talk. What is it that
causes you to be nervous in a disabling

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way? You know, all of
those things are signals from our body that

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there there's something out of alignment within
us, and that exploring that is where

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the growth is. So body,
mind and spirit is not just some kind

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of a slogan or a bumper sticker. It is, in fact an area

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for greater awareness. One of the
things that I've learned doing this work is

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the value of anything that triggers you
emotionally. So what is it that causes

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you to just experience incredible joy?
There's a message in that for you.

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What is it that creates sadness?
You know, I had an incredible growth

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experience of all places on a seven
forty seven in first class. I you

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know, they serve the class of
Champagne and the warm nuts. And I

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had just bought a new CD player. I put a friend had sent the

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CD to me from Mary Chapin Carpenter, the great storyteller, incredible writer,

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author and songwriter and singer. And
the songs called Jubilee, and I'm listening

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to the song and suddenly I realized
that tears are running cheeks. What happened

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there is that that her poetry unlocked
a place in me that I had not

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been paying attention to and led to
some reading, some conversations with people.

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That was a big personal growth breakthrough
for me. You know, at that

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time, I'm supposed to be the
big deal that has it all together,

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But that big deal was sitting on
the airplane crying in front of a lot

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of people. Because but anything that
triggers you're a strong emotion, sadness,

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anger, fear, joy, kind
of the four big ones, and anything

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that triggers those kinds of feeling creates
an opening for you to discover something about

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you and what's next for you in
terms of learning and growth and development.

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I so appreciate your saying this the
way that you are, Robert, because

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one of the things that I do
in my work with inside companies and with

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leaders is to help them develop greater
access once again to their emotional spectrum,

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because what I find is that so
many people have so narrowed it down to

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just a small little window because they've
shut themselves off from the world that they

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don't have access to their emotions anymore. So part of our work is to

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get them reacquainted with those beautiful,
sentient beings of ourselves. So that was

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gorgeous. I want to grab this
real quick before we go into our next

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break here too. I really love
what you have in your book about the

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Arc, Summer and norm model,
and I think that would be very useful

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for our listeners and our viewers.
It's for awareness, responsibility, and communication.

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So I guess I really want to
understand this. Those are three very

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specific things. Why do you think
why have you come to believe that those

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are so important for effectiveness? It's
partially because it's what's missing for many of

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us, which is that awareness.
I've talked about it, you know,

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the greater state of noticing that we
were not like the hamster on the wheel,

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that today is just like yesterday and
tomorrow is going to be the same,

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but that we wake up to our
body, to our feelings, to

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our thinking, to the people around
us, to the signals that we're getting

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all of the time, we get
out of the drift, out of the

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kind of numbness that this crazy life
we've created tends to create. So as

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a tool, greater awareness has been
taught for thousands of years. You know,

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lausu and Confucius and Jesus Christ,
and the list goes on and on.

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All the great teachers taught that slow
down, take a deep breath,

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notice, and then taking personal responsibility. We live in an overwhelmingly victim culture,

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so having reasons, stories and excuses
for that which is not working in

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our life is an absolute barrier to
accomplishment. And then finally, everything in

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life shows up as communication. We
are social creatures, and our ability to

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hear, our ability to speak,
our ability to write, our ability to

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engage others through communication is a crucial
life tool. So those three things are

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again foundational aspects of the work that
I've done. And as you noticed,

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it's how the book is organized talking
about our participants and how they interact with

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those three qualities when they come into
our training. One of the most common

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complaints I have about my book is
people come and say that I thought it

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would be about you, about Robert, that's about me, and for most

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people it's a secret. Well,
that's why they get. They have to

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come and listen to this part of
your world where the book is really about

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teaching your techniques and your methodology and
such. And here in these kinds of

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conversations we get to be part of
your very personal, private world. So

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thank you for that. I wasn't
at all disappointed. I got exactly what

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I wanted from your book, so
happy to share that. Let's grab our

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last break. I'm Alis Cortez,
your host. We were in the area

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with Robert White, who was a
speaker, author, leadership trainer, and

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executive coach who specializes in integrating a
heart center and result oriented and transformational leadership

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00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:33.079
approach to being effective. We've been
talking a bit about really getting under the

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00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:36.039
covers of why his training works so
well. After the WAK, we're going

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to talk more about why people resist
this kind of training and what's in it

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for them when they don't stay with
us. We'll be right back. Doctor

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release Cortez is a management consultant specializing
in meaning and purpose and inspirational speaker and

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00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:53.960
author. She helps companies visioneer for
greater purpose among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired

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00:31:55.039 --> 00:32:00.559
leadership and meaning infused cultures that elevate
fulfillment, performance, and commitment within the

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workforce. To learn more or to
invite Elise to speak to your organization,

398
00:32:06.519 --> 00:32:09.720
please visit her at elisecortes dot com. Let's talk about how to get your

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employees working on purpose. This is
working on Purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.

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To reach our program today or open
a conversation with Alise, send an email

401
00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:35.079
to a lease Alise at elisecortes dot
com. Now back to working on purpose.

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00:32:40.720 --> 00:32:44.160
Thanks for staying with us, and
welcome back to working on purpose.

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I have to tell you a fun
sort of sharing story. If you don't

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00:32:46.240 --> 00:32:50.359
know this already, but during the
pandemic yours truly me, I had a

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00:32:50.440 --> 00:32:53.519
baby. Yeah, it's not quite
a traditional kind. It's actually like a

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little for It's got pages in it, so it's a book. It's called

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Purpose Ignited. I'm sorry, I
couldn't resist, right. I know you

408
00:33:01.720 --> 00:33:06.640
were like, what are you sure? But What was so great about it

409
00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:08.519
is the pandemic gave me that time. It gave me the space to be

410
00:33:08.599 --> 00:33:12.440
able to have that stillness that we
were talking about in the last segment.

411
00:33:12.480 --> 00:33:15.200
And I really wrote it to awakened
readers to their passion and their purpose and

412
00:33:15.200 --> 00:33:20.680
helped transform them into inspirational leaders who
enlive in the workplace and elevate the contribution

413
00:33:20.799 --> 00:33:22.440
of the business to the stakeholders.
That's why I wrote it. It was

414
00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:25.279
an awakening book. So I loved
it. And the next one that I'm

415
00:33:25.279 --> 00:33:28.759
working on is about activating. But
anyway, so that was great. Gobs

416
00:33:28.759 --> 00:33:31.599
of fun with us today, of
course is Robert White. He is coming

417
00:33:31.640 --> 00:33:37.920
in from Colorado. His book is
is it called The Transformational Extraordinary Life.

418
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.599
I read it cover to cover of
preparation for this conversation. I recommend it.

419
00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:44.119
For this next segment. We want
to get into just what it is

420
00:33:44.200 --> 00:33:46.400
that makes people resist this kind of
thing. Why is this such hard work?

421
00:33:47.119 --> 00:33:50.880
So before we get into that,
Robert, what I want to see,

422
00:33:50.880 --> 00:33:53.039
if we can presence at all on
some level, is if you have

423
00:33:53.240 --> 00:33:59.599
any sense of what percentage of the
global population that's alive today that has taken

424
00:33:59.640 --> 00:34:02.000
any person will growth through transformation training. Do you have any idea what that

425
00:34:02.079 --> 00:34:07.400
looks like? What percentage of that
is the population is I know the goal.

426
00:34:07.519 --> 00:34:12.320
I know a little bit of the
social science for transforming the planet,

427
00:34:12.480 --> 00:34:15.800
so I know the goal. I
don't know the result. Frankly, I

428
00:34:15.920 --> 00:34:19.559
can you know, like those two
companies that I founded and led to have

429
00:34:20.239 --> 00:34:27.400
a million, three hundred thousand graduates, the Landmark st slash Landmark Organization I

430
00:34:27.679 --> 00:34:32.559
understand is now more than seven million
graduates around the world. There are people

431
00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:39.639
like Tony Robbins that while he doesn't
do deep transformational work, he does very

432
00:34:39.760 --> 00:34:45.119
good reframing and very good motivational work. And I don't know his number of

433
00:34:45.199 --> 00:34:51.519
participants, but it's huge. I
mean, he really does reach large numbers.

434
00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:57.320
And I think people that have a
company, I think this kind of

435
00:34:57.440 --> 00:35:04.760
very rough, totally not provable piece
of knowledge is useful. And that is

436
00:35:04.840 --> 00:35:08.079
that for a system to shift,
and you know we did. I've done

437
00:35:08.119 --> 00:35:17.880
a lot of work on corporate culture
change and the number and it's twenty percent

438
00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:22.559
of the people shift, then the
company will shift. You don't have to

439
00:35:22.559 --> 00:35:25.599
worry about the eighty percent. Twenty
percent will get them. The people that

440
00:35:25.679 --> 00:35:30.599
were open to the change and really
adopt it. If that number reaches twenty

441
00:35:30.679 --> 00:35:34.719
percent of any population, you know, that would mean that in the case

442
00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:40.039
of the world, you know,
you'd have to have one point four billion

443
00:35:40.159 --> 00:35:46.039
people wake up and start really living
from a one world, one people perspective.

444
00:35:47.280 --> 00:35:52.639
Swear a long way from that.
I do think you can look at

445
00:35:52.800 --> 00:35:58.199
certain companies. That's actually where it's
showing up most clearly for me, is

446
00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:06.960
companies that really live an enlightened,
informed as serve with servant leaders and a

447
00:36:07.079 --> 00:36:12.760
public spirited culture. Yes, I
think we can find some examples. I

448
00:36:12.840 --> 00:36:19.239
wouldn't you know? There's a is
it? It's not me? M r.

449
00:36:21.000 --> 00:36:27.239
One of the south small Southeastern Asian
companies has a if they don't measure

450
00:36:27.280 --> 00:36:31.360
gross national product they grow, they
measure gross national happiness. It's Bhutan.

451
00:36:31.519 --> 00:36:35.760
Yeah, it's Bhutan, right.
I was supposed to do a race there

452
00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:37.119
last year. I know it well, I looked into it, but of

453
00:36:37.159 --> 00:36:40.199
course the pandemic installed that for us. But yes, and that isn't that

454
00:36:40.280 --> 00:36:44.320
amazing? And Okay, so this
is really exciting Robert twenty. If we

455
00:36:44.360 --> 00:36:46.159
can get to twenty percent, then
we have a chance to really start to

456
00:36:46.599 --> 00:36:50.360
move the tide. And by the
way, Robert, this is exactly why

457
00:36:50.440 --> 00:36:52.920
I work with companies and not just
individuals, because I am looking for that

458
00:36:53.000 --> 00:36:59.320
bigger mass too, to be able
to raise that consciousness, raise that awareness,

459
00:36:59.679 --> 00:37:01.159
to be able to start to really
push that tide. So this is

460
00:37:01.199 --> 00:37:05.320
really exciting to me to be even
talking about this with you. And I

461
00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:09.760
do sense that there is more people
awakening, there's more talk about purpose and

462
00:37:09.920 --> 00:37:15.800
meaning and consciousness. I just I
feel in my bones that there's like like

463
00:37:15.880 --> 00:37:17.719
the rocket that's on you know,
on the floor in the soil, and

464
00:37:17.840 --> 00:37:21.360
it's rumbling and rumbling, it's trying
to take off. It's trying to take

465
00:37:21.400 --> 00:37:24.599
off, and it's it's there.
It's so I'm determined that in my lifetime

466
00:37:24.679 --> 00:37:31.039
that we're going to get to that
twenty percent. You're freezing again, So

467
00:37:31.159 --> 00:37:37.400
I'm going to take Oh, go
ahead, you prefer to think what And

468
00:37:37.480 --> 00:37:43.159
I'm missing a lot and I'm missing
a lot of your question also, So

469
00:37:44.360 --> 00:37:46.840
technology is not cooperating with us today, That's okay. We're determined we're going

470
00:37:46.920 --> 00:37:52.119
to carry on all right. So
now we're carrying on absolutely right. You

471
00:37:52.199 --> 00:37:53.760
know, this is how it goes
in life, especially when the pandemic has

472
00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:58.119
taught us all kinds of things.
Okay, so now what we have to

473
00:37:58.159 --> 00:38:00.440
get to and I would love your
perspective on this, Thanks, Robert.

474
00:38:00.000 --> 00:38:06.480
Why are people so resistant? Now? Before you answer that question, I

475
00:38:06.599 --> 00:38:07.880
personally have gone through a lot of
training, a lot of work, and

476
00:38:07.920 --> 00:38:12.000
I'm constantly studying in my life.
I wish you could see my beautiful bookshelf

477
00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:15.480
from here. I'm very hungry for
growth and development, but I also know

478
00:38:15.599 --> 00:38:17.599
it's a lot of work, and
so sometimes when I'm working with people and

479
00:38:17.639 --> 00:38:20.840
I think, why wouldn't you want
to do this? This is so amazing?

480
00:38:20.960 --> 00:38:23.679
I also recognize this is a lot
of work. But what's your perspective,

481
00:38:23.760 --> 00:38:28.679
Robert? Why don't people embrace this
idea of personal growth and transformation?

482
00:38:29.199 --> 00:38:32.800
Why do they resist? You know, there's a very long and involved answer

483
00:38:34.000 --> 00:38:39.719
that really has to do with spirit, and it's more spiritual in terms of

484
00:38:39.880 --> 00:38:45.159
the form. I'd like to use
a maybe more practical kind of approach to

485
00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:49.559
your question, which is a really
good one and one I've grappled with with

486
00:38:49.760 --> 00:38:55.559
myself and with others for years.
And so we teach in our work that

487
00:38:55.840 --> 00:39:00.239
we are just an expression of a
whole lot of beliefs. We have beliefs

488
00:39:00.280 --> 00:39:04.519
about money, beliefs about family,
beliefs about the way things should be,

489
00:39:04.719 --> 00:39:07.599
the beliefs about politics. You know, we got a zillion beliefs, and

490
00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:14.320
beliefs are useful in terms of our
operating on a daily basis. We don't

491
00:39:14.360 --> 00:39:16.920
have to think a lot about a
lot of things. You know. An

492
00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:22.480
exercise that I often do in trainings
is to have people imagine being in a

493
00:39:22.119 --> 00:39:28.800
supermarket. They see a harried mom
with a three year old who's acting up,

494
00:39:29.480 --> 00:39:34.599
and he's grabbing things off the shelf
and making a mess, and then

495
00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:37.079
he throws himself on She tries to
quiet him, he throws himself on the

496
00:39:37.159 --> 00:39:43.719
floor and does this little rage attack, and you witness it. How do

497
00:39:43.800 --> 00:39:46.800
you react? You don't have to
think about it, your reaction. And

498
00:39:47.159 --> 00:39:52.719
when you do this with three hundred
people, it's incredible to hear the variety

499
00:39:52.800 --> 00:39:57.679
of reaction to the same event.
And that's because we all have a different

500
00:39:57.760 --> 00:40:01.239
belief. Because the woman reaches down, she's had it. She reaches down,

501
00:40:01.320 --> 00:40:04.920
grabs them by the arm, picks
them up and slaps them on the

502
00:40:04.960 --> 00:40:09.480
butt. What's your reaction, Well, there's a cohort that says you never

503
00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:17.079
hit it. You know, there's
a court that says, well, I'll

504
00:40:17.079 --> 00:40:21.000
pick up the stuff on the on
the floor for the mom. I won't

505
00:40:21.039 --> 00:40:23.320
say anything. I mean, you
know, all these reactions to one event.

506
00:40:23.960 --> 00:40:30.159
So whatever our belief is about ourselves
is important in terms of your question,

507
00:40:30.760 --> 00:40:35.599
because it will you're even the kind
of person that tries new things and

508
00:40:35.679 --> 00:40:38.519
it's constantly searching and looking. Or
you're somebody that says I've got it all

509
00:40:38.559 --> 00:40:43.199
together. And I was like that
at twenty seven. I've got it together.

510
00:40:44.000 --> 00:40:49.559
I haven't met payroll, I'm feeling
guilty, you know, I've got

511
00:40:49.719 --> 00:40:52.719
daily chest pain, but I've got
it all together. So what stops us

512
00:40:52.880 --> 00:41:04.119
is being right about some set of
beliefs. That stops that are kind of

513
00:41:04.159 --> 00:41:08.360
clean up some language. But it
was called asshole Theater. So we asked

514
00:41:08.400 --> 00:41:15.320
these executives to do this little play
where they would play there the opposite gender,

515
00:41:19.599 --> 00:41:25.719
you know, so dynamite exercise dynamite
exercise, but we renamed it.

516
00:41:29.400 --> 00:41:32.880
But it was to get people out
of that shell of who they say that

517
00:41:34.039 --> 00:41:37.199
they are. And I'm one of
those people. You know. The joke

518
00:41:37.239 --> 00:41:42.519
in my family at Lease is that
Robert was born in a three piece suit.

519
00:41:44.199 --> 00:41:47.159
That's how they say it, my
brothers and sister, you know,

520
00:41:47.719 --> 00:41:53.239
that's how they experienced me growing up
because I was always starting a business.

521
00:41:53.280 --> 00:42:00.920
I was always dressed formally, not
informally, and I was a prisoner of

522
00:42:00.079 --> 00:42:07.280
this need to always appear together,
you know, so a prisoner of my

523
00:42:07.320 --> 00:42:14.960
own image. And that image piece
in my experience, is what stops particularly

524
00:42:15.119 --> 00:42:22.679
executives from stepping into some experience that
would make them more human, more vulnerable.

525
00:42:22.960 --> 00:42:28.360
You know Brene Brown's YouTube videos a
lot of them are about vulnerability,

526
00:42:28.440 --> 00:42:34.039
yes, and yet yet what and
they're brilliant. I think I wish I

527
00:42:34.199 --> 00:42:37.800
was that good on a video.
You know, she's I mean, she's

528
00:42:37.840 --> 00:42:44.679
so good at being very vulnerable herself
and also funny, you know, she's

529
00:42:45.320 --> 00:42:46.760
you know, she's one of those
people you don't roar and laughter, but

530
00:42:46.880 --> 00:42:52.559
you find yourself chuckling through the whole
thing. Right, But it's all about

531
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:57.320
being vulnerable. And yet most executives, I don't know if it's most,

532
00:42:57.400 --> 00:43:04.840
but many executives have adapted adopted kind
of an armor so that you don't know

533
00:43:04.920 --> 00:43:07.280
how they feel, you don't know
how they think, you don't know about

534
00:43:07.320 --> 00:43:14.920
their life as human beings. A
big vary of culture, one where people

535
00:43:14.960 --> 00:43:20.000
are more real, where there's more
truth told. So what stops us is

536
00:43:20.039 --> 00:43:28.440
our image as a bumper sticker catchphrase. It's deeper than that, but that's

537
00:43:28.480 --> 00:43:32.800
the witch usually shows up. All
right, there was a bit of delay

538
00:43:32.840 --> 00:43:36.840
there, but we've got the idea
about the image really getting in our way

539
00:43:36.880 --> 00:43:38.559
here. So we're getting very close
to the end of this time already here.

540
00:43:38.679 --> 00:43:43.039
And I wanted to be sure and
have you speak a little bit Robert,

541
00:43:43.159 --> 00:43:45.840
that I know that today in your
executive coaching you're focused on the years

542
00:43:45.880 --> 00:43:50.639
of purpose, vision and values.
So just briefly, what does that work

543
00:43:50.679 --> 00:43:54.880
look like? Why is that so
important? Well, I think there's no

544
00:43:55.000 --> 00:44:01.119
one really successful in any area of
life that doesn't have a coach, somebody

545
00:44:01.159 --> 00:44:07.119
to be an accountability partner, somebody
to be to ask the right questions,

546
00:44:07.440 --> 00:44:12.840
somebody to Sometimes it's being a cheerleader. Sometimes it's being a mirror, holding

547
00:44:12.920 --> 00:44:17.239
up that mirror to behavior that doesn't
work. So you know, I mean,

548
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:22.280
I've spent most of my life either
in rolling people into a high impact

549
00:44:22.360 --> 00:44:28.719
experience or conducting one myself. Because
of the virus, that's just not possible

550
00:44:28.800 --> 00:44:34.639
right now. But I have discovered
that using Zoom or stream yard or something

551
00:44:35.360 --> 00:44:39.559
technology is that I can be that
accountability partner. I can bring my life

552
00:44:39.639 --> 00:44:46.519
experience and what I've learned about transformational
leadership to bear by getting together with people

553
00:44:46.599 --> 00:44:52.840
on a regular basis, being the
mirror, being the cheerleader, being showing

554
00:44:52.920 --> 00:44:58.880
them a structure that interrupts attitudes,
habits, and behaviors. I think anybody

555
00:44:58.960 --> 00:45:06.079
that wants to say that they're working
to support accomplishment it comes from and it's

556
00:45:06.119 --> 00:45:09.639
another one of those threes. You
know, everything is a three, but

557
00:45:09.800 --> 00:45:15.760
it's if I'm not helping people shift
their attitude, their habits, and their

558
00:45:15.840 --> 00:45:20.679
behaviors, then there aren't going to
be resultants. And if the aren't any

559
00:45:20.760 --> 00:45:25.760
results will fall back to the old
way of being and they've spent some time

560
00:45:25.840 --> 00:45:31.880
and money with me that is not
it's not worth it. So that's my

561
00:45:31.960 --> 00:45:37.920
focus. What can I do to
be an accountability partner? What can I

562
00:45:37.000 --> 00:45:44.760
do to be a mirror? Can
I do to get you to look at

563
00:45:45.480 --> 00:45:47.880
areas of your life that perhaps you
have not been willing to look at,

564
00:45:49.000 --> 00:45:52.599
or just we're not aware that you
need to look at it? So that,

565
00:45:52.199 --> 00:46:00.920
because what creates lasting change is results
whatever, and those results can be

566
00:46:00.280 --> 00:46:06.280
anything you identify. But if you
don't get results, you'll slide back to

567
00:46:06.400 --> 00:46:10.280
the old U. That's my life
experience with myself and in working with other

568
00:46:10.360 --> 00:46:15.079
people. Well, and I wanted
to ask you that just quickly if we

569
00:46:15.159 --> 00:46:19.480
can. How have you evolved in
doing this work for half of a century,

570
00:46:19.639 --> 00:46:22.480
Robert? How would you say that
you've involved doing this work? When

571
00:46:22.519 --> 00:46:27.559
I first started, I led the
trainings because in a startup that's what you

572
00:46:27.679 --> 00:46:32.639
do. But I never enjoyed it. As quickly as possible, I started

573
00:46:32.719 --> 00:46:38.119
hiring and training trainers. So at
zenith with my company, we had seventy

574
00:46:38.239 --> 00:46:43.880
full time trainers. I would say
that one third of them were miles better

575
00:46:43.960 --> 00:46:46.719
than me. You know, they
do it all the time, they're throned

576
00:46:46.760 --> 00:46:50.719
to do it. They love it. They really have worked on their skills

577
00:46:50.840 --> 00:46:55.880
and their consciousness. One third are
learning, you know, in terms of

578
00:46:57.000 --> 00:47:01.800
hierarchy, the bottom third are learning
and they're conducting the trainings, but they're

579
00:47:01.800 --> 00:47:06.079
still getting a lot of feedback,
a lot of growth themselves. At the

580
00:47:06.119 --> 00:47:12.079
middle third are workman like and or
workwoman like. And I was in that

581
00:47:12.239 --> 00:47:15.199
one third in the middle. But
I understood enough about our work, so

582
00:47:15.239 --> 00:47:20.760
I was pretty good at training trainers, and that's a setting I was familiar

583
00:47:20.880 --> 00:47:25.360
with, and I was happy to
do it. Seven years ago, I

584
00:47:25.480 --> 00:47:30.440
hadn't done one of our trainings for
over twenty years. I mean, other

585
00:47:30.519 --> 00:47:34.519
people did the training. I ran
the company, and one of our trainers

586
00:47:34.639 --> 00:47:39.440
got blacklisted from going to of all
places, Kazakhstan, and at the last

587
00:47:39.519 --> 00:47:45.760
minute I covered for him. And
what I learned in terms of your question,

588
00:47:46.679 --> 00:47:52.199
in our business, everything for the
trainer is measured in terms of upgrade.

589
00:47:52.960 --> 00:47:57.119
If people go through this basic training, how many of them enroll in

590
00:47:57.199 --> 00:48:01.760
the advanced training and how many go
on and go deeper. And we have

591
00:48:01.880 --> 00:48:07.079
seventeen years of numbers and that number
is fifty three percent, So about half

592
00:48:07.159 --> 00:48:12.079
of the people that go to the
first ruining and go to the second all

593
00:48:12.440 --> 00:48:15.480
thanks, Robert, Sorry, ten
seconds, we're running out a time.

594
00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:20.320
Ten seconds, Okay, I got
ninety percent. And what I realized is

595
00:48:20.760 --> 00:48:25.800
I had grown. I was being
the training, not doing it, and

596
00:48:27.119 --> 00:48:32.239
so that's some thing I treasure and
that I continue to work on. Oh

597
00:48:32.280 --> 00:48:36.079
my gosh, Robert, that is
a smashing way to finish our conversation.

598
00:48:36.239 --> 00:48:37.440
Thank you so much. I am
so glad I got the chance to meet

599
00:48:37.480 --> 00:48:39.360
you and be in your world,
and I am going to come visit you.

600
00:48:39.480 --> 00:48:43.079
So look out and I'm an excellent
reader, so make sure that the

601
00:48:43.159 --> 00:48:45.679
portions are large. Listeners and viewers, you all learn more about Robert.

602
00:48:45.719 --> 00:48:49.960
The best way to go about that
is go to his website, It's extraordinary

603
00:48:50.039 --> 00:48:52.079
people dot com. Robert, thank
you so much for being with us and

604
00:48:52.159 --> 00:48:55.280
being being a guest of Working on
Purpose. Listeners and viewers will see you

605
00:48:55.360 --> 00:49:05.000
next week. We hope you've enjoyed
this week's program. Be sure to tune

606
00:49:05.039 --> 00:49:08.440
in to Working on Purpose, featuring
your host, doctor Elise Cortes, each

607
00:49:08.519 --> 00:49:14.599
week on the Voice America Empowerment Channel. Together, we'll create a world where

608
00:49:14.719 --> 00:49:22.159
business operates conscientiously, leadership inspires impassioned
performance, and employees are fulfilled in work

609
00:49:22.239 --> 00:49:27.239
that provides the meaning and purpose.
They crave see you there. Let's Work

610
00:49:27.320 --> 00:49:27.920
on Purpose.