The Promise of a “C-Suite” Education and its RX for Humanity

WEBVTT

1
00:00:00.080 --> 00:00:03.279
The topics and opinions express in the
following show are solely those of the hosts

2
00:00:03.279 --> 00:00:06.000
and their guests, and not those
of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are

3
00:00:06.000 --> 00:00:10.039
affiliates. We make no recommendations or
endorsements for radio show programs, services,

4
00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:13.519
or products mentioned on air or on
our web. No liability, explicit or

5
00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:17.359
implied shall be extended to W FOURCY
Radio or its employees are affiliates. Any

6
00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:20.800
questions or comments should be directed to
those show hosts. Thank you for choosing

7
00:00:21.000 --> 00:00:31.440
W FOURCY Radio. What's Working on
Purpose? Anyway? Each week we ponder

8
00:00:31.519 --> 00:00:35.240
the answer to this question. People
ache for meaning and purpose at work,

9
00:00:35.399 --> 00:00:40.439
to contribute their talents passionately and know
their lives really matter. They crave being

10
00:00:40.479 --> 00:00:44.799
part of an organization that inspires them
and helps them grow into realizing their highest

11
00:00:44.799 --> 00:00:48.759
potential. Business can be such a
force for good in the world, elevating

12
00:00:48.840 --> 00:00:53.280
humanity. In our program, we
provide guidance and inspiration to help usher in

13
00:00:53.399 --> 00:00:58.560
this world we all want Working on
Purpose. Now here's your host, Doctor

14
00:00:58.600 --> 00:01:06.959
Release Cortez. Welcome back to the
Working on Purpose Program. Thanks for ning

15
00:01:07.040 --> 00:01:08.200
this week. Great to have you. This show has been brought to you

16
00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:12.239
with passion and pride since February of
twenty fifteen. I'm your host, doctor

17
00:01:12.280 --> 00:01:15.120
Elise Cortes. If we have not
met before and you don't know me,

18
00:01:15.159 --> 00:01:19.640
I'm an organizational psychologist and local therapist, speaker and author. My team and

19
00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.280
I at gusto Now help companies to
enliven and fortify their operations by building a

20
00:01:23.280 --> 00:01:27.200
culture and leadership activated by meaning and
purpose. Our mission is to help our

21
00:01:27.239 --> 00:01:32.760
clients create a destination workplace where people
flock to join, are intrinsically motivated to

22
00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:34.640
perform at their best, can grow
to the fuller potential, and are committed

23
00:01:34.719 --> 00:01:38.200
to stay and an end deliver in
the company's mission, which all translates to

24
00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:42.000
higher profits for you. You can
learn more about us now. We can

25
00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:46.959
work together at gustodashnow dot com or
my personal site, Atliscortes dot com.

26
00:01:47.519 --> 00:01:51.079
Now getting in today's program we have
with us today. James W. Keys

27
00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:56.079
a global business leader, philanthropist,
educator, artist, musician, commercial rated

28
00:01:56.120 --> 00:01:59.879
pilot, and modern renaissance man.
He is the former CEO of two inter

29
00:02:00.120 --> 00:02:05.280
nationally recognized Fortune five hundred companies,
seven eleven and Blockbuster. He's had a

30
00:02:05.280 --> 00:02:08.639
lifelong commitment to education, serving as
a founding director of the Dallas Education Foundation

31
00:02:09.080 --> 00:02:14.120
and is the founder of the Education
Is Freedom Foundation. He's the author of

32
00:02:14.400 --> 00:02:17.080
Education Is Freedom The Future Is in
Your Hands, which will be talking about

33
00:02:17.080 --> 00:02:21.240
today. He joins you today from
my city, our city, Dallas.

34
00:02:21.879 --> 00:02:25.280
Jim, welcome to Working on Purpose. Thank you for the opportunity to be

35
00:02:25.319 --> 00:02:30.800
here. So it is a mild
understatement to say that I loved your book.

36
00:02:31.719 --> 00:02:35.919
Thank you every single last word of
it. And I do read my

37
00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.639
guest's books cover to cover. Yours
was just so inspiring and encouraging. Really

38
00:02:40.680 --> 00:02:45.000
really appreciate being able to share it
with my listeners and viewers and champion your

39
00:02:45.000 --> 00:02:47.199
message. Jim, Well, thank
you so much. I appreciate it.

40
00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:53.400
I am as my first journalistic adventures, so it means a lot to me

41
00:02:53.240 --> 00:02:55.479
to wow, really, that's your
first one out of the gate. Okay,

42
00:02:55.599 --> 00:02:59.680
let's say I'm hanging up now,
that's it. I'm to invested.

43
00:03:00.840 --> 00:03:05.000
Yeah. I've had some good coaches
and some very good mentors along this journey,

44
00:03:05.000 --> 00:03:08.400
but yeah, very first one.
Clearly, Well, I love what

45
00:03:08.479 --> 00:03:12.879
you state is. The objective is
to inspire us all to learn and to

46
00:03:12.960 --> 00:03:15.960
keep learning because wisdom, which is
a higher degree of knowledge, you say,

47
00:03:16.120 --> 00:03:21.280
is the lifebloit of a civil society
and the oxygen that fuels our personal

48
00:03:21.360 --> 00:03:25.479
enlightenment. And I love that you're
really championing a unit of effort among all

49
00:03:25.479 --> 00:03:29.400
of us. I just find that
so hopeful and as a course of action,

50
00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:31.479
I definitely want to be part of
that. So I'm in Jim,

51
00:03:31.639 --> 00:03:35.639
you got one. Thank you.
I appreciate it. You know, I'll

52
00:03:35.680 --> 00:03:38.039
share a quick story with you.
When I first wrote the book, the

53
00:03:38.080 --> 00:03:42.439
publisher, of course, is working
on the title, and I knew the

54
00:03:42.520 --> 00:03:44.960
title was going to be I'll share
that story with you down the road.

55
00:03:44.960 --> 00:03:50.479
But the hardest part was the subtitle. I understand, Yes, it's really

56
00:03:50.520 --> 00:03:53.680
hard. And so they kept asking
me what I wanted, and I said,

57
00:03:53.680 --> 00:03:57.960
well, I really wanted to say
that this book is a self help

58
00:03:58.000 --> 00:04:01.680
guide for humanity, and they said, who do you think you are?

59
00:04:02.039 --> 00:04:06.800
You know you can't say that.
I mean, it's it's like that's way

60
00:04:06.840 --> 00:04:13.120
too overreaching. But it's so true
in so many ways that what it comes

61
00:04:13.159 --> 00:04:18.040
down to is knowledge and wisdom to
take away fear and anger and hatred and

62
00:04:18.079 --> 00:04:23.399
all that stuff. And truly it
is something that we can all do if

63
00:04:23.439 --> 00:04:27.800
we if we believe in it.
Mm hmm, yeah. I really really

64
00:04:27.879 --> 00:04:30.160
subscribe to this whole notion you said. You know, therefore, our collective

65
00:04:30.160 --> 00:04:34.000
desire for the greater good becomes the
bright light that will take away our fear.

66
00:04:34.040 --> 00:04:38.480
As you said, we can replace
ignorance with knowledge. We can replace

67
00:04:38.519 --> 00:04:41.800
to spear with hope, we can
replace fear with understanding, and we can

68
00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:46.439
replace aggression with peace. That sounds
really good right about now, Jim Bolly,

69
00:04:46.519 --> 00:04:49.560
doesn't it. And you know,
when I wrote the book were we

70
00:04:49.560 --> 00:04:56.360
were in a time of polarization,
and I, as I began to research

71
00:04:57.040 --> 00:05:01.360
book and knowledge and problems throughout history, I struggled with this issue of how

72
00:05:01.399 --> 00:05:09.480
do I, and especially how do
really intelligent people, really intelligent societies put

73
00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:15.480
themselves in a situation where they're in
this cycle of fear and hatred. Sense,

74
00:05:15.519 --> 00:05:19.920
you would think that the more knowledgeable
a society becomes, the more peace

75
00:05:20.000 --> 00:05:25.800
you would have, one would think, And interestingly I stumbled on this thing

76
00:05:27.000 --> 00:05:30.800
that I put in the book called
militant ignorance. Oh yeah, definitely,

77
00:05:30.920 --> 00:05:32.480
I'd never heard that before util I
read it in your book. Yeah,

78
00:05:32.519 --> 00:05:35.720
it was fascinating because I was really
struggling with how do I explain this?

79
00:05:35.800 --> 00:05:42.240
How do I explain the irrational behaviors? And M Scott Pack in a book

80
00:05:42.240 --> 00:05:46.079
called The Road Less Traveled, uh
about this? Yeah, I talked about

81
00:05:46.120 --> 00:05:49.360
this idea of militant ignorance. And
basically what it is is that, you

82
00:05:49.360 --> 00:05:55.160
know, it's that natural human,
almost tribal behavior that you know, after

83
00:05:55.199 --> 00:05:59.639
all, we are human and we
do fall back into what I call later

84
00:05:59.680 --> 00:06:05.759
in the book, our cavemen brain
kicks in and we are become convinced by

85
00:06:05.800 --> 00:06:12.600
those around us that something is true
or something is correct, even if it

86
00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.839
goes against all of our values,
all of our knowledge, and we literally

87
00:06:17.040 --> 00:06:23.439
choose not to continue learning in that
environment. We shut it down and say

88
00:06:23.480 --> 00:06:28.000
I'm going to go with the group. I'm going to go with the tribe.

89
00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:33.439
And that leads that that idea of
militant ignorance, like, no,

90
00:06:33.560 --> 00:06:39.040
I'm not going to learn, I'm
not going to get the facts because this

91
00:06:39.160 --> 00:06:41.160
is what I believe, and this
is what I want to believe. All

92
00:06:41.160 --> 00:06:46.160
my friends believe the same thing.
It can lead to some pretty frightening outcomes.

93
00:06:46.839 --> 00:06:49.399
Yeah, And I you know,
I appreciate that you want, you

94
00:06:49.439 --> 00:06:53.399
know, because I'm a researcher at
heart. I have about twenty eight pages

95
00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:57.800
of typewritten notes from your book because
that's what I do, and that one

96
00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.040
of the things that I stribe when
you were talking about military ignorance was many

97
00:07:00.079 --> 00:07:04.800
of the challenges society faces today can
be traced to our individual and collective refusal

98
00:07:04.920 --> 00:07:10.079
to learn. Yes, yes,
I mean think about think about some of

99
00:07:10.120 --> 00:07:16.879
these issues that have plagued just our
country. And if you put a group

100
00:07:16.959 --> 00:07:21.959
of intelligent people in a room,
many of these issues could get solved,

101
00:07:23.319 --> 00:07:27.879
and yet they don't. And yet
not only could they get solved, but

102
00:07:28.000 --> 00:07:33.199
we turn them into we almost weaponize
these issues and get people so worked up

103
00:07:33.240 --> 00:07:40.519
and so angry about them that people
choose not to seek knowledge and truth about

104
00:07:40.519 --> 00:07:45.519
these issues. They're so hunkered down
on the idea that we're right and they're

105
00:07:45.600 --> 00:07:53.000
wrong that it leads to basically an
impasse. There is. It's a self

106
00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.920
fulfilling prophecy that there will be no
solution. Yeah. Yeah, I was

107
00:07:58.000 --> 00:08:01.040
just listening to the news this morning
and they were just talking about how,

108
00:08:01.519 --> 00:08:03.839
you know, anger sells, you
know, and it was sort of not

109
00:08:03.879 --> 00:08:09.000
just sort of, it was very
disheartening to hear that you know, peace

110
00:08:09.120 --> 00:08:13.399
and you know, encouragement and compassion
and love don't actually sell, but but

111
00:08:13.480 --> 00:08:16.720
anger does. And I'm like,
oh, oh in the wrong business.

112
00:08:16.240 --> 00:08:20.240
Sadly, it's a motivator. But
you know, interestingly, if you look

113
00:08:20.319 --> 00:08:24.279
through history again, I've learned a
lot in the course of writing this book,

114
00:08:24.279 --> 00:08:28.319
and if you look through history and
you think about our leaders, the

115
00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:33.360
leaders that have historically, Now there
have been exceptions to this, but most

116
00:08:33.399 --> 00:08:41.240
of the leaders who have prevailed in
national political presidential elections, most of them

117
00:08:41.480 --> 00:08:48.279
have been purveyors of hope, yes, and those who are stoking fear generally

118
00:08:48.559 --> 00:08:52.639
don't prevail in the long term because
hope, I do. I do think

119
00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.840
that hope ultimately prevails over fear.
But fear is easier. It's the lowest.

120
00:09:00.000 --> 00:09:03.159
I'm a the nominator, yep.
And so you know, if you're

121
00:09:03.159 --> 00:09:07.399
going to pull out your deck of
tools to how to motivate people to take

122
00:09:07.519 --> 00:09:11.120
action, you pull out that fear
tool, and it's a lot easier than

123
00:09:11.120 --> 00:09:13.240
the hope tool. In the short
term. I agree, I'm aligned with

124
00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:18.000
you. Let's restire we can do
better than that. But speaking of history,

125
00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:20.440
Jim, I want to talk a
little bit about yours, because I

126
00:09:20.480 --> 00:09:22.360
have to say, when I was
reading your book and I started reading about

127
00:09:22.399 --> 00:09:26.519
the story you say at the beginning, which was pretty compelling and interesting,

128
00:09:26.519 --> 00:09:30.240
and then you and then come to
find with that stories about you, I

129
00:09:30.279 --> 00:09:33.240
was like, Wow, no,
wonder this. So it's important that our

130
00:09:33.240 --> 00:09:35.120
listeners and viewers know a little bit
more about your history like I do now,

131
00:09:35.399 --> 00:09:39.240
because if they understand that, they
will understand even more deeply the power

132
00:09:39.279 --> 00:09:41.200
of your message and what you've written
in the book. So will you just

133
00:09:41.279 --> 00:09:46.320
kind of give us a sketch of
your earlier life? Sure? I was

134
00:09:46.360 --> 00:09:48.639
really you know, I set it
up that way in the third person because

135
00:09:48.679 --> 00:09:52.200
I was really reluctant. I didn't
want this book to be about me.

136
00:09:52.919 --> 00:09:58.200
I didn't want it to be a
memoir because I'm certainly I'm not old enough

137
00:09:58.200 --> 00:10:01.039
for a mena. Let's start with
that. Yeah, yeah, let's start

138
00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:05.919
there now. I really wanted the
audience to be engaged, the reader to

139
00:10:05.960 --> 00:10:11.679
be engaged in a story about an
individual that could have been any kid growing

140
00:10:11.759 --> 00:10:16.480
up anywhere in the world. Because
my story is unique. My story has

141
00:10:16.480 --> 00:10:20.960
played out over and over again all
over the world. Too many kids in

142
00:10:22.000 --> 00:10:26.440
the family, too little money,
problems, marrital issues. You know,

143
00:10:26.919 --> 00:10:31.919
my mom left at five, my
father passed away when I was twelve,

144
00:10:31.200 --> 00:10:35.039
We had no running water, the
house was condemned. I mean, I

145
00:10:35.039 --> 00:10:39.360
didn't go on and on with the
list of all these adversities that I faced.

146
00:10:41.000 --> 00:10:46.879
And yet I'm not alone. The
whole world is full of people with

147
00:10:46.960 --> 00:10:50.799
those kinds of challenges. In fact, we all have adversity of some sort.

148
00:10:50.879 --> 00:10:56.039
So my objective in the book was
to share my adversity and to be

149
00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:00.679
able to show how I turned adversity
into opportunity and to say, look,

150
00:11:00.720 --> 00:11:03.440
you don't have to I don't want
that for anybody, but take your own

151
00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:09.279
adversary, because everybody has one,
everybody has an issue. Take that and

152
00:11:09.320 --> 00:11:13.159
turn it into a positive. Learn
from it and make it your strength,

153
00:11:13.240 --> 00:11:16.559
make it your superpower. And that
was my objective in telling my own story

154
00:11:16.559 --> 00:11:20.919
in that fashion, and then coming
up with the reveal that yes, this

155
00:11:20.120 --> 00:11:24.360
was me, which was delightful by
the way, I thank you for that.

156
00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:26.080
I was delighted by that. And
then, you know, I do

157
00:11:26.120 --> 00:11:28.919
really want to celebrate you, Jim. I mean, you really are a

158
00:11:30.200 --> 00:11:35.480
living billboard of having achieved and still
achieving the American dream. I mean,

159
00:11:35.519 --> 00:11:41.679
you have been a well known CEO
of two remarkable organizations, You're a philanthropist,

160
00:11:41.759 --> 00:11:45.440
you're a pilot, an artist,
and musician, among many other notable

161
00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:48.879
achievements. And so it's what I
love about that too, as a fellow

162
00:11:48.919 --> 00:11:54.000
person who believes very much in lifelong
learning, you wouldn't be doing all of

163
00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:58.759
those things if you hadn't embraced this
notion of lifelong learning. That's exactly right.

164
00:12:00.080 --> 00:12:03.159
You know, I've dedicated a whole
chapter in the book to curiosity.

165
00:12:03.240 --> 00:12:05.720
As you know, Oh, I
love it. We're going to talk about

166
00:12:05.759 --> 00:12:11.600
that. It's the root, it's
the root of all of of all knowledge.

167
00:12:11.639 --> 00:12:16.039
And to me, there's really no
difference from me than anybody else.

168
00:12:16.080 --> 00:12:20.799
I'm not any smarter, I'm not
any more blah blah blah. I just

169
00:12:20.240 --> 00:12:26.240
never lost that curiosity that I had
as a kid, and I've nurtured it.

170
00:12:26.320 --> 00:12:33.720
I intentionally tried to stay curious,
and that curiosity still drives me today.

171
00:12:33.799 --> 00:12:37.120
I just I just want to keep
learning. I'm fascinated by Like right

172
00:12:37.159 --> 00:12:43.080
now, we're doing social media,
you know, and I knew nothing about

173
00:12:43.120 --> 00:12:46.399
social media. I've never been on
a podcast, yeah, months ago,

174
00:12:48.159 --> 00:12:52.519
and now I've learned and I'm fascinated
by it and I'm using this now,

175
00:12:52.559 --> 00:12:58.200
this tool to reach people where especially
young people, where they live, which

176
00:12:58.240 --> 00:13:03.240
is in social media world, and
it's it's a beautiful thing. So it's

177
00:13:03.360 --> 00:13:07.879
yeah, it's it's all about just
lifelong learning is lifelong living, you know.

178
00:13:09.120 --> 00:13:11.840
It's it's about the more you learn, the more richer life can be.

179
00:13:13.399 --> 00:13:16.320
Completely agree, which is which is
why you still find me nine and

180
00:13:16.360 --> 00:13:20.720
a half years still hosting this podcast, because that's it's a learning platform for

181
00:13:20.840 --> 00:13:24.080
me that a few people happen to
listen to as well. It's kind of

182
00:13:24.080 --> 00:13:26.840
fun. Okay, well, let's
let's dive in. I want to.

183
00:13:26.960 --> 00:13:31.960
I love what you've created and especially
from your vantage point of what you've done

184
00:13:31.000 --> 00:13:35.879
in your life of you call it
the C Suite of learning here and this

185
00:13:35.000 --> 00:13:37.759
is how your book is organized so
beautifully. To Jim, it just all

186
00:13:37.799 --> 00:13:41.919
hangs together so beautifully. But listeners
and viewers, these the c suite of

187
00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:46.159
learning for our purposes, what Jim
has created, we're going to we're going

188
00:13:46.200 --> 00:13:50.919
to talk about change, confidence,
clarity, critical thinking, curiosity, creativity,

189
00:13:52.039 --> 00:13:56.960
collaboration, cultural literacy, and character. They're all part of us and

190
00:13:56.000 --> 00:14:01.200
they are essential to enhance our democratic
process. As Jim said, So if

191
00:14:01.200 --> 00:14:03.679
please start with the first one,
the change here, and you are a

192
00:14:03.799 --> 00:14:07.320
master at change. I loved your
stories of how you navigated the change through

193
00:14:07.320 --> 00:14:11.000
your career and you know, as
life sort things up to you, and

194
00:14:11.039 --> 00:14:15.039
I also love that for you you
noticed, as you said it before,

195
00:14:15.320 --> 00:14:18.399
change equals opportunity. In other words, you can be the CEO of your

196
00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:22.960
life through change exactly. And I
didn't, of course, as a kid,

197
00:14:24.039 --> 00:14:28.840
I didn't realize I was doing this. I didn't know early in my

198
00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:35.200
career how important my ability to embrace
change was as a point of differentiation versus

199
00:14:35.279 --> 00:14:39.799
other employees. And then one day
I woke up and said, you know,

200
00:14:39.960 --> 00:14:43.919
all of these things we've been through
that I've been through personally contributed,

201
00:14:45.120 --> 00:14:50.080
I think to my ability in a
company setting to deal with change because I

202
00:14:50.120 --> 00:14:54.919
always recognize that. I came to
recognize this is what I'm trying to share

203
00:14:54.960 --> 00:14:58.799
in my book, that it has
nothing to do with the change itself.

204
00:15:00.159 --> 00:15:03.759
It seems like a horrible crisis at
this moment, and it could be the

205
00:15:03.759 --> 00:15:05.480
best opportunity of your life. You
just don't know it at the time,

206
00:15:05.600 --> 00:15:09.600
right right, So that's why I
say, you know, in any change

207
00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:13.159
can be opportunity, but it's not
the change that matters, it's our response

208
00:15:13.240 --> 00:15:16.639
to the change right well. As
a logo therapist too, has been very

209
00:15:16.639 --> 00:15:20.919
steeped in doctor Victor Frankel's work.
Of course, one of the things that

210
00:15:20.960 --> 00:15:24.240
he used to champion is in between
stimulus and response, there is a space,

211
00:15:24.279 --> 00:15:28.600
and in that space we have the
choice of how we're going to respond,

212
00:15:28.639 --> 00:15:31.360
which is empowering. And I love
how you go on to say that

213
00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:35.519
your own freedom was created from within. You were free from the inside out.

214
00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.279
You're free in your mind. And
that sense of freedom turned into a

215
00:15:39.360 --> 00:15:43.919
life of learning, and the life
of learning turned into a life of adventure

216
00:15:43.240 --> 00:15:50.559
and the foundation for this book.
It's very true and I am growing up,

217
00:15:50.919 --> 00:15:58.279
I didn't have an understanding of wealth
because I didn't have any wealth,

218
00:15:58.320 --> 00:16:03.519
of course, but I and my
father used to tell me that he wanted

219
00:16:03.559 --> 00:16:06.240
more from me, but he didn't
want me to be rich. He never

220
00:16:06.279 --> 00:16:08.840
said, I want you to go
out and make money, which so many

221
00:16:08.919 --> 00:16:14.440
of us get caught up in that
hamster wheel you know of to make money,

222
00:16:14.480 --> 00:16:18.120
that's what success is all about.
And I realized for my dad,

223
00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:19.399
he used to tell me stories.
He was in World War Two and he

224
00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.399
was in Burma. He was a
truck driver on the Burma road, and

225
00:16:25.559 --> 00:16:29.840
he used to tell me stories about
the Burmese people and how wonderful that culture

226
00:16:30.080 --> 00:16:33.600
was, and how much he learned
from the people there, and how he

227
00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:38.080
longed for that experience, and now
that he was back in the United States

228
00:16:38.080 --> 00:16:41.799
and out of the war, how
he wished he had a job that would

229
00:16:41.840 --> 00:16:48.759
allow him to travel the world and
continue to basically have the freedom to be

230
00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:53.159
with whoever he wanted to be with
wherever he wanted to be. And I

231
00:16:53.960 --> 00:16:59.559
sort of internalized that, and as
I progressed through my life and my career,

232
00:17:00.080 --> 00:17:00.759
kind of woke up one day and
said, you know, it really

233
00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:04.920
isn't about accumulation of wealth. That's
an enabler, it's a tool, but

234
00:17:06.000 --> 00:17:12.000
it's really about freedom. Think about
how many wildly successful or wildly wealthy friends

235
00:17:12.039 --> 00:17:15.240
we have that are miserable. Yeah, yeah, you probably deal with a

236
00:17:15.240 --> 00:17:19.680
few of them in your practice.
Indeed, indeed, indeed, Oh okay,

237
00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:22.240
so on, then let's grab our
first break and let our listeners of

238
00:17:22.319 --> 00:17:25.680
viewers do a little bit on what
you've just served up here. As an

239
00:17:25.680 --> 00:17:27.759
opening. I'm your host, doctor
Earles Cortes. We'll go on the air

240
00:17:27.799 --> 00:17:32.599
with Jim Keyes. He's a global
business leader, philanthropist, educator, artist,

241
00:17:32.759 --> 00:17:37.160
musician, commercial rated pilot, and
modern renaissance man. He's the former

242
00:17:37.240 --> 00:17:41.920
CEO of two internationally recognized Fortune five
hundred companies, seven to eleven and Blockbuster.

243
00:17:41.200 --> 00:17:45.319
We've been talking a bit about where
his book came from, and we're

244
00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:48.359
just getting started into unraveling the c
suit of learning. See what this will

245
00:17:48.400 --> 00:18:07.799
be right back. Doctor Elise Cortes
is a management consultant specializing in meaning and

246
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:12.960
purpose. An inspirational speaker and author, she helps companies visioneer for greater purpose

247
00:18:12.960 --> 00:18:18.599
among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired leadership
and meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment,

248
00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:22.759
performance, and commitment within the workforce. To learn more or to invite a

249
00:18:22.839 --> 00:18:27.440
lease to speak to your organization,
please visit her at elisecortes dot com.

250
00:18:27.519 --> 00:18:37.000
Let's talk about how to get your
employees working on purpose. This is working

251
00:18:37.039 --> 00:18:41.400
on purpose with doctor Elise Cortes.
To reach our program today or to open

252
00:18:41.440 --> 00:18:47.640
a conversation with Elise, send an
email to Elise A. L Se at

253
00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:57.000
Elisecortes dot com. Now back to
Working on Purpose. Thanks for stating with

254
00:18:57.079 --> 00:19:00.400
us, and welcome back to Working
on Purpose. I'm your home doctor,

255
00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:03.359
Elist Cortes, as I am dedicated
to helping create a world where people realize

256
00:19:03.400 --> 00:19:07.759
their potential at work and are led
by inspirational leaders that help them find and

257
00:19:07.799 --> 00:19:11.359
contribute their greatness, and we do
business that betters the world. I continue

258
00:19:11.400 --> 00:19:14.279
to research and write my own books. So the last one came out in

259
00:19:14.279 --> 00:19:18.200
March of twenty twenty three. It's
called The Great Revitalization. How activating a

260
00:19:18.200 --> 00:19:21.200
meaning and purpose can radically in live
in your business. And I wrote it

261
00:19:21.200 --> 00:19:25.480
to help leaders understand the nature of
today's workforce, what do they want from

262
00:19:25.519 --> 00:19:29.519
you to stay and thrive? And
then I offer twenty two best processes to

263
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.640
help you create that culture to provide
it for them. You can learn about

264
00:19:32.640 --> 00:19:36.720
my books at leastcoretes dot com or
find them on Amazon if you are just

265
00:19:36.759 --> 00:19:38.920
now joining me. My guest is
Jim Keyes. He's the author of Education

266
00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:42.200
Is Freedom The Future Is in your
Hands, which which is what we've been

267
00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:45.839
talking about today. So before the
break, we served up that we are

268
00:19:45.839 --> 00:19:49.039
going to be covering as many as
we can of the c suite of learning,

269
00:19:49.039 --> 00:19:53.480
which again is change, confidence,
clarity, critical thinking, curiosity,

270
00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:59.519
creativity, collaboration, cultural literacy,
and character. We've covered change, so

271
00:19:59.559 --> 00:20:04.599
now let's talk about confidence. Yeah, that was a challenge to write the

272
00:20:04.680 --> 00:20:12.519
chapter on confidence here. It is
so critical and it is such an important

273
00:20:12.839 --> 00:20:18.440
part of my success because I was
fearless, and everybody says, well,

274
00:20:18.480 --> 00:20:25.119
how did you How did you move
from you know, from a regular employee

275
00:20:25.119 --> 00:20:30.200
in the organization to all these different
ranks and CFO and chief operating officer.

276
00:20:30.400 --> 00:20:36.319
It was it was about not being
afraid at the part of it. For

277
00:20:36.400 --> 00:20:42.000
example, I was originally I entered
seven to eleven the South in corporation via

278
00:20:42.359 --> 00:20:48.240
the sort of the financial side of
the business, let's say, the planning

279
00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.440
side, because I came in to
help them with an oil company that they

280
00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:56.200
had acquired. And then I moved
into an operating role. And then after

281
00:20:56.240 --> 00:21:00.920
a while I raised my hand and
said I'd like to go back and work

282
00:21:00.960 --> 00:21:04.720
on this strategic piece again because I
can help. And what I did is

283
00:21:04.759 --> 00:21:11.279
I kept moving from area to area
throughout my career where I didn't have the

284
00:21:11.400 --> 00:21:15.039
experience. It was a stretch,
but it was also an opportunity to learn.

285
00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:18.559
Now, how many of us get
stuck in that trap? They say,

286
00:21:18.559 --> 00:21:21.480
well, no, no, I
can't do that. I might have

287
00:21:21.519 --> 00:21:25.680
to take less money for that new
job, even if you're gonna learn a

288
00:21:25.720 --> 00:21:30.680
lot more. So I yes,
for some reason, I had the courage.

289
00:21:30.759 --> 00:21:34.759
And here's the analogy I like to
use. When you're a little kid,

290
00:21:34.880 --> 00:21:41.720
you're in school, teacher, teacher, I know what happens. You

291
00:21:41.759 --> 00:21:45.720
get a spitball in the back of
the head. That's right. You get

292
00:21:45.720 --> 00:21:48.440
all these people that are criticizing you. Why are you doing that? You're

293
00:21:48.440 --> 00:21:52.240
making us look bad? You know
you this and that, and they call

294
00:21:52.279 --> 00:21:56.880
you names. I was able to
tune that out as a kid for some

295
00:21:56.000 --> 00:22:00.440
reason, because and I didn't recognize
it. Took me many years to realize

296
00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:04.200
it was never about me. It
was about that. That's right, they're

297
00:22:04.200 --> 00:22:08.359
in securities, that's right being projected
on me. And took many years.

298
00:22:08.400 --> 00:22:12.400
I wish I knew that then.
But that same behavior happens in the in

299
00:22:12.440 --> 00:22:19.079
the boardroom, that happens in the
workplace all the time. And so confidence

300
00:22:19.160 --> 00:22:25.759
is critically important so that you can
say I'm not gonna let the pack and

301
00:22:25.839 --> 00:22:30.240
they're in securities try to hold me
back in my career. It's not good

302
00:22:30.279 --> 00:22:33.039
for me, and it's not good
for the company. The company needs me

303
00:22:33.680 --> 00:22:41.240
out there taking chances and so yeah. So it was confidence really that propelled

304
00:22:41.240 --> 00:22:45.759
me in so many ways throughout my
career. Well, one of the things

305
00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:48.519
that I got from your confidence section, there's two pieces I wanted to talk

306
00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:51.880
about. One is this next piece, and then one's on humility. But

307
00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:55.519
I really think this is this is
this is actionable for our listeners and viewers,

308
00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:57.759
because confidence is hard for a lot
of people. And so I love

309
00:22:57.799 --> 00:23:00.519
that you go on and you say, you know, we all know about

310
00:23:00.519 --> 00:23:02.880
the golden rule, which is to
treat others the way that we wish to

311
00:23:02.920 --> 00:23:06.079
be treated ourselves. Then you say, but in addition to the golden rule,

312
00:23:06.359 --> 00:23:08.720
we should consider it establish a platinum
role. And you say, in

313
00:23:08.759 --> 00:23:12.200
other words, if you treat yourself
the way you want to be treated by

314
00:23:12.359 --> 00:23:18.000
others, then you will indelibly hold
yourself to a higher standard. This will

315
00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:21.960
manifest in a higher self confidence that
will in turn encourage others to believe in

316
00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:26.599
you. That is really really powerful. If we can hold ourselves to that

317
00:23:26.680 --> 00:23:30.240
same treat ourselves in the way that
we want other people to treat us.

318
00:23:30.279 --> 00:23:33.799
That is a game changer, Jim. It's brilliant. It's just so true.

319
00:23:34.759 --> 00:23:38.640
We all struggle with the imposter syndrome. We're human again. It's that

320
00:23:38.759 --> 00:23:42.559
stupid part of our cave man brain
that kids him, Oh, I'm not

321
00:23:42.640 --> 00:23:47.200
good enough, you know, I'm
not strong enough, blah blah blah,

322
00:23:47.240 --> 00:23:51.559
and it's just all noise. So
I tried to figure out a way to

323
00:23:51.599 --> 00:23:53.400
put it into terms of people could
embrace, and it was like, well,

324
00:23:53.440 --> 00:23:59.079
wait a minute, why am I
treating myself in a way that I

325
00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:03.799
would not want to to treat me. I'm harder on myself than they are

326
00:24:03.880 --> 00:24:07.519
out there, and they're hot enough
already, you know. So yeah,

327
00:24:07.759 --> 00:24:10.640
I tried to put it in those
terms. The Platinum Rule I called it.

328
00:24:11.319 --> 00:24:15.519
Yeah, why not? I love
it? No, I think it's

329
00:24:15.519 --> 00:24:18.559
so powerful because what I think about, Jim, and part of what I'm

330
00:24:18.599 --> 00:24:22.640
trying to do in the world is
one I'm always about helping to activate people

331
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:26.440
to understand their meaning and their purpose
and then inspired their make a contribution worthy

332
00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:30.480
of their one precious life by doing
so. Imagine if we could live society

333
00:24:30.640 --> 00:24:36.440
just five percent by allowing people to
take more ownership of that confidence and that

334
00:24:36.480 --> 00:24:38.759
they could then serve from that the
world would be a vastly different place,

335
00:24:40.359 --> 00:24:44.920
vastly different place. Yeah, but
you know there's a trap, because this

336
00:24:45.039 --> 00:24:48.480
is what trips up a lot of
people. When a confident person expresses their

337
00:24:48.519 --> 00:24:55.559
confidence. There is a risk there
that others will again try to take their

338
00:24:55.640 --> 00:25:00.200
legs out because they're jealous or whatever
reason. But there's also an e I've

339
00:25:00.200 --> 00:25:06.279
been guilty of this. I've been
guilty or certainly called arrogant because I am

340
00:25:06.279 --> 00:25:11.079
so confident I do believe so much
in myself and my ability that others sometimes

341
00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:15.319
perceive that as arrogance. So I
tried to struggle that. I struggled with

342
00:25:15.359 --> 00:25:17.720
that in the book, and I
said, I need to help my readers

343
00:25:18.319 --> 00:25:22.720
understand the difference between confidence and arrogance
and where that line is. Yes,

344
00:25:23.039 --> 00:25:29.960
I went back to Norman Vincent Peelee. Interestingly, you know, if you

345
00:25:30.000 --> 00:25:33.319
think about confidence, Donald Trump kind
of comes to mind. Well, his

346
00:25:33.480 --> 00:25:37.000
dad used to take him to hear
Norman Vincent Peel the power of positive thinking.

347
00:25:37.319 --> 00:25:41.480
Well, Norman Vincent Peelee was a
preacher, and yes he preached positive

348
00:25:41.480 --> 00:25:47.480
thinking, he preached confidence. But
what I discovered, and this was new

349
00:25:47.559 --> 00:25:52.119
learning for me. I discovered this
and reading about Norman Vincent Peelee that in

350
00:25:52.279 --> 00:25:59.799
equal doses he preached humility, but
it was an important unique form of humility.

351
00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:06.079
Wasn't humility in the sense of oh
I'm not that good, blah blah

352
00:26:06.119 --> 00:26:11.319
blah. No, it was not
self deprecating humility. It was humility in

353
00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:15.480
the sense that I know I am
smart enough to know that I don't know

354
00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:22.559
everything that I have something I can
learn from every human being that I interact

355
00:26:22.599 --> 00:26:25.920
with. Could be the janitor,
it could be the waiter, it could

356
00:26:25.960 --> 00:26:30.240
be the CEO in the boardroom.
I can learn something from them. So

357
00:26:30.319 --> 00:26:36.359
as long as I hold that true
in my heart, then I can be

358
00:26:36.400 --> 00:26:41.079
as confident as I want, and
I will never project that over the line

359
00:26:41.160 --> 00:26:45.880
kind of arrogance because I'll be listening
to them, waiting for what I can

360
00:26:45.960 --> 00:26:51.200
learn from them. Yes, not
so beautiful. I'm so aligned with that,

361
00:26:51.279 --> 00:26:55.400
Jim. It's just so beautiful.
So that's how we can temper arrogance

362
00:26:55.559 --> 00:26:57.440
with humility, so that we have
that good balance. So let's go on

363
00:26:57.480 --> 00:27:00.200
to Clearity News because I want to
get through his means we possibly can't for

364
00:27:00.200 --> 00:27:03.599
our listenership. So much meat to
them. So clarity, you know,

365
00:27:03.720 --> 00:27:07.200
gosh, that sounds really simple.
We just have to be clear and what

366
00:27:07.240 --> 00:27:08.400
we what we want people to do, and what we say. Right,

367
00:27:08.440 --> 00:27:15.119
that's all sounds simple. However there's
more. Oh yeah, Everyone from da

368
00:27:15.200 --> 00:27:18.720
Vinci to Einstein said it's the hardest
thing that a human can do is to

369
00:27:19.720 --> 00:27:26.279
simplify that. We have a tendency
as humans to over complicate everything. And

370
00:27:26.400 --> 00:27:30.200
Einstein said it well. He said, if you can't explain something well enough

371
00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:33.599
that the six year old can understand
it, you probably don't understand it well

372
00:27:33.680 --> 00:27:38.599
enough yourself. Oh and it's so
true, really, And I can't tell

373
00:27:38.599 --> 00:27:45.960
you how many times clarity simplicity kept
me out of trouble. I was CFO

374
00:27:45.160 --> 00:27:49.799
in the Enron era of a public
company. Wow, Sarbanes Oxley. The

375
00:27:49.920 --> 00:27:59.519
very same people that we're calling on
Enron with offshore special purpose entity tax shelters,

376
00:27:59.759 --> 00:28:03.400
right, we're calling on me as
the chief financial officer of a twelve

377
00:28:03.480 --> 00:28:08.079
billion dollar public company, saying I
can help your performance, your company's performance

378
00:28:08.119 --> 00:28:18.480
with this accounting scheme. And I
recall vividly the reason that I didn't recommend

379
00:28:18.519 --> 00:28:22.720
that is I would say to them
if I can't explain this to my board,

380
00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:26.119
and I couldn't. I just did
not understand it well enough to explain

381
00:28:26.160 --> 00:28:30.400
it to my board. Then I
have no business doing it. You know

382
00:28:30.440 --> 00:28:33.480
what their answer was, Well,
you're not supposed to understand it. We're

383
00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:37.240
the experts, we're the tax experts. Oh wow, to do it?

384
00:28:37.319 --> 00:28:45.799
Accept it and that element of simplicity, that rule that I have probably kept

385
00:28:45.839 --> 00:28:52.559
me out of jail or kept the
company out of a serious financial crisis.

386
00:28:52.720 --> 00:28:57.759
But it works, and it's so
just to elaborate a little bit, it's

387
00:28:57.839 --> 00:29:04.759
not just simplification, it's clarity of
both inbound communications, so listening and being

388
00:29:04.759 --> 00:29:08.880
able to understand what we're being told. That means breaking it down into simple

389
00:29:08.960 --> 00:29:14.319
terms, right, and then outbound
clarity because at the end of the day,

390
00:29:14.359 --> 00:29:18.119
if you're leading an organization, you
can't lead if they can't follow,

391
00:29:18.160 --> 00:29:22.559
if they can't understand what your what
your plan is, what your strategy is.

392
00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:29.799
And the reality is we all we
all find ourselves in situations where our

393
00:29:29.920 --> 00:29:32.279
organization is saying, oh, yeah, sure, I get it, I

394
00:29:32.319 --> 00:29:34.680
get it, not a clue,
I'm here, you said, or they're

395
00:29:34.720 --> 00:29:40.359
afraid they're afraid to challenge it.
And step up and say, really didn't

396
00:29:40.440 --> 00:29:42.960
understand that. M Yeah, which
is part of my work too, is

397
00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:47.000
helping to make that safe. That
psychological safety is so so important. So

398
00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:48.519
the clarity piece too. And then
as you go on to say, being

399
00:29:48.559 --> 00:29:52.759
able to carefully curate the message and
deliver it into the intended audience in a

400
00:29:52.759 --> 00:29:56.839
way that they understand but also inspires
them to want to be around it and

401
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.400
part of the action. So that's
a champion that too. Okay, So

402
00:30:00.440 --> 00:30:04.359
what we've been talking about then is
those three were really about what to learn.

403
00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.160
Those three pieces. Now we're going
to move on to three pieces of

404
00:30:07.279 --> 00:30:11.480
how to learn. So the first
one there is critical thinking. Please could

405
00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:14.920
we have more of that in the
world? Please? Would you make that

406
00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:19.640
happen like yesterday? I know,
wouldn't it be nice? Would you know?

407
00:30:19.720 --> 00:30:23.319
And I'll share with you that we
all learned critical thinking. For those

408
00:30:23.359 --> 00:30:27.279
who don't really know what we're talking
about with critical thinking, think of the

409
00:30:27.680 --> 00:30:32.160
Socratic method that we all learned in
grammar school. Who was Socrates? Well,

410
00:30:32.200 --> 00:30:33.480
he was the guy that asked why
about everything? Why? Why?

411
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:37.920
Why? Why? And he got
persecuted for it. Blah blah blah.

412
00:30:37.960 --> 00:30:44.240
He was probing. He was delving. It was he wanted to understand,

413
00:30:44.400 --> 00:30:48.160
and he would challenge assumptions all the
time. So we all knew that,

414
00:30:48.279 --> 00:30:52.000
but then we don't like to ask
why. In fact, we're probably probably

415
00:30:52.039 --> 00:30:56.359
lose the why as little kids when
mom says stop asking, right, yes,

416
00:30:56.000 --> 00:31:00.039
we drive our parents crazy. And
then we we sort of learned not

417
00:31:00.119 --> 00:31:04.839
to ask why. But it wasn't
until I got to seven eleven. And

418
00:31:04.880 --> 00:31:14.200
here's when I really embraced critical thinking. My Japanese licensees were wildly successful.

419
00:31:14.359 --> 00:31:18.680
They're selling fresh sushi in seven eleven
in Japan restaurant, We're having a hard

420
00:31:18.720 --> 00:31:26.160
time selling a fresh hot dog,
Like, how does this work? How

421
00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:32.680
do they do so well? And
I became a student of their success and

422
00:31:33.200 --> 00:31:38.960
what I discovered was amazing that they
took and it was actually inspired by Deming.

423
00:31:40.039 --> 00:31:42.160
By Edward Deming, one of our
Americans that went over their post World

424
00:31:42.160 --> 00:31:48.279
War two to help reconstruction of Japan, and he taught them the basic scientific

425
00:31:48.359 --> 00:31:55.240
method as it applies to business,
and it just basically start with a hypothesis.

426
00:31:56.079 --> 00:32:00.680
From the hypothesis, taken action after
the action, measure the results,

427
00:32:01.480 --> 00:32:09.440
and then redo your hypothesis. Very
simple they had in Japanese basically simplified it

428
00:32:09.519 --> 00:32:20.440
to plan see do or plan do
ce plan do see And basically it's it's

429
00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:25.359
the idea of having an idea to
start with, having a plan, but

430
00:32:25.480 --> 00:32:29.440
most importantly, putting that action in
place. And this is the part we

431
00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:35.200
all forget hearly as Americans because we're
all so busy measuring the results, and

432
00:32:35.240 --> 00:32:37.279
then when we measure the results,
a lot of times we measure measure,

433
00:32:37.319 --> 00:32:40.000
measure, measure, measure, and
we won't do anything about it. How

434
00:32:40.000 --> 00:32:45.839
do we take that result and then
re and then change our hypothesis. Now,

435
00:32:45.880 --> 00:32:50.640
if you put that into political terms, it means, Okay, we're

436
00:32:50.640 --> 00:32:52.839
going to try something. We're going
to put a policy in place. Let's

437
00:32:52.880 --> 00:32:57.160
step back and see if it worked. Oh, it didn't work as well

438
00:32:57.160 --> 00:33:00.960
as we thought. Let's let's take
a different position. And now that may

439
00:33:00.039 --> 00:33:06.720
seem like we're flip flopping or changing
our minds. Well not. If we

440
00:33:06.759 --> 00:33:14.079
make that change based on data,
based on and sometimes that change is really

441
00:33:14.119 --> 00:33:16.160
great. You know, I've come
to view things totally differently than I did

442
00:33:16.200 --> 00:33:22.079
before I did that investigative research or
critical thinking, Thank goodness, right exactly

443
00:33:22.480 --> 00:33:30.880
exactly and It's kind of comes full
cycle back to change equals opportunity, because

444
00:33:30.200 --> 00:33:35.119
even if I had the right hypothesis, the right program, the plan,

445
00:33:36.160 --> 00:33:38.519
it may have worked today, but
it may not work tomorrow. It's something

446
00:33:38.680 --> 00:33:43.920
changed in the environment. I got
to Blockbuster to take it to digital.

447
00:33:45.440 --> 00:33:50.720
I was down that path on a
streaming video company, ready to have wild

448
00:33:50.799 --> 00:33:58.079
success. We doubled ebitdah our cash
flow and dramatically improved earnings, and then

449
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:01.119
all of a sudden the financial crisis
hit. Yeah, well I had to

450
00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:07.039
pivot now from transforming the company to
saving the company, to try to restructuring

451
00:34:07.079 --> 00:34:13.679
the balance restructure the balance sheet,
and and people from the outside looking in

452
00:34:13.840 --> 00:34:16.639
said, oh, well, what's
he doing. He changed his strategy,

453
00:34:16.760 --> 00:34:20.920
or he didn't know what he was
doing whatever, No, it was it

454
00:34:21.039 --> 00:34:25.760
was responding to change with information,
with new information that you have at any

455
00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:30.000
given time. And you also had
all kinds of people too that were part

456
00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:34.559
of this, that that were weighing
in on the decisions and things, including

457
00:34:34.599 --> 00:34:37.320
your board, et cetera. So
anyway, that's a I read all of

458
00:34:37.320 --> 00:34:40.199
that too, very very fascinating.
Perhaps in another conversation we could talk more

459
00:34:40.199 --> 00:34:43.679
about your Blockbuster days. Because I
think a lot of people really want to

460
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:46.119
better understand that. But for now, let's take our next break. I'm

461
00:34:46.159 --> 00:34:49.519
your host, doctor at least Cortez. We've been on the air with Jim

462
00:34:49.599 --> 00:34:52.480
Keyes, who has had a lifelong
commitment to education, serving as a founding

463
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:58.360
director of the Dallas Education Foundation and
is the founder of Education His Freedom Foundation.

464
00:34:58.679 --> 00:35:00.960
We've been talking about his of learning. After the break, we're going

465
00:35:01.000 --> 00:35:21.039
to cover next on curiosity. We'll
be right back. Doctor Elise Cortes is

466
00:35:21.079 --> 00:35:25.000
a management consultant specializing in meaning and
purpose. An inspirational speaker and author,

467
00:35:25.280 --> 00:35:30.800
she helps companies visioneer for greater purpose
among stakeholders and develop purpose inspired leadership and

468
00:35:30.880 --> 00:35:36.760
meaning infused cultures that elevate fulfillment,
performance, and commitment within the workforce.

469
00:35:37.079 --> 00:35:39.719
To learn more or to invite a
lease to speak to your organization, please

470
00:35:39.800 --> 00:35:45.280
visit her at Elisecortes dot com.
Let's talk about how to get your employees

471
00:35:45.360 --> 00:35:54.280
working on purpose. This is working
on purpose with doctor Elise Cortes. To

472
00:35:54.320 --> 00:35:59.360
reach our program today or to open
a conversation with Elise, send an email

473
00:35:59.440 --> 00:36:05.119
to a lease a lisee at at
least coortes dot com. Now back to

474
00:36:05.239 --> 00:36:13.519
Working on Purpose. Thanks for staying
with us, and welcome back to Working

475
00:36:13.519 --> 00:36:15.519
on Purpose. I am your host
doctor at least Cortes. I mentioned in

476
00:36:15.519 --> 00:36:19.119
the last break that my latest book
came out in March of twenty three.

477
00:36:19.239 --> 00:36:22.639
It's called The Great Revitalization. What
I did for you is I created a

478
00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:25.039
very simple three page assessment for you, and it will give you a roadmap

479
00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:30.280
to elevating your own organizational culture to
meet to the discerning needs of today's workforce.

480
00:36:30.519 --> 00:36:32.679
And it will tell you really how
you're doing with regard to what today's

481
00:36:32.679 --> 00:36:37.280
workforce wants. You can find it
at gustodeshnow dot com if you are just

482
00:36:37.320 --> 00:36:40.440
now joining us. My guest is
Jim Keyes. He's the author of Education,

483
00:36:40.480 --> 00:36:44.440
News, Freedom The Future Is in
Your Hands, which we're talking about

484
00:36:44.440 --> 00:36:46.679
today. So one of my favorite
parts of the book, of course,

485
00:36:46.679 --> 00:36:50.639
which we started we sort of hinted
at before, is part of your c

486
00:36:50.719 --> 00:36:55.159
suite is curiosity. I love giving
myself over wildly to my curiosity. It's

487
00:36:55.199 --> 00:37:00.760
gotten me into all kinds of wonderful
mischief over over time. It's fun.

488
00:37:01.159 --> 00:37:06.320
It is fun, and that's that's
at the heart of it. It's it's

489
00:37:06.400 --> 00:37:12.320
it's getting back to the fun of
learning, and that that's so often missing

490
00:37:12.519 --> 00:37:17.480
in in our both our academic equation
and and just life. Absolutely, think

491
00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:22.000
about how many times have we traveled. You and I both travel a lot

492
00:37:22.039 --> 00:37:29.679
to foreign countries. Even a little
bit of understanding of the language just makes

493
00:37:29.719 --> 00:37:35.119
that trip so much more interesting and
enriching, Yes, and enriching. Yeah.

494
00:37:35.320 --> 00:37:37.800
And the response from people and not
my French is terrible. But when

495
00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:45.280
I'm there, when I do try
and make the effort, it could be

496
00:37:45.320 --> 00:37:47.079
a waiter, it could be a
taxi driver, it could be someone and

497
00:37:47.280 --> 00:37:52.840
I'm doing business with. They they
just they're grateful, absolutely extra effort.

498
00:37:53.360 --> 00:37:57.159
You're reaching for them, right,
You're making an effort for them. That's

499
00:37:57.159 --> 00:38:02.679
why I love how you distinguish the
cure versus the complacent. Yeah, exactly,

500
00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:07.639
And you know it's I'll give you
an example. One of the things

501
00:38:07.679 --> 00:38:12.800
that we're hearing today is, well, what's wrong with this generation Generation zem.

502
00:38:13.119 --> 00:38:15.960
I'm doing a lot of interviews about
gen Z and why aren't they a

503
00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:19.039
mess and blah blah blah, And
I say, you know, no,

504
00:38:19.480 --> 00:38:23.840
actually not, They're just different.
And what they're doing is they are actually

505
00:38:23.920 --> 00:38:29.679
quite curious because social media has lit
them up. Now they may be spending

506
00:38:29.719 --> 00:38:34.880
some time looking at cat you know
cat videos on TikTok. But I have

507
00:38:34.960 --> 00:38:38.760
a video out there talking about the
what of learning, the change confidence,

508
00:38:38.840 --> 00:38:43.639
clarity. It's got forty million views. And these are young people, so

509
00:38:43.760 --> 00:38:47.239
you know, anything they're learning,
they're curious how did the CEO of seven

510
00:38:47.280 --> 00:38:51.880
to eleven? And Blockbuster? How
do you get there? And they're learning

511
00:38:51.920 --> 00:38:57.400
from these things, So that curiosity
is alive and well, and I think

512
00:38:57.440 --> 00:39:02.920
we just need to celebrate it other
than you know, critical of people in

513
00:39:04.840 --> 00:39:07.760
invoking that curiosity. Well, I'm
taking a one step further, Jim.

514
00:39:07.599 --> 00:39:15.679
I've created a course that actually enhances
curiosity by actually teaching people to get better

515
00:39:15.719 --> 00:39:19.639
in touch with their transcendent emotions.
So I am totally with you. I

516
00:39:19.679 --> 00:39:23.599
love how you also describe curiosity as
intelligence at play, and also it's the

517
00:39:23.719 --> 00:39:28.760
lust of the mind. Completely embrace
that. Imagine if we could, we

518
00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:34.639
could turn on the curiosity inside organizations. Imagine the innovation, the problem solving,

519
00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:37.159
the way that they go about delighting
customers in a different way. That's

520
00:39:37.199 --> 00:39:40.639
what I am out to help companies
do as well. Oh my gosh,

521
00:39:40.679 --> 00:39:44.440
you know you're right, I'll give
you. I'll give you a great example

522
00:39:44.440 --> 00:39:46.559
of that. I mean, I
can't tell you how many companies I dealt

523
00:39:46.559 --> 00:39:51.000
with at seven eleven. I was
always looking for new products, right,

524
00:39:51.119 --> 00:39:54.880
So I was curious about what are
things? What are products in Hong Kong

525
00:39:55.000 --> 00:40:00.519
that could be transformed and brought here
to the United States or in Spain,

526
00:40:00.679 --> 00:40:06.119
or in in China or anywhere.
How can I find those things that we

527
00:40:06.159 --> 00:40:07.639
could bring back to the US.
You know, I was told by so

528
00:40:07.760 --> 00:40:13.360
many consumer products companies, by the
CEOs of these companies, like Jim,

529
00:40:13.400 --> 00:40:16.920
what do you It's not your job, you don't You don't do that.

530
00:40:17.119 --> 00:40:22.199
You know, you're CEO. You
just first of all, we the consumer

531
00:40:22.239 --> 00:40:24.519
product companies do that. And by
the way, as a CEO of a

532
00:40:24.519 --> 00:40:29.079
consumer products company, I would never
do that. That's my people that do

533
00:40:29.320 --> 00:40:34.840
the creative people, those are the
ones that develop us. Well. That

534
00:40:35.159 --> 00:40:40.840
curiosity helps you find new products your
customer better. Yeah. So one of

535
00:40:40.840 --> 00:40:45.039
my favorite examples, you know that
little aluminum model you see for beer.

536
00:40:45.360 --> 00:40:46.840
That's how I love this story in
your book. Yes, tell it.

537
00:40:47.199 --> 00:40:52.480
Oh yeah, it's it's it's fabulous. So I'm having trouble competing with Walmart

538
00:40:52.559 --> 00:40:54.440
at seven eleven because they're selling beer
below my costs, you know, as

539
00:40:54.480 --> 00:40:58.119
Walmart, that's what they do,
using it as a loss leader and try

540
00:40:58.119 --> 00:41:00.280
to bring people in the store.
And that's hard when you're trying to compete

541
00:41:00.320 --> 00:41:02.280
with that. You know, it's
like wait a minute, they're they're they're

542
00:41:02.320 --> 00:41:05.920
selling it at retail, blow my
cost. I could send people out and

543
00:41:05.920 --> 00:41:09.440
buy it at Walmart cheaper than I
can buy it from my Miller distributor whatever.

544
00:41:10.079 --> 00:41:15.159
So I was trying to find how
can I innovate beer. You know,

545
00:41:15.199 --> 00:41:16.239
that's pretty hard. It's been around
for a long time, right,

546
00:41:16.800 --> 00:41:21.639
Well, my customers like cold beer. And so I was in Japan one

547
00:41:21.679 --> 00:41:24.559
time and I opened the mini bar
and here I pulled out this thing at

548
00:41:24.800 --> 00:41:29.280
probably three in the morning, you
know, jet lag, and it was

549
00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:30.880
so cold. I couldn't hold it. And I turned on the light,

550
00:41:31.320 --> 00:41:34.599
which I didn't want to do,
but I had to see what this was.

551
00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:38.519
It was grapefruit juice in an aluminum
bottle. I had never seen that

552
00:41:38.639 --> 00:41:43.559
package, certainly not in the United
States. Yeah. I brought it back

553
00:41:43.599 --> 00:41:45.440
and I shared it with Budwise or
with Miller. I said, can I

554
00:41:45.480 --> 00:41:50.480
get beer in this package, and
I got the you know, kind of

555
00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:52.119
the eye roll. Yeah sure,
sure, yeah, of course, and

556
00:41:52.199 --> 00:41:55.440
you know what they're thinking, that's
not your job, that's not even more.

557
00:41:57.360 --> 00:42:00.159
And it took two years, but
I finally got it done and now

558
00:42:00.239 --> 00:42:05.159
that package is everywhere, and it's
fabulous package for water, for beer,

559
00:42:05.239 --> 00:42:08.199
for soft drinks. It's great,
it's wonderful, it's so so, so

560
00:42:08.360 --> 00:42:14.280
delightful, and just really quick because
I think you'll find this delightful. Why

561
00:42:14.320 --> 00:42:16.599
I know a little bit more about
seven eleven is from ninety one to ninety

562
00:42:16.639 --> 00:42:21.159
three my boyfriend, that's how I
ended up going to Madrid. And then

563
00:42:21.280 --> 00:42:27.000
Rio de Genio worked for Arco.
His job was to add the AMPM convenience

564
00:42:27.000 --> 00:42:30.199
storeline to the gas station. So
that's what we were doing all over Western

565
00:42:30.199 --> 00:42:34.280
Europe and South America. And talk
about creativity. Everybody said, that's never

566
00:42:34.280 --> 00:42:37.400
going to work, ever going to
want those stores. But as you say

567
00:42:37.400 --> 00:42:39.280
in your book, you realized what
you were doing at seven eleven is you

568
00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:45.239
were selling convenience exactly exactly. He
was my nemesis, by the way,

569
00:42:45.519 --> 00:42:47.159
I well, sorry, so I
just thought i'd just come clean on that.

570
00:42:49.400 --> 00:42:52.559
Yeah, AMPM, they were tough
competitors. Arco. They had North

571
00:42:52.599 --> 00:42:58.840
Slope crewed from California out in California, all the way from Alaskan North Slope,

572
00:42:58.880 --> 00:43:01.199
and they would bring it down to
California and sell it again. They

573
00:43:01.199 --> 00:43:05.880
were selling gasoline and ten cents cheaper
than my cost. It was. Boy,

574
00:43:05.880 --> 00:43:07.159
it was tough to compete with that. Yeah, I just thought I'd

575
00:43:07.159 --> 00:43:09.480
better just tell you that, so
in case you found out on your own,

576
00:43:09.519 --> 00:43:16.519
you know, up tell right,
we got to start this relationship,

577
00:43:16.639 --> 00:43:20.880
right, Jim. So all right, well let's move on. Now we

578
00:43:20.880 --> 00:43:22.400
were talking about curiosity. Now we
got to go on to the next one.

579
00:43:22.440 --> 00:43:27.000
That's creativity. And that's another thing
that I sew and so you know,

580
00:43:27.079 --> 00:43:30.360
talk about I'm being compelled by this, this curiosity to create this,

581
00:43:30.360 --> 00:43:36.159
this this course for organizations, and
so creativity here enabling our inner child.

582
00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:40.199
You say, this is this is
intelligence at play to enable that exactly.

583
00:43:40.280 --> 00:43:45.559
And it's it's another one of those
things that is innate to humans, that

584
00:43:45.639 --> 00:43:50.320
we are creative individuals and that as
we grow up again, is that fear

585
00:43:50.480 --> 00:43:53.239
thing? You know? At one
point we may have had a piano teacher

586
00:43:53.280 --> 00:44:00.000
and she banged our our knuckles and
said that's not good, or we try

587
00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:04.519
to saying and somebody said, oh
gosh, that's terrible, and and and

588
00:44:04.519 --> 00:44:08.159
and our fear kicked in and we
stopped doing it, and I, for

589
00:44:08.199 --> 00:44:13.480
some reason, I was blessed with
again that fearlessness. I was like,

590
00:44:13.559 --> 00:44:15.159
I don't care if they like the
way I sound. I'm gonna do it

591
00:44:15.159 --> 00:44:20.760
anyway. And I don't care if
they like my painting. And my my

592
00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:23.400
favorite example is I take I like
to take people to MOMO, to the

593
00:44:23.480 --> 00:44:27.199
Museum of Modern Art in New York, and I go, okay, look,

594
00:44:27.960 --> 00:44:31.239
you don't think you're an artist.
Here's a box of rocks. Now

595
00:44:32.760 --> 00:44:37.360
what do you think you know?
It's somebody said a box of rocks is

596
00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:40.159
beautiful, and this box of rocks
is now in the Museum of Modern Art.

597
00:44:40.719 --> 00:44:44.679
Or or there's one of my favorite
exhibits, there's a whole bunch of

598
00:44:44.760 --> 00:44:49.960
jars with hair in them. And
it's like, now, that is art.

599
00:44:50.119 --> 00:44:54.360
It is it is inspired by someone
who had a point of view and

600
00:44:54.400 --> 00:45:00.840
they wanted to express themselves in a
box of rocks. So what makes someone

601
00:45:00.880 --> 00:45:05.320
think that my expression, whether it's
a painting or whether it's a sculpture,

602
00:45:05.480 --> 00:45:10.360
or my terrible sinking thinging singing,
Why is that good or bad? So

603
00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:15.960
if you can get beyond that judgment, yes, have confidence to go forward.

604
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:21.239
There's so much richness that can come
from your pleasure in exercising that right

605
00:45:21.280 --> 00:45:24.840
side of your brain and just letting
it loose and being creative. It truly

606
00:45:24.960 --> 00:45:30.400
is intelligence having fun well, and
I love how you distinguish that. You

607
00:45:30.440 --> 00:45:35.480
say curiosity is what makes us wonder. Then creativity is what helps us execute.

608
00:45:35.639 --> 00:45:37.239
And don't we want to do more
of that also, you know,

609
00:45:37.239 --> 00:45:40.880
within through our organizations. And I
also appreciate how you went on to say,

610
00:45:40.880 --> 00:45:45.519
without the creative minds of our ancestors, we would still reside in the

611
00:45:45.559 --> 00:45:50.639
stone age waiting for a creative mind
to invent fire exactly. And you know

612
00:45:50.679 --> 00:45:55.119
what happened when some guy in a
cave the flint and rock together and all

613
00:45:55.159 --> 00:45:59.599
of a sudden pts on fire.
His wife probably said, you're going to

614
00:45:59.679 --> 00:46:01.599
burn the hut down. You knuckle
ahead, don't ever again. You know,

615
00:46:04.119 --> 00:46:13.199
but creativity is often not encouraged and
and and if we can overcome that

616
00:46:13.360 --> 00:46:19.039
fear and recognize the power of creativity, anybody can do it. Don't delegate

617
00:46:19.079 --> 00:46:22.760
it off to your marketing department.
No, I wanted. I wanted to

618
00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:28.079
cross the whole organization exactly exactly.
It's uh, it really is a beautiful

619
00:46:28.119 --> 00:46:30.400
thing. Well, and you know
you you describe so many benefits. It

620
00:46:30.400 --> 00:46:35.960
builds confidence and improves well being,
inspires others, awakens and expands senses,

621
00:46:36.119 --> 00:46:38.960
balances an unbalanced world. And you
will also go on to say, and

622
00:46:39.000 --> 00:46:44.639
I completely agree, it's an essential
job skill for the future. It really

623
00:46:44.719 --> 00:46:46.239
is. And you know I'll give
you I'll give you another example. And

624
00:46:46.400 --> 00:46:51.159
I bring these examples in from my
own experience in the book. And I

625
00:46:51.719 --> 00:46:55.400
got to Columbia Business School and I'm
gonna I had never taken an accounting class.

626
00:46:55.400 --> 00:46:59.880
I was a Polyscia undergraduate. I
was like, I didn't accounting.

627
00:47:00.480 --> 00:47:02.639
And now I'm in Cora County.
I'm looking around. There's KPMG on one

628
00:47:02.679 --> 00:47:07.239
side, a guy from Chrice Waterhouse
on the other in Deloitte, and I'm

629
00:47:07.280 --> 00:47:09.679
going, oh, I'm in such
trouble. But then they had this thing

630
00:47:09.719 --> 00:47:14.760
called case studies. And my first
response to a case study is, you

631
00:47:14.800 --> 00:47:16.639
know, in the high school,
you're an individual performer, and in college

632
00:47:16.679 --> 00:47:21.519
you're an individual performer. I mean, my grade's going to depend on these

633
00:47:21.599 --> 00:47:25.079
knuckleheads. I don't want that.
I want my own control of my own

634
00:47:25.079 --> 00:47:28.960
grade. And then I realized,
well, wait a minute, one of

635
00:47:29.000 --> 00:47:30.920
the guys in my case study is
a CPA. Maybe that can help.

636
00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:35.360
Well, then the imposter syndrome started
to kick ken, and I thought,

637
00:47:35.760 --> 00:47:38.360
I'm going to drag this group down. I'm embarrassed because I don't know accounting.

638
00:47:38.440 --> 00:47:42.480
How can I help them? Well, here's what happened. In the

639
00:47:42.519 --> 00:47:46.360
middle of that case study. We
were balancing, we were comparing companies and

640
00:47:46.440 --> 00:47:52.000
not knowing accounting principles. I knew
nothing and how to spell gap. I

641
00:47:52.920 --> 00:47:58.159
literally came up with this idea to
compare balance sheets basically factoring, put them

642
00:47:58.159 --> 00:48:01.039
both at one hundred percent with them
in percentages. Now we can compare a

643
00:48:01.079 --> 00:48:06.519
company to company B on a rational
basis. And the accountants were like,

644
00:48:07.039 --> 00:48:09.559
Their original reaction was, well,
you can't do that, that's not proper,

645
00:48:10.599 --> 00:48:14.079
and then we ended up doing it. We got an A in the

646
00:48:14.119 --> 00:48:21.679
class, and the lesson there was
that it's that coming together of different skill

647
00:48:21.760 --> 00:48:28.639
sets that really makes us successful and
having the courage to be a little creative

648
00:48:28.679 --> 00:48:35.679
sometimes even even if you're technically in
a technical area, you're not arguably paid

649
00:48:35.760 --> 00:48:38.840
to be creative, you can still
be creative. Absolutely. I love that

650
00:48:38.920 --> 00:48:42.360
story. And here we are.
We're out of time already. Dim.

651
00:48:42.400 --> 00:48:45.559
I wanted to talk about your orgs
for humanity, but we'll do something else

652
00:48:45.599 --> 00:48:47.599
with that some other time. I
want to give you a chance just to

653
00:48:47.639 --> 00:48:51.079
say, like, in fifteen seconds, how would you like to close the

654
00:48:51.119 --> 00:48:53.800
show? Well, what I hope
we can do. I hope we can

655
00:48:53.840 --> 00:48:58.599
do this again. Yeah, come
back for around two Yeah. Absolutely.

656
00:48:58.639 --> 00:49:01.159
And I hope people will find that
this is a book if they buy Education

657
00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:06.360
is Freedom, that this is a
book that they can learn from. I

658
00:49:06.400 --> 00:49:10.119
hope it helps individuals in their career. But I also hope anyone that buys

659
00:49:10.159 --> 00:49:15.000
this book will give it. It's
intended to be a gift book. Give

660
00:49:15.000 --> 00:49:20.639
it to somebody who needs that spark, that inspiration, and hopefully you'll be

661
00:49:20.840 --> 00:49:22.320
doing them a favor too. That's
why I wrote it, and I hope

662
00:49:22.360 --> 00:49:28.840
everyone is able to benefit from me
sharing my gift with you. I know

663
00:49:28.920 --> 00:49:30.559
I'm already much better for it.
Jim, I thank you so much for

664
00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:34.159
doing all the hard work to write
it and to get it out into the

665
00:49:34.159 --> 00:49:37.000
world, and I'll talk about it
more to come on that for sure.

666
00:49:37.079 --> 00:49:38.199
Very glad to know you and have
your life. Hang with me for just

667
00:49:38.239 --> 00:49:42.039
a second. Let me close the
show. Listeners and viewers. If you

668
00:49:42.039 --> 00:49:45.920
want to learn more about Jim Keyes, the various initiatives he pours itself into,

669
00:49:45.079 --> 00:49:49.400
or his book Education is Freedom,
you can visit a couple places.

670
00:49:49.480 --> 00:49:52.559
One his personal website is James W. Keys dot com. Let me spell

671
00:49:52.599 --> 00:49:55.800
that for you, James J.
A. M. E. S W

672
00:49:57.760 --> 00:50:00.360
K E y E s dot com, James W. Keys dot com.

673
00:50:00.519 --> 00:50:06.159
And then his book website is Education
is freedombook dot com. One more time,

674
00:50:06.320 --> 00:50:09.400
Education is freedombook dot com. Last
week, if you missed the live

675
00:50:09.440 --> 00:50:13.280
show, you can always catch it
be a recorded podcast or wherever you get

676
00:50:13.280 --> 00:50:16.719
your podcasts. You're on air with
Finnian Kelly talking about his book Intentionality,

677
00:50:17.039 --> 00:50:22.760
a groundbreaking guide to breath consciousness and
radical self transformation. He taught us his

678
00:50:22.760 --> 00:50:25.559
blueprint to develop intentionality as a way
of life, how to understand our human

679
00:50:25.599 --> 00:50:30.280
operating system, how to discover how
our belief loops code impressions in our lives,

680
00:50:30.519 --> 00:50:35.159
and then to recode those impressions for
a better outcome. Next week,

681
00:50:35.199 --> 00:50:37.920
we'll be on the air with Pam
August talking about her book Potential, How

682
00:50:37.920 --> 00:50:42.920
to connect what's already there for exponential
impacts so you can elevate your mattering in

683
00:50:43.000 --> 00:50:45.320
ways that are most important to you. See you there, and remember that

684
00:50:45.360 --> 00:50:49.880
work is one of the best adventures
and means of realizing our potential and making

685
00:50:49.920 --> 00:50:55.159
the impact we crave. So let's
work on Purpose. We hope you've enjoyed

686
00:50:55.199 --> 00:51:00.239
this week's program. Be sure to
tune into Working on Purpose featuring your host,

687
00:51:00.360 --> 00:51:04.920
doctor Elise Cortes, each week on
W four CY. Together we'll create

688
00:51:04.960 --> 00:51:09.599
a world where business operates conscientiously.
Leadership inspires and passion performance and employees are

689
00:51:09.599 --> 00:51:14.719
fulfilled in work that provides the meaning
and purpose they crave. See you there,

690
00:51:14.960 --> 00:51:15.360
Let's work on Purpose.