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54. Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast featuring Mike Miller
Manage episode 273381822 series 2164426
Michelle Oates:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," by Maya Angelou. I am Michelle Oates, and I'm a Tri-Cities Influencer.
Paul Casey:
Your brain does not see the word "not". So if you're like "I am not going to eat chocolate," you know what your brain hears, is chocolate. So then you start moving toward it, and then you have actually more of a craving for it because the brain doesn't see that word. It's just a fun fact about the brain.
Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of eastern Washington, it's the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI Podcast, where local leadership and self leadership expert Paul Casey interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit executives, to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and expect. Here's your host, Paul Casey Growing Forward Services. Coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success.
Paul Casey:
Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Mike Miller. Mike is the President of Moon Security here in the Tri-Cities. I always ask for something funny about each of my guests, and Mike's got this legal pad that he's always carrying around. Mike, what's the story of the legal pad?
Mike Miller:
I have a folder and it always has the yellow pads that I can write stuff on, take notes. I try to make sure I'm following up on stuff, and as I'm looking, hearing, listening to all of the different things that I have to deal with, and things will come to me, I just, "Oh, I'd better write that down," and I write it down for follow-up. So you can always count on me to follow up.
Paul Casey:
That's good. You don't even have a pocket protector on there.
Mike Miller:
No, no pocket protector.
Paul Casey:
But you're tucking it in your polo there.
Mike Miller:
I always have the pin right at my chest there.
Paul Casey:
Nice. Well we're going to dive in with Mike after checking in with our Tricity Influencer sponsor.
Paul Casey:
Barracuda Coffee, born and brewed in the Tri-Cities since 2003. At Barracuda Coffee it's people first, then great coffee. Barracuda Coffee features drinks that are sure to satisfy everyone. Everything from straight espresso to fruit smoothies, lattes, Americanos, and mochas, to lavender green tea or matcha, chai, or chocolate milk, you are sure to find a new favorite from the menu. Try one of Barracuda's signature coffee drinks, like the Fou Sel Caramel, a salted caramel macchiato with French vanilla. It's tres bien, oui! Or the Flapjack. It's just like it sounds, it tastes like breakfast, maple syrup and all. Not a huge coffee fan? Barracuda also has Red Bull infusions with about 20 flavors to mix. For a next level hack try a fruit flavor and add a touch of vanilla. It's a game changer. Barracuda's is on Kellogg Street in Kennewick, or on Van Giesen in Richland, and you can find them on Facebook. Thank you for your support of leadership in the Tri-Cities.
Paul Casey:
Mike, so our Tri-City Influencers can get to know you, take us through a couple of career highlights that led you to your current position, and throw in there why you love what you do.
Mike Miller:
Well I've been working for Moon Security since, actually, I was 11 years of age. I'm turning 63 in a couple of weeks, and I will have been there 51 years now, 52 years. You say well how'd you do that? Well, I worked school time and whatnot. So I've been involved with that, I've always grown up knowing that I was programmed to be able to run Moon Security down the road, second generation. We've had other families go, but one of the things that happened along the way is, parents divorced and remarried different people, and the gentleman that married my mother was in security, and that's how we got to meet Mr. Moon, and that's why we have Moon Security named Moon Security.
Paul Casey:
Wow.
Mike Miller:
So we have some of that, and when we bought the company from my stepfather then, "Okay Mike, you're the face of the company," and that's how come I'm involved with so many boards and committees across my life. I have served as President of several different entities, including Goodwill, Tricity Chamber of Commerce, or actually their previous name before that, before they changed that name. Then I have served as President for Alarm Association at the state level, and President for the national for a two-year period of time too. I'm a joiner, I'm a connector, I try to help where I can, and that's allowed me to help grow our business at the same time, just because we're involved in so many different ways.
Paul Casey:
It's funny, when you said "in security" I went "Oh, they're insecure." But yes, so it's a family business. What were some of the dynamics of family business throughout the years?
Mike Miller:
Speaking of family dynamics and insecurity, there are days when I just don't feel like I'm up to it to the level that I should be when it comes to, how do I deal with certain kinds of family actions, reactions, and people getting upset and all of that. That's a whole different level of, sometimes you just don't want to wish it on anybody. You should be smart enough not to hire family members.
Paul Casey:
You mentioned you're a joiner and a connector. Is that part of why you love what you do?
Mike Miller:
First of all, Moon Security itself has been providing security services, products and services, for the last 50-plus years. It allows us to really have a passion for our community we're here to protect. We have thousands of customers that we have protected over the years, and we save lives and properties, and we have stories talking about how systems that worked and got help when the customer or client needed to have help. So that's always a feel-good there for you to have, that you know what you're doing is important.
Mike Miller:
Then, when it comes to the connecting, I'm a Tricity Sunrise Rotary member as well, and it's really important that we give back to our community, and we can do that in so many different ways, whether it's money, resources, time. And I'm part of a group of people that do that, and we have a lot of volunteers. I'm not doing it alone. The other people step up and do things, depending on what their passion is for who they're wanting to be an advocate for. So I like that, I like to see how other people are doing what they do, and if we can, we can be a part of it.
Paul Casey:
Yeah, I really like that. I feel like part of your answer was saying that, from this base of stability that Moon has had in our community, that you can then look out at the community and go, "How can we add value". Sometimes when you're at the beginning of an entrepreneur journey, or in a new venture, you can't think out yet. You have to sort of stabilize, get your foundations strong, get your client base strong, and then you can look out. That's usually a sign of, all right, that person's got it together, because now they're reaching out to other people here in our community.
Mike Miller:
That's a good point, because cycle-wise, life cycle, let's face it, when you're early in the cycle you may not have the cashflow that you can help there, so what do you try to do? You use your brain power to provide, or you use your time to give. And all three are important, so it's pretty exciting when you start to see how you can give.
Mike Miller:
One of the things that we've kind of verbalized, or I have to myself, is how can we be helpful out there, and we've identified that we really like to be where, is it helping children, is it helping education? For many years I was part of an organization, the Bond Levy Committee, that did work for the Pasco School District. It's a separate entity, not to be wrapped into Pasco School District, but that Bond Levy Committee created lots of dollars by getting people to say yes on who they voted for, for helping build schools. So that helps kids and so forth. My other interaction is with Lourdes Foundation and all the work that we've done there to try to help from a medical standpoint too. You try to be a contributor in that way as well.
Paul Casey:
I teased you for years of all the boards you're on. Tricity Influencers, this guy was on so many boards that he couldn't even rattle them off to me at one point. So every time he walks up to me now he's like, "Paul, I divested myself of yet another one." So how many are we on now, Mike?
Mike Miller:
At the time that we talked about it I had 22 boards and communities I was on.
Paul Casey:
That's right.
Mike Miller:
So we decided and agreed that I was being stupid about it, and so the real word is, I'm trying to get fired. I try to fulfill my term of office and then it's just like, no, it's time for me to go. You need to get some new blood in there and all. So I think I'm down to five or six now, that I'm pretty active in.
Paul Casey:
Wow, that's impressive. Well throughout your journey, Mike, you've hit obstacles to success. So what's one of the biggest hurdles you overcame in your career?
Mike Miller:
Boy, that's always a tough question, because I got plenty of hurdles to deal with. One is just brain power. I've had to recognize ... And maybe wisdom is another. I have several people around me that help support me in so many different ways, within and without the business itself. So it's really important to have ... In my case, I'm a firm believer in having the insurance man, or woman, please no gender issues here, but a CPA, my banker, and my attorney. And you have those four key people, and then I still have some key people that I work with at the office to help keep us going, to be creative. You still have to deal with compliance issues and all of those kinds of things, but I'm not doing it by myself, by any means whatsoever. It's a team effort.
Paul Casey:
Yeah, hear, hear. We all need that rebar underneath us that helps us do, especially those things that we may not be the best at, but we know somebody else is. They're an expert at that area, so it relieves the load on us, but it also shores up that area of our business. So way to go for that team, that support team, and giving them the credit. Because they really are a support team. And leadership is difficult.
Paul Casey:
So let's bring it to today, Mike. What's your biggest ongoing challenge as a leader, and what's really stretching you?
Mike Miller:
It's funny, because we're going through the process of PPP, trying to make sure that we can get everything forgiven, and then of course we're waiting for the bankers and SBA to come out with whatever the requirements are. I'm getting stressed right now on a refinance with our line of credit, and loan activity. That's going to require buying out sisters, and I'll become 100% owner of the company. When they talk about 300 stress points in a year's time, I think I'm at 305. So a lot of things are happening there, and still having sales go, and keeping people happified.
Mike Miller:
Probably one thing, I've got a new HR manager who's bringing to me the concept of HR as a growth strategy. So we have some technicians who are apprentices, as an example, and they're about ready to become journeymen. So Mike, what are you going to do when you do that? So you go through this process, we're going to get them a vehicle, we have to then have more sales going on to accommodate their cost and so forth, and she's got the and-and question, and I'm going "What?" So she says, "You're going to hire two more apprentices. Because the only way you're going to grow the business is to grow your technical grid.
Paul Casey:
The pipeline, yeah.
Mike Miller:
Have a pipeline. Just like what you think of in sales, you've got to do the same thing with your line employees that are out there working their butts off to help grow the business too. So I've been getting to learn through some of those concepts, as well as to all of that. It's been an interesting ride this last year, with my new HR manager. She's awesome.
Paul Casey:
I love the word happified. It's another word for boosting morale on your team, is to help your team get happified. Well Mike, if you had a leadership philosophy that you would put front and center on a bulletin board in your office for all to see, what would those messages say?
Mike Miller:
I think one we talk about, it's probably more than just one, but "steady as she goes". In some cases, for us sometimes chaos reigns. You just have to understand that. So how do you deal with that appropriately? My job is to increase revenue, reduce cost, and reduce liability. Some of the other issues that I'll have, that's always in forefront of me, in fact it's on my yellow pad, is having a sense of urgency. When things happen, we need to take care of it and we need to take care of it now. Why? Because it's code compliant, for one thing, and then it's also just life safety concerns that we might have. Then once we know about something then we need to figure out how to resolve the issues, and then recognize that importance, and have clarity and focus to keep everyone going.
Mike Miller:
Probably the more important thing on all of that is, and I'm terrible at it, I'll put it that way, is to make sure that we're continuously communicating that out to our management group and our employees, that this is how they can contribute to the bottom line.
Mike Miller:
Probably the other thing I have to work on a lot is just celebrating the 95% that we do good. And what we tend to do is, we tend to concentrate 95% of the time on the 5% that we are not good. So we do have to take care of that 5%, but at the same time, not beat ourselves up so badly.
Mike Miller:
Then I guess the other one for me is just, what's the plan? I'm getting to that point where other people are in a position where they have to be more hands-on than me. So tell me what the plan is. If you've got a couple different ways to go, I might suggest one way or the other, but just get it done and make the client happy. At the end of the day that's really the issue, is what are we doing to make sure the client gets happified.
Paul Casey:
That question, what's the plan. I got certified in DISC survey, being able to do that for teams this year. The D style, the lion style, always asks "What". And I think probably the top leader in an organization probably asks "What" more than anybody else. The I style, which I call the otter, asks "Who". The golden retriever, or the C style, asks "How," because it's all about, are we getting along with one another, how are the relationships. Then the S style, or the beaver style, always asks "Why". It's all about the data and the reasons. I just thought that was interesting, the questions that the various personality styles tend to ask.
Mike Miller:
When it comes to the DISC I think I'm a ... What was C again?
Paul Casey:
Conscientious.
Mike Miller:
Conscientious, I'm not sure that's going to be the word.
Paul Casey:
You've got some D in you.
Mike Miller:
I'm dominant and controlling, is the big D?
Paul Casey:
Yeah, you're ID. Most influencers I know have a bit of visionary inside of them, in order to take that next hill. Where do you take time to dream about the future, and what does that look like for you?
Mike Miller:
I get to go to Hawaii every so often, I really love that.
Paul Casey:
Oh, nice.
Mike Miller:
Hawaii is my happy place. You know what, I actually have three groups that are conference calls now, that we do best practices. We will do, "How are you dealing with this HR issue, how are you dealing with job costing, how are you dealing with ..." Whatever the case may be. And we can get input from somebody else. So that's always a coaching, networking, mentoring kind of thing. I can call these people up any time, anywhere, any day, and send out an email, "Help, I'm suffering here," because I can't figure out how to get it going. I go to a couple different security conventions, and they're starting to learn, it's not the product. Most people have a similar product, but it's how you deal with the client, the customer service, and what your approach is, and how you communicate that, and all of that kind of thing.
Mike Miller:
I think I mentioned, in our last setting that we were to get together, I'm working, reading, trying to go through it, a book called Traction, with ...
Paul Casey:
Yes, Gino Wickman.
Mike Miller:
Yeah, okay, Wickman. Trying to be a little bit more specific in terms of the questions that I ask, and how we're getting there, and trying to set some processes in place that way.
Paul Casey:
It almost sounds like you do your best thinking with others. Is that true, or is there a solitude time as well for things to crystallize in your head?
Mike Miller:
Probably with others. Like I say ... when I served as President of National, it allowed me to meet all sorts of people all across the nation. So diversity is really a key word there for my ability to be able to grab somebody that I think might have the expertise that would help me and all of that. But I do tend to, when we're away on vacation or whatever, then there's always some quiet time that I am able to get, to allow, just to sit down with my yellow pad, and where do we need to improve, and just kind of cover different areas.
Paul Casey:
Fantastic. So Tricity Influencers, do you have a group? Do you have a small group of fellow colleagues, maybe there's a mentor in there, maybe there's just a mastermind kind of a group, where you get to play with ideas, and ask those hard questions, and really get some good feedback to make wise decisions? Because it's critical.
Mike Miller:
A part of that, just do not let your pride get in the way.
Paul Casey:
Be open to everything, right.
Mike Miller:
You are going to get some questions that are just going to tick you off and upset you, make you embarrassed and all of that. But sometimes you have to be able to look in the mirror and get that feedback, and then sit down and say "I might have to admit that I suck at whatever," and all of that. You have to be willing and able to take the feedback, and "Let me think about it, and let me come back and see how I'm going to respond to those things." Do not let pride get in the way.
Paul Casey:
Yep, because "ego" stands for edging greatness out. So if you want greatness, you've got to put the ego aside.
Mike Miller:
Amen.
Paul Casey:
Before we head into our next question for Mike, on his typical morning routine, a shoutout to our sponsor.
Paul Casey:
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Paul Casey:
So Mike, what is your typical morning routine before you go to work? And maybe if you have any rituals when you arrive at work that helps you start your day out strong?
Mike Miller:
It's so funny, because I'll actually get up and take a shower, clean ...
Paul Casey:
We don't need to know those details.
Mike Miller:
Thank you. After I get my medicine, then I say a prayer with my wife, and then I walk out the door, and I'll have whatever food that I'm going to eat on the way, or pick up. But one of the things that happens is, when I get to the office, then I think people call it email management. So I'm swiftly going through my email stuff first before I get to do anything else, unless there's some crisis that's going on. So it allows me to be able to look and see what's happening, what questions, who's following up with what, and all that kind of thing. And I’m on enough of the email groups in the company, obviously I have to be on all of them, and so there's some that will catch my attention, and I just make sure that they're getting worked on. That's number one priority there, to do it. But then I'll have whatever schedules that I have going.
Mike Miller:
It's prepping your mind towards, how's my day going to go, good or bad. It's just, that's the day. Then I just try to make sure that I'm working on it, and I fail miserably sometimes, just what's my reaction supposed to be to make sure, what is my outcome that I want to have come out of it. Can't say that it's really anything there. I will have a cup of hot tea as I'm going through all of the stuff, just to kind of relax and get my day in order.
Paul Casey:
So it's sort of like you're on a vista point looking out at your day, and seeing what the big priorities are, any fires that are going. It's a great first thing to do in the morning instead of just coming in with your hair on fire, and off the races, and then realize at the end of the day, what did I get done today?
Mike Miller:
That would go back to the yellow pad again. Because I already have my day laid out for the whole week. Then there's stuff that gets filled in. So I'm one of those that, "This is my day, this is how it's going to work," and "I'm going to accomplish this, this, and this." That's a feel-good.
Paul Casey:
That's right. Eat that frog, get it done.
Mike Miller:
Yeah.
Paul Casey:
How do you deal with the everyday grind of your work without burning out?
Mike Miller:
I try to get proper rest, I'll golf every so often, weekly, and I might sit outside with the dogs and play with them, and just do yard work or whatever. Just something else physically to take away. You know what, burned out, sometimes you can get tired about stuff, and then that's when you have to recognize that you have to schedule a vacation, a three-day, four-day weekend, that kind of thing. It's okay to do that for yourself on there, and whether it's staying at home.
Mike Miller:
As an example, my wife is, I have 11 grandchildren, and my wife has said "We want to see more of them. I see that you're not really getting ready to retire too soon, so I want some W days." So we take a couple of days, a couple Fridays each month. It could be going somewhere, but it very easily could be just staying at home and relaxing. And that allows us to talk about where we're at, fun stuff, budget stuff, and all of that kind of thing, to just kind of see where we're at, and then how we're wanting to do things as well.
Paul Casey:
That's a really good one. W days. You'll of course have to name it after your spouse. The principle here, of course, is to have something to look forward to as a couple, because if you see that on your calendar you're like, "I could plow through a little bit longer." As long as I see that time coming, I tend to stack my days very tightly, but I do it on purpose if I see a vacation coming, because then I'm completely off the clock, I'm not going to check my email, and I'm going to pour it into my family. That really helps.
Mike Miller:
It's called delayed gratification.
Paul Casey:
Oh yeah.
Mike Miller:
That's real important to have.
Paul Casey:
Eat your vegetables before you have dessert, right.
Mike Miller:
True. My guys that I have, my executive team, they won't let me buy a vehicle. Because we're on a mission for debt reduction and that kind of thing at the office. And I'm going, "Are you sure? I could really use a new vehicle." So I'm running around with an older vehicle. But drives nice.
Paul Casey:
Because you're keeping your purpose in mind.
Mike Miller:
That's right.
Paul Casey:
Love it. And family is a big deal to most people. You mentioned the W days. Anything over the years ... We've got some listeners that have young children, some married, some maybe not married. How do you keep family in that number one slot, and yet still be a high performer at work.
Mike Miller:
I think I fail miserably in that area. My wife would probably say that, and maybe my kids every so often would too. So maybe I'm the leader in telling you what not to do versus what to do.
Paul Casey:
Well step out of the confession booth for a moment.
Mike Miller:
That's right. But I have four kids, 11 grandchildren, and I find that I'm a better grandfather than I was a parent.
Paul Casey:
Wow.
Mike Miller:
It's always easier that way, because they get to go home, and so forth.
Paul Casey:
Sugar them up and let them go.
Mike Miller:
That's right. But if I were to do it again, I would say not as many boards and committees. That would be one thing. And you need to focus on the growth of your company. It's important that you do serve on some boards and committees, just so that you can do the networking and the service that you want to do. But at the same time, the number one deal here that anybody should be, if you're religious or not, is God, and then family, and then work down three or four. The issue then becomes one of, "Did I do that? No." There has been pain where, if I had done it differently, I wouldn't have that pain. You just have to make sure that, when you're at home then, you're not working at home. Which I tended to do anyway, because it's a full-time job. It's not an 8:00 to 5:00.
Paul Casey:
Never off the clock, yeah.
Mike Miller:
Yeah, so you have to be able to make sure that you're committing whatever time. Even if it's a half hour and you have a date with your wife, better not be working, unless you're asking her for advice on something. But you'd better not be working, you need to make sure that you're committing that time to the family that you need to.
Paul Casey:
Yes. You said the CEO, or the leader of a business, or a leader of a team, focuses on the growth of your company, focuses on the growth of your team. And we can just add on there, focuses on the growth of your family relationships. And I would add on there the focus on the growth of yourself. So leaders are leaders, they're not know-it-alls. You've shared that you go to some groups for wise advice. Who are some others that you've gone to through the years, and maybe still do, for wise advice? It could be literally live people, or live virtual people now, or maybe there's some authors, or motivators or industry professionals, that you tend to draw good ideas from.
Mike Miller:
Well because of the Alarm Association stuff, I usually get in two, sometimes three different conventions that you're able to go, so you get to hear speakers ... I've got one coming up, it's going to be a virtual one, that's all about, it's from Ritz Carlton, and they are known for their customer service.
Paul Casey:
Yes, they are.
Mike Miller:
So it's perfect timing for being able to have something like that. But back again to alarm industry, I have some people that I just called yesterday, probably one of them to see what the heck I was doing and keeping up. So I was able to call him back today and say "Here's what's happening," and all of that, and love you, brother, and on to the next. You have those people that reach out. Same way in Rotary, we have different people that we can talk to and enjoy, and they provide their, if you ask, you'll get them.
Mike Miller:
By the way, that reminded me of something too, that I think I talked about, was, are you able to learn? I have a couple of guys that, had kind of a rocky relationship when we first met, they're golfers with me, and invariably they were better golfers than me, so I would have to admit that too. But I would have some crappy shots that I did, and I would be upset with myself, and they'd come up to me and ask, "Mike, do you want to get better?" "Yeah, I want to get better." Then the second question was, "Can I give you some advice?" That was an opportunity for them to then, with those two questions, then give me advice. Then they watched to see if I would use the advice.
Mike Miller:
Then I realized later, I'm a slow learner and it took me a while later to realize that, if I had not tried to use their advice, then they would've said "Well up yours then," and not tried to provide me any more advice. But they saw that. I find that more and more, I've started to use that somewhat too, for asking permission. "Do you want to get better," and, "Can I give you some advice".
Paul Casey:
That's a real respectful way to go into giving feedback.
Mike Miller:
Yeah. It's real smooth, and not as offensive and all that. So I get stuff like that from my golfers, from my rotary, from my Alarm Association, from chamber, from our leadership classes that we had along the way. So you can learn something from somebody if you ask the questions to get what you need to have. Again, back to the pride thing, just ask. People are always willing to share. There's not too many secrets really out there involved.
Paul Casey:
Do you find it's harder, in this virtual world that we're in right now, that people aren't asking as much, because it's yet another Zoom call, or another one-to-one, or have you not seen a dip in the sharing of information?
Mike Miller:
You know what, I'm on the Tridec board, and we have Carl Dye, he's the new Executive Director, CEO, of Tridec. He's been doing these one-on-ones, coffee with Carl, on Fridays. It's fantastic. I've told him that he's doing a fantastic job for one thing, but the second thing is, it's allowing him to be able to share what other people are doing, so that then they can become a part of that, and it's basic education for all of us that are on the Zoom to watch it.
Paul Casey:
Nice.
Mike Miller:
For me, I think Zoom actually has been, in some ways, more efficient. We still miss the social distancing, we still miss getting to see each other and hug and handshake and all of that kind of thing, but in other ways it's allowed us to learn a lot more. So I tend not to look at it as a negative, other than the socializing aspect of it. But we're getting to learn a lot more.
Paul Casey:
The resources are plentiful.
Mike Miller:
Yeah.
Paul Casey:
And if you want to reach out one-to-one, you do have to be initiator and say, "I'm going to build my network," or "I'm going to reach out to my fellow influencers to try to get the best information that I need."
Mike Miller:
Yep.
Paul Casey:
Finally Mike, what advice would you give the new leaders, or anyone who wants to keep growing and gaining more influence?
Mike Miller:
Like I said earlier, don't let pride get in the way. And I really would say, make sure you're having fun. Whatever you're doing, have fun. Make money. It is okay to make money. Make sure you're paying yourself first, make sure that you're paying your taxes and all that so that you can make sure you take care of my social security down the road. Just be willing to listen, ask questions, read, network. Those are all things that come off, those are easy things to say, but do not let pride get in the way of asking what those questions are. You need to be prepared for tough answers, tough questions, that put you on the spot. Then, you don't have to say "I know right now." Let me think about that and I'll get back with you.
Paul Casey:
That's right, I'll get back to you. Well thanks, Mike, for all that you do to make the Tri-Cities a great place, and keep leading well.
Mike Miller:
Thank you.
Paul Casey:
Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. If you're looking for one-on-one questions to do with your direct reports, I always feel like that's a great leadership activity to do each and every week, whether that's with one person or with your entire team, but there are some great questions, one-on-one questions, that great managers ask. And if you go to the website GetLighthouse.com/blog, you're going to find a whole slew of great questions to ask in your one-on-ones to keep them fresh, and to really probe for answers that are going to help your employees develop.
Paul Casey:
Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guest Mike Miller from Moon Security for being here today on the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. I want to thank our Tricity Influencer sponsor and invite you to support them, and we appreciate them making this possible so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community.
Paul Casey:
Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. Oprah Winfrey said "Passion is energy." Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. Until next time, KGF, keep growing forward.
Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams, so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at GrowingForward@PaulCasey.org, for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward.
Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done every day, but offering you his free Control My Calender Checklist. Go to www.TakeBackMyCalendar.com for that productivity tool, or open a text message to 72000 and type the word "Growing."
Paul Casey:
The Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast was recorded at Fuse SPC, by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.
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Manage episode 273381822 series 2164426
Michelle Oates:
I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel," by Maya Angelou. I am Michelle Oates, and I'm a Tri-Cities Influencer.
Paul Casey:
Your brain does not see the word "not". So if you're like "I am not going to eat chocolate," you know what your brain hears, is chocolate. So then you start moving toward it, and then you have actually more of a craving for it because the brain doesn't see that word. It's just a fun fact about the brain.
Raising the water level of leadership in the Tri-Cities of eastern Washington, it's the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. Welcome to the TCI Podcast, where local leadership and self leadership expert Paul Casey interviews local CEOs, entrepreneurs, and nonprofit executives, to hear how they lead themselves and their teams, so we can all benefit from their wisdom and expect. Here's your host, Paul Casey Growing Forward Services. Coaching and equipping individuals and teams to spark breakthrough success.
Paul Casey:
Thanks for joining me for today's episode with Mike Miller. Mike is the President of Moon Security here in the Tri-Cities. I always ask for something funny about each of my guests, and Mike's got this legal pad that he's always carrying around. Mike, what's the story of the legal pad?
Mike Miller:
I have a folder and it always has the yellow pads that I can write stuff on, take notes. I try to make sure I'm following up on stuff, and as I'm looking, hearing, listening to all of the different things that I have to deal with, and things will come to me, I just, "Oh, I'd better write that down," and I write it down for follow-up. So you can always count on me to follow up.
Paul Casey:
That's good. You don't even have a pocket protector on there.
Mike Miller:
No, no pocket protector.
Paul Casey:
But you're tucking it in your polo there.
Mike Miller:
I always have the pin right at my chest there.
Paul Casey:
Nice. Well we're going to dive in with Mike after checking in with our Tricity Influencer sponsor.
Paul Casey:
Barracuda Coffee, born and brewed in the Tri-Cities since 2003. At Barracuda Coffee it's people first, then great coffee. Barracuda Coffee features drinks that are sure to satisfy everyone. Everything from straight espresso to fruit smoothies, lattes, Americanos, and mochas, to lavender green tea or matcha, chai, or chocolate milk, you are sure to find a new favorite from the menu. Try one of Barracuda's signature coffee drinks, like the Fou Sel Caramel, a salted caramel macchiato with French vanilla. It's tres bien, oui! Or the Flapjack. It's just like it sounds, it tastes like breakfast, maple syrup and all. Not a huge coffee fan? Barracuda also has Red Bull infusions with about 20 flavors to mix. For a next level hack try a fruit flavor and add a touch of vanilla. It's a game changer. Barracuda's is on Kellogg Street in Kennewick, or on Van Giesen in Richland, and you can find them on Facebook. Thank you for your support of leadership in the Tri-Cities.
Paul Casey:
Mike, so our Tri-City Influencers can get to know you, take us through a couple of career highlights that led you to your current position, and throw in there why you love what you do.
Mike Miller:
Well I've been working for Moon Security since, actually, I was 11 years of age. I'm turning 63 in a couple of weeks, and I will have been there 51 years now, 52 years. You say well how'd you do that? Well, I worked school time and whatnot. So I've been involved with that, I've always grown up knowing that I was programmed to be able to run Moon Security down the road, second generation. We've had other families go, but one of the things that happened along the way is, parents divorced and remarried different people, and the gentleman that married my mother was in security, and that's how we got to meet Mr. Moon, and that's why we have Moon Security named Moon Security.
Paul Casey:
Wow.
Mike Miller:
So we have some of that, and when we bought the company from my stepfather then, "Okay Mike, you're the face of the company," and that's how come I'm involved with so many boards and committees across my life. I have served as President of several different entities, including Goodwill, Tricity Chamber of Commerce, or actually their previous name before that, before they changed that name. Then I have served as President for Alarm Association at the state level, and President for the national for a two-year period of time too. I'm a joiner, I'm a connector, I try to help where I can, and that's allowed me to help grow our business at the same time, just because we're involved in so many different ways.
Paul Casey:
It's funny, when you said "in security" I went "Oh, they're insecure." But yes, so it's a family business. What were some of the dynamics of family business throughout the years?
Mike Miller:
Speaking of family dynamics and insecurity, there are days when I just don't feel like I'm up to it to the level that I should be when it comes to, how do I deal with certain kinds of family actions, reactions, and people getting upset and all of that. That's a whole different level of, sometimes you just don't want to wish it on anybody. You should be smart enough not to hire family members.
Paul Casey:
You mentioned you're a joiner and a connector. Is that part of why you love what you do?
Mike Miller:
First of all, Moon Security itself has been providing security services, products and services, for the last 50-plus years. It allows us to really have a passion for our community we're here to protect. We have thousands of customers that we have protected over the years, and we save lives and properties, and we have stories talking about how systems that worked and got help when the customer or client needed to have help. So that's always a feel-good there for you to have, that you know what you're doing is important.
Mike Miller:
Then, when it comes to the connecting, I'm a Tricity Sunrise Rotary member as well, and it's really important that we give back to our community, and we can do that in so many different ways, whether it's money, resources, time. And I'm part of a group of people that do that, and we have a lot of volunteers. I'm not doing it alone. The other people step up and do things, depending on what their passion is for who they're wanting to be an advocate for. So I like that, I like to see how other people are doing what they do, and if we can, we can be a part of it.
Paul Casey:
Yeah, I really like that. I feel like part of your answer was saying that, from this base of stability that Moon has had in our community, that you can then look out at the community and go, "How can we add value". Sometimes when you're at the beginning of an entrepreneur journey, or in a new venture, you can't think out yet. You have to sort of stabilize, get your foundations strong, get your client base strong, and then you can look out. That's usually a sign of, all right, that person's got it together, because now they're reaching out to other people here in our community.
Mike Miller:
That's a good point, because cycle-wise, life cycle, let's face it, when you're early in the cycle you may not have the cashflow that you can help there, so what do you try to do? You use your brain power to provide, or you use your time to give. And all three are important, so it's pretty exciting when you start to see how you can give.
Mike Miller:
One of the things that we've kind of verbalized, or I have to myself, is how can we be helpful out there, and we've identified that we really like to be where, is it helping children, is it helping education? For many years I was part of an organization, the Bond Levy Committee, that did work for the Pasco School District. It's a separate entity, not to be wrapped into Pasco School District, but that Bond Levy Committee created lots of dollars by getting people to say yes on who they voted for, for helping build schools. So that helps kids and so forth. My other interaction is with Lourdes Foundation and all the work that we've done there to try to help from a medical standpoint too. You try to be a contributor in that way as well.
Paul Casey:
I teased you for years of all the boards you're on. Tricity Influencers, this guy was on so many boards that he couldn't even rattle them off to me at one point. So every time he walks up to me now he's like, "Paul, I divested myself of yet another one." So how many are we on now, Mike?
Mike Miller:
At the time that we talked about it I had 22 boards and communities I was on.
Paul Casey:
That's right.
Mike Miller:
So we decided and agreed that I was being stupid about it, and so the real word is, I'm trying to get fired. I try to fulfill my term of office and then it's just like, no, it's time for me to go. You need to get some new blood in there and all. So I think I'm down to five or six now, that I'm pretty active in.
Paul Casey:
Wow, that's impressive. Well throughout your journey, Mike, you've hit obstacles to success. So what's one of the biggest hurdles you overcame in your career?
Mike Miller:
Boy, that's always a tough question, because I got plenty of hurdles to deal with. One is just brain power. I've had to recognize ... And maybe wisdom is another. I have several people around me that help support me in so many different ways, within and without the business itself. So it's really important to have ... In my case, I'm a firm believer in having the insurance man, or woman, please no gender issues here, but a CPA, my banker, and my attorney. And you have those four key people, and then I still have some key people that I work with at the office to help keep us going, to be creative. You still have to deal with compliance issues and all of those kinds of things, but I'm not doing it by myself, by any means whatsoever. It's a team effort.
Paul Casey:
Yeah, hear, hear. We all need that rebar underneath us that helps us do, especially those things that we may not be the best at, but we know somebody else is. They're an expert at that area, so it relieves the load on us, but it also shores up that area of our business. So way to go for that team, that support team, and giving them the credit. Because they really are a support team. And leadership is difficult.
Paul Casey:
So let's bring it to today, Mike. What's your biggest ongoing challenge as a leader, and what's really stretching you?
Mike Miller:
It's funny, because we're going through the process of PPP, trying to make sure that we can get everything forgiven, and then of course we're waiting for the bankers and SBA to come out with whatever the requirements are. I'm getting stressed right now on a refinance with our line of credit, and loan activity. That's going to require buying out sisters, and I'll become 100% owner of the company. When they talk about 300 stress points in a year's time, I think I'm at 305. So a lot of things are happening there, and still having sales go, and keeping people happified.
Mike Miller:
Probably one thing, I've got a new HR manager who's bringing to me the concept of HR as a growth strategy. So we have some technicians who are apprentices, as an example, and they're about ready to become journeymen. So Mike, what are you going to do when you do that? So you go through this process, we're going to get them a vehicle, we have to then have more sales going on to accommodate their cost and so forth, and she's got the and-and question, and I'm going "What?" So she says, "You're going to hire two more apprentices. Because the only way you're going to grow the business is to grow your technical grid.
Paul Casey:
The pipeline, yeah.
Mike Miller:
Have a pipeline. Just like what you think of in sales, you've got to do the same thing with your line employees that are out there working their butts off to help grow the business too. So I've been getting to learn through some of those concepts, as well as to all of that. It's been an interesting ride this last year, with my new HR manager. She's awesome.
Paul Casey:
I love the word happified. It's another word for boosting morale on your team, is to help your team get happified. Well Mike, if you had a leadership philosophy that you would put front and center on a bulletin board in your office for all to see, what would those messages say?
Mike Miller:
I think one we talk about, it's probably more than just one, but "steady as she goes". In some cases, for us sometimes chaos reigns. You just have to understand that. So how do you deal with that appropriately? My job is to increase revenue, reduce cost, and reduce liability. Some of the other issues that I'll have, that's always in forefront of me, in fact it's on my yellow pad, is having a sense of urgency. When things happen, we need to take care of it and we need to take care of it now. Why? Because it's code compliant, for one thing, and then it's also just life safety concerns that we might have. Then once we know about something then we need to figure out how to resolve the issues, and then recognize that importance, and have clarity and focus to keep everyone going.
Mike Miller:
Probably the more important thing on all of that is, and I'm terrible at it, I'll put it that way, is to make sure that we're continuously communicating that out to our management group and our employees, that this is how they can contribute to the bottom line.
Mike Miller:
Probably the other thing I have to work on a lot is just celebrating the 95% that we do good. And what we tend to do is, we tend to concentrate 95% of the time on the 5% that we are not good. So we do have to take care of that 5%, but at the same time, not beat ourselves up so badly.
Mike Miller:
Then I guess the other one for me is just, what's the plan? I'm getting to that point where other people are in a position where they have to be more hands-on than me. So tell me what the plan is. If you've got a couple different ways to go, I might suggest one way or the other, but just get it done and make the client happy. At the end of the day that's really the issue, is what are we doing to make sure the client gets happified.
Paul Casey:
That question, what's the plan. I got certified in DISC survey, being able to do that for teams this year. The D style, the lion style, always asks "What". And I think probably the top leader in an organization probably asks "What" more than anybody else. The I style, which I call the otter, asks "Who". The golden retriever, or the C style, asks "How," because it's all about, are we getting along with one another, how are the relationships. Then the S style, or the beaver style, always asks "Why". It's all about the data and the reasons. I just thought that was interesting, the questions that the various personality styles tend to ask.
Mike Miller:
When it comes to the DISC I think I'm a ... What was C again?
Paul Casey:
Conscientious.
Mike Miller:
Conscientious, I'm not sure that's going to be the word.
Paul Casey:
You've got some D in you.
Mike Miller:
I'm dominant and controlling, is the big D?
Paul Casey:
Yeah, you're ID. Most influencers I know have a bit of visionary inside of them, in order to take that next hill. Where do you take time to dream about the future, and what does that look like for you?
Mike Miller:
I get to go to Hawaii every so often, I really love that.
Paul Casey:
Oh, nice.
Mike Miller:
Hawaii is my happy place. You know what, I actually have three groups that are conference calls now, that we do best practices. We will do, "How are you dealing with this HR issue, how are you dealing with job costing, how are you dealing with ..." Whatever the case may be. And we can get input from somebody else. So that's always a coaching, networking, mentoring kind of thing. I can call these people up any time, anywhere, any day, and send out an email, "Help, I'm suffering here," because I can't figure out how to get it going. I go to a couple different security conventions, and they're starting to learn, it's not the product. Most people have a similar product, but it's how you deal with the client, the customer service, and what your approach is, and how you communicate that, and all of that kind of thing.
Mike Miller:
I think I mentioned, in our last setting that we were to get together, I'm working, reading, trying to go through it, a book called Traction, with ...
Paul Casey:
Yes, Gino Wickman.
Mike Miller:
Yeah, okay, Wickman. Trying to be a little bit more specific in terms of the questions that I ask, and how we're getting there, and trying to set some processes in place that way.
Paul Casey:
It almost sounds like you do your best thinking with others. Is that true, or is there a solitude time as well for things to crystallize in your head?
Mike Miller:
Probably with others. Like I say ... when I served as President of National, it allowed me to meet all sorts of people all across the nation. So diversity is really a key word there for my ability to be able to grab somebody that I think might have the expertise that would help me and all of that. But I do tend to, when we're away on vacation or whatever, then there's always some quiet time that I am able to get, to allow, just to sit down with my yellow pad, and where do we need to improve, and just kind of cover different areas.
Paul Casey:
Fantastic. So Tricity Influencers, do you have a group? Do you have a small group of fellow colleagues, maybe there's a mentor in there, maybe there's just a mastermind kind of a group, where you get to play with ideas, and ask those hard questions, and really get some good feedback to make wise decisions? Because it's critical.
Mike Miller:
A part of that, just do not let your pride get in the way.
Paul Casey:
Be open to everything, right.
Mike Miller:
You are going to get some questions that are just going to tick you off and upset you, make you embarrassed and all of that. But sometimes you have to be able to look in the mirror and get that feedback, and then sit down and say "I might have to admit that I suck at whatever," and all of that. You have to be willing and able to take the feedback, and "Let me think about it, and let me come back and see how I'm going to respond to those things." Do not let pride get in the way.
Paul Casey:
Yep, because "ego" stands for edging greatness out. So if you want greatness, you've got to put the ego aside.
Mike Miller:
Amen.
Paul Casey:
Before we head into our next question for Mike, on his typical morning routine, a shoutout to our sponsor.
Paul Casey:
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Paul Casey:
So Mike, what is your typical morning routine before you go to work? And maybe if you have any rituals when you arrive at work that helps you start your day out strong?
Mike Miller:
It's so funny, because I'll actually get up and take a shower, clean ...
Paul Casey:
We don't need to know those details.
Mike Miller:
Thank you. After I get my medicine, then I say a prayer with my wife, and then I walk out the door, and I'll have whatever food that I'm going to eat on the way, or pick up. But one of the things that happens is, when I get to the office, then I think people call it email management. So I'm swiftly going through my email stuff first before I get to do anything else, unless there's some crisis that's going on. So it allows me to be able to look and see what's happening, what questions, who's following up with what, and all that kind of thing. And I’m on enough of the email groups in the company, obviously I have to be on all of them, and so there's some that will catch my attention, and I just make sure that they're getting worked on. That's number one priority there, to do it. But then I'll have whatever schedules that I have going.
Mike Miller:
It's prepping your mind towards, how's my day going to go, good or bad. It's just, that's the day. Then I just try to make sure that I'm working on it, and I fail miserably sometimes, just what's my reaction supposed to be to make sure, what is my outcome that I want to have come out of it. Can't say that it's really anything there. I will have a cup of hot tea as I'm going through all of the stuff, just to kind of relax and get my day in order.
Paul Casey:
So it's sort of like you're on a vista point looking out at your day, and seeing what the big priorities are, any fires that are going. It's a great first thing to do in the morning instead of just coming in with your hair on fire, and off the races, and then realize at the end of the day, what did I get done today?
Mike Miller:
That would go back to the yellow pad again. Because I already have my day laid out for the whole week. Then there's stuff that gets filled in. So I'm one of those that, "This is my day, this is how it's going to work," and "I'm going to accomplish this, this, and this." That's a feel-good.
Paul Casey:
That's right. Eat that frog, get it done.
Mike Miller:
Yeah.
Paul Casey:
How do you deal with the everyday grind of your work without burning out?
Mike Miller:
I try to get proper rest, I'll golf every so often, weekly, and I might sit outside with the dogs and play with them, and just do yard work or whatever. Just something else physically to take away. You know what, burned out, sometimes you can get tired about stuff, and then that's when you have to recognize that you have to schedule a vacation, a three-day, four-day weekend, that kind of thing. It's okay to do that for yourself on there, and whether it's staying at home.
Mike Miller:
As an example, my wife is, I have 11 grandchildren, and my wife has said "We want to see more of them. I see that you're not really getting ready to retire too soon, so I want some W days." So we take a couple of days, a couple Fridays each month. It could be going somewhere, but it very easily could be just staying at home and relaxing. And that allows us to talk about where we're at, fun stuff, budget stuff, and all of that kind of thing, to just kind of see where we're at, and then how we're wanting to do things as well.
Paul Casey:
That's a really good one. W days. You'll of course have to name it after your spouse. The principle here, of course, is to have something to look forward to as a couple, because if you see that on your calendar you're like, "I could plow through a little bit longer." As long as I see that time coming, I tend to stack my days very tightly, but I do it on purpose if I see a vacation coming, because then I'm completely off the clock, I'm not going to check my email, and I'm going to pour it into my family. That really helps.
Mike Miller:
It's called delayed gratification.
Paul Casey:
Oh yeah.
Mike Miller:
That's real important to have.
Paul Casey:
Eat your vegetables before you have dessert, right.
Mike Miller:
True. My guys that I have, my executive team, they won't let me buy a vehicle. Because we're on a mission for debt reduction and that kind of thing at the office. And I'm going, "Are you sure? I could really use a new vehicle." So I'm running around with an older vehicle. But drives nice.
Paul Casey:
Because you're keeping your purpose in mind.
Mike Miller:
That's right.
Paul Casey:
Love it. And family is a big deal to most people. You mentioned the W days. Anything over the years ... We've got some listeners that have young children, some married, some maybe not married. How do you keep family in that number one slot, and yet still be a high performer at work.
Mike Miller:
I think I fail miserably in that area. My wife would probably say that, and maybe my kids every so often would too. So maybe I'm the leader in telling you what not to do versus what to do.
Paul Casey:
Well step out of the confession booth for a moment.
Mike Miller:
That's right. But I have four kids, 11 grandchildren, and I find that I'm a better grandfather than I was a parent.
Paul Casey:
Wow.
Mike Miller:
It's always easier that way, because they get to go home, and so forth.
Paul Casey:
Sugar them up and let them go.
Mike Miller:
That's right. But if I were to do it again, I would say not as many boards and committees. That would be one thing. And you need to focus on the growth of your company. It's important that you do serve on some boards and committees, just so that you can do the networking and the service that you want to do. But at the same time, the number one deal here that anybody should be, if you're religious or not, is God, and then family, and then work down three or four. The issue then becomes one of, "Did I do that? No." There has been pain where, if I had done it differently, I wouldn't have that pain. You just have to make sure that, when you're at home then, you're not working at home. Which I tended to do anyway, because it's a full-time job. It's not an 8:00 to 5:00.
Paul Casey:
Never off the clock, yeah.
Mike Miller:
Yeah, so you have to be able to make sure that you're committing whatever time. Even if it's a half hour and you have a date with your wife, better not be working, unless you're asking her for advice on something. But you'd better not be working, you need to make sure that you're committing that time to the family that you need to.
Paul Casey:
Yes. You said the CEO, or the leader of a business, or a leader of a team, focuses on the growth of your company, focuses on the growth of your team. And we can just add on there, focuses on the growth of your family relationships. And I would add on there the focus on the growth of yourself. So leaders are leaders, they're not know-it-alls. You've shared that you go to some groups for wise advice. Who are some others that you've gone to through the years, and maybe still do, for wise advice? It could be literally live people, or live virtual people now, or maybe there's some authors, or motivators or industry professionals, that you tend to draw good ideas from.
Mike Miller:
Well because of the Alarm Association stuff, I usually get in two, sometimes three different conventions that you're able to go, so you get to hear speakers ... I've got one coming up, it's going to be a virtual one, that's all about, it's from Ritz Carlton, and they are known for their customer service.
Paul Casey:
Yes, they are.
Mike Miller:
So it's perfect timing for being able to have something like that. But back again to alarm industry, I have some people that I just called yesterday, probably one of them to see what the heck I was doing and keeping up. So I was able to call him back today and say "Here's what's happening," and all of that, and love you, brother, and on to the next. You have those people that reach out. Same way in Rotary, we have different people that we can talk to and enjoy, and they provide their, if you ask, you'll get them.
Mike Miller:
By the way, that reminded me of something too, that I think I talked about, was, are you able to learn? I have a couple of guys that, had kind of a rocky relationship when we first met, they're golfers with me, and invariably they were better golfers than me, so I would have to admit that too. But I would have some crappy shots that I did, and I would be upset with myself, and they'd come up to me and ask, "Mike, do you want to get better?" "Yeah, I want to get better." Then the second question was, "Can I give you some advice?" That was an opportunity for them to then, with those two questions, then give me advice. Then they watched to see if I would use the advice.
Mike Miller:
Then I realized later, I'm a slow learner and it took me a while later to realize that, if I had not tried to use their advice, then they would've said "Well up yours then," and not tried to provide me any more advice. But they saw that. I find that more and more, I've started to use that somewhat too, for asking permission. "Do you want to get better," and, "Can I give you some advice".
Paul Casey:
That's a real respectful way to go into giving feedback.
Mike Miller:
Yeah. It's real smooth, and not as offensive and all that. So I get stuff like that from my golfers, from my rotary, from my Alarm Association, from chamber, from our leadership classes that we had along the way. So you can learn something from somebody if you ask the questions to get what you need to have. Again, back to the pride thing, just ask. People are always willing to share. There's not too many secrets really out there involved.
Paul Casey:
Do you find it's harder, in this virtual world that we're in right now, that people aren't asking as much, because it's yet another Zoom call, or another one-to-one, or have you not seen a dip in the sharing of information?
Mike Miller:
You know what, I'm on the Tridec board, and we have Carl Dye, he's the new Executive Director, CEO, of Tridec. He's been doing these one-on-ones, coffee with Carl, on Fridays. It's fantastic. I've told him that he's doing a fantastic job for one thing, but the second thing is, it's allowing him to be able to share what other people are doing, so that then they can become a part of that, and it's basic education for all of us that are on the Zoom to watch it.
Paul Casey:
Nice.
Mike Miller:
For me, I think Zoom actually has been, in some ways, more efficient. We still miss the social distancing, we still miss getting to see each other and hug and handshake and all of that kind of thing, but in other ways it's allowed us to learn a lot more. So I tend not to look at it as a negative, other than the socializing aspect of it. But we're getting to learn a lot more.
Paul Casey:
The resources are plentiful.
Mike Miller:
Yeah.
Paul Casey:
And if you want to reach out one-to-one, you do have to be initiator and say, "I'm going to build my network," or "I'm going to reach out to my fellow influencers to try to get the best information that I need."
Mike Miller:
Yep.
Paul Casey:
Finally Mike, what advice would you give the new leaders, or anyone who wants to keep growing and gaining more influence?
Mike Miller:
Like I said earlier, don't let pride get in the way. And I really would say, make sure you're having fun. Whatever you're doing, have fun. Make money. It is okay to make money. Make sure you're paying yourself first, make sure that you're paying your taxes and all that so that you can make sure you take care of my social security down the road. Just be willing to listen, ask questions, read, network. Those are all things that come off, those are easy things to say, but do not let pride get in the way of asking what those questions are. You need to be prepared for tough answers, tough questions, that put you on the spot. Then, you don't have to say "I know right now." Let me think about that and I'll get back with you.
Paul Casey:
That's right, I'll get back to you. Well thanks, Mike, for all that you do to make the Tri-Cities a great place, and keep leading well.
Mike Miller:
Thank you.
Paul Casey:
Let me wrap up our podcast today with a leadership resource to recommend. If you're looking for one-on-one questions to do with your direct reports, I always feel like that's a great leadership activity to do each and every week, whether that's with one person or with your entire team, but there are some great questions, one-on-one questions, that great managers ask. And if you go to the website GetLighthouse.com/blog, you're going to find a whole slew of great questions to ask in your one-on-ones to keep them fresh, and to really probe for answers that are going to help your employees develop.
Paul Casey:
Again, this is Paul Casey. I want to thank my guest Mike Miller from Moon Security for being here today on the Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast. I want to thank our Tricity Influencer sponsor and invite you to support them, and we appreciate them making this possible so we can collaborate to help inspire leaders in our community.
Paul Casey:
Finally, one more leadership tidbit for the road to help you make a difference in your circle of influence. Oprah Winfrey said "Passion is energy." Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you. Until next time, KGF, keep growing forward.
Thank you to our listeners for tuning in to today's show. Paul Casey is on a mission to add value to leaders by providing practical tools and strategies that reduce stress in their lives and on their teams, so that they can enjoy life and leadership and experience their key desired results. If you'd like more help from Paul in your leadership development, connect with him at GrowingForward@PaulCasey.org, for a consultation that can help you move past your current challenges and create a strategy for growing your life or your team forward.
Paul would also like to help you restore your sanity to your crazy schedule and getting your priorities done every day, but offering you his free Control My Calender Checklist. Go to www.TakeBackMyCalendar.com for that productivity tool, or open a text message to 72000 and type the word "Growing."
Paul Casey:
The Tri-Cities Influencer Podcast was recorded at Fuse SPC, by Bill Wagner of Safe Strategies.
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