Trust Others, Free Yourself (ft. Reynold Hoover)

Trust Your People, Free Yourself (ft. Reynold Hoover)

An accomplished retired Lieutenant General on trust, leadership, & innovation

OPENING QUOTE:

“The quicker that you can understand that you can trust and empower your team, and those people that are on your team who are doing it, the more time that you'll have to start thinking strategically, the more freedom you'll have to start thinking of the next great idea, and the next great product, and the next great capability that's part of that entrepreneurial spirit.”

-Reynold Hoover

GUEST BIO:

Reynold Hoover practiced as a lawyer before joining the military as a bomb disposal specialist. After a series of military roles, Hoover went on to command the Alabama Army National Guard and serve in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He’s also served in the government as a FEMA Chief of Staff, Deputy Director of Public Affairs for the CIA, and special assistant to George W. Bush for Homeland Security. After commanding Northern Strategic Air Command, Hoover entered the private sector as a partner at Donovan Capital, an investor in aerospace, defense, and government service organizations.

Somehow, he still finds time to teach future generals at the Air Force academy at West Point and serve on the board of multiple service charities.

Links:

• Bio
• Wiki

CORE TOPICS + DETAILS:

[2:59] - Just Enough Rope

Reynold reflects on a special boss

Many of the lessons that would become foundational to Reynold’s career began on the Panama Canal in 1999. At this critical political touchpoint, Reynold’s boss brought him down to the area and asked him to manage a particularly sensitive project relating to unexploded ordnance along the canal. Along the way, this boss taught Reynold the power of giving employees the autonomy to act on their own as well as the support and resources to excel.

[7:11] - Competence, Perspective, & Diversity

Three keys for great leadership

When asked about the common leadership factors that cut across all sectors, Reynold lists competence, perspective, and diversity in hiring/team selection. Competence leads to confidence, which leads to better decision-making. Taking time to see the bigger picture leads to more strategic thinking. Diverse teams provide diverse ways of thinking, experiences, and skill sets, which lead to greater achievement. 

[20:32] - Teaching to Delegate

Trust your people, transform your organization

Whenever Reynold speaks at a leadership conference, he asks how many people in the audience have ever been given formalized training on how to delegate day-to-day tasks. The result? Never more than 1 in 4. Delegation is a skill that compounds on itself, because it harnesses the countless skills of all the people around you. Learn to delegate yourself and teach the leaders around you to do the same and watch how you achieve more and burn out less.

[26:47] - Get Out of the Forest

The importance of taking time to reflect

Reynold encourages every leader, in the military or in the private sector, to block out time in your schedule to simply think strategically. It’s so easy to be constantly caught up in the day-to-day crises and needs of our organizations that we never take time to be creative and look toward the future. When we do, the results can be transformative.

[40:08] - Never Stop Learning, Never Stop Connecting

Simple message, infinite results

Reynold’s final advice for C-suite executives and leaders in any role? Commit to both continuous learning and continuous networking. While these might seem like two separate principles, they’re connected by the difficult-to-embrace fact that you don’t have all the answers, all the skills, all the connections. There is always something new to learn, or someone new to expand your perspective— and your network.

RESOURCES:

• [1:48] About FEMA
• [2:00] About Strategic Air Command
• [31:04] Donovan Capital Group
• [44:39] About Maestro Solti

Follow Reynold Hoover:

• Bio
• Wiki

Follow Chris Roebuck:

• Website
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Facebook
• Perspectives from the Top

ABOUT PERSPECTIVES FROM THE TOP:

Discover the secrets of success for you and your organization shared by the world’s leading thinkers, doers, and trailblazers. Join Chris Roebuck, Honorary Visiting Professor of transformational leadership, leader in military, business, and government, inspiring global keynote speaker, one of HR’s Most Influential Thinkers, bestselling author, and your host of Perspectives from the Top. The show reveals a treasure trove of insights from mega trends to practical strategies and actions to take your career up a gear. From government world shapers and business mold breakers to evidence driven academics and enthusiastic entrepreneurs, each episode shows you how you can immediately use these new ideas and actions to drive your success.

Learn more at: PerspectivesFromTheTop.com

ABOUT DETROIT PODCAST STUDIOS:

In Detroit, history was made when Barry Gordy opened Motown Records back in 1960. More than just discovering great talent, Gordy built a systematic approach to launching superstars. His rigorous processes, technology, and development methods were the secret sauce behind legendary acts such as The Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and Michael Jackson.

As a nod to the past, Detroit Podcast Studios leverages modern versions of Motown’s processes to launch today’s most compelling podcasts. What Motown was to musical artists, Detroit Podcast Studios is to podcast artists today. With over 75 combined years of experience in content development, audio production, music scoring, storytelling, and digital marketing, Detroit Podcast Studios provides full-service development, training, and production capabilities to take podcasts from messy ideas to finely tuned hits. 

Here’s to making (podcast) history together.

Learn more at: DetroitPodcastStudios.com

ABOUT THE HOST:

Chris has shown over 21,000 leaders in over 1500 organizations globally how they can discover their secrets of success in a way that meets and beats their organizations specific challenges.

Chris has done this across sector, culture and geography - UBS, HSBC, KPMG & London Underground, legal firms to construction, tech and IT, to retail, facilities to scientific research, police to not for profit, pharmaceutical to SMEs. From the UK National Health Service of 1.4m staff and UK Government to the Red Cross in Myanmar, from Investment banks in London to Middle East Telecoms, from the Chinese Space Program leaders to HR Directors in India and global retail CEOs in Rome.

When he was the Global Head of Leadership at UBS, overseeing a staff of 70,000 across 100 countries, his team helped the bank transform organizational performance to increase profitability by 235%, market capitalization by 50% and win numerous awards. This is now a Harvard Case Study.

Chris has been quoted as a business leadership expert globally in the Harvard Business Review China, FT, Wall Street Journal, Le Monde, New York Times, Business Week, Time Magazine, Washington Post, Times of India, Straits & Gulf Times and many others. He judges business awards and has done over 350 TV interviews on leadership and business on BBC, Sky, Bloomberg, Al Jazeera, CNBC & CNN. He’s also skied at 60mph by accident. 

Learn more about Chris at: ChrisRoebuck.Live

CREDITS:

• Chris Roebuck: Host | [email protected] 
• Connor Trombley: Executive Producer | [email protected]