How to Foster a Resilient Team Culture and Balance Work-Life Priorities with Josiah Fogle

Struggling to juggle the demands of work and family while trying to lead effectively? In this episode, I’m thrilled to chat with Josiah Fogle, a dynamic author and entrepreneur who’s mastered the art of retaining 100% of his team. Josiah’s story—from his upbringing in the Philippines to becoming a leading figure in his field—illustrates the profound impact of mentorship, resilience, and creating a supportive work culture.

Join us as we explore the vital balance between meaningful relationships and family time. Josiah’s journey with Southwestern Advantage and his leadership strategies reveal how prioritizing personal growth and team collaboration drives exceptional results.

We also delve into insights from Cameron Harreld's "Second in Command," offering valuable perspectives on how to support and complement the primary leader’s strengths. Discover how setting clear family and business goals can guide your decisions and actions, fostering both personal and professional success.

Tune in to learn how intentional leadership and balance can elevate your effectiveness at work and enrich your personal life.

Connect with Josiah Fogle:
To connect with Josiah Fogle, email him directly at josiahfogle@gmail.com. For more information on ghostwriting, collaborative writing, or to discuss your book ideas, visit his website at mystorybuilders.com, where you can schedule a call with his team.

Books Mentioned: 

• Second in Command by Cameron Harreld
• Never Split the Difference by Chris Voss
• Crucial Conversations by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler
• How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Ready to Finish 2024 Strong?
Don’t wait until December to address your challenges. There's a few months left in 2024, now is the time to plan for a strong finish! Book a free strategy call with Dr. William Attaway to create a plan for impactful results. 

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Josiah Fogle
• 6:48 The Importance of Perseverance and Sales Skills
• 10:01 Balancing Work and Family Life
• 17:38 Leading as a Second-in-Command
• 21:05 Strategies for Personal Growth

Transcript

Dr. William Attaway: 0:00

I'm excited today that Josiah Fogle is on the podcast. Josiah is an author and entrepreneur who believes in uncovering opportunities within every person and situation. With a genuine passion for coaching and inspiring other people, he dedicates himself to helping individuals to achieve their goals. Drawn from a diverse range of experiences across various business industries, Josiah has cultivated a unique perspective on what it takes to succeed as an entrepreneur. Driven by an insatiable love for learning, Josiah continually seeks personal growth and improvement. His unwavering commitment to progress is only matched by his desire to motivate and coach those around him, guiding them toward reaching their own aspirations. A self-proclaimed Renaissance man, Josiah's dedication extends to his own family, where he leads by example for his three strapping boys, his little princess and his all-star wife. Josiah, I'm so glad you're here. Thanks for being on the show.

Intro / Outro: 1:11

Welcome to Catalytic Leadership, the podcast designed to help leaders intentionally grow and thrive. Here is your host author and leadership and executive coach, dr William Attaway.

Dr. William Attaway: 1:23

I would love to start with you sharing a little bit of your story with our listeners, particularly around your journey and your development as a leader. How did you get started?

Josiah Fogle: 1:34

Yeah, so I mean to go all the way back. I had a. Really my dad's had a really strong example for me growing up. He was a missionary in the Philippines and one of the things like I have a very vivid memory of one. We would do this a lot, but one evening in particular where my dad liked he was a, he was a teacher and so he, you know, was not he didn't use his hands all the time, but he loved to use his hands when he could and like for, for manual labor and things like that.

Josiah Fogle: 2:06

And so we were on this, this massive uh campground that always had work to do and, um, always needed, you know, needed gravel on the roads, needed, you know, things chopped down, needed, you know, all these different manual tasks that there were people to do it. But he always was like cool, I'm done with my studies, I'm done with preparing, I'm going to go do this. And he would always invite, you know, me or my siblings. I remember one evening in particular, um, my dad was like you want to come, and I was like sure, and so we go down and we're shoveling from this massive rock pile and we're, you know, putting it in a wheelbarrow, then going down the road, filling in a pothole, and then we go back, you know, put it in, and then it's, it's getting dark. I'm like it's like, you know, six o'clock ish, and in the Philippines it's always dark at like five thirty. It's like it's it's light, five thirty, it's dark, and 5.30, it's dark, and so it's like starting to get dark out and I'm like I'm hungry, I'm tired, and my dad's still going. I'm like, dad, are we gonna? Are we gonna go? Like, are we gonna go back to the house. It's almost dinner time and he's like, no, there's, there's still more, still more potholes, and and we, we worked there for another probably about half an hour. It was like we could barely like until we could really not even see what we were doing. Wow, it's that that for me. I remember that and I'm like man that's. That was such a powerful teaching moment that he used um for me and uh, yeah, so that's kind of where it started.

Josiah Fogle: 3:37

And then it sort of evolved. Um, a mentor of mine told me I should do this, this crazy internship thing called Southwestern Advantage. Um, and this is where I kind of got my. I cut my teeth on sales. So I had no idea what it was. But a mentor of mine said you're going to do it, it's going to, you're going to, you're going to learn a lot, you're going to grow a lot, you'll make some money to pay for college. And I was like cool, I like all those things, and so I Win-win.

Josiah Fogle: 4:06

And so I reached out to the company and kind of submitted my information which they don't really get a lot of those because it's a door-to-door sales thing and I got a call from one of their area directors and basically was like, hey, I'm doing it. And he was like trying to sell me on it, I'm like, dude, dude, I'm good, I'm, I'm, I'm doing it. And he was like trying to sell me on it. I'm like, dude, dude, I'm, I'm good, I, I'm in, I want to do it. He's like, are you sure it was like it was, it was kind of weird, but anyways, Um, but that ended up being a three year long, uh venture that I did when I was in college.

Josiah Fogle: 4:39

That kind of taught me, um, perseverance, how to sell, how to take rejection. You know, when you knock on over 20,000 doors, you learn a little bit, just a bit. So, yeah, I think that was a big part of my learning too. A big part of my learning too. And then I think the biggest, another big thing there was when I, after my first summer selling books door to door through Southwestern, I recruited a team my second year and my third year and I actually got an award for for this, that kind of unheard of that 100% of my team both years stayed the whole summer.

Josiah Fogle: 5:30

Normally the retention rate is 30% at highest. I had 100% both years and people were like what are you doing. I'm just like I don't know. I'm just loving on people, I'm just loving on my team. I want them to know that I care and that I'm going to help them. You know, no matter if they have a great sales day, no matter if they have a bad sales day. I'm like I'm here to serve you, I'm here to support you, and it was powerful and I look back on that.

Josiah Fogle: 6:00

I don't think I realized how strange, how, um, how strange that was in the in the time, cause it just felt normal, um, and so it kind of it's been, it's been a help, it's been a helpful thing for me to reflect on um further in my career now of like, okay, cool, just remember that that was what you did. There was really powerful, um, and so it kind of is is a guiding rock of like you know, love the people you're with and make them feel like they're. You know, no matter how they're doing that you care. Now, some of those people I probably should have sent home because they weren't really actually selling, but that's a different story. So that's some of the foundational things. Obviously, there's a lot more in between here and between there and here, but hopefully that gives you a little bit of a context for where some of my learnings come from.

Dr. William Attaway: 6:55

Just, you know, one of the things that I hear a lot in the people that I work with is the challenges of retention. Is the challenges of retention when you have team members who are feeling like they're just a cog in the machine? They're not really valued as a person, they're not really seen as a person, they're just seen for what they do. They are very quick to move down the street, very quick to hop from job to job to job. What you just shared about a hundred percent retention rate in an industry that I would not think a whole lot of people are lined up wanting to jump into a hundred percent retention rate for two summers Like that's a that's a significant deal. And I think what you just talked about how you loved on them, how you saw them as actual 3D human beings and wanted to add value to them that is such a lesson that any leader can take and apply, no matter what context they're in. I would imagine that's something you have carried into other environments, including the one that you're in now.

Josiah Fogle: 7:58

Yeah, no, absolutely. And it's so important to. I mean, you hear this all the time People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care. And it's just so true. I literally the other day, like I, I was literally yesterday I was talking with a team member on our team at story builders and we have, you know, weekly one-on-one, so that's that's.

Josiah Fogle: 8:25

You know, one of the one of the systems behind the, the relationships is one-on-ones, and I was in our one-on-one and, um, just kind of slowed down and was like before we dived into KPIs and before we dived into like where things are at and how he was doing and how I could support him. It was like, and how he was doing and how I could support him. It was like, how are you doing? Like, how's the family, how are the kids? And you know it ended up being a little bit of a rabbit hole, but it was a deep rabbit hole. That let him know that I care and let him know that I'm not just here to push KPIs, I'm here to support him as a whole person.

Josiah Fogle: 9:07

And it just was a you know, I frankly it was almost routine for me to slow down and ask, yeah, and I was like, when I want to ask, I was almost it's kind of sad for me to say this and acknowledge it but like I almost was taken back at like, oh wow, you need to remember there's there's everyone's got a deeper story and there's things going on in life that I'm not going to see unless I slow down to ask. And so, even though it was sort of on routine, it's like I think it's like whenever you're, whenever you have a habit, sometimes you don't even realize the power of that habit, yeah, until sometimes you catch yourself and you're like, oh wow, that's powerful. So that was a very real thing. And obviously I'm not perfect and there's relationships I've not done well with, but having that habit of slowing down, the one-on-ones, the systems behind it, have been priceless I would say.

Dr. William Attaway: 10:05

You know, one of the challenges that I see often in the entrepreneurial community is a difficulty balancing home and work. And you know you're married. You have four kids, three boys and a little princess that I mentioned in your bio earlier. How do you do that? How do you balance the need to drive forward in what you're doing vocationally but not neglecting those relationships that matter most?

Josiah Fogle: 10:38

Yeah, I think that's a challenge that a lot of people face. I think there's a couple of things I would say. Um, the first is is making sure that you prioritize the relationships in the right way.

Josiah Fogle: 10:53

Yeah, um, for me it's, for me it's um. You know my wife is at the top and that communication, while not perfect, again um is important. And so we, you know, us being on the same page is huge. You know there are times in, uh, you know, when working, when you need to flex and you need to work longer hours, and if you do that without communicating it, oh man, that that's a recipe for disaster. I'm sure you and everyone listening is like, oh yeah, but you know so that communication is so key.

Josiah Fogle: 11:33

But then also, like really setting aside time to invest into the family, like when we have family trips, when we do things as a family, I, I try my absolute best and I, like I turn off anything I can um to to stay focused and make sure I am present.

Josiah Fogle: 11:56

You know, like one of the things that I like to say to myself, you know, is be here now, not kind of like a little little self-talk, of like be here now and only only be worried about in this moment, like who you're with, and so that's another thing I like to do.

Josiah Fogle: 12:11

But another powerful thing is setting setting your actual like family goals and family vision, as well as like the business vision and goals. The business vision and goals, because if you only set business goals, like those are the only things on your mind and you don't even have any context of like what am I trying to do with my family? It's not just a life and kids, it's like no, what are we trying to accomplish as a family? And so that's you know. Obviously, my kids are younger I mean, my oldest is just turned seven in July and so we're navigating how to bring them into that, into a family charter type thing, into our family vision and values and goals, and it's a work in progress, but it's definitely something that we have started and intend to continue to grow.

Dr. William Attaway: 13:04

I love the intentionality of that. You're not just thinking one day you're going to wake up and everything is going to be like you dreamed it would be. You're intentionally working toward it.

Josiah Fogle: 14:44

I think that's with a lot of things, whether it's running a business, operating a business, in any role, I think the intentionality is what is needed and I think, when you look at A players on a team, that's what you should be looking for. And I think that you know and I'm just going back to the sales team that I managed in Southwestern I think that I instilled that in them of like, why are you doing this? And they weren't there to. They weren't necessarily there to make money. They weren't there even to, you know, like they weren't there to be the best. They were there to be part of the team. They were there to gain like life experience from going door to door. They were there to hope that, you know, to try to make money, but it was like it was. It was the third, it wasn't, it wasn't the first. It was like they were there for the team and the and the experience first. Um, and so I think, just when you have your priorities and focus aligned, it makes everything clearer. You know it makes everything clearer. You know it's so easy and you probably get caught in this too, like I.

Josiah Fogle: 16:03

I I catch myself in this a lot, where you go through a week and you look back and you're like, what did I do this week? Like like, what was what? What happened? I filled the time, like the time just kind of evaporated. But was it focused? Was it intentional? Um, and I think when you, when you have, like your, your goals set, when you have things that you're aiming for, and when you have those, those priorities, um, it, it guides you. It guides you towards focused, intentional work. That's one of the things that I like to do is really think through my priority and focus for the day. What is my priority and focus? If I can do nothing else today? What's the one thing? If you take that and apply that to the week with our leadership team at Storybuilders we do that what's the one thing for this week that we want to accomplish? And then, if you take that for the month, you take that for the quarter, take that for the year, it really does help crystallize where you're going and the roadmap to get there.

Dr. William Attaway: 17:05

So good when you align your longer-term goals, your quarterly, your annual, even your five-year goals, when you align those with what you're doing every day, when there's a direct correlation there, when you see that alignment, yeah, man, what a motivator that is. Yes, what a catapult that is toward your effectiveness and toward greater intentionality. Yeah, because you're like man, this is making a difference, and I love what you're saying about pre-deciding, pre-defining what the goal is. I often say, hey, friday at five o'clock, what am I going to want to look back and say, hey, this was a great week. What do I need to get done where I can look back and say that, so, that's the goal this week, that's what's going to make this a great week. What stops me Most often? The answer is me. You are the head of operations at Storybuilders. What does that role look like?

Josiah Fogle: 18:09

So I'm just kidding. So yeah, so as the head of operations for storybuilders, I wear a lot of hats and really I think that the best way to kind of answer that question is I serve the company, I serve story builders in ways that Bill, our CEO and founder, in ways that he's not as strong. So I bring in my strengths of galvanizing the team of discernment and activation to a very, very high caliber team. So we have a very strong team in terms of ideating and wondering, and I'm using the working genius language.

Josiah Fogle: 18:56

We actually we implemented it across our full team. Yeah, and so everyone takes it and it's it's we. We talk about it often. We talked about it just on Monday. Yeah, and so it's, it's part of our vernacular. Yeah, and so it's part of our vernacular.

Josiah Fogle: 19:10

And so the we looked at a team map and the missing part before I joined was the activation, and so the team had been a really, really strong team of getting things done and doing them in a in a new and innovative way to serve our clients what we call story partners in creating and developing their intellectual property, such as books, learning experiences, all that kind of stuff. But every time they fulfilled on that service it was a little bit different because there was no person in the middle making sure that the systems, the operations, the SOPs and all that were the same and being used. It's not that people didn't have them, it's just that everyone had their own set of them and so, yeah, so what I do with Storybuilders is I'm kind of the alignment I'm helping with bring alignment to the company as a whole to be able to serve more story partners, um, and to be able to free up bill to be the CEO, um, and to live into that role more um of of helping grow the business in that direction. Does that make sense?

Dr. William Attaway: 20:28

100%. Leading from the second chair is so often misunderstood. I think it's seen as a lesser than role. It's seen as a well, maybe one day you'll be the CEO Instead of being seen as what it is, which I think is a superpower. I think the second chair is the complement that really fills out and makes possible for a leader to lead in their zone of genius. And to use Lencioni's vernacular when you're operating in your genius, man, there's nothing like it and there's nothing like it. You're not just getting along in your zone of competency, you're not being drained by operating in a zone of frustration. No, you are head high. What do you see as some of the key components to leading from the second chair? What have you learned is so important in that role?

Josiah Fogle: 21:35

Yeah, that's a great question. A lot of I learned. I've learned a lot experientially. One of the books that I love on sort of the second chair, second in command is Cameron Harreld's book called Second in Command, a great book on being sort of the yin to the yang. He calls it and the reality is being the number two, the second in command or the second chair. It's going to be different in every situation. It's going to be different with every leader, because every leader is a little bit different, and so I've actually played this role for quite a few people now I would say almost like half a dozen different leaders and been able to come alongside them.

Josiah Fogle: 22:29

And I think that where my strength is is that I see the vision, I see the mission and then I can discern and figure out here's how we're going to get closer to that. And I do need to remember to stay in my lane, because frustration of mine is tenacity and so I need to remember to stay in that activation and make sure that I'm helping delegate the enablement and tenacity of a project. But the things that are important are understanding how the CEO or the founder or the number one in the company, how that person's wired and what are their strengths. And the reality is the business that they have founded, the company that they have founded, the organization they have founded, whatever it is, is thriving or is actually working because of those strengths and it's not growing as fast as it could because they're having to operate in those areas of frustration. And so it's like how can you get them out of those areas of frustration as fast as possible to enable them to focus more on bringing in new customers, on the really the reality is? It's like how can you let them if, if the sales and marketing is their strength and they're really good at that, which most founders and ceos are like that's kind of just their natural gifting. It's like, hey, bringing more people in, um, getting more people on board, then then you know that is let them focus on that, and then you need to take the things off their plate that aren't that. And so it's really kind of, you know, pairing what people's strengths are.

Josiah Fogle: 24:20

Now there's other people that I've worked with that is opposite. Their strength is not the sales, like they don't like the sales. Their strength is the operations and the systems and sales are happening and they're in business because sales are happening but they're like I don't want to be on that side of it. Sales is over there, they can do their thing. Let's make sure that it's super efficient and they've got such an efficient machine that can fulfill on the product or the service that they're providing. But the reality is they could grow 10, x tomorrow if they had the right person in that sales seat. And for a second in command it's like, okay, cool, coming in with a mentality of I'm here to grow the sales and marketing of the of this company. So again the the the best answer I can give you is it depends yeah, depends, on what the real need is.

Dr. William Attaway: 25:16

I think that landscape view that you're describing, you're kind of looking at the whole thing. You're looking at the whole board, right. You're not just looking at these few pieces, you're looking at the whole board and saying what is the best way to accomplish the goals that have been laid out, given what we have to work with, given the resources that we have? Where can we get better? How do we make this better? So often in that landscape view, you have a better view of what Patrick Lencioni calls silos. Right, in any business, any organization, where they are not really all pulling together in the same direction but they're really focused on their thing and their thing is their thing is the most important thing to them, even over the business goals. How do you deal with that? How do you keep everybody pulling in the same direction from the seat that you sit in?

Josiah Fogle: 26:12

That's a great question. I can imagine a couple of people on my team actually who are wired that way of like their project is the most important project. Yeah, that I try to do and I think that works is letting them believe that, letting them believe that I think theirs is the most important and so it's kind of like affirming them in a sense.

Josiah Fogle: 26:37

Yeah, yeah of like, yeah, you're absolutely like how can I help, how can I help you, how can I serve you in that like what do you need from me? And then, like it's almost like modeling, that, that support of, like that modeling that I'm willing to serve you, even though it's not my job.

Josiah Fogle: 26:55

My job is not to work on on individual projects yeah but I'll come in and I'll serve you and it's almost it's modeling that so that they see that, to be able to do that for other people too and understand, oh wow, you know. You know josiah, he's head of operations but he's willing to help in any way that he can on my projects, not unless I'm obviously gonna set boundaries. I'm not gonna, yeah, you know, get sucked in and like have that be what fills up my week, but I am gonna make sure that they know that. That's why I'm here. I'm here to make sure that their projects go well. And then it's after they understand that and they fully understand that and I've seen this actually happen, which is kind of cool then it's helping them understand. Okay, what about? You know bob's projects over here? Like you know, how can you with your strengths, help with this? Like, do you see any opportunities? And it's kind of bringing in that cross-collaboration. But it really needs to start with them feeling like they are I don't want to say the most important, but they're heard and they're seen and it's like they're valued, because if they feel valued, they want to make sure that everyone else feels valued too. It's kind of like this. It creates this bandwagon effect of. We are a team, you know it's.

Josiah Fogle: 28:13

You know, I think I think breaking down the the um, the false narrative that, like I just need to get my job done, is done by example. Like I think, I think that, as a head of operations, you need to be able to come in. It needs to seem like you touch everything, like like you've got ropes holding everything, but the reality is you, you it's all delegated, yeah, it's all, everything is moving and it it sits at the outside eye. It's like, wow, josiah runs it. It's like, no, not really. Like I just have a really cool team. Like I have a really cool team that is in alignment and being intentional with their days and focused on the main goal. Like how do we, how do we, how do we? Do we, you know, make the world a better place through story? Like and that's what we're all about as story builders. Like how do we tell stories? That and?

Josiah Fogle: 29:09

And what's, what's cool is it comes back full circle in that, like in in the work we're doing, because you know, sometimes in the creative space, like you can get good enough, you can have a good enough product. Like, oh, this is good enough, but our team, like my team that doesn't doesn't settle for that. Like a lot of times I'll get like the pushback of like I think we can go more, I think we can make this better, and like that doesn't. That doesn't happen with a team that's just focused on get it done. Yeah, um, and then that again, again comes full circle in that the story partner or the client that we were working with, they get the deliverable and they're like wow, this is awesome, like this is better than I thought. It would Excuse me, for some of our clients that we work with, with we're doing collaborative writing, or some people call it ghost writing, and one of our clients a couple weeks ago was like this is me, but it couldn't have ever come out of me, but it's me and and and he was just kind of blown away at the, the, how the voice was captured in such a, such a, such such a, a, a powerful way that that captured him, um, and what he was in the story that he wanted to tell through through this book, um, and then that that goes in and then gets, brings us referrals, and so it's like that doesn't just happen.

Josiah Fogle: 30:37

It takes intentionality, it takes, um, you know, it takes that, that, that focus, um and that, um, yeah, I guess. Coming back to the intentionality, I guess you could say that being intentional is is catalytic, yeah.

Dr. William Attaway: 30:56

I love that. Yeah, you know the way you're describing the role. It sounds so much like a conductor of an orchestra. You know where all the pieces fit, you know how it works together and your goal is to bring out the best in everybody. But the conductor never makes a sound. They're simply drawing the sound out of the team to make something beautiful, and that feels very much like what you're doing.

Josiah Fogle: 31:28

Yeah, it's a. It's kind of, as you were saying, that it made me think of um, cause I played rugby um in um middle school, high school, college, a little bit after college too, um, and actually actually played for the Philippines Philippines under twenties national team and actually played for the Philippines Under-20s National Team, which is a fun little fun fact. But my position on the team was the halfback, kind of like quarterback in football, american football but I would be the person that connected the backs with the forwards were like the big guys, the little guys, the guys that would run with, the guys that would just like hit um.

Josiah Fogle: 32:10

And it was like my job to conduct and make you know, pass the ball out if it was ready to go out, keep the ball in if it was supposed to stay in um. And I just I never thought about that analogy of that conductor with regards to rugby and, like some of the sports, the skills that I learned playing rugby, how they kind of relate to this too. It's interesting.

Dr. William Attaway: 32:34

Absolutely. There's no such thing as a wasted experience. You know, it's so interesting to me how God weaves so many of the experiences of our lives together and something that doesn't seem connected at all in fact positions and prepares us for something so much later. Josiah, you are leading at a different level than you did a few years ago, and a few years from now, your team is going to need you to lead at a higher level still. How do you stay on top of your game? How do you level up with the new skills that you are going to need to have as a leader?

Josiah Fogle: 33:11

Yeah, that's a great question and I think that I'm going to answer it in a kind of a weird way. I think that there's a certain point where I might not be the best fit for this team and there's kind of an acknowledgement that you need to make and I think it's like for me, what is my strength in the current seat? You know, is this current seat, this head of operations, the long term seat that I'm going to be in? And as we scale, you know, as you scale a company, there's different needs and there's, you know, when you're a you know $500,000 company versus a million dollar, $3 million, $10 million, $20 million, you know, as you scale, like the needs are so different, like the needs are so different. And it's it's naive and foolish to think that as you scale and we have plans to scale pretty, pretty large that as you scale, you can still fulfill that same role and that same function to the same capacity. And so I envision a time where store builders hires a a much more qualified and better, you know, head of operations or COO in that role. Maybe it's me, maybe it's not, but the reality is you need to be mindful that just because the company is growing. You know well, as the company is growing, you are also growing, but the role and the function that you're in might not be the role and function that it needs at a larger scale, and so I get to set the stage like that's. I think that's just something to keep in mind.

Josiah Fogle: 34:56

Now, how do I personally grow? Um, I think it was more of your question, but the the reality is. Reality is, I think it's it's a matter of, like, always consuming, um, always consuming new stuff. Like I absolutely love Lencioni and his working genius podcast. Um, that is a very helpful tool, um, I am a very much an auditory learner, um, and so, you know, listening to that pod, listening to podcasts, reading books, um, you know, the second get a man I mentioned earlier was that it was a very powerful tool.

Josiah Fogle: 35:30

And then, another thing that you know we were talking about this offline, going attending and going to masterminds and different things that allow for like you coined it earlier, like those mountaintop experiences yeah, I, like you coined it earlier like those mountaintop experiences where you're able to you know, cause you mentioned that that that sort of that portrait view, that landscape view, like the sorry, the landscape view of, like, what's going on in the business, but you know what? It's so easy to get sucked in, yeah, and so mountaintop experiences like masterminds or even like seminars or workshops I know the global leadership summit's coming up soon Uh, things like that that gets you to look, step back and look at what's going on. Um, so I love doing things like that, I love pouring in. That's actually how you and I first met.

Josiah Fogle: 36:17

Um was a global leadership summit um a long time ago, a long time ago.

Dr. William Attaway: 36:21

It's been a minute.

Josiah Fogle: 36:23

It's been a minute, didn't have any kids, I don't think I even had a. No, I had a wife, but so so consuming content, listening to things. One of the cool things about in my current role is as words of helping leaders and entrepreneurs and business people develop their books. A big part of what they're doing is audiobooks, and so I'm gleaning from those. I love audiobooks and so as we put a book out, I'm quality control, but it's also helping me grow.

Dr. William Attaway: 36:56

I love that.

Josiah Fogle: 36:58

And then the last thing I'll say is seeking out like mentors, um, seeking out people who are further ahead on the journey, um, that can be an example, that can be someone that you can look to and say I want to be like that in 10 years, I want to be like that in five years, I want to be like that in 20 years, like that's so, so powerful. And I think for me it's one of the things I've always looked for in in whoever I'm working with as a number one or as the owner or founder. You know that that was the big draw to towards working with Bill at Sword Builders and you know he's. He's someone who has a very strong relationship with the Lord. He is someone who has six kids, so more than me, and his youngest is like graduating high school and he's just in a different stage of life that I am, but has been where I'm at and knows what it's like and also is growing a business. And I'm like I want to learn, not just not just the tangible business things, but like the life things.

Josiah Fogle: 38:13

Selfishly, I'm almost positioning myself how I want my team members to position, like how I want to position myself for my team members, position, like how I want to position myself for my team members.

Josiah Fogle: 38:27

I want to position myself towards my leader in a way that in which I can glean from him, because, you know, the reality is we all get busy and I think for it's. I think I think there's been times in the past where I've wanted that, but I haven't been intentional in in, like, setting myself up to glean. I'm using glean for, for intentionally, because the reality is, as a, as a CEO, founder, like there's so many things going on that distract and if it's not top of mind, it doesn't happen. And if it's not something that I am constantly being like hey, bill, like hey, can you show me like how you did that? Like can you talk to me about this conversation that we just had? Like can you walk me through that Like? I think the, the, the curiosity, the curiosity towards entrepreneurship, the curiosity towards leadership, the curiosity towards doing leadership Well, is something that I think is probably one of my strengths.

Dr. William Attaway: 39:24

That it's not, it doesn't happen by accident, it needs to be intentional, but that's probably the biggest thing that's helping me grow, you know one of the things that that I've always admired about you since we first met and it's been almost a decade ago now is the the humility that you approach. Whatever you're doing, you have a teachable spirit that comes through so loud and clear and that has been so evident in this discussion, and I'm so grateful to you for sharing and leading from a place like that. I believe that is what truly makes a leader catalytic when you lead from a place understanding you don't have all the answers, you don't know it all. You're learning too, but you are committed to being a conduit of what you're learning instead of just trying to hold it all in for yourself. You've mentioned a couple of books on the show on this episode. Before we wrap up, I would love. Is there a book that you would recommend, a favorite book that, if a leader hasn't read this, you say man, you got to put this on your list.

Josiah Fogle: 40:29

Man. There's so many man. The one that immediately always comes to my mind first is Never Split the Difference. Great book, yeah. Another good one is Crucial Conversations. It's a good reminder the one that I read actually on a regular basis just because it's such a classic is how to Win Friends and Influence People.

Dr. William Attaway: 40:56

It's just such a classic.

Josiah Fogle: 41:01

Obviously, there's little things in there that are timeless. It's a good reminder of putting people first and that, like what you said earlier, the 3d making sure they're a 3d human, um, human being, and uh, there, there's a lot to that.

Dr. William Attaway: 41:21

That's so good man. I know folks are going to want to stay connected to you and continue to learn from you, josiah. What is the best way for folks to do that?

Josiah Fogle: 41:30

Yeah, probably the easiest way would be to shoot me an email, josiahfogle at gmailcom and we can get connected that way. If you're listening to this and you've heard me mention books or ghost writing, collaborative writing or anything like that, feel free to go to mystorybuilderscom and check us out. Check out the website. You can schedule a call there to talk with the team and we can talk more about your intellectual property, your book idea, anything like that too. So there's two different ways.

Dr. William Attaway: 42:02

Josiah, this has been so helpful today. Thank you for sharing so honestly and so openly such generosity that you've put on display today from your story and what you've learned so far. Thank you for that.

Josiah Fogle: 42:14

Well, thanks, willem. I appreciate you and everything that you're doing with Catalytic Leadership. It's been really cool to see this just grow into something that creating ripples, and you really are being a catalyst, so thank you for watching.

Dr. William Attaway: 42:27

Thanks for joining me for this episode today. As we wrap up, I'd love for you to do two things. First, subscribe to this podcast so you don't miss an episode, and if you find value here, I'd love it if you would rate it and review it. That really does make a difference in helping other people to discover this podcast. Second, if you don't have a copy of my newest book, Catalytic Leadership, I'd love to put a copy in your hands. If you go to catalyticleadershipbookcom, you can get a copy for free. Just pay the shipping so I can get it to you and we'll get one right out.

Dr. William Attaway: 43:03

My goal is to put this into the hands of as many leaders as possible. This book captures principles that I've learned in 20 plus years of coaching leaders in the entrepreneurial space, in business, government, non-profits, education and the local church. You can also connect with me on LinkedIn to keep up with what I'm currently learning and thinking about. And if you're ready to take a next step with a coach to help you intentionally grow and thrive as a leader, I'd be honored to help you, Just go to catalyticleadershipnet to book a call with me. Stay tuned for our next episode next week. Until then, as always, leaders choose to be catalytic.