Episode Summary
The Industrial Advisors discuss the benefits they have received from coaching and continued education and what they are doing now.
Episode Transcript
Bill Condon:
Welcome to our Industrial Advisors podcast. You have Bill Condon and Matt McGregor here.
Matt McGregor:
Hey, hey.
Bill Condon:
Today, we want to talk about improving yourself using coaching and continued education. We're going to discuss our history with coaching and continued education, and certainly, the benefits that we've received from that. The question is, are you too old to learn new things? Are you too old to challenge yourself and-
Matt McGregor:
Never.
Bill Condon:
Exactly. So, let's talk about it, Matt. Let's dive in.
Matt McGregor:
Yeah, a couple of quick things that I just found on the Internet up to your point, are you too old? First one is, the nation's oldest student, born into slavery in Alabama in the mid-19th century, Mary Walker, was freed at the age of 15, moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1917, and learned to read at the extraordinary age of 116. And her famous saying was, "You're never too old to learn." Then another one was, and I'm going to butcher this name, but Kimani Maruge, born in 1920, died in 2009, holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest person to start primary school. He enrolled in first grade on January 12, 2004 at the age of 84. So no, Bill, we're not too old.
Bill Condon:
That's impressive. So, let me ask you a question. You always seem to be discovering new programs and looking at new coaches. Tell us why you're always searching and where this came from.
Matt McGregor:
Yeah, for me, I grew up a terrible student because I had dyslexia, and so, I really, really struggled in school. When I got into sales in my late teenage years and early 20s, I had a mentor that gave me some cassette on sales. I didn't read a lot at the time because I was such a slow reader and had such poor retention, but I started learning through audiobooks, and it was sales. And I plowed through hundreds of them at the beginning of my sales career in the first few years, and just became a huge learner, and learned probably more in a, call it a three or four-year period, than I had learned my whole life educationally, and read more books because they were on tapes at that time, than I had ever read in all my years combined. So, I became an enthusiastic learner of that at an early age. And then I went to a sales mastery seminar in Arizona. I was 22. I saved $3,000 to buy this ticket.
Bill Condon:
Nice.
Matt McGregor:
And it was 800 seats, it sold out, and it was put on by a guy named Tom Hopkins at the time, was originator of kind of sales training. He had Zig Ziglar and several other guys on his panel. And I ended up winning the competition down there. So, I got to go have dinner at his house with Zig Ziglar, which for those of you who don't know, you should Google Zig Ziglar. Anyway, so Zig ended up being a big influence in my early sales career.
Matt McGregor:
And I got another cool story about Zig that I'll say real quick. Years later... He always said, "Hey, if you ever want to know about somebody, write them a letter." He goes, "People love to teach. And write people a letter and no matter how big they are, and you'd be surprised at their reaction." So, years later, so this was when I was like 22, years later, Zig came to town with that Peter Lowe seminar. So, it was him and George Bush and Colin Powell, you know how they have like 10 or 12 guys on these things, and it sells out the Coliseum?
Bill Condon:
Yeah.
Matt McGregor:
Zig was the front-liner. So a couple of weeks before he came, I wrote him a letter. I said, "Hey, I won this competition and had dinner with you." And I was thinking, "I'm never going to hear from him," right?
Bill Condon:
Yeah.
Matt McGregor:
I get a call from his assistant saying, "Hey, Zig and his wife want to have breakfast before the seminar with you and your wife, if you can." So, sure enough, I run down to the hotel he's staying at in Seattle, had breakfast with him, him and his family. Then he says, "Hey, are you coming to the show?" And I said, "No, I just really wanted to see you." He says, "You're coming to the show." So, we went to the show with him and he put us in the front row with his family.
Bill Condon:
That's awesome. That is good.
Matt McGregor:
Anyway. So, that's a little bit of background on me and where I came from with that type of education.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, that's fantastic.
Matt McGregor:
And coaching and mentors. From that perspective, Bill, tell us about some of the coaching programs that you participated in. Which ones have you done and what ones do you like?
Bill Condon:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, coaching's important for us, and we're always looking to try and transition out of business coaches every couple of years. We do it strategically. We do it on purpose because every coach has a different philosophy and different strategy. And so usually, we'll stay with a coach for one to two years and then rotate, and get new ideas and try and innovate. But then going back, I think it started for us when we came to Colliers. We really utilized Colliers University.
Matt McGregor:
That's right.
Bill Condon:
There's a lot of different programs there. And we got involved in a lot of those classes, went to a lot of different locations to learn, but then we started actually holding a lot of seminars and teaching at Colliers University, which, the kind of learn, teach, do mentality has, I think, really helped us.
Bill Condon:
But through the Colliers University, we met Travis Carson, who became one of our first business coaches. And we used Travis for a couple of years. I think Travis was really helpful in just trying to put a strategy and a system in place.
Matt Mcgregor:
Yes.
Bill Condon:
And then after we used Travis for a while and got a lot of benefit out of using Travis, we worked with Pete Bolton, who's fantastic.
Matt McGregor:
Love him.
Bill Condon:
Who has direct experience in the commercial real estate space, has been a broker, has been a great manager, has just done a lot of great things.
Matt McGregor:
He was one of the founders of CBRE University and creating a lot of original content for CBRE before he spun off. I think he worked for Grubb and then spun off into his own coaching program.
Bill Condon:
Yeah. Yeah. And Pete's still an active coach and doing a great job.
Matt McGregor:
Yeah, he's wonderful.
Bill Condon:
And then, we've used Tim Jenkins, who you had the relationship with Tim. Tim has been fantastic, and I think really provided us with a way to think outside the commercial real estate box. So often, you get in your own lane and you're only thinking one way. Tim came in with an outsider's perspective and I think has really challenged us to look at things from a bigger picture.
Matt McGregor:
Yeah. And Tim came from the consulting end, nothing to do, to your point, with commercial real estate. We purposely hired him because he didn't come from commercial real estate. And I think we had two or three coaches in a row that came from that.
Bill Condon:
Yeah.
Matt McGregor:
From that perspective. And you mentioned it, why did you and we come up with the philosophy of the kind of the two-year model? Talk about what the two-year model is.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, the two-year model is, we hire a business coach and we tell them, "Hey, you're going to do... No matter how well you do for us, we're going to fire you in 18 to 24 months."
Matt McGregor:
"You're out."
Bill Condon:
"You're out." And they ask why, and we say, "Listen, we want new perspectives, we want new insights, and that's our model. We're going to have a different business coach every 18 to 24 months." So, it does give us new perspectives. It does give us new ideas. And I think it's benefited us a lot to make those changes. Every coach we've had has been phenomenal.
Matt McGregor:
That's right.
Bill Condon:
But everyone provides a different perspective.
Matt McGregor:
And then what it does, I think you would agree, that we end up compiling over the years this trusted group of coach mentors, that's kind of a circle of excellence that we can call and utilize for different things and different connections and different questions. We fire them, yes, from a weekly or monthly perspective, but we always utilize them later. I mean, I don't think a month goes by that I don't talk to Tim or Pete, and they're not our coaches on a fulltime basis anymore.
Bill Condon:
Yeah. I think what's great is all those coaches we've had have become friends, right?
Matt McGregor:
Absolutely.
Bill Condon:
And so, that's just part of the natural relationship-building, which has been great. One of the programs I did that I actually got a lot of benefit out of was through Colliers, and it was a program called Elevate.
Matt McGregor:
Oh, yeah
.
Bill Condon:
And it was about a two-year program and it was a leadership program. We're about-
Matt McGregor:
Harvard, right?
Bill Condon:
Yeah, it was through Harvard. We worked hard in it. Every week, we had online stuff to do. And there's about 15 of us that went through that program and it was great. It really helped a lot. I think the biggest benefit I got out of that was the change management piece of it. Change happens so much in our industry and in business every day, in life every day, really navigate through change management effectively, that was one of the better programs that I went through. And you've certainly done a lot of different programs. What are a few that have stood out to you and maybe you have benefited the most from?
Matt McGregor:
Yeah, definitely. And just, before I answer that, I'll say, I remember you taking that course. I remember it taking a lot of hours, and that you got a lot out of it, and we implemented several things that you learned out of that [crosstalk 00:08:35] program.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, it was great.
Matt McGregor:
And you were on campus at Harvard for a little while.
Bill Condon:
We were. Yeah, we were back there and...
Matt McGregor:
You're a Harvard man.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, yeah. Right. I'm not smart enough. I can't even spell Harvard. That was really beneficial.
Matt McGregor:
I've done a ton. Some of the most memorable ones, obviously, I'll always have a special spot in my heart for Zig Ziglar and the teachings of that. They gave me the fundamentals behind sales and that IBM school of thinking, that there's a process to it. There's a process to how people perceive salespeople. And it's your objective to understand how you're perceived, and to be able to get around key objection, because you got to break through before you make progress, right? So, those original foundations, I credit Zig Ziglar, Tom Hopkins, with those philosophies that made me think different. So, that was early on.
Matt McGregor:
And then, I did some continuing education. I went back to University of Washington for a commercial certificate in real estate, so I learned a lot from that, made a lot of contacts: Pete Bolton, as you mentioned, Rod Santomassimo put us in his book, Teams That Dominate. His original book was Brokers That Dominate, I think was the number one seller still in commercial real estate. He's been a great friend and mentor. I was recently on his podcast, and funny story. I signed up for Strategic Coach, which is another great program, and I had never met Rod. And as you know, we were chapter three in his book. So, he had called and interviewed us, liked our story, and put us in his book.
Matt McGregor:
A couple years later, I'm in Toronto at a Strategic Coach mastermind session, like 50 people in the room. And all of a sudden, I see Rod Santomassimo and I'm like, "Rod, Matt McGregor." Anyway, he's been a great contact. I never officially have used him for a coach, but I've called him on a lot of things and we've corresponded on a lot of things.
Matt McGregor:
Strategic Coach, there's all sorts of different programs. There's one-on-one coaching. There's group coaching. There's classroom coaching. Strategic Coach is a program and it's kind of a lifetime program, but you sign up for a year. There's different levels of it. You kind of sign up with 40 people and you go through these four three-day sessions. And then in the middle of those, you have a bunch of homework, basically, that you go and you implement what you learned. So, you end up going through this year-long process with a group of 40 or so. I think it's in Toronto, LA, and Chicago. I went through the Toronto one, and Dan Sullivan is the founder of that company. Super well-connected and a great, great program.
Matt McGregor:
And if you like the more classroom setting, and there's different advantages and disadvantages to both. I would say the classroom setting, I end up, I always call them nuggets. I walk away with something. And in Strategic Coach, I actually walked away with more fundamental, great ideas from sidebars with students in the class that were big entrepreneurs and very successful people than I learned from the actual class. So, there's different things. Sometimes I want one on one coaching. Sometimes I want group coaching. Strategic Coach was a great one. You mentioned Tim Jenkins. So, there's probably been a dozen things that I've done in the past, and to our point earlier, rotating it is important.
Bill Condon:
Yeah. I think, you go to a lot of conferences, even the national conferences, and some things that Colliers puts on or SIOR, if you can take one thing away from each one of those conferences, as you mentioned, a nugget, that's a win, right?
Matt McGregor:
That's right, one thing.
Bill Condon:
And then the key is, implement it. Right?
Matt McGregor:
Exactly. Yeah. And Bill, you came up with a crazy idea, a year, year and a half ago, and got us to sign up for a master's of science, the number one program in the world at Michigan State University, in supply chain. It was interesting when we were having the conversations about going back to actually a formal education. Why did you do that? Why did you select that? Why did you select a master's program at this point in your career? You're hugely successful. Why throw that onto your shoulders, that workload, and why that program?
Bill Condon:
Well, let's back up a second. I credit you with the idea of, "Hey, let's go do something that's impactful. As we started talking about it, we started looking at, "Okay, what are our clients really talking about? Where's the future of industrial real estate? What really matters? Where can we go get educated and really provide value?" And we kept coming back to the supply chain. So, once we started talking about that and we, I feel like we were at a point at that time where I wanted to go learn more, right?
Matt McGregor:
For sure.
Bill Condon:
We were ready to go do something-
Matt McGregor:
Beyond coaching.
Bill Condon:
Exactly. And so, once we decided, "Hey, supply chain is where the focus needs to be," I just started Googling top programs in Michigan State, and we had conversations and clearly, Michigan State was number one.
Matt McGregor:
Still is.
Bill Condon:
So, immediately I said, "Let's do that." And we talked about, said me going to Michigan State, you doing a different one. Ultimately, we said, "Let's just both go and do it together and be fully united in it, and go to the best program out there." And I think from the time that we first started talking about it to the time that we got accepted in the program, it was maybe 10 days, right?
Matt McGregor:
Yeah.
Bill Condon:
I mean, we just went all-in and did everything and did it. And now, we're halfway through the program and we have learned-
Matt McGregor:
More than halfway.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, more than halfway. We've learned a lot. To your point, the academic portion has been really valuable, but the conversations we've had with the professors and the other students-
Matt McGregor:
Alumni.
Bill Condon:
Alumni, I mean, that has been incredibly valuable. So, that's where it all came from, and I'm really glad we've decided to do it. We've gone all-in with the program and I've really learned a lot. And so, for us, it was more about, how do we continuously look for ways to improve? We were looking for something and that was the perfect fit. So, I'm glad we did it, and I'm sure you are too.
Matt McGregor:
Well. I was all-in with you, but I would say about once a week at about 11 o'clock when I'm pounding my head on the desk, doing some homework, I curse you and go, "Why am I doing this?"
Bill Condon:
We're almost done. We're almost done. It's been good.
Matt McGregor:
It's been a great program. And speaking of, are you ever too old to learn? I think I'm the oldest in that class, and I have no issue with it. I'm always the oldest in class.
Bill Condon:
Yeah, I mean, you're old but it is what it is, but it's been great. It's been great.
Matt McGregor:
Yeah. It's a challenging program. But to your note, boy, has it paid dividends now. Not only were you right in the program that you selected, because it was really you pushing Michigan State. I think I wanted to go to Tennessee.
Bill Condon:
Yeah. Michigan State has better colors too.
Matt McGregor:
For sure. But you picked the right program, but certainly supply chain, mostly with COVID. I mean, I think we looked at it and said, "Hey, this is going to benefit us over the next 5 or 10 years." Now, we're looking at it going, "This is benefiting us right now."
Bill Condon:
Yeah.
Matt McGregor:
Right? That having that education, understanding that at the top level and the top program. And speaking of coaches, we have resources of all of these professors and connections to even help on deal side.
Bill Condon:
What's been great is how approachable the professors have been too.
Matt McGregor:
For sure.
Bill Condon:
Lizzie and Judy. I mean, they've been fantastic, in just real-world stuff. So, it's been a really unique time, great time to go through it. So, as we wrap this up, I want to ask you, what is next? Why continue coaching programs and what's next? What do you think is next for you?
Matt McGregor:
Finishing the MSU MS program definitely will be first and foremost, just because we got to get through that. But I'm always continuing to find new avenues. And right now, we're looking at implementing some of the strategies, through coaching, that we've learned in the MSU program specifically, process improvement. Our new saying is, "If you don't like the outcome, change the process."
Bill Condon:
Change the process.
Matt McGregor:
So, now we're analyzing our processes, and bringing in coaches to look at what we do on a daily basis, making sure it's in alignment with our value, our propositions, and our desires and what our clients want. Then really process mapping that out and learning from experts in those fields. And I'm really excited about that. So, I would say that's kind of our next chapter is now taking some of these process improvements, supply chain philosophies, and overlaying them into our business, which I don't think has ever been done. Right?
Bill Condon:
Yeah, yeah. And the key with any of this stuff to you, to kind of wrap up is, you can learn everything, but do you implement it? So, you got to implement it. That's what we're focused on. And I think our point on this and communicating is, you can always improve. You can always learn.
Matt McGregor:
That's right.
Bill Condon:
And challenge yourself. We've never been disappointed in trying to go learn more. And every time we do, we're grateful that we did it. So, we hope that you do too and hope that you enjoyed this podcast.
Matt McGregor:
Absolutely. Thanks for listening and subscribe if you haven't already. You can find us on all of the sources, Google Podcasts, iTunes, and industrialadvisors.com.
Bill Condon:
Thank you.
Matt McGregor:
Thanks a lot.