Manufacturing eCommerce Success – with Tony Martignetti

Curt Anderson  00:00

On before the wind also younger than the Sun the other Barney boat was one mistake at the St. Patrick’s Day How you doing man read your soul. Alright guys, so hey, March Madness is here. Happy Friday everybody, man Welcome to Manufacturing ecommerce success. What an honor what a privilege not only that March Madness at St. Patrick’s Day, man, we’re flying the green today. And boy, you talk about luck of the Irish. I have. Man Nicole, I might have to call 911 Check my heart here for a second. So I have that here with us. So guys, when you’re here, you know, drop us a note. Let us know you’re out there but Damon is traveling with his wonderful, amazing, beautiful wife today. And so I have none other than the one the only Nicole Donnelly and Nicole is my co host Happy Friday to you to call

 

Nicole Donnelly  01:17

Happy Friday. It is an awesome Friday Patrick’s Day, and I am married Donnelly’s and I have to like do my husband proud and you know, represent the Irish Irish here today. So I’m so excited.

 

Curt Anderson  01:30

Well, hey, happy Friday, guys. Let us know if you’re out there. drop us a note. And so what a glorious amazing day we have my my dear friend, man, I’m just so inspired. And that like Word is just so fitting today, Tony Martignetti. Tony, how are you? Dude, you’re coming to us live from Boston of all places, right?

 

Tony Martignetti  01:51

Yeah, where the streets are running running green today. So yeah, you can’t get much more Irish than then Martin. Edie?

 

Curt Anderson  02:00

Well, alright, so guys, I want to give you an introduction. So Tony is a high level high achieving coach for just these super uber ultra successful folks. And so great career we’ve we’re gonna dig into you. Oh, my goodness. You know, Gillette Genzyme, you’ve had a great, you know, career path and different medical firms. And we’re gonna dig into that today. Tony, you have your leadership coach, you’ve written a book, you have incredible podcast, one of the nicest guys in the planet. I’ve had the honor privilege to spend a great weekend with you man changes life changing. But before we dig into all that, Tony, I have a question for you to kick off the program. Little question for you, my friend. Tony, when you were a little boy growing up? Who was your hero? Who was your hero as a little boy growing up that just created this wonderful, amazing man that we’re here with today?

 

Tony Martignetti  02:54

Oh my gosh, I love that question. Well, I have to be honest, Indiana Jones was man. I wanted to be him. I wanted to be like swinging from vines and you know, kind of like discovering lost treasure and doing all those adventures. That’s all I wanted to be.

 

Nicole Donnelly  03:19

Was it was that your favorite movie? Which one was your favorite?

 

Tony Martignetti  03:21

Yeah, the Raiders of the Lost Ark? Oh, yeah, man. First one.

 

Curt Anderson  03:27

Harrison Ford. He’s not in the trenches off his shoulder. Man. What a great move. I you know what? First time we’ve had that answer. So, guys, thanks for joining us today we have my dear friend Valle. Valle Happy St. Patrick’s Day. We’ve got Hey, how about our follow up partner here? Darcy Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Dorothy, we’ve got my buddy Adam Baker, dude, Happy St. Patty’s Day Whitney’s in the house. So again, drop us a note. Let us know that you’re here. And we’re here with my dear friend Tony, high level leadership coach, we have some really exciting topics that we’re going to cover. Tony, you have a new book coming out. I believe we’re going to dig into that. Have your podcast you are in it’s just an inspiration all around. I want to before we get into that I want to go back to like early days as you started off your career. I mentioned some of the high level fortune 500 companies that you’ve worked at, but didn’t let Did you what’d you do last summer? Did you do anything? Anything like chi mini heights any? What did you do last summer by any chance?

 

Tony Martignetti  04:23

Yeah, it was a little thing. You know, just a little thing. I was found myself at the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.

 

Curt Anderson  04:30

I’m doing I’m sorry. What did you say? How do like I just curious minds want to know can you so you are an adventurer mountain climber. Share a little bit of like this bug that hit you but you know share with us but I you know you and I were together in person last month. Had a great time just learning about you your path. Talk about your Kilimanjaro adventure and like a little bit and like how did you get into mountain climbing?

 

Tony Martignetti  04:59

Yeah, And I think the starting point of my interest in climbing came from a very young age, actually, you know, reading the books about people like, you know, Edmund Hillary and these people who were doing these adventures and I was like, Well, what is it like to be kind of exploring the places for the first time and climbed to these heights, these heights that always like they planted a seed in me that never went away. But then as I became older, I was like, well, now I have this chance to actually do some of this. My first foray is something I described in my book climbing the right Mountain, which, again, there’s no surprise. That’s why I called the first book that I put out that that title, but there’s a story in the book about climbing my first mountain, which was Mount Washington here and locally, where I live, I live in the Boston area, but Washington is in, in New Hampshire. And it was a failed attempt. unprepared. We were in the middle of August, you’d think it’d be like, nice and warm, but it was snowing at the top of the mountain. So So yeah, there was a failed attempt at climbing a mountain and then later on in life continued to find ways to do more and more hikes, and eventually evolved to this place of Here I am, I’m going to make this this mountain happen. So

 

Curt Anderson  06:22

well, that is awesome. So hey, guys, again, you know, we’re here with Tony, you want to connect with Tony on LinkedIn, I’ve dropped his his website into the chat box there. I’ve dropped his book in it is incredible book. I just, totally, I just purchased it. So you know, so tight like Kilimanjaro man, just you know, you shared that story with me. Just you know, let’s scratch the surface. Just share a little bit like, How’d that come on your radar? How did you know just share a little bit about that adventure last summer?

 

Tony Martignetti  06:48

Yeah, I mean, the biggest thing for me was that, you know, I published the book, kill him climbing the right mountain. And then what happened was, I was sitting with a few thought leaders, and you know, my coach Dorie Clark. And she basically said something to me. He said, what’s the next mountain and I’m like, and the first thing that popped in my mind was was Kilimanjaro, I’m going to climb Kilimanjaro and had not playing, made any plans. And it basically just as soon as it was put out into the world, it became something that I was putting steps into the world to create. And a year later, I found myself there. And so that’s how it came to be. But there were all these steps moving up to that, which were during the pandemic, I had climbed, I was in Machu Picchu. So I spent some time in Peru, climbing there and being in the altitudes, which the biggest challenge of of climbing is altitude, dealing with the oxygen that you don’t have as much oxygen. And you have it at this at the sea level, which is where I’m located. So, so yeah, there’s a mental aspect that you deal with. And I think the biggest part of this climb was the preparation and the excitement that leads up to it.

 

Nicole Donnelly  08:02

Interesting. It’s all about the journey. Right? Wow. Very cool. So Tom, I’m so curious what mountain said he climbed.

 

Tony Martignetti  08:09

I’ve climbed a few mountains in, in New Hampshire, I’m sorry, in New Hampshire, and then in Europe, in the Alps. So I’ve done some, some climbs in the Alps. And then in South America, I’ve done a few mountain zones down in South America. I haven’t done very few mountains out west, which I that’s on my bucket list to hit some of the ones in Seattle, and I mean, in, in Washington State in Oregon.

 

Curt Anderson  08:37

So Tony, so let’s go here. So I just want to give everybody a little background again, guys, happy Friday, Happy St. Patrick’s Day for joining us, Hey, we’ve got Joyce here, my buddy Joyce, and she’s with women in manufacturing. anybody out there wants to join manufacturer, women in manufacturing, you want to reach out to our friend Joyce, she’s in Colorado, and great, you might want to connect with Joyce, Tony and go out and out that way. But also, you know, let’s go, you know, I want to get into a little bit of your background, you know, corporate warrior, you did some amazing things I mentioned some of the high level companies that you’ve worked with, if I’m not mistaken, 2018 you take that entrepreneurial leap, just share a little bit of like your corporate background, where you found your superpowers and like and then I want to transition into like when you took that leap, and now really into how you’re helping folks as a coach.

 

Tony Martignetti  09:23

Yeah, I appreciate that. And there’s a sense of, you know, what was the thing that really got me on this path of doing the work I’m doing now, which continues to evolve, but I’ll just get into what was I doing before? What was I doing before? Well, I spent most of my career working not just in in biotech, but that was a big part of my life, but working in high tech and in other industries. And the work was basically around working in finance roles and in strategy roles, and helping these companies by enabling the the the the companies to do what they need to do. Like, for example, when I was in biotech, it was all about ensuring that these patients got what they needed. And that was always a driving force for everything it was all about. The patient is at the end of the line of what we’re trying to create. And so that was always driving me forward. But one of the things that I realized along the way is that people would come to me and say, there’s something different about you. There’s not there’s something about how you show up, which is not just about being analytical, or being a finance person, it’s about really seeing that there’s people at the end, you know, that are part of the story. And I always used to ignore that, those insights. So those those that feedback, and I would just continue to move on and say I’m climbing this mountain, this is who I am, this is where I’m headed. Until I started to really listen. Then I started to see that there was more to me than I was allowing, I got myself out of what I call the box. Because I was constricting myself into this box of I need to be this person, I need to show up this way. And when I let go of all that, I started to see, oh my gosh, there’s so much more I can be if I let myself, allow myself be that person.

 

Curt Anderson  11:16

So yeah, that’s awesome. And so guys, again, today, we’re here with Tony and Tony’s a master of how to effectively navigate change. So Tony, you know, high level finance, and you’d share to me like man, I was climbing that corporate ladder, like, you know, you were very goal focused. And you know, you were just hitting a ball out of the park climbing 2008 You decide now you’re a chief inspiration officer, I love that title. God bless your brother. Purpose inspired coaching. So like, was there an aha moment? Like, what wouldn’t? Like what event occurred? Were like, I mean, was it a gradual like, Hey, I see this entrepreneurial path coming my way. What was that transition there? And then we’re gonna dig into like, how what you do, dude, you put out some great articles this past weekend. So you’re gonna have some questions that we’re going to dig into. But talk about that. 2008 transition?

 

Tony Martignetti  12:04

2018 2018 Thank you. Yeah, it feels like 2008. Yeah.

 

Curt Anderson  12:12

Yeah, that was an 18. What was that transition gradual? Was it a rip off the band aid? What that look like?

 

Tony Martignetti  12:18

Yeah, it’s kind of a situation of slow than fast. There was two big moments that really revealed who I was supposed to be in that moment. And, and I, I think of it as these moments of flash points, which I’ll talk about that maybe later, flash points, these points of revealing who you are. And for me, the first flash point that I’ll talk about here is this sense of, of just burning myself out to the point where I lost sense of who I was, I was so burned out that I kind of didn’t know who I was any longer. And I was just showing up to work and just going through the motions. And I was serving a goal that wasn’t really mine. And so it got to the point where I was at my one of my darkest points, and I had to figure out what am I holding on for. And that’s where I had to realize what I had to be there for my family, I had to do something differently. Because if I don’t do something differently, then something’s bad’s gonna happen. So that dark moment was what I needed to experience and just say, not everyone needs to experience but I needed to experience it, because it made me wake up and say, there’s another way to go. There’s another way to go through life. And I have a lot to give that I’m not giving right now. And so I came out of that slowly but surely. And then then the big moment, the fast moment was when I was sitting in a boardroom at a biotech company and realizing that the people who I was sitting with they, you know, we’re not doing things for the right reasons. There were some leaders in the room are all about image preservation. They were just worried about how do I show how am I looking? Am I right? And I make sure that people see me as the person who’s the leader in the room, as opposed to how can I inspire? How can I own the problems that I’m that I’m causing. And that’s what really got me waking up fully, which is to say that, as I looked around the room, I said, I’ve had enough, I think I’ve got to do something different. And I decided to walk out of that room. Wow. Yeah. So

 

Nicole Donnelly  14:28

amazing.

 

Tony Martignetti  14:30

It was a moment that I had no plan. I didn’t really know how I was going to do it. But I said to myself that I’m going to leave that room to change that room. And I don’t know how it will be. But I need to figure out a way to change the way leaders show up. Especially in the industry that I was in at the time considering the fact that we’re saving lives. We can’t be wasting lives in the process.

 

Curt Anderson  14:56

Okay, Tony on our little show, we call We call these like, drop the mic moments like, Dude, that was just a massive and so, again, guys, you’re out there, drop us a note, let us know I saw Whitney’s here. Hey, our buddy John McLean, always in Jersey. So John, thank you for joining us. Nicole. I love what you just clarified. And guys, I dropped Tony’s website and his book in the chat box. absolutely want to check out check out Tony, on your website, you have these these three things. And you just said the call quest for clarity. The leaders journey and bold expectations, Expedition expedition expedition. I’m sorry, I can’t remember the bold expedition in what a boat expedition on like, you know, and, and you shared the story with me. And you know, you know, you have a family, and like, you know, this wonderful corporate umbrella that you fall under, and like to rip that off and like jump in, like entrepreneurship is not easy. I mean, that was a big leap of faith for you to take that.

 

Nicole Donnelly  15:52

Yeah, I mean, I have a just a question around that is, what were the small I guess, self, it’s you went through this real self discovery, right, like, and I think a lot of people experience maybe similar flashpoints that you do but maybe aren’t ready or don’t know. So like, what would you advise to people who are like maybe feeling some of that same at the same point of burnout that you were, and are really like trying to self discover, but maybe might be feeling confused? Or not sure. Like, what would you like, what did you do? And what would you advise them to say, like, here’s what, what I did to help help me get to the point where I could make that bold move, here are the things that I intentionally did to get me there.

 

Tony Martignetti  16:29

Yeah. And I think the starting point, I love the question, because I think there’s a sense of like, people hear the story. And they say, like, do I have to do that, too? Do I have to, you know, walk out of the room? And, you know, kind of like, give the middle finger to the rest of the people in the room? No, no, it’s like, I actually don’t advise that. Not the middle finger. But I think it’s once you have that moment, in your mind, there’s, you know, this curiosity is the starting point, you start to curiosity as an internal move, and you start saying, like, why am I feeling this way? Why am I having this constant struggle with my, with who I am and the world around me? And what has to change for things to get better? So once you have that moment, then pause and start to think, okay, how can I get expansive and think differently about what’s possible? And who can I talk to, who are the people around me who I can have a conversation with, it might be that I just simply need to change the way I look at my current role, and have a, what I call a moment of courage around the conversations that I need to have in the workplace. And that could change everything. Right. Or it could be that you need to start planting seeds around the future of where you’re want to go. And that could be like the little things that you do on the side that start planting seeds for future endeavors. It doesn’t have to be you know, throw it all away and move and move on. The one thing that really happens when people start to do those bold moves is they could do something that they might regret.

 

Nicole Donnelly  18:09

Yeah. You know, what I love? You said, you said, to be curious to spend some time with yourself and be curious, I think that’s so smart, because it’s gonna be a different journey for everyone. And you have to self discover it. So I think that’s really inspiring, like, be curious about what you’re feeling, what you’re thinking, and act on what you’re like, kind of like coach yourself through it almost.

 

Tony Martignetti  18:30

Yeah. And I’ll just kind of riff on that for a moment to say, first of all, my tagline from a business, which is you don’t really share it too broadly. But the idea is that inspiration through honest conversation, and the first honest conversation you have with yourself, if you’re not being honest, and having those conversations that need to be had around, like, what do I really want to experience in life? What am I what do I define as success? And not? What does the society discuss? You know, say that success should look like? Those things have to be explored. And not just once, but many times. So when you have that honest conversation, it allows you to kind of get clarity around, okay, the things I’m doing are not really aligned with that and what are some steps I can take to make that more aligned my whole journey once I left that boardroom was all about like, now what? I had to figure out things that I was not really being honest with myself. Right?

 

Curt Anderson  19:32

What Alright, so Tony, I want to jump into this real quick and Hey, guys, and again, we got a couple of great comments here. So Daniel, thank you for stopping by our dear friend Darcy. Sending love self reflection is a new superpower. I want 20 I’m gonna hit this you dropped a great I think I think you just dropped it today. And it was our I went so we’ve talked to a lot of men. You know, we’re preaching to a lot of manufacturers solopreneurs solo marketers out there. And so again, like you know, being bold courageous having these honest conversations, Nicole and I are just we’ve been just chomping at the bit all week to talk to you about you put out an article about conflict. But I wanted to hit you, you had a great article, are your people being pulled by a rope or pushed by a sail? And you’d put you had like, three points, man. And I just can we can we hit that article? Right now? I just I thought that was a such a powerful piece that you put out?

 

Tony Martignetti  20:24

Yeah, I mean, I think it’s important that, you know, there we have this, this, these two different types of motivation that are out there, extrinsic versus intrinsic. And what we want to do is really tap into, you know, how are how are we really connecting with people? And how do we ensure that we’re understanding what people want. And we want to tap into the things that that are going to move them in the direction of, of wanting to, to, you know, be there and to connect with the things that are most internally motivating, not just saying, Okay, well, here’s more money, here’s, here’s the thing that’s going to drive you to that next place. So I think it’s so important to, to get clear about what it is that people want. And it starts with that deeper connection. We have to connect with our people get to know them understand their needs and desires. And it doesn’t take a lot of work. It just takes a little bit of slowing down and getting clear.

 

Curt Anderson  21:20

Yeah, I love that. And you have you talked about what the intrinsic and extrinsic my magazine that you know, like the personal values, the you know, compared to the rewards in in that article and guys, if you check out Tony’s go to Tony’s LinkedIn profile, and you’ll just you’ll see that post to great article he just put out today in your, in your talking about the balance with you know, the rewards, you know, obviously we need compensation or what have you was personal values. And along those lines, Nicole, I know you’re chomping at one bit, dig right into like, you have some great questions you want to have. Hey, real quick. We’ve got Diane buyer here today, Diane, happy Friday, Happy St. Patrick’s Day, my friend. So thank you, not being I want to read that real quick. Not being honest with self is not standing within your own authenticity. Thank you for dropping that comment. Thank you for joining us the call conflict resolution. Let’s go oh my gosh, this is for Tony today.

 

Nicole Donnelly  22:13

I haven’t so excited about this. This Tony. This is like I love I’m like so passionate about all things leadership culture, like huge fan. I don’t care about this book by Daniel Coyle, the culture. Yeah, like, it’s like one of my favorites. But, you know, I just have questions for you about conflict. I saw your post earlier this week about how conflict is really an essential part of strong cultures. And I, you know, I think it’s just part of business. And I think there’s maybe the stigma that if you’re, you know, if you disagree with someone that somehow that’s like a bad thing, or it’s a negative thing, but I would just i My question is is like how can you identify and become aware of conflict? That is like the good kind of like productive tasks, project oriented type conflict, versus the conflict that’s maybe more personal relational? Like, what would you advise? Like, how do you know the difference? How do you know whether the conflict you’re having is healthy versus not healthy? That’s my first question for you.

 

Tony Martignetti  23:08

It’s a great question. And I think part of this is it comes down to how how it’s directed, there’s a sense of like, healthy conscious conflict is usually separated from people and it’s more directed at the problem you’re trying to solve. I often when I’m coaching people laugh and say, you know, you separate the people from the problem, and you focus on the problem. It’s like there’s a, when you’re in conflict about solving an issue, then what happens is, it’s not about like, hey, you know, I disagree with you, I think you’re wrong. It’s more about, hey, I, this idea you have is I like it, but here’s what I’m seeing about this particular problem we’re trying to solve, that could be different. And it’s like building on that there’s a separation in the way the language is being used is that it’s, it’s approaching the problem, not the person. And that separation is so important. That

 

Nicole Donnelly  24:03

is awesome.

 

Curt Anderson  24:04

That struck the mic moment number two, right there, at least number two, Tony, there might have been more, but I’m gonna I’m on record saying John bugling. Oh, that’s at least number two. Right there. So Nicole, keep it going? I just totally Yeah.

 

Nicole Donnelly  24:15

Well, what would you like, as leaders? What are some things that you would advise? Like, how can you model healthy conflict to team members? Because I think it’s important for team members to see that conflict so that they know it, normalize it, but see it in a good way. Well, what do you recommend there?

 

Tony Martignetti  24:33

Yeah, I mean, first of all, you can catalyze it by just asking them to think, what are some other ways of looking at this and saying, you know, there’s an old model from Edward de Bono called the thinking hats, which is really literally asking people to take on a different hat of what’s another way that what’s a way that a certain other viewpoint would approach this problem. And using that thinking model helps you to say this is not just a one and done We’re not just done with just looking at the problem from one angle. But if we take another hat and put it on who wants to, to challenge this idea from that angle, it’s literally asking people to insert an opinion on on something. Because if they’re feeling too comfortable or too afraid to say that, then it gives them the license to do so.

 

Nicole Donnelly  25:24

I love that, that that the thinking hat is super, a super way to think and it shows a lot of empathy. It teaches the team empathy, like let’s look at this from this other perspective. Let’s get out of our own heads. And let’s see, you know, that’s cool. This is awesome, Kurt, thanks for having me. co host the show I seriously, and I’m in right now, this is amazing.

 

Curt Anderson  25:48

You know, I won’t I won’t you know, with Damon, I won’t bring up the Lou Gehrig’s story. So Tony, you know, I’m just teasing, teasing demon, tz Knight and Wally PIPP. You know, if you’re a baseball fan, you know that story. But he had a great chat going on here. I see Danica is here today. So Danica, thank you for joining us here. And so you know, be honest with yourself Darcy’s dropping comments. So, again, guys connect with Tony on LinkedIn, check out his website. Yeah, absolutely want to buy his book? Tony, let’s keep it going. Okay, so like, you know, you have a lot of corporate experience for dealing with small family businesses, boy. So, Nicole, how about this one? Nicole? Is there? Is there emotion that goes on in family? I’d like I don’t know. Is that my is that a bad question? I’m just sharing with, you know, different generations. Tony, maybe siblings Mom and Dad, Dad and son. Yeah. So let’s let’s go there. When you’re working with a small intimate family operation, you know, 3040 person manufacturing? And there is there? It’s not if there’s gonna be conflict, there is unfortunately conflict. How, like any suggestions, I mean, kind of broad, but any suggestions, advice on how that small environment and especially like, when there’s, you know, families involved? How do you How would you?

 

Tony Martignetti  27:04

Well, I love this, because first of all, I’m not sure if I if I mentioned this to you, but I actually am part of a family business as well. Like, my father started a business many years ago, and he passed away my both my mother and father passed away. And my brother sister and I managed a little small business together. This is my side gig. So I’m intimately aware of the challenges that go along with that. So talk about compensation. Right, it’s everywhere. Well, I mean, I think that the key thing is you have to first of all, remember that there’s trust, first, you have to start with trust, and have that sense of like, we’re here for a reason, we’re here to, to, to accomplish something big together. And we have to remember that we’re family first, right? Family First, business second, and the business cannot be in conflict with our family relationship. And, and that’s easier said than done. But you start with that sense of trust, once you have that foundation, I come back to oftentimes, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team from Patrick Lencioni, which is like trust is the bottom of the pyramid, if you don’t get that started, then you’re not gonna get anywhere further than that. You have to have that first. But then you have to realize that, you know, we can’t always agree, otherwise, we’re not going to get the best ideas to the table. So we have to be able to disagree in a healthy manner, and have a very clear idea as to who’s accountable to what. So those are things that are important in a family business, if you just feel like oh, I’ll just, I’ll expect someone else is going to cover that, then then that’s not going to work, what happens is, nobody owns it. So then you have this kind of like falling down of the of the whole business, it starts crumbling, because people don’t own it. So you need to be very clear about the roles defining the roles of who’s doing what, and hold people accountable to those roles. And that’s the business part of it. And so the conflict is important, and it’s got to be healthy. Trust is even more important. And then the roles and all of that is wrapped up in a very huge container of communication, which I don’t think that any business can run wild without good communication. I’d rather over communication than under Communication any day. Right? Yeah.

 

Nicole Donnelly  29:37

So I love what you said about trust because if you have a place of safety, if you start with trees, trust and safety, like you mentioned, then then conflict will come because people feel safe to share and disagree. You know, so and it’s not going to be this taboo thing because you have that layer of safety below you that’s the you know that no matter what happens that this your team’s got You’re back and they’re not going to abandon you or, you know, whatever the case may be.

 

Curt Anderson  30:05

Absolutely. Yeah. So let’s let’s slide here. It’s only so again, we talked to a lot of small manufacturers. And so digital transformation is a huge buzz, right? And that fits right in your alley. And so navigating change, Dude, you are the master of helping folks met, navigate change. So let’s think that small family business 2030, employees, whatever, and there needs to be a change, maybe they need a new ERP system, maybe, you know, lead flows not coming in. And so now this whole online marketing thing is new to them. How can help smaller companies, entrepreneurs, navigate change, you know, making these tough, intimidating, overwhelming decisions? And to communicate that? How do you pull that piece together?

 

Tony Martignetti  30:47

Well, I’ll start with this, the big picture and move move down. And I’m going to reference the philosopher Ken Wilber. He uses the idea of transcending and including, so anything that you’re stepping into, you have to include the past and, and that’s really honoring the past. So whenever you’re moving into something new, a digital transformation, or anything, you business, or any reorg that you’re going to be doing, you have to make sure you you look back and say, What are we want to include, as we move forward, that is, makes us who we are, what makes us who we are, there’s a through line of any business that has to stay somewhat the same. Now, knowing that, and honoring that as is going to be brought into this new world, in say, the digital transformation, you’re going to be basically thinking about how can we include that part that makes us us into that new platform. But we have to also make sure that we as we bring new people in and the people who have been there for a longer period of time, that we have these conversations that come together and say, how you know, what have you learned? And what are you bringing? What What can I unlearn as I move into this new part of the digital world, if you will?

 

Curt Anderson  32:08

Okay, that’s, you know, what, I don’t know if I’ve ever done this ever. In the show. I’m actually putting a comment, and I took the comment, and I honor the past. I like that’s that. All right, Nicole. Tony, we also have these things called moments of silence. moments of silence, it’s just it’s just a it’s just a like, dude, like, just dropping like major bombs here. Honor the past. You know, it doesn’t need to, like we don’t need a mock the pet like and I think that’s very common, Nicole, especially like, we come in. And it’s very typical, it’s very easy, you know, and forgive me on this word you don’t like kind of mock of like, oh, this is how we’ve done it, or this is how we’ve always done it. And it’s in I love what you’re saying. Because what that does 20s that disrespects the past, and it disrespects how we built this wonderful company. Right? I mean, is that

 

Tony Martignetti  32:59

exactly. And also keeping in mind that there’s people who, who are connected to that past? Yep, that if you start saying like, Oh, we gotta, we gotta change what we’re doing things like that old way sucks, or, you know, pardon my language. But that old way really didn’t work. And now we’ve got to do something new. And then you bring a new talent. And then they have this new mentality, but they don’t honor that pass. What happens is you have like, the new and the old. And there’s, that’s why there’s gotta be a bridge. And that’s why the story has to be how do we connect the new to the old? So the both the new and the old can see that we coexist, right?

 

Nicole Donnelly  33:37

That is so relevant. I have to I mean, we help clients go through digital transformation every day. And I have to tell you, this is incredibly insightful, because we struggle a lot with getting some you know, I struggle sometimes with my clients, because I’m such a change person. I’m like, Come on, let’s move forward. You know, let’s, let’s just bite the bullet and do it. And everything you’re saying is just like a little slice of humble pie. Like, I got a lot to learn

 

Curt Anderson  34:05

here. Yeah. Let’s flip the script real quick, unlike the khaolak, like, say, Okay, so like, we need to be mindful and respectful of the past 20 Let me just flip it. I hope I apologize if I interrupt, you know, just real quick. So for the company that is kind of like just set in their ways. This is how we’ve always done it as we’re always, you know, like, so let me take it the other extreme, right, the person that really does need to change, okay, yeah. How do you kind of like how do you tactfully light the fire under that person? We’re like, you know, dude, like, the ship is sinking, man. Like, we don’t do something now. Like, we’ve got to build a wide around. How do you How do you tackle that?

 

Tony Martignetti  34:43

Yeah, with any change effort. There’s really it’s important to get some early, a team together of people who are able to see that there’s, there’s a need to move forward. And when you start to kind of build a team of early adopters, if you will, for lack of a better term. And are people who are willing to be the face of that movement, then they can help to influence and create the reasons for moving forward. If you are like one person who’s trying to drive a change, and you just say, Hey, I’m on it, and I’m going to do this thing, and I’m going to be the hero of the day, nothing good comes from that. Because it’s like you carry the burden. And it really is about, you know, being creating a movement. Any changes is really done by a group of people, not by one person. So if you can get a movement going, then what happens is you can make a better case for that one person who’s maybe a laggard, who can then be seeing like, Okay, I think the writing’s on the wall, there seems to be a lot of people who are aligned with this change, and I can see the reasons why we will move in this direction. And if there’s any reason why they can see to stay in this current environment, they need to voice it. Otherwise, there’s going to be a consensus to move in this direction.

 

Curt Anderson  36:07

I absolutely love that. So I hey, we’ve got gal shopping a great you know, connecting the new and old very valuable, just as important to learn from veterans on the shop floor as manufacturing wisdom is so valuable. So guess what? Happy St. Patrick’s Day gal. So my daughter’s a redhead? She’s I’m like, Hey, do you know one of her friends was like, hey, you need to wear green today. She’s like, I’m a redhead. I don’t need to wear green. That was her answer. The goal? I think you had a you had a great question around a quote. Did you have a question?

 

Nicole Donnelly  36:37

I do. Yes. I did have a chance to read the first chapter of the book that you co authored with Alex and Brookman. Right. And there’s a quote in the book that says when a team is Battle Ready, they have foundation of trust and safety, they know each other’s blind spots, and are ready to face whatever happens next. Yeah, so I would just love to hear from your perspective, you’ve worked with a lot of leaders and you know, a lot of successful, you know, you know, C suite executives, what have you, what do you teach those leaders? How can they what, how can they create a place of safety and trust? We’ve talked a lot about that today, but like, what are some what can they be doing to be battle ready and build that like safety and trust with their teams?

 

Tony Martignetti  37:23

Yeah, I mean, one of the biggest parts of this, and thank you so much for bringing that up. Because Battle Ready actually has, like, there’s a lot behind it. But there’s a sense of like, creating the, the elements of knowing that there’s, there’s no, they’re not gonna have all the answers to everything they face. But it’s about creating this, this sense of, of how can we have all the tools in place so that when the next challenges we face, we’re ready to face it, because we’re being proactive and preparing? Were building resilience along the way. And we have the sense of humility as an advantage. There’s a sense of building humility, knowing that having the answers is not what we’re after we’re we’re ability, we have this ability to adjust course, as we move forward. So being Battle Ready is just that it’s really kind of connecting to the sense of, of a different mindset to approaching problems as they as you face them there. It’s not about always having the answers. It’s about slowing things down and saying, How can I look at this problem from a different vantage point to ensure that I’m not going to be flat footed when it when it does show up?

 

Nicole Donnelly  38:35

I love that. And I as I’m thinking about that, I see like leveraging your team to help you build that, right, like so getting them involved in that whole process so that they’re building the resilience with you. They’re giving you feedback, they’re proactively helping you come up with a solution so that they’re like invested in the outcome.

 

Tony Martignetti  38:53

Yes, exactly. Exactly. I mean, one of the examples that I use is like, you know, I’ve worked with a lot of biotech companies. And you know, you have setbacks all the time. But you know, you have good information in, let’s say, a clinical trial failure, that the first thing comes to mind is like, Okay, now what, how do you react to it, you have to have a plan in place that allows you to say, how are we going to deal with this failure? How are we going to deal with this setback? If you’re not preparing yourself in advance to be able to bounce back from a setback? Then the whole team starts looking to you and saying, now what, what did you know? You have to be able to have a plan in place? How am I going to deal with setbacks and uncertainty, so that I can move forward from here from a place of humility?

 

Nicole Donnelly  39:38

Oh, so I have to ask, just have a follow up question about that. How do you create that or fossa with your team so that they don’t feel afraid or uncertain, right? Because a lot of times, it’s as a leader, I feel like I’ve got to make sure that I’m steering the ship and protecting the team not protecting them, but like, I don’t want them to feel like they’re in an unsafe place. You know what I mean? That there’s so how do you foster that with them so that they don’t feel like they’re taking on this huge burden? I don’t know. I don’t know if that’s the case. Yeah, I think what you’re seeing on your coaching cat

 

Tony Martignetti  40:15

I understand correctly. And I’ll try and speak to it as best I can. But I think there’s a sense of this is where it’s a balancing act. With everything. It’s all about how you balance the sense of, you know, not knowing and knowing. And when you walk in, and you share information with your team, you want to be able to kind of give them a sense of like, yeah, you know, there’s a lot of things we don’t know at this moment. But we know that we’re going to figure this out, we’re going to, we’re going to put a plan in place, and we’re going to do it together. It’s not about saying, like, Oh, crap, now what? And being like, you know, feeble minded in the moment with your team, it’s about showing up with a sense of like, okay, things have happened. We don’t have a clear plan yet, but we’re making it and I could use your help to be part of this. So we can move forward here. That’s, that’s confidence. But it’s also a sense of have confidence in them in the face of vulnerability.

 

Nicole Donnelly  41:14

I love it. And it’s empowering to the team to it’s building them to be leaders. So cool.

 

Curt Anderson  41:21

Let’s grab a couple of comments here. So Gail dropped another great one. I had a boss who told me never, never wanted to hear this is how we’ve always done it, you know, best mentor ever curious minds. And she she’s the rate there, Tony, Chief curiosity officer. And Gail, you and Tony absolutely need a crack, you guys would just totally hit it off. Here’s our dear friend, Diane Battle Ready, second base play second face, and can anticipate movements of their teammates under any circumstance, thrilling the team? And we’ve got another comment here, just all these hearts. So Mahan, thank you, guys. Thank you, everybody for joining us, Tony, I’m going to slide in. So a couple things, guys, again, please do yourself a favor, you can if you’re just getting a little taste of just the brilliance just the passion, wisdom of Tony, and you want to connect with Tony on LinkedIn, I dropped his website in the chat. He has a great book is called climbing the right mountain Antonio want to slide into your book. And you also have a great podcast, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention your podcast is virtual campfire, the virtual campfire podcast. Again, you can go to your website, I dropped into chat, and you can find Tony’s Tony’s podcast. But 20 on your book climbing the right mountain, you talk about what you want, who you want to be and how to get there. So let’s we’ve been talking a lot about leadership and conflict management and conflict resolution, those types of things. Let’s dig into like you. Let’s go back, we’re gonna go full circle, and I want to be mindful of your time as well. Let’s go full circle. So for the individual out there, okay, maybe Kurt, maybe like COVID through them a change, life change, displaced in work, maybe it was planned, unplanned, whatever it might be, but they they, they have a burning desire to make a change in their life. Okay. Just shared, like, let’s go there for a little bit. You’re coaching that person. How do you tackle that conversation? How do you kind of get them fired up and inspired, thus, the name your of your whole? Your whole Mo? is around inspiration? How do you get that person inspired to make that big leap of faith change in life?

 

Tony Martignetti  43:19

Yeah, I mean, first of all, I love this question. And I’m going to kind of play with it in a different way. I’m going to say that. I like to play with different terminology. I’m a medical ologists, if you will. I’m a time traveling. Anthropologist is what I sometimes say. Because there’s a sense of digging into people and saying, Okay, well, if you were to play with time, for a moment in your life, like you got into this place that you’re in right now, for a reason, there was some things that you liked about the work you’re doing. And I want you to kind of go back in time and look at like, what was the thing that led you here? And what are the things that the values that you connected to, that had you here? So go in your paths, and find out where what led you here? And then thinking about the future? Don’t go, you know, let’s kind of fast forward into the future and say, like, who is it that you see yourself? Being? It’s not about you know, attaching to any particular job, but how do you want to feel? What do you want to show up as? And think about those qualities, it’s like the whole adage of like, if you want to be a marathon runner, you have to actually think like, what are the qualities of being a marathon runner? I love that, that that vision, that vision that you set, when you kind of create this persona for yourself to say, I am that person already. And when you have that connection of who that is, then you can start making actions in the present that are aligned with that, but I went a little fast For us here, because what I want you to to realize is those are the things that I want that person to do. But before we really move into this space of doing this time traveling, I want them to first identify, you know, what hasn’t currently feeling like they’re not in the space of feeling connected to their work. So that’s the first thing I would really have them thinking. But time traveling is the most important step you can take in any coaching endeavors to really have them play with time. Because if they’re just staying in this current moment, not a lot, not a lot is going to happen.

 

Curt Anderson  45:35

Yeah, and thus name your business. You know, you’re all about purpose and being fulfilled. How do you help somebody if like, say, third man, they’re just really struggling? How do you help somebody uncover that purpose?

 

Tony Martignetti  45:46

Yeah, I mean, one of the things is that purpose is like something that can change over time. By the way, people often think it’s a fixed thing, but it’s not. Purpose can can take on different shapes and forms. There was something I read recently of how the North Star People often think of like your purpose as your North Star, but in reality, the North Star is actually moving. So go look that up. Technically, it’s moving. So just like our Northstar, sometimes move, it may move a little bit. So to find your purpose, the key thing is to look for those clues that keep on showing up in your life. They’re repeated, little clues that show up I often say the inspiration. And an inspiration is is there clues as to what your soul’s purpose is? And I know, I’m probably losing a whole bunch of people right now. Because if we’re thinking, like, I didn’t know, I just stepped into this, like, you know,

 

Curt Anderson  46:41

that was a that was a please say that again.

 

Tony Martignetti  46:45

raishin are the clues to your soul’s purpose?

 

Curt Anderson  46:49

And let’s like, let’s just take a moment of silence that I don’t think you’d lost. Anybody do that was a total drop the mic right there clues?

 

Tony Martignetti  46:58

Yeah. So think about that for a second here. Like as you go through your days, and this is something that I do a lot with people to kind of say, when you look at the week ahead, what what are the things that you’ve planned in your calendar that are exciting for you, that you’re that lighting you up, you got to intentionally plan for inspiration, it’s inspiration by design. But also inspiration shows up serendipitously too. So if you, if you model your life that says look, I’m just going to rinse, wash, repeat, everything’s going to be exactly the same, and I not leaving any space open, for things to show up that might, you know, create something different, then that’s going to be hard, because your life is gonna continue to be the same. And you might get into a malaise, potentially burnout. But if you leave the aperture open a little bit more and you create space for inspiration. Those are going to be opportunities for you to connect to your purpose. Maybe it’s going to an open mic night and you know, seeing like, hey, what happens they get on stage and like seeing and I find that my that’s what I meant to be doing. Who knows?

 

Curt Anderson  48:10

Okay, guys, Tony is when he has companies inspired purpose coaching, he has a podcast, he has a book, you absolutely want to connect with Tony here, Tony, we’re going to start winding down. I want to be respectful of your time as we’re coming in the bottom of the hour. So as we find out you are a music music junkie. Okay, so I have a couple of questions left for you real quick. And Nicole, please. I’m going to ask one and then we’ll see if Nicole what you have left here. Tony just client calls you up. And Tony, you changed my life. This was just a home run. God bless you. Thank you for everything that you did. You sit back you hang up the phone, you’re like, Hey, man, I’m going to celebrate with a little music. What song? What song is going on? What song is going on as you’re celebrating a win in your life?

 

Tony Martignetti  48:57

That’s a great question. I love it. It’s a fantastic question. And it was funny because I was just recently I was thinking about this. This song this morning. I don’t know why. But I love Grand Funk Railroad. Nice song. I’m your captain.

 

Curt Anderson  49:11

I’m your captain. That’s it. Yes. I don’t even know the song. She’s too young. I am your

 

Nicole Donnelly  49:18

captain. Okay. Yeah,

 

Tony Martignetti  49:20

it’s one of those it’s one of those great songs because it’s like a song within a song. You know? It’s like two songs and wrapped in one and it’s just a great song.

 

Curt Anderson  49:28

Okay, drop them like brand. That is I love that song. If you guys don’t know it, Google it. Look it up. If you’re over a certain age you’re probably not familiar with it. But it is a that is a classic i that. I never saw that one coming. Because I know you had any other questions before we wind down.

 

Nicole Donnelly  49:47

I feel like my questions are too deep for this. This part of the conversation I’m bringing on question for you because I know you coach a lot. What are some common struggles or two challenges that you see across the board that leaders are dealing with that you’re just like, Man, I just am hearing this over and over again. And it just like, kind of like a common refrain? And how do you like advise that, like, what’s your, uh, you know, how do you deal with those

 

Tony Martignetti  50:15

challenges? Yeah, I mean, two things for sure that I hear, like, repeatedly. And I’ll start with the one that I think everyone is struggling with is a sense of like, time management is like an ongoing battle. And, you know, how do I create space and things that are most important? And I think it’s like, it’s not time management, it’s priority management and knowing that you can’t do it all. We’re humans. For Christ’s sakes, we have to be mindful of the fact that we can’t get everything done. But we have to figure out what’s most important in this moment? And how do we make plans to make that happen? So time management is one of the things that I spent a lot of time dealing with, on that front. And the other one is around, you know, really creating this, this connection with giving feedback and with really good feedback to their employees. There’s been a lot of difficult conversations over the past few years, especially with people coming in and saying, you know, I’m looking for the next move, or I’m looking to do this, and how do you have a civil conversations. And I think the first thing that I often hear people say is that they there, there’s this anxiousness to please, they care about their people, we have to slow down and say, We’re not here to please our people, we’re here to serve them. And sometimes, it’s about making sure that they’re in the right roles, or even in the right company. And some of the most, you know, the best things we can do for them is to let them go. And I don’t mean that to be insensitive. I’m just saying that like, sometimes like dragging something, someone through a process of trying to get them to stick around for the sake of like them having a job. It might be even better for them to be able to say, look, this is not a fit. And you know, I really want to be able to serve you well, by helping you to see a better fit outs is maybe someplace out there.

 

Nicole Donnelly  52:05

That’s so good. Wow. Two things I wanted to say. Like,

 

Curt Anderson  52:09

a couple of comments are no call real quick. I gotta I gotta share this before. This is so thank you, Val. This is all good. And I agree. Multiple Mic drop. And so i i We didn’t need to save her that for a minute. And number. Let’s see, I thought I saw another priority management. Yeah, do Tony like Oh, my God, I had such high expectations. Like, I just want to recall, please come in with your question. But no, no, we serve over please. I mean, that that, Tony, like that you’ve made things like it’s so simple. But it’s like, it’s not easy. You know what I mean? Is that makes sense? Like you you’re the way you’re describing things, it’s really simple. But it’s not always easy, because we want to be a pleaser. But it’s like serving Nicole, please, what questions do you have there?

 

Nicole Donnelly  52:56

I was just gonna say, I love that you address the time management problem with grace, like accepting and acknowledging that you can’t do it all. Because I think I that is something personally I struggle with, Oh, I feel like I’ve got to do it all will release yourself of that burden, and just accept, you can’t do it all. And that is freeing. It’s so freeing to hear that. And then another thing I just was gonna, oh, I lost my train of thought on it. It was about your second point about employees, and making sure they’re in the right role, but I forgot what it was.

 

Curt Anderson  53:28

Service others as part of foundation, and gal again, says I agree letting somebody go, you know, and I, you know what I had to say, I found that out the hard way. It’s like, sometimes, you know, it’s like, you know, a career or a job can be it’s like a bad relationship. And like, you know, we feel like, well, a relationship is better than no relationship. A job is better than no job. And unfortunately, we stay in nobody’s winning at that situation. So as we start winding down, 20, I’m going to ask you another I have one last question to COVID. Anything else? So guys, please do yourself a favor. Just subscribe to Tony’s podcast. You just got a little sliver today. And just all the wisdom, the brilliance, the inspiration at Tony drops, and like what you just saw this past hour. Like, if you meet Tony in person. This is Tony Tony is one of the most authentic, genuine kind, dude, I just I love your brother and you’re just such a great person. I just feel so blessed that I’ve crossed paths with you. But his business is inspired purpose coaching. You absolutely want to check out his website. I dropped it probably 100 comments ago, so you want to make sure check out his website. But Tony, you’re all about inspiration. You’re all about helping people fulfill my question, dude, you climbed Kilimanjaro last year. Who are what is your inspiration that’s driving you and your success? Who are what is your inspiration today moving forward for 2023? Who are what is your inspiration?

 

Tony Martignetti  54:53

Oh my gosh. My inspiration really comes from this this desire for deeper connection. In the in the world, and I don’t mean to be so like, you know, out there, but the reality is that, like, I am inspired by conversations in real life that are being had. And I feel like it’s been missing a lot in my life because of the pandemic. And so every time I have a conversation in person, I feel like this sense of spark that, like, this is what it’s like to be in connection, and not just like the Hi, how are your conversations, but these conversations that go deeper to understand people on another level. So that’s what’s inspiring me. And one of the things that’s both inspiring and freaking me out, is that I’m actually getting on stage this summer to give a TED talk about deeper connection. So

 

Nicole Donnelly  55:48

yeah, it’s amazing. Congratulations, you’re gonna do an amazing I like literally you just brought tears to my eyes and gave me the goosebumps. Amazing. I want to be in that audience. That’s amazing.

 

Curt Anderson  56:03

You’re gonna pony versus was a TED Talk? Couldn’t be can you share? It’s going

 

Tony Martignetti  56:06

to be in in Texas and just outside of Fort Worth. Nice.

 

Curt Anderson  56:12

Okay, so, Nicole, any parting before we let Tony go? Any parting thoughts, questions, comments that you want to share? I

 

Nicole Donnelly  56:19

can’t follow that up with anything. Just that I think that your inspiration for connection is absolutely can echo that that’s so needed in the world today. I think COVID only made it worse. And people are just desperate for it. And I think that what you’re doing is just so amazing. And so inspiring. There’s so many people that will benefit from the gift of Tony,

 

Curt Anderson  56:39

the gift of Tony. So, guys, if you’ve been first off, I want to thank everybody out there today. Thank you for your comments. I know how busy everybody is. And it just such an honor blessing for us that you spend your time with us. If you’ve been sitting down kind of like just enjoying maybe had lunch or whatever you had going on if it’s good time to stand up and stretch. And if you’re going to stand up, I invite you encourage you. How about let’s give a standing ovation to our wonderful, amazing beloved guest here Tony Martin natty and again, guys, check out Tony, check out his website, connect with him on LinkedIn. Diane says, Hey, congrats on your TED talk, my friend, Tony. Thank you, Brother, I appreciate you more than you know you’re in and I’m gonna, I can’t let you go. Like I just I can’t even get this thing to edge. But I’m 54 years old. And Tony said something to me that literally kind of changed my life. And this is he was like, You know what I’m trying what I’m working on. It’s I’ve always been if you don’t mind me sharing Tony’s piece. I’m afraid to ask for help. In Tony, you could have knocked me over with a feather because I that is 54 years of me of like in that has been a total change. And so not like I’m trying to learn like, you know what, I can’t do this whole journey alone. And so that’s I’ve been blessed and partner with Nicole and just, you know, all sorts of amazing people in the chat here. And other friends in the group that you and I belong to. And so just what a blessing you are thank you for the positivity. Thank you for the inspiration thinking how you’re just really truly changing lives. I mean that from the bottom of my heart. So guys go out have an amazing, incredible, phenomenal St. Patrick’s Day weekend. Enjoy March Madness, just boy Luck of the Irish is here today with us and Tony. And so 20 hang out with us for one second. We’re going to wrap up the call. We’re gonna chat with you for a second but guys, God bless you have a great weekend and we’ll see you on Monday. Bye everyone. Bye