Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy): A Fireside Chat with Garry Ridge

So let's give a warm welcome to the chairman, uh, former. CEO of. WD 40, also founder of the. Learning. Moment. We are joined by. Gary. Ridge. Gary, thank you so much for being here. Lemme stop sharing. It's great to see you again. And yeah, thanks for taking some time with our network. Yeah, great. Good to be with you. It's always fun to be with people who really do value the power of leadership, so it's great to be with you. Thanks for inviting me along. Well, part of today is also the announcement and the celebration of your new book, which we're actually gonna be raffling off 50 copies to our network this, uh, during this program. Um, yeah, could you just start with that? Tell us a little bit about your new book. Yeah, thanks. Zach. So, uh, my new book, which has been out a couple of weeks now, and very happy to say it was number 10 on the bestseller list in. USA today. And it's not because. I wanna sell a lot of books, but. I think the message is really strong. And the whole principle behind the book was, I believe that businesses and leaders have a big opportunity to make a positive difference in the world. Imagine a place where you go to work every day, you make a contribution to something bigger than yourself, you learn something new, you're protected and set free by a compelling set of values, and you go home happy, happy people, create happy families, happy families, create happy communities, happy communities, create a happy world. And. I don't think. I get a lot of argument right now that a little happier world would be okay. So the book is really, you know, my 25 years of scar tissue and learning moments around how great cultures are developed over time. And there are three kind of main themes that. I touch on, is that culture is the ultimate, uh, competitive advantage. A thriving workplace isn't just a nice place to have, it's actually a strategic asset. Um, servant leadership is the key to longevity, uh, true leadership, isn't it about being the smartest person in the room. It's about creating conditions where others can thrive. And that's why. I now call myself the dean of dumb aery because dumb aery is actually your superpower. And then finally, success is simple, but it's not easy. The principles of great leadership and business success aren't complicated, but they require discipline and they require, um, con consistency in their execution. So, um, that's, that's kind of the, the starting point of, uh, of how we jumped off and, uh, why any dumb ass can do it was, uh, um, put together and hopefully will help people build great cultures. I love it. I love the title. Obviously it helps kind of maybe, uh, level set us a little bit and oh, sorry, um, level set us a little bit on, on really leadership and what it's all about. And. I think you're really right how leadership isn't completely rocket science. Um, what are some of the common ways you've seen like leaders over complicated today? Like what, what are some of the pitfalls that you've seen? Well, let's go down to sort of couple of basic or three basic principles to think about. Firstly, building great cultures with le in leadership is about creating a, an atmosphere where people actually feel like and are treated like they belong. You know, we all wanna belong. Uh, that's that feeling of connectedness. And the second one is creating a culture and a feeling and actions that show people they matter. So if people know they belong and people know they matter, then um, you know, they're going to feel engaged in what they do. You know, I've, I've said it many times before, pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work. And, you know, that was actually a, a quote by. Aristotle, who that was born in 384 bc. And if we think about, you know, what really culture isn't an organization. It's the shared beliefs, values and behavior that shape how people interact, how they make decisions, and how they, uh, contribute to a common purpose. A great culture fo focuses on belonging, psychological safety, learning and trust, allowing people to thrive doing meaningful work. So all that. I've shared there is reasonably simple when you think about it. And, and in, in real life, those are the things we want. So again, uh, I think that, you know, we can build these great places to work if we know, and, and also if we're not this person, you know, I've introduced this person before, I think, and. I talk about this person in the book, this is. Alec, or it could be. Alice, the sole sucking. CEO of. Fear. Inc. Um, and, and it's behaviors of per leaders like this that actually create toxic cultures in organizations. And if you think, think about the behaviors of someone who is a, well, a toxic leader, um, their ego eats their empathy instead of their empathy, eating their ego. There are micromanager. They want to have their fingers in everything. They think they're corporate royalty. You know, I've spent my life climbing up this corporate ladder, you know, I, I need to have the biggest office in the private parking spot. They love a fear-based culture. They're a master of control. Uh, there are know-all, they have all the answers, even the wrong ones. They don't value learning. Um, they must always be right. They hate feedback and they don't keep their commitments. But if you're in an environment where, you know, servant leadership is practiced, it's a little bit different. Uh, in servant leadership environments, leaders love and involve their people. Leaders are always in servant leadership mode. They're expected to be competent. So they're always learning. They love learning moments. And we talk about learning moments a lot because a learning moment is something that reduces fear. They have a heart of gold, but they also have a backbone deal. Um, they're champions of hope. They know micromanagement isn't scalable, they do what they say they're going to do, and they treasure the gift of feedback. One, I love, I love the obviously the, the symbol that you're able to provide to kind of, uh, kind of demonstrate that too. Um, I'm curious where. I think a lot of times the ego can in the way where we lose the connection to the empathy piece, and that triggers us into more of that micromanagement stuff. Are there certain practices like a leader can do to reconnect with that deeper place, I guess? Yeah, you know, go on. One of the, one of the key elements of building a a real connection with the people you have the privilege to lead is, I would talk about getting rid of the word manager. You know, people don't want to be managed. Imagine it's your first day of work and at a new role, and you walk in and the boss says to you, welcome to fill in the blank organization. I'm here to manage you. Um, you know, you don't feel so good when someone says they're gonna manage you. So. I, in the book, I talk about, uh, uh, really adopting the position of a coach. So let's say we throw the word manager out and we replace it with coach. So what are some of the elements of being a great coach? Well, a great coach is committed to helping the player get an a as. I call it. You know, one of the books that. I wrote with. Ken. Blanchard was called. Helping. People. Win at. Work. And the, um, the byline was, I'm not here to mark your paper, I'm here to help you get an. A. So a great coach knows what an. A looks like. A great coach is brave, and that means they're not gonna protect their own comfort zone at the expense of someone else's growth. So they're gonna be comfortable having those redirection play conversations because the coach and the person they're coaching have agreed what good play looks like. They know the game, so they know what it takes to win. You know, you're not gonna have the coach of a baseball team coaching a soccer team. Um, so they know what the game is. Here's a big one. They don't run onto the field and take the ball. That's micromanagement. And a lot of leaders and managers wanna run onto the field and take the ball. They will run onto the field and advise the player how to play with the ball, but not take the ball. They spend their time on the sideline watching the play. They add value to the player with feedback on how to improve the play. They never, ever, ever go to the podium and take the prize. In other words, take the glory of winning away from the players. And here's one that's really important. They spend such a lot of time in what. I call the stinky locker room, which means that they're getting involved with the team, they're understanding the team. They're not in some hierarch or place that, um, actually, you know, is, is a place of of privilege. They're actually getting what. I call their shoes dirty. So if there are a couple of things that people could do, um, to start building great cultures in the organization and be true leaders, the first one would be relabel yourself. I'm not your manager, I'm your coach. I'm here to help you win. And if all of the players win, the team wins. I, I, I think that's a really important part, and that was even something we talked about yesterday at our. AI at. Work program and how, you know, that's changing obviously a lot of the role of the leader and how they're showing up and, and literally using different language to label these roles, right? And into being more mentorship coach driven roles versus having manager as a part of your job title, like literally changing the job titles on these positions. Uh, so. I, and. I, I'm curious on your point of view, even as a. CEO, you kind of talked about, uh, is staying grounded and you, you've kind of maybe reaffirmed that and you wanna avoid being the sole sucking. CEO that you've talked about on the book. Uh, is there any ways as a. CEO that you can really role model that or reinforce that for leaders across the organizations? Or is it just as simple as you've talked about, right? Like just maintaining that coach mentorship mentality? Well, you know, I think that building great coaches, um, leadership is really important. Remember that a fish rots from the head. So, you know, you really have to, um, model. But. I also talk in the book about the, the four pillars, which. I think are important. And the four pillars are care, candor, accountability, and responsibility and care. And is, is something that is really important. And we, we love and care about our people enough, not only to reward them and applaud them for great work, but as. I said, we're brave enough to help them improve and help them play a better game. Candor is really important. I. I describe it as no lying, no faking, no hiding. I believe most people in organizations don't lie. I believe they fake and they hide. And the reason they fake and hide is because of fear. So another, you know, powerful word or change in in our communication is get rid of the word failure or, and replace it with learning moments. And that's what we did. We said, we don't make mistakes, we have learning moments. And a definition of a learning moment is a positive or negative outcome of any situation that needs to be openly and freely shared to benefit all people. So if we have a, a situation where we have a positive learning moment, we've learned something new, we've had a discovery in the organization, let's amplify that so that others can take advantage of that learning. And if we have a negative learning moment, in other words, you know, we've tried something, it didn't quite work out the way we wanted it to, there's learning in that. So amplify it so others don't have to learn from it. Now there's an interesting story behind that. Uh, WD 40 where. I was for 35 years, you know, and 25 years as. CEO, it was born, the product was born out of learning moments back in 1953. The company was called. Rocket. Chemical. Company based in. San. Diego, California. And it was a, a manufacturer of, uh, product to, mainly to supply the aerospace industries. And at that time, the development of the. Atlas. Space. Rocket was going on, and there was a problem with condensation and corrosion in the umbilical cord of the. Atlas. Space. Rocket. Uh, so they went out to, to the industry and said, Hey, can anyone help us solve this problem? So the chemist, that. Rocket. Chemical. Company got together and started to formulate hopefully solutions and. Formula. One didn't work, and. Formula two didn't work, and. Formula 15 didn't work, and. Formula 25 didn't work and neither did 35, and 39 didn't work either. But. Formula 40 worked, uh, therefore. WD. Water. Display at 40th. Formula was born. So, you know, the, the company was founded basically on 39 learning moments. Now, I'm pretty happy that they didn't give up at 39, because if they did, I wouldn't be talking to you today. And. I'm pretty happy that 39 didn't work. 'cause. I don't think. WD 39 sounds anywhere near as nice as. WD 40. So, you know, candor is so important. And then accountability is so important. And what do we mean by accountability? Are we clear? What do. I expect from you? And what do you expect from me? So in most cases, we let people down because there's not a clear expectation of what we, um, want from each other. And then finally, responsibility. Are we, are we, um, creating an atmosphere where people take responsibility? Now, there is a, a very serious disease that flows through most organizations and and. I have an antidote for it. And the disease is called the na na na na disease, the finger pointing disease. It's not about me, it's about you. It's finger pointing. Finger pointing. So we developed a thing called the. Maniac. Pledge. And the. Maniac. Pledge is a way of assigning people the responsibility and the authority to be able to take responsibility. And. I, let me read it too. 'cause. I think it's very powerful. It says, I am responsible for taking action, asking questions, getting answers, and making decisions. I won't wait for someone to tell me if. I need to know, I am responsible for asking. I have no right to be offended that. I didn't get this sooner. And if. I'm doing something others should know about, I'm responsible for telling them. The third thing in an organization that. I. I'd love people to think about today is something like this statement of responsibility. So do people know and feel like they belong? Do people know and feel like they matter? Are you being a coach, not a manager? And are you treating the na na naar disease, the finger pointing disease with some sort of statement of responsibility? Again, these are simple things when you think about 'em. I was gonna say, yeah, they, I mean, seem, it's almost like one of my favorite quotes is common sense is not always common practice. Right? And, uh, it seems like very common sense, right? Like, we have a responsibility to acknowledge things that we see and we should help people become aware of things. If it's a blind spot within them. Uh, we should have a responsibility to learn and develop and grow. But, uh, yeah, don't want to take the accountability or responsibility if it's, uh, you know, something that a failure comes up, doesn't, that fear of failure, failure that you brought up. And. I often think about, especially. I think. HR leaders and people leaders sometimes feel the wrath of this too, where, um, we might cut out of things too early, right? It's not getting the traction that we thought it would, it, it's, yeah, it's failing the first, second, third time, let's stop. Right? And. I think about, yeah, the foundation of. WD 40 was upon this relentless push through failure over and over again that led to a multi-billion dollar company, right? Like that's incredible. Um, and, and. I'm wondering, and, and this is, I would love to get maybe even to the performance management side of things. 'cause this is a hot topic, obviously in our space with, with hr, but how do we recognize that we're truly growing and we're getting closer to a solution when all we experience is failure for a while? Right? And. I think it's common for us to, to pull out of those because it's so uncomfortable. It doesn't feel like you're actually having any momentum forward on anything. Um, so is there, is there a stress test of when you should pivot or you should change direction? And. I guess that's part of the learning direction or the learning moment is pivoting the strategy so it gets closer to success. But yeah. Can you just talk through that a little bit? At some point we need, obviously to hold people accountable to the results and the things that we're doing, but we also wanna have empathy and grace to embrace failure. So that kind of feels like a tension of like, how do we do that with our talent then, you know? Yeah. And you know, I think that's a great point. And. I think that you, your measurement along the way is, is to be very, very honest of if the steps you are taking and the learning you are having is directionally getting you where you want to go. Now, you know, I think that one of the things we've gotta be aware of in any sort of development or any change activity is in a lot of cases we go out to sell a program, we go out to sell a change, and selling the change doesn't necessarily get adoption of the change. There are two thinking parts before people adopt something. They're going, you go out with a new, uh, change in the organization or a program. And the first thing that comes into people's mind is information concerns. What don't. I know about what this is trying to do? And the second one, which is very powerful, is personal concerns. What don't. I know about how this is gonna personally impact me in a maybe negative or positive way? So. I think great change efforts and great movements forward towards a, an a desired outcome are amplified if we've taken the time to, um, really ensure that people's information concerns and their personal concerns have at least been addressed. And. Brene. Brown has a beautiful statement. She says, in the absence of facts and data, people make up stories and those stories become their truth. So remember, if, you know we're going out to do something and we've left information gaps, someone's filling that gap. Yeah. And they're probably filling it with a story that is far from the truth or far from what you want to, uh, communicate. Yeah. It's kind of like whatever they believe, regardless if it's true or not, it is true, right? Like for them at least. So we need to be able to understand people's truths, their worldviews, their perspectives on, on these things, and, and utilize that as a part of a, a change strategy where. Yeah, I, I totally see what you're saying. Where we kind of work in our bunker, we design this change strategy, this new solution, this thing that we're trying to bring, you know, this program, and then we try to implement it and we're caught with resistance and barriers and, uh, like a buy-in and engagement on these things. We're wondering why. And so often it's like, co-creation needs to be part of the process, right? The listening that you're doing. Absolutely. Yeah. And again, you know, go back to the point that great leadership is not about how great you are. Great leadership is about how good are you at unleashing the brilliance of others? And that's why dumb mastery is your superpower. Um, if you are the smartest person in the room, you're in the wrong room. So our job as leaders is to create this psychological safety, this pla place of, of safety where people feel comfortable, um, being able to, um, you know, bring out, uh, their best, uh, as you've coached them along. The other thing that's really important, and you know, I haven't touched on it yet, is, you know, do you have in your organization a hierarchical set of values that protect people and set them free? And a lot of people, you know, have values in the organization, and unfortunately they're kind of, you know, on some posters stuck up on a wall. Uh, and you talked about earlier on, you touched a little bit on, you know, um, performance management. Well, you know, in the book that. I wrote with. Ken. Blanchard calling, helping people. Win at work, we talked about performance management as being not performance management, but a performance discussion. And it starts with, are we clear about what we want to achieve with each other? And, um, you know, it's up to the person to gauge how they are progressing against that. And our job as a leader is not to have an annual review, it's to have those ongoing performance discussions. And we used to mandate that at least every 90 days, the coach would formally sit down or, or formally communicate with the person that they're leading and have a conversation around, you know, how are you progressing against the a that we identified. But the other part of it too was we also included a discussion around values. And we had six values. The first value was we value doing the right thing. The second one was, we value creating positive lasting memories in all of our relationships. And it goes on. And we would ask our tribe members, our teammates, to share with us how did they actually live the value in the last 90 days? So tell me what you did, what your behavior was that would demonstrate that you did the right thing. Tell us how you created a positive lasting memory. And over time, these values became embedded in behavior. And as. I said, we only wanted, we had two measurements. It was either, you either visit the values or you live them. And we didn't want a lot of visitors. So performance management is about an ongoing conversation, not this annual review where you sit down and say, well, you know, this is what we decided to do together, and this is where you didn't meet the mark. And. I would say, well, why didn't you tell me that 340 days ago? And we would've done something about it if we would've identified it. So that's why coaching is so important, because a great coach is continually on the sideline, continually helping the player play a better game. The great coach just doesn't go to the grand final at the end of the year and, and do their job. You know, if they've been a great coach during the year, you get to go to, you get to play in the grand final. I actually had that exact experience. I remember being extremely annoyed about it too, where you get to the end of the year, you thought you were doing really well, and all of a sudden you're getting this feedback that you actually missed the mark completely. And. I'm going, well, why didn't you tell me that at the beginning? I would've changed everything. I would've changed what. I was doing to make a bigger impact or be more aligned with what you actually wanted. So if, if for those that are listening, and if you're doing only these annual performance reviews, you're basically eliminating the chance to have these learning moments throughout the year. And, and. I think that's an incredible part, right? Like, how are you having these consistent conversations that enable you to reflect on not only behaviors and how people are, are showing up, uh, uh, in alignment with the values that are most important and actually are, are they living in, and also in alignment with the performance elements of what we care about achieving. And. I'm assuming also throughout the year, the organization itself is having its own learning moments of, you know, what those metrics that we thought we were going for aren't as important as these ones. And we're changing that now. So if you are as a company having learning moments, but you're not, uh, also having these consistent sessions with your people on a monthly basis, uh, you're you're really stuck in this like rigid place in a way. Um, Yeah. And you know, we have a job to do. The latest. Gallup results that came out in. January. Um, were really, again, a reflection of what a bad job this sort of leader is doing. Because about 70% of people who go to work every day were actually disengaged. Um, or even, or, or, or even actively disengaged. And, um, and it, you know, when we went through. Covid, we talked about the great resignation. It wasn't the great resignation, it was the. Great escape. People were escaping toxic cultures. So, you know, if we can create these cultures where, again, it's pretty simple, do. I belong, do. I matter? Can. I make choices? Now, you know, there are some, when. I was in school in. Australia many, many years ago in high school, my science teacher gave me a. Petri dish. And the science teacher said, what we're going to do is we're gonna grow culture in this. Petri dish. So what do you have to know to grow great culture? Well, firstly, you have to know what ingredients you want to put in that. Petri dish to grow the culture you want to grow. Secondly, you are the owner of that. Petri dish. So your job is to feed the good ingredients so they grow and to attack the toxins as soon as they get in there, because the toxins will absolutely eat the good culture very quickly. And we see that in organizations where, you know, we'll have a reasonable culture, and, and there'll, there'll be a tox. The toxins get in there. There's people who are not behaving the way they should, who are not pulling their weight, or, or maybe they're just a top performer, but they're acting like a, a real arse in the organization. And the organization says, well, look, you know, so and so over there, you know, he can behave that way because he's getting his results, but we don't care about the culture. So if you have a. Petri dish and you wanna start building a culture, there's a few things you need to put in it. Firstly, do you have a people first mindset? Are you gonna be a coach, not a manager? Are you gonna have brave accountability and brave behavior? Do you have a clearly defined authentic purpose in the organization so people can say, I am making a contribution to something bigger than myself. Do you have a hierarchal set of values? Now, what. I mean by hierarchal is our values were ranked the number one value was more important than number six. And that gave people a guide on how to make decisions. So no matter what hap what, what the opportunity was in the organization, our first value was we value doing the right thing. And if this project was gonna make us $20 million, but it wasn't doing the right thing, the values would guide you that we're not gonna do it. Do you have a simple vision and do you have transparent transparency in the organization? Do you have learning moments that reduce fear? And, you know, do you have those four pillars of care, candor, accountability, and responsibility? All simple. And you know, I have a friend of mine, his name's. Charlie. Maloof, he owns a chain of. Ashley. Furniture stores out in the. Charlotte area, and he has a wonderful saying. He says, culture is not a micro waveable event. It takes a crockpot approach. And it's so true. You can't sprinkle fairy dust on an organization and change the culture. Now, you know, people might be asking, well, that's really nice, Gary, you had a really nice culture. You know, was it just because you had, you know, ping pong tables and whatever? No, that's not what it was at all. But did the company perform? Absolutely. You know, we had a compounded annual growth rate of total shareholder return of 15% a year. We took the market cap from 300 million to 3.6 billion, and we expanded the brand in 176 countries around the world. And the only way we could do that was by having a reasonable strategy and a highly engaged workforce with a strong culture of people who came together to protect and feed each other. That's incredible. And. I, I, I appreciate those analogies too, and. I think we can all agree, uh, crock pot dishes taste way more delicious than microwaveable ones, right? Um, but uh, yeah, like, and. I think that goes to also how, uh, you talked about, right? Like the whole goal of the. Petri dish is to, you know, strengthen and grow the things that you want and attack and eliminate the things you do not want. And mm-hmm. I know it's clear, everyone wants performance and growth and those things. That's a okay, that's a thing we wanna grow and impact, but is high performance. And the things you want also include the culture, the values, and the behaviors that matter most to the organization. Is that part of your organizational kind of ethos and definition of success? And. I think that's where some organizations really need to challenge themselves is saying, you know, have. I truly extended our definition to include those pieces? Yeah. You know, Beth, I see in the, in the chat, Beth had a great question. She said, how can we get employees to be more accountable if you coached, if you coached demonstrated, they are still not, they're still missing deadlines. So, you know, I think there's a couple of things that. I, I comment on that firstly is, are we sure there is a very clear understanding of what the expectation is? What am. I supposed to do to what standard? And by when. The second one is, is it skill or is it effort? That's the problem. So if they're not meeting the deadline, do they have what they need to be able to do? And if it's effort, then they're not happy in their role. So we should try and help them be happy somewhere else. Um, you know, if we've done all we can, then, then, you know, they're not happy in that role, so we should help them be happy somewhere else. Yeah, I often found like it's an, and. I feel the same way about these learning moments and, and feedback especially, right? We fear giving feedback because we don't wanna make someone feel bad about themselves, and it feels uncomfortable to kind of have these critical conversations, but it's actually a very kind thing to do to each other. And. I think that's the same with this situation that, and obviously. Barb, there's probably much more here that maybe we need to unpack, but at a high level, if someone doesn't have the effort, it obviously isn't connected to something that's motivating or energizing them enough. Um, so we either need to find a better place within the organization that energizes them and, and gets that effort out of 'em or support them in finding that somewhere else. Right? And and that's a win-win for both companies. Yeah. Yeah. There's, as. I said, there's really three reasons why someone isn't, um, performing. You know, it's either they don't have the skill, so can we help them? Um, they, you know, they don't, the environment that they're in isn't allowing, what do we have to do to do that? Or they're not putting in the effort. And if they're not putting in the effort, as you say, rightly so they're not happy, well, you know, let's, let's let them, you know, maybe it's not the right job for them. You know, I had an an interesting situation once where, and. I tell this story where there was someone in the organization that, um, needed to be in their role at a certain time every day because they were front forward facing to customers, and they were always late for work. And, you know, it wasn't that that wasn't, it wasn't that they intended to be that way. They just didn't, they weren't able to be a morning person. So what if we put that person on the afternoon shift, we put them on the afternoon shift and they were always on time. So, you know, have we, the first chapter in my book is, are you okay? You know, do we really understand, you know, what is it that's driving people? And you know, if that's not a skill or a behavior that they're comfortable with, it doesn't necessarily mean they're a bad person. They just might be a misfit in the role. So is there another role in the organization where we can really, you know, they can really flourish and we can gain benefit from their competency? And if there's not, well maybe they have to find an organization or a role that does play into what they do now, you know, that doesn't mean there aren't just also some people who don't wanna put in the effort. And if they don't wanna put in the effort, you should share them with the competitor because the comp, it's better that the competitor has them than you have them. Yes. That's a good reference scenario for, for you to, to send someone over to. Um, okay. I wanna, I wanna ask you about maybe a learning moment you had in your journey. And. I remember reading something or seeing something about a letter from the father of a young girl that you received. And it sounded like some things changed or, or were brought up for you after you, you read that. Can you tell us about that? Yeah. Um, well, there was a couple, uh, you know, the, the references, the, what you're, um, referring was when. I talked about your purpose is not necessarily your product. Um, and. I had a received a letter. I'd been speaking at a conference many years ago, and, uh, I was talking about people being happy in their role. And if you're not happy in what you're doing, you deserve to find yourself happy. Anyhow, um, about, I don't know how many years, whatever, later, one day, a letter turned up on my desk, and it's one of those letters that starts with, you won't remember me, and it went on to tell the story about how this person was in the audience. And, uh, I had triggered their thinking and they'd ended up leaving their, their, their job and finding a job that, um, they were really, really happy with. And then they told me the story about, um, they were in a, with their young daughter, and, uh, they went to a, a hardware store and, and they bought a can of. WD 40. And, and they're driving home in the car, and the girl is looking at that and at the can. And, and the dad says, do you know what that is? And she said, no, I don't want it. I don't know what that is. I, and she said, well, that's going to be a membrane. And she said, no, it's not, it's just a can of oil. Anyhow, they were going home to fix her bicycle. And so dad and the daughter are now out in the shed and they're using. WD 40, and he says, do you, can you, uh, smell the, the aroma of. WD 40? And she said, yes. And, and he said, you'll remember that forever now, because tonight, today together we created this memory together of fixing the bicycle. And, you know, that time together. And. I think that was really powerful. And that, you know, our, our, our purpose at the company became, uh, not to stop squeaks or to lubricate, but we existed to create positive, lasting memories, solving problems in factories, homes, and workshops around the world. We solved problems and we created opportunities. So we became memory makers. And that was very powerful also, because we were able to question ourselves often about, will this new delivery system or this product actually create a positive lasting memory? Uh, and our second value in the company became, we exist to create positive, lasting memories in all of our relationships. So if someone asked me what business. I was in, I'd say. I was in the memories business. Uh, and it really drove our thinking around we're not just selling oil in a can. Uh, we're selling an opportunity to create a memory because. I've, you know, you've done something with someone fixed a, a problem, and, and it made it more real to us. And. I think it's much more exciting to say that, you know, today. I created some positive lasting memories than stopping squeak. So, but the other thing that. I think that, uh, you are asking about learning moments, I think it was a big one for me, was, um, learning to shut up. And. I remember, you know, early in my career, one of my, um, teammates came to me with a, a a a, I'll call it a problem or a, a situation. And, and. I immediately went into, oh, I can solve this murder. You know, I was, I wanted to add too much value. And, and what. I really learned was that if. I was to really be of value, I had to help them solve the problem, not come with the answers. That's where that micromanagement thing came in. So, um, you know, I think that that, again, is, is something to be a learning moment. Great leaders have what. I call bleeding tongue syndrome. Um, they bite their tongue, um, because what, you know, we, we want to know what everybody else knows, which is more important. I. I absolutely love that. I, I mean, it, it creates kind of this reminder to us to even rethink our purpose at a achieve engagement, right? Is it to create learning content, right? Is that really our purpose here? Um, and how that can instill this energy within your people and align them into a deeper thing of impact within the organization. Um, I'm curious, did you see, or how did you feel that kind of start to spread throughout an organization to the size of. WD 40? Like was, were there as, as a. CEO, were there certain things that you took action on to, to really share that new value and that purpose across the company? Yeah. Um, you know, when we, when we refreshed our values, I didn't do it alone. Um, we got, we did it in a, so we socialized it a lot, uh, and each one of our values, uh, had a written description underneath it of what living that value looked like. And because we embedded it in that, uh, conversation that we had with people, uh, you know, at least every 90 days, and had them share how they were living these, it actually started to become embedded in behavior and conversation the same way as the learning moment. Did. You know, there would not be a day that would go by where you wouldn't be in some sort of interaction with someone and they'd say, look, I, I had a learning moment about that. Here's what it is. So we truly became very, very focused on being a learning organization and being proud of doing that. You know, I had a, I can give you an example about, um, how values drive behaviors. Um, this is, this is a, a reasonably accurate kind of story. I'm gonna tell you. Uh, someone in the organization, um, works in the say in the supply chain, and someone came along one day and said, Hey, um, I've had a look at, you know, some of the, the ingredients you're using and we make an ingredient that you use. And, um, you know, I think. I can make you a hero today after you, uh, learn what. I'm gonna share with you. Um, and you tell your. CEO or your leader, um, you know, you might even get promoted. This is amazing. And the person said, tell me more. Said, well, we have an ingredient that, um, you know, would, would be a substitute for one. You are using, uh, efficacy wise, it's equal to whatever you are using. And. I've done some math and, and. I think that, uh, we could probably add a, you know, three to $4 million to your bottom line if you were to swap and take this ingredient instead of the one you use. And the person said, well, wow, that's pretty exciting. You know, of course we'd have to put it through r and d and get it tested and the whole thing, but that sounds really exciting. Is there anything else. I should know? And the person said, yeah, there's only one thing, and don't worry about it because it's not unusual. Um, your competitors, uh, do it. Um, so, you know, it's, it's not, not it's standard in the industry. And the person said, what is that? And they said, well, you just have to put a little warning on your can. It's called a. Prop 65 warning. And the warning is, you know, there's, you know, contents in this can is known in the state of. California to cause cancer. And the person in the supply chain said, oh, well, sorry, I can't do that. Uh, what do you mean you're a public company? You could save $4 million. You know, your shareholders are gonna, yeah, I know, but you know, we have a mandate in our organization that will have no cancer causing chemicals, anything we make. And in fact, our second, uh, value is we value creating positive, lasting memories in everything we do. And cancer does not create positive lasting memories. So. I'm gonna make that decision based on our values. It's our second value then, thank you very much. And the person said, well, you don't understand. You know, it, it's all about profit. Well, no, said, well, look, I'm gonna have to go and you know, you please introduce me to your, your. CEO or whoever can make this decision. 'cause obviously you can't because. I, I'll take it anybody you want in the organization. And guess what? Because we are a values driven organization, they're gonna give you exactly the same answer. So, you know, again, that's a way, how did that person feel working in the supply chain, empowered living the value. In fact, they would've gone up to the. CEO and said, Hey, I didn't save us $3 million today because. I lived our values, and they would've been given a promotion. That's a beautiful story. And, and yeah, again, I think another reminder, if, if performance is the only thing you're showcasing and highlighting, then people will cut corners or take actions to achieve those results, right? But if you reinforce values as a key priority and most important thing within the company, you're gonna have scenarios like that where people can make more aligned decisions that are, are connected to a deeper thing that everyone is around. Absolutely. Absolutely. And you know, we've got some fun today too, as you said. You know, I, if, um, if people would like to, uh, measure their d*****s proficiency, um, if they go to my website, which is www the learning moment.net, you'll see there's a quiz there, and you can answer the quiz and you will get your d*****s proficiency score. And, uh, and, um, when you enter your email address, I'll actually send you a playbook of four things that you can start to think about in your organization to start building a different culture. So remember, dumb aery is a superpower, it's not a negative. And. I'd love you to measure your proficiency of dumb aery, uh, and the dean of dumb aery me will give you your, your score. I love that. I'm gonna take this right after that. I would love to hear everyone's scores as well. So. I would even encourage you after this, like, take. Gary and. I on. LinkedIn, share your score from the how big of a dumb ass we all are and, uh, and we can kind of see where we measure up. And, uh, on top of this too, I a quick announce, we have a couple minutes left, so if you have any questions or things you would love to ask. Gary right now, put that in the chat. We can chat about it a little bit more. We are also raffling off 50 copies of. Gary's book, so if you want to get a free copy of that, uh, fill out that form right there. We'll, um, we'll pick 50 winners and we'll send you a free copy and then you can connect it to your, your quiz score and, and start to become even more of a dumb ass, uh, within your role. Absolutely, absolutely. I guess as we start to even wrap this up, Gary, I'm, I'm wondering, as you find your, where you are in your career today, if you could go back and whisper some advice to yourself on your first day as. CEO at. WD 40, what would be some of the things you'd like to tell yourself? Uh, it's not about you. Gary. It's about what you can do for others, which really leads into what is now my purpose, which is. I help leaders build cultures of belonging where love, forgiveness and learning inspire a happy, more connected world. Um, and. I think that's really, you know, what is so, so important, uh, and to learn the lesson that, you know, greatness will come from not what you do, but what you all do together and your role is to bring out the best of others. So, um, don't be a. Alec, a smart. Alec. Don't be, you know, I probably had a number of the smart. Alec attributes in some level of abundance from day one, but it's a matter of, you know, working it out. Yeah. And. I can second all the comments here. This was such a great session and conversation and, and. I second what. Marsha shared, uh, or appreciate the blunt honesty here, right? Because. I think sometimes, especially in our world and during the events like this, we try to fluff around what leadership is and we over complicate it and all the things that leaders need to do. But. I appreciate the simple but hard truth of what it means to be a leader and how yeah, we can step into those values, You know? And. I was, you know, I, I was really, really touched. Bob. Sutton, who is a professor at, uh, I think it's, uh, Stanford. University, and he also, uh, wrote the book, the. No. A*****e. Rule. Um, he gave me an endorsement and he said, the most useful, fun and. BS free book. I have ever read by a veteran, CEO. Um, and, you know, that was, that was pretty cool. And, you know, I have, you know, feedback from. Simon. Sinek, Adam. Grant, Amy. Edmondson, Herbert. Jo. Lee. Marshall. Goldsmith to name a few, and it was really touching to have them, um, see that, you know, this book is actually, you know, built from scar tissue and learning moments. Yeah, yeah. It's a, it's a product of, its very teachings, right? Like it came from the learning moments, the experiences, and really, it sounds like the very foundation of what. WD 40 grew from, which. I think is like a beautiful journey that you've been on. Yeah, Absolutely. Yeah. Awesome. Well, it's been an absolute pleasure to be with you and your group, and thank you for all you all do. And, uh, as. I said earlier, you know, business has an opportunity and a responsibility to make a positive difference in the world. Uh, 'cause we touch so many people every day, and that's my dream that we will make the better play the world a better place by being better leaders. I agree. I agree. Well, everyone for joining, hopefully this was a reminder to step back into empathy. Let that overpower your egos, tap into some of those values, reaffirm and role model those values within the organization. Strive for more learning moments with your team and the people around you. Uh, I personally want to really revisit even my purpose and our purpose at. Achieve and our purpose together as a community about memories and connection and, and driving movements within this space, right? And how do we, how do we continue to strengthen that? So for everyone, again, put a ton of resources in the chat. Huge shout out to our partners at. Hi. Bob as well. They sponsored this program. They, they helped with the book purchase and promoting. Gary's new book. So give them a shout out. They actually have a resource that. I shared in the chat on insights on. ROI for people first strategies. So as we try to, you know, promote and advocate for these type of things, a lot of it, especially if you don't have a. CEO on board, is promoting the. ROI on them, right? Like, that maybe is a key first step. Definitely take the book quiz. I would really love if you tagged myself and. Gary in your results on. LinkedIn, uh, of your book results, um, or the quiz results. Uh, I think that'd be so fun to kind of see what our network and where we level out and, and encourage other people to. Also, I think. I saw, uh, an amazing comment here from, from. Valerie. I feel the same way, especially when. I first became a leader. There's this imposter syndrome that we place upon ourselves about what it means to be a leader. Um, and, and really it's more about what can. I do for others as you share, right? And, and stepping in that servant leadership and be more of a dumb ass, right? Like, it's, it's that simple. Yeah. So, and just one other thing. I formed a group on. LinkedIn called. The. School of. Dumb. Aery, um, where. I'm inviting people to join that group so we can continue the sharing. So when you go into. LinkedIn, if you want to join the. School of. Dumb. Aery, come on in. And, uh, we share things on a daily basis, and. I'd love to benefit from all the learning that and sharing that your group can do on there as well. Yeah. Well, everyone that wraps us up today, let's give a, a warm thank you and appreciation to. Gary for showcasing the power of learning moments, for sharing his wisdom over his career and his new book and, uh, and just spending time with us. Gary, I really appreciate it. The, on behalf of the network, it means a lot. So thank you so much. Yeah, thank you. Thank you. All right, everyone, have a great rest of your day. Create some learning moments, uh, in the afternoon here, and we'll see you at the next one. Bye everyone.

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