July 23, 2024

Authenticity and Trust: The Foundation of Symbiotic Business Relationships | RR268

Authenticity and Trust: The Foundation of Symbiotic Business Relationships  | RR268

Imagine how much stronger your business relationships could be if built on authenticity and trust. Brad Englert, a technology expert with 40 years of experience, is here to enlighten us.

Brad and I explore why being real, sincere, and trustworthy is so important when building business relationships. He shares about a project he did for a liquor retail company and how trust and meeting the right people made all the difference to the success of the project. We talk about figuring out how to balance between doing what's best for you and what’s best for your customers.

We also cover why it’s key to understand who the power players are in any organization and how to effectively communicate with them. Brad even shares some heartwarming feedback he’s gotten on his book about leadership.

If you’re all about making real connections that last, you’re going to love this episode!

Some takeaways are:


  • How to create enduring, trusting, authentic, and rewarding connections that span years and even decades
  • Why understanding a client's goals, setting and managing their expectations, and genuinely caring about their success is key to successful relationships
  • How to master the internal and external spheres of influence that shape your business world
  • Why identifying influential people in organizations and understanding their values is crucial


You can reach Brad at: Brad@BradEnglert.com

Website: https://bradenglert.com/

Don’t miss Brad’s recent book, Spheres of Influence: How to Create and Nurture Authentic Business Relationships, that offers a practical guide to help leaders develop and perfect the skill of building effective and lasting professional relationships.


A little about me: 

I began my career as a teacher, was a corporate trainer for many years, and then found my niche training & supporting business owners, entrepreneurs & sales professionals to network at a world-class level. My passion is working with motivated people, who are coachable and who want to build their businesses through relationship marketing and networking (online & offline). I help my clients create retention strategies, grow through referrals, and create loyal customers by staying connected. 


In appreciation for being here, I have a couple of items for you: 

A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:  

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by taking the  

3 Card Sampler—you won’t regret it.   


Connect with me: 

http://JanicePorter.com 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/janiceporter/ 

https://www.facebook.com/janiceporter1 


Thanks for listening! 

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Transcript
Janice Porter:

Hello, everyone, and welcome to this week's



Janice Porter:

episode of relationships rule. My guest this week is Brad



Janice Porter:

anglers. And he is an author, advisor and technologist with



Janice Porter:

over 40 years experience in the private and public sectors. He



Janice Porter:

was with Accenture for 22 years a very well known company, as I



Janice Porter:

recall, including 10 years as a partner. And then with the



Janice Porter:

University of Texas at Austin for eight years, including seven



Janice Porter:

years as the chief information officer. His recent book, which



Janice Porter:

we're going to talk about today, spheres of influence how to



Janice Porter:

create and nurture authentic business relationships, offers a



Janice Porter:

practical guide to help emerging and established leaders develop



Janice Porter:

and perfect the critical hard skill of building effective and



Janice Porter:

lasting professional relationships. So first of all,



Janice Porter:

welcome to the show, Brad.



Brad Englert:

Thank you. I appreciate the invitation.



Brad Englert:

Absolutely.



Janice Porter:

And well, when I see anything to do with building



Janice Porter:

relationships, spheres of influence, networking, all of



Janice Porter:

that good stuff, that's right up my alley, because I'm all about



Janice Porter:

relationships, not only building them, but nurturing them,



Janice Porter:

because that's the key, right?



Brad Englert:

That's correct.



Janice Porter:

So the first thing that that actually came to



Janice Porter:

mind for me, when I think about your history, your background



Janice Porter:

and in corporate and the, the, the experience that you've had,



Janice Porter:

with lots of different age groups, I'm going to say,



Janice Porter:

talking and studying and learning about the business



Janice Porter:

relationships that have to take place properly for things for



Janice Porter:

people to be able to move ahead properly. Tell me something from



Janice Porter:

when you started getting involved in this to today. You



Janice Porter:

know, there's like all these different ages, you know, the



Janice Porter:

different the Gen Xers the millennials, now we have Gen Z's



Janice Porter:

were the baby boomers. How is it different? I mean, it changes



Janice Porter:

it's changed. People don't see things the same way. So you must



Janice Porter:

have to. It's different today, at least I think it is. So I



Janice Porter:

want to know what your take on that is?



Brad Englert:

Well, I came to conclude at the end of the book,



Brad Englert:

that there are three principles that apply to all business



Brad Englert:

relationships. And I think it applies to different



Brad Englert:

generations. And the first principle is understanding their



Brad Englert:

goals and aspirations. They can be wildly different between



Brad Englert:

generations. But just asking and having that dialogue, the second



Brad Englert:

principle is setting and managing expectations, what to



Brad Englert:

expect at the boss, what does your boss expect of you, and had



Brad Englert:

that dialogue. And then third, is genuinely caring about their



Brad Englert:

success. And I'd find in all business relationships, if you



Brad Englert:

really care enough to understand their goals and aspirations. You



Brad Englert:

take the time to set manage expectations, which is an easy



Brad Englert:

thing to do. But a lot of people don't do it. And then finally,



Brad Englert:

genuinely caring. And I think that really is where you develop



Brad Englert:

relationships that lasts years and decades. Well,



Janice Porter:

when you say, you know, managing the wolves, the



Janice Porter:

second one about your, your goals and aspirations, certain



Brad Englert:

manage expectations.



Janice Porter:

And you said, the one that you said to ask, just



Janice Porter:

ask, that seems to be harder. I think for the younger



Janice Porter:

generation, though. They expect but they don't dial



Brad Englert:

up. So I had this type A personality boss, and she



Brad Englert:

wanted everything read fast, fast, fast, fast, faster. And I



Brad Englert:

got our call one night at five o'clock, I was trying to leave



Brad Englert:

the office on a time to have dinner with my wife and cheap



Brad Englert:

bread. I did a white paper, a white paper. And it's like I



Brad Englert:

literally said, Well, I didn't say no, because that sets the



Brad Englert:

Type A personality off like a rocket. I said, Well, when do



Brad Englert:

you need this white paper? Because it sounded like



Brad Englert:

immediately. Yeah, yeah. Well, she checked her calendar. She



Brad Englert:

didn't need it for two weeks. Okay. How many pages is this



Brad Englert:

white paper? I was thinking 10. I wish she said three. Do you



Brad Englert:

have an example of the white paper that I could look at?



Brad Englert:

Yeah, yes, David. I did 110 years ago on XYZ Corporation.



Brad Englert:

Well, guess what I went home. came in the next day found one



Brad Englert:

of my staff. I said you have a week and a half to do the



Brad Englert:

research. Here's a model. It's three pages, and we'll get it to



Brad Englert:

the boss ahead of her client meeting. Right. And before I



Brad Englert:

learned the skill of saying, Whoa, I would have stayed up all



Brad Englert:

night, delivered a 10 page Paper got me all that procrastinator



Brad Englert:

expectations. So it's kind of a lose, lose lose. Yes. So have



Brad Englert:

the courage to say, Well,



Janice Porter:

yeah, that's a great, that's a great story



Janice Porter:

actually. Because I know I've had experiences with my daughter



Janice Porter:

who has had bosses like that, and she doesn't know how to



Janice Porter:

stand up to them. And, and that can be worse as it goes on.



Janice Porter:

Because you get bullied, you get bullied. So you have to learn



Janice Porter:

how to how to speak to them in a language that they will accept



Janice Porter:

and understand. Well, that makes me think of another thing that



Janice Porter:

makes me think of something you said, you said, she's a type A



Janice Porter:

personality. So how, how important is it for? For any



Janice Porter:

person in business, who wants to get ahead to understand say,



Janice Porter:

whether it's the disc or the, you know, the different



Janice Porter:

personality type tests that you can understand different



Janice Porter:

people's personalities? How important is that?



Brad Englert:

Very important with just give you a perfectly



Brad Englert:

simple example. Some people are morning people, and some people



Brad Englert:

are night people. So if your boss is a morning, people don't



Brad Englert:

come in late, work late, come in early, get a cup of coffee and



Brad Englert:

work when and the same. Tightens, because there's a



Brad Englert:

really good Wall Street Journal article about this 13 years ago,



Brad Englert:

the morning larks, think the night people are lazy, cuz they



Brad Englert:

come in late. And of course, the night people the night owls like



Brad Englert:

the larks are lazy because they leave early.



Janice Porter:

They put in three hours.



Brad Englert:

Observe your boss's behavior and match it.



Janice Porter:

Yeah, that's brilliant, of course. So you say



Janice Porter:

that you say that relationship building is a skill that you can



Janice Porter:

master. And you don't need to be born with this ability. Right.



Janice Porter:

And I always talk about, I like to ask, usually, towards the end



Janice Porter:

of a conversation with my guests, I like to ask about the



Janice Porter:

word curiosity. And I think that I don't know, I think maybe it



Janice Porter:

can be learned. But the I think my daughter again, who's very



Janice Porter:

introverted and doesn't have that curiosity factor with some



Janice Porter:

things. I mean, if it's something she's passionate



Janice Porter:

about, I think she does, but otherwise, I don't really care.



Janice Porter:

So what's your take on that? Is it about curiosity? Or is it



Janice Porter:

about just learning how to question and, you know, just go



Janice Porter:

through the motions, because I don't believe that you can just



Janice Porter:

go through the motions, but



Brad Englert:

Well, I think curiosity is certainly plays



Brad Englert:

into it. But if I want to know what the goals and aspiration of



Brad Englert:

my customer is, I mean, it's in my self interest to know what



Brad Englert:

they need. And so why wouldn't I want to learn that? Be curious



Brad Englert:

about it, because the only way I will sell them a service is



Brad Englert:

aligning to their business needs. And by asking what the



Brad Englert:

Coulson aspirations are, that I can set and manage expectations,



Brad Englert:

so it's all in my self interest to have a symbiotic



Brad Englert:

relationship.



Janice Porter:

So I think I think there's a fine line



Janice Porter:

between having something being in your best interest and making



Janice Porter:

it seem as though it's in an IT needs to be in the customers



Janice Porter:

best interest. Right. Right. So I think that's, that's a, that's



Janice Porter:

an art, I think that needs to be a skill that needs to be



Janice Porter:

learned. I think it's a fine art, to be honest. But



Brad Englert:

one part of that is accountability. You need to



Brad Englert:

hold your customer as accountable as the customer hold



Brad Englert:

you accountable. Oh. So I had a customer who I was providing



Brad Englert:

services to his organization. And he wanted one of his people



Brad Englert:

to be in with my team, a hybrid solution, where every time a



Brad Englert:

problem happened, he was causing the problem and pointing the



Brad Englert:

finger at us. And it's like, we don't have to serve everybody in



Brad Englert:

our store. I had lunch with the executive Mike here. And I



Brad Englert:

explained this situation, he looked up and said, You're



Brad Englert:

firing me as a customer, aren't you? And I said, Yes, I am.



Brad Englert:

Plus, I'll buy you lunch. Because this arrangement didn't



Brad Englert:

work. I won't charge you anything. And we stayed friends,



Brad Englert:

but it wasn't working. And so so you can't force it. That's good



Brad Englert:

point. Customers knowledge, right?



Janice Porter:

Yes, that Yeah, exactly. So in your book, The



Janice Porter:

spheres of influence, you talk about that you talk about. I



Janice Porter:

didn't observe, wanted to see that you broke it into internal



Janice Porter:

and external. That's correct influence, okay, I kind of focus



Janice Porter:

on the external because I wasn't in and a lot of my, my audience



Janice Porter:

is not corporate, right. So I think about those external, but



Janice Porter:

I mean, it's all it all pretty much is people skills right and



Janice Porter:

so forth. So, but you also talked about that the



Janice Porter:

traditional type of networking is not what you're talking



Janice Porter:

about. So, building relationships goes much deeper,



Janice Porter:

I'd love you to, I'd love to get your take on on the difference.



Janice Porter:

Well,



Brad Englert:

I find traditional networking to be superficial.



Brad Englert:

And, you know, you're encouraged to go meet with people and trade



Brad Englert:

your business cards, people still do that. And in 40 years,



Brad Englert:

I've yet to have a authentic business relationship come out



Brad Englert:

of one of those events. And I had someone I was talking with,



Brad Englert:

who had read the book and said, Yeah, I went to an event, I got



Brad Englert:

someone's card, and they called me for a donation to their



Brad Englert:

nonprofit the next week, I didn't even know this person.



Brad Englert:

That's not networking. No, no. And so you know, I get a little



Brad Englert:

frustrated. And actually, one of the reviewers of the book said,



Brad Englert:

people say, to go network, but they don't show you how to go



Brad Englert:

network. And that's what he liked about the book or exam



Brad Englert:

examples of how to network. So when I was at the university, I



Brad Englert:

would meet every four to six weeks with my peers in the



Brad Englert:

university. And so they were assistant Dean's over all the



Brad Englert:

colleges, who had it responsibilities, it would have



Brad Englert:

reporting to them. And I would meet with them and just say, How



Brad Englert:

are our services? Anything we need to improve with any things



Brad Englert:

you need, that we're not providing? And then oh, by the



Brad Englert:

way, we have a big project coming that's gonna affect your



Brad Englert:

college, we're gonna replace all the telephones. But don't worry,



Brad Englert:

we have a contractor who's done this many times before, you'll



Brad Englert:

get plenty in warning, and instruction, and it'll be okay.



Brad Englert:

And then some of my peers would share rumors with me, Hey, I



Brad Englert:

heard a rumor that your system detract training isn't covering



Brad Englert:

students who need to have training and labs to meet



Brad Englert:

federal requirements. I said, Good rumor, I'll check. And so I



Brad Englert:

checked in. And no, we had to kind of hurt their students. But



Brad Englert:

it was good to know that if I didn't have that dialogue, that



Brad Englert:

could have festered into a big problem.



Janice Porter:

So you have to be on top of it with with your



Janice Porter:

people all the time and keep those avenues of conversation



Janice Porter:

open. And



Brad Englert:

I expect my direct reports to do the same. So I



Brad Englert:

have seven direct reports. They had seven to 10 peers and



Brad Englert:

influencers throughout the organization. So every week



Brad Englert:

someone report back in our meet weekly meeting management



Brad Englert:

meeting, what did you hear what's going on out there? It



Brad Englert:

was almost like our nervous system. And the university is



Brad Englert:

52,000 students, 21,000 staff, 40,000 faculty, what could



Brad Englert:

possibly go wrong? And we changed the learning management



Brad Englert:

system. We changed student email, we moved faculty and



Brad Englert:

staff to teams, you know, these are all to your projects that



Brad Englert:

affect 1000s of people. Sure. And so having that nervous



Brad Englert:

system was very important.



Janice Porter:

I remember I don't know if I think I told you



Janice Porter:

this I went to university here in Vancouver University of



Janice Porter:

British Columbia, which was a big school. We went but now it's



Janice Porter:

like double or triple the size that it was then and it's like a



Janice Porter:

city on unto itself and I think it's 60 or 70,000 students on



Janice Porter:

campus there. And then when I was in corporate and I worked



Janice Porter:

for the telephone company, we would go out and do the reminded



Janice Porter:

me of this because you said you'd put new phone systems and



Janice Porter:

so we would go and put new phone systems into the and it was like



Janice Porter:

a huge project because they were like standalone city kind they



Janice Porter:

have their own elect. They had their own telecom setup. So lots



Janice Porter:

of people and lots of moving parts. It's kind of interesting.



Janice Porter:

Okay, you I was reading I love this because it reminded me you



Janice Porter:

were talking about. If you want to have a positive impact as a



Janice Porter:

change maker in an organization, you need to identify the most



Janice Porter:

powerful people. Now this with, you know, if you're going to do



Janice Porter:

work in a company, and you need to know who you need to talk to,



Janice Porter:

right, that's one reason to do it and also within the company.



Janice Porter:

But what struck me with this piece in your book, you talked



Janice Porter:

about Michael Boyles writing about power mapping, what it is



Janice Porter:

and how that how to use it. And he did that in the Harvard



Janice Porter:

Business School's Business Insights blog. But you say, once



Janice Porter:

you identify the central people, you need to understand what they



Janice Porter:

value. And you talk about an example here that made me think



Janice Porter:

of something that is, is I think, at the heart of building



Janice Porter:

and nurturing relationships, which is, you know, finding that



Janice Porter:

right person and that right person to help you move through



Janice Porter:

an organization. It could be the top of the chart, or it could be



Janice Porter:

the receptionist that has, right, and you talked about



Janice Porter:

this, the person that was the Chief of Staff for the CFO, do



Janice Porter:

you remember that story? Yes,



Brad Englert:

of course. I



Janice Porter:

love that story. Can you share that with us?



Janice Porter:

Sure.



Brad Englert:

I'm a big, huge research one university, the CFO



Brad Englert:

had this trusted Lieutenant. And she had worked with him for 25



Brad Englert:

years and put out fires help colleges and schools and press



Brad Englert:

resource needs, and was really a trusted the tenant. And so she



Brad Englert:

helped me guide me as we transformed all their accounting



Brad Englert:

and payroll systems to a new technology, which was a multi



Brad Englert:

year effort. I went to another research one university, same



Brad Englert:

size, same scale, great reputation. The chief of staff



Brad Englert:

said, the CFO, I don't think you should meet with me. I've only



Brad Englert:

been here for two years, and I'm just doing special projects.



Brad Englert:

Don't waste your time. Thank you so much for saying that.



Janice Porter:

Yeah. And were you able to ask her who it might



Janice Porter:

be that you should talk to? Did she? Oh, yeah.



Brad Englert:

She just said, work with a CFO.



Janice Porter:

Yeah. So that's brilliant. And then the, that



Janice Porter:

also reminded me of the old days when, you know, the receptionist



Janice Porter:

in a big law firm or a big accounting firm. She was, and it



Janice Porter:

was always a she back then was always, you know, the hub and



Janice Porter:

the gatekeeper for everything. But she wasn't respected in the



Janice Porter:

organization the same way she should have been as,



Brad Englert:

as a customer.



Janice Porter:

I would respect her. Yes. But internally, it was



Janice Porter:

never quite sure. Yeah. Do you think that's changed? We don't



Janice Porter:

even have receptionist anymore. Mail true. Yeah.



Brad Englert:

It's probably gotten better. Yeah.



Janice Porter:

I mean, I remember teaching receptionists



Janice Porter:

and I remember teaching them and getting them to understand that



Janice Porter:

they were the key person, because they were the first



Janice Porter:

person that people heard when they called into the company.



Janice Porter:

They were the first impression. And it had to be a good one.



Janice Porter:

Right? That's right. Yeah. But



Brad Englert:

your gatekeeper comment is something I want to



Brad Englert:

highlight. Because if you're trying to meet with the



Brad Englert:

executive, you have a relationship with the



Brad Englert:

gatekeeper. Yeah. You know, and having that respectful



Brad Englert:

relationship and caring relationship. Yes. Ask about



Brad Englert:

her, her family. While you're waiting, you're waiting. And



Brad Englert:

just trying to establish some sort of connection.



Janice Porter:

So tell me with your book, has it taken you to



Janice Porter:

some interesting places? Have you noticed any? Like I did ask



Janice Porter:

at the beginning, but I still think there's got to be a



Janice Porter:

difference between the young leaders of today and the ones



Janice Porter:

from the back in the day, and how they I mean, I think the



Janice Porter:

good ones probably get this really well. But you do you get



Janice Porter:

any pushback.



Brad Englert:

I've been pleased that people have been very



Brad Englert:

receptive. People my age are giving it to their adult



Brad Englert:

children. Oh, great. So they can consider in their first five to



Brad Englert:

10 years of their career, and they don't teach this in



Brad Englert:

business school now. And so I had at the book signing here in



Brad Englert:

Austin. I had several people who I've known for years buy two or



Brad Englert:

three copies for their children. That's fine. I thought that was



Brad Englert:

great. And then on Amazon, it's a best seller and leadership



Brad Englert:

training, mentoring and coaching and customer relations, which



Brad Englert:

were the three areas I really was focused on. That's



Brad Englert:

brilliant. And I've always enjoyed mentoring. And so a lot



Brad Englert:

of these stories, I would share with my mentors, but that's only



Brad Englert:

two or three people a year that doesn't scale. And so that's why



Brad Englert:

I wanted to put these ideas into the book.



Janice Porter:

That's awesome. Do you find any difference in



Janice Porter:

terms of females versus males? In their response, and in how



Janice Porter:

they maybe would use the information,



Brad Englert:

I think the feedback from people who I



Brad Englert:

worked with in the past when they reviewed the manuscript was



Brad Englert:

when I talked about apologizing, and every you're gonna screw up,



Brad Englert:

your people are gonna screw up. Yeah. And I, I emphasized the



Brad Englert:

need to apologize. But one person of color said, Well, I



Brad Englert:

don't want to over apologize, because then it looks weak. And



Brad Englert:

I said, You're absolutely right. And I put that in the book.



Brad Englert:

Yeah, you need to say you're sorry, you need to say what



Brad Englert:

you'll do to keep it from happening again. You might need



Brad Englert:

restitution. But you genuinely say, you know, I work to make



Brad Englert:

this never happen again. And people are forgiving, forgiving.



Brad Englert:

I guess don't over apologize is what popped out?



Janice Porter:

Sure. Of course, I see that in your notes here,



Janice Porter:

too. Okay, so what would you say? The three most important



Janice Porter:

things are to keep a relationship going? A business



Janice Porter:

relationship where you don't see people all the time. So how do



Janice Porter:

you keep it? How do you keep it going?



Brad Englert:

If you hang on a second? Yes. Well, I would



Brad Englert:

definitely keep in touch over the years. So, you know, with



Brad Englert:

people I've worked with in the past, you know, once a year,



Brad Englert:

twice a year, I might reach out and just say hi, doesn't have to



Brad Englert:

be in person. You know, many of my people, all clients I worked



Brad Englert:

with are all over the country. But I think just not forgetting



Brad Englert:

about them. And, and then often what I find is, I often get



Brad Englert:

contacted by them when they need something. And sometimes I need



Brad Englert:

something from them. So a good example is a woman who were was



Brad Englert:

my client, we had two or three really good projects very



Brad Englert:

successful. And I got to meet her side who's five. And here's



Brad Englert:

a cute little chi. And literally 20 years later, she calls me,



Brad Englert:

her son is just graduated from law school. He wants to get a



Brad Englert:

job as an attorney at my university. Would I talk to him?



Brad Englert:

It's like, well, of course, I'd be happy to talk to him, or talk



Brad Englert:

to him when he was five. I said to him that in the universities,



Brad Englert:

people have different professions talk to each other.



Brad Englert:

So autonomy is having an association across all the major



Brad Englert:

universities and they share contracts, they share ideas. And



Brad Englert:

so when we started a large contract with a global vendor, I



Brad Englert:

got the contract from Berkeley. I didn't start from scratch,



Brad Englert:

work with my attorney to update it for us. So I think being open



Brad Englert:

to helping people, especially when you've had a history of



Brad Englert:

success, I think is is the way to go.



Janice Porter:

Yeah, and I think just probably being authentic



Janice Porter:

and being sincere because it's those relationships, that like



Janice Porter:

you say, symbiotic relationships, it keeps going



Janice Porter:

back and forth over the years it becomes, you know, like you feel



Janice Porter:

like your friends, right, because you'll do things for



Janice Porter:

each other. And I know for me, one of the things that I'm going



Janice Porter:

to take us back to networking a little bit, one of the things



Janice Porter:

that I think makes a difference is being a true connector. are



Janice Porter:

not just a networker, but really looking at your connections. And



Janice Porter:

if you meet somebody new, maybe you can support them with



Janice Porter:

somebody in your network, but you have to feel that that



Janice Porter:

person is worthy to open your network to them.



Brad Englert:

And a word that popped into my head as you're



Brad Englert:

talking is trust. Yes, you need to build trust trust over time.



Brad Englert:

Because if you have that trust, then you'll be very comfortable



Brad Englert:

reaching out. Exactly. So I did a little project after I retired



Brad Englert:

from the university for Texas based liquor retail, which I



Brad Englert:

didn't know much about,



Janice Porter:

not your not your normal baileywick, right.



Brad Englert:

But they said, you know, we've grown from 40 stores



Brad Englert:

to 100 stores. We need an IT strategy, you know how to do



Brad Englert:

that. And it's not that hard. It's point of sale inventory. So



Brad Englert:

you'll figure it out. And so we came up with a strategy where we



Brad Englert:

outsource as much as we could to the cloud. And so they were



Brad Englert:

trying to run things. And then they needed a mobile app with



Brad Englert:

delivery and a new website. Well, then they wanted me to be



Brad Englert:

their IT guy. And it's like, I'd love to do it. I love you guys.



Brad Englert:

But I have to write this book. If I help you, I will never



Brad Englert:

write this book. I said, I'll find somebody. And there was a



Brad Englert:

woman who worked with me at The Ohio State University brilliant.



Brad Englert:

And at Accenture, but she didn't want to travel anymore. So she



Brad Englert:

came back to Austin got a job@dell.com in the mid 90s, and



Brad Englert:

actually created the e commerce website for Dell computer. So



Brad Englert:

she's brilliant, new e commerce at scale. And after 15 years at



Brad Englert:

Dell, she went to a private equity firm and did a medical



Brad Englert:

marijuana website for a Canadian firm on Vancouver Island. So she



Brad Englert:

knew controlled substance over the web. So about three months



Brad Englert:

into her tenure, she located white label, mobile app and



Brad Englert:

website for the liquor industry. Are there 25,000 items in a



Brad Englert:

store, you can't physically take pictures, and you have to have



Brad Englert:

feeds from the distributors. And so within a month or two, she



Brad Englert:

had 1020 stores. Then she had 40 stores and the pandemic hit. And



Brad Englert:

they said all 100 stores. So she and her team were bad night and



Brad Englert:

got off 100 stores up. And the customers love it. Because it's



Brad Englert:

just so easy to use. And I would test it every two weeks to make



Brad Englert:

sure it worked. Had my



Janice Porter:

well and you would test it because you were



Janice Porter:

also curious because you would trusted this person. That's



Janice Porter:

right. That's



Brad Englert:

right. So I even found a date timestamp error.



Brad Englert:

Show at the book reading. She was there. And I mentioned that



Brad Englert:

story. She says you still call it about



Janice Porter:

but that's so cool. That's really cool.



Janice Porter:

Because yeah, it's important. Like my, my, my contacts in my



Janice Porter:

phone, they're, they're important to me and I would not



Janice Porter:

want to waste their time or use my connection unwisely. Right.



Janice Porter:

You have to be careful who you do it for. So I think that's the



Janice Porter:

key to relationships. And, and keeping them keeping them going



Janice Porter:

right and being remembered and being known as the person who



Janice Porter:

connects people. When it counts, right when it comes. Right. So



Janice Porter:

So where is this gonna take you? Where is this book gonna take



Janice Porter:

you now?



Brad Englert:

Well, I enjoyed the podcasting world have really



Brad Englert:

enjoyed the different perspectives that hosts bring,



Brad Englert:

like yours. I mean, relationship rule, it's perfect. I am working



Brad Englert:

on a TED Talk. Woman who worked for me at the university



Brad Englert:

branched off and started her own creative consulting firm. So I



Brad Englert:

hired her and she's also working on a half day workshop, where we



Brad Englert:

will take the three principles, you know, yeah. What are their



Brad Englert:

goals and aspirations set manage expectations and and genuinely



Brad Englert:

care and have role playing different exercises. People can



Brad Englert:

actually Practice the question in the listening. Oh,



Janice Porter:

good. That's great. So you're really going



Janice Porter:

into this whole new world of entrepreneurship and, and, and



Janice Porter:

taking it on the road, so to speak. That's awesome. That's



Janice Porter:

great. This has been really good. And really interesting,



Janice Porter:

because it is something that I I'm all about relationships. And



Janice Porter:

so it's very important to me to get other perspectives on it.



Janice Porter:

And yeah, you say, right, in your somebody said about your



Janice Porter:

book spheres of influence brilliantly illustrates that in



Janice Porter:

the game of life, the strongest moves are made through the power



Janice Porter:

of genuine connections, which is exactly what we were just



Janice Porter:

talking about. Right? That was Liz.



Brad Englert:

It's more rewarding to it's more fun.



Brad Englert:

Yeah,



Janice Porter:

exactly. It really is. So how can my



Janice Porter:

audience find you and find your book, I think you have something



Janice Porter:

a special place that they can go, which I will put in the show



Janice Porter:

notes. So please share with us. Well,



Brad Englert:

my website is branding like.com. And I have



Brad Englert:

all sorts of information about the book and the workshop, but



Brad Englert:

it's available. And there's going to be a special link with



Brad Englert:

relationships rule. So I shared that link with you. So Friday,



Brad Englert:

like that comm backslash relationship rules. And they can



Brad Englert:

go in there and they can get a sample the book for free. They



Brad Englert:

can certainly find the link to Amazon, if they're interested in



Brad Englert:

ebook or audible or book book. And then third, they could sign



Brad Englert:

up for a free consultation with me. Oh, fantastic.



Janice Porter:

Okay. That's amazing. Well, thank you for



Janice Porter:

that generosity. And thank you for being here today. And I wish



Janice Porter:

you well on your retirement career, because that's really



Janice Porter:

what it is. And a lot of fun. It's a lot of fun. Yeah. And



Janice Porter:

you're still mentoring. Are you still mentoring people?



Brad Englert:

Yes, sir. Yeah.



Janice Porter:

That's fun, right? That's really rewarding,



Janice Porter:

I think. And so you've got this wealth of knowledge, you've got



Janice Porter:

your book, which really says it all. It's about relationships



Janice Porter:

with all the different people in your business world. And yeah, I



Janice Porter:

think it's really, I wish you well with all of that. And one



Janice Porter:

last thing I would like to ask you to leave with my audience,



Janice Porter:

maybe your favorite or best or most go to piece of business



Janice Porter:

advice.



Brad Englert:

genuinely care about people, let them know you



Brad Englert:

give a damn. Oh,



Janice Porter:

that's so good. Because I totally agree. And I



Janice Porter:

love that. Thank you so much. And I'm just going to end with



Janice Porter:

that because I think, show people you care is what it's all



Janice Porter:

about and genuinely care. So thank you, Brad. Thanks for



Janice Porter:

being here. Thank you to my audience again for being here.



Janice Porter:

If you like what you heard, please go and check out Brad's



Janice Porter:

special page for us at Brad Brad angler.com/relationships rule



Janice Porter:

and check out his book. Appreciate you. Thanks again.



Janice Porter:

Remember to stay connected and be remembered.



Unknown:

Thank you