Scaling UP! H2O

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The following transcript is provided by YouTube. Mistakes are present. To hear the podcast episode, click HERE.

[Music]
welcome to scaling up the podcast for
water treatise by water treaters where
we’re scaling up on knowledge so we
don’t scale up our systems everybody
tres Blackmore here and folks I have got
one of my heroes on today you know I
like doing that you know I like going
out and finding people that I really
enjoy reading their books and finding
inspiration from well I did that today
folks
we have Pat Williams on scaling up today
now for those of you that were at the
AWT convention in 2017 you got to hear
Pat speak because he was our keynote
speaker and that’s one of the things
that he does so incredibly well he is an
incredible motivational speaker the
reason I know Pat is probably different
from a lot of how you know Pat is I have
read many of Pat’s books and he talks
about leadership and how to work with
people and how to build teams and that’s
something that I have always aspired to
do better and he has written numerous
books on that very topic now you
probably know Pat because he is the vice
president of the Orlando Magic and he
started out his career as a minor league
baseball player so just all about sports
whether you know in pro sports Pat is
just an incredible individual and I
think you are going to enjoy my
interview today with Pat Williams my lab
partner today is Pat Williams of the
Orlando Magic how are you today Pat
Tracy I’m doing very well thank you nice
to catch up with you and thanks for the
invite well absolutely thank you so much
for being on scaling-up
and thank you for coming to the AWT
convention this year you rocked it man
well I enjoyed my time very much nice
group very enthusiastic and I had a very
memorable time I appreciate I appreciate
very much the invitation well I
thoroughly enjoyed being in the audience
that there are so many things that we
can talk about today it’s hard
to even pick a topic but I thought maybe
we could speak on the fact that you knew
Walt Disney and you wrote a biography
about Disney how does that sound
well trace I never knew him but I feel
like I knew him I moved to Orlando 31
years ago to help startup the Orlando
Magic as an expansion basketball team
but when I got here I got Disney iced
which can happen I kept running into
senior Disney executives who had worked
with Walt Disney back in California and
whenever I was with them I would always
pick their brain or ask them questions
about Walt because I was intrigued with
the man and that laid the groundwork for
those two books that I wrote one is
called go for the magic in which I wrote
about Walt Disney’s five secrets of
success and then that book led to
another one called how to be like Walt I
guess you would call it a motivational
biography and I was able to track down
just about every living person who knew
Walt who and worked with him or worked
for him that’s really kind of my
background but I’m a I guess you could
say I’m a student of Walt Disney so much
to learn from the man and a legendary
American and worldwide figure who
probably has touched more lives and than
anybody in world history I mean you
could argue that and that’s not going to
end that’s gonna go on really forever
not your book was how to be like Walt
what does it mean to be like Walt
well we took the different qualities of
Walt Disney his imagination creativity
leadership fearlessness risk-taking I
mean we took many of these aspects of
Walt’s life and wrote about that and
then wove all the different stories and
anecdotes that were pertinent to each
individual chapter so we examined Walt
very very thoroughly from every
expect of his life so you read in
reading that book you’re going to learn
about Walt’s life from childhood put it
on up to his passing but in the process
you’re going to come away with some
really strong life lessons that you can
apply to your own life teaching points I
guess so it’s not the typical biography
on the Walt Disney and there are many of
them but this is a biography that helps
you come away with lots of pertinent
information about how to take Walt’s
life lessons and apply them to your own
life and if I recall them one of the big
themes was dream big dreams well we’ll
certainly did that he had a big big
imagination he he was not afraid to
really dream way way out into outer
space and he encourages it all people to
do that if you can dream it you can do
it I think and Walt was a dreamer from
the time he was a small boy and they
never stopped doing that he had this
enormous imagination he had a great
amount of creativity but in Walt’s case
it all started with a dream and those
dreams really became reality the dream
of full-fledged
animated films you know nobody ever
thought of that
and this idea of a theme park in
Southern California that was absolutely
off the charts and so many other things
and Walt said in his dying days he said
to his son-in-law I said if I could live
another 20 years he said we could Wharf
everything that we’ve done before that’s
one of the real tragedies Walt died in
his mid-60s and if he had never had
another 10 or 20 years there’s no
telling what he would have come up with
what do you think what would say if he
could see his empire today oh I’ve asked
that question of different Disney people
a fella named Bob Matheson who worked
with Walt like I said asked him one day
I said if Walt would come back and see
everything that’s going on just here in
our land
would he be shocked did Bob Matheson
said not at all he said he saw the whole
thing when he took that secret mission
over Central Florida in November of 1963
he saw it all I said Bob and then I said
well what if he walked into a meeting
with all you guys what would he say
Bob said you know you’re running a
little behind on some of these projects
you know he said I had this thing
operating five years ago he said you
need to pick up the pace
Bob said he’d have had a little twinkle
in his eye when he said it but he would
not be surprised at all according to
many of those old-time Disney legends
not all people can feel vulnerable when
they don’t know the answer to something
but as a business owner or leader this
is especially true one of my favorite
Disney quotes that you quote in your
book is all you have to do is own up to
your ignorance honestly and you will
find people who are eager to fill your
head with information as a leader how
have you found this quote to be true
well I think traits the most important
thing as a leader is to ask questions
and seek out people who have you
information people love to share with
you they want to talk to you and above
all they want you to ask them good
intelligent questions wives are the
leaders who ask those questions and
above all a wise are those leaders who
listen to people when they’re talking
they don’t have their phone ringing and
they don’t do they’re not answering
emails or reading the newspaper they are
listening with undivided attention those
leaders are going to learn a lot because
people in an organization want that team
or want that organization to do well and
then they want their opinions to be
heard so wise are the leaders who ask
good questions and then take the time to
listen carefully and follow up with more
questions if need be those are some fun
I think that’s what Walt was saying and
he was very good at that he was very
good at picking people’s brains and
gathering information and seeing what
they thought so great leaders are
lifelong learners John F Kennedy said
learning and leadership are
indispensable to each other and Walt was
certainly a lifelong learner that your
books have a common theme of core
qualities that great leaders possess
let’s talk a little about your latest
book can you tell us a little about that
well the book that I’ve written most
recently is called the success
intersection and it’s based on this
theory that when your greatest talent or
your best talent intersects when you’re
strong is passion right there at that
intersection we call that the sweet spot
and that’s where you want to live that’s
where you want to get your education
right there in that sweet spot that’s
where you want to work that’s where you
want to spend your career that’s where
you want to get paid every two weeks
right there in that intersection that
sweet spot where your talent intersects
with your greatest passion and if you’ll
do that and figure that out at a very
young age and that’s the best thing to
do you can spend your entire life
preparing for that sweet spot and then
living in it so that’s the meat of this
new book called the success intersection
I hope it will be valuable to people who
are trying to find their way in life
trying to figure out what their purpose
is I’m going to figure out why they’re
on this planet and I think that talent
and passion intersection really is is a
huge key here I’m not sure the best way
to ask this question but how do you know
when you’ve found the sweet spot or
maybe I should ask how do you know when
you haven’t found the sweet spot oh I
think if you haven’t found it you’re
going to be frustrated you’re going to
be more questioning constantly you know
what am I meant to be doing why did God
put me on this earth how do I find
something that
be great joy and great fulfillment a
great accomplishment when each day is
over how do I feel really good about
that day and can’t wait to get up in the
morning and get started again I I think
those are some of the tips but I think
there’s a huge responsibility here with
parents and grandparents and coaches and
teachers and youth workers really taking
the time to study children and talk to
them about their future to spot talent
when they even have a very young age and
then start building on that talent start
investing it getting them to
opportunities as youngsters where they
can display athletic ability or computer
skills or artistic skills or music
skills and really help build into their
lives as small children young children
that talent and and try and get kids
excited about what they’re doing as
youngsters and you end that’s a good way
to start and it requires great wisdom
and great effort and a great discipline
by parents and grandparents to open
those doors and get kids to baseball
practice and gymnastics and cheerleading
and theater and music all those things
that require a parent to have the time
and the interest in getting kids to
those opportunities where they can
develop those skills as young people I
think that’s that’s where it all begins
and that’s where it starts and that’s
where you can really build something
from from a young age what advice do you
have for people that are a little bit
older that haven’t found the sweet spot
yet well that’s a good question I hear
from them you know many people will
write me they’re in their 40s and they
don’t want to work for a pro basketball
team I have to tell them the truth you
know that really isn’t practical
I said continue being a lawyer or
continue being a real estate salesman or
whatever it is you’re doing and get your
basketball tips on the side coach
– YMCA team on the weekends or coach a
little league baseball team you know get
your Sports kick you know in that matter
because the odds of you and 45 picking
up and working for a pro team you know
it’s sports probably isn’t realistic
probably isn’t really good at work
that’s why I keep stressing the younger
the better when we can figure out what a
youngsters talent is and what their
passion is the younger the better and
I’m seeing that now with some of my
grandkids you know you can see them at a
very young age younger age we have a
granddaughter whose passion is reading
we have another youngster whose passion
is baseball we’ve got another youngster
whose passion is entertaining you he’s
five years old and he’s a clown but he
see him as an actor or an entertainer
you know he’s got that built into him at
five years of age so you’ve got to be
alert and you’ve got to be really sharp
as a parent or a grandparent to get your
kid tracking in an area where he can
really be fulfilled the rest of his life
great advice I remember when you were
speaking at the association of Water
Technologies you said that there were
seven key characteristics that great
leaders had it was the ingredients to
leadership excellent do you mind sharing
that with a scaling-up nation well in my
study of leadership and studying great
leaders world-class leaders I’ve noticed
that all of them have seven ingredients
seven qualities that will have allowed
them to be great leaders and all seven
qualities in most cases are there that
have allowed these men and women to be
world class leaders leaders that we
really look up to and admire those
qualities by the way the first one is
vision the ability to see the future
before it gets here the second one is
communicating your vision effect
wait you’ve got to be able to talk about
it you knit you got to be a good
communicator thirdly great leaders have
people skills they have interest in
other people they care about other
people then the fourth quality is Sibley
Kohn character I believe that character
counts in leadership and you can only go
as high on the leadership ladder if your
character will allow you the fifth
quality is called competence leaders are
good at what they do
then we 6th point about great leaders
it’s called boldness leaders are not
afraid to make tough decisions and then
finally the 7th quality is simply called
a serving heart the best leaders there
are the greatest servants they
understand it’s not about me it’s about
you it’s not about building my resume
it’s about building yours it’s about
advancing this this company not events
about advancing my career goals so those
are the seven qualities traits that I
have found that every great leader
possesses and those who are listening
today are very capable of studying and
learning about those seven qualities and
applying that to their leadership
package well that leads into my next
question are you born with these
qualities are these qualities that can
be developed oh I think they can be
developed oh I believe so you know I
guess they’re a handful of naturally
born leaders but I think most almost all
leaders somewhere along the line they
they have to step up and take a
leadership role even though they may not
want to or they may be scared to death
but they can learn how to lead they can
practice those seven qualities they can
keep reading and studying about them and
apply them in their role as leaders in
their home or in their community at
their work in their church you know yes
absolutely
leadership skills can be developed but
if we relied on those leaders who we
would call naturally
born leaders well they’re not many of
them around Pat you share deploying with
the AWT audience about leadership do you
mind sharing that with a scaling-up
nation well here it’s a summation of
those seven qualities it’s seven things
one must do to be a leader right and
true have vision that is strong and
clear communicate so you can hear or so
they can hear have people skills based
in love and character that’s far above
the competence to solve and teach and
boldness in his fearless reach a serving
heart that stands close by to help
assist identified so that’s a summation
of those seven qualities tres Pat I got
to tell you I am an avid reader of your
books they’re very inspiring I got the
pleasure of hearing you speak you are
incredible as a motivational speaker I
have to ask what’s next for Pat Williams
well I continue to speak when it went up
when I’m invited around the country I
still get a great deal of joy from that
we’ve got a basketball team here in
Orlando that I’m still very much
involved with and that certainly takes
up a big part of my day
and I continue to write there three more
books coming out this winter and in the
pipeline I’ve got probably another half
dozen ideas that I want to present to
publishers and and eventually write so
the writing world continues on plus
we’ve gotten we’ve got a big family 19
children who are all adults now but
we’re spending a lot of time with our 17
grandchildren and that’s a full-time job
right there so my hands continue to be
very full and Trey’s people ask me what
are you doing your spare time I’ll tell
you what I do
I read the reading is the equivalent of
somebody else’s golf we’re fishing or
hunting or stamp collecting people ask
me what’s your what’s your hobby and my
hobby is reading that fuels everything I
do it fuels my writing
fuels my speaking it brings me great
fulfillment and satisfaction so I am a
reader at heart of good good books well
Pat you had a blood into a segue that is
just great for the lightning round
questions now these are questions I’ll
ask every member of the scaling-up
nation that comes on so we could just
compare from one guest to another so my
first question is what are the last
three books that you’ve read a good
question I have read Jack McCollum’s new
book on the Golden State Warriors and
the Lakers of years ago I’ve read Sam
Smith’s new book on his evaluation of
the NBA
I’m just plowing into another history
book by Harlow Giles Unger called first
founding father Richard Henry Lee and
the call to independence
I read sports I read the presidential
biographies Irene history I read
Christian inspiration I read World War
two Civil War Revolutionary War period
those are my real interests and that I
stayed very close to those topics that
interest me as far as my rating is
concerned how many books have you
written 107 that’s the answer that’s
amazing
these last three books are finished so I
count them in the end the finished
apartment I wrote my first book when I
was 34 years old that was in the fall of
1974 and I’m still rolling them out my
high school English teacher would be
shocked he would be rolling over in his
grave if he knew this but I continued to
write and still as I mentioned I still
have some projects that I’m very
interested in getting done Matt if you
could go back in time and talk to your
former self on your first day in
professional sports what advice would
you give yourself
well my first day in professional sports
I was a minor league catcher for the
Phillies organization they sent me to
Miami in the Florida State League and
that’s where my career started my first
game I struck out the first two times up
on Suns three
pictures and so my first time up and
then my third time up I had two more
strikes so I’ve been in the impro ball
now for just a couple of days and I
hadn’t been to the plate and had eight
straight strikes against me and I
thought boy this is gonna be a very very
short career and then with that Oh to
count the next pitch I doubled to right
centerfield up against the scoreboard
cruised into second base I was the most
happy ball player you’ve ever seen in
your life the most relieved one so I
guess if I would go back and redo that I
would say ah keep swinging gives way
there you go I have no doubt they’re
going to make a movie about your life
someday when they do who plays you oh my
goodness I’m not sure that that actor
has been born
how about Tom Hanks does that sound I
love it that’s a great answer yeah I be
pleased with that I’m sorry to say this
was my last question if you could talk
to anybody throughout history who would
it be with and why well I’d sure like to
talk to Jesus I’ll get to do that one
day I would love to talk to George
Washington I would love to talk with
Abraham Lincoln I’d love to talk
baseball with Ted Williams and I’d love
to talk leadership and coaching with
Vince Lombardi I’d love to talk with dr.
Martin Luther King I’d enjoy that a
great deal although I did hear him speak
at the I have a dream speech in
Washington I was 23 years old and I got
to hear him Pat you are amazing I want
to thank you so much for coming on
scaling up I have no more questions for
you trace thanks a million I’ve enjoyed
chatting with you enjoyed seeing you in
Grand Rapids a while back and I’m so
glad we could hook up here and talk for
a while what an incredible guy he was so
easy to talk to and he’s got so much
advice on leadership and building teams
and working with people I just thought
it was incredible to be able to speak
with him and I hope you all enjoyed that
as much as I did I told you that I am a
big fan of his books he’s got many many
out there I’m gonna link to one on the
website his latest book so if you want
to read Pat’s latest book go to
scaling-up h2o comm /pw book that’s for
Pat Williams so /pw book and that’ll
take you to an affiliate link there
where you can get his book and I’m just
linking to one but if you a search Pat
he has got so many titles he said he had
well over a hundred books that he’s
written I think I’ve read three so I’ve
got a lot of catching up to do folks if
you’ve got a question out there that you
want me to answer on the air or if you
want me to interview somebody specific
please let me know what that is in the
meantime I hope you take today as an
opportunity to be a better water treater
tomorrow and I hope you tune in next
time for our next episode of scaling up
how to write week folks
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you
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