Episode 6: Walk Slow, Smile More

Dave is an entrepreneur. He is cofounder of Prop Fuel, a platform that helps associations take action on member feedback. He is also the host of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization Podcast, EO360. Dave hasn’t always been an entrepreneur.

He started his career with venerable companies like PWC, Kraft, and Nielsen. But, he was doing just fine. He lacked urgency. He got fired.

Enter entrepreneurship. Dave built a successful company and exited. He jumped into new pursuits like hosting podcasts. He interviewed television adventurer, Bear Grylls. He learned to manage intimidation, embrace radical candor, and set aside time to think.

5 Core Themes

Dave highlighted a few major themes. Here are five you should take note of in your own career adventures.

Be Intimidated

Remember to do things that are intimidating. It’s easy to get comfortable. We grow when we step out of our comfort zone and into a new space.

Dave interviewed Bear Grylls once at an Entrepreneurs’ Organization event. Bear Grylls is a survival expert and adventurist best known for his work in the television show Man vs. Wild. Before interviewing Bear, Dave was intimidated. He was about to be on stage in front of thousands of attendees. Yet, he leaned into his strengths and previous experiences to manage his fear. He excelled. It was a great experience.

Just Jump into Opportunities

Dave runs the Entrepreneurs’ Organization podcast, EO 360. About a decade ago he started it. He didn’t know anything about podcasts at the time. All he knew was that virtual learning webinars were going the way of the Dodo and being eliminated. As a member, he knew the virtual learning series was valuable. So, he saw an opportunity to keep virtual learning alive just with a different medium: the podcast.

Jumping into the opportunity helped grow his career. He’s learned from thousands of people. He’s likely helped tens of thousands more.

Radical Candor

How would you respond if you were told you haven’t grown in 10 years? It would likely feel like a gut punch. Would you get defensive and deny? Would you be sad and cry? These would be logical responses. This happened to Dave.

A board member and friend told Dave he hadn’t grown in a decade. The board member didn’t say Dave was a bad leader. He just offered up a bit of radical candor from his personal vantage point. Dave could have rejected the observation. Instead, he used it as a leadership wake up call. Dave decided to ad critical “thinking time” to his daily routine to work on himself.

Carve Time to “Think”

Dave took specific action upon receiving feedback from his board member. He carved out time to “think” in his schedule. This might sound simple. It isn’t. There are always more immediate and known problems to address. The to-do list is never ending treadmill you think you can control. You can’t. It will control you if you let it.

Carving out time to think is requires discipline and personal empathy. It requires constant management like pruning a banzai plant. It requires focus driven by your ability to hear what is needed in your life.

Doing Just Fine

How are you doing? Are you “fine?” Dave was doing just fine in his corporate career. His managers told him he lacked a sense of urgency. One even told him “you walk too slow and smile too much.” Nevermind that this kind of managerial advice is terrible. Dave got fired because he was doing just fine. Then he did more than “fine.” He excelled.

Listen to the full story

Dave has lived both big corporate and entrepreneurship. His thoughts will help encourage people who are feeling a lack of urgency in their current gigs to identify how to be engaged. Plus, his story about interviewing adventurist Bear Grills is a fun listen.

Enjoy the episode! Thanks for you support!

Paul G. Fisher

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