Podcast appearances and mentions of cal turner jr

Jeff visits with Hendersonville Ward 6 Alderman Eddie Roberson and has a great conversation with Cal Turner Jr with Dollar General.

Once again, Eddie and Chris are joined by Cal Turner Jr, the former chairman and CEO of Dollar General, a chain of stores founded by his father Cal Turner Sr. Cal earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1962 then joined the Dollar General corporation in 1965. His first job was sweeping the warehouse floor, but he worked his way up to being president in 1977 and then chairman in 1988. He served as chairman and CEO until 2003.Cal's faith led him through several very difficult moments with his family and their growing business, especially 1988 when he had to fire his brother as Chief Operating Officer, his mother passed away unexpectedly, and then he had to force his father to retire from the Board. But through it all, the love of God guided him and held him strong, so that when he retired in 2003, his successors could be even more successful than he had, and allowed him to focus more on philanthropy and giving back to the families that built his family's fortune.

Show Notes:In part one of a two-part conversation, Eddie and Chris are joined by Cal Turner Jr. Cal was the chairman and CEO of Dollar General, a chain of stores founded by his father Cal Turner Sr. Cal earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University in 1962 then joined the Dollar General corporation in 1965. His first job was sweeping the warehouse floor, but he worked his way up to being president in 1977 and then chairman in 1988. He served as chairman and CEO until 2003.Cal's faith and deep connection to his family grounded him throughout his life. When he was 11 years old, he experienced a moment of spiritual clarity that has guided him since. In this episode, Cal, Eddie, and Chris talk about his faith, his family, and touch briefly on his leadership style, which boils down to being a follower of Christ and a follower of the employees and customers that were his to lead.Join us next week for part two, where we discuss business and philanthropy with Cal.

Book discussed this month: My Father's Business: The Small-Town Values That Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company by Cal Turner, Jr

Bottom Line Faith is the podcast that bridges the gap between faith and business. On today's show, Ray sits down with Cal Turner Jr., former CEO of Dollar General. bottomlinefaith.org

*Airdate 8/7/2018 On today's podcast we will be talking about Cal's trials and tribulations both within his family and within his family business, Dollar General; what he learned; and how his experiences working in a family business might benefit you where you are today in your family business. Cal Turner, Jr. grew up in a Scottsville, Kentucky household where business and family were one. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, he served three years as an officer in the United States Navy before beginning his career at Dollar General. He served as CEO for 37 years and during his tenure the number of Dollar General stores rose from 150 with sales of $40 million, to more than 6,000 with sales in excess of $6 billion. In today's episode, I will ask Cal to share: Why was it important to write this book about the Turner family business now? What is the significance of the terms “an old man's caution” and a “young man's ambition”? How did your desire to be a people pleaser influence your relationships with family, employees, board members and investors when you eventually took over leadership at Dollar General? What were your mom's 3 rules about fighting? What advice would you give a father/mother whose work defines them about letting go and allowing the next generation to carry on the legacy? Why is philanthropy so important to your family business? If you have a question about working in your family business or succession planning, contact us at info@tncfb.com. To learn more about the Tennessee Center for Family Business, visit our website at www.tncfb.com. Podcast made with help provided by Visual Media Co. https://www.visualmediaco.com/

Today I am taking with Cal Turner Jr. former CEO and grandson of the founder of Dollar General. Join us as Cal talk's about his Fathers Business. You can get the book here https://www.amazon.com/My-Fathers-Business-Small-Town-Billion-Dollar-ebook/dp/B075CS8STK --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/greg-dickerson/support

Bottom Line Faith is the podcast that bridges the gap between faith and business. On today's show, Ray sits down with Cal Turner Jr., former CEO of Dollar General. bottomlinefaith.org

In one of the most personal and wide-ranging interviews he’s done, Skip talks with former Dollar General CEO Cal Turner, Jr. Under Turner’s leadership, this global powerhouse grew to 14,000 stores and over $20 billion in sales each year. He’s a servant leadership expert who talks frankly about succession planning and the value of empowering others to set their own goals. And he shares personal stories about his inspirational journey, including one about how he learned everything he needed to know about leadership... from two very different piano teachers.

What does it take to become a millionaire? First, you gotta know your customer. That is something that Cal Turner, Jr.'s father and grandfather believed was a top priority when they first opened for business in 1939. Fast forward to today and now Dollar General, the retail store that Americans know and love, is a thriving Fortune 500 Company opening in new locations each year while other retails are closing their doors. What is the secret to their success? Learn about the principles of working hard, being honest and taking good care of your customers all found in his book, "My Father's Business." Hosted by 9-time Emmy winner David Sams & life coach to the stars Tim Storey. 

Dec 29, 2018 | Bill O'Reilly, Cal Turner Jr., Chonda Pierce & Scott McEwan | Huckabee by Huckabee

Cal Turner Jr. was the CEO of Dollar General for decades after inheriting the business from his father. He joins us to talk about how faith and family helped him turn a million dollar business into a billion dollar business, plus a few stories from his new book My Father’s Business: The Small-Town Values That […]

Ep #180- The Daily Best of GB Podcast: 9/13/18  - The Next Crash?... - Downgrading Climate Change? - 'Live Album at the Houston Rodeo' (w/ Aaron Watson)  - 'My Father's Business' (w/ Cal Turner Jr.)  - Mike Rowe joins Glenn  - 'The Slow Death of Comedy' (w/ Andrew Heaton) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hour 1 The Next Crash?...could the 2008 financial crisis happen again?...Experts say, the next crash has been 'triggered'...Americans are living way beyond their means?...'we're broke'...Warning: they're coming for your pension funds next? ...Hurricane Florence 'downgraded'? ...Country music Superstar, Aaron Watson joins to discuss, New 'Live Album at the Houston Rodeo'...Aaron is still helping raise money for victims of Hurricane Harvey...41 TX counties we're affected and still need help recovering...AaronWatson.com and MercuryOne.org ...Social Media's continue to ban?...is this America anymore?    Hour 2  American Greatness Hour?... "My Father's Business" with author, Cal Turner Jr...first-person account of the family that changed the American retail landscape...birth of a retail giant 'Dollar General'...when life is about 'serving others' and the customer was 'everything' to a business ...Star of 'Dirty Jobs', Mike Rowe joins to discuss his recent comments on the Nike, Colin Kaepernick Ad?...poor timing on Nike's part...@MikeRoweWorks Hour 3 Killing and eating, while women pee on a octopus?...just a few of the things (topics) the Social Media's won't remove? ...Stand-up comedian and Reason.com writer, Andrew Heaton, joins Glenn to discuss the Norm McDonald backlash and the slow death of comedy? ...Entertainer, Superstar Pat Boone joins...recalling when Pat wouldn't kiss his co-star in the 50's...the background story behind Debbie Boone's song "You Light Up My Life"? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

with Jeff Jordan (@Jeff_Jordan), Cal Turner Jr., and Hanne Tidnam (@omnivorousread) The "death of retail" in the face of e-commerce and tech disruption is a very real phenomenon, but what about the flip side of that story -- that is, retail thriving despite all odds? Enter Dollar General, a multi-billion-dollar success story of the U.S. chain with 14,000 brick-and-mortar dollar stores. So in this episode of the a16z Podcast, general partner Jeff Jordan -- who was formerly an SVP for The Disney Stores (and has written much about declining malls, competing with Amazon, and the tipping point for ecommerce, among other things) -- with Hanne Tidnam interviews Cal Turner, Jr., the CEO of Dollar General and author of the new book, My Father's Business: The Small-Town Values That Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company. How did Dollar General go from the Great Depression to nearly filing for bankruptcy to IPO and entering the Fortune 500? It turns out, the journey -- not unlike startups and successful big companies -- is a case study in focus, focus, focus... whether it was pricing (natch) or inventory or a focus on customers or simply (but not so simply!) focusing on one's "true north".

On today’s podcast we will be talking about Cal’s trials and tribulations both within his family and within his family business, Dollar General; what he learned; and how his experiences working in a family business might benefit you where you are today in your family business. Cal Turner, Jr. grew up in a Scottsville, Kentucky household where business and family were one. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, he served three years as an officer in the United States Navy before beginning his career at Dollar General. He served as CEO for 37 years and during his tenure the number of Dollar General stores rose from 150 with sales of $40 million, to more than 6,000 with sales in excess of $6 billion. In today’s episode, I will ask Cal to share: · Why was it important to write this book about the Turner family business now?· What is the significance of the terms “an old man’s caution” and a “young man’s ambition”?· How did your desire to be a people pleaser influence your relationships with family, employees, board members and investors when you eventually took over leadership at Dollar General?· What were your mom’s 3 rules about fighting?· What advice would you give a father/mother whose work defines them about letting go and allowing the next generation to carry on the legacy?· Why is philanthropy so important to your family business? If you have a question about working in your family business or succession planning, contact us at info@tncfb.com.  To learn more about the Tennessee Center for Family Business, visit our website atwww.tncfb.com.

Providing unbeatable value to customers is a timeless idea—and one that former Dollar General CEO Cal Turner Jr. credits for growing his family’s business into a billion-dollar enterprise. Join us as he shares stories straight from the entrepreneurial front lines, along with insight into his father’s founding strategy and why it worked. We’ll also hear from Dave and his daughter Rachel Cruze about how—and why—they keep family and business separate at the office. Spoiler alert: Clearly defined roles are the best place to start. entreleadership.com/podcast The 6 Major Mistakes That Will Destroy Your Family Business from EntreLeadership Custom Growth Plan from Infusionsoft Want expert help with your business question? Call 844-944-1070 and leave a message or send an email to podcast@entreleadership.com. You could be featured on a future podcast episode!

Bloomberg Opinion columnist Barry Ritholtz interviews Cal Turner Jr., who in 1965 began his career at the company founded by his father and grandfather in 1939: Dollar General. He succeeded his father as president in 1977 and as chairman in 1988. At the time of his retirement in 2003, Dollar General had grown into a New York Stock Exchange retailer with more than 6,000 stores in 27 states and annual sales in excess of $6 billion. He is the author of "My Father's Business: The Small-Town Values That Built Dollar General into a Billion-Dollar Company." 

Every caregiver struggles with asking for help—usually due to at least one of the following reasons: Guilt Embarrassment Shame Not knowing what help looks like Being afraid of asking for help ...and being refused Being afraid of asking for help and the person doing it wrong—creating a bigger mess Being afraid of the person helping for a season and then simply quitting Regardless of why we won’t ask for help, it doesn’t negate the fact that we need help.   Cal Turner, Jr. retired CEO of Dollar General, sat in on the show with us and talked about the skill of learning to delegate.  "To delegate is to be a great leader, and it's one of the real test of you ...or anyone as a leader:  how well you delegate." Cal Turner, Jr. Cal went on to say, "You don't always do it right, but you're always learning from doing it." As a caregiver, how can you delegate something ...even a small thing ...today?  

Cal Turner Jr., retired CEO of Dollar General, joined me in the studio live on June 3, 2018 to discuss his new book, My Father's Business.  In this powerful interview on HOPE FOR THE CAREGIVER, Cal takes caregivers on a journey of unpacking Stewardship. Delegation. entrepreneurship and Leadership ...all in the context of being about our Father's business—whether in the business world or serving as a family caregiver. "The heart is often a better problem solver than the mind."  - Cal Turner, Jr.  

Carol is joined by Bloomberg’s New York Bureau Chief Jason Kelly and they speak to Lindsey Piegza, Chief Economist at Stifel Financial, on Federal Reserve officials saying the economic outlook warranted another interest-rate hike “soon.” Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence Fixed-Income Strategist, discusses Turkey’s lira slumping to a new record as hopes faded that the central bank may step in to rescue the battered currency. Cal Turner Jr., Former CEO at Dollar General, shares stories from his book "My Father's Business.” Eric Newcomer, Bloomberg News Startup Reporter, explains how Silicon Valley wants to tax big tech the way Seattle has. And we Drive to the Close with Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera Financial Group. 

Carol is joined by Bloomberg's New York Bureau Chief Jason Kelly and they speak to Lindsey Piegza, Chief Economist at Stifel Financial, on Federal Reserve officials saying the economic outlook warranted another interest-rate hike “soon.” Damian Sassower, Bloomberg Intelligence Fixed-Income Strategist, discusses Turkey's lira slumping to a new record as hopes faded that the central bank may step in to rescue the battered currency. Cal Turner Jr., Former CEO at Dollar General, shares stories from his book "My Father's Business.” Eric Newcomer, Bloomberg News Startup Reporter, explains how Silicon Valley wants to tax big tech the way Seattle has. And we Drive to the Close with Gene Goldman, Chief Investment Officer at Cetera Financial Group.  Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com

Former Dollar General CEO, Cal Turner Jr joins Moe Abdou to relive the trials and tribulations of growing a multi-generation family business.    

Cal Turner received his B.A., cum laude, from Vanderbilt University in 1962. Following his graduation from Vanderbilt, Mr. Turner served for more than three years as an officer in the United States Navy. In December 1965, he began his career at Dollar General, the company founded by his father and grandfather in 1939. He succeeded his father as president in 1977 and as chairman in 1988. At the time of his retirement in 2003, Dollar General had grown into a New York Stock Exchange retailer with more than 6,000 stores in 27 states and annual sales in excess of $6 billion. Mr. Turner has served on the boards of a number of civic and charitable organizations, including the Easter Seal Society of Tennessee, Inc., Leadership Nashville, the PENCIL Foundation and the YMCA of Middle Tennessee. From 2000 – 2001 he was president of the Board of Governors of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. He is a past chairman of the Board of Trustees of Lindsey Wilson College in Columbia, Kentucky, a current member of the Board of Trustees of Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, and Vanderbilt University in Nashville and present Chairman of the YMCA of Middle Tennessee. In 1988, Mr. Turner accepted the Presidential Award for Private Sector Initiatives from President Ronald Regan at a White House ceremony.  In 1991, the Sales and Marketing Executives of Nashville recognized Mr. Turner with the Summit Award for his excellence in management.  He received the Silver Hope Chest Award in 1992, an honor presented annually by the Middle Tennessee chapter of the National Multiple Sclerosis Society.  In 1994, he was honored as Nashvillian of the Year by the Easter Seal Society of Tennessee.  In 1997, he received the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Volunteer of the Year Award from the United Way of Middle Tennessee, and, in 1998, he received the Vanderbilt Distinguished Alumnus Award.  In 2002, Meharry Medical College presented Mr. Turner with the school’s prestigious Salt Wagon Award, given for acts of kindness and commitment to Meharry Medical College and its mission. Cal Turner’s commitment to the Methodist Church has been a lifelong personal ministry of faith. The Tennessee Conference of the United Methodist Church inducted Mr. Turner into the Fellows of the Society of John Wesley in 2001, for distinguished service to local church mission and ministry. In 2002, Mr. Turner was award the Stanley S. Kresge Award by the United Methodist Higher Education Foundation for his commitment to higher education. He and his wife Margaret are the parents of Cal Turner, III, who, with his wife Hope, are the parents of Cal Turner, IV, Alex Turner and Will Turner.

This session of Orchestrating Success is about forecasting the future and then making it happen. Orchestrating Success: Converting Your Passion to Profit. Don’t misunderstand this as being all about profit, all about money, all about the green back. It is an important commodity that helps us. It’s sort of like the gas. You get a car, which is sort of like building your business. You learn to drive it sometimes. Now you need to put gas in the car. It’s the fuel that runs your organization, the enterprise that you have been charged with leading. Effective leaders live in the future. We forecast what is going to happen. I remember somebody talking about a famous hockey player one time. They noted that he skated where the puck was going to go. He was there ahead of time. Think about visionary leaders. They are paying attention, looking at the future. That is part of it. Let’s envision the future in this podcast. Looking ahead: envision the future. When Napoleon Hill interviewed Andrew Carnegie, Carnegie introduced him to the most successful business leaders of his time: Ford, Woolworth, Wanamaker, Edison, five presidents, amazing people with amazing success. What Napoleon Hill found out is that every one of them saw the future and could see it in present tense. Definiteness of purpose is what he called that. We as leaders are charged with a vision. The vision is what takes us to where we want to go. Does it? No. The vision is the target. We take us where we want to go. There is a whole lot that needs to happen between the visioning and the arrival point. I’m watching the Olympics, and the track and field is this week. I really love it. I used to run in high school, and I still do; well, we call it running. It is equipping our bodies to do what our brains think we want to do. I have run several half-marathons and lots and lots of shorter races, and I don’t just get up one day and decide to run a road race. However, I meet lots of people, visionary leaders, who want to start a charity, a church, a business. They have an idea and are going to make it happen. Wait a minute, did you train for this marathon? Did you learn to fly the plane before you take off? Flying the plane might not be too hard; it’s the landing part that is tricky. Starting a business, a lot of people do that. Mark Twain used to say, “Giving up smoking is the easiest thing I have ever done. As a matter of fact, I have done it hundreds of times.” Sometimes serial entrepreneurs keep starting businesses because they don’t succeed. We read about the ones who start successful businesses, sell them, and then move on. We don’t read as much about the ones who start and don’t make it. Therefore, let’s equip ourselves for success before we start. Let’s envision the future. Then let’s create a pathway to get there. Envisioning the future, that is an art in itself. Let’s talk about leadership. There are many styles of leadership. Autocratic, charismatic leaders, we read about those. Those people are up there saying, “Do this, do this.” They are called the boss. They give all the orders. They manage. They create anxiety, which we call energy. They create all the stress for themselves. They are always in charge, and they are always giving orders. If that is the way you want to live, that’s okay; however, you might want to take a day off, you might want to go somewhere. We are going to talk in the upcoming sessions about building a system that is going to be the underlying foundation for your enterprise. It’s going to make money in several ways: make money while you are sleeping, make money with your team, your projects, your events, your products, and your personal activities. Before we get there, we have to look at the future. Now, we have a talent, we have a vision, we have programs, we are really good at something, we have really good products. That is the core of what we are doing: the vision and delivery of content around that vision. The Hugh Ballou 10/90 rule is 10% is what you know you have, and the other 90% is what you don’t know that you don’t know. The 90% that is under the water of the iceberg is what holds that 10% above the water. The 90% is the structure of our business: our team, our skill, our plan, our implementation process, our budget. All of those things empower that 10% to be successful. Otherwise, we are running down the runway without any idea as to how we are going to take off in this plane and much less of an idea of how to land it. Charismatic leaders are those that have a vision, but it is mostly all about them. They are the heart of everything; they are the bottleneck of it. The antithesis of that is transformational leadership. It is on the same side of the curve as transformational leadership. On one end of the spectrum, you have the autocratic, charismatic leader: “Do this. Do this. I call the shots. I do everything.” 180 degrees the other way is the transformational leader. The transformational leader clearly identifies the future. Here is the vision. Here are the goals. This is our mission. This is how we are going to accomplish it. The transformational leader is very skilled at creating a high-functioning culture. I call this series “Orchestrating Success” because of my 40 years as a musical conductor. I pulled people together that typically had no reason to be together. I worked in the church and did music ministry for 40 years. I had the pleasure of working in some very large organizations and was able to hire players from significant symphony orchestras around the country and the world. I would pull groups of people together, and we would be aligned with our commonalities. That is, the passion for music, the passion for creating excellence. We knew what to do because we had that thing in front of us called sheet music, which is a piece of paper. What I did as a leader was impact the culture, influence the people to perform at the highest level possible to connect their passion with the end results. We create this magnificent stuff called music just out of nothing. It is a bunch of dots. We get together, and we make it happen. Transform that into the workplace. We have a vision as a leader. We have defined the future. How are we going to get there? Let’s create a plan. Let’s define the gaps. In the first gap, we are going to have a couple of sessions in this series about all the mechanics of all of these rubrics of putting together the plan. I am in favor of a strategic plan. A strategic plan is like the piece of music. It tells you what to do when; it’s an operational plan. It’s how you will implement and when and who and how fast. All of that stuff is in your strategy. A business plan is usable for some functions in my world, like giving it to a banker, presenting it to an investor. It’s a summary document that is about the business. By the way, I don’t make any distinctions on running various kinds of small enterprises. We as social entrepreneurs are making a difference, whether we are running a charity. We use the word nonprofit as a philosophy when really it is a tax classification. If we make money, then we can pay salaries, we can accomplish things. We are tax-exempt, so the entity does not pay income tax. However, when we pay salaries, we pay income tax on that. Everybody wins. We pay taxes as a responsible citizen. We get things done as a responsible enterprise. We have installed business principles into this charity. Nonprofit is not a philosophy; it is a tax classification. There are lots of rules governing how we do things, and it is very important that we mind the shop. We take care of how we run business, whether we are running an S-corp, a C-corp, an LLC, or a charity. We have disciplines that are very important. As a musician, if we don’t have commitment, if we don’t have discipline, we don’t have excellence, and we are not good. There is no point in us making music because people don’t want to hear it. In business, we must have discipline, commitment, and focus. Installing a leadership culture of high performing is what transformational leadership is about. It is about the vision. It is about us as leaders not doing everything. We let go of things we should not be doing. We however learn delegation as one of those high-level skills that a leader needs to have. We duplicate and multi-task through the work of others who have the passion, the commitment, and the discipline because we have modeled that, which is the first and foremost principle of transformational leadership: modeling what you see. A famous conductor of conductors, as he was teaching other conductors, said, “What they see,” meaning the orchestra or choir, “is what you get.” In managing teams, what they see with the experience is what you are going to get. It’s like our children learn from us, and they model things that we do, not necessarily what we say we ought to do. Some of those are good, and some of those are things we wish we had not shared with them, but they were alert and picked up on it anyway. Therefore, we want to shape the future of not only our enterprise, but also how we are going to get there by building a strong, high-functioning, passionate, excellent team. We do that by starting with ourselves. This podcast is about managing self. If we want anything to happen, first and foremost, we need to work on ourselves, the transformational leader. We have a vision. So what? Everybody has an idea. Out of every 100 people that I hear a fantastic vision from, there are only three that will actually do something about it. Why? Because, well, as Jim Rohn used to tell us in his trainings, that is the law of averages. Three people will do something. Now the statistics show that 90% of those who do something fail because they did not start out by equipping themselves for this marathon. If you are going to run a marathon and you don’t want to die on the path, you don’t want to run out of steam, you don’t want to end up in the ditch, it is important to train for the marathon. Train regularly, train with a pattern, and train with a coach. You have a plan. You have a coach. You have an accountability partner. It is the discipline of regular training that builds up your body’s ability to make the end of the marathon. Running an enterprise is not a sprint; it is not a series of sprints; it is a marathon. We do one plan, and we migrate that plan over time. We upgrade it and fine-tune it, and it becomes the plan of action for everybody. We are not starting and stopping with a new plan every 3-5 years. We are growing the plan of excellence that we have envisioned, and we change it, revise it, edit it, and update it according to the culture, the upgrade of the vision, the progress we have made, and the new products and services and accelerated revenue we have to broaden the base of that plan. As we are beginning this journey, it is really critical to write down the vision, to claim the vision. In my world, that is the concept you tell people. “What is this about?” they ask you. You can tell them in one concise statement. It is one powerful statement that talks about what the concept is. Define the future in present tense. A good response to that would be, “How do you do that?” That would be the mission. The mission is we accomplish it this way, this way, and this way. Our vision and mission are at the heart of success, which is our ability to lead. As we wrap up this particular podcast, I would like to encourage you to work on yourself first. I had to stop there because I had to think about how to say that. Managing self is a constant upgrade. I say this with all humility because I am still working on myself, upgrading myself, and working on those things that I would like to increase my ability and my effectiveness and the whole footprint of what I offer to humankind. That is a lifelong journey. When I listen to the famous leadership presenter Bob Proctor speak, last time, he said he was 81 or 82, and people ask him when he is going to slow down. He responds to them, “I am going to speed up because I am 80 and I have more to do.” It is more impactful. I thought, Isn’t that great? He also goes on to say that retirement is not part of his vocabulary or DNA. That is a great inspiration. If we are doing something, it is important to continue to build excellence. Let’s look at what our skills are. Later in this series, there is an interview with Cal Turner Jr. Cal went to his management team in Dollar General. His highly-skilled managers were very talented. Cal went to them and said, “My dad founded this company, and I am now president and CEO because I am his son. I have a vision for where we are going, but I don’t necessarily have the skills. I got this job because of my genes, not my skills. Here is where we are going.” Cal reported that every one of those people stepped up and said, “Okay, I am contributing, and we are going to achieve that vision.” They did. They went public, and it was very successful. Dollar General continues to be a very profitable, successful business, even to this day. Cal said to me, “Hugh, leadership is about defining your gaps and then being very transparent about them.” This is very consistent with the model of transformational leadership that I have been teaching for years. I have morphed it into the conductor teaches leadership because the conductor models the transformational leader in taking individuals and transforming them into a choir or an orchestra and then transforming it into what we call an ensemble. The ensemble is that higher level of synergy that musicians learn to perform because they listen, because the conductor inspires them to do, and because the conductor creates the space for people to achieve excellence as a community, as a culture. As we think about leading our teams in the enterprise that we lead, equipping ourselves is the first rule of order. Often, when I am talking to people about building their business, they say, “I am going to do all this stuff, get my team, come back, and work on leadership.” I am sad to report to you that doesn’t work. That is backwards. First, work on yourself, then work on your plan, then work on your team. That is the sequence. Otherwise, you won’t have the wisdom for who to put on the team. Who is going to do what, and how, and how will you manage this? We start a train wreck right from the beginning. Leaders cause problems. That is one way we cause problems. Because it is us, we don’t really know what we are doing. We send off confusing, conflicting, and damaging messages to the culture that we hope to lead. We have it in our mind. I love it when people say, “I have my goals in my mind. I don’t need to write them down.” If you are going to work all by yourself, that might be good. But it is never beneficial: it is a lack of commitment and clarity. It is so easy to keep changing them as there is no accountability if you don’t write them down and share them. The first rule of leadership is defining the gaps. This is what I do really well. I suggest you start with a blank piece of paper and list your skills. These are the things that you are good at. Give it a number from 1-10. How good are you? How many 10’s do you have? How many 9’s? That means you are very good at those things. Look at the things that you are very good at. Then look at the ones with low numbers, and start making a list of your gaps. Here are things I don’t do well. You are starting to build a list of things you can delegate, which is another podcast on how to build the skill to learn to delegate. Build the skills; work on those that you are good at. As John Maxwell writes, if it is below a 5, don’t worry about increasing it because it will never get to a 10. If it is a 5 or below, that is where you want to delegate. You are going to work on the ones that are a 6 or above because those are the ones you are good at. Among those things that you are good at, there are still things you should not be doing. We as leaders do too much. The primary lesson of this podcast is to identify your gaps. Notice I did not say strengths or weaknesses. I don’t think that because we don’t do a thing well that it is a weakness. It is a gap. It’s not what we are supposed to be doing. Free yourself of this critical language. Here is my skill. Here is my gap. Here are opportunities for me to surround myself with skilled people that can help me work with me partner with me, collaborate with me to achieve the vision. There are two things we are responsible for as leaders in any enterprise: 1) Make sure the vision we articulate is faithfully executed throughout the organization. That is a full-time job as you grow this. It is very important to make sure that vision is faithfully articulated, and that is part of your strategy. If we don’t mind the store, who is? It’s our vision. The second responsibility of the leader is to watch the money. Where does it go? Do we have positive cash flow? Are we making a profit? In a nonprofit, we must make profit in order to do the work that we said we are going to do. It is not profit in a business sense where we take it home and distribute it to stockholders. It is profit that is fuel for the programs and services that we offer people because we are a charity. We must have positive cash flow; we must have money left over. It is really good stewardship of resources. No matter what we are doing, work on our gaps. Tend to ourselves. Manage ourselves because we as leaders are people of influence. When we are in business, we do get stress. For the weary and frantic, take a note. Take a breath. Inventory your skills and gaps. Develop a plan on working on your skills and delegating those gaps.   This is Hugh Ballou. Orchestrating success begins with empowering yourself to do those things that you don’t yet know you are going to need to do for your ultimate success.