Colby B. Jubenville, PhD, is an international speaker, author, educator and coach. He is the Co-Host of the Goat Consulting Podcast.
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I recently attended EntreCon in Pensacola, Florida. The conference is the brainchild of Quint Studer, Florida businessman, philanthropist, public speaker and founder of a healthcare consulting company, Studer Group. To me, Studer is a visionary who might also be the coolest human being I have ever met.
Studer, like his conference, is special. One of his foundational beliefs is that training and development change businesses and communities for the better. The conference did something I hadn't seen another conference do: Everyone felt like they belonged. In fact, the sign that was placed for all to see when they walked in said, “You belong here.” EntreCon furthers Studer's commitment to these principles.
One of the sessions that I attended was led by Bert Thornton, the former president and COO of Waffle House. I was interested in attending Thornton’s session because I love Waffle House and loved his topic that day — mentorship.
Waffle House has been a constant in my life. In my college days, it was a refuge after a long night of studying or partying. It’s where I interviewed for my first job. Sam Walker's Wall Street Journal article “If You Can Manage a Waffle House, You Can Manage Anything” is a resource I reference frequently in books, speeches and consultations. A colleague and friend once even complimented me when he said, “Jubenville, you are a lot like Waffle House. You serve it up in a way that people can get it.” That single, home-spun complement has resonated with me through the years as I have continued to evolve as a professor, author, business consultant and public speaker. People want information served up in a way they can get it.
Thornton reminded me of that in the lunch and learn he led with Dr. Sherry Hartnett, a University of West Florida marketing and leadership professor and consultant. Together, Thornton and Hartnett wrote High-Impact Mentoring: A Practical Guide to Creating Value in Other People’s Lives.
With regard to how to create a life and a career, Thornton believes you can succeed if you simply care, try, learn and stay. Why stay? The grass may always be greener on the other side, Thornton said, but it has the same dirt under it. This is to say that you can learn — and succeed — in your current role if you're willing to do the work. Thornton’s life mantra is it's what you learn once you think you know it all that really counts. Talk about serving it up in a way that people can get it.
It got me thinking about my own menu for success. Below, in Waffle House parlance, are the key ingredients.
• Scattered (just the potatoes): You are the base ingredient at the core of your journey to success. Focus on the internal work you must do to improve yourself.
• Peppered (spicy jalapeño peppers): Identify your unique abilities, the so-called spice you bring to life. Articulate three things: your unique perspective (how you see things), your unique education (how you know something) and your unique experience (how you connect to something).
• Chunked (grilled hickory smoked ham): Think progress, not perfection. Too many people I consult get frustrated if they don’t see immediate results, but — like a smoked ham — success takes time. Focus on incremental improvement.
• Diced (grilled tomatoes): Learn to open yourself up. Become vulnerable and transparent. You don’t have to be a know-it-all and there are many ways to do things — tomayto/tomahto! Accept input and seek it out.
• Topped (Bert’s chili): Find a coach or mentor to sprinkle in some good life advice. Sometimes you need someone who knows your mission and keeps reminding you to "stir the soup."
• Smothered (sautéed onions): Sometimes a bite of the onion instead of the apple is just the wake-up call you need. Don’t allow confidence and experience to blind you to the fact that you still need to grow and evolve. Look at it this way: You are not done, you are getting better!
• Capped (grilled button mushrooms): Be authentic. Always remember the soil you sprang from and then cultivate some simple truths about who you are and what you believe in as a result of your journey. Whether you are aware of it or not, the simple truths about you are based on and reflected by your core values.
• Country (sausage gravy): People need more than a simple meat-and-potatoes approach if you plan to win their business. Put some gravy on what you are dishing up! Learn to use stories to move and influence people. Facts tell, stories sell. Great stories resonate and result in relationships.
• Covered (melted cheese): If you want to be the "Big Cheese," you have to recognize that in life, adversity is the norm. Nothing worth doing ever comes without obstacles. You have to see the adversity you face in pursuit of your dreams as the fuel to accelerate the growth you seek.
What an inspiration Bert was! The session ended and people lined up to spend a second with him as he signed books and called each person by name. It was Bert doing what he does best: Dishing up success, one plate at a time.
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