We recently connected with Jeffrey Byrd and have shared our conversation below.

Jeffrey, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Can you share a customer success story with us?

A few years ago, just after becoming a values-based leadership Specialist with Global Priority Solutions, I conducted my first discussion on values-based leadership in a virtual setting.
I was working with the directors on a team. When the time came for us to state our “action step” regarding the value of Understanding People, which we were discussing that day, one of the directors said she recently had a direct report resign and take a job elsewhere, and she didn’t understand why.
In training, the section called the “action step” provides forward momentum. Her “action step” was to engage the direct report to better understand her and why she had given notice.
In the subsequent meeting, when each person shared the results of their “action step”, she stated that the meeting with her direct report had been quite successful. Not only did she gain an understanding of why the report had resigned, but together, they were able to come to a solution that was agreeable to both the employee and the organization.
The employee called the other company, where she had accepted a position, told them she wasn’t coming, and retained her position with the current company!
I love this story because it shows how much a little time devoted to gaining an understanding of another person can make! What an easy way to reduce attrition.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I once heard it said that the “heart of every issue is a heart issue”.
Everything I do is centered around understanding the heart of another person and engaging them to create better leadership, teamwork, sales, and communication and, thus, uplevel the culture of any organization.
The heart is exactly how I first became involved in the coaching/training/speaking industry.
A friend of mine from kindergarten friended me on Facebook. She had seen the notes I was writing on various topics (Facebook has since ceased to offer notes) and the photos I was posting and asked to interview me for her TV show. She had connected with my heart through my posts!
The first time we tried to record, one of the studio staff had a family illness and we were not able to record. We sat at her kitchen table for hours, catching up. She had left a “safe” job at the Department of Defense and joined John Maxwell Leadership to train as a speaker/trainer/coach.
After a long time of catching up, she told me she thought I’d be great in this role. I thought about it for a few weeks and then decided to jump on board. It has had its ups and downs, but the value I’ve been able to add to lives has made it worth everything.
One of my favorite offerings is the Maxwell Method of DISC. All of us have a personality and it’s none of our fault! Gaining insight into the story behind the personality, the desires, the fears, and the communication preferences are all part of this training and I love to see people and teams change due to the insight provided.
I also love training on values, as it is so wonderful to see others (and myself) deliberately choosing to become more intentional about embracing and displaying values, such as listening, patience, resilience, restraint, courage, self-esteem, etc. Increasing our values profile truly adds greater value to our lives and those of others!
I am also a Licensed Brain Health Coach with Dr. Amen. After all, when our brain works well, everything becomes possible.
Better brains yield better thoughts and understanding, which yield better lives and teams!
At the end of the day, everything in life is about understanding the story that informs our thoughts and choices. The more we understand one another, the better we work together, lead, and communicate together.
As one CEO friend says, “People want to work where they are appreciated, not tolerated”!

We often hear about learning lessons – but just as important is unlearning lessons. Have you ever had to unlearn a lesson?

One of the most challenging lessons I’ve had to unlearn is the belief that knowing about being a good leader is the same as being a good leader.
When I first began leadership training, I absorbed as much information as possible about leadership, thinking that knowing all about leadership would automatically make me a good leader.
Someone once said, “A message formed in a mind reaches a mind. But a message formed in a life reaches a life”.
I’ve learned the truth of this the hard way.
Learning about leadership has had its benefits, but it is the application of those leadership principles to my own difficult situations that has made the difference and allowed me to teach out of experience and not only intellect.
I find that living the principles is infinitely more challenging than simply knowing about them.
When the challenges come, the question is whether or not I will live according to all I have learned, or simply look for an easier way out.
If I choose the better (and often more temporarily difficult path) of making the right decisions, I can then share my own stories of perseverance and living my values, rather than simply sharing what others have said.
I’ve found that personal confidence grows as I adhere to what I truly value, even when tested.

Can you open up about a time when you had a really close call with the business?

One of my most painful and difficult moments came from doing business with a friend.
Previously, we had several very successful trainings with her team. When she asked me for a series of trainings, which her company very much endorsed, I didn’t charge the usual deposit due to our successful history.
The specific training she requested required me to purchase the rights to the training. This cost $3,000. We scheduled a series of 11 trainings, totaling over $5,000.
When the time neared for the first training in the series, she called to postpone it, due to staffing issues.
Over the following year, we tried to re-engage on the training but were always unsuccessful.
Ultimately, I ended up losing (between the lost revenue and the out-of-pocket expenses) over $8,000.
This was a great blow to my small business and extremely discouraging.
Since that time I’ve recovered through much evaluation, forgiveness, and faith that I will ultimately succeed.
I’ve also learned to charge deposits, even among friends (who always understand the wisdom behind this), and have not repeated this huge situation of loss.
A very hard lesson learned.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.jeffbyrdcoaching.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/clturecoach/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/coachingrocks
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-byrd-077b598/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jeffreybyrdcoaching2398

Image Credits

Jeffrey Byrd
Angie Byrd
Nia McLeod