Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jim Boneau. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jim, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, so you had your idea and then what happened? Can you walk us through the story of how you went from just an idea to executing on the idea
My idea was to use my passion and skills as a teacher to help leaders in communities and organizations lead from their heart. It was a big leap going from that idea to standing in front of hundreds of executives at an American manufacturing giant. I needed skills, credibility, and exposure to all I didn’t know about leadership. I knew to get from my idea to real life, I needed to invest in myself. At 40 years old, I went back to school – graduate school. After 2 years I graduated and was voted by my classmates to give our commencement address. After graduation, while some of my classmates started their own businesses right away, I decided to join an existing firm and work under its leadership and mission. It was an amazing opportunity right after graduation, and it was also the “safe” choice. I believed I was not an entrepreneur and would not be successful on my own. For 10 years I worked for this firm, which provided me access to high profile clients, international travel, and grew my experiences and confidence as a leadership development practitioner. Over those 10 years, while I wanted to pursue my vision for leadership development, I adopted the approaches and processes of the firm. There were challenges at times, but I always thought those challenges were less than the challenge of building a business from scratch. After 10 years, the challenge (and pain) of NOT pursuing my own vision became greater than my fear of starting my own business. It’s the pain that inspired me to move from the idea of starting my own business to the execution of resigning from the firm and founding The Rumble Group.
I had the idea of combining my leadership development expertise with my passion for community development using rhythm and drumming. I knew to stake out this new territory and idea I would need a catchy brand, something to demonstrate my capabilities, and customers willing to take a chance on something different. The name The Rumble Group emerged from a conversation with a friend who worked at Facebook. He suggested a name with one word which was both memorable and thought-provoking. I considered the worlds of leadership development and drum circles. There are many overlaps between the 2: groups of people working to accomplish a goal, many parts working together, overcoming obstacles, continuous learning. These were all true, but didn’t inspire the catchy, one word of a brand. As I continued my reflection on the 2, one item that jumped out to me was that both leadership development and drum circles strive to create clarity from chaos. Chaos – yes that was the word many of my leadership development clients used to describe their current situation. In a drum circle there are times of chaos too – sometimes naturally and sometimes as directed by a facilitator when they ask the group to make as much drumming sound as they can, a direction called Rumble. My clients often felt like they were rumbling in overcoming their own challenges. This was the overlap point that drew my interest and more importantly, gave me a term for the time of change and unsettledness we all feel at times – we rumble like a car going over train track, a street fighter standing up for a fight, or a drum circle when everyone plays all the notes as loud as possible. Yes, Rumble encapsulates both my role as a leadership coach and a drum circle facilitator. But more importantly, it truly creates a window for clients to consider what’s causing them to feel rumbled.
Once I had my brand’s name, I wanted to create clarity about what Rumble meant and how I could solve the problems of potential clients. I also wanted to increase my overall credibility in my field. One way to demonstrate capabilities was through a published book. It became clear to me that the book I had considered writing for years was the next step I needed to take my idea into reality. I worked with a book writing coach, gave myself a year to write, and got to work. I was writing during the evening and weekends while accepting contracting jobs from my former firm and other services firms to sustain me before the book was published. In 2020 I published The Rumble Zone: Leadership Strategies in the Rough & Tumble of Change, which launched as a best seller on Amazon.
All those steps were taking idea to execution, but the final step was the step that really mattered. I could have a brand and even a book, but if no one was buying it, then had a really taken my idea to the world? Using my existing network and asking for help to spread my message, I was able to attract that first client. Now, after all the previous hard work, it was time to do what I was really pursuing: helping leaders tap into the possibilities of their people and their business.
Jim, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
I help people tap into possibilities. What’s possible when an individual taps into their unique leadership essence? What’s possible when an organization taps into the best of their staff? I help others tap into what’s possible in a variety of methods: leadership coaching, group process facilitation, teaching workshops on leadership, communication, and emotional intelligence; leading facilitated rhythm events, and supporting the growth efforts of the international drum circle facilitator profession. It’s a wide body of offerings, from the corporate board room to the beach-side drum circle. My love for facilitating groups, my experiences with tens of thousands of individuals seeking to learn, contribute, and guide institutions, and my lifelong “knowing” that somehow, I’m doing what I’m supposed to do helps me see that my life makes sense.
My Mom told me a story that when I was 11 years old, she and I attended a church service led by a traveling priest. For 4 nights he spoke at our church about how we could live better lives. On one of those nights, I leaned over to my mom and said, “one day I’m going to travel around and talk to folks about how they can live better lives, just like this priest”. Before she died my mom told me, well, you didn’t become a priest, but you did fulfill your dream. My mom taught me, life is about service to others, helping out in the best way you can. The best way I can be of service is traveling around, helping others see possibilities of how they can lead “better” lives – whatever “better” looks like for them.
Today, that translates into the services I provide through my company, The Rumble Group. Under this umbrella, I’m able to serve executive leadership teams through leadership coaching. For other clients, I offer workshops on interpersonal communication skills and emotional intelligence in a more traditional corporate classroom setting. For other clients, I offer facilitated rhythm experiences using drumming as a metaphor learning platform for innovation, communication, and possibilities planning. Not every client is ready for an interactive drum circle experience to unluck everything drumming unlocks (increased neuroplasticity, increased t-cells for health among many others). I want to meet clients where they are and then help them get to where they want to go. Since everyone is different, I adapt my style and approach based on the needs of the individuals in the organization.
When I consider the types of problems I help my clients solve, or what sets me apart from others, the one idea I continue to come back to is, “ I help then tap into the truth of what’s happening in the here and now.” So many times, whether we’re learning a new skill, whether we’re trying to solve a problem, whether we’re trying to build a relationship, we miss what’s happening right in front of us in the here and now. Our words have impact. Do we know what that impact is? We know we’re having an emotional response internally. Or maybe we don’t! But whether we know it or not it’s impacting our behavior. Moment after moment after moment in the here and now, this is happening. I give clients the opportunity to see that. Moment. To understand themselves better. To be curious with the other. And through that process of being in the moment., tap into possibility.
I know this all to be true because I’ve seen too many examples. I’ve seen a high-tech executive burst into tears the moment they realized they were judging others by the device in their hand rather than the quality of their work. I’ve seen a group of over 100 software engineers go from chaotic rumbling on drums they had never seen before to an align and synced up musical groove where everyone saw they were contributing to something greater than themselves and had an experience of what it’s like when that all falls apart. I’ve facilitated a roomful of executives moments following the announcement of a major company sell off and potential of significant job loss of those in the room. In this, like all the cases I work with, the best alternative – the only alternative – is to lean into the truth. To create a brave space for others to open their heart and head and speak their truth. And I have to realize I must speak my truth as well. And then get out of the way so the group can do the work that they need to do.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
In the span of 2 years, after my introduction to the world of drum circles, I quit my job, moved across the country without a job, faced my fear of being an openly gay man and came out, challenged my belief in faith, and was diagnosed with cancer. I was untethered in a way I had never been before completely unrooting myself from Texas and living in Seattle. My Texas friends and family insisted I come back there for my cancer treatment, but I knew I was to stay in Seattle and there heal both my body and my soul. I hadn’t fully integrated the truth that I was a gay man, and that integration was slowed by the cancer diagnosis. It was thyroid cancer, located near our throat. I wasn’t speaking my truth of who I was, and there was dis-ease in that part of my body – my throat. I had to pursue that truth, speak that truth to help overcome the damage I had done to my soul by not speaking it. And as I spoke my truth, my doctors did their part to heal my body. My community surrounded me. I had to learn to accept the help that was being offered. I had faced a great fear – speaking out a deep truth of who I was, fearing rejection and disappointing others. But instead, truth became the enabler of my resilience. Once I wasn’t managing hiding anymore, I could focus on all the other possibilities I dreamed for my life.
Have you ever had to pivot?
It was 2 years into my first professional job out of college. I was working for EDS, one of the first computer services firms who pioneered much of our information technology ideas today. At the time, EDS was owned by General Motors. I was a young systems engineer on a high-profile project combining many different GM divisions accounting systems into one. I was asked to lead the implementation team for the first division put online, which required me to coordinate over 20 teams and run a full-scale systems test to ensure the product was ready to launch. After the test, it was clear it wasn’t, and this was going to be a problem for management and the client. I reported to our account manager, and she agreed with my recommendation the implementation be delayed six months. She then told me that the client would have to be informed and that she would have them informed at the Friday meeting. I knew about this Friday meeting. All the heads of all the divisions attended and there were usually elevated voices coming from the room. I pitted the soul that’s got to give them this news. And then she told me, Jim, I want you to give them this news. I told her that with all due respect it sounded like she was sending me as the lamb to the slaughter. But instead, she said, no Jim your ability to communicate is disarming, you’re easy to listen to, and you’re just telling them what’s true. You are the best person to give them this news. I accepted the challenge and presented the findings. While the client was not happy with the news, they appreciated hearing the truth.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://therumblegroup.com
- Instagram: jimboneau
- Linkedin: Jim Boneau
