Tim Gustafson

▶0:01IntroWelcome to the Built by People podcast, where we share the stories and insights of the world's top HR leaders. Join us as we dive deep into the minds of HR executives, uncovering their strategies, challenges, and triumphs in shaping today's workforce.

▶0:45HostI'm excited to welcome Tim to the Built by People podcast. Tim, thank you so much for joining us. And as a starting question, I always love to ask if you could share a little bit more about your career journey.

▶0:54GuestDave, thank you. I appreciate you having me on. It's a great opportunity to connect with you and hear your story as well. I've got a varied background getting to the point where I'm at right now. I've got a couple degrees in geology, worked in environmental consulting for about 14 years. From there, I started getting into managing people who are managing projects in technology at Capital One, and then did that for a little while, managed some big programs. I got an opportunity to be coached while I was at Capital One, I was encouraged and Capital One paid for me to go to Georgetown University through their executive leadership coaching program. Just phenomenal experience. And when that happened, my first time I coached somebody in that class, I knew that this was my thing. Not only did I like it, I didn't really know what I was doing at that point, but it hit me so hard. It was, I have to do this. This is my thing. So that was pretty cool to find that. I wasn't ready to start my own coaching program or practice or whatever. Took a job down in Charlotte with Wachovia, which turned into Wells Fargo. Ended up managing people who manage construction projects. So I ended up managing all the construction for the Carolinas and Mid-Atlantic states for Wells Fargo. Great experience, but it was also corporate America. I'm a very independent person. And I had created quite a network in the construction industry around Charlotte. So at that point, I thought it's time for me to resign and start my own practice. So I did, and that's been about 10 years ago, and I haven't looked back. It's been fantastic. And currently I'm managing or leading and facilitating CEO peer groups in the Charlotte area. I've got 3 groups and then I'm coaching folks from around the area. Executive coaching and leadership coaching. Love what I do. It's a great thing.

▶2:45HostTim, as someone who transitioned from corporate to executive coaching, what key leadership lessons have you learned from working with CEOs and C-suite executives over the years?

▶2:56GuestGreat question, Dave. I, one of the first things when I started coaching CEOs, I was a bit intimidated. Everybody's got problems. Everybody's got baggage that they bring with them regardless, even if they're the top executives, they've got stuff. That they've got to work on. And as I've worked with these CEOs, a lot of it, they share the same challenges and some of which include imposter syndrome. Am I really good enough to do this? The idea of being lonely at the top is a real thing. People that work for you don't always tell you everything that you should know, or they don't want to embarrass you or challenge you or whatever, don't give you the feedback. Having a peer group is a huge thing for CEOs. So I've learned They are lonely. They need connection. They need support. So as a coach, I'm able to provide some of that. Peers provide that as well. I think the other thing, I guess from a leadership perspective, leadership behavior perspective, the idea of trust is huge. If you don't trust people, you don't delegate to them effectively. And if you're fearful of somebody not doing it right because you are the founder or you're the one that designed it, They aren't gonna do it the way I did it. Well, you gotta trust people. You hire 'em for a job. You gotta trust that they can do it. Certainly you gotta provide expectations and clarity and all that kind of thing. But so much of this really is about the trust factor and being open to that. So yeah, that's, those are some of the things that top of mind that, that constantly dealing with these folks.

▶4:31HostAnd you mentioned helping people succeed is your mantra. Can you share your framework for developing effective leaders, both at work and in their Wow.

▶4:41GuestThat's a big question. That's loaded, Dave. So let me start out first with where I come from. I come from a place growing up of service. My mom is my greatest example. She just was a person that served people and helped them. And so I grew up with that, helping my mom, being along her side, just watching her example. And it's just become part of my life. And my wife and I are both in that space as well. We do a lot of service for people. So that's really what I think is the basis of it. I think from a framework perspective, developing effective leaders, I really think it's about love versus fear. And what I mean by that is the behaviors of love versus the behaviors of fear. And when we are in a place of love, we can be so much more effective in how we lead. And leadership is about how we do it. And if we're fearful, like we have to control things, we have to protect ourselves or an identity and things like that, we're being behaviors of being critical of others, or we have to show an arrogance, autocratic where we have to make the decision, controlling, we have to have it perfect. It slows not only us down, but it slows others down. So we can't be as effective. But if we're in a place of developing vision and purpose and providing teamwork, caring for other people, being unselfish. And then of course we have to be full of integrity and we have to be bold. We have to be authentic about ourselves and how we put things out there. So having these systems and the frameworks to operate from in a love-based behavior world, I think that's the most effective way to go. Not everybody understands that. That's how I approach my coaching and my leadership development is really from that space.

▶6:32HostTim, in your experience facilitating CEO peer groups, what are the most common leadership challenges you see executives facing today?

▶6:41GuestThere's a lot, obviously, especially over the last several months here, a lot of chaos going on, but I think getting the right people is critical. When we think about what makes our engines hum, it's the people. I often joke the challenges are always with the people. And I often joke with my CEOs, it'd be a great job if it weren't for the people, huh? But obviously you gotta have people. How do we make it effective for them? I think the getting the right people first and then retaining them is so critical and prevalent on all of our CEOs and presidents' minds. That's what makes things work. And if you don't have the right people, boy, all the challenges come forward and it just creates roadblocks. Sometimes it creates toxicity, which is devastating to the progress of an organization. Yeah, I think that's probably the number one thing. For folks is really that idea of getting the right people and retaining them and making sure that they understand what the vision is so that they can implement it. And you're not the only one trying to do that. So yeah, hopefully that answers your question. Yeah.

▶7:45HostTim, how should aspiring C-suite leaders, particularly those in HR, approach succession planning and strategic leadership development in today's business environment?

▶7:56GuestWow. Succession planning. Before coming into the whole coaching world, I viewed succession planning very differently. At this point, working with these, these leaders, in fact, I had a coaching session with one leader this morning and I said, how's your succession plan going? He's 60. He said, yeah, they got a plan set up for how they're going to approach it 5 years from now. And so they're looking at what are the people we really need to develop? What kind of development work do we have to do with them? When do I go out versus my COO versus the CFO? They're all about the same age. They've gotta think through this strategically. It is a strategic thing. And if you don't have a plan set up, the company, or if you own the company, boy, you're at, you're at a lot of risk. From my vantage point, it's about being strategic, having the discussions, creating the plan. Gotta have a plan. And doesn't mean the plan's gonna be enacted exactly that way, but you gotta have a place to start and then go after it. And leadership development happens in so many different ways, whether it's in a peer group or whether it's in a classroom, or you've got on-the-job training, whatever those things are. But having the discussions and creating the plan is very important. And you gotta charge at that at the point that people are getting into their later years, they need to understand what it is that they're going to go through to get out. But then the other part of this too is also what happens after you get out. You got to have a plan for that. So yeah, there's lots of things to consider with regard to this.

▶9:34HostTim, you've worked with various C-suite executives. What unique perspectives can you share about the evolving role of HR leaders in strategic business decisions?

▶9:44GuestSo I work with one HR gal in one of my peer groups. So I'm learning from her in many ways, and she is involved in so many different aspects of the C-suite's lives, whether it be in their day-to-day work or strategy. She is in it, understanding their perspectives, what the moves are that are gonna happen. So she's ahead of the game. With regard to, 'cause HR is a whole, it's a change management world and you gotta support these leaders in the change management process, whether it be a system or a system change, or whether it be that you're buying another company or succession planning or whatever it is. In my mind, HR work should be strategic. Certainly there is the transactional aspect of HR's world, but when you're working with these CEOs, it's gotta be a strategic mindset that you bring. To the role that you're playing. HR for me has always been about the people. And so you gotta keep that forefront of the mind. Yeah, they're business decisions. It's about the money, but money doesn't happen without the people. So the people have to be supported. It's gotta be strategic in the planning for them, whether it be the leaders or the staff. That to me is, and I don't know how unique that perspective is, but being on the inside of so many of these folks, and most of the folks I work with are small and medium-sized businesses. And so there's not too many full-blown HR folks that do nothing but HR. Many of them have multiple jobs. When you got the opportunity to jump in there and talk strategically about people, it's the way to go.

▶11:23HostAnd what parting advice would you like to share with our community?

▶11:27GuestThis went so fast, Dave. We got more, so much more to talk about. Gosh, parting advice. I would say that as much as you can get people to be involved in being coached, everybody needs an opportunity to have a confidant and somebody that they can share things with that they don't share with anybody else. These leaders are definitely that way, and they treasure their time to be coached and to be with others in a peer group situation. So anytime you can encourage folks to and, and provide the opportunity and pay for it even from company funds to, to have folks be coached. I think it's well worth the investment and it's truly coaching, right? Where you're asking questions, you're not being consulted and told what to do, but it's really helping people, helping these leaders learn from the inside out where they are able to see it for themselves. And that's the true joy of a coach is to see those light bulbs click on. It's, oh, okay, now I get it. So yeah, that's probably my focus and I guess I'm biased coming from a coach, but I think it's important.

▶12:35HostTim, thanks so much for joining us on the Built by People podcast. It was a pleasure to have you involved.

▶12:40GuestThank you, Dave. I appreciate the time and opportunity. It's great to get to connect with you.