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Ryan McCarty Joins Us On The Steve Jobs Inspired Join Up Dots Business Podcast
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Introducing Ryan McCarty
Ryan McCarty is our guest today, on the Steve Jobs inspired Join Up Dots free podcast interview.
He is a man with a fascinating tale of following a course in his life that is nothing but unusual.
As the former director of customer and employee relations at TCC, the largest Verizon Authorized Retailer in America, our guest is no stranger to empowering employees through a powerful cultural movement.
A 2016 Gallup report found that 71% of employees are not engaged at work, 60% of employees do not connect with their company’s mission, and 60% of millennials are open to different job opportunities and likely to job hop.
That is a statistic that is shocking, even when most of us would nod our heads and say yeah “That sounds like me”
Well today’s guest isn’t just sitting there nodding in agreement, but he is doing something about it
He is trying to change that trend with his organization called “Culture of Good.”
How The Dots Joined Up For Ryan
The program started when Scott Moorehead, the CEO of TCC Verizon wanted help to change the culture of his company of 3,000 employees at 800 stores across the U.S.
And ever since then, this cultural movement took off and has spread across the country by helping companies inspire employees to have a positive impact in their community and the world.
Our guest took that concept, and created Culture of Good, Inc. to inspire other businesses to create truly altruistic programs that can make the world a better place.
He believes in order for a company’s Culture of Good to be successful and meaningful, giving back must be ingrained in the foundation of its core values.
Through Culture of Good, Inc. he helps other organizations engage the hearts of their employees and empower them to make the changes they wish to see in their communities.
With a huge amount of charitable enterprises benefitting from these business with a heart, does he look back and think of his time as a pastor and think “This is what I was put on this Earth to do…this was my life mission?”
And why is it so hard to get past the middle management of the world, when most company owners want their businesses to operate in the same way?
Well let’s find out as we bring onto the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr Ryan McCarty.
Show Highlights
During the show we discussed such weighty topics with Ryan McCarty such as:
Why having a workforce that is happy and encouraged on a daily basis is the easiest way to make true magic occur in a workplace.
How Ryan managed to meander his way through the obstacles that occur in a boardroom to bring his mission to the fore.
Why he feels that the tragedy that occurred in his life as a child was such a major part of growing into the man he is today.
and lastly….
Ryan explains how they had to ask the big question of “How do we create a movement out of this a-ha moment?” every single day, to ensure that the moment was never lost in the process of living life.
How To Connect With Ryan McCarty
Return To The Top Of Ryan McCarty
If you enjoyed this episode with Ryan McCarty then why not listen to some of our favourite podcast episodes such as Robert Williscoft, Ross Jeffries, Thomas Frank or the amazing How Do I Monetize A Business
Or if you prefer just pop over to our podcast archive for thousands of amazing episodes to choose from.
Full Transcription Of Ryan McCarty Interview
Intro [0:00]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK. David Ralph.
David Ralph [0:25]
Yes, hello there. Good morning, everybody. Good morning. It’s Join Up Dots. I’m feeling I’m feeling pretty good today. I don’t know what’s gonna come out of my mouth. I’ve just press record and see what happens. And but I know it’s gonna be a motivational show because I feel all motivational. And I’ve already had a pre chat with today’s guest. And he’s motivational And not only is motivational, he can grow an amazing beard and I’m always impressed by people that can grow amazing beards. I just can’t do it. I just look like a pre pubescent Chinese girl he never kicks on. It just stays pathetic. Like the Wolf Man going through the change half human half Beardy person, but it never really gets there. Anyhow, it’s not about beards. It’s a man who with a fascinating tale of following a course in his life that is nothing but unusual. Now as the former director of customer in Employment Relations at TCC, the largest Verizon authorised retailer in America, our guest is no stranger to empowering employees through a powerful cultural movement. Now, our 2016 Gallup report found that 71% of employees are not engaged at work. I would imagine it’s more than that, to be honest, 60% of employees do not connect with their company’s mission. And 60% of millennials are open to a different job opportunity and likely to job hop. And this is a static a static, don’t even say, this is a statistic that is shocking, even when most of us would nod our heads and say, Yeah, that sounds like me certainly sounds like me. Well, today’s guest isn’t just sitting there nodding in agreement, but he’s doing something about it. He’s trying to change that trend with his organisation called culture of good now, the programme started when Scott Morehead, the CEO of the ryzen, wanted help to change the culture of his company of 3000 employees at 800 stores across the US. And ever since then, this cultural movement took off and has spread across the country by helping companies inspire employees to have a positive impact in their community. And the world. Now, I guess, took that concept and created culture of good to inspire other businesses to create truly altruistic programmes that can make the world a better place. He believes in order for a company’s culture of good to be successful and meaningful, giving back must be ingrained in the foundation of its core values. Now for a culture of good he helps other organisations engage the hearts of their employees, and empower them to make the changes they wish to see in their communities. And we have a huge amount of charitable enterprises benefiting from these businesses with a heart does he look back and think of his time as a pastor, and think this is what I was put on this earth to do? This was my true life mission. And why is it so hard to get past the middle management of the world? Don’t get me started on middle management, when most company owners want their businesses to operate in this kind of way? Well, let’s find out as we bring on the show to start joining up dots with the one and only Mr. Ryan McCarty. Good morning, Ryan. How are you, sir?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [3:08]
Oh, wonderful. David. That was a mouthful. I’m, I’m humbled by all of that. That was a lot. It wasn’t much for that intro.
David Ralph [3:17]
Yes. Good to have you. I can’t say to statistics, but I can say, oh, ultra altruistic or whatever word. I don’t
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [3:24]
think I could say either one this morning. So you’re doing a great job with it. Thanks.
David Ralph [3:29]
Thanks, beer. I’m 15 beer. And so I’m surprised I can get that going. But I’ll tell you what, this is one of those episodes, we’re gonna cut straight to the chase, because I love this. I love this because I have worked for many companies over the time. And they were very much a case of what they can get. And we went to work and we sat out desks and we weren’t engaged we really wasn’t. And when we came up with something creative and brilliant, and no, it’s not possible, it’s not going to fit into the budget, there was always a way that sort of knocked you back. It’s never going to change is it unless you and me join forces and we start blasting this message across because of the middle management in the world being a problem, aren’t they right in the middle management?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [4:14]
Well, I mean, anyone that really doesn’t understand that a big part of business is the humanity of it, right? Like it’s made of human beings. And in order to truly engage people, we have to remember that there are people and if we, if we embark on business is just like a two dimensional you know, profit and loss statement, whatever is whatever we decisions we make is based on what we can see on a piece of paper, then certainly we’re never going to get there and and many times middle management that’s that’s their focus. But if we can get back to the to the understanding that what we’re dealing with here are human beings that have a soul, that have life purpose, that have a calling in life to do something significant. That calling isn’t just for those that go off and work for Red Cross or, you know, the Mother Teresa’s of the world that inspire us. And we love to read their quotes. And we feel something when we read that quote, but we really never have the opportunity to engage the world ourselves and to do something ourselves in that in that space. And I think, and I know that if for profit companies can operate their business with the soul of a nonprofit, creating opportunities for their employees, and giving them permission to care, that that human element of business is brought back in and that that’s what’s magical about how the culture of good really took off and where it is. Now. It’s, it’s to me I, to be completely honest, none of this is, was in my head when we first started it just it’s evolved and grown and, and it’s become what it is now. And it’s it really comes down to remembering the human element and the soul of a company.
David Ralph [5:55]
No, I agree with that totally. And when I was a people with heard me say this, but hey, it’s my show, I’ve got a microphone. So I’m going to say again. But when I was in corporate London, I totally never focused on the profit sheets, the performance agreements, I just focused in on the staff and made the staff want to do their best jobs and be creative, because I always thought, if you get the staff really firing, then all the other stuff takes care of itself. But it never seemed to be a common view. It wasn’t a view that was held, it was always about we’ve got to hit the targets, how we’re going to do it, well encourage the staff. And now if you encourage your staff to think on broader sense, not just about their desk, not about the work, but actually the community as a whole. It’s got to be it just got to happen. I can’t understand why you’re not president. And we haven’t got Mr. Trump in power. And you’re standing up there, not tweeting madness, but seeing some good stuff, because that’s what we want, isn’t it?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [6:52]
I’m trying and honestly, I mean, what, what what could go wrong if employees show up to work happy and fulfilled every day. I mean, it’s like, you know that what’s the worst thing that could happen if all your employees show up and they love and connect who you are as a business and who you are as a business owner, to moments in their life that are defining life changing moments where they’re fulfilled, and they’re happy, and they find a sense of purpose at their place of work, that only good can come out of that. And so when we think about, you know, the idea between a boss and a leader, that’s really what’s taken place, a lot of people think because they have authority that they’re somehow in leadership, and leadership and authority are two different things. And we’ve got way too many authority figures and not enough leaders. And when we have leaders that are leading people and leading leaders, and not just managing stuff, that’s that’s when that transition and and the shift can take place. But we’re not there yet. Certainly, but that’s something that I’m screaming from the rooftops man. And I know you are too, so I appreciate it. The voice that you’ve given toward it, man.
David Ralph [8:03]
No, that’s, that’s absolutely why I wanted you on it. And when your story came across my desk, I looked at it and what I liked about it, though, there was three things. Number one, it’s good. It’s a culture of good, and I like good. Secondly, I was very interested about Scott Morehead, the CEO of horizon. And why he wanted to change the culture of his company where corporate companies, especially kind of call centre environments are pretty much like battery hens. And I’ve been here I’ve worked there. And it’s like, you get in your cubicle and you do your thing. And then you leave and if inspiration wasn’t part of it, so when you came across Scott, did he light up your world? Did you think he was mad to want nice? Did you think to yourself? How the bloody hell are we going to do this guy? How are we going to do this?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [8:55]
Great. Oh, that’s a great question. So a real as short as I can make it. I was a pastor at the time and a small town where he had grown up and his family had started the business. It his business was growing exponentially. I got up on a Sunday morning to speak and I’m not high, highly religious fire and brimstone type of preacher I just got up and inspire people that they should wake up every day with a why that equals their what that we shouldn’t wake up every day knowing just what we do is tasks. But we should know why we do what we do every single day. And if we’re inspired by what we do with a greater why than that, that will transform our lives and transform the lives of others. And what I didn’t know is when I got up to speak is that the CEO of the largest Verizon retailer in the country was sitting in the audience in my small town of bright 28,000 people. And small church about 300 people in there. He was sitting had no idea. He’s not a church goer, his wife dragged him to church that Sunday and and you know, he He said after, after the church was over, he said, Let’s grab some, some lunch some time, and I didn’t think anything of it, I didn’t know who he was. And I said, Sure seemed like a cool dude. So we, we sat down over chips and salsa. And that day, what I didn’t realise is he was wanting me to give him free advice like a normal pastor would do on how to bring that message of your why equaling or what into his business because his business was growing exponentially. He knew that the culture of his business was shifting, and if he didn’t grab ahold of it, while it was at the size that it was, and give people permission to care and a reason to come to work every day that was bigger than what they were doing that over time. What happens within business is as your company grows, the risk is, you lose what made you special in the first place. And he wanted to hold on to that and make a really special place. And he calls it, he wanted to grow the biggest small damn company in the world. And so he was asking for free advice. And so he said, How can I do this and, and without hesitation, I blurted out of my mouth, hire me. That was that was not expected for me. And he didn’t expect it. And, and, and we we chuckled about it, we talked a little bit more about what we originally came up with on a napkin over chips and salsa was what was called the virtuous circle of success. And that was where employees would come to work, and have be fulfilled because they do good in the community. When they do that, that happiness is going to pass on to the customer, the customer is going to make us the their choice for where they would want their service to pay for their service. And because of that, then it would feed back into that circle. And as the company grew, the more good that the employees could do, and the more good the customers can do. So it kind of fed itself. And after lunch, there was no hiring that day, several, several months went by and Scott was out playing with his five year old son on a skateboard. And like every other 30 year old male out there thought that he could still be a skater and slipped and hit the back of his head on the concrete. And was completely knocked out. When he came to he walked into the house bloody,
walked up to his wife didn’t know what was going on. His wife called the 911 he had to be Lifeline and almost died, had three skull fractures, internal bleeding, traumatic brain injury. And after several months of recovery from that, this this would have been almost eight months after the original talk over chips and salsa, he gave me a call and he said you know that conversation we had about your wife when you’re what and bringing this into the company and hiring you and and leaving a legacy that matters and doing something in this world to make it just a little less shitty for other people and make it better for others. Like let’s, let’s let’s talk about that a little more, I want you to come into my office. And so I went in there and we had a conversation and, and within within a few moments, I was hired and became by vocational for a while and did the pastor thing. So I was in the nonprofit for profit world one foot in both of those. And so I was going from the church where we didn’t have any resource at all, but all kinds of purpose into the for profit or community business sector that had tonnes of resource but lacked somewhat and how to connect to a greater purpose and a higher reason and doing what they were doing. And so I we just Scott and I just embarked on fusing those two things together and not looking at profit as evil any longer but as a as a Avenue and a vehicle to be able to do some amazing good in the world. So that’s that’s kind of the creation story. We we embarked on it with a great opportunity for employees to give back through a backpack giveaway where we gave away 60,000 backpacks with school supplies across the country. And it was just one of those aha moments that that really shocked people to their core when they were handing a backpack to a kid and the mom was crying and and you know, they would start crying and now all of a sudden you’ve created this emotional disruption in a business. That typically is, like you said, very much self centred and focused on how can we grow ourselves. And, and I totally agree with you, David, when you when you focus on others, it comes back to you and it comes back to you in greater ways. And that’s what we’ve discovered through the last five years.
David Ralph [14:52]
So I didn’t want to jump in there. But there were so many questions that were popping into my head just from my experience. I’m number one His salsa and a beard, that’s probably not the best lunch to have, I would have thought I would absolutely true. Yeah, I kept away from that one. But when when you went into the company then and imagine you went into the boardroom groom, and Scott said, Look, this is this is Ryan, I just hired him. Most of this sort of bald people must have looked around and went, What the hell is happening here? What’s, what’s this all about? How do you? How did you overcome that? Because it’s a big stumbling block to have these ideas of good and no, in our heart of hearts about this is a good thing to do, and we should do it, but actually even get past the obstacles that people throw up.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [15:40]
Yeah, you know, Scott’s a very progressive forward thinker. And, and when he when he hired me, and he’ll tell you the same thing people thought he was nuts. Matter of fact, a couple of people said, Is this from your traumatic brain injury? So, you know, I, I guess I live with this, this idea that everybody loves me, man. So I came in not even fully knowing that people were like, hesitant with my hire, and, and I came in not knowing how corporate america worked. I had been in nonprofit work for at that point, 20 years, my I grew up in it, my family was a part of nonprofit work. It’s what I had thrown my whole life into and had done, done every day of my life, really. And so coming into and into corporate America, I didn’t expect anything different. I thought, all right, Scott, at that point, had about 2000 employees. And I thought, well, here’s an opportunity. I’ve got 2000 volunteers to go out there and make the world a better place. And that’s all I thought, you know, they’re all volunteers. You know, I know their employees. I know they work, but if we can give them some purpose, and so we kind of overcame it honestly. Because that first backpack giveaway was really solid proof that we were on to something significant, and onto something that would really create a movement within the business that that the leadership saw tangibly could make a difference and, and so it, you know, it was it was met with scepticism. Several employees felt sceptical sometimes we go out to embark on doing good in the world, sometimes it’s looked at like a PR effort or, you know, some type of marketing scheme. And, you know, we
David Ralph [17:28]
don’t want to do extra Ryan delay jumping in there, people don’t want to do extra, you know, I’m not paid to go out and plant trees, I’m not paid to do this, you know, that there’s a human element that resists stuff until we can see that other people are getting involved. Now, if you go over to TEDx, there’s a brilliant thing about how to create a movement. And this guy stands up on a hill and starts
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [17:53]
dancing. Yeah, I love that. I love that is that’s so funny, bring that up. Because after we started embarking on this, I saw that video and I was like, that makes complete sense. You just got to be crazy enough to get on on the hill and start dancing by yourself. Yeah. And, and, and that’s, you know, I’ve never I’ve never lived in the philosophy that you got to wait around for to have enough resource or people or, you know, to accomplish anything. Nobody that accomplishes anything great in this world, or has ever in the history of mankind will ever tell you that they had enough resource and they had enough people that that never happened. And so so many times we were held back by what we don’t have, or who who’s not for us, or the support we think we need in order to accomplish something and really, no one that’s accomplished anything great is ever going to tell you Yeah, everybody was for me. I it was smooth sailing, I’ve never had any setbacks. Certainly, it’s it’s just part of it, you know, and I think you have to be one of the qualities you have to be as resilient and know that if you believe in what you have in your heart is the right thing to do. You just got to keep doing it until people see the results. And once they see the results, then they’ll jump on. But some people aren’t going to jump on until they see the ROI or the results are how it’s going to impact the business or the world. You just got to keep doing it. And I that’s the biggest thing is you just can’t quit, you know,
David Ralph [19:20]
but let’s play some words now. And then we’re going to delve back into the the getting it going because I’m sure that we can spread the culture of good across the world and people can go into their organisations and say, I’ve listened to this podcast. This sounds a brilliant thing. It’s working people who inspire and encourage, and this is how we’re gonna do it. But here’s Oprah,
Oprah Winfrey [19:39]
the way through the challenge is to get still and ask yourself, what is the next right move? not think about, Oh, I got all of this stuff. What is the next right move. And then from that space, make the next right move and the next right move and not to be overwhelmed by it because you No, your life is bigger than that one moment, you know, you’re not defined by what somebody says, is a failure for you. Because failure is just there to point you in a different direction.
David Ralph [20:11]
That’s, that’s so true, isn’t it? That’s how it’s done. You just have to do one thing, but the right thing. So what was your first right thing when you started to overcome the obstacles, overcome the boardroom and actually start seeing some momentum?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [20:25]
Yeah, I think the first right thing that we did was ask the question, how do we turn this moment, this aha moment into a movement? How do we create a predictable cadence around it where it’s not just a programme, it’s not another CSR programme. It’s not a patch sewn on the outside of the company, where we would say, yeah, we’ve got, we’ve got this business. And oh, by the way, we do some good, we had to make this more than a philanthropic effort, this had to be something of rather than an arm of the business, this needed to be the very DNA of the company, this had to be the culture. And so when we called it culture of good, we had to commit to that we had to make a promise to the employees that this wasn’t a flavour of the month that this was something that was going to be predictable, that they could count on it. And this was the culture of the company that was significant from the very beginning, turning a moment into a movement.
David Ralph [21:24]
And so can people do this across the world, if they’re sitting here listening to this, and I think the culture of good if I can obviously come across to your website, but are there sort of goodies on it downloads that they can use that will help them implement the same thing?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [21:41]
For sure, we you know, and again, I want to I want to emphasise, this is more than just a philanthropic effort. This is based around and constructed of five promises that we make, as a business to the world, we make it, expect our customers to know that these are promises that are made by the employees as well. And that is, we’re going to care, we’re going to drive the business to a greater success so that we can do more good. We’re gonna connect with the world and those around us, we’re going to inspire others to do more good with us. And we’re going to be authentic in our words and actions, those five promises that construct the culture of good, what we’ve what we’ve developed over time. And again, David, when we first started, none of this was on the playbook at all. But we recognise that alright, the bit Scott’s company is is different, because the culture of good we can validate that through the turnover decrease, we can validate that through top line revenue increased during the years that we implemented culture of good, the amount of money spent on culture of good and the return on that. So it made business sense, which was really important because we didn’t want to just come out to the world and say, here’s a philosophy or theory about how you should do business and why you should do it this way. We wanted to create tools and products, as you’re asking for other businesses to be able to implement and utilise and manage and and and have within their business. And so we’ve we’ve developed an entire suite of products around this video modules manager training, we have a radar graph, that’s, and most of these are digital deliverables. And so it’s not something where you have to hire culture of good to come in and do like culture consult, can we can certainly offer that. But that’s not
David Ralph [23:34]
to say cutting the due to one to one training, that’s where the money is, isn’t it, man?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [23:40]
Yeah. But you know, it’s it’s really important for us to like, you’re asking how does this happen as a movement across the world, and the easiest way is to deliver those digitally, to create an opportunity at a low cost for companies to be able to, by video modules, activities for their groups and teams, to begin to develop the culture of good within their company, and be able to measure that their success, whether they’re winning and growing, and whether they’re moving the bar on the culture of good and is it really being built within their business. So because so many times when we think about culture, within business, it’s very elusive. We can’t really put our finger on it just kind of happens. It’s organic. And we’re making the case that it is possible to build business culture around doing good, but in order to do that, you have to have the right tools. And so all of our tools are built around those five promises, but they’re also connected with observable behaviours that align with the culture of good making sure that there’s peer to peer accountability, making sure and it’s we’re not bogged down with a bunch of bureaucracy and a bunch of headaches and people putting, you know, having to fill out a survey every week. It’s not That’s very quick. It’s easy, but it keeps people on track with what what the culture of good is. And it keeps it as part of the conversation to the point now, where Scott’s company hires, you know, the hiring process is influenced by it. The onboarding is influenced one on one skip levels. You know, anytime there’s anytime there’s a board meeting or a meeting of the minds, the thought leaders of the company culture of good is, is, is the filter by which the company does everything. That’s been really significant. And that has not been the case for the entire five years. That’s, that’s as it’s been evolving. And as we’ve recognised that this really is more than a philanthropic effort. This is an emotional operating system.
David Ralph [25:47]
So let’s summarise because you went through them very quickly, the five key stones or the five pillars of it all? Well, yeah, what was what was the first one?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [25:57]
Yeah, care, just being a caring person caring about those around us, like taking, making sure that and sometimes those are big opportunities, like a backpack giveaway, right? And that can be enterprise level, caring for the world. But we’re also asking employees, are you caring for each other, like, if you in a simple way, like recognising when someone’s carrying boxes across the hallway, and they’re coming up to a closed door? We don’t think about it sometimes. But if it’s part of the conversation, and part of the DNA of the company, we somebody jumping up to help them out, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s in small ways, we’re asking employees, we’re asking the company to opt in with caring, and, and having empathy and being good people. The second one, do you want me to keep going with that?
David Ralph [26:50]
Keep going? through.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [26:52]
Yeah. Okay. So this one’s This one’s interesting drive the business, there has to be a business case to it, people have, you can’t, you can’t just care about the world and not care about the business. Because the business is what gives us the resource to be able to care. But here’s what’s interesting about the second promise, it’s not just drive the business, but it’s drive the business toward greater success, so that we can do more good. So what you’re doing is in every department, every meeting, you’re connecting the the what we do every day, and what we have to get done. And the numbers, we have to hit with the potential of what kind of good we can do if we hit those numbers. Yeah, so every department has a responsibility and accountability to drive the business to, to make sound business decisions. Because if we do that we can do greater good in the world. So that’s, that’s a really crucial one that we didn’t hit on when we first launched culture of good at Scott’s company. And that’s something that we should have. And looking back 20 hindsight 2020, we should have focused on that, as well as the care part of it is in the beginning, the third one is connect. So taking moments during the day to stop and listen and connect with the world and those around us. Stopping and listening to the customer. Making sure we don’t see the customer is just another financial transaction. Seeing them as a human being stopping, connecting. Feeling, listening, the soul Connect is really important inspiring, is number four, to inspire others to do good with us. We’re expecting employees to be leaders within this space. We expect companies that our culture good companies to inspire other companies to do good. So how are we inspiring others more than just being good people? How can we inspire others to do good with us. And then fifth, and this is really important, and really we be it isn’t in it’s not one through five, in the sense that one is the most important, because honestly, the last one is be authentic. And if you’re going to build a culture of good that’s not met with scepticism and but it’s met with acceptance and and adopted in and immersed within the business and absorbed within the employees. You have to be authentic with your words and actions. If you’re going to step forward and say we’re a culture good company. That’s a promise. And this is why we call these promises and not values. Because a lot of times what you see in business is values come and go. If it’s a good year, they’re strong in their values. If it’s a down year, sometimes your values are kind of fuzzy, right? So this is this is a promise that we’re going to be authentic and genuine. We’re not we’re not doing good because it’s just good for us. We’re doing good because we know that if it drives a business we can do greater good in the world and care, connect with others inspire others is we’re still genuine and authentic with our words in action. So those those are the five promises.
David Ralph [29:55]
I think he’s brilliant, and I think it works in so many levels. It works on a personal level. It works On a corporate level, you know, by by focusing on OBS, you’re going to be a better person anyway, on your you’re going to be a better person at home, you’re going to be a better person in your life with your friends. It’s just a kind of an extra awareness. And so much of life just whizzes past and you don’t really think about it, and you’re flying down the road, and somebody’s got a flat tire, you never really think about stopping, you just think, oh, I’ve got to get to somewhere. And it’s always kind of little extra things that will, it might you know, I always say, I’ve travelled the world. And I would say that 99% now I would say 98% of people are lovely, I would say 1% evil, and another percent of serial killers, you know, I think
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [30:40]
No, I, I’ve travelled around a lot I can testify. Most of the world are just amazing people, right?
David Ralph [30:47]
Yeah, absolutely. I don’t want anything. I just want to live nice lives, support their family, go to bed with a roof over their head, you know, a full stomach and all that kind of stuff, which most of us in the western communities will will sort of know as a sort of norm, but other people will struggle. But in their core, it doesn’t matter if somebody hasn’t got any money. It’s, I tell you what, I don’t know if you’ve seen this right. And there was a guy on my show called Leon lager, foetus and he’s got a programme on Netflix called the happiness diaries. I don’t know if you’ve caught up on this or you’ve seen
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [31:18]
that flicks. I do. Yeah.
David Ralph [31:20]
Why? Okay. So, today, go to go to Scott and say, Look, I’m having the afternoon off. I’m not working here. I’ve got some I’ve got some research to do. And this this guy called Leon got into a little kind of sidecar, a motorbike and sidecar. You know, like Wallace and Gromit drive around in Yeah, sure knows kind of thing. And he drove across the world. Not paying for fuel, not doing anything, but just relying on the kindness of others. And if he found somebody that really was kind and did stop, and he did amazing gifts back to them, and I didn’t realise that he was quite wealthy. And he literally changed these people’s lives. But what you see on this programme, and there are small 20 minute episodes, but it’s so inspiring, is the people that have less, are more willing to give, the people that had less, were kind of more genuine, and they would give the last bowl of food, even if it was their only bowl of food. were travelling through America, when he when he started in LA, he struggled to find anyone to do anything nice for him, because people would just so sort of ingrained in it. And I think that’s what you’re doing on a molecule basis, you’re breaking down that fabric of self, and what we can get, and just making that awareness of actually won’t hurt me. It’s just time it’s just a smile. It’s just assistance to help other people.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [32:46]
Yeah, it’s a How do you define true life? Right? You know, I mean, when I was a pastor, there was a passage that said, If you gain life, you’ll lose it. But if you lose your life, you’ll gain it. And, and I think the idea of giving and just being a generous person, and being willing to let go of things, and and to recognise the needs of others is a call to action, right? Like if you see someone who has a need, and certainly we can’t meet every need. And and I’m not suggesting that in any way. But I, I think, and I know that, that when we’re at a place of sacrifice, and at a place of humility, knowing that, you know, that that could be us. Like there’s something there’s something within the struggle of others that connects us as human beings when we see someone else’s hurt and their pain. And we’re moved by that we see that many times, David, when we look at major catastrophes and hurricanes that have come through and, and you see so many people, regardless of religion or skin colour, culture, education, money, it doesn’t matter, everyone, everyone joins together in a sense of just being human and being willing to rescue each other. And, and i think i think that that humanity can be a part of our daily life, not just in a moment of crisis, but we can also live as human beings when we see that it’s not just our own our own need but it’s it’s the needs of others that are that are constantly calling out to us and that that’s where we find life purpose, that’s where we discover who we are and and that’s where we’re reminded of our own humanity and the the reality that that those needs that that we see a really a call to us to do something.
David Ralph [34:53]
Now, in the introduction I was saying whether this was your true mission in life this you know, did you ever think this is what I was put on this earth to do this was my life mission. Because in the United Kingdom, that church is not like it is in America in America. And so like the deep south and stuff as families go every Sunday, and it’s a big thing over in the United Kingdom, I don’t personally know anyone who goes to church and yeah, I see a lot of it. It’s just kind of words people who do go they sit there for half hour they listen to these these sermons, whatever and they go back and live their own life by you doing that, are you actually taking your kind of religious although I suppose your your ability to convey a message to people, but now put it into a practical sense, which it wasn’t there before? Is this your true mission? Where is actually blending what you hope to get from the church? But in real life?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [35:50]
Yeah. 100% It’s, it’s, it’s what I thought was the whole idea of faith. I, I lived under the assumption that faith without works is dead. Yeah, that you can’t look at someone who’s unclosed and hungry, and say, I’ll pray for you. Go and be warm, and leave them. But rather, a more significant thing to do with would be to not even pray at all, and rather go and get them close and get them food. So I think faith, faith lives itself out for me in in generosity, I feel most connected to spirituality and in my own faith, and not when I’m in a service on a Sunday morning and listening to someone lecture about who God is, and how I’m supposed to live a certain type of life, I find my faith more alive. And the experience of faith for me, are in those moments where meeting the needs of others. So yeah, this, this is my life calling. But even beyond that, I think a big part of it is to inspire others and kind of be that voice in the middle of the crowd of what you’re talking about, where everyone’s scurrying around and just doing life and going through the motions and working and getting a paycheck and buying stuff. And, you know, it’s just constant weekly cycle that we find ourself in. And I’d like to I’d like to see myself somewhat as a compass, you know, not not a map telling people how to get to where they’re supposed to go, but more as a compass. Yeah, that can be picked up in a moment to say, am I headed in the right direction? Is this really what I was born to do? It’s, it’s that quote, to been attributed to several different people. But you know, the two most significant days in a person’s life is the day that they’re born. And the day they discover why. And that’s always that’s always really inspired me. And, and so in terms of faith, and church, and all of that I’ve just, I never really connected to the whole concept of Thou shalt not. I think faith more lends itself in thou shalt, yeah, you know, thou shalt do what like, how are you proving out that you recognise that God is a creator in and people are his, his like creation, you can only do that when you honour the creation, whether that’s people the environment, the world at large, in a that’s a nonprofit work for profit work. It’s just, it’s just part of what I saw is like, okay, here’s a continuation of what I had always been doing. But now there’s an opportunity for me to do it in a greater sense. And I have a greater voice in that. So I jumped at the opportunity. And I’m so glad I did.
David Ralph [39:01]
And so you should, it’s another way of joining up your dots you your life experience had put you in that position to be the right man at the right place. And I’m going to play some words now of a man who’s no longer with us. But he said these words, and they created the whole theme of Join Up Dots. And he also talks about finding that thing, whether it’s faithful, it’s calm, or whatever, that thing that will push you forward is Steve Jobs. Of course,
Steve Jobs [39:23]
it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards. 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.
David Ralph [39:57]
So what he’s saying and suppose what we I’ve been saying through the episode is, it all comes down to the individual wanting to do something, and they may not have the answers, they may not know how it’s going to be, you’re not going to have everything lined up, you’re not going to be perfect. But by having that faith that you can make a difference, you can change the culture of a company, you can change your own personal outlook. It all comes down to you just believing in something.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [40:24]
Yeah. Yeah, I mean, it’s it’s believing in yourself. And then also believing in something bigger than yourself that there’s a like, like Steve Jobs was saying, There’s fate. There’s, you know, the chances of you being born and yet you create you, you won life’s greatest lottery, you’re here. And because you’ve won that lottery, if you if you knew that every morning, when you woke up that you won life’s greatest lottery, that there is a greater chance that you wouldn’t be here than there is that you are, is a is a moment that for me, since I was younger has always just been been a reminder that there’s there’s always something greater going on than what that I’m aware of. And, you know, we know this because we can look back over our lives. And we can see where the dots Connect, we can see where that even bad decisions, we made the dumb stuff we did, somehow, the dots connected. Thinking forward, it’s really difficult to see that. But if we’re reminding ourselves constantly, that the dots always connect that if we can have faith, if we can believe in who we are, and the destiny that’s inside of us and the calling that’s inside of us to do something great. Then Then we can also be reminded that because the dots have always connected, that’s the track record of our past the difficult things when I when I was six years old, David, my mom was diagnosed paranoid schizophrenic, and within a year ended up committing suicide. From that my my dad, who is a heroin addict, had a moment where he came to God and and just in a plea bargain said if you’re real, take the drugs away from me take everything. And in kind of a made for a movie experience was a completely different person. I was back in 1983. But I can see even even having walked through that as a six year old trial, I can see how that dot connects to what I do on a daily basis. Now, would I have preferred that that never existed? Absolutely. But it was there, it was not my choice. But looking back, I can see where all the dots in my life, the good stuff, the bad stuff, things that I’m so happy about things that I wish would have never happened, all of them connected. So I know, moving forward, the track record of my life has always been even in the moments of my doubt and unbelief, even in the moments where I give up on faith and I turn my back on all of it. Even even those those become what I call now. And in life is made of nows and those dots as you call every one of them connect. And they’re purposeful, and they create the pathway by which we’ve walked. And that’s, it’s it’s a beautiful thing to know that because we can look into our future and recognise no matter what happens from this point forward, it’s going to continue to lead me on.
David Ralph [43:41]
Yeah, I agree with you totally. And I, I now see it when when I started this show, and I created this show is very much about connecting our past to build our futures looking back and seeing that we’ve got all the skills already the life experiences that take us forward. But now I also see it as stepping stones, where literally, you can have faith, but I’ll give you an example. When I went off on vacation, and two years ago, I was recording Join Up Dots. And I got down to one episode. And that was it. And I scrambled around like a lunatic trying to get people on the show saying, Oh, please, you know, we need to record shows, because I haven’t got anything in again. And this time I went on holiday vacation. And my wife said to me, you know, are you all set? And I said yeah, I’ve got no more shows. That’s it is to run out. And she said what are you going to do and I went now something good will happen. Now I never had that outlook before. I always panicked and ran around like a lunatic. But now I just know that if I just relax and allow something good to happen, something good will and sometimes it’s not what I expect and sometimes it’s not what I want but it’s workable and you take that thing and you sort of work it now I’m about sort of lined up about two months in advance or you know, guests lined up. So it is that is that belief of don’t stress it. Just do the right things move forward. Fight, be persistent hassle if you have to. But don’t force it just keep on moving forward and magic will occur. Do you reckon?
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [45:08]
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. It’s what Oprah Winfrey said, right? What’s the next step? You know, we try to we try to look at our destiny. And our purpose is as though it’s one check that we right. And when it comes to us, it comes in a bag full of pennies, and we have to spend it every day. And, you know, it’s, it’s caring for others, it’s the five promises, it’s, you know, doing doing the right thing for the right reasons. At the right time. It’s those you know, and we spend our life Penny by Penny, it’s not one check that we write, we don’t figure it all out. We want we want it that way, though. We want the whole thing to be all, you know, perfectly packaged and handed to us. And really, that’s just that’s never been the case. It never will be the case. And you really have to say, all right, what what’s my next step, and you know, if it’s, you know, making sure that the direction that you step is more important than what you may have wanted to step into that you may not be able to maybe the timings wrong, or whatever it is, you just have to make sure that the direction you’re walking in, you’re taking the step is in the direction that you know, that you want to head. And that that’s, that’s really, really a crucial part of it, as well as just knowing, you know, this is the direction I want to go. What’s my next step?
David Ralph [46:29]
Well, I know what our next step is, because I’ve been building towards it. And this is the part of the show when we’re going to send you on a journey to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you could go back in time and speak to the young Ryan, what age would you choose? And what advice would you give? Well, we’re going to find out because we’re going to play the theme. And when it fades, you’re up, this is the Sermon on the mic.
Unknown Speaker [46:56]
With the best bit
Unknown Speaker [46:57]
of the show.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [47:11]
Hey, little Ryan, this is big Ryan, and I wanted to talk to you today. You are six years old, and experiencing a lot of chaos in your life. And so much is is coming at you with the loss of of your mom to suicide and your dad being a heroin addict. And I just wanted to tell you, that regardless of what you’re facing today, that you have such an amazing future in front of you. As you grow up, don’t forget that that first pimple on your middle of your forehead is not going to be the end of the world when you walk into school that day. And, and don’t forget to to do the things that you know are the right thing to do as much as possible. And when you fall down and you make mistakes, and you screw everything up. And the world seems like it’s against you. I want I want you to remember that. That people are good. And people have great intentions, and that there’s more people for you than we’ll ever be against you. I want to remind you that you’re bigger than your worst day. You’re bigger than your worst mistake. You’re greater than that. As you embark on the world and seek to make the world a better place. Don’t forget yourself. Take care of you do the things in your life that you need to be healthy. As as you embark on life and have kids and have a wife make sure you always put them first. Make sure you prioritise and you always will, you’ll always prioritise. Don’t forget this, you’ll always prioritise what you value most in life. But be intentional about it. Don’t forget that business and money and success. All that’s attainable. Don’t miss miss moments with your kids and don’t don’t miss moments with your wife that are crucial for the people that that you love most and that you care about most.
David Ralph [49:55]
So what’s the number one best way that our audience who’ve been listening to you today Ryan can connect with you
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [50:00]
Yeah, they can connect on culture of good calm. They can always reach out through email as well. I get the emails on culture good calm but we’re on all the social media culture of goods on everything. I’m on LinkedIn, it’s McCarty, Ryan MCC AR T, why are ya en and on Twitter as well. But I think the easiest way is just jump on our website, see what what we’re doing and what kind of impact we’re having. And if there’s opportunity for us to have conversations to any of your listeners, we’d love that opportunity. We really appreciate just the moments that we’ve been able to share over this last hour. David’s been really great, man.
David Ralph [50:44]
No, it’s been great to have you on the show. And believe me, people, wherever you are, even if you’re sitting in a job that is crappy. It doesn’t have to be crappy. It all starts with that one person making a difference and everything in life. From Ghandi to Martin Luther King is all started with a single individual. So you can change. Right? So thank you, Ryan, so much for spending time with us today, joining up those dots. And please come back again when you got more dots to join up. Because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Ryan, thank you so much.
Ryan McCarty – Culture Of Good [51:19]
Thank you, David, thank you for connecting the dots for me today as well.
David Ralph [51:25]
Mr. Ryan McCarty is doing something bigger than himself. He’s doing something that many people wouldn’t even attempt. But his history, his backstory had led him to that point when it was a sort of natural progression to move forward. He just needed to have somebody who could see something in him to be able to do that. And all of us, we all need that person to be able to really sort of say, you can do better than this, you can do that you can go. And if you’re not getting that, then look at your surroundings and try to change who you’re surrounding yourself with. Because it’s very difficult to shake off those crabs that drag you back to the bucket if you’re not willing to think big as well. But surround yourself with big thinkers and then magic can occur. Thank you so much to buy into being on the show. And thank you so much for every single one of you. But listen to Join Up Dots and are sharing it with your friends. I get emails a lot where people are saying I will share it with my work colleagues, and we’re all sitting there listening to it. It really makes it a groundswell. So thank you so much for that. And until next time, we’ll see you again soon. Cheers say
Intro [52:35]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self your wants to become. So he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.