This weeks episode of Diapers and Deployments introduced us to Executive Coach at Tribe + Purpose and Auther of Enable Your Team's Success: Succeed in Life and Business with a Strong Team, Otis W. McGregor III, CPD,CPC.
Enable Your Team's Success walks the reader through the foundations it takes to be a successful leader and build and run a successful team. It starts with how you define your success as a person and a leader and moves to how to build your team and lead them. Otis explains the concepts in easy to understand terms and then shows the reader how he applied those fundamentals in business, Special Forces and on the rugby pitch.
LTC, Special Forces, US Army, Retired Otis McGregor leads Tribe and Purpose with his son Camden as the principal leadership and success coach. With over 40 years of experience as a leader, coach, and team member, Otis embodies the values and principles of Tribes and Purposes. Otis is driven both by these values and the idea that better leaders and tribes create better organizations, building better communities leading to a better world. Brought to the civilian world after retirement, Otis walks the walk and talks the talk. Spend five minutes with him, and he will inspire your heart and mind.
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https://www.skillmil.com/podcast/episode/30a63a44/what-we-do-today-makes-a-difference-for-the-future
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Below it the transcript if you prefer to read.
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Mike:
Serena. We got an army guy on here.
Serena :
We do, we have Otis McGregor, executive coach and author, with us today
Mike:
And he was in the Army and he can still write a book. Do you believe that?
Serena :
I do. I believe it. I believe it.
Mike:
Otis. How you doing, buddy?
Otis :
Hey, I'm doing great. And you know what? I wrote a book and ain't a Navy SEAL either.
Mike:
Oh no, there are a lot of those aren't they?
Otis :
They teach them that as part of their out process and from [inaudible 00:00:34].
Mike:
Here's how you're going to make money. Now, wait a minute. You were a Green Beret though, right?
Otis :
Yeah.
Mike:
That's like a Navy SEAL ish, right? No, no swimming.
Otis :
Well, no, we swim too.
Mike:
Oh man. Just wear green.
Otis :
Green Berets are unconventional warfare as in not going and, although we do blow things up, have those missions and do that, but really the Green Berets were formed to create gorilla forces behind enemy lines and overthrow the government. That's why our motto is De Oppresso Liber, to free the oppressed.
Mike:
Oh, I like that. I'll never remember all those words though.
Otis :
No, it's all right.
Mike:
I'm just a Navy guy. I don't yeah.
Otis :
Well, they're on our Regimental Crests. So if you get your spectacles out you can read it.
Mike:
Oh man. Hey, you're right. When you get above 50, your check engine light comes on, including your eyes. Right? I got my contact then.
Serena :
Yeah. I was going to say, I don't even think it got to be 50. I got my contacts in.
Mike:
But we're here to talk about a couple things. I know you do a podcast with your son, which is awesome. We'll get to that. You have tribe and purpose. You wrote a book and I told you before, I said, man, I want to write a book. And before we started, you said, well, all you have to do is start writing. So let's start there and tell us what motivated you to write the book and how that formed Tribe and Purpose and just kind of give us the story.
Otis :
Yeah. Unfortunately, the reason to write the book was I wanted to, I had heard somebody had told me that if you write a book, you become an expert. So it was part of my grandiose plan to portray an expert in this. And I've had a couple people ask me, what's the one business mistake you've made? I opened a business. I wrote a book and then I put a sign out in my yard, figuratively, and, and waited for people to come.
Mike:
Oh, didn't happen, did it?
Otis :
No, it don't work that way. It don't work that way. Hello?
Mike:
Oh, you mean? [inaudible 00:02:45]
Otis :
This ain't the Field of Dreams right here. I can tell you that.
Mike:
I know man. Well, I have started a business as well and you're right. No matter how good your product is, right. That no matter how good, if people don't know about it and I mean, you got to beat the doors down to get people in.
Otis :
Oh yeah. [inaudible 00:03:02]
Mike:
So are you a number one bestseller in New York Times yet or what?
Otis :
Well, in the Otis Times, yes. Otis Times. Otis Times. Number one bestseller.
Mike:
That's all it counts my friend. That's all it counts.
Otis :
I mean here's here's my big claim to fame of my book. I sold out at the book signing.
Mike:
Well, there you go.
Serena :
What's the title of your book?
Otis :
Enable Your Team's Success.
Serena :
Enable Your Team's Success.
Mike:
Yeah. We'll put it...
Otis :
Look over my shoulder on the video. You can see it.
Serena :
Oh yes. I do see that.
Mike:
Yeah. She's got her contacts in.
Serena :
I know.
Mike:
Well what about Tribe and Purpose? Cause really you have the business, but executive coaching is what you are really good at and that's that's your thing. So tell us about that.
Otis :
Yeah. Well, what we do is we help businesses transform their organization from being a bunch of stove pipes to operating with flow. That's the simple, condensed version but what that means is we start at the top, the leader, whether it's department or the entire business, the leader has to understand who they are. They got to get that understanding. What's their purpose? Why are they there? Why are they part of the business? All those pieces. And then how does that align with what the business does? Does it align? And then they got to, they got to come up with what they want to do. What's the plan, what's the vision. And then we get the team involved and do the same thing with the team. Who are they? Why are they there? What are they doing? What's their piece of the pie. Because if you don't feel like you're there for a reason other than to collect a paycheck, then you're, you're going through the motions.
Otis :
And what a successful business has is a team of people who are focused on the same purpose at the same core values, or their core values are aligned, and they're moving in the same direction to achieve the same thing. And they feel like they are contributing. That's a huge one, huge one for team members. They had to feel like what I'm doing here, what I'm doing today helps the entire organization achieve that success. And they got to know that and they got to buy into it. And that's the leader's job is to sell that to the team, get the team, to buy into it. Because if they don't, then they're just going through the motions.
Otis :
You know, one of my favorite stories is about the janitor that works at a hospital. And that janitor knows that by keeping the floors clean and disinfected, that he is supporting the overall mission of the hospital, which is to help people get better in life, feel better and recover. He knows that by just him mopping the floors, that's his contribution to that. That's huge. It's not just going through the motions of swabbing the deck. He's actually doing something that makes a difference.
Mike:
It makes a huge difference especially in a hospital setting, cleanliness. And what you just talked about sounds exactly like the military mission and the team, right? You have to feel part of that team. And that's how the best military organizations succeed is they have buy in, right? The leaders set policy. They tell us what we're doing. You get buy in from the team and next you feel part of that team and your mission is successful.
Otis :
Exactly. And it's actually, if you break down ma Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, it's the top of the pyramid in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Hierarchy of Needs.
Mike:
Yeah close enough. Slow down.
Otis :
My Texas drawl doesn't allow me to talk fast. I can tell you that. But you know, when it gets up there to that top, that last thing, we've got to feel like we're part of something that we provide value as opposed to just collect a paycheck.
Mike:
Yeah.
Serena :
Well, sounds like a family business.
Mike:
Oh yeah. Serena moved back home after being in the military where her husband was in the military, which means she was in the military, for 20 years, and works at her family business. And she's definitely part of the team.
Serena :
Yeah.
Otis :
Whether you like it or not. Right.
Mike:
The working part.
Serena :
Yes. What we're doing is making sure the future is as bright as it can be.
Mike:
Yes. Poor Serena. Six, seven days a week, right?
Serena :
Six. Yeah.
Mike:
Yeah. I mean, business is hard and that's what you talked about in the beginning, [inaudible 00:07:21] open the doors and people come in. What about, you said Tribe and Purpose executive coaching. Is that something you go on the road and do, virtually, and before I forget, have you noticed the difference between military and veteran owned companies than other companies?
Otis :
Yes. All the above. So majority of our clients we do virtually just because it's less expensive for all of us. Because even if it, I'm not talking about the writing the check. I'm talking about time. If I go to somebody's office, that's 30 minutes away. That means that one hour meeting is now two hours minimum. And you start to add that up throughout the day. So that's number one is even people that are my clients that are local, we still do it virtual. Now I do go on the road and go give presentations. I've got one client that they include me in their annual state of the company meeting. So I go there and meet with everybody on purpose, but those are kind of small niche things. Those aren't recurring. Those are like once a year sort of things that we do.
Otis :
I do talks on stage or seminars and in smaller groups. Those I much prefer those to be in person. Honestly, I did a lunch and learn last week that was virtual and I'm sitting here giving the talk and watching people on the camera, hearing plates clink and watching them eat their hamburgers and stuff like that. And it's like, yeah, that's not a lot of fun for me.
Mike:
Well, on the other end of that too, when you have a keynote speaker, that's virtual, just not the same, you may check your email or your phone, but when someone's in front of me, I feel like I owe them my undivided attention.
Serena :
Absolutely.
Otis :
And, and you know what, as a speaker, you can see the body language in the audience and I've done a lot of the virtual talks and lunch and learns, various lunch and learns and stuff like that. And whether they're they're in a group or they're individual, you just don't get that same sort of read. You can see it a little bit. Cause I've done enough of them now where I can kind of, but it's nothing like if I'm in a classroom with 30, 40 people or on a stage with a hundred, 200 people and I can look out and I can see them and I can see that reaction, because don't forget we're predators so our eyes detect movement and I see movement out in the audience. It's like, okay, that guy gets it. Oh that one over there didn't get that. So you can see that and you don't get that on Zoom.
Mike:
I get it with Serena. Sometimes I look over and know, she just knows she's not paying attention.
Serena :
Never.
Otis :
She has that look. Huh.
Serena :
You know how many times I had to sit through stuff and listen to you guys?
Mike:
Who us?
Serena :
Yes.
Mike:
Yeah. She was my ombudsman. So she's heard me speak a lot.
Serena :
But when I had to speak to the crowd, for the boat, I would know who was really listening to me and then who was going to call me the next day and ask all the questions that I'd answered.
Mike:
That you'd answered the night before. True.
Serena :
But that's like being a teacher and that's how it goes. Right.
Otis :
That's right.
Mike:
Well, I want to go back to the Green Beret thing for a minute. Cause we just kind of glazed over it. That's just not one of those normal careers. I mean that's a pretty intense 25 years, right?
Otis :
Yeah. Well, I started off driving tanks. I enlisted in the guard while I was a cadet and I was a tank driver then a LRSU, Long Range Recognizance Surveillance Unit, a Cav Scout guy. And then the Army commissioned me as an engineer. And I wasn't very happy about that. And then I volunteered for Special Forces and spent next 16, 17 years as a Green Beret and getting to do some really cool stuff and some really crappy stuff too.
Mike:
You know your way around Fort Bragg.
Otis :
No I don't because I got into Fort Bragg. I went there. Went through the qualification course, the Q course and language school, and then came out here to Fort Carson to be with 10th Special Forces Group and never looked back at Fort Bragg.
Mike:
Wow. You know, I assumed that everyone in Special Forces was at some point was at, well, you were at Fort Bragg, but not very long, but a lot of people go there and like they never leave.
Otis :
Oh yeah. Well we used to have two groups there. You could stay your entire career right there between the schoolhouse, the groups, the use of SOC, the headquarters, the Army Special Operations Commands and things like that. You could literally, and I know guys, a couple of the guys that I'm coaching right now that are transitioning out are those guys that have spent their career, the last 15 years at Fort Bragg because I've even met guys that were 82nd, raised their hand to go Green Beret, did the, did the training and stuff then went to 7th Special Forces Group, which used to be at Fort Bragg, and then spent the next 15, 20 years just bouncing around right there, living in the same house.
Mike:
Well there's Marines that never leave Camp LeJeune. I've met them.
Otis :
That's right.
Serena :
I mean, I don't love that we had to move all the time. I don't know how people have ever gotten so lucky to stay in one place for so long.
Mike:
Me either. Looking back though, I enjoyed it. My kids enjoyed it. It made them stronger, better kids than just living in one place my whole life. I know I don't have roots now. My children don't at least. That part's weird, but I don't know. Serena. I liked moving.
Serena :
Yeah. I mean, I guess because I had such strong roots here in Kansas City that it always just felt rooted and now we're back. So it's stayed the same, but I don't know. Even when I meet Navy people that say that they've been in one place for like 8, 9, 10 years, I'm like, how is that even possible?
Mike:
I know.
Serena :
We've never even offered the same duty station twice in a row. Like that's never even been a choice.
Mike:
After you're at a station for a while in the Navy. And they hear that you buy a house, they're like call the detailer, get them out of there.
Serena :
Yeah.
Otis :
I met an Air Force Colonel here years ago. She was an Air Force cadet. So she spent four years there went up the road to Denver, Buckley Air Force Base, spent four or five years there, came down here to Peterson four or five years. Cheyenne Mount, basically stayed in this little box right here for, she was at 20 plus years and had never left this area.
Mike:
Yeah. See, I don't know. I wouldn't like that, but we get off track, as usual Serena. We do this every week. We get off track.
Serena :
I know. That's because we like our guests.
Mike:
We do. And I like the stories, right. We know you have a business and we know you want to help veterans and you help other businesses out. But it's nice to know the background of the person you're talking to and the listeners know that you served for 25 years. Right. So the things that you're, I'll call it, selling right. Your business. They can trust you cause you're one of us. Well, I appreciate you coming on and...
Serena :
Wait, wait, wait.
Mike:
I was going to say, yeah, Serena, hadn't got to ask many questions. So I'm going to...
Serena :
No. Want to know about the podcast that you have with your son.
Mike:
Yeah. Otis and your son.
Otis :
Yeah. So because I'm a great namer. It's called the Cam and Otis Show. Camden.
Mike:
I was going to say is your son's name Cam or Camden?
Otis :
Yeah. How'd you ever guess? And we've been doing it. It'll be three years end of May, beginning of June. We have a blast. We kind of started it on a whim.
Mike:
You told me why you started it. I want the audience to hear why you started.
Serena :
Yeah. I want to hear. I don't know.
Otis :
It was was really a couple of reasons. One was going back to the book and putting a sign in the yard sort of thing. Right. You just start a podcast, become famous. Right.
Mike:
Yeah. That's how it works.
Otis :
Man I was naive. So that would...
Serena :
My kids think I'm famous because they Google my name and this is what comes up.
Mike:
Hey, that's all that counts.
Otis :
That's right. If your kids think you're famous, then you are.
Mike:
That's right.
Otis :
But it was that. And then the other thing before, my son's in the business with me, he part of Tribe and Purpose team. But before he was it guaranteed me a one hour slot with my son every week when he was off doing his thing, and he's still down in Tucson, I'm pointing to it.
Mike:
We know it's that way.
Otis :
Yeah. There it is. It's over there. But it gave us that one hour a week where we spent together and we loved, and we still do, hearing, much like y'all, hearing people's stories, listening and hearing what what was the catalyst? What was the thing that got them into business? What's some lessons they learned so they can share with the audience what keeps them ticking. We just love hearing those stories.
Mike:
Yeah. And it's awesome that you started that to spend time with your son. I mean that's great. Right? What better reason to start a podcast, Serena?
Serena :
I know that's pretty awesome.
Mike:
I don't want to start a podcast with my wife. Cause I spend all day with her every day, Serena, like we both work from home. So.
Otis :
My wife's office is right below me.
Mike:
Oh, mine is three doors down. Like the band. All those years deployed though. Now that I am home, I have my office. She has hers. It's actually amazing. Now when I was 20, probably not so much, but it's awesome. So I love it. And spending time with family, there's nothing better.
Otis :
I agree. I agree. All those years away. You can't make it up, but man you can enjoy it when you get it.
Mike:
You sure can. Me and Serena have talked about that on the show, all those years away, but then you have a retirement and you have quality family time when you are home.
Mike:
There's a lot of people out there who aren't in military who have worked their whole life. And when they're home it's not quality cause they're working 18 hours a day when they are home. So I appreciate everything the military has done for me and my family. Especially these days.
Serena :
It all pays off now. All the hard work and sacrifice.
Mike:
It does. I just got an ambulance bill and it was only $44. But we'll talk about that later. Forty four bucks. That's good. Right? Track Air.
Serena :
Oh my gosh.
Otis :
My back surgery, the bill I want to say was $300,000.
Mike:
Yeah. But you didn't have to pay that.
Otis :
Nope.
Mike:
No. I was talking about my copay. I can't imagine how much an ambulance ride costs. I'm guessing a lot. But anyway we're getting off track again. Tell us how to get on your podcast. Well, not on it unless you want me and Serena to come, and we'll come, but where they can find it and your book, if they want to buy your book and then your website, if they want to use you for coaching. That's a lot I know.
Otis :
Yeah, I know. I probably won't remember all of it. My book is on Amazon. You can either Google the name or Google my name, Otis McGregor. There is, and I don't know if my publisher's fixed it or not, but if there's a picture of a woman wearing a red fluffle blouse...
Mike:
I knew you were an Army guy.
Otis :
Yep. That's my book. Don't ask me what's going on. Thank you very much. I'll call out my publisher again. Get tired of making them phone calls. I don't know how to do it myself. So yes. Just look for my name and the title and yes, even though it has that strange picture on there. It's my book.
Otis :
So getting in touch with, well our podcast, we host on Buzzsprout. So it's thecamandotisshow.buzzsprout.com or Spotify, Apple Podcast, all the normal stuff, podcast stuff. And then as far as Tribe and Purpose it's tribe-purpose.com. Here's the little thing you got to do. You click the get started button in the upper right hand corner. It's going to do a little popup. And on that popup, you got two choices and I want you to do both of them. First one you're going to do is you're going to sign up for the Monday Moments Newsletter. Again, I'm I'm a brilliant namer. So it comes out Monday morning.
Mike:
Ah. Yeah.
Otis :
Good. There you go. There you go, man. You're quick on the naming stuff.
Mike:
Yeah, man. I'm good at this.
Otis :
Well, so Monday morning, it's a great way to kick off your week because what I do is I it's a stoic quote and I share what I learned this week. So on Monday, it's my lessons from this week for you to focus on your week and kick your week off. So that's number one. And then number two, that next button that's right next to it is how you get in touch with me. It's how you schedule a time to get on my calendar. And have a free chat with me and we'll see if you're a fit for our tribe. We'll see if our tribes a fit for you. Because it's a two way street. It ain't just, here let me give you stuff. You got to be part of it. Got to be the right fit.
Mike:
Awesome. You mean you have to work for it?
Otis :
That's right. You got to put it in the work, man.
Mike:
I wish everyone in America felt that way.
Serena :
Oh my gosh.
Mike:
That's a different show. All right. Well, Hey Otis. Thank you for coming on. Don't hang up. We're going to say bye to you. And then we're going to, me and Serena are going to BS with you after the show, but thank you. We appreciate the time. We really did.
Otis :
Oh I loved it. Thank you.
Mike:
You're welcome.
Serena :
Thanks.