Intro:Are you ready for an open discussion with the best of the best and the best of what’s next? Welcome to the Tony DUrso Show join in on a great conversation today with some of the world’s great influencers as they showcase great advice and techniques that made them the game changers they are today. Now, here’s Tony DUrso James Sudakow Tony: Welcome, I’m your host, Tony DUrso, I interviewed some of the top entrepreneurs in the world and I thank you for joining us. I broadcast every Friday at 2:00 PM Pacific on Voice America’s Influencer’s Channel, and you can listen to all of our shows on your android or apple device. Go to tonydurso.com/mobile and get the app at tony d u r s o. com /mobile before we get going here’s a big thank you to some amazing sponsors of our show. Please stay tuned for an important message from BetterHelp about getting private assistance in areas such as depression, stress, anxiety, anger conflicts, and more, more info on them. Just ahead so please stay tuned. Today’s show is with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling, Business Transformer and Creative Genius. All right, here’s some info on James Sudakow. James is the principal and founder of CH- Consulting. A boutique consulting firm specializing in organizational transformation and talent management strategies. Where he’s led engagements with clients ranging from small entrepreneurial startups to blue chip fortune 100 organizations across various industries, including healthcare, medical device, technology, finance, and entertainment. Here we go. Welcome to the show, James. It’s so great to have you. James: Oh yeah. Thanks for having me, Tony: James. I’m honored. I love talking about business. I have a lot of entrepreneurs in the audience and it’s always great to speak to a business transformer. Just, just don’t change. James: It makes me sound really on board. Tony: Yeah. Well just don’t change into a machine while we’re talking. Okay. James: I will try not to, even though my wife does sometimes call me a bit of a machine, so yeah, I’ll make sure I don’t. Tony: Very good. James Sudakow now, first things first, I’d love to know, James, how did it all start for you? What’s your backstory? James: Yeah! So, for me, I had barely traditional corporate jobs and then almost 10 years ago I decided to start my own thing. I decided to start my own business consulting practice and it was funny because my wife is kind of responsible for having pushed me into it. We were ready to have our own kids and we will legal guardians for two other kids. And I looked at her and I said, this isn’t an optimal time. We have lots of dependence and I’m the sole financial provider. But she knew it was always something I want to do. So, I launched it and I started the first year I basically moonlit basically I kept my corporate job and I started moonlighting doing consulting work and it got some legs and I told my wife, this could very easily be a one year experiment. Then I’ll go right back in and nine, 10 years later I’ve been able to grow the business and do some hopefully valuable work for clients as they try to transform and change what they’re doing. And so 10 years later we’re still here. Tony: Very interesting and congratulations. It’s not easy to be an entrepreneur. There are too many that don’t seem to succeed, which is a separate topic. And the fact that you’ve got a decade into this successfully, hat’s off to you. We want to learn from you and we’re going to talk about your new book. But one thing first, James, before we get into work-life balance, which I think is probably part of the secret of your success, which you’ll tell us we need to get this other factor addressed and out of the way. James, on your bio, you’re listed as an irreverent corporate author. How’s that? What’s that? James: Well, I’ll tell you what it is. I mean, anybody that spends any time in business, there’s a lot of really ridiculous stuff that happens and I think you have to keep a sense of humor around it or else you’ll just drown in it. And so that’s kind of where it comes from. I like to write a lot about the realities of the business world and there’s some really serious stuff to talk about, but there’s a lot of funny stuff that if you just kind of look at it from a different lens it keeps you sane or some of the ridiculousness of what it’s like to be in the business world. And that’s when I started writing. So I had a first book where I just kind of made fun of all the funny, ridiculous expressions we use in the business world and a lot of my articles that I write for Ink Magazine and others, periodically I’ll just throw some random one in there that has no business value whatsoever other than to make us laugh at some of the things we can all relate to in the office, in the workplace. So that’s kind of my mentality and I think it kept me sane and it kind of offers a little bit of a fresh perspective, I hope for people. Tony: I love it. We need that because sometimes, well, in the past things have gotten very, very seriously. Today, I don’t know what the corporate world is really like. I’ve been out of it for a while for all I know. It’s all fun and games and drinking Martinis and Vodka shots during work! James: Every day, yeah. Tony: So maybe somebody will write a book about, Hey, let’s get serious while we’re working, but that’s a different topic. So I get it. James: Yeah. Tony: Now James, don’t people just work their work hours and then go home except for entrepreneurs and business owners and also who’s this book really for? James: Yeah, no, it’s a really good point. It’s definitely for entrepreneurs who are also parents and that’s where I found like the world started to collide because, and it’s also for people that work in a more traditional job too. And I’ll tell you why, at least on the entrepreneur side, you can literally work seven days a week when it’s your thing and if you’re not working, you’re thinking about it, right? Because it’s your thing. And if you’re in the position like I am, we are also the sole financial provider like, then there’s a little bit of that extra pressure. So, it’s really easy to just lose track of what’s really important and why you’re doing this. And that’s kind of the life side of the equation. So, and I definitely talked to a lot of entrepreneurs who kind of feel that where you’re just always doing it and always thinking about it. So, when you turn it off and how you turn it off and how do you do it in a way that actually not only helps you with your life outside of work but makes you better at your job because you’re actually turning it off? And then for people that are actually in the workplace and those people that are parents in the workplace, the workplace is more and more companies are trying to do more with less, which means there’s more work to be done and the resources are fewer. And so people work hours and they work longer hours. And technology is what it is. It’s ubiquitous. So, we’re accessible all the time. So, there’s a lot of really interesting dynamics just in the business world beyond just entrepreneurs that create challenges for people in terms of like trepidation for can I really draw the line here, can I have the balance that I want? And that’s what kinda got me started. Mine, I didn’t have a balance to be honest with you, about 18 months, two years ago and I started to do some things really differently so that I could be more effective at my business and also spend as much time as possible with my family because that’s what matters. Tony: Absolutely. And for our audience, I should give the full title of your book so everyone knows a little bit more of what we’re talking about. The book is called Out of the Blur: A Delirious Dads Search For The Holy Grail of Work-Life Balance, and it came out, it just came out earlier this year and it’s quite an interesting topic. That’s why I was asking about, well who is this book really for? And now to follow up on that. I know you’ve just addressed it a little bit, but is work-life balance really an issue. Why write a book on it? James: Yeah, no, that’s a really good question. As an example, I have a client that I do some work with some of their high potential future leaders and they have this session off-site where they got to sit with the top executives of the company and the intention was to talk about this business development that they were getting and this learning that they were getting. And about halfway through this panel conversation, a couple of people just started asking questions about work-life balance and what does that look like when you get to be a leader and how do you do it? And it was really, really interesting because it came up almost on solicited. And then as I started talking to other people, this notion of like, how do we create the balance we want with some of the things that I just mentioned around, technology is such a different thing than it was when I used to talk to my dad about what his issues were back in his day. It’s almost like the work never stops. Globalization puts us in the same boat. Even small companies are quite global these days. Many of them are and so you can literally be always working because there’s always something to do. So, this isn’t to suggest that the goal is to stop and not do a good job at work, but people I think are struggling with how to find that balance and where to draw lines, especially with some things that exist today. Eg Technology, they are intended almost to erase lines. Um, so people are struggling a little bit with that ambiguity and happy you actually do it. So, it’s actually quite a real issue. Dad’s don’t talk about it as much, that’s one of the things that I’ve found. So, when I first wrote this book, I had a lot of people saying, wow, why are more dad’s not talking about it? And what I found after talking to a lot of them is they’re thinking about it. There are some really real issues that dads are facing. We’re just not very good at like articulating what’s going on. So, we don’t talk about it as much. But I do think it’s actually a pretty big issue for people in all walks of life at different points in their lives. Tony: That’s very interesting as you say that now for me, while I sleep, I actually write emails and I write out my things to do for the next day. A lot of times during sleep time. It’s just natural, it just comes up and I wake up in the morning, I remember all these things and when it happens, it’s not necessarily every night, but when there is something important, I have it all worked out and I don’t know why, but it just kind of seems to be that way because somewhere, somehow something has to give James and now I know on the other side a little, I know some people who either don’t have emails on their cell phone at all or they shut off their phones for the weekends, which is like quite wild at one level and up to a certain level I think that can be done. But a major corporate CEO or VP or you know, in the C level there’s accountability and you just can’t be there. James: That’s a good point. Tony: Can we have some tips and suggestions on how we could maximize our work-life balance? Something that would apply to all various work levels, entrepreneur, solopreneur, mid business owners, C-level and so forth. James: Yeah, yeah, for sure, and it’s a really interesting point around the fact that you can get to a certain level of leadership and you are generally accountable all the time. But what, what I think is fascinating about that, just to start there, to cite this experience with this client; these were their top executives. And one of the things that they said, which I thought was really interesting, is you have to make the decisions around the priorities that are important to you because the business won’t do it for you. And one of the leaders even said, you know, it’ll eat you alive if you don’t, if you don’t draw your lines where they need to be drawn. And like one example is this guy who’s a pretty high-level leader, but everybody knows that he’s drawn the line that on a certain day he’s coaching his kids’ sports teams because that’s where he wants to play. And everybody knows it. And quite honestly, everybody respects the fact that he drew that line. Now he cranks out a ton of work and he is a big leader with a huge amount of scope, but he draws the line there. And so one of the things that I have found if I were to say the top three things that I kind of learned along my own path and that seems to resonate with lots of people is one, there’s a big trap of undefined boundaries. And that’s this notion of not drawing a line where it’s just like you’ve got your job and you’re cranking it all the time and you’ve got your life and you’re trying to figure out how to get that going all the time. But not drawing clear lines becomes a real challenge for people. And it feels like it’s coming at you from all angles, which actually increases the stress that you feel around whatever work-life balance you’re trying to get. So, one of the things that I talked about with a lot of leaders is why do you do that? And one of the things that we hear from people at all levels that I spoke with is this idea of some degree of compartmentalization, which basically says, look, I’m going to block out x period of time that is not going to get invaded. Whether it be work life, it doesn’t matter which side of the equation it’s on, when you literally compartmentalize a little bit. And I actually practiced this, I tried this myself and found it to be incredibly successful and I was actually a little worried, like what was more my client’s going to say if I said, hey, you know what? For this half day, I’m not accessible because I’ve got a family commitment or for this period on for the rest of the night I’m doing family dinner. Right, and what I found is I didn’t lose one client and I didn’t actually have any issues with them perceiving that I wasn’t being urgent in my response to their needs because I did that. And I think that was the fear that I had. And I think a lot of people that I spoke to at all levels kind of fear like what happens if I re-establish boundaries that aren’t there anymore because of technology or just generally because there’s so much work to be done. Am I going to kill my career? And I think the answer that I can tell you from my own experience and talking with a lot of people, you actually won’t kill your career, right? It’s just a matter of where you draw those lines and are you still able to deliver on what needs to be done? So, that’s one thing. The other thing that I’ve found is one of the biggest killers of work-life balance is what I called it, the trap of the Superhero Syndrome, which is just trying to do everything. And I think a lot of people have overcome that, but there were certainly people like myself who solution quite honestly to work-life balance. Was it, I was just going to do it all. I was going to get my thousand things for work done and my thousand things for life done without any real reconciliation or prioritization. And that’s kind of what led me to some really interesting findings. And really if you distill it down to the most important mission-critical things and it’s basically just ruthless prioritization, which is what really good businesses do. Tony: This is the Tony DUrso Show just ahead the chat continues with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling, Business Transformer and Creative Genius. But first, it’s time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment. This is the Voice America Influencer’s Channel, be inspired. I’ve helped a lot of people in the past with a variety of life and business issues. I understand how you feel. 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We don’t follow, we lead. Join us the Voice America Influencer’s Channel. You are listening to the Tony DUrso Show with key influencers. We’d love to hear from you via email. Be sure to send questions and comments to Tony at tonydurso.com, now back to Tony and his guests. Tony: All right, we’re back on the Tony DUrso Show. Today’s show is with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling Business Transformer. And Creative Genius. Prior to starting CH Consulting, James began his career at Deloitte consulting were he worked for seven years in the organizational performance practice. Upon leaving Deloitte, he held aggressively larger roles in multibillion-dollar global technology organizations. Most recently serving as the Vice President of Talent Management and Organizational Effectiveness, at CareFusion, a medical device, and systems organization. All right and now back to the chat with James James: And I had a really interesting conversation with a dad who has retired and then came back out of retirement and raised three kids and he kind of came out of the tunnel as I described it and I asked him, what would you do? What advice do you give to other dads and moms around work-life balance and one thing that he said he says, you’ve got to ruthlessly prioritize what’s most important and then you need to be able to say, I understand the trade-offs of those decisions, whether it be for work or for life. And I think that was a really interesting trigger for me as I started thinking about broader strategies for work-life balance. It’s really about prioritization and then, it’s about being okay with whatever the implications of those priorities are and once I started doing that, man, that unlocked a whole bunch of things that I was able to do for work-life balance perspective that applies to anybody at any level. Tony: James, I really like some of these points because if you try to do everything for everyone, you’ll go nuts. You literally cannot please everyone and work more than 24 hours a day. That’s just not possible. Except when it comes to technology and perhaps some technology could be useful. Do you find anything that helps you get more done and allows you to spend more time with the family when needed? James: You know it’s actually funny is this is going to sound like an anti-technology statement, but don’t take it that way because I have just as much technology as anybody else. But what I’ve found is when I compartmentalize and there’s a technology implication to that, I literally turn off the technology if I’m with my family and I also make sure that I’m not disrupted when I’m doing my work from the life side of the equation. It works both ways. But what I found by doing that from a productivity perspective is when I’m at work, I’m not tempted to try to multitask anymore between work and life, which means that I’m super focused and I crank out work much more efficiently actually. So, I’m faster at it and I would hope that the outputs are more effective because I’m not distracted or trying to do this whole multitasking thing, which a bunch of science and research says isn’t even possible in the first place, even though we all tried to do it. And then on the life side of the equation, I’m not constantly like mentally traveling to work even when I’m supposed to be spending time with my life side, the kids, the wife, whatever it is that I’m doing and so I enjoy it more. So, this kind of notion of compartmentalization and actually stepping away from technology while compartmentalizing has made a massive difference in terms of my productivity and efficiency at work and quite honestly my enjoyment at work, but definitely my enjoyment and focus when I’m doing things that are not work-related. Tony: That’s very interesting James and I’m going to actually add something that’s the flip side to it. I for a long period of time had 400, 500 emails a week going unanswered. It just was going nuts. Everyone wants to be on my show. I’ve got a year-long waiting list. It was just so much and the normal solution as well. Hire someone, answer emails, Well someone doesn’t necessarily know the topics that I like to interview, the type of people, so I found that it doesn’t work to hire someone. I have to take a look and address all of these and I worked out a little bit of technology from my phone. When I’m not at work and I have some downtime, I pull up my phone and I have a little flag system where I go through and fly certain emails and then when I am at the office, I can just filter through, sift through, and I went from constantly half a thousand emails a week unanswered and just a big mess all the way down to a very small manageable amount. So, that was a way to use technology. But of course, I don’t answer emails from my phone. I think that’s it’s not very professional but at least it organizes. So, this huge confusion if you want to look at it that way, the hangs over my head. It all went away when I put it. A little piece of technology, so I highly recommend, see if there’s something that will help you speed it up so you can spend that time. Because I like to, when my wife comes home, I like to stop work. We’ve been together for nearly 26 years and when she’s home, that’s it. Because you can’t do both at the same time. So you have to force yourself. James: That’s right, I agree with you. Tony: Very cool on that very cool now we’ve talked a lot about your book Out of the Blur. James, did we cover the most important parts? James: Oh, we covered some of it, for sure. One of the things that I talk about in a book or these eight traps that we have within our control, around work-life balance and the reason that I highlight those, I think they’re all important in their own right. And that’s one of the things that I found that was quite interesting. They relate to each other, they influence each other almost in a value chain. But the reason that I mentioned that is because if you read a lot of the writings that are out there around work-life balance and the stress that we feel trying to get is because we’re trying to get something that’s not achievable. And I firmly don’t believe that, but I understand why people get to that place because in many ways it feels like there’s a lot of things that are out of our control as it relates to work, life balance. Lots of things happen in life and in our jobs and we don’t control and they fall down onto us. In the form of challenges with work-life balance. So, the Eight Traps I think are really important that I talk about in the book and I’ve actually made changes on all eight of them and have noticed a significant impact on my own work-life balance. Even with all those other things, I can’t control. That impacts my ability to get work-life balance. Tony: I liked that to eight changes that one can make to improve their work-life balance, which is in the book – Out of the Blur. I like that a lot. And James, I’m curious, many entrepreneurs we go from working at 40 hour work week, very cut and dry, very, you know, it’s very orchestrated and we go from that to working 80 hours a week and having more fun. And do you find with your work-life balance that you’re able to work less and still get everything done or are you, are you following that entrepreneurial rule of thumb there? James: Well I’m so glad you brought that up because it was really interesting, I reached an inflection point 2 years ago and this is where that whole concept that we talked about earlier about prioritization and then acceptance of tradeoffs. For a while I was, I was doing exactly what you said. It was like massive hours and you know, quote-unquote having more fun. I enjoyed the fact that I was running my own thing but it was clearly all-consuming. And so, I reached a point where I had to make a decision and that decision was what’s really important to me. What am I doing, what are my non-negotiables at work and what are my non-negotiables in life? And when I actually sat down and wrote those out, what I realized is I was like if I had accepted, I was at about 60 /40 or even 65/ 35 skewed to the life side. If I were to make this a hundred percent equation. And what that meant was to get to your original question about the number of hours I had to accept the fact that if I really wanted to do all of my life non-negotiables, I couldn’t keep doing the business side the way I was and I had to make some changes. And I actually went from growth mode to sustain mode. And I did that consciously and with the intention to allow me to not have to fall into the trap of the 80 hours and having more fun and not having any time left for anything else. So, I made a conscious decision and that’s a great example. I think of what I was talking about earlier about really accepting the tradeoffs and the implications, but doing it intentionally and I’ve been super happy ever since, even though I make less money. Tony: Well, I think the key is being able to sustain your family and your lifestyle and grow. So, that is separate then how much money one makes. Because the key is that you’re able to sustain and, you’re carrying the weight and you’re not stressed out and you’re doing everything. I think that’s absolutely amazing. I think there’s a lot to learn and I advise everyone get -Out of the Blur. Now, if they go to your website, which is jamessudakow.com, I’ll spell it. That’s James s u d a k o w.com. You can actually get the book out of the Blur and James if they want to reach out to you and say anything, can they go to your website and contact you? James: They can go to my website or they can contact me on Twitter and Facebook, all the usual suspects and social media, but they can actually do it through the website as well. Tony: All right, well thank you so much James Sudakow, The Business Transformer and his website is; jamessudakow.com. James, thank you so much for a great interview. James: Yeah, thanks for having me. It was fun. Tony: My pleasure. This is the Tony DUrso show just the head. The chat continues with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling, Business Transformer and Creative Genius. But first, it’s time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment. Change starts here. Change starts now. Join us the Voice America Influencer’s Channel. Would you like a lot of people checking out your sales page, your branding page, your podcast, like a lot of us are just trying to do it all yourself? 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He frequently connects clients, individuals who have changed their lives for the better and helps them to fulfill their unique life’s purpose. I’ve seen him work and he is amazing. Here we go. Welcome to the show, Neal. So glad to have you in. So nice to speak with you once again. Neal: Well, thank you. It’s an honor to be here with you, Tony. We’ve had some good conversations and just really excited about sharing anything I can with your audience. Tony: Neal, you’ve been a great friend for a couple of years. You are amazing on your world-class connections and the people that you know is astounding and I can’t wait to share all of this information with the audience and help them learn how to think like a creative genius. But first thing first, Neal, I’d love to know, we’d love to know how did it all start for you? What’s your backstory? Neal: Thanks Tony you know, it’s still kind of a mystery to me in certain respects, but I’ve always had I guess a facility and a real interest in curiosity and people. I’m not a transactional thinker and I think the real secret is it’s about the relationship. Many people today are very interested in getting into the bottom line quickly and seeing if people can functionally fit into their agenda and their goal. I’m not about that at all. That’s actually the furthest thing from my mind when I meet people. And as a result, I’m interested in learning about them and not even their wants but their needs in a very genuine, authentic way. And so consequently, I think probably has helped me to build a know, like, and trust factor a lot more quickly with people than other most people may experience, as a result. And it wasn’t unconsciously, it was kind of a lesson I learned from my mom who just when she died, never had an enemy. She was somebody who was sought out, who I admired. And so I’ve put that into my own way by how I approach people. And it’s working very well for me. I’ve met amazing people at all levels and all statures all classes. I don’t put them on pedestals. I just want to honestly understand who they are and how we could become friends and build from that if it leads to a business relationship or some other aspect. But it really starts with where you start as a person. And so, consequently I’ve found as a result it turns me into what I’ve been come known as a connector and I didn’t even know I was when it all happened actually when I met Robert Allen who was about to go on stage, he was very busy. I asked him, I realized that I wanted to respect his time. I said, Mr. Allen, do you have a card? And he gave me the card, not his card. But the card meaning his private information, I waited six months before I called because it was out of that place of authenticity that I wanted to understand how I could help him. It wasn’t about my agenda. And then I realized having done some research on him, there were probably six people in my network that I could introduce him to that could help benefit him and his business. When I called him, he was completely confused. He didn’t know how I had his number. He didn’t remember the conversation and he said, send me an email. So, I did. and when he saw who I wanted to introduce him to without any agenda and just to basically be helpful, he called me back. He purred like a kid and he invited me over to his home. I met his wife. We spent three hours together, which should have been a one-hour meeting. At the end of it, he said, you know, you’re, not a business development and marketing consultant because that’s what it said on my card. He said you’re much more than that. And I said what I am? And he said, yeah, you’re a connector. So, the point of the stories, I didn’t even know what that was at the time. I had to go home on the Internet and look it up, but it’s true. Malcolm Gladwell had been paid $1 million in advance to write a book on how people interact in the world. And one of the things he isolated was connectors as opposed to innovators and implementers. I guess I’m probably a hybrid. I’m an innovator and, a connector, but that, that really clarified things for me and clarified my life. And so, from that point forward I asked him, could I borrow that you know, that brand that you’ve given to me. And he called me a world-class connector. So that’s kind of the back story. Tony: So true; And for our audience, Neal, from the moment I met Neal at an event several years ago, he’s done nothing but connect me with people with no agenda, hasn’t asked me for anything or whatever. Just connected me with great people and I am eternally grateful for all the wonderful connections you sent my way and I sure hope that you may have and we’ll talk about it, put it into a seminar or workshop, put it into a book because you know so much about this. And I actually, it’s a very long question. I would like you to tell us more about what does it take to be a “World Class Connector” as well. So, we only have about a half hour or so. Neal: I know, I know, I know. I actually have been asked it before in different ways, but is there a really simplified way to answer that question, which is you have to be an active listener. You have to divorce your own agenda and your own ego from the experience, and you have to have a genuine love and interest in people and you want to help them. And it’s not about, trying to identify their wants for some manipulative personal agenda. It’s just about identifying their needs. Not from a place of the; me, but the place of the we. We’re all here for a short time and part of it is to connect and add value to the world and each other’s lives. So, I find that when I do it without having a specific agenda if the person won’t reward me and appreciate it, then the universe steps in and does that. And I found so many amazing times that literally I’ve been put in situations where people should know each other. I was the executive producer, the national space society event. One of the smartest people in the world was having breakfast with these gray-haired scientists. And I just kind of popped in, overheard and I asked the question to see if he had a sense of humor. And he did. And after three hours of listening to them, I mentioned that one of the great, African American Scientists who has been charged by the Defense Advanced Research Projects, Agency, DARPA, to get us to another solar system and put another human being on another planet in another solar system in a hundred years called the hundred year starship project was going to be speaking that night. And he’s African American. She’s African American. It’s their industry. I’m just executive producing. I was going to MC and basically, here’s the point, I asked him if he was going to attend. He said, yeah, I heard about that. She was going to be there, but I’ve never met her. And I said you’re kidding me? He said, no. I said, well, you were just telling me about a propulsion system that could get us off the planet at a phenomenal speed. And he said, yeah, I could probably do this. Not In a hundred years to 25 years. I said that’s a game changer. Somebody to see the fruits of getting us to another planet in 25 years versus a hundred that’s investible. And he’s a scientist he hadn’t really thought about that, but I said, I’d love to introduce you. And I did, and so a lot of this happens from an awareness of the people you’re talking to, how things should connect and consequently having that genuine interest and desire. And so by doing that, I became friendly with him, friendly with her. It led to other great experiences. And so, I think the key point is not to micro-focus on what you’re thinking about. There’s a saying that when human beings make plans, God laughs and so it was like to step out of myself and take that multidimensional perspective and see myself as a small piece of the puzzle. And I think it rewards all of us. Tony: That’s absolutely amazing. And I really liked the fact that you listen and listen and then you bring about a connection based on who you know or who you can know such as case and point that event you’re at. Absolutely amazing, it sounds simple, but you do it with such a flare. But I’m sure we all have a little bit of this world-class connector in us, but one thing in-treat me, Neal, you’re also, you also have another moniker you’re known as a world-class problem solver. What makes that so unique? Why are you so different? Why is it, world class? Lots of questions about that, perhaps you could tell us more. Neal: Sure, sure. Well, actually, you know, I first started out being known as this world-class connector because Robert Allen gave me my brand and it was gratifying, but I found it was insufficient. A lot of people don’t, aren’t really clear about what a connector is. When Malcolm Gladwell wrote his book, he figured out there’s probably a one in 3000 people that are, what is he through his own criteria introduce to being authentic connectors. So, that means there are 2,999 people in the world that I would meet who are really fuzzy about this because it’s not a natural experience for them. And often I would get mistaken for being a finder, particularly for people, they come to me and they have a missing puzzle piece. It might be money, it might be a part of a project. And, and it diminished my value if they were unclear. And I realized that really clarity is power. Like Buck Minister Fuller said. And so, I needed to understand myself better and what role I played in the world. I went back and I understood that I also the classic misfit in school. I wasn’t good at a lot of things, but when they gave me this test, Tony, I was 15 and it was about puzzles and predictive modeling, abstract reasoning. Those were areas when I took this test, I apparently tested off the charts. I see how things connected, these various puzzle pieces. And so it was really the problem solving of understanding not only where are they fit and how they could be systematized, but also how they can be sequenced properly. Tony: This is the Tony DUrso Show just ahead the chat continues with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling, Business Transformer and Creative Genius. But first, it’s time for us to take a short break. See you back here in just a moment. We don’t follow, We lead; Join us the Voice America Influencer’s Channel Hey, check out my other great interviews at tonydurso.com or using your Android or iPhone. 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You are listening to The Tony DUrso Show with key influencers. We’d love to hear from you via email. Be sure to send questions and comments to Tony at Tony durso.com. Now back to Tony and his guests. Tony: All right, we’re back on the Tony DUrso Show. Today’s show is with James Sudakow and Neal Sperling, Business Transformer and Creative Genius. At last count, Neal connected with over 55 billionaires, The President of the United States, the US Vice President, various heads of state prime ministers, a five-star military general, governors, mayors, academy award winning actors, directors, producers, and 15 Nobel laureates inclusive of nine Nobel peace prize winners. And now back to the chat with Neal. Neal: What I learned is that the most critical part of being successful in relationships and in business is to understand how to systematize that for yourself and then how to properly sequence it. You can have a great system without having a great sequence and you can’t have a great sequence without a great system. By combining all of that and then understanding through repetition and the process of working with these various, puzzles with people in their business and their personal lives, I began to get into the flow of doing this repetitiously and like riding a bicycle. It became rather effortless for me. And so to share that approach with people, I got the moniker that you’re not only a “World Class Connector,” but a world class problem solver. One of my clients said I mentioned this and then other people started, getting on board with that. And then so it became very gratifying. I live now a life that I really feel like I’m fulfilling my purpose and my passion and, truly self-actualized because there isn’t really any problem in any area, no matter how complicated is that. I could be presented with for many fields and feel like I’m still groping for a solution. I’ve kind of found my own system and sequence it and then share that with other people to help them get clarity. So that’s pretty much it. Tony: Very interesting. It seems like you think very much out of the box and you mentioned this, you actualize it, you actually visualize the whole thing and its solution. Are you the kind of guy that looks at a puzzle like a Rubik’s Cube and oh yeah, I got that. Here’s how you do it. Do you see things a different way like that? Neal: Absolutely! I don’t see it differently because it’s been my orientation all my life. The irony is I been out of step with the world from, Hey, here’s because you know, it’s like people would look at me and they try to figure out like where do you fit? Because I am in so many different areas and so many subjects, but I had this infinite, curiosity and whatever I do, I look at him, it’s like, for example, with business, I look at it like exactly like a Rubik’s cube. You nailed it. It’s like how do you get the greatest yield and the quickest time frame for the least cost and the least amount of labor. And I worked those various facets of business system or hits an aspiration to become more systematized. And I look at all of that and then break it apart just like kind of Edison did with looking at radio and, where are these pieces and where they fit in relation to each other and how can I optimize this and put it all back together. So basically everything that I do in life now, I took that approach and it served me well. And it’s just very gratifying to know that you have this confidence and that whatever you’re presented with, it’s not going to be insurmountable. Tony: You know, you make me think of one of the greatest geniuses of all time, Nikola Tesla. And I remember when I first learned about him some years back and I was astounded because his story was he would build a machine in his mind, turn it on, and if it still was running a year later he would build it. And I’m like, oh my goodness. And you were talking about you being a world-class problem solver. Nikola Tesla keeps coming to my mind. Not that you’re necessarily an engineer or not an engineer, but just you look at things differently and I think we all want to aspire to be able to use our mind so well and so effectively. Go ahead. Neal: What’s so fascinating is I just stepped out of a meeting where I’m looking now to take this off the next level and put it on the Internet, but in a way work and bring everybody together more efficiently and more effectively. And we’re literally designing in the computer ways to troubleshoot your systems, including in your business, inside the computer before you go forward and take a lot of steps, which often leave people to frustration, which is why they seek out gurus, why they seek out coaches, why they often have to go to into a chapter 11 it’s unnecessary because they haven’t figured it all out before they launched. They think they’re ready but this goes to not only the systems but the sequencing. They’ve launched too early or they’ve launched out of sequence. Very often people seek money for their business, but they haven’t had enough coaching to clarify their system of business and where their micro niche focus will be and what their competitive advantages will be in the market and follow this through before they go for the money. So, this is one of my aspirations, I guess, maybe to bring greater clarity to people because for many years as for myself, you know, we heard about how we’re all too close to our own problems. I was too close to myself. And so, I was not terribly successful in the earlier part of my life. And it took me a long time to really think this through, of how to get more out of life and more success, in different facets of my life. And I see now when I practice what I believe it helps me to achieve. Tony: I like that a lot, Neil. And the title of this interview is how we can learn to think like a creative genius. We’ve talked about this, we’ve touched upon it and I’m sure there are a lot more materials. So can you give us any more points and advice or techniques on how everyone, all of us can improve our creative genius? Neal: I absolutely can and, not to spend hours with it, but I’ve actually designed a course now where I can literally teach people this in a day because there’s a system to that. But I would just say the short form version of it is, and actually, I’m productizing now the speech that I gave on how to be more effective in this very category and I’m breaking it into seven modules with a colleague. This’ll be focused more on business per se, but it’s all about systems thinking and it’s all about, subsystems and the elements within the system. Most people feel a little bit overwhelmed to have to really focus on a problem. But Einstein was noted as a genius simply because he was able to reduce things to their simplest level of complexity through his systematic approach. And so that is the point. If you can take something as critically complex, like for example, relativity theory and reduce it to four simple characters, E equals MC square for simple characters explaining an extremely complex problem because he reduced the problem to its simplest level of complexity. So, there’s an approach to doing this. And as I studied Einstein, I studied Tesla, I studied Elon Musk, I studied Steve Jobs. I noticed that there are differences in certain facets, but they’re very similar on how they would tackle problems. And even though I’d like to say that they started from different points, they met at the same intersection and that intersection is the point of creative genius. It’s looking at things by being able to step outside your own limited box at Imagineering things from a multidimensional perspective like I was talking about earlier in terms of connecting with people. And from that point, you’re liberated because you have a kind of a new frontier., to your adventure, but it’s an adventure and looking at the world in a new way and you start to get in the flow of this. And there was various processes and approaches to then tackling these problems from a different dimensional viewpoint. But it really does get down to systems and sequencing. And I would say that for anyone who wants to start out, spend what Einstein did, 55 minutes on the problem and five minutes on the solution, most people spend 55 minutes to a lifetime on trying to figure out a solution because they didn’t do enough hard mental work to lay the proper foundation to then put up their house of understanding. So I think again, it’s just getting in a new orientation, a framework of how to think about things, with some structure and, and it’s like riding a bicycle. Once you get into the flow of this thing, I found it’s really, you can use it to apply to most anything that you’re confronting. Tony: That’s amazing to our audience. You can find Neal at worldclassconnections.com and Neal, is that where we can find this class that you have coming out on; How to think like a Creative Genius? Neal: Thank you. Yes, actually that’s my site. People can come to me there, we’re now putting the final pieces together. It should be available in a few months and by the time this interview aired it just may actually be ready for prime time. But certainly, I welcome people to contact me when the more about me on my site and, really if there are ways I can help them, I’m delighted to do it. Tony: Thank you so much. Once again Neal Sperling; learn how to think like a creative genius. We touched upon a lot of it. You can find him at worldclassconnections.com and there’s going to be a class look forward if it’s not already there and enjoy being a creative genius. Neal, thank you so much for this interview. I’d love to have you back on again. There’s so much to discuss. Neal: Ahhh Tony, you’re a wonderful person and I beat delighted. I really thank you for this opportunity. You have a great show and I hope more people, I hope they amplify your reach and results with that, but I hope more people become aware of all the great things that you’re putting out in the world as well. Tony: You’re a good man. Thank you so much, Neal. And for my amazing audience thanks so much for listening. Remember, success awaits those who persevere and remain steadfast despite the odds be righteous. Join me on the next episode of the Tony DUrso Show. We hope you’ve enjoyed this week’s edition of the Tony DUrso Show, with his key influencers. Be sure to tune in again next Friday at 4:00 PM Eastern Time, 1:00 PM Pacific Time on the Voice America Influencer’s Channel.