Lousy Leadership with Brian Lousy

Interactive Transcript

spk_0 Welcome to Great Nation. I'm Joe Cadwell, the host of the show.

spk_0 And in this episode I have the pleasure of speaking with JobSight Foreman,

spk_0 Self-Talk Communication Expert, and author of two books on construction leadership, Brian Lausy.

spk_0 Brian landed on the literary scene with a third in early 2016 with his book,

spk_0 a Mindreader's Guide to Supervision, in which he introduced the practice of managing

spk_0 construction projects by intentionally holding back production goals and expectations from his

spk_0 crew. In his book, Brian promoted a supervisory style that required workers to use their ability

spk_0 to mind reader guests with their foreman or supervisor spots work in order to get their work done.

spk_0 Now after selling nearly a half a dozen copies, he's back with his second work titled,

spk_0 Gitter-Dead Dummy, a guide to leadership the Lausy way.

spk_0 In Gitter-Dead Dummy, Brian again introduces a unique and unconventional style of leadership

spk_0 by claiming that a cruise loyalty and respect can be achieved by using his hazing,

spk_0 belittling, and dismissive behavior techniques taught in his book.

spk_0 We'll open our conversation by learning why Brian wanted to write Gitter-Dead

spk_0 and the philosophy behind it. Next we'll discuss why Brian feels most leadership programs are a waste

spk_0 of time and why invented the acronym Rage to deal with conflict resolution on the job site and at

spk_0 home. Brian will then explain why effective leadership communication shouldn't rely so much on

spk_0 comrational and respectful discourse before on the bottom of your voice. And we'll end our

spk_0 conversation by learning why Brian believes the rockatory name calling on the job can be an

spk_0 effective tool and inspiring others to reach their fullest potential. After this episode, be sure

spk_0 to visit the show notes to find resources that will actually help you get ahead in your career.

spk_0 And now on to the show.

spk_0 Brian Lausy, welcome to Grid Nation. Hang on a second, Jim.

spk_0 I gotta put in a fresh dip. Yeah, sure, no worries. Brian, and by the way, it's a joke.

spk_0 Oh, yeah, sure. Whatever. You're ready to get this thing going or what?

spk_0 Yeah, yeah, you bet you're Brian. So again, thank you so much for taking your time to be on the show

spk_0 today. I'm really excited to talk with you about your books and the new leadership program you've

spk_0 started. I understand you developed it to mirror your own experiences in the trades. So

spk_0 what can you tell our listeners about why you started Lausy leadership? Well, John. Hey, Brian,

spk_0 it's it's Joe. Oh, okay, sorry. So Joe, it's like this. You know, over the past 30 years, I gained a

spk_0 lot of experience in construction. I saw the industry changed dramatically in my time.

spk_0 Opportunities opened up for all sorts of people to make a decent living doing what they love.

spk_0 Yeah, I agree. It's a totally different world than when we started.

spk_0 Yeah, it is. Some of it's good. Some of it's not so good. You know what I mean, but with all that

spk_0 change, you know, some things just didn't need to change. Really? Like what?

spk_0 What's the way they're treating each other out on the job? They're just not giving each other

spk_0 enough crap nowadays. There's not enough yelling or name calling anymore. You know, heck,

spk_0 even hazing's gone away. So you know, I said enoughs enough and I decided to change that.

spk_0 And that's why you started the Brian Lausy leadership program. Yeah, sure is.

spk_0 You see, there's a lot of programs out there that claim to teach leadership, but none of them

spk_0 teach you what it's like in the real world. You know, these other programs want you to teach

spk_0 communication and the collaboration and blah, blah, blah, but not mine. Brian Lausy teaches

spk_0 leadership the Lausy way. Well, that's an interesting point. You got there, Brian. You know, it pretty

spk_0 much goes against the grain of modern day leadership philosophy, though. Philosophy. You see that?

spk_0 That's the problem. The nice thing about my program is there's no philosophy. You either figure it

spk_0 out or I find someone else who can in the real world. We don't philosophize. We point. We grunt.

spk_0 And we expect people to catch on us. That's simple. That sounds kind of like the premise of your

spk_0 first book, the mind reader's guide to supervision. Yeah, sure is. You know, I wrote that book to counter

spk_0 what I felt was going wrong in the industry. Gotcha. A rebuttal to clear, concise, respectful

spk_0 communication and leadership. That's interesting. I understand that book didn't sell too well.

spk_0 Why do you think that is? You know that. What's that? Your coffee. You don't have that cup.

spk_0 Actually, I'm still using it. Why? I need something to spit in. Dude, you got a cup right to your

spk_0 right. Grab that instead. All right. So again, your book didn't sell too well, Brian. What do you think

spk_0 that is? I think maybe it had too many words. Yeah. Okay. So now let's get into your second book.

spk_0 Gitter did dummy. This book definitely took a different direction from the norm. Why did you write a

spk_0 follow-up book and where did you do your research for this one? There's no research. It's like

spk_0 philosophy. I wanted to create a book that drew up on my experience of what it was like when I was

spk_0 coming up in the trades. Now people treated me like crap. I remembered that and I wrote it down.

spk_0 All right. That's interesting. So go on. You see, I learned the hard way for some real hard

spk_0 asses. You know, for men who didn't give two hoots if you caught on or not. You know, like I said

spk_0 earlier, I had to keep up or they'd find someone else who would. Gitter did is my attempt to pass down

spk_0 that kind of knowledge. It's not this kumbayon nonsense. Hey, Brian, I'm going to have to disagree

spk_0 with you there. I mean, sure, a lot has changed in the trades over the years, but I think one of the

spk_0 most significant shifts has been the attention given towards developing real leaders. People can

spk_0 not only get the job done, but are good at communicating and motivating their people. I hate to say

spk_0 it, but your book seems to be perpetuating some pretty old school attitudes. Bullpuck. You know,

spk_0 I checked out those other programs. Two, one, two, lead gently, stir fry, brislin. None of them made

spk_0 any sense. There's too many words. There's not enough real action. Well, you do got a point there.

spk_0 I mean, most communication training does use a lot of words. It's kind of the point. I mean,

spk_0 how we use words can be the difference between building someone up or tearing them down. Exactly.

spk_0 That's why I try not to use them. You know, I'll let you know what I'm thinking when I'm good

spk_0 and ready. You screw up. You're going to know about it. Yeah, I kind of get that from looking through

spk_0 your book. I notice it's pretty much filled with pictures of you yelling. You damn right it is.

spk_0 The picture as they say is worth a thousand words. Need I say more? Yeah, but I mean, how does that

spk_0 really teach anyone about leadership? I mean, seriously, here's a picture of you yelling at

spk_0 a fence post. What's that about? That's me practicing vocal projection. Lowsing leadership relies

spk_0 heavily on your pipes. I believe the louder you get, the more respect you get. And that's pretty much

spk_0 the core of my program. Yelling is the core of your program. Yeah, it works great. Man, once again,

spk_0 I hate to say I'm going to disagree with you. I mean, seriously, I've worked with a lot of folks whose

spk_0 default was yelling, it's never helped. It's always made things a lot worse. I'm not sure I'm

spk_0 following. You know, yelling is a great motivational tool for me. I love seeing people pop tall when

spk_0 I get pissed. It's kind of a power trip. And that Brian seems to be the problem. I mean, putting

spk_0 people on edge does not make them perform better. Your book even has something called rage in it.

spk_0 What is rage about? Well, thanks for asking Jeff. You see, rage is an acronym, R-A-G-E.

spk_0 It's a technique I created to deal with conflict resolution. All right, so now it sounds like we're

spk_0 actually getting to something useful. So what's the R-Standford rage? Hold on, hold on, hold on.

spk_0 You got to ease into rage. What do you mean? Well, here's the deal. Rage is used to deal with

spk_0 conflict, right? Sure. So first, you need to find some conflict. Pick a topic to discuss.

spk_0 Work, sports, politics. It doesn't really matter. Eventually, someone's going to say something

spk_0 you don't agree with. That's when you rage. So let me get the straight. You use rage when someone

spk_0 has a point of view that's different than your own. Exactly. Now you're getting it. Other people's

spk_0 thoughts just get in the way. Who's got time for that? So to answer your question, the R is for

spk_0 react. Don't worry about listening anymore. Forget about counting to 10 or taking a deep breath.

spk_0 Just react. It's that simple. So seriously, that's the R. Yeah. See, reacting is just the first step.

spk_0 Then it's time to amp up. And that's the A in rage. Sure. I mean, if someone's not agreeing with

spk_0 you, things are about to get real. Therefore, you need to get amped. Sounds like amping up is escalating

spk_0 the situation. I thought this was supposed to be conflict resolution. I hate to ask, but what's the

spk_0 G stand for? Get a gun. G means get close. Closer the better. Get right up in their face. You need

spk_0 to let whoever you're dealing with know that you mean business, buddy. Holy fuck, that doesn't sound

spk_0 too smart to me. It's almost like you're looking for a fight. Well, funny. You should say that

spk_0 because I once tried rage on my kids karate instructor and that didn't go too well. Yeah, imagine

spk_0 not. Kind of had to change the E up after that. So let me guess after that conflict, you must have

spk_0 changed the E to something like engage in respectful conversation. Are you kidding me? No way.

spk_0 The E means time to explode. Seriously, you changed the E to explode? What was it before?

spk_0 It doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're now in full rage mode. Brian, that's about the

spk_0 dumbest advice I've ever heard to deal with conflict resolution. Well, I'll count to 10 and consider

spk_0 your point of view there, Jeff. This episode of Grit Nation is sponsored by T-slub industries,

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spk_0 This episode, along with the entire Grit Nation Library, can be found by visiting www. GritNationPodcast.com.

spk_0 T-slub, changing the way the world screws itself up since 2016. And now back to the show.

spk_0 T-slub, changing the way the world screws itself up since 2016.

spk_0 The whole crew, we need to be better than that.

spk_0 Look, I'm not advocating holding anyone's hand. I'm just saying our default shouldn't be to

spk_0 always put people down. It's got to be to help them up. I mean, belittlement, name calling,

spk_0 it's lazy and weak. Taking the time to teach folks to do things the right way, that's where hard work

spk_0 begins. Yeah, well, you might have a point there. I never really thought about it that way.

spk_0 You mean we actually agree upon something? Well, maybe I guess we do.

spk_0 You know, like I said, things have changed over the years in construction. Safety's a big deal now.

spk_0 You know, there's zero tolerance for drugs and alcohol anymore. This new leadership thing may not

spk_0 be such a bad idea after all. Yeah, I mean, I get it, you know, the old ways are hard to break,

spk_0 but we got to try. You know, I mean, treating apprentices like real people, it's not the worst thing.

spk_0 I know I made my fair share of mistakes. I know you must have made yours too.

spk_0 Yeah, never. But you know, you're right. We all got families to feed. Being in the trades is

spk_0 pretty damn hard as it is. And I reckon we don't need to make it harder by, you know, being jerks.

spk_0 Wow, that was pretty well said, Brian. Thanks. So Brian Lausy, what's next for you and Lausy leadership?

spk_0 Yeah. Well, you know, sitting here and talking, I think I just found the inspiration from a new book.

spk_0 Really? What about transformative leadership? Wow, that sounds pretty cool. What do you think you'd call it?

spk_0 You know, I think I'll call it pull your head out of your rear and get your leadership into gear.

spk_0 I love it. Pull your head out of your rear and get your leadership into gear. Brian Lausy has been a

spk_0 fantastic conversation. I want to thank you for taking your time to be on the show and for everyone

spk_0 who's listening. Happy April Fool's Day. I guess today has been Brian Lausy author of Gitter Did Dummy,

spk_0 a guide to Lausy leadership. For more information about leadership strategies that actually work

spk_0 or martial arts instructors near you, be sure to visit the show notes for this episode.

spk_0 Also visit the GritNation website at www.gritnationpodcast.com. That's GritNationPodcast.com.

spk_0 Till next time, Joe Cat will reminding you to work safe, work smart, and stay Union Strong.

spk_0 Thanks again for taking your time to be on the show and happy April Fool's, everybody.

spk_0 All right, we'll work on that one more time. Let's go and work pretty good though.

Lousy Leadership with Brian Lousy

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