Coaching Employees to Become Their Best Selves featuring Eric Guy

Eric Guy [: 00:00:00

There are people that if you ask them what your dreams are, they just stare at you blankly. We forget how to dream. We forget how to use our imagination. There's research around it, and then we lose our purpose and we lose our focus and we get depressed and we get anxious. It's important to help people understand who they are and help them uncover that.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:23

This is a fun episode because way back on episode 29, I interviewed Brian Hess, who is the president and CEO of The Pavement Group. He and I have been friends for a long time. We've been talking about Dream Manager. He knows about it, and now finally he's making it happen. He's implementing the program. He found the perfect person to get certified, Eric Guy. Eric Guy joins us on this episode as he just got certified to be the Dream Manager for The Pavement Group. They are so excited to roll the program out.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:54

So we talked a little about the certification, what it was like for him, why culture matters, why it's important to have a program like The Dream Manager, why Dreams Matter in an organization, and he shared some really great insight. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. Eric, thank you so much for joining us today.

Eric Guy [: 00:01:18

Yeah, thanks for having me.

Kate Volman [: 00:01:20

I'm excited about this conversation because you are newly certified as a Dream Manager. You came just a week or one week or two ago.

Eric Guy [: 00:01:30

One week.

Kate Volman [: 00:01:31

One week. Celebrating one week already. And, and you guys are already just rocking and rolling. So I wanted to. To have you come on because you have worked with leaders for really, your career is based on helping people become the best version of themselves and growing and helping businesses to grow and scale. So you're in this world, you're in the world of leadership and culture and, and really helping people. And so now you have a big tool in your tool chest that you can use to, to help people grow. So I wanted to talk a little bit about your journey, how you discovered The Dream Manager.

Kate Volman [: 00:02:09

And then we're going to dig into why is it important for the Pavement Group, the organization, that you're going to be the Dream Manager for and. And how that's going to impact the culture. So why don't we start with a little bit of who you are, a little bit about your background, and then we'll dig into Dream Manager.

Eric Guy [: 00:02:24

Well, my background actually is I'm still a licensed therapist, but that's how I got started. I just kept studying something called Reactive Attachment Disorder and got to be a pretty much an expert in it, I would say. You know, I had a lot of clients that were driving two, two and A half hours, sometimes three hours, just for a one hour appointment. So I decided to create my own program and I, I go in and I stay with people in their homes for a period of days and had a lot of success. And one thing led to another because it was private pay. A lot of those folks were higher up in companies and they said, hey look, you needed to come do this in my company. Same kind of thing. Then one thing led to another and here I am.

Eric Guy [: 00:03:07

Over 90% of our clients are actually businesses now. Same kind of issue, same kind of problem, same. And challenges. I do enjoy it. It's. But it's, it's kind of funny. It is the same stuff like with relationships, attachment and everything else like that. It just, we don't call it that, but it's pretty much the same.

Kate Volman [: 00:03:25

All right, so that's, that's awesome. And I know you dream manager has been in your life for a while. Talk about how did you find the book? What resonated with you about it?

Eric Guy [: 00:03:37

I don't know how I actually first got on the book because it's been out for a long, long time. I give away a lot of books, but that is the one I' away the most to the most people, to the most family members. But I read that and I was like, oh my goodness, like, what if this actually could happen? And at that point in time I just read the book. I didn't go any further. So this has been years and years ago. I just thought, wow, this would really be cool if somebody actually did this inside of a company. Because I could really see myself doing that. I mean, when you start talking one on one with people and some of the cohorts we were doing with some of the companies, people start to talk about that, they start to talk about their dreams, they start to talk about their challenges, and if only I could get here.

Eric Guy [: 00:04:23

If only I could get there. And in some companies, we've been doing it for many, many years. But every graduating class, I would always hand out that book. I would always hand out The Dream Manager.

Kate Volman [: 00:04:35

I know, it's so interesting how that happens and how, how many dreams we might have on our list that it's timing, right? Maybe it just wasn't the right time for whatever reason. And so you keep it on your list and as long as it's in your heart and you keep thinking about it and you just never know what's going to happen. It is interesting because Brian, so Brian the president of The Pavement Group. So we've been friends for about five Years. And we're talking to him about The Dream Manager and the book and you need a dream manager. You need a dream manager. And then all of a sudden, as I'm literally on a train to do a training at in Tampa, Florida, and I get a call or get a text from Brian that says, guess what book keeps showing up in our group trainings? The Dream Manager. Is it a sign? And I was like, finally, Brian, are you finally going to pull the trigger and do this thing? Let's go.

Kate Volman [: 00:05:29

And then I text him back and immediately I get a phone call from Brian and he says, not even hello, it just says, kate, meet Eric. Eric, meet Kate. He's gonna be our dream manager.

Eric Guy [: 00:05:42

Yeah. And then that's how it happened. We were sitting in this studio. He was actually sitting to the left of me. One of the members had taken my recommendation and read that and he mentioned it again. And he's like, you know, I know the CEO. I'm like, you know the CEO of what? And he's like, The Dream Manager. I'm like, okay.

Eric Guy [: 00:06:00

So he's. My interest is very piqued at this. I'm like, how do you know? Like, are you just kind of name dropping or do you actually know her? You know, well, I didn't know who, you know, she. He. But yeah, I didn't know who he was talking about yet. And I was like, he's like, I know her really well. I'm like, okay. And that's.

Eric Guy [: 00:06:17

He just literally had his phone here and he's like, we called and that's when, you know, you answered. And he did say that. He's like, eric, meet Kate. Kate, meet Eric. And I already knew everything. Like, he's asking you questions and he said, when's the next one? And you were like, February 3rd and 4th. And I'm like, oh, my goodness, please let this hit. Is this really going to happen? That I'm getting all excited, literally sitting pretty much where I'm at right now.

Eric Guy [: 00:06:40

And a few days followed and we went back and forth, back and forth, back and forth. I'm like, hey, look, are we going to do this? Are we really going to do this? Like, feeling kind of anxious and just anticipating it. And finally we got everything straightened out because it was only about a week and a half, maybe 14 days before the certification was supposed to happen. There wasn't much time. Wasn't much time at all.

Kate Volman [: 00:07:04

And you did it.

Eric Guy [: 00:07:05

So here's the other thing that was really cool. The Thursday that the paperwork all got through, I was with He's a VP now at a company, but he was probably literally one of the first people that I ever gave The Dream Manager to. And I was with him two hours away from where I'm at now. I was with him that day when the email came in. I'm talking to him about it, telling him all about this, how excited I am because I've watched him grow up, like, I've mentored him, this gentleman. And I'm. And I look at my email, I'm like, oh, my goodness, this couldn't happen in a better place. We're doing this because he's probably going to do it with his company.

Eric Guy [: 00:07:44

There's no doubt. I mean, we talked yesterday. He's like, well, tell me all about. Tell me all about it. So I'm going down next week and we're going to talk about it. But it was. It was just ironic that it. It hit that day and that was that Thursday, and then I was there.

Eric Guy [: 00:08:00

Sunday I was there.

Kate Volman [: 00:08:01

It's not ironic. It's perfect. It's perfectly beautiful, and it's the way that it was supposed to happen. And I'm so thrilled, and I'm so excited, and I'm so excited that the payment group is finally on board with The Dream Manager and that you get to serve as the Dream Manager. It's going to be awesome. So tell us a little bit about your experience.

Kate Volman [: 00:08:21

You know, especially someone like you, who, you know, we do work with a lot of people, some of whom just heard of The Dream Manager and read it and they come and get certified. So they don't have a lot of experience with it. You're someone who have for years and years. You were given out the book. You're talking about it. You were already like, kind of living that culture of dreaming. So talk about your experience getting certified. What was that like? Was it everything you imagined and more?

Eric Guy [: 00:08:48

Yeah, well, it actually was because I. I do a lot of training. You know, I'm constantly in front of groups, and one of the things my wife actually said, she's like, are you really going to sit through a class for two days? Like, when's the last time you actually did this? Like, you're gonna have to go back a long, long time since you were not the instructor. Are you going to be disruptive? You know, she's like, you're going down through the list. I'm like, no, I don't think so. Like, I think I'm gonna be interested in all this stuff. I think it's going to Be really good. This is, you know.

Eric Guy [: 00:09:19

You know, this is a dream. It just happened along. Yeah. It took some time, so to speak. And, yeah, I was locked in for two days. And I know that because I had. I was so behind in my emails Wednesday and Thursday after the training, because usually if I'm sitting in something that, you know, I can still pay attention to them, and then at night, I'm not looking, you know, I'd be answering emails and. But I was locked in for those two days.

Eric Guy [: 00:09:44

It did surprise me, though. Yeah. I was kind of blown away how some people just didn't know about it yet. I don't know why I was shocked by that.

Kate Volman [: 00:09:52

Well, because you were. It's been in your life for so long.

Eric Guy [: 00:09:55

So for you, like, you didn't read, like somebody said, they just read the book on the way down. Well, I know nothing about the dream man. I'm like, really? What? Like your company sent you and you don't know anything? I mean, which happens a lot probably, but it was just. We've been using it so much.

Kate Volman [: 00:10:11

Yeah.

Eric Guy [: 00:10:11

You know, in our company, my wife said the same thing. She's like, well, they. They didn't know what it was. And I'm like, yeah, can you believe it? She's like, no, not really. You know, because the kids. My kids have read it, my kids, significant others. I mean, everybody has read that. And it is a book that we constantly give to people.

Eric Guy [: 00:10:31

Actually, there's another company that wants to do it, and I actually just met with him this past Tuesday. One of the things that I guess that he would be is their head engineer. It's a manufacturing plant. And he's like, the homework was to read The Dream Manager. Right. Because I had not. I didn't have the certification plan. I just had given out the book.

Eric Guy [: 00:10:55

When they graduated from the. The first year of their cohort, I'm like, oh, yeah. And it's going to be bigger than I ever thought it was. He's like, really? I'm like, yeah.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:03

So cool. Talk a little bit about your experience. What, Especially from a trainer's perspective, what are some of the things that surprised you? Because you do know the book. But what a lot of people don't realize is how rich the content is that there actually is a curriculum that goes along. Some people we hear from and they say, oh, yeah, we've been doing The Dream Manager for a year or two, but they really haven't because they don't have a certified Dream Manager. They don't know the curriculum. They don't know how to roll it out to their team. So was there something that surprised you or that you found to be, like, the most intriguing when it came to certification?

Eric Guy [: 00:11:43

The curriculum, for sure. I don't think it's overwhelming. It's nice. It's very, you know, pointed.

Kate Volman [: 00:11:49

You.

Eric Guy [: 00:11:49

You can follow it. It's not. I don't think it's too overwhelming. It breaks it up very nicely for me. It fits into everything that. That I've ever done, too. How it splits it up is. It's just a nice.

Eric Guy [: 00:12:03

It's a nice pace. It's a nice cadence. That's how I've always done things, too. I don't like. I've done the year programs, so I've got a couple companies now that are in their third, fourth, or fifth year of doing different things. But I just like how it's broke up. I like that for some reason. I like the shorter binder.

Eric Guy [: 00:12:22

I like how you can take the lessons out and they're all divided into. It's just very nicely done. How it goes into the, you know, the book, the Rhythm of Life. I like that check, because that's. Anybody can do that. Check. Right. You know, a lot of people, because we do so many assessments in our company, a lot of people are waiting for me to read something or give them feedback.

Eric Guy [: 00:12:42

It's like, well, you don't really need that with this. Like, everybody can be on the same page very quickly, and it gives people like, here's the guides. Here's the target. Here's what we're going to do every month. You know what's happening, and every. I think that the thing of it is, is everybody will have that. I haven't rolled it out yet, but everybody will have that. And that'll create the buzz in any company.

Kate Volman [: 00:13:03

Yeah. So Eric's talking about the Rhythm of Life scorecard where you're rating yourself red, yellow, green on your physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual. And like you said, it's so simple. That's the one thing I so appreciate about the curriculum. And Matthew was so intentional about this because Matthew values simplicity, and it's really seen in all of his work. But the simplicity of the curriculum, it's important. Right. Because many of us have probably taken courses or programs, and you jump out after, like, one or two lessons because it's.

Kate Volman [: 00:13:38

It's overwhelming. There's too much. It's confusing. It just feels like a lot. But this is rich content, like deep content. But it's simple. It's very masterfully done. It's a skill.

Kate Volman [: 00:13:53

Right? It's a skill that people have to learn in order to create that type of work for people, that type of workbook and curriculum for people to use. And it's also just a bonus for someone like you that has a coaching background. But like you said, there's people that were not as familiar with The Dream Manager and that are not familiar with formal type coaching. And so it's great for them, too. Like, that's what I love about when you said that you appreciated it so much. It's almost like you being an experienced trainer all the way down to the person that has never coached before. It works for everyone, and everyone works together and learns together and grows together. So that's part of what we love about just everyone's at kind of a different level when they show up.

Eric Guy [: 00:14:35

It really is laid out very nicely. I. I like it. I like how I'm excited to. To kind of roll it out. Brian hasn't given me the final number here, but I think we're going to do it here first with the leadership team from tpg. I don't know if I'm giving out too much or not. I don't.

Eric Guy [: 00:14:50

He probably doesn't care. Talking about good timing, like, if I would have. I would have missed this opportunity with him because I. I do believe he'll take it a lot farther than where I was going to do it before. There's no doubt in my mind. There's absolutely no doubt in my mind.

Kate Volman [: 00:15:09

You work with a lot of people. You work with a lot of companies now and have been for years. Why does this matter? Like, why is this important for people? Why is a dream manager important? Why is culture important?

Eric Guy [: 00:15:22

I mean, people, we have lives outside of work. You think about your closest friends. We share everything. I don't just talk to you, Kate, about just business. We're already deep into life. I mean, we're talking about doing hikes together. I mean, that face to face was just the first time at the certification. When you think about that, like, people want, I think, to give them a platform to be heard, to pour into them, like, and that's just going to create engagement.

Eric Guy [: 00:15:53

That's what's really important for the culture, is that that engagement. Because people often ask, even just with Brian are like, well, why do you do this with him? Why do you do that with him? I'm like, well, you just have to come see. This is everything that I always talk about. Does he do it perfect? Absolutely not. Does he do it with the same amount of passion That I think I have in my heart. Absolutely. You know, and that's what people need. And you can see it in a culture like this, right? Just to be engaged with people and ask them about what's going on.

Eric Guy [: 00:16:25

And you think about it. People that aren't like us, that. That don't do stuff like this. There are people that, if you ask them what your dreams are, they just stare at you blankly. I know, because we've been doing a community vision day for the past three years, and we've done a vision day with our kids since they were little, in their. In their mid-20s. Now, we forget how to do that. We forget how to dream.

Eric Guy [: 00:16:46

We forget how to use our imagination. There's research around it. Right. Especially about our imagination as adults. I mean, and then we lose our purpose and we lose our focus and we get depressed and we get anxious. I mean, I could go on and on and on, but it's important to help people understand who they are and help them uncover that. Think about the. The great mentors you've had that have pushed you a little bit, that told you your.

Eric Guy [: 00:17:12

Your dreams weren't silly or go after it or you should do that. We only need one person like that in our life. And because I don't have seen it, I just got in. I think it was right after the certification. I got a nice little LinkedIn message from a lady. I haven't heard from her, and, oh, I probably haven't seen her since 2016 or 2017. And it was just a big thank you. Thank you for helping me really follow.

Eric Guy [: 00:17:39

I wish I had it in front of me. It was just a big, long kind of email that said, thank you for really pushing me to dream. I'm like, this is what I was doing. I loved it, but this is where I'm at. It's crazy what she's doing now from where she was at.

Kate Volman [: 00:17:54

That's why coaching is such a gift. You are giving a gift. When you see that spark in someone else, when you see someone else's superpower before they notice it or they just haven't had that encouragement from someone. And I wonder how many people's lives have been impacted because of that one thing that you said, that one text that you said, that you sent, that one note that you gave them. Just. It could be the smallest thing. I remember conversations. I had a friend of mine from college reach out to me years after college.

Kate Volman [: 00:18:29

This was maybe like however many years ago. I've been out of college a long time, but however long it was but years after we graduated. And she said, do you remember this night and what you said? I remembered the night, but I didn't remember the conversation. And she's like, that stuck with me till this day. And I'm thinking, wow, like, think about how many of us are walking around and you have said something that has impacted someone and you didn't even know it, like how much it influenced them. And so this is why we get to share our ideas with the world and encourage people and help people. That is what coaching does. And one of the things I love about The Pavement Group and your fearless leader over there, Brian Hess, who has his own podcast and is on his own crazy journey of just doing remarkable things in the world, but he has such a heart for helping people.

Kate Volman [: 00:19:24

And because of that, the business success that he has has been remarkable. You work with a lot of leaders and they come to you because obviously they want to grow, they want to scale whatever they it is that their dream is. What do you find is the biggest challenge for these top level leaders? What are they dealing with? What are they coming to you for? What do they need help with?

Eric Guy [: 00:19:46

They definitely need help with their people. A lot of them just can't understand. They understand the business well, they just don't understand the people side well. Or they want to get it, but they really don't want to get it because they don't want to put in the work to get it because it's so much easier on the business side to do things for them. Right. And when you work in this way, I think what scares a lot of leaders is the feeling of relinquishment, of control, like when you're investing in your people. I've seen some leaders, I've worked with some leaders that have let that go and things have started going well and they sabotage it because it's like, what's going on? I don't know what's going on. I have that all the time.

Eric Guy [: 00:20:29

Especially like after the first or second year that I work with a company where I'm doing the cohorts all the time. After the first year, their leaders will all come back. They haven't said anything the whole entire year, most of the time. And then when we get to graduation, I don't know what you even do with them, but you can see the fruit. One, if you want, stop in. I'm sure they would love for you to stop in one way, but two, you just have an ask, but you're seeing the fruit of what's going on in There. Why do you need to know? And it's just. They don't have control of it.

Eric Guy [: 00:21:03

They don't know what's going on. That's why I appreciate Brian because he's like, yeah, whatever. Like, he's just looking at the result. He's like, I know that that works. And that was what really pushed him, I believe, to. To finally pull the trigger and. And do The Dream Manager certification. He believed in it.

Eric Guy [: 00:21:19

He just didn't have anybody to do it.

Kate Volman [: 00:21:21

Yeah.

Eric Guy [: 00:21:21

And once it showed up, it was like, oh, let's do it. And I'm like, oh, man, I'm the person. Yeah.

Kate Volman [: 00:21:26

That's why I think it's so interesting. And like, timing. It's so important for timing. And for anyone that's listening, that is curious about and thinking about certification, and they might not know where to start or where to begin. That's okay. Just come get certified. Like, we help you work through all of those things. Like, how are you going to roll it out, what you're going to do with the program, and how you're going to serve your people, and who is going to be The Dream Manager? We have some companies that they hire someone specifically, kind of like you, right? Like, they hire someone specifically to.

Kate Volman [: 00:22:00

To work on people development, and then they become the certified Dream manager. Sometimes it's someone from their HR department or a culture department or somebody in their organization. But that shows up all the time when we're talking to leaders. Once we have the people conversation, all of a sudden you can see that little light in their eye, and they're like, ooh, you know, Sarah on our team would be amazing for this. And now you get to gift that person, hey, this person loves people. They love helping people grow. This could be something that's going to really empower them. So it's empowering someone on your team, and you're going to see all of that, all those benefits, because now you're feeding into your people, which is what we need to do for organizations just.

Eric Guy [: 00:22:46

To know their dreams. Right. Like, because I know a lot and Brian has already been doing this, but he's helping people with their dreams.

Kate Volman [: 00:22:56

Yes.

Eric Guy [: 00:22:56

And that's the other thing. When you help people with their dreams. And I said this to my kids, the big aha. For me that year, we do a lot of reflection questions and things like that, and it's probably even a few of Matthew's questions in our vision day reflection. But I just said to them, I said, I want to know your goals so badly because I get so much satisfaction with helping you. Like, more satisfaction than I get achieving my own. I want to be part of yours, which is fun because when I was down there, on the second day, I text my daughter who works in our company. I said, hey, look, I know this is going to go gangbusters.

Eric Guy [: 00:23:37

That's going to go off the charts for us, but will you be my first dreamer?

Kate Volman [: 00:23:42

I love that.

Eric Guy [: 00:23:43

She's like, I should have went with you. I'm like, yeah, you probably should have. They still have more so you could come back. But she's going to be my first streamer. So we got to put that all in play. And I think we're. We'll probably start actually next week.

Kate Volman [: 00:23:56

I love that. Oh, I love it. All right, Eric, because you work with a lot of leaders and our audience loves questions. We love a good question. Right. As a coach, you ask great questions. Are there. Am I putting you two on the spot if I ask you for, like, three questions that the listeners can ask themselves to help them become a better leader or maybe just to help them through one of a challenge that they're going through or a dream they're trying to achieve?

Eric Guy [: 00:24:24

Yeah. I think, though, getting clarity, I mean, one of the things that. That I often ask people, I think I do it every year at one of the university's retreats that we do for the financial guys. I always ask them, what are your three biggest dreams, your most meaningful dreams this year? Like, what do you need to focus on? And as a family, we've really embraced that. My wife has really embraced that. So the question was, what are your three biggest dreams? She'll go out and for all of us. So there's six of us at Family Vision Day. She goes out and gets little, like, champagne bottles and our three biggest ones, we tie a string around it with a kind of a little heart that says what dream that is? When we get it done, then we call everybody and.

Eric Guy [: 00:25:12

And celebrate. We celebrate. One of our core values is got cowbell. So we ring the cowbell in a celebration and we pop that little champagne bottle. I guess that would be one of them. Another question I think is really helpful. I don't know if you would feel the same way, but want. What do you really want? Not what everybody else wants from you, but what do you really want?

Kate Volman [: 00:25:38

It's so funny that you say that because this is a question we ask our clients all the time. It's such a good one, especially when we're going in all these different directions. I could do this. I could do that. There's all these challenges and we get so caught up in our head. And then to have somebody just ask you that simple, what do you really want? It's almost like sometimes it feels like you get kicked in the gut. You're like, oh, wait a second, I don't even remember. I need to think about this.

Kate Volman [: 00:26:07

So I, I love that question. That's a great one.

Eric Guy [: 00:26:10

And then I think for the last one, let's go real deep in a heart. One that I always like to ask my family is, who do you want to love more than you ever have this year?

Kate Volman [: 00:26:21

Oh, I love that.

Eric Guy [: 00:26:23

So more deeply, however you want to state that, like, to think about that, like, because sometimes the people that are nearest and dearest to us, whether they're family or friends, we don't appreciate them enough.

Kate Volman [: 00:26:35

Isn't that the truth? I love that. Who do you want to love more deeply this year? That's a great one. That is a hard question, Eric. I love it. All right, well, what would you share to somebody that is considering or thinking about starting becoming a certified dream manager? And they're like, I'm not sure what would be your words to this, to this leader?

Eric Guy [: 00:26:57

I'm not sure what you're not sure about. That's what I would say. Like, when I even thought about doing it, it was just like I was moving towards it. It just didn't happen. And I just waited for another opportunity like I said. Fortunately I did. But if you have the ability to go do it or you're a leader and you actually have somebody in your company, it should be a no brainer. Like, if you have the resources to do it, there's no way it couldn't pay dividends for you, especially as a leader.

Eric Guy [: 00:27:27

Especially if you already have somebody in place that could do it. Just do it. Like, just go ahead and pull the trigger and make the commitment to do it. I can't see how it wouldn't pay dividends for a company.

Kate Volman [: 00:27:38

Yes, yes and yes. Eric, thank you so much for joining us. I am so excited to see. I'm just so excited about the program and to see what we get to dream up together and how it's going to impact your people. And so we'll have to have you come back on in a year and just talk about.

Eric Guy [: 00:27:58

I know it's going to be big. It's going to be big here.

Kate Volman [: 00:28:01

Oh, yeah, no doubt. You guys are going to be one of our favorite success stories. I can already tell. Let's make it happen.

Eric Guy [: 00:28:07

Line it up.

Kate Volman [: 00:28:10

Oh, my gosh. I love it. I hope you got at least one idea or takeaway or some type of inspiration in this episode. If nothing else, you got three great questions to think about, to journal about, and to move you forward in whatever dreams you're working on in your life. Thank you so much for listening. We appreciate you. And until next time, Lead with Culture.