Leadership Lessons and Achieving Dreams featuring Andrew Reitmeyer

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:00:00

Think about the absolute worst day you've ever had on the job. Think about that worst moment, and then your role as a leader is be the person that you needed on that worst day.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:16

I'm excited about this episode because we were joined by Andrew Reitmeyer. He is a certified Dream Manager. He is also a new author. He just published his book called Leadership Lessons from Classic Literature, the Odyssey and fun fact, he actually said that he wouldn't have written this book had it not been for The Dream Manager program and his Dream Manager. So he had this dream of writing a book for many, many years. And it took his Dream Manager really pushing him and encouraging him to pursue this dream that has been in his heart for so long. And so if you have a book inside of you, if there's an idea that's been stirring in your mind and you haven't done anything with it, I hope this episode inspires you.

Kate Volman [: 00:00:59

Andrew is also a senior leader with intern, Internal Revenue Service. So he works with lots of different leaders, different personalities. So we talk about leadership lessons, we talk about writing the book, we talk about culture, why it matters, why it's important, and coaching and accountability, all the fun things around culture and leadership. So I hope you enjoyed this episode. Andrew, it is so good to see you. Thank you so much for coming onto the show.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:01:27

Thank you so much for inviting me.

Kate Volman [: 00:01:29

This is going to be such a fun conversation because it has been a while since we've seen each other. You came and got Certified back in 2021, certified to be a Dream Manager. And so much has happened in your life. You've achieved many dreams, but one of them that's very exciting is that your book? You wrote a book and it just came out.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:01:52

Yes, I did. It actually released on Tuesday, January 21st. So it has been a labor of love. So thrilled to have it be published and out there now for everyone.

Kate Volman [: 00:02:03

Oh, my gosh, this is so great. Leadership Lessons from Classic Literature, the Odyssey. It's very, very specific leadership principles.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:02:14

Very, very, very. You know, hopefully the title is not going to scare people away, but I think if you give it a chance, you're going to love it. It's tackling one of the epic tales from Western civilization, like going back 3,500 years. And a lot of people would say to me, andy, why would you choose this book? I'm too intimidated to read it. And I say, well, no, I try to put it in everyday language, break down every step of the journey. And then once you know the story in this quick little version Then all of a sudden I come in with, now, what are the lessons that were learned from Odysseus on his journey? And more importantly, how are they still pieces that can be used in our current leadership today? And really, you're going to see there's a lot of overlap. Much has not changed in the world of leading for 3,500 years.

Kate Volman [: 00:03:04

Isn't that wild? I think about that a lot too, even in reading the Bible, like you read the Bible and there's all these principles. And yes, people might package them in a different way, but the principles remain the same. But this is why we need people like you to write great books. Because how you are explaining it is different than how someone else and it's going to resonate with a whole different group of people. And that is a beautiful thing. And why there is enough room for all the books that people have a dream of writing a book. So we are going to dig into that. But first, let's talk a little bit about your journey because it's really cool having you on the show.

Kate Volman [: 00:03:40

Since we have seen you. I mean, we've kind of watched you grow in your career, we've seen Dream Manager. But let's talk a little bit about the impact that The Dream Manager program has, has had on your life. You came and got certified. You are a leader. So you lead a lot of people. You have. You've led different teams and you're obviously working with a lot of different people, a lot of different personalities.

Kate Volman [: 00:04:04

And so let's talk about how was the experience getting certified and really just being introduced to this concept of The Dream Manager.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:04:13

The Dream Manager program was kind of revolutionary for me. I've gone through a lot of training, through undergrad and grad school, formal leadership training. While I've learned some great things, The Dream Manager is the one that really has stuck with me over these past few years because it really brings that element of self into kind of the larger principles and things that you would learn. And it was actually really emotional, like taking that moment to say, if I want to be the best leader that I can, I need to really look into myself and I need to see what's motivating me and what's driving me. Because as a leader, you can try to fake it until you make it, but you're not going to really bring everyone in. You're not going to create that team environment. So The Dream Manager was a way that I was able to really take a harsh look at myself and say, andy, you've strayed off the path over all these years. But let's bring it back to, you know, those core principles of who you are.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:05:12

Why did you get into this in the first place? You know, what do you want to do? Whether it's short term, midterm, or long term, there's things that are going to drive you and keep you moving and keep you passionate. So, okay, I just love that about The Dream Manager. And as I've even moved forward, going through not just The Dream Manager, but even the Rhythm of Life, which is another amazing book that kind of merges in that Rhythm of life scorecard. Looking at those four areas, that's still a guiding principle for me. So it really revolutionized how I do things.

Kate Volman [: 00:05:44

And I love that, I love that you continue to use all of those resources. The Rhythm of Life is that scorecard where you're able to really track where you are physical, emotional, intellectual, spiritual. And just really allowing that to help guide you in whatever time of life that you're going through is. It's such a game changer. And for you to be able to help your people in that way is remarkable because you are a Dream Manager. The power of dreams that they just, they connect us, they empower us, they help us through challenging times and they're just so essential. I say, especially in the world today, but always right. This is a tried and true.

Kate Volman [: 00:06:29

This was true 20 years ago. It'll be true 20 years from now. As you have developed your skill set as a Dream Manager and as a leader, what are some success stories that you've seen with some of the people that you've been able to introduce some of this material to?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:06:45

I think the biggest takeaway success wise with everyone is when you go through The Dream Manager process and when you allow people to kind of give themselves permission. Let me dream, let me set the bar, let me see where I want to go. It's like a release because they're giving themselves the okay to think beyond just what's right now. And you really see people kind of open up and they start going in a ton of different directions and they come up with dreams, you know, like short term, midterm or long term dreams. They come up with dreams that you might when you start talking to them, but never expected them to come up with certain things that they want to do. And you go, okay, I've never heard that, but that's great. And I've done this for existing managers and peers that I work with. I've also seen really great with people I mentor, especially folks that are coming out of undergraduate so kind of early in their career, they're really dialing into, well, wait a minute.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:07:43

I can have more than just the nine to five hustle culture. You can actually set different dreams of things that tie into your passing and who you are. So those are really some of the greatest success stories. And then people saying, wow, you've let me balance my life, and that's the biggest compliment you can get.

Kate Volman [: 00:08:02

It's interesting that you say about the permission. We hear that a lot, and it is such a good reminder that for whatever reason, I don't know what that is, is people feel like they have to be given permission to dream. And I guess when we're young, it's so easy to dream, right? Like, we don't need to be persuaded to. That's just the nature of when we're children. And then as we get older and life happens and we get all these responsibilities, and then all of a sudden we get to this place where it does feel like sometimes we need that permission. And so to have a coach, to have a Dream Manager in your life, that's now encouraging you. And if people feel like they need that permission to dream again, so sad. We shouldn't need that.

Kate Volman [: 00:08:48

But it's amazing that we have this format. Then you're recognizing that for those people, you're really giving them that outlet to. To dream and to uncover all the different areas of dreams. So, you know the 12 different categories of dreams. Is there a particular category that you find a lot of people get stuck on?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:09:11

When you start looking at ones that have the financial impact, that's what people get stuck on because they walk a path. The path gets deeper, it becomes more familiar. You're scared to stray from it, and they're scared to say, let me try something else that might work out. It may not work out. That's where I've seen the most hesitation. But as for a particular area, no, I think it really just depends on the person and how much they really buy into it. You could look at if someone is feeling, you know, really good on the spiritual and intellectual side, but a little bit lower, maybe on the physical side of things, then you're going to see that they might cheat their dreams in one direction. Sometimes you got to remind them, hey, you can change anything you want in your life, and this is a great opportunity to say, these are my parameters, and maybe I can just blow the walls off those parameters and I can be something else and do something else.

Kate Volman [: 00:10:03

Yes. Let's talk about one of your creative Dreams. Because one of your creative dreams is or was writing this book. So what inspired you to write the book?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:10:16

I think this book has been 30 some years in the making. I first read the Odyssey when I was 10 years old, and I probably read it about 150 times now in my life. But every time I would go through different stages of life. You know, okay, I was a kid then. You go into high school, you go into college, and you go to grad school, you get a job, you eventually become a leader and work through the different levels of leadership. I always got drawn back to rereading the Odyssey, and initially it was, you know, oh, I'm a child. It's fun. There's monsters and there's, you know, gods and all these other things to where you then start to learn.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:10:56

Wait a minute. There's some meaning behind this. There's some lessons, some deep things that really look at almost the path of life, how you evolve as a person. You can see it through that story. So it was always something in the back of my mind. I've always said, I would love to write a book about this. And then I would look at my own, especially leadership experiences. You know, we've all had great bosses that have positively impacted our lives.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:11:21

We've all had terrible bosses who have very negatively impacted your lives. But you learn something from all of them, and it kind of goes into how you want to lead. And once again, I kept going back and pick up the Odyssey and read it. So when I was going through The Dream Manager coaching, I think I was probably 11 months in, and I was working with my coach, and she said, tell me about this book. And so I threw out the idea, and I said, I would just love to take lessons from some of the classical books that I love. She said, well, what's your favorite? I said, well, it was the Odyssey. And she challenged me and said, well, why aren't you? And I said, well, you got to write a book. It's going to take time.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:12:05

I went into all those. It's my comfort zone. I'm really busy. I have things going on. You know, there's family, there's work and everything.

Kate Volman [: 00:12:12

The excuses. Those are all the excuses.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:12:15

Exactly. So, like, I was trying to justify in my mind why I shouldn't do it. But she did such a great job of pushing me forward to where I finally said, you know what? It might take me a while, but why can't I just sit down and carve out? Even if it's four hours a week, just carve out time to sit and write. And then it was difficult at the beginning because you, you judge yourself and then you start getting through it and then once you're about halfway through, you start to feel the mojo and you start to say, well, wait, I think I'm doing something that it's not just my pet project, it might help. And one thing led to another and yeah. And then my book just came out and it's really something amazing to see other people reading it and giving me feedback and telling me, wow, I love how we were able to link this and you've made it approachable. And I can see so much of myself and especially like peer leaders who were reaching out to me just after it's been released just two days ago, they're reaching out and saying, wow, I can already see I've done this. Or I'm currently dealing with something similar to this.

Kate Volman [: 00:13:21

What was your writing process? I imagine you've read the book 150 times. That's crazy. And there's obviously a lot that you wanted to take from it. So I'm curious how you made the decision on what to put in, what to include, how to really take everything that you, everything that you got out of it and then decided, okay, this is what needs to be in the book. And this is why like really developing that framework because you have. Those are a lot of ideas. And I can imagine there were some things maybe just didn't make sense to put in the book you wanted to maybe take out. Like that's like a whole process in and of itself.

Kate Volman [: 00:14:06

Right. Is figuring out what to keep, what to get rid of.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:14:08

It took longer than you could imagine mapping it out. And if I would show you my copy of the Odyssey and it's been the same copy. I've been reading the same copy since 2000. It is covered in notes. It looks terrible. There's post appearance all through it, but it was going through that. And when you read the Odyssey and hopefully you're reading a good translation because reading it in ancient Greek is not easy. So I used a translation that I was introduced in college and I absolutely love it.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:14:44

But when you read the Odyssey, it's not a linear tale. So it's not like you start here and then it ends. It's not like, okay, the Trojan War is over, where the Iliad stops and now you're going to track Odysseus back to Ithaca. No, it actually there's three main themes that go through in their inner weaved throughout the whole story. So really saying well, if I followed true to the book, no one would understand because you're going to hear the middle part of the story, then the beginning and then the end, and you're never going to put it together. So remapping it through every stop. So the moment Odysseus left Troy, it's every stop that he made over that decade of trying to get home to Ithaca. I rearranged it so it tells it in a linear format, so you could almost follow it like a history of everything.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:15:39

Now, with that in mind, there were a lot of some of the ancillary side plots that have to do with his son and his wife and the different things that are going on while they're missing him. That had to be pushed to the side a little bit. So I could focus mainly on his journey and his journey of making some of the worst leadership mistakes you can, to finally learning how to go from being a commanding control leader to a servant leader. And look, I think we've all done that. When we're introduced to a leadership position, we all come in with that command and control style where, hey, look at me. I've been put in as a new leader. I'm the anointed one. I'm the best and the brightest.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:16:22

I'm the person for this. And what happens, you crash and burn, and it takes so many steps to get through until you hit that servant leader where you realize, you know what? It's not about me. It's not about my ego. I'm only successful with all the people who are around me. And by telling the story this way, we're staying true to the original, because, look, who am I to rewrite Homer? But you're staying true to the original, but you're putting it in a way so people can continually learn with him and see everything that happened. And there's that moment where you can see when the transition occurs, and then the flow of the story completely changes for that last third of it.

Kate Volman [: 00:17:03

So mistakes, leadership mistakes other than. Or in addition to that, what you mentioned with it can be an ego thing. It's almost an experience thing. And we're not taught. Most people are not taught how to be a leader. Right? They're in a role. They are great at that role. And so their supervisor says, oh, they're great at this role.

Kate Volman [: 00:17:29

Now we're going to put them in this leadership role in which they're not even really doing the role anymore. Now they're managing people that are doing the role, which are very different skills. And so when you see Leaders, what do you see as some other initial mistakes that people are making? Maybe not even initial mistakes. These could just be mistakes that even seasoned leaders are making continually.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:17:50

So I think the biggest thing is you have to remember as a leader, whether you're new or seasoned, what got you here will not get you there. So if you were the absolute best tactician, so maybe you're technical, you can think things through, you can execute amazingly. It's not a natural leadership moment where you go into the leadership role and you cannot just micromanage and technically and tactically lead. You've got to take that step back and you have to realize it's not the iron fist, it's how do you draw the best out of people? How do you share and create that trust and confidence? Because if you don't have the trust and confidence, you're never going to do it on your own. There's no such thing in this world as a self made man or a woman. People will say, oh, I'm self made. But everywhere along the way, it may not have been direct assistance, but you learned and gained experience from everyone around you and everything and that molded you to put you in that position. And if I can just tell a quick little side story here, one of my big leadership challenges was, gosh, I'm going to say 14 years ago, I was asked to move down to Puerto Rico, speaking no Spanish, to take over a senior leadership position for the US territories.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:19:11

So I went down there and looked over, born and bred in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I've got that perfect mixture of southwestern Pennsylvania. Let's just charge in and do it. And hey, I was a good tactician, I was a good technical employee. So I go down like a bull in a china shop to a brand new culture where I'm learning their language. And I hit rock bottom quickly. Within the first few months, no one responded to me. I'm pretty sure everyone there disliked me that I worked with.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:19:44

I went for coffee with one of the employees and said, you have to learn us, you have to understand us. It's not the way that you've always done things. So I went home and I talked to my better half and my wife said, andy, maybe you need to step outside of yourself as kind of that northern style of I sit behind a desk and I have my expectations and if I work hard, you work hard. So I actually had to make a check sheet that I hid in my office that for everyone that worked in my division, I had to find a career goal, a hobby and a family fact and it was, how quickly could I check them all off to get to know them and go outside of my comfort zone. So once again, what got me to that position didn't make me successful. It was how I could adapt to it. So within a month, I walked around all of my offices, I talked to everyone, I hit my little check boxes, and then everything started turning around. We started meeting goals, we started being very successful, started getting invited to more local holiday events than I could have ever imagined.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:20:53

And when I left Puerto Rico two years later, it was a tearful goodbye all around because I had made such a strong connection with these individuals down there. So that's just that being willing to go outside of yourself and learn as a leader, so what got you here will not get you there.

Kate Volman [: 00:21:11

Oh, so true. And I could hear as somebody that is listening asking the question when they are a leader. And yes, it's important for us to get to know our people. We need to know how they do their best work. And really, it's just what we do. With Dream Manager, right? You're asking your team members, what are your dreams? We can't expect that, that our people are going to come excited to work for us if they're not engaged in their own lives and they're not working on their own dreams, or if we don't know what those dreams are for. Leaders that are a little hesitant to do that and to start to build those relationships because they say, no, work is work and personal is personal. I don't want to know.

Kate Volman [: 00:21:51

I'm not friends with my team. They have this. It's almost like this conflict in their minds where those two things cannot coexist. So what would you share with a leader that might be conflicted in getting to know their people a little bit more?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:22:04

So I would ask those leaders, think about the absolute worst day you've ever had on the job. It could be when you were an employee. It could have been as a leader two days ago. Think about that worst moment and then your role as a leader is be the person that you needed on that worst day. And when you think about what you needed, sometimes someone might just need a shoulder to cry. That could be metaphorically or could actually really happen. Sometimes people just need to be heard. People need to know that you believe in them.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:22:37

People need to feel trusted and empowered. And if you can just think about what you needed in those instances, it's very easy to say, would I have been mad at my leader if they would have taken that time to make a personal connection with me? And make my day a little bit better. And that's how I approach it. Even on days when I'm busy and I'm. I'm cranky and I am a notorious introvert. So making that step out is sometimes really difficult for me. But there's a power in embracing vulnerability, and most leaders are scared to do that. And that's really that final step towards a servant leader and shameless plug.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:23:19

That's the moment in the tale of the Odyssey. And I go deep into that, explaining that once you embrace that vulnerability and that the world doesn't revolve around you and you are not the center of everything and you get what you give. And so what you're giving out in the world is what you're going to get back. Once you can embrace that, it's going to change how you interact with peers, folks that are above you, folks that work for you. And it's going to start creating those natural relationships where you can really just be there and create a whole engaged personality and engaged workforce.

Kate Volman [: 00:23:58

Getting out of our comfort zone. I feel like the older we get, the more challenging it becomes. And it's a good. It's a good push for all of us. Right. To really see where we are and, and who we want to be as a leader. When you think about leadership, Andrew, and again, you're in a senior leader role, you've led a lot of different people, a lot of different personalities. What qualities do you think the most successful leaders have?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:24:29

Most successful leaders are humble. First, being humble and being understanding. You've got to be patient. And they're able to actively listen without trying to plan, well, what's my response going to be?

Kate Volman [: 00:24:44

Yeah, but that's what everyone does, Andrew. It's so funny. I just got back from a training and we were talking about listening and ask a room full of people if they're good listeners, everyone's going to raise their hand. And Matthew Kelly writes about this in his book the Culture Solution. People listen with about 25% efficiency. And so most of what people are saying, we're not really paying attention. And it's because of exactly what you just said, which is, what am I gonna say? What brilliant ideas are gonna come out of my mouth? So they are gonna be wowed.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:25:16

Yep. And that goes back to being a humble leader, because a humble leader doesn't need to try to impress. A good humble leader hires people that are smarter than themselves. Like me. I hire people who are way smarter than I am because I know my limitations. I want someone that's going to say, andy, you're making a huge mistake. Do not do this. So that kind of goes into the yes man principle, where the individuals that are going to, no matter what, say, hey, I'm your ride or die.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:25:46

I'm going to be loyal to you. That's great. But don't be loyal to the point where you're not going to tell me if I've done something wrong. And I make more mistakes on a daily basis than you could ever imagine. And it's having those people around that you trust, that you've empowered, that can say, and I think we need to think this one through. This is not going to go well. And that's creating that trusting environment where now you're looking out for things as a group and I'm willing to share and they're willing to tell me, hey, this is what can happen. So, like, you're creating a scenario where everyone is helping us row that boat from Troy to Ithaca instead of just saying, well, listen, I know it.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:26:29

Also, I'm going to take control of the helm, and the moment I fall asleep, we're going off course and we're going to show up somewhere different.

Kate Volman [: 00:26:35

And you know what's really cool about that is when you do make a mistake, because, let's face it, everybody does, right? Leaders make a lot of decisions. They're not always going to be right. But when you do, when you have that trust and camaraderie with your team and they believe in you and they believe in the unit as a team, when you do make those mistakes, it's not a blame game of, you did this or you shouldn't have done that. It's a, okay, what next? What now? Where are we going? Where are we headed? We might have made a misstep, but now we get to take what we learned and move forward. You have to have those, the right leaders that are building up a team that can. That can do that. It reminds me very much of when people have to disagree and commit, right? We're not always going to agree on the direction we're going, but if we disagree and commit to going there, then we decide, oh, okay, well, maybe it would have turned out differently if we went a different way, but it doesn't really matter because we can't go back. We can all go forward 100%.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:27:41

I agree with that. And so I think one of the greatest compliments you can get is thank you for just being honest and letting us see your thought process. And the more that leaders do that, because, look, most Leaders are trying to look great. I want that next promotion. I want to look like I'm in charge. I'm the strong one. But if you rationalize out a problem in front of peers or folks that work with you, and as you're going through and you go, oh, well, that was a terrible idea, why was he going to know, let's restart. Most people are going to be too scared to do that.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:28:14

But if you do that, watch the people around you and see how they react, they're going to start smiling, and then they're going to be more willing to accept you for being human.

Kate Volman [: 00:28:25

Yeah. And you're. You're helping them learn. Like, you're educating them. Like, I remember years ago when I was in my 20s and I was working at a chamber of commerce, and my boss at the time, he started inviting me to more meetings and just to be there, just to listen, just to be part of it. And I remember I asked him, I said, would it be possible for you to invite me to more calls, more meetings? Like, it helps me learn so much how you think, how you make decisions. So then when I'm making a decision, I'm also taking into consideration, you know, you have your leader's brain like, like in your head. So I'm like, I don't know.

Kate Volman [: 00:29:04

And now I know, like, what his thought process would look like and what decision he might make, which made it easier for me. And I just learned a lot about the different ways that we think about things. So then I knew how I could provide him a lot of value because of a different perspective, because I saw things a little bit differently. And so I think that's really important, too, as a leader, is just inviting different people on your team, especially if you want to help them grow or you want to help them into a different leadership role, especially just. Even just planning for, hey, where do I see this person potentially going in the organization two years from now, five years from now? And so introducing those people to two more of your. Those calls, those meetings, the times that you are going through, those think tank experiences. So are you going to write another book, you think?

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:29:56

I would love to. I guess my first thought is, I want to see what the reaction is to this one. I definitely want to see if people say, yes, Andy, I'm taking some value from this. I see that. Then, you know what? I'll be more than happy to do that. But I set out writing this as a dream. And I said, look, if 10 people buy this book and say, wow, we liked it. I'm going to say that's a job well done.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:30:17

Because it's not about, oh, what can I get from it? It's, I finally achieved something that I would love to do now. Like, my nerdy brain has a Rolodex where I would love to tackle some of these other gigantic classics of Western civilization. Like to jump into that. We'll see. Maybe I'll find some time for that. But just being able to say I did one thing that has been in my brain for like, 20 years, it's a pretty huge accomplishment. And it feels wonderful.

Kate Volman [: 00:30:44

Oh, good. As it should. I know. Here I am jumping, like, where? What's next? You're like, wait, hold on. It just popped published, like, weeks ago. Give me a minute. Give me a minute.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:30:54

Savor the moment.

Kate Volman [: 00:30:55

Savor the moment. I think it was Steven Cutler that I heard that said it takes a few years for a book to really break through into the marketplace, just promoting it, getting out into the world and just like getting it into enough hands for people to really start to read it and consume it and everything. You have plenty of time for any other book that you're going to write, but this one, it's quite very remarkable that you finished it. A lot of people talk about writing a book. Most people will never finish a book, as you've seen, it is not the easiest thing to do. And so it's so cool. I'm so proud of you.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:31:30

Thank you.

Kate Volman [: 00:31:31

I am so proud of you. And I just love, I really love that you took this different spin, because there's a lot of leadership books. There's a lot of leadership books on the shelf. There are people that have written only about leadership and they have 20 books just on that topic alone. And so for you to take the Odyssey and kind of deconstruct it and put your thoughts into it, I think it's so cool. And what's really cool about it is not only are you sharing these leadership lessons that people are going to gain from, but then also you're inspiring people to potentially read the Odyssey and takes other things for themselves and also just helping them with the story, because maybe it's been since high school, since they read it. I don't think I've read it since high school.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:32:23

What? You're not reading it 150 times?

Kate Volman [: 00:32:26

I have some catching up to do with you, Andy, because this is. That's a lot. That is a lot of times that you've read it.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:32:35

And every time I pick it up and I look at it again, my wife Always says, you're going to read it again. And I said, yeah, I think I need to. Or sometimes it's just a specific section because sadly I would memorize where everything is now. But I can just go in and say, you know, I just need to get that little piece there. Because it's those tiny lessons that when I have a bad day are going to be there to inspire me, like I hope can inspire others and to help you get beyond those mental blocks that you have. And hopefully some of the personal anecdotes that I put in here as well, that talk about moments where, hey, this is something that Odysseus did in looking back, not that great, but don't feel too bad. I made the same mistake and here's how bad it felt at the moment, but how a mistake can blossom into something great when you learn from it.

Kate Volman [: 00:33:27

Oh, it's so true. That's so good. It's so hard to remember when you actually made the mistake though.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:33:34

Oh, yeah. Well, unless you have someone that you trust that calls you out on them, which I think is one of the other great things that I've learned is it might not feel great at the moment, but when someone calls you out, it can be life changing. And this is actually one of the anecdotes I tell. I was put in charge of a large effort at the organization I work at and brought like 50 people together, different stakeholders, and it was looking at how we can make people feel more engaged at work. And I set an agenda for an hour long meeting and I talked for 55 of the 60 minutes and then with five minutes left, I said, oops, kind of run out of time. Let's do a quick roundtable with 50 other people. So of course no one had anything to say. I ended the meeting.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:34:24

Less than two minutes later, my phone was ringing at my desk and one of the individuals just lays into me and says, you were the worst leader. I had never felt as disengaged after this call and I can't believe you're going to be leading this. And it was that make or break moment though, where you're like, do I get defensive? Like, do I start justifying? How is it? I said, you know what, I think you're right and I'm really sorry. How could I do better? And it evolved into, we spent an hour on the phone and then we started meeting weekly. And that was nine years ago now, still to this day, every Wednesday morning, even though he and I are in different areas of our careers, we still have just A half hour touch point where we keep each other real. And it has influenced how I have led moving forward. So sometimes those uncomfortable moments, you can really learn from them and they'll change your life.

Kate Volman [: 00:35:19

Oh, yes. As leaders we need to get comfortable being uncomfortable.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:35:25

Yes.

Kate Volman [: 00:35:26

And having someone that goes back to your point about the yes people. If you have too many yes, you know, you have to have people that are going to call you out. You have to have people that are. This is why having a coach is so great. Because that's what coaches are paid to do. They're paid to call you out and to hold you accountable. They're paid to question why you aren't doing what you say you want to do. Even with your book.

Kate Volman [: 00:35:50

You had this dream, Andrew. You had this dream of writing a book and it was having a coach kind of push you a little bit. Why aren't you doing it? And leaving the excuses that you had and then pushing forward. But pushing forward and doing the work, man, it's a lot of work. And I can't imagine referencing a book and doing it knowing that you have to get the facts right. You have to get things just again, going back to the decisions that you make and what you're putting in the book is a lot of work. It's very mentally draining and it's amazing that you did it. I'm so excited for you and I hope you bask in the glory of all the people that you get to help, all the people that you get to serve.

Kate Volman [: 00:36:31

And I am sure that the leaders in your organization, any leader that gets their hands on this book, this will be a good one for like a book club, like a little corporate book club for people.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:36:42

There you go. You heard it first, everyone. Corporate book clubs, it's right here. Leadership Lessons from Classic Literature. The Odyssey. It's a commuter book, so it's around 150 pages, a little bit more. And the idea is for a busy leader, small digestible chunks. So go ahead, bring that in.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:37:01

You heard it from Kate. We need a book club about this. I absolutely love that. And the shameless self promotion. So I'm all about that. But it really was probably the biggest dream that I've had and I'm so glad that I was able to do it. I do credit my coach and The Dream Manager program for making me finally do it and commit to it. So much so that my Dream Manager coach actually wrote the foreword for my book.

Kate Volman [: 00:37:28

I know. Michelle Marquis. Shout out to Michelle for writing the forward. So very exciting. And yes, I Love that. It's a short read. It's a good book. Just like The Dream Manager.

Kate Volman [: 00:37:41

It's one of those books you can finish in a weekend and be done, have new content, new information to feed into your leadership. Andrew, thank you so much for coming on the show. I'm so excited for you. I know it's going to be phenomenal for you to continue to get the reviews and get people reading it and just have fun with it this year. Just give yourself all the pats on the back for going through with one of your dreams and I know how challenging it can be. So you're awesome. Good job.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:38:12

Thank you so much. And I look forward to keeping in touch with everyone over at The Dream Manager.

Kate Volman [: 00:38:17

Yes, yes, yes. Thank you. Thank you.

Andrew Reitmeyer [: 00:38:20

Take care.

Kate Volman [: 00:38:25

I hope you got at least one idea takeaway, some type of inspiration in this episode. And hey, if you have a book inside of you, if you have a dream of writing a book, I hope that this encouraged you. I hope this was a little push that your dream is yours for a reason. There's a reason you have this idea. And just like with Andrew, right. We just need a little encouragement. We need a little accountability. And so if you have a dream in your heart, whether it's writing a book or it is having a better relationship with your spouse or it's getting more fit or it's taking on a new leadership role in your organization, you have this dream and you know that this is the year you're going to make it happen.

Kate Volman [: 00:39:04

This is the year that you truly want to make it happen. And you just haven't necessarily done everything that you need to do in the past. And so this is your opportunity to take advantage of coaching. Whether you have a Dream Manager or a business coach, someone in your life that's going to encourage you, that's going to push you, that's going to challenge you and hold you accountable to doing the things you say you want to do. If you are in that place and you're finally like, you know what, let me just check this out. What would this look like to have a Dream Manager or to have a business coach? We would love to have that conversation with you. So you can go to floor, fill out that form, and someone on our team will get in touch with you. As Matthew Kelly says, your dreams are yours for a reason.

Kate Volman [: 00:39:42

What are you doing about them? Thank you so much for listening. And until next time, Lead With Culture.