Kevin Stafford 0:02
Hello, everyone, and welcome to yet another episode of the conversations with coaches podcast. I’m your host, Kevin. And today I’ve already had the pleasure of talking a little bit and I get to talk a little bit more with Jason Weber. Jason is the founder of s li coaching and consulting, serving executive leaders and teams by bringing servant leadership into the workplace. He’s also the Associate Vice Chancellor for leader and culture development in the Texas Tech University system. Got to chat with Jason a little bit, just a few minutes here, before we hit record, are you feeling pretty warm and fuzzy already? Kind of like it would kind of vibe a little bit about how often we say Yes, dear. And yes, ma’am, when the circumstances arise. So Jason, I’m very happy to have you on the podcast. Thanks for taking some time today.
Jason Weber 0:39
Wonderful. Kevin, thank you so much for the invite, and I’m looking forward to our conversation.
Kevin Stafford 0:43
Excellent. Well, let’s, uh, let’s jump right into the beginning the superhero origin story, as it were of you as a coach. Now, I tend to ask this in two parts and works out pretty well. Because there’s that moment that you either realize or discover, or someone says the right words that helps you to realize or discover that you’re a coach, that things that you maybe have already been doing for years in your life, you’ve just kind of been doing naturally. And you realize, oh, there’s a word for what I am and what I do. Well, it’s coaching. And then how did you go from that, like realization moment into the coaching or today the business you have today?
Jason Weber 1:15
Yeah, you know, it’s actually for me, it really started when I hit a breaking point in my career, I wasn’t happy with what I was doing. And you know, it was through a mentor of mine who said, you know, what is it that you really want to do, if you could make an impact? What would it be, and, for me, it’s people development, it’s working with leaders, it’s working with people at all levels, helping them to identify their goals, their desires, and the things that give them energy. As I moved into the learning and development world, things really clicked for me. And as I was moving up the ranks, so to speak, that’s when I really realized that, you know, there’s something more here, you know, just outside of building leader development programs, and, you know, but it was the relationships, it was the conversations that I was having, moving forward to today, our organization was really new into coaching. And so I went through the certification went through an academic certification program got certified by the ICF. And, you know, it’s really provided a massive amount of value, not only in the workplace, but also for SLI. And, you know, SLI stands for serve, lead and inspire. And those are really kind of the three pinnacles that I focus on with not only my clients, but just those that I have the pleasure of working with. That’s lovely,
Kevin Stafford 2:39
I really, I really attached to when you spoke about giving of energy, and how that’s a really good shorthand for, for me anyway, for knowing or having or being able to intuit whether or not I’m on the right path, going the right direction, saying and doing the right things in the right ways. Refraining from the right things in the right times, etc. Like there’s a, there’s an additive aspect to the energy of a thing I know, energy is kind of a vague word, but it really does get at what it what it feels like, when you’re in alignment, you know, when you’re when you’re going the right direction rowing at the same time with with your team with the right people in the right ways. It really does feel like this additive energy and obviously there are things in life that subtract energy from you that take effort, but and being worth an investment, it’s important to identify those two, but I love I love how a coach and I love the way you identified that giving of energy is being so key and so important to recognize and help to amplify.
Jason Weber 3:32
You know, one of the key things that has always stuck out to me and you know, before I made this career change into leader development, you know, you always hear the thing, you know, find a job you love, and you’ll never work a day in your life. And I you know, I remember just myself looking at it going, you know, okay, come on work is work, right? We got to do this. But, you know, as I’ve grown as a professional, as I’ve grown as a coach, I’ve seen that come to life, you know, time goes by, but really, it’s it’s that engagement with the clients being able to do this is so rewarding. You know, it’s not that it’s about me it’s say about them and helping them with their map of the world. And it’s just it really is an honor to be a part of that journey with those with the clients that we work with. And so, you know, yeah, it has come to life for me in the sense of love what you do, and you’ll never work a day in your life. So
Kevin Stafford 4:27
yeah, who said work in love, we’re opposites.
Jason Weber 4:30
You know? Exactly. Exactly. And you know, and it’s so funny because you think about that word love, right and what that can do in the workplace and people are automatically like, don’t go don’t go there. But in essence, that’s exactly what we’re talking about, right? What gives you that energy, what helps you get out of bed and make the choice to go in and work and the choice to have that positive influence on those around you.
Kevin Stafford 4:57
allows it was going to come out of me naturally and then I realized that some of that said, I was just gonna say I love it. I find myself saying that very often in in this podcast in particular, it’s I’m talking with coaches, universally, people who have dedicated and committed their lives to helping others and serving, because they realized how much they had to give and how much they get back from it. And so it’s like, it’s really, I find myself expressing love when talking about this all the time, to the point where it’s become almost reflexive, even though I don’t, I don’t forget to remain aware of the fact that there is love in the work and there is work in the love if you know what I mean. Yep. So I love it, it comes out naturally. So let’s, uh, let’s move things a little bit into, I was gonna say into the president, we’ve been in the present, let’s get to get down to brass tacks. It’s a phrase I’ve been saying, weirdly, this week that I just love, I said to a coach earlier this week, they lit up like it was something like their their family had used to say like to get down to business. So this is another little two part question I’d like to ask, were kind of gets at what how you do what you do. So who do you coach? And how do you coach them? It’s almost like, I’ve got you in the interrogation room where it’s like, what did you know? And when did you know it? But like, the who like who you focus on, obviously, coaching can can cast a wide net and such a wide spectrum of people, but when you focus on particularly, and how do you go about coaching them typically, one to one, group, mastermind, courses, classes, etc, all the above?
Jason Weber 6:19
Yeah. So, you know, I have been drawn to again, you know, my, the foundation of a lot of the coaching I do is rooted in servant leadership, and, and really focusing on how we can serve those around us. And what does that truly mean? And what does that look like in the industry that the client is in, you know, many of the clients that I’ve had the opportunity of working with are at the president CEO level, I also have a group of clients who are, you know, more Serie A senior managers, and then I also have frontline leaders. So it really has been diverse, you know, I don’t want to say kind of all of the above, but just currently where I’m at now, and the connections that I’ve had the, you know, the pleasure of making with individuals, that’s primarily where it’s been. So it’s, it’s a wide range, but my one of my passions in life is teams, team effectiveness, team engagement. And so I love group coaching, when I have that opportunity to be in front of a group and guide them, you know, kind of through a conversation, and I was just having a conversation this morning with a team who wanted to go and do an assessment. Now, I’m not against assessments, but ultimately, they knew what the problem was. And they wanted this assessment to tell them that, and, but to be able to kind of guide them and say, Well, if we know what the problem is, then let’s address that. And what do we need to do there? You know, so that’s kind of a wide, wide range, I also write a lot, I have a number of publications out with magazines and do a number of speaking engagements as well. So really comprehensive, but, you know, really focusing recently on on the team development aspect of it and bringing servant leadership in through them.
Kevin Stafford 8:06
I love that the way you described their their desire for an assessment, basically, for confirmation, because I find that to so often be the case in coaching, where most of what people are looking for, they either kind of or almost entirely already know, or strongly suspect, and they’re looking for that confirmation, plus a little bit of stuff that they don’t know, like a different perspective, they’re not able to get for themselves. But a lot of times what people need is already there. And what a coach is really, really great at is coming in and adding just the right amount, while just usually the work just revealing what’s there and showing people themselves and their teams and the world around them in just a slightly different light from a slightly different angle that then exponentially improves all of their vision and all of their action. questionnaire, it’s it’s a statement.
Jason Weber 8:56
Well, you know, it really is, though, I mean, there’s an appropriate time in place for all of these great resources that we leverage as coaches. Right. But I think again, the advantage is being able to guide our clients to, you know, come to that decision. And granted had this team said, Nope, you know, Jason, we adamantly we want this then great, you know, what can I do to support in that manner, but at the same time, I think very often when we engage in that, that awareness kind of effort to help them see that, you know, they come to terms on okay, it is here, I can acknowledge that and we can identify how to best address it. So,
Kevin Stafford 9:37
yeah, it’s it really, I see I see on your face, too. It’s so fun to talk about Indigo, because once it’s like it’s, it’s so I don’t want to call it common sense. But it’s so relatively speaking once you see it, it’s so simple. It’s like you can’t believe you didn’t see it before you see it. Now you’re like you’re looking you’re immediately reflecting back like how did I not notice this, about everything about life, about my job, about my relationships, about my family about everything? And it gets It gets me excited, I almost get a little bit giddy. Like, I’ve got like, like, I’ve gotten aces in the hole. And I’m like, trying, like I’m trying to put a poker face on it, because I know because that realization is coming for them. It’s coming for everyone that we’re working with, at least we hope. So we hope we’re working towards that. And you don’t want to give it away how great it’s gonna feel to see it.
Jason Weber 10:16
Exactly. Yeah. And ultimately, that’s probably the most rewarding thing is when you see a team or when you see a client who, you know, after you’ve had that pleasure of working with them for such a, you know, certain amount of time that you see the success, you see the growth, you know, I had, I was so fortunate to have that opportunity with a team. I’ve been working with them for over a year. And when I checked in with them recently, they were like, things are amazing. And they were talking about all these things they developed. And, you know, I wanted to say Do you remember a year ago when you said, None of this is possible? This can’t happen? So again, that’s part of the energy right? That’s part of the joy of what we do as coaches.
Kevin Stafford 11:00
Yeah, I’m not I’m not too corny to say it it is it is joyful work. And I get excited, I get giddy. Sometimes I get silly. Sometimes I cannot keep the smile off my face. So may that be contagious? I obviously I’ve caught some enthusiasm from you, you your energy matches your words, even through a zoom window. So. So with that said, I would love for you to share because we’re already getting close to time flew by, where can people and it’s just another two parter question. I like these two part questions. Where can people find out more about you, you mentioned that you do a lot of writing. So where can people find out more about you read your work, consume your work in some way? And also, where do you like to connect with people? Where can people if they want to reach out to you and find out more about you, personally, you professionally what you do? How you do it? Where can they best connect with
Jason Weber 11:42
you? Yeah, so easiest would be one of two ways. One, my website is www dot SLI coaching.net. Or on LinkedIn, just search for me on LinkedIn, I put a lot of time into my LinkedIn page. You know, I’m not into too many other social media points, but I’ve just really connected with LinkedIn. So I connect in and share all of my speaking engagements and recent publications and articles. So that’s where you can kind of find everything all together. But yeah, SLI coaching.net, or find me on LinkedIn. And I’d love to connect and learn from other coaches and hopefully, you know, share some valuable information.
Kevin Stafford 12:26
Excellent. Speaking of energy, energy add, I find that LinkedIn weirdly, and I never would have even just a year ago, I don’t think I would have said this or predicted this. But LinkedIn is actually like an energy add, like, I don’t feel like most social media is like, obviously, I’m it’s 2022. And I’m online. So I consume social media, it’s just a part of breathing. But I find that it’s generally subtractive in a lot of different ways. And most of the time, LinkedIn and obviously this, you know, experience is very mileage may vary. But I find LinkedIn to be very energy add, you know, the way the relationships get built the content of the conversations I’m able to have not that this is an advertisement for LinkedIn. But I mean, it’s really where I’m spending most of my social media time now. I love it. I love the way I connect. I love who I can find and how I can find them and what I can learn and what I can teach. It’s great. All right, so enough enthusiasm at me, I feel like I’m just like espousing how joyous and great and fantastic everything is, which you know, it is, when I get acknowledged, there’s work to be done. Like I said, this might be the title of the podcast, love and work are not opposites, something like that. I’ll workshop it. Do you have any, any, like parting thoughts or parting words for the audience, just whatever’s off the top of your head. I mean, we I feel like we’ve done a lot of inspiring things already. But like a final thing you’d like to leave everyone with. You know, there’s
Jason Weber 13:38
one thing that whenever given the opportunity, I love to talk with people about and that is our viewpoints. And that whenever we’re interacting with others, we all bring unique viewpoints and as I’ve kind of portrayed them to groups is our viewpoints are made up of three things, assumptions, you know, things that we believe to be true. Our perceptions which we gained from our life experiences and our expectations for each other. You know, those build a story for us and how we interact with others. And if there’s one thing I could leave you with, which is one of my favorite to talk topics to talk about is you know, consider other viewpoints, be willing and be open to listen and to hear. It’s not about always having to agree with everyone. But I believe that if we’re willing to be open and willing to be you know, considerate of the viewpoints others brings it would make a lot of things better.
Kevin Stafford 14:32
Couldn’t be better said thank you so much. I’m actually genuinely grateful I feel like you made my day you definitely have a the energy, your passion, your joy for what you do. comes through immediately. I suspected the moment I saw you you just had a demeanor and everything that we’ve shared today so far, it’s just confirmed that you are pretty good at what you do pretty excellent to talk to and I gotta say, I don’t like to gush too much live on the recording but if you have to meet if you’re if you’re like if this is vibing with you in any way whatsoever The very least connect with this man on LinkedIn, the ease at the light, and I’m telling you he’s got a lot to offer. So, Jason, thank you for being here. I’m really grateful you genuinely made my day. I can say that with all honestly even though I still have hours to go before I sleep. You’ve made my day. So thanks for talking with me today. Wonderful. Thank you again, Kevin. I really appreciate it. And to the audience out there, connect, reach out and we’ll talk to you again soon.
