[00:00:14] Speaker A: Welcome to Battle Ready, where we explore the mindset, discipline, resilience it takes to lead in business and in life and through adversity. I'm your host, Ricky Chavez. And Today we have Dr. Lee Powell, a man whose life is the definition of transformation. Once a high school dropout, he refused to let early setbacks dictate his future.
You know, through his perseverance and discipline and a deep commitment to serving others, he went on to earn his doctorate and now has dedicated his life to helping people rewrite their own stories.
In this first segment, we're going to be tackling one of the toughest leadership challenges, navigating uncertainty while still being in the calm of the storm. Because when things feel unstable, leaders, they often carry additional weight for everyone.
Dr. Powell, welcome to the show.
[00:01:02] Speaker B: Hey, welcome and thank you so very much, Ricky. It's great to be here on your show today.
[00:01:07] Speaker A: You know what? I really love the beginning of it, but the one thing I really like, you're another veteran just like myself.
[00:01:15] Speaker B: That's right. We rock on. Go Army.
[00:01:18] Speaker A: Hoorah. You know, it's. How many years did you spend the army?
[00:01:22] Speaker B: 12 years active.
[00:01:23] Speaker A: Okay.
[00:01:24] Speaker B: And then totally 23 connected.
[00:01:27] Speaker A: And so you, you went in the army.
So it says you were a dropout.
[00:01:32] Speaker B: I was a dropout at age 17.
You know, high school was just not my thing. My interest was not there. And so I signed up. Now, you got to remember, my dad was a 30 year Air Force veteran. And so, you know, he, he, that was his, that was his life. That was the way I was probably destined to go anyway.
[00:01:55] Speaker A: That was his legacy. Right? And I bet you early on, did you ever say, and I want you to be honest now, I'm never joining the military.
[00:02:02] Speaker B: Oh, absolutely, absolutely. I said, that's not going to happen, dude. I'm not going.
[00:02:07] Speaker A: You know what? I live the same. My dad did 24 years, right? And we moved around. I went to all these different high schools, different countries, different states. Always meeting new. I was always the new kid. And I'm like, I'm not doing that mess.
I went to college. Yeah, I went to college on scholarship, learned I didn't know how to study. And my butt was right in the military just like you.
So what did you do in the military?
[00:02:29] Speaker B: It was tough. Yeah, it was tough.
So what'd you do in the military?
Being a kid 30 years, moving around. I mean, every two years we did the hop.
No friends, you know, no shared experiences that a lot of people have by having long term friendships.
[00:02:47] Speaker A: You know what it's funny you say that. You know, I just, I flew in. I was in Indianapolis this past weekend. I just celebrated my 30th anniversary with my beautiful wife. And we went to see her friends, and this was her friend since they were six years old. Six years old, and they're in their 50s.
And, man, I don't have any real friends like that. I wish I did. I always thought, you know, that's kind of movie stuff to me. And so knowing what you went through, I mean, I know it was crazy. So I understand how hard it was to keep focused and staying in school. But then you went ahead and signed on dotted line and went in the military. Tell me about that.
[00:03:26] Speaker B: So I joined up, went into the military, got to my first duty station, which was at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. And I rolled into the gate, went to see the first sergeant, and he said, pal, I noticed that you don't have a high school diploma. Well, you can't be in my company without having a high school diploma. He said, go upstairs, take off your uniform and get back downstairs.
So I got back downstairs, not knowing what this first sergeant was going to do. He threw me in the back of a jeep and we drove to Fort Campbell High School, which was right up the street. And he went in there to the guidance counselor and he says, this one's one of mine and he can't come back until he has his high school diploma.
And that's where he dropped me off.
So every morning I did PT with the rest of the, with the rest of the troops in the barracks. And then I went down there to high school until I finished up all of the classes that I didn't take when I, when I dropped out. And that's the way my life began because somebody poured their life into me.
[00:04:41] Speaker A: You know what, that's, that's an amazing story. I mean, a lot of people don't get that. Although the military may not be always the employer, first resort. You know, there's so many good people in the military that are out here to help you. So that was pretty amazing that he did that. So you graduated high school, you went back in and you did the soldier thing for a while. Then where'd your career go? Tell me, tell me the story.
[00:05:04] Speaker B: So after, after service, I got out and, you know, I was a techie kind.
So I, I started working my first jobs. After tech, I went back and I did what I was familiar with. I did law enforcement. I was. I work with DEA and bci, which is Bureau of Criminal Investigations.
I have some Acclaim to my name, which was I have one of the largest drug busts in the state of Ohio back early in the day. So you know, I live that crazy life of undercover work and did all that, but with that comes some real problems. And I ran into one one night doing a drug bust and it kind of went south on us and that kind of turned that career and made me kind of realize this is something that I've got to change. And so for with that I went back and I started doing IT work and that led me to companies like IBM and hp.
And then that in itself did something. Because remember back in the 80s when, when the IT bubble was getting ready to hit, well, I had all the certifications, man, I had more acronyms behind my name than you could, you, you could count on. But I didn't have a college degree. And I can remember IBM called me into the office and they said, pal, we want to talk to you.
And I was like, what? And they were like, we noticed that you don't have a college degree, we're going to have to let you go.
And now that was turning point, man, that was turning point. I was making great money, I was on the road, I was doing something that I loved. And now I'm here without a job.
But oh God, somebody knew of me. And they told me about there was a opening at Fairfield Career Center, Fairfield County Career center in Columbus, Ohio. They needed a computer teacher.
They said, hey, we'll teach you how to teach if you give us your knowledge about taking care of computers. And that was the trade off. And so every day I would go into School at 6:30 in the morning and work with the kids. 10th, 11th and 12th graders.
I trained them on computers. I did the CCNA, which is the basic Cisco training, took them to state.
And then at the evening at 3:30 I would get in the car and drive as fast as I could to make it to campus. And I'd stay on campus until 9 o' clock at night until I got that degree out of the way, man.
[00:07:59] Speaker A: That was what. That takes some discipline. Where did you get the discipline?
[00:08:04] Speaker B: I think the military, the mindset that I didn't want anyone ever to tell me that you can't work here, you can't be here. Because I lacked something. And that one lacking was you don't have a degree. But it opened my eyes to so many things, Ricky, that you wouldn't understand.
Because I was afraid of math as a kid. That's where I dropped out of school.
[00:08:32] Speaker A: Me too.
[00:08:32] Speaker B: I was afraid of failure. That's why I dropped out.
But again, yeah, when people pour into you, it's. It's that fear. That fear doesn't exist.
[00:08:46] Speaker A: You know, I think it's, it's really funny that when as I listen to you talk and listen to your story, I. I see the parallels, man, you and me. You know, I did my 20 years in the military. I got out. I didn't have a degree. I went to work. I ended up working for FedEx. And I remember traveling all the time and trying to figure out how I'm going to get promoted and this, that and the other. And I ended up going back to school. And I remember at 8:30 every night I would go to my room and I would go from 8:30 to 1:00am and that was my study time.
And it was every day of the week, no matter what.
I'd have a house full of people, we'd be doing a party and Everybody knew. At 8:30 I went to my room and I'd study and I did that. And I did that for almost six years while traveling and working full time to get my bachelor's and my mba. And it was like, I tried to tell my kids to do that. Like they're like, I don't know, man, that's a lot.
[00:09:44] Speaker B: It's true, it's true. You know, when we got that degree, I can remember I had taken on a job and I was just about ready to graduate and we had left Columbus and we had gone to Indiana so I could work at a company doing IT stuff. And the company again. See, when you talk about faith. And so I know we'll get into that, but, but the company, I told the company, look, I've got a few classes left and I've got to go back to Ohio to take these classes. And they were like, fine, every Friday you are off to go and take your class.
And so every Thursday night I would get in the car and I would drive from Believe this place, Santa Claus, Indiana, and drive all the way back to Columbus, Ohio to take my classes and then report back to work on Monday.
And we did that and I finally, I earned my degree. I graduated in December of that year. So I did that for six months. They gave me six months of Fridays to go to that class. So that's again, it's an amazing thing when you believe and people start pouring in.
[00:11:08] Speaker A: You know, I think that you've been, you've been very blessed in your journey. But I also believe that you gave them a reason to believe in you. So that's why they helped you. And I think there's so many people out here today that are ready and wanting to help others, but people just don't present themselves in a way to give people trust and that they will finish or accomplish what they need to accomplish. What are your thoughts on that?
[00:11:34] Speaker B: You know, that, that, that. That's a great thing when you, when you start thinking about what you've done in your life, whether big or small, and how you've poured into people. I think about a time we were stationed in Germany. Matter of fact, we were. We were in Wiesbaden, Germany. And what happened was somebody, one of the troops didn't have a way to get back to Italy. And I can remember him coming into my office and him telling me, hey, you know, my wife is pregnant. I don't have any money. And I just remember going in my pocket without even thinking and giving him train fare, giving him food money so he could catch the train out of Wiesbaden so he could make it back to Italy and to be with his family. And I just think that was a payment for a fast forward that somebody would do for me.
[00:12:30] Speaker A: I think you're right. And you know what? Up next, we'll look at more of this story with Dr. Powell. We're going to redo it right after this message.
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So now we're back with Dr. Powell. And, you know, in the last segment. Dr. Powell, you there?
[00:13:23] Speaker B: Yep, I'm here.
[00:13:24] Speaker A: All right. In the last segment, we talked a little bit about just, you know, you. Your life, your setbacks, and there was somebody always there to pull you, pull you up. And now you're in, In. In Ohio, right? Battling.
[00:13:39] Speaker B: I'm in Ohio. I'm in Ohio.
[00:13:41] Speaker A: So why are you in Ohio? You know, and I met you. I want you to tell me you just gave up everything and you're in Ohio. Why?
[00:13:50] Speaker B: We.
Ricky, we. We. We dropped everything.
So I was working in Houston. That's how you and I came to know each other.
Doing my thing, doing my it thing, working for Fort Bend County.
It.
And I got a call from a church that I had been affiliated with for maybe 30 years.
And they called me up. I was pushing my shopping cart in Costco, and I got a call from them and they said, hey, Pastor Pal, would you like to come back to Ohio and, and pastor this church, Be a shepherd. Because the previous shepherd had gone on to glory. And I said, wow. I said, let me go sit in the car for a minute. That was a big, heavy load. And I called my wife and we said, we're in. And so we dropped everything. When I said everything, I mean everything I thought dropped a very lucrative job, very nice house, neighborhood, all of that.
Even my grandkids are there in Houston. We dropped it all in order to go serve God.
[00:15:02] Speaker A: That scary? That's a little scary. I mean, I, I think I would be a little scared.
So tell me, what are the thoughts?
[00:15:13] Speaker B: Listen, listen. It's about trust and provision. And I know you and I have had some great conversations about this, but every day I believe, it's my belief that if you are willing to serve God, he will take care of you. And I haven't had to backtrack on that.
And he hasn't had to backtrack on his word because his word is, is true. I believe that. And so with that, I'm counting on him to make sure that whatever we gave up, we're doing okay. We, we, we haven't, we haven't missed a step.
We're doing all right.
[00:16:02] Speaker A: And so while you're up there pastoring the church, you're also helping with leadership and training because you have a doctorate and, and you're also given to the community and teaching.
Is that what you're doing up there?
[00:16:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I, I, I do, I, I do it all. But I, I gotta tell you about this degree. I, I gotta give you guys the degree thing.
It's not, it, it wasn't easy to get a doctorate. Remember, my doctorate program was three cohorts long.
You, you would go every, you'd go once a month and you would, you, you would be there in a cohort. And I, I, I tell the story that at the three year mark, I was trying to take statistics and I failed.
I, I felt statistics so terribly bad.
Well, that would get you kicked out of the, of the program.
And so I watched all of my friends in that cohort move on.
Then, then, then I went again for this last segment of the program to get my doctorate, and I failed again. And I can remember crying all the way from Chicago, Illinois, is where the school was all the way back to St. Louis. Not St. Louis, Kansas City, Kansas. And my wife met me at the front door. She opened the front door and she said, lee, you got one day to feel sorry for yourself. And then after that, you've got to figure this out, because you are going to be Dr. Lee Powell. And that's that. That's how this doctorate came about, man. It wasn't because I was a brilliant guy or a smart guy. It was because I had somebody putting their foot on me, but pouring into.
[00:17:58] Speaker A: Me at the same time as my wife a little bit that tough love, that, that home. First Sergeant. You know that First Sergeant.
So I made you listen.
[00:18:07] Speaker B: I. I commend you for your 30 years of marriage. I'll have 30 years this year with my ride. So.
So she's taken the tough thing to. To. It was 10 years, man, 10 years of nonstop school in order to get to this place from a bachelor's degree, two master's degree, and then a doctorate degree. So I commend you, and I commend your wife, and I commend all the wives who's ever put up with us that are trying to find myself or find ourselves, and they still love us in spite of it.
[00:18:41] Speaker A: Boy, I'm going to tell you, I make the joke that when I get to heaven, I'm going to have some big wings for my wife. You know what I mean? I always make that joke. So let's talk a little bit now. So you have a doctorate and, you know, you work with. With your congregation. I think that's what we call it, right? Your common people, right?
[00:18:56] Speaker B: Yes, congregation.
[00:18:57] Speaker A: So how. How do you help them with engagement and alignment, you know, when they're trying to figure out their career and their path? Being that you've had so many different, you know, legs of your journey.
[00:19:10] Speaker B: Well, I think that's. That. That that's crucial to the part of coaching and mentoring people. A lot of it comes from real life experiences. Sometimes you can't walk.
You can't teach somebody unless you've walked where they've walked. And I think that's where veterans have a camaraderie that nobody else can ever understand.
Whether you served a day or whether you served a lifetime, there is a camaraderie with all veterans in there. So with my congregation, I'm able to walk with them both biblically, from the scriptures as well as where my life was and where it turned out to be. Remember, I didn't turn. I wasn't a saint when I came to the church.
So I was like them.
I live life like everybody else did, and life lived on me. And so with that, we have some shared experiences that I can walk them through where they're able to navigate. And trust me that what I'm telling them aligns with where they are in life.
[00:20:22] Speaker A: So real fast, before we go anymore, tell us, how is somebody able to reach out to you and engage you or learn a little bit more about you?
[00:20:31] Speaker B: Well, you can do it a couple of ways. You can reach out through my.
Through my email. That's probably the easiest way to get a hold of me. And I think you can put that out there on the screen. Forum.
Dr. Lee Gmail.com. Dr. Le Pal. Gmail.com. i think it's there. Or you can go to my LinkedIn page and reach out to me.
And so I'm just really excited for anyone to come up. I am a certified life coach, family life coach, ministerial coach.
So I do have a lot of professional training that goes along with my, my skill set.
So wherever you are in life, come and talk to me. You know, from family life counseling to job life counseling, I'm. I'm right there to help you out.
[00:21:30] Speaker A: I think the interesting thing, you know, I know we've had some interesting conversations, and I'd like to tell the audience. So what he said about the veterans. People don't understand that veterans don't have to have known each other in the service.
And when they meet, by happenstance, they become.
It's just like they've walked the same walk. That's what you and me, when we met in the, in that car dealership. Right. You had a car dealership, didn't. And once we found out we were veterans, it was just like we were attached at the hip.
[00:22:03] Speaker B: There's so much. There's nuances that I don't care if you were a commanding general or that you were a private. There are nuances that transcend position in the military that everybody just gets.
You just laugh. I was just sharing the other day with a guy that works with me, and he was a colonel, and we laughed so much about just some of the things that we experienced in the military.
[00:22:38] Speaker A: You know, I was at a job fair for military, you know, a couple months back or maybe almost a year back, I was with one of my close friends that was never in the military. But, you know, I used to tell him some of the stories, and, you know, he'd laugh and I'd laugh, and he, like, looked at me out the side of his eyes, like he didn't believe anything I said. Right? And you could tell that look. Well, this one day, there was this retired captain that was there. And then he and I both had been in recruiting command, and the captain started talking about some of the experiences, and HS echoed some of the things that I had already said.
And my buddy told me, ricky, you know what? I didn't really believe you. If I got to be honest, I didn't believe any of the things you told me. I'm like, what do you mean? I have no reason to tell a lie. I mean, I make it funny. And maybe it kind of sounds crazy, but it was just locked on. Just locked on, you know? Coming up, we're going to tackle some high pressure decision making and how disciplined framework keeps leaders from freezing on the second chance. We'll be right back.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. You know, pressure reveals leadership. In this segment, we're going to dig into what happens when decisions carry serious weight and how disciplined thinking prevents panic. Hey, Dr. Powell, how you doing?
[00:24:04] Speaker B: I'm good, I'm good. Let's talk about something I love then. Leadership.
[00:24:08] Speaker A: Leadership. So tell me about a time, right, that you had to make that decision.
You know, that wasn't popular.
[00:24:18] Speaker B: Listen, leaders lead in spite of the situation, and that makes it tough.
I've had people work for me, great people, but not the right people for the right job.
And I had a time where I had a tremendous respect for a person that was working for me. He was technically proficient. He was probably, I would say, near genius when it came to doing what it was that he did.
But his.
His behavior didn't match what we needed.
And so I had to have a very tough conversation with him. It wasn't the first time I had a tough conversation, but it was. This time was going to be the conversation that he needed to hear.
And he listened intently.
He started it with the victim role that a lot of people get when you're having to chastise them and give them correction.
But when you do it properly, they will receive it, they will accept it, and they will use it as a learning opportunity to move on.
And that's exactly what he did.
He took it. He didn't want to take it very graciously at first, but after we just speak on the topic, I don't get into personalities. I don't get into, what do they say, badmouthing an individual. I just stay onto the narrative of what we're talking about and address those things where the individual can grasp them for themselves.
And once they see it and take hold of it, then their perspective changes. And that's what leadership does. It helps the individual to change their perspective and see where they're missing and then take it one step further and go to where a new opportunity will be most beneficial for them.
[00:26:45] Speaker A: You know, it's interesting you say that.
I've always found that if you.
For you to get better, you have to be in receiving mode. Right.
I know. On the way here today, I was talking to one of my clients, he's in North Carolina, and we were talking about a report that I sent them an update. Right. And how the changes that we had made. And he told me, you know, Ricky, I really appreciate the updates and the changes you've made to the report that I didn't really understand before. You know, I really didn't want to be a pain in the butt. He said, a little bit, you know, more articulate, but he said, a little pain in the butt. And I told him, I said, you know what you don't do? You're not a pain in the butt. You make me better.
And that's the way I really, you know, approach it. And I think if people approach it, that nobody really wants to step on you and be ugly to you. They want to help you and.
[00:27:43] Speaker B: And you.
[00:27:43] Speaker A: And you receive it, then you can get better. What are your thoughts?
[00:27:47] Speaker B: Oh, well, I think that key point that you said, when you receive it, most people don't want to receive it.
If you think back to when we were. When we were young, Ricky, I know that was quite a few years ago when we were young, but being able to receive good.
Good.
What did you call it?
[00:28:10] Speaker A: Feedback.
[00:28:11] Speaker B: Good. Yeah, yeah, good feedback.
And it takes you.
It really can transform how you think about yourself. Because most people are in their head, you know, thinking that they know more than they know. But the truth of the matter is we don't know what we don't know. And when somebody comes up and they give us the feedback that forces us to start to review fact over fiction and start to place ourselves in the reality mode of where we need to be in order to get better.
[00:28:51] Speaker A: And when. And when a leader is approaching an individual and discussing with them some of their. I don't want to say that they're messed up, but I always say there's an opportunity. Right. So when they start talking to them about their opportunities, how do you coach them into presenting the opportunities to the individual who has the challenges?
[00:29:14] Speaker B: Well, the first thing you can't present unless you're trusted.
In order to give anyone any input, they have to trust you. They have to feel as though that what you're about to say, what you're about to give them is viable for them. And so you have to build trust in that relationship. I just can't go up to the man on the street and start telling them about his life and he'll just tell me, you know, get out of my face, get out of my way. But when leaders come to their people and they share with them truth and they feel trusted and knowing that the truth is genuine, that they're giving them, they'll do whatever it takes to go to the next level.
[00:30:04] Speaker A: So how does the discipline process reduce fear and second guessing?
[00:30:10] Speaker B: Kind of open that up for me. Give me something else on that.
[00:30:15] Speaker A: So, you know, a lot of people, I think what you said earlier is I don't get into all the, the, the, the other stuff, the outside noise. I just stay on the narrative. Right. So having that disciplined process to stay on the narrative and actually, you know, keep yourself from second guessing what you're talking to the individual about, how does that discipline process help you?
[00:30:37] Speaker B: Well, the discipline process takes away any biases that I might have about the individual. You know, we, we all come with a set of biases that we have for individuals. You know, maybe they wear glasses, maybe, you know, you don't, you don't like goatees, you'd rather have a beard, you know, so, so the discipline is removing the bias and being transparent to the individual. Once you do that, the discipline will align itself for you. You know what a 30 inch step is in the military. All of us do, we know, you know, we know what parade rest means and we know what at ease means and we know what attention means. So all of those metrics or all of those things that we were taught have meaning behind them. And so from a leader's perspective, you have to speak in such a way that the person on the other end, they understand what it is that you're saying. You, you can't give them some talk that's well above their level of understanding. You have to speak to them in a, in a manner and in a language that they understand.
Once they, that helps them get it and that helps build your ability to lead others because others are looking at, at your interaction with whatever individual you're working with.
[00:32:15] Speaker A: So I'm going to use an old phrase for us after action review. Right. So what does it look like when a leader applies after action review thinking to decisions?
[00:32:25] Speaker B: Okay, well, that's I think that's great.
After action, man, you've got to take into account did you have an impact or was or were you noise?
So it's twofold.
One, were you just making noise? Were you just talking to hear yourself talk or were you doing something that wasn't positive?
To the other person, the after action should say, hey, I spoke to Ricky today about an issue and with that I'm going to do a follow up and in 30 days I'm going to see that Ricky is hitting his marks. In fact, he's overachieving on those marks and he's looking for new opportunities with that. That'll drive me to start looking for opportunities for you so that you can become better.
[00:33:29] Speaker A: I think that's the key thing. I think like you said earlier, people have to trust that you have their best interest in mind and that not only are they on a path for greater things, but you as a leader are mindful of the direction they want to go. But you also ask them, okay, where do you see yourself, where you want to go and how can I help you get there? And that's where your coaching comes in, right?
[00:33:55] Speaker B: Man, you're brilliant on that. You know, when we met, you were probably skeptical of me and I was sure as heck skeptical of you.
[00:34:05] Speaker A: You know, it's amazing because like I said, we've had a lot of conversations and crazy places as we've met each other and got to know each other better. And that's why I felt like, wow, for somebody just to give up everything.
You didn't have even a high school diploma. Now you're a doctor. Now you just picked up and left just that intestinal fortitude. I mean, I don't know that I'm at that level.
[00:34:31] Speaker B: Oh, you're at that level? You're at that level. Don't shortchange yourself because you really are.
Most people shortchange themselves thinking they're not good enough.
And that comes from believing that other people are going to make a decision about them.
And so what I tell everybody is quit listening to other people. Listen to what's inside of you.
And that will give you the tenacity that you need, the drive that you need in order to get up every morning, run the race that you need to run, go to work, go to school, do whatever it is, become your own entrepreneur, that that's what you have to do.
[00:35:20] Speaker A: Well, up next, we're going to close with one of the most personal battles leaders face, overcoming setbacks without letting failure define them. We'll Be right back with Dr. Powell.
Welcome back to Battle Ready. Don't miss a second of this show or any of the other NOW Media TV favorites streaming live and on demand whenever and wherever you want. Grab the free Now Media TV app on Roku or iOS and enjoy instant access to our line of bilingual programming, both English and Spanish. If you prefer podcasts, you can listen to Battle already anytime on the Now Media TV website at www.nowmedia.tv. we're covering business, breaking news, lifestyle cultures and more. Now Media TV is available 24 7, so the stories you care about are always within reach. Now we're back here in the Last segment with Dr. Powell and Dr. Powell, you know what an amazing story, from not having a high school diploma to now currently having a doctorate and leaving his career in it and going up to lead a conversation based on just them reaching out to him, on their experiences with him. But now you've also written a book.
Talk to me about your book. Dr. Paul.
[00:36:42] Speaker B: Oh, this is exciting. This is, this, this is real exciting. The name of the book is Finding your purpose.
And the whole point of the book is every day, no matter where I am, people always wonder for themselves, what is my purpose? I from a spiritual thing. What, what plan does does God have for me and how do I find it? And so in the book, which isn't a, a heavy read at all, it's a very few pages. You can kind of read it probably in an afternoon or no more than a day and a half, we drive home elements to help you think about where you are, where you want to be, and then what is it going to take for you to get there? And so I always talk about perspective.
[00:37:42] Speaker A: So you know what? And I think over the last, I don't know, maybe year or so, I've had just the honor to be able to host this show and meet so many amazing people. And one of the keys that everybody's always talking about, when they found their purpose, not just their goal, but their purpose, that's when everything just came into line.
And that's kind of what your book talks about, I'm assuming.
[00:38:10] Speaker B: Yeah, that's exactly what it is. You know, people scratch at the surface all the time and they're wondering what their purpose is. Well, their purpose is aligned with what their passion is.
They kind of go hand in hand.
If you think about all those things that you have a passion in. Look at you, you know, working with veterans, your real estate, all of those are passions that you have. And it really starts to emanate out of you.
And that becomes, you find very easy. That's your purpose in life, is to reach out and touch those people in the ways that is best able for you. You get it done because you're in real estate, so you get to talk to countless people.
You're, you're ex military, so you have connections. It's easy.
[00:39:05] Speaker A: You know, I think as you say that to me and I kind of reflect a little bit, it's.
Yeah, I am in real estate now and it's probably the funnest thing I've ever done in life because it's the biggest investment a person would make. But over the years, it's not just the investment, it's the emotional experience that they're going through when they're either buying, selling, or just even living their lives or having their split ups or whatever it is. And to be there, to, you know, be part of that for them, I mean, that's made it a purpose for sure. For sure.
[00:39:41] Speaker B: Yeah. I mean, I see it with you, Ricky, because it's about relationship again. It's that trust factor that you present in your business, in your relationships. And that's why people are drawn to you, naturally drawn to you, not pushed on you, but it's a natural draw. So when we think about finding purpose, if everybody would just sit back for a moment right now on the show and close their eyes and think about what they want to be, what, what it looks like, if they could be anywhere or do anything, what does that look like? And then when they open their eyes, they now they have a picture that, that they can start to move forward to all of the, all of the other stuff about, well, how will I get there and what about this and what about that? They will all answer the questions, will answer themselves if you just keep walking towards what you just saw in your mind.
[00:40:50] Speaker A: Well, let's talk about setbacks. You know, what happens when a person finds the setbacks and why do people take it so personally?
[00:40:58] Speaker B: You know, setbacks, failure.
We live in a skeptical society and everybody looks at each other through the microscope without looking at themselves.
And so that's why it's hard. Because I don't want to be judged by a person who I perceive is doing better than I am.
But in reality, the facade is on, the mask is up and they're probably struggling just like you are.
[00:41:32] Speaker A: I heard somebody tell me who don't.
[00:41:34] Speaker B: Want to tell the truth.
[00:41:35] Speaker A: I heard somebody tell me the other day, man, if you're not failing, you're not trying.
And I thought to myself. I mean, it's kind of true.
You can't get better unless you try. But you can't try if you're scared to fail.
[00:41:52] Speaker B: Exactly. Exactly. And failure is not.
It's not a bad thing.
It's a catapult for success. Yes, it hurts sometimes. Yes, our knees get scraped.
But you know what, the important thing for anyone that has failed on anything, Failed on a relationship, failed on a job, failed at school, and the list goes on and on.
Did you get back up?
Remember when you learned how to ride a bicycle? You fell on that thing so many times, but you know what? You got back up and you got back on it again.
And now you ride. You can ride with no hands.
So that's the cool thing about it.
Failure is not final.
[00:42:39] Speaker A: You know, And. And when you say that, I think about your earlier segment where you talked about failing a couple of those classes and. And, you know, the emotional roller coaster that you were allowed to have that one day because your first sergeant told you couldn't have more than that one day. Right. I'm talking about your wife.
[00:42:58] Speaker B: Right.
Oh, absolutely.
[00:43:00] Speaker A: So I think that that just is an indication of the direction everybody can go if they just believe in themselves.
[00:43:09] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And that's the first part.
Take yourself into account.
Don't let anybody, anyone frame you in a way that you don't want to be framed in.
The reason why stuff happens is because we allow it.
If you would stop allowing people to treat you the way that they treat you, that you don't want to be treated, they'll stop.
If you don't want to live the way that you've been doing. I mean, whether you're drinking or drugging or whatever, if you would just get the courage to stop, it'll stop.
[00:43:55] Speaker A: So what's the difference between defeat and learning than learning through adversity?
[00:44:03] Speaker B: Defeat means I quit.
You've never seen a football player that won a game quit. You never saw a baseball player that smacked a home run quit.
That's just what it takes.
So, you know, quitters quit, winners win and winners won't quit.
I think that's the way the saying goes. I know there's a catchy phrase to that, but that's basically, in essence, that what it is.
Tenacity is our ability, our willingness to try, even when the odds are against us.
I always look at Superman, and I always look at him when he's standing. You know what he does. If you. If you look at Superman, they always have him standing in the wind.
And that's the adversity coming against him, but he'll always make it through it.
[00:45:02] Speaker A: So how do people reach out to you and get to get to know you and maybe even get your book?
[00:45:10] Speaker B: Hey, well, you can always get the book. I start there on Amazon. Please go to Amazon.com and type in Dr. Lee Powell and my book will show up. It's 999, so it's not going to be a huge cost to you. Please go out, buy it, read it and then send me your comments because I'll appreciate it. You can find me at Dr. Lee
[email protected] and you can reach out and then you can go out on my LinkedIn page and find me out there on the LinkedIn page and I'll connect with you. I'm available for one on one coaching, group coaching.
You talk to me, we'll make it happen. And then you can always find me at the church. I'm at Smyrna Missionary Baptist Church in Columbus, Ohio and we're at 1650 Wilson Avenue in Columbus, Ohio. 43207. We'd love for you to stick your head in the door and say hi.
[00:46:09] Speaker A: You know, this has been pretty powerful. You know, I totally enjoyed.
I see. I feel like every time we talk, you take me to another place. And I really appreciate that about you. I really appreciate you being on here today.
Thanks.
[00:46:25] Speaker B: Well, I appreciate you and you know, you're a strong man. You're. You're a strong man. You're a great man and you got great character, Ricky. And I'm not just saying that, just fluff to your audience. I'm really telling you because I know you and I know your heart and that's where you want to be. And whenever you want to have that conversation about, you know, who I serve, come on down and I'll tell you. I told you all you had to do is pray and ask the question and it'll be revealed to you.
[00:46:54] Speaker A: I know you're right. You know, Dr. Bahal, thank you again for sharing your story and your wisdom. Your journey proves that setbacks, they're nothing. You can just get a setback, refocus. Have a good first starting at home and it doesn't disqualify you. They just prepare us. Thanks everybody for joining us today and we'll see you soon on Battle Ready.
