As you know, it is always my honor to share a weekly letter with our membership. It is even more fun when we have guest columnists! This week, AME Champions Club member and guest columnist, David A. Behling, shares an interview with AME Champions Club member and life and business coach, Tom Busch. AME is dedicated to people-centered leadership and Busch shares his insights around people and excellence.
Tom Busch is an inspiring, empowering executive and life coach, specializing in creating healthy and thriving relationships at work and at home. Busch pulls from his personal experiences of pain and joy to empower others to walk in the fullness of their potential and help people experience a meaningful and significant life of purpose. He believes that deep-down, we all know that we are here for reason and that the most satisfying and rewarding life is when we lived engaged in work that makes a difference in others.
David A. Behling, LSSMBB, CMQ/OE, MBA, leads the improvement journey at Merritt Aluminum Products. Behling is a results-orientated change agent who creates value and space for growth in diverse organizations (manufacturing, service, government and non-profit) by building cultures of trust, respect, daily problem-solving and waste identification through servant leadership.
Talking Xcellence with… Life and business coach, Tom Busch
Behling: What was your first exposure to Excellence?
Busch: Good question! It depends on how you define Excellence. I'll just tell a story. When I was 29 years old, I went fishing with a guide who was only 19. I had always been hesitant to spend the money to go fishing on a charter with a guide because it's expensive. I decided I was going to take my dad out with this guide because my dad could learn how to become a better fisherman since he likes to fish like I do. So, we went fishing, and I had one of the most amazing days of fishing in my life! The guide knew exactly what to do, where to do it and when to do it.
When the tide was going out and the water was getting low, the guide said the fish have to be in here. So, he pushed the boat with this pole to the spot. He threw out the anchor, and he cast us out. Suddenly, both our poles started running with fish. We were catching redfish, one of my favorite because you get them close to the boat, then they pull out. You get them close to the boat again, and they pull out again. Then, you finally get them in, take the hook out, and let them go. Everything was caught and released. For the next hour and a half, we would cast, the fish would bite, and you'd have another beautiful 30+ fish.
As I reflected on the day, I started realizing all the little things the guide was doing. How did he get the boat to where we were? How did he know the way the tide was sweeping across the flat to put crabs and stuff into the pothole? I started realizing the subtleties of his Excellence. Even the way he had his boat rigged — where if a line snapped, there'd be another pole waiting for you. If you needed another bait, it was right there ready for you. Everything was staged in such a way that you could fish, and you didn't waste time while fishing. It was this beautiful moment for me and my dad, fishing in the sunset out by the grass flats of the Manatee River, where it flows into Tampa Bay.
It was Excellence, and it was fabulous!
Behling: How would you define Excellence?
Busch: Pursuing that which is greater than I am. Excellence is something that we consistently pursue. I believe becoming who we were meant to be and transforming ourselves into doing the things we were purposed to do is the journey toward success and Excellence. It's about identity — who I am and my purpose. To me, chasing these two things is what puts me and my life into the pursuit of Excellence.
Behling: How do you develop Excellence?
Busch: There's a story about Excellence that says something along the lines of, "Broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many people are on that road. But narrow is the road that leads to life, and very few are on that road." I believe the road to stagnation and death is paved with comfort — the comfort of pleasure, the comfort of numbing and the comfort of detachment. It's disconnecting from the very thing I'm supposed to do, pursuing Excellence, which is a life of challenge — challenging the way and the negative beliefs.
The psychologist Carl Jung said, "Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life, and you will call it fate." In other words, we have all these belief systems that run the system of our computer. Until we look at the coding in the system and bring it to the surface to explore, examine and ask, "Is this belief helping me? Is this belief limiting? Is this belief coded with fear and control? Is this belief coded in judgment?"
Until we examine our belief systems, I think we'll end up in ditches in our lives, and we'll throw our hands up and say it's just bad luck. It's just fate. These bad things just happen to me. When really, they're happening because of the faulty belief systems we're using to drive our lives forward.
The route to Excellence is the one paved in challenge and discomfort at times. It is paved in a life that says I have to constantly embrace change and transform not only my mind but my heart and my soul as well.
Behling: How would you explain Excellence to an executive?
Busch: I think the most compelling attribute of any leader, of any executive, is humility. My definition of humility is seeing myself in the correct estimation. A level of self-awareness is saying, "I see my giftedness. I see the skills I've developed. I see the passions that have been planted in me. I see the way I can be self-centered. I see the way I can be prideful in these situations, and I see the way I have hurt others, either intentionally or unintentionally. I see these things, and there's a lot of good stuff there."
The leader, however, who says, "I need to have all the answers, and I'm better than everybody else," is the executive bound for a level of failure.
To me, Excellence for executives is embracing a leadership posture of humility — the leader who is more likely to say, "We have a challenge in front of us. I have some ideas of how to move forward, but I don't really know. I would really love to huddle you all around, and I want to hear your thoughts. How do we get out of this situation?"
We're, unfortunately, raised in a world where leaders feel this pressure to have all the answers; this is not humility. Humility is when we sit down and say, "I don't have the answers. I have some thoughts, but I really need your help."
We need to see ourselves for who we are. There are beautiful things inside all of us, and we have some things inside of us that aren't so beautiful. How do we walk in balance with those things and see ourselves in the correct light? To me, this is a part of Excellence because we never get there. We're always trying to strive to get better. If I stop striving, I will revert to my old ways of being prideful and self-centered. Pride is something that comes naturally to me. It's not who I want to be. Pride stems from my insecurity, so as I heal my identity and realize who I am, my insecurities are mitigated, and my humility has space to show.
You can only give what you have. What are you going to give to other people? What do you have to give? If your heart is full of insecurity, doubt and fear, you're going give those to others — there's no way around it because that's what you have to give. My hope for executives and myself is to be rooted in our identities, to be humble, and to be full of goodness, light, compassion, empathy and tenderness.
If our leadership teams embrace tenderness, compassion and empathy, then that is what they'll have to give to other people. So, let's fill our hearts with good stuff, so that's what we have to give away. This is what I believe is Excellence for executives.
Behling: What is one of the main reasons to strive for Excellence?
Busch: It is always worth it! If you want to live a life of meaning, joy, significance and abundance, it is all driven by a life pursuing Excellence. While in the short term, there may be discomfort, the narrow road says there's a life where I get to go to work. I do not have to do what I do. Work is a blessing that we get to do. We should be excited or invigorated by work. Work is the mechanism we get to use to make the world a better place. When people organize around a vision and a mission, they can say that this is how we want to change the world. Then, work becomes something we get to do, not something we have to do.
People will work for less money if they believe in the mission and a cause. I think creating a space where people pursue Excellence provides purpose, meaning and joy in life. The abundance of this life is brought to fruition from a life of Excellence.
A life not being lived for Excellence can lead to stagnation. A life of pursuing only pleasure, I believe, is the opposite of pursuing a life of Excellence. I believe it is always good to do the right thing, become who we're supposed to be and love people the way we're supposed to love people. That's why we do it. It's worth it.
Behling: In your opinion, why don't more organizations strive for Excellence?
Busch: Most leaders talk about Excellence and change, but I think it's difficult to find leaders who truly embrace the journey and let others come with them. For a leader to say, "Here's something I'm struggling with and trying to get better at. Will you be part of this journey with me," is tough. If you had a leader willing to do that, I think you would find a lot of people on that team saying, "Sign me up!"
The greatest way to influence others is for others to see you change. The best way is for team members to see the leader change as the leader embraces that humble posture and admits there is something they are struggling with. I think the reason most organizations don't do Excellence all that well is because it takes vulnerability. All humans fear judgment from peers, co-workers or family. Sometimes, we're so afraid of what others may think, even others we'll never meet. Our fear of judgment keeps us in this place of being locked down and defensive.
If we as leaders open our arms and say," I am secure enough to let you be a part of my journey. I'll show you some of my own flaws, some of my own bruises, some of my own wounds, and together, we can become healthier, better leaders," everyone would benefit.
Behling: What is the biggest opportunity for Excellence in today's world?
Busch: Every day we live, we tell ourselves stories or narratives. We create narratives to fill in the gaps of what really happened. Now, based on that narrative, we have feelings we then react to. So, I hear or see something directly in a narrative, and, fast as lightning, I have a feeling. I would love to see people reflect on their narratives and ask, "What were the stories I told myself and why did I feel this way at this time?" There is always a story behind a feeling.
We must teach ourselves to ask, "Is my narrative true? Is my narrative helpful? Does my narrative matter? Is my narrative loving?" By putting our story through the filter, we become more self-aware. I am aware of my feelings, I'm aware of the narratives I'm telling myself, and I can choose to respond appropriately instead of reacting. I want to be the type of person who makes a difference in the world. I want to create a tsunami in my life and affect the world. We can't read other people's minds. We can't see what they're thinking. We don't know their intentions.
I want to make a difference in my life and a difference in the world, and I believe the way to make a difference in the world is to change how we think and become aware of the emotion that makes us want to say something mean, be defensive, cut people down, or come back with a one-liner that puts the person "where they deserve to be."
If we embrace Excellence in our thinking, the lives we live, the organizations we steward and the families we run will look different. I want to see people pursue Excellence in their thinking and Excellence in their mindset.
Thank you, David Behling, for this insightful interview. And thank you, Tom Busch, for your insights. AME will be sharing more opportunities around people-centered leadership soon. Let’s continue to share, learn and grow together in 2025.
As always, please stay safe and keep looking out for one another.
