“R” is for Rod
“I’m Rough, Tough and Good-Looking”. That is what my uncle Rod would always have me tell girls which I thought were cute. As a young boy just starting to understand what being attracted to a girl felt like, this was a daunting situation. I was nervous and shy, and the last thing I wanted to do was talk to a cute girl, much less say something so confident with just that…confidence. My uncle Rod on the other hand, beamed with confidence. It was something about the way he carried himself and how he communicated. He fully believed that what he said he was going to do, would in fact happen. I know a lot of people misconstrue this as cockiness, and I know I did plenty of times when it came to competing in sports that I rarely beat him at. The difference in Rod is that it came from the heart and wasn't just talk. It was action. When he did have the rare miss, he didn't take himself too seriously and pointed out his own flaw. Usually in a joking way… which I can only assume was him trying to distract me from the fact that I had actually beat him. This is all something I have watched for 36 years and because of that, taken on my own style of confidence. I honestly remember the point in my life when I realized I had to start adding a little confidence into how I proceeded.
It was early high school, and sports were life. I remember actively thinking that I needed to start becoming more vocal with an opposing player and start calling my shots. This obviously gave me that rush of confidence and built up the belief in me, but as I started to talk more, I started failing more. I wasn't backing up my claims and that only started to make things worse. As life went on, I adapted and matured but I never really understood why. Life simply went on.
In college, I remember thinking I was going to be the next great entrepreneur. I thought I was going to come out guns blazing, ready to take over the business world. Once college ended, those dreams slowly dissolved away though. I took a job at a local mortgage company and fell in love with leadership there. I was good at it and loved helping people find what was within them that made them better. I was always the manager that took struggling employees from any team and helped them get back on their feet to be not only contributing employees, but well above average employees. It was something I was extremely passionate about and loved being a part of. With leaving my steady 9-5 and starting GKR motor cars, I have now had time to reflect on where I’ve been and why I am who I am today. Then it hit me; I’ve helped people become better not because I helped them navigate the mortgage loan better, but because I made them realize they actually can be better than they were. I instilled confidence within them and let them make their own decisions(and failures) to become better. Exactly the way my uncle Rod taught me. It’s funny because I did not directly realize the why behind my raw skills as a leader and maybe Rod did not either, but when you live with confidence, you learn and you hone. Rod was probably not always beaming with confidence, but he slowly learned that sweet spot and I was blessed enough to see the finished product as I grew up. So thank you, uncle Rod.
Now, the weather is warming up so I need to find some time to go beat uncle Rod in golf…. again.
