Why Bus-tainable Leadership Produces Hall of Fame Worthy Results

In honor of Jerome Bettis’ 50th birthday, this episode of The Energy Detox explores the many ways “The Bus” exemplifies sustainable leadership.

“…please understand [that your personal legacy will] not be how much money you made, but the difference you made in someone’s life;

not the political policies that I’m sure you will no doubt change, but the amount of the lives that you will somehow change;

not the assets that you will acquire in a lifetime, but your ability to be an asset in someone else’s;

and not your ability to raise capital, but your ability to raise your children with humility, empathy, and love.

This is how your legacy will be written.”

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Transcript

(AI training in progress; please excuse any errors)

Today, February 16, would have been the 81st birthday of the late supreme leader of North Korea, Kim Jong Il. And so today on the energy detox, you might think we can use that as an excuse to talk about all of the various leadership skills and tactics that Kim Jong Il used to become and maintain his status as supreme leader and in turn hand on that status as supreme leader to his son Kim Jong ooo, continues to govern today. But we're not going to do that. Because there is another famous birthday of another famous leader who may not be a supreme leader but is very much a sustainable leader. And that leader who turns 50 years old today is Jerome Bettis of Steelers fame and Notre Dame fame and of Super Bowl fame as you may have seen a couple days ago during the Super Bowl in the commercial that Jerome Bettis the bus was a part of. And so in today's energy detox episode, we're going to talk about Jerome Bettis and his link to sustainable leadership, or as we're calling it today, bus stainable leadership. And why are we talking about your own bed as well again, as we just said, it's his birthday too. As we just said, It's Super Bowl week or post Super Bowl week, if you will, and three because your own business is connected to the energy industry. First and foremost, he and his brother run a company called Betis brothers sand and gravel. And that company supports the energy industry right here in southwestern Pennsylvania. Also, Jerome Bettis is connected with CNX again a local natural gas company here and they are working together to support the bus stops here Foundation, a foundation that's run better started 25 years ago to support underserved and underprivileged youth, again, primarily here in our region. And the third reason is that in many respects, Jerome Bettis was like the Energizer Bunny. In fact, you can find plenty of quotes of him on the sidelines talking about himself to himself about how he is the Energizer Bunny, he just keeps going and going and going, which of course, helps fuel his nickname the bus because that was his job as a running back was to keep going and going and going. So all those things together certainly connect drone betters to the energy industry, both literally and figuratively. And again, if you've seen him in any way, shape, or form, you know that he exudes energy, he exudes excitement. So again, Jerome Bettis is a great example today of what a leader can be and what a bus stainable leader should be. And so today with those tie ins, again to Jerome Bettis, and on the heels of the Super Bowl victory by the Rams who were first to draft, Jerome Bettis before he, of course, moved on and had his famous Steelers career, we're going to kick things off, and we're going to follow the similar script that we do here on the energy detox, and that is to boil things down into three simple themes. And that is growth, protection and sustainability. And those three things form the GPS mindset and all of the GPS questions that we asked repeatedly here, because if nothing else, Jerome Bettis is a perfect example of this GPS mindset, not just because the bus parallels and the parallels of him navigating his way to the Superbowl in the Superbowl commercial on Sunday. But again, because this is a man whose career was built on moving forward on protecting the football and again, continuing to help his team move towards some ultimate goal. And so starting with that first word growth, well, drone betters currently is an example of continued growth, you may have seen that he is going back to school to finish his degree at Notre Dame, and in three months, he will be an alumnus of Notre Dame 20, some odd years after he began his career there, tremendous story, but it's rooted in growth, he wants to continue educating himself and getting better and being able to support his various businesses, and more importantly, helping his family grow, if not, you know, directly or indirectly by seeing him get his education and being an example to his two children. That is a tremendous example of growth. And again, obviously, moving forward and growing and figuring out what you want to move towards is, is critical for anyone, any individual, whether in business or his personal life. And drum, Bettis has that focus, and he's growing towards it. And he's moving towards that. And more importantly, he's bringing people on board. Just as in the Superbowl commercial, again, he's driving the bus, he's bringing other people along with him to his destination. Well, that's growth. It's not just for him as an individual. But he recognized the importance of bringing other people on board, those around him, his business partners, his family, and again, his community. He's doing all of those things to move people forward and move people upward. And so with that question in mind or with that image in mind, ask yourself again, how are you growing?

04:28

What are you doing to continue moving forward? The second theme in this GPS mindset, again, is protection. And again, you have an image of a running back whose job was to protect the football Yes, he needed to continue moving forward and to continue moving down the field again, this sort of this growth idea, but while doing so he needed to protect the things that are most important and in football, what is that? Well, it's the actual football doesn't do any good if he, you know, helps the team marched down the field and gets to the To line to your line and fumbles. Right? And unfortunately, there was a famous example of that that didn't turn out poorly for the Steelers. But you know, in the AFC Championship game that preceded Jerome Bennison Super Bowl, he did fumble at the two yard line, and again, worked out well for the Steelers. But in underscores how important it is and how I mean, basically, you can, you can undo all of the all of the good all of the good of a career, all of the good of a game, you know, the 57 minutes that you played to that point with a single mistake. And so again, while Jerome Bettis Fortunately, you know, hasn't had those big mistakes, and is a good example of somebody who has, you know, acted with integrity, and again, help moving forward, you can look to that one game and that fumble is an example of something that could have obviously gone the other direction. In fact, this morning, well, you know, confirming my memory of the AFC Championship game and how that went, I found this one quote that if nothing else is funny, but also underscores the importance of having this protection mindset and understanding how your actions if you're not on guard against potential hazards can impact others. And this quote is from somebody who literally suffered a heart attack at a bar mere seconds after Jerome Bettis fumbled. When it looked like the Steelers again, we're gonna, you know, going to clinch victory. And, and again, this fumble kind of flipped things on its side there temporarily until the Steelers went on to win. And again, this quote from the person who suffered a heart attack fortunately survived and had a pacemaker put in was, I wasn't upset that the Steelers might lose, he said, I was upset because I didn't want to see him and his career like that. A guy like that deserves better, I guess it was a little too much for me to handle. So again, you have this person who's following Jerome Bettis, if you will, he's excited for Jerome Bettis and he's claiming that his heart attack was not necessarily induced, you know, by the fact that the Steelers might not go on to the Super Bowl, but by the fact that Jerome Bettis, who you know, was at the tail end of his career, you know, might not get a shot at the Super Bowl, and may very well have lost that shot because of a heartbreaking fumble. So again, if nothing else, have that image in mind as you go throughout the week of a running back whose job is to protect the football and how not protecting the football, sadly, can undo a whole lot of good and all wonderful stats and, and and everything else, but can lead to catastrophe if you're a Steelers fan, or obviously something much more serious if you're leading a business or you're leading your family or something like that. And with that, we'll move on to the third and final theme third and final image for you to have in mind today on Jerome Bettis his birthday, and that is the idea of sustainability. And again, we're not talking environmental sustainability, but we're talking about the ability to sustain momentum. Because clearly, again, Jerome Bettis is an individual who was able to sustain momentum, he's able to keep moving forward. And the best way to do that is of course, to have a strong foundation. And again, the the build of drone bed has helped ensure that he was able to move forward. But Jerome Bettis also throughout his career, after playing football continues to establish a very strong foundation and pun somewhat intended, of course, with the bus stops here, foundation that of course, you know, we just mentioned is, is a great part of the community, but also all of the things from an integrity standpoint, that allowed him to keep moving forward and, and steering around potential barriers and, and ultimately reaching his destination. And some of those things, of course, are, you know, again, the commitments that he's made the commitment he made to his family to go back and finish his degree at Notre Dame, the commitment he made to his mother years before again, to go back and finish his degree. And he's doing that. And that's the type of thing that again, can keep people moving forward and keep energizing those around you who see you moving forward. So the question for you is, as a leader, what are you doing to sustain the energy and the excitement and the momentum of those around you, not just yourself plowing forward and plowing through walls and driving through walls or whatever was going on in the Superbowl commercial on Sunday, but what are you doing to actually bring other people on board and allow them to keep moving forward? What are you doing to identify barriers that could prevent them from moving forward again, much as the bus stops your foundation helps ensure that any barriers for children as far as education and the ability to have mentorship helps erase those barriers. So again, people can keep moving forward, what are you doing both in your professional life and your personal life to remove those barriers to help others move forward, not just yourself but others to again, hop on the bus, so to speak, and ultimately reach their destination? get there safely,

09:15

get there in a confident manner, get there in an efficient manner? What are you doing? So with that, again, have that image of Jerome Bettis whether you visualize him as again, a running back during his playing days, whether you see him as a Hall of Fame, inductee, they're representing again, everything he's accomplished and that foundation and now building upon that foundation to do great things, both in business and in the community and and to inspire others have that image of Jerome Bettis because it really captures that idea of moving forward in a sustainable manner and employing this GPS mindset where he has continued on the focus on the growth of those around him, protecting the things that matter the most, and doing it in a sustainable manner that allows him to keep moving forward no matter what blockade are barriers or whatever or potential tacklers, if you will, are put in his way. And so with that, again, thank you as always for tuning into the energy detox, I thank you as always for, you know, engaging and offering your insights on the value or the lack of value on this. If you are interested in a conversation about becoming a supreme leader and mirroring the, again, the tactics and the leadership skills of Kim Jong Il and his son, Kim Jong moon, I'm happy to put something like that together perhaps on next year's anniversary of Kim Jong Il's birth. And with all that, again, I want to thank Of course, Jerome Bettis for everything he's done to represent Pittsburgh to represent Notre Dame, and most importantly, to acknowledge at every step along the way, all of those who have helped him get to where he is, it's tough to listen to an interview of Jerome Bettis and not hear some sign of gratitude from him for all of those who helped him along the way. And, of course, I would be remiss not to, you know, point out the fact that he often thanks this man right here, Lou Holtz, the coach of Notre Dame, for everything that Lou Holtz did to help Jerome Bettis in his career to make sure that drum Bettis came to Notre Dame and didn't go to the University of Michigan. In fact, while watching the Super Bowl, and certainly at the end of the Super Bowl, I'm sure others made this observation. But you know, you have Matthew Stafford, who escaped Michigan, escaped Detroit and went on to win a Super Bowl. And you have somebody like Jerome Bettis, who, again, was born in Detroit, and left Detroit and went on to achieve great things. So I think the message in there is, of course, if you leave Michigan, or at least if you turn your back on the University of Michigan, as Jerome Bettis did, and decided to, of course, come to Notre Dame and ultimately made his way to Pittsburgh, after a stop with the Rams, you know, good things happen. So maybe that's not the takeaway, that is the most important one today, but, but we're gonna we're gonna end with that today. So with that being said, thank you for your time. Thank you for your attention, happy birthday to Jerome Bettis and to LeVar Burton, and a couple other celebrities who didn't make the cut today to be talked about. But with that, again, I hope you have an excellent rest of the day, I hope the second half of your week here as we move forward from hump day successful and I hope that as you drive forward and you you drive the bus towards whatever destination you're at, you get there safely, you do it in a conscious manner, and you're doing it in a manner that brings everybody else on board with you so that they can continue to grow and move forward towards their goals as well. So with that again, thank you. Take care and bye bye

Leadership, Management, Coaching, Energy, Envronment, ESG, SustainabilityJoe SinnottLeadership, CoachingComment