Business Coach : Become A Visioneer
-My name is Caleb Taylor, and I’m a business coach. Today, Clay Clark, a business coach and our visioneer here at Thrive15, is sitting down with business coach Clifton Taulbert, the best-selling author and actually Clay’s personals mentor. He often refers to him as his Yoda. And Clifton is going to be talking to us about success philosophy. He’ll be walking us through the different characteristics and aspects needed to achieve success.
Here are Thrive15.com, our business mentors believe that knowledge without application is meaningless. So it’s up to you to ask yourself, how can I apply what I’m hearing here from Clifton and from Clay into my life and business? Because if not, today’s episode could be more meaningless– stop it! Stop it! Sorry about that.
-Brother Taulbert– how are you, sir?
-I’m good.
-Folks, if you’re watching this, and you don’t have a little bit of a context as to who this man is, his name is Clifton Taulbert. And you, sir, are a bestselling author. You are a Pulitzer Prize-nominated author. You helped to launch the Stairmaster and to get that product into the homes all across America and into the government facilities. But you started here.
-Started here. And this is not animated. This is not technology-driven. These are people. These are the elements that were used to weigh the cotton in the fields in the Delta and to determine how many pounds went to the gin and how much would be processed out of that and eventually sent to the mills.
-You grew up in a time in American history where there was legal segregation, meaning you could put a sign on your door that said no colored people. Could I write that?
-Yep.
-And then so African Americans and people of other skin color– they couldn’t go in this bathroom.
-Right.
-I could say, no, I don’t want to serve you.
-And it was no problem. That’s the way it was.
-Could you walk in the front door of the bank?
-No.
-You couldn’t? How did you get to the bank? Did you ever go to the bank?
-Yeah. I would go to the bank. I had relatives who had money in the bank. Not much, but it was enough to get ’em there.
-You go in the back?
-Well, you had to go in the back.
-And then today, you have this little thing here. What is this?
-Yeah, this is Central Bank– OMB Bank in Tulsa, Oklahoma. I had an incredible opportunity several years ago to be part of an investment group to start this De Novo bank. This was something that was a great– it was a challenge.
I was fearful. But I realized that if you don’t move beyond your fear, you’ll be stuck right there with your fear. And I wanted to be successful. I wanted to see something different, so I had to step out.
-You helped start a bank, and you used to not be allowed to go in the front door of the bank.
-Right.
-Does it ever feel surreal today when you walk into the lobby of the bank, and you look around, and you’re like, well, I helped start this place.
-You know, sometimes I think that, but I usually think about that in terms of the family that I wish was still with me. Those porch people– I call ’em– from the Mississippi Delta, those incredible mentors, those visionaries who dreamed for me and saw their future through my lengthening steps. I would like them to see that, just to know that their faith in me was not mislaid.
-OK, here’s where– personal feelings of Clay Clark 101– this is where I have a learning opportunity from you here. You have grown up in a bad environment– some would say a bad environment. You call it a positive environment. But you grew up in a poor area where it was segregated.
And then when you started the bank with this team, investment team here, you didn’t get bitter. You didn’t like call all the people who wouldn’t let you in the bank before. I would be tempted to make a list of all the white people who said I couldn’t come in the bank.
And I’d be like Frank, yeah, hey. You can’t come in my bank, and I’m black. And I would just keep that call going. That’s what I would do, because that’s how my mind works. I kind of get like– I don’t know. I kind of want to do an in-zone dance, and point at the other guy.
And then over time, you pointed this out to me. About five years ago, you talked about how hey, what you need to do is you need to take your success and not say “nanana boo boo” to all those who were negative, but you need to share the success with others, and encourage them that they can do it– even the people who said no.
-Yeah. You’ve chosen a great word– thrive. You know, built within that concept is unselfishness. Built within that concept is the ability to also have vision to others and to dream. And so, if I’m not successful, it’s going to be very difficult for me to share that success with others.
So you want to gravitate towards that so that you can help another person realize that he or she do not have to remain where they are, that they can move further, they can move faster, and they can jump higher. That is what a business coach will do.
-Well, as we get into your philosophy, I just want to say this on a personal note. You having that attitude about not being bitter and wanting to call everyone who ever told you no and taught them has absolutely made a big impression in my life, and it’s really one of big genesis ideas for Thrive.
And so as we mine into your philosophies, I’m going to get into some brass tacks, a lot of specific stuff that I want to know– and I’m sure a lot of people want to know– about how you moved from being unsuccessful to being successful, or from poor to poor no more. So here we go.
-What time do you wake up every day, my friend?
-Around 5 o’clock.
-Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday?
-And Sunday.
-Even on Sunday, you get up at 5:00?
-I wake up at 5:00. That’s what you asked. You said, what time do I wake up every day. 5:00.
-OK. So 5 o’clock. Now, when you wake up, how do you organize your day? What is your process?
-The first thing I do is I become reflective, because I am so thankful to be alive.
-And I want to ask you this– this might be a stupid question, but I want to know. Are you in the kitchen? Are you sitting there at the kitchen going, I am thankful. Or do you walk around? Do you go for a walk? Do you sit down at your study? Where do you go?
-I like to give life to the word thankful. The easiest thing, the word is I’m thankful. No. That’s not the way– I walk through. And I remember the way it was. I’ll walk through and pass by a bathroom. I’ll turn the lights on. I look in there. And the guest bedroom is always perfect at our house, because you can’t use it. It’s always perfect.
So I walk by, and I turn the lights on, and I say, God. This is so cool, because I remember outhouses, and I remember having to walk a long ways to one. Now, I have real reasons to be thankful. And I’m thankful to be a business coach.