Episode 329: Steve Urian, Vice President Sales, WM: Change Is the Advantage

Speaker A: Hey, thanks for checking out the sales leadership podcast. I'm your host, Rob Jepsen, and I have one I cannot wait to share. I have a leader I've worked with for over a decade and he's going to share how they didn't just get in first place, but they stayed there for over half a century. But first, right now, we're in the heart of company kickoff season, and I'm grateful to have had so many of you hire me to join your event this week. I'm on my way to Austin and then Dallas, and I can't wait to join these teams of salespeople who are ready to create the greatest years of their individual careers. But if you're still putting together your lineup for your event, it isn't too late to get us involved. We booked another one just yesterday. And if you're considering a speaker for your sales kickoff or a leadership retreat, please consider me. We're booking a lot of these events right now. And helping create career changing events is one of my very favorite things I do. I'm, um, not one of those speakers who just shows up with a canned talk and hopes you like it. I work closely with leadership teams to design custom content and create an experience that does a couple of things. It entertains, it challenges thinking, and it creates new levels of commitment. We want every member of your team to say, I can do that, and I will. So whether you want someone to speak to your entire team or to just work with your leadership group, give us a shot. Please reach out and let's see if we can make a great elite, a great event elite. Finally. Listen, I don't usually bring my clients on the show, but every now and then I do. And every time I have, the response has been massive. So maybe I need to do it more often. But that's why I'm so excited for today. Today I have Steve Urian with me. Steve's the vice president of sales for one of my favorite companies, wm, formerly known as Waste Management. Steve's led the leader, the sales team for a long time, and this week happens to be a really big week for them. It's the WM Phoenix Open. It's the biggest party in golf. You gotta check it out. You're gonna see those WM logos everywhere. And Steve and his entire leadership team are there, hosting clients and creating an experience that nobody can touch. For over half a century, WM has been the leader of their industry. And every year they chase the greatest year in company history. And year after year after year, they get it. That they do it, uh, is a big deal. But how they do it is why this episode is one you're gonna really enjoy today. One of my favorite sales leaders, someone that I've had the opportunity to work with for over a decade, shares how the advantage isn't just getting every last drop of blood, sweat and tears out of his reps. Today we're going to talk about how change is the advantage. They tap into change. How you embrace it, how you find it, maybe most important, how you use it. This one, this one's going to be a good one. So you ready? Let's freaking go. Hi, I'm Rob Jepsen and my mission is to help sales leaders everywhere create record setting growth in the companies they lead. I'm here to share the secrets of the world's most successful sales leaders. I don't care how big the company or how big the team. We showcase sales leaders who are taking what the market gives and then some. This show features leaders of teams who are beating their markets, winning at crazy rates and and creating life changing years for the people they lead. The sales Leadership podcast is brought to you by Sales Leadership United, the world's largest collection of sales leadership assets. Be sure to check out the all new sales leadershipunited.com fast track your sales leadership development. Gain insights into how other sales leaders are solving challenges similar to the ones you face and tap into over 400 leadership topics, hundreds of video insights, battle tested leadership frameworks and and new material that comes out every single week. Sales Leadership United is the easiest investment in yourself you'll ever make. Head to salesleadershipunited.com use the code Rob at signup and get a free trial on me. Now get ready for some serious insights from sales leaders who are making it happen. And remember, don't worry, we got you. Hello and welcome to the Sales Leadership Podcast where high growth sales leadership, high growth practices and tactics. Man, it has been an incredible year and I love the messages that I'm getting from so many of you all week long when you tell me your story about how the show's helping you in your own individual leadership journeys. Keep them coming. I love hearing from so many of you on what these guests do for you and how you're implementing their frameworks and their ideas. So don't stop sending them to me because that's why we do it. But today, today I got one that's going to for sure have you reach out and tell me what you think. I got a guest on the show today that I have tried for the last three years to get on. I was starting to doubt my sales, uh, uh, success and my sales skill. Cause I couldn't get them on year after year after year. Was like, yeah, we'll get there, we'll get there. Today's the day. Today I got one of my very favorite leaders and one of my very favorite companies. I'm talking about the vice president of sales of North America's largest, one of North America's largest, most respected and most successful sales organizations. I've known this dude for over a decade and I have had a front row seat to see him accomplish some amazing things in almost every single market condition, um, imaginable. The person I'm talking about is Steve Urian. Now if you are watching on the YouTube channel, you'll see, uh, Steve, uh, and sitting there in the golf course at the Phoenix Open. Uh, Steve is a great guy. Steve is one of my all time favorite sales leaders. He is the Vice president of sales for wm, formerly known as Waste Management. It's a sales organization that's accomplished some incredible things. They are the dominant leader in their market and it's, it's for a reason. None of their success has been a happy accident. This is a very large, very sophisticated and very successful sales team. One that continues to have the best year it ever has had every single year, year after year. And I've had the pleasure to work with Steve and members of his leadership team and watch the impact of Steve's leadership and how this company has become one of the top sales orgs in all of North America. But don't take my word for it. Go check out the stock price over the last couple of decades. It's a fun thing to do. Go look at the awards the WM sales organization has racked up year after year after year. And today we're going to have one of my all time favorite sales leaders and one of my all time favorite companies join us and share how this dominant team didn't just get into growth mode, but they've stayed there year after year. But maybe more important, do it in a way where they created an organization where people just don't want to leave. He's an incredible leader, one of the great humans that I've ever met. Someone I'm proud to consider a friend. You can't tell I'm fired up and ready to rock and roll and get after it. Steve, welcome at long last to the sales leadership podcast and thank you for joining me, brother.

Speaker B: Hey, thanks for having me on. Appreciate it um, I know it's been a few years. I've always promised you year after year, but ah, today's the day and uh, that's quite an introduction. So I appreciate that. Um, but as Rob said, I've known him for a number of years and with the partnership with uh, with him and his team.

Speaker A: Yeah. So cards on the table. I, I don't often bring people that I work with in, but this company is one that uh, everybody knows about. They've done amazing things and I am a proud partner. I'm going to hold it up for the YouTube channel. I got my little name tag right here that I'm proud of, man. I get to work with Steve and his team and, and I've watched what they've done to navigate challenges, create advantages. But maybe more important, this is a team where they for sure don't just work hard, cross their fingers and hope you are looking at an intentional leader right now. Today we're at 45 minutes and I think it's going to go pretty fast. So Steve, why don't you take a minute and introduce yourself to 60,000 of your closest sales leadership friends around the world.

Speaker B: Hey. As Rob said, Steve Urine, VP of sales for, for wm. Been with Waste Management for just a short period of time. Uh, 37 years in my. In my current role for uh, for um, over the. Basically all sales at WM. Started back, uh, you know, like I said, 37 years ago as a inside sales rep. Wow. Selling. I was actually selling uh, portalettes, trailers and modular fencing. I wasn't allowed to sell any, you know, dumpsters or anything like that. But uh, started out, you know, like I said, as an inside sales rep and just through the years was able to work my way up. Uh, at one point back In, I call 2007, uh, I was VP over the east. We had four. We had four groups at that time. So I had like New York City all the way down through like West Virginia. And then uh, we had some other restructuring uh, over the years. And then in 2014, uh, 15, I became VP of uh, sales over the uh, whole company.

Speaker A: And as they say, the rest is history. Like I said I would challenge people. You want to know what kind of impact, just go look at what's happened to the stock price.

Speaker B: Uh, yeah, yeah. So I could tell you back, back in 99, our stock was, went down to 13 a share. And uh, today it's trading at uh, you know, over over 200. So right now we're about 200, uh, $15 per share. So, been quite a. Quite a ride. Um, a lot of fun, a lot of hard work. Um, but, uh, you know, proud of what we've accomplished over the years, and, uh, hey, we're still getting at it, so, um, yeah, there's some of the things we want to talk about today.

Speaker A: Uh, well, that's why I want. I've been wanting to have you on the show. Uh, we have a lot of people in every industry all around the world, Steve. We got people in tech and in finance and manufacturing and industrial and professional services, all of them, and they all have the same job. Like, these are all leaders of sales teams. And, yeah, you are the VP of sales, uh, for the entire enterprise. But everybody that listens to this show has a leadership responsibility of some kind. It might be a small team, it might be an area team, it might be whatever kind of team. But here's what you and me have in common. You've heard me say this, and so you'll smile as I say it. Our job as leaders is to create the greatest year in company history every single year. And then I always will say, and you've heard me say that if you don't like that, you should probably find another job, right? And so I think that that's a big deal, because sometimes people say, oh, I'm getting punished by my own success. And those are people who just don't get it. And what I like is you are someone who is the, uh, dominant. You are the winner in your market right now. You are the leader in your market, and you've been along for the ride for a short time of 37 years, I think you said. And so you've seen that. And so I guess the reason I'm really excited that we're where I want to focus today is I've learned that it's easier to get in front than it is to stay in front. Getting in front takes effort. Staying in front takes obsession about the right things, but doing it in a way where people don't want to leave. And I think that's an important part, because I want to tell a quick story, and then I want to dive in one of your area leaders that we were talking about years ago. I was in a meeting, like, 13 years ago, and I sat at the back. I was gonna be the last speaker at this person's meeting. And this leader stood up in front and said, hey, when we hire someone to wm, this is a cultural thing that I want our listeners to hear. Because I. I was like, wow, I've Never heard, I've still never heard anything like it ever since. You're the only company I've ever heard this at. This person stood in front, looked at the entire team and it was one of your large teams, it's a really important team. And said m. When we hire someone to wm, we're hiring for the last company that they're ever going to join. They may take other positions at wm, but this is the last company they're going to join. I remember sitting back on, I wonder if these guys got the chops to back that up. And dude, you guys do like, not only do you win, but you don't do it in a way where you drive them out. So I want to ask you the question, how do you create a dominant first place leader that stands, stays in growth mode year after year? Because a lot of people say, oh well, we're mature, well, we'll have like 3% growth or 2% growth or whatever. No, you continue to have industry standard growth even though you're the large dominant player. How do you build an organization like that? Where do you start?

Speaker B: I guess, I guess the first thing I would say is, you know, you can't be afraid to change. And one of the things that we've been able to do and evolve as a company, like you said, you got to have every year has got to be your best year. Right? Um, and that's the way we look at it too. Like we've had back to, back to back great years. Um, same thing with 25 here, but 26. You know what, they're gonna, we're gonna expect more, right? We, our stockholders are expecting more and those type of things. But as a leader on the sales side, you know, one of the things that we're always doing is just looking at, you know, tools, technology, cutting edge, those type of things. Um, also just the way we manage our customers today is so different than, you know, five years ago, 10 years ago. We use that, you know, big data analytics, all those type of things to really kind of look at our customer lifetime value. So everything we do is around that. And I think, you know, when I talk to other sales leaders, you know, Fortune 200 companies, um, one of the things that I, I'm proud of is that we're always like cutting edge. We're always, you know, the ones that are kind of leading the way, looking at different things. Like I said, we're not afraid to change. I mean, if you're afraid to change, um, you know, waste management is not a place for you. Um, but if you're, if you, like you said, if you want to be here, this is the last job that you'll ever have. Um, you know, we're just going to make it better and better for you each year. And that's some of the things that we've been able to do over the, you know, over the course of time.

Speaker A: So I like that because it's true. I've watched you use tech, like that's how we got introduced 13 years ago, was a coaching tech. And I remember as you guys went through Covid, you leaned into tech to use uh, that to get you through that in a different way. And, and so how do you like, can you talk a little bit about, like, that's an easy, like high level, like you do that you're not afraid to change. So many people are though. I like, I can't tell you how many large dominant players, and I'm not going to name names because for obvious reasons, but they like have old antiquated systems because the cost of change is so scary to people that they like, they're way behind. Like I'm thinking of like financial institutions, for example, that were like slow to have a, um, modern approach to uh, online banking or something like that because the cost of the change was. So how do you, how do you have people say, listen, part of our identity is change. And in fact, if we aren't changing, we should be scared. We shouldn't be afraid of change. We should be afraid of. Are we holding on to this other thing too long? Is there a way that you look at that as a leader of this organization?

Speaker B: Yeah, I think a big part of it is just the people. So you talked about people hiring people for this is the last job they're gonna have. Yeah, I think a part of that too is, is hiring top talent, right? So constantly, you know, bringing in top talent, um, and you know, having those people help you surround yourself with the best people. Um, like when I hire someone, I'm looking at someone that is going to be able to go two, three levels up, right. It's just not someone who's going to be a sales rep. I look for someone who could be a sales rep, a manager, a director, a VP download. So, um, I think surrounding yourself with good people is one of those things. I think the other thing is just, you know, one of, one of the things I look back to, it's a few years ago, right? We changed our whole structure. Uh, we did like a sales optimization. Um, you know, I remember IT program where we really, we shifted the way we manage our current customer base. I mean, we, uh, we now manage 90% of our customers in with an inside sales channel. What you think about years ago, you would have never done that, right? And we did it right before COVID and Covet kind of helped us, you know, um, say that, hey, that was the right move, but we were moving in that direction anyway. So we just proved it out that, um, you know, that's the way, um, a lot of companies have followed. But I also think, um, we're able to pull out costs. So think about this, right? We had a sales structure in place. It was mainly outside team. We restructured. Now we went to a, uh, you know, a customer or a sales, uh, rep team that is more, you know, based inside. 90 of our customers were managing inside. We're able to pull those costs out and our productivity went up 28% year over year. Wow. So it's, I mean, it's kind of crazy when you think about those type of numbers. Um, and you know, were we, you know, when we were looking at that, uh, there was a little bit of that, you know, hey, should we be doing this? But it proved out, right? So that's why I think you can't be afraid to, uh, you know, look at different models, structures, those types of things and just, um, you know, basically do your homework right ahead of time. Um, plan it out, make sure you have the chain, the change management process in place to help you with all that. Um, but we've been very successful, um, at doing those type of things throughout the years.

Speaker A: So I want to ask you, how do you. Because you have this large sales team, you have a lot of reps, you have a lot of leaders. Like, it's a big organization. You don't have some small organization, you have a really big organization. This idea of not being afraid of change. How have you helped these members of the team that are at different levels in their career? Like, one of the things I've noticed is there isn't just an appetite for change, but you've created an environment where people can be comfortable suggesting changes. And um, like I've met some of the. Because I get to work with some of your emerging leaders and ones that you're developing. And some of them share with me that they want to be the person who helps lead or develop how you use AI or something like that. You know, you're smiling right now, so I can't. How do you, how do you create this environment where you, like, you're really good at having people feel safe and comfortable and respected. And it's okay to come up with ideas. How do you build that into your structure of getting ideas from others rather than just like, well, our innovation. That's our innovation department over there.

Speaker B: Yeah. So part of that is just what you said. We will create these different leadership groups where we'll bring them, um, in, we'll have these cohorts where we'll have a team of call 8 to 10 people and we'll just give them random different subjects or have them come back to us suggesting things that they would like to look, look into. Then what we do is we allow them to do a, you know, four to six month project on it, come back, present to, um, the leadership team, and then go from there. Basically what we'll do is we'll look at the different things that they bring to us and uh, it's kind of fun. It's, it's really helped shape a number of different successful programs that we've had in the company. And I talk about like a small project team that worked on something back in 2017. Um, currently right now what they developed is worth, you know, $200 million.

Speaker A: No way.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So things like that, just like little things, you know, without getting into the specifics of what that project is. But sure. Uh, when you, when people see that, um, I think they get excited. And then when we have these teams and, and you help us with some of those teams.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: You think about the, um, the future leaders of the company, um, they really like the opportunity to work on those projects. But I think what they, what they really get excited about is, you know, they get to present out to, you know, the sales leadership team. But even, you know, the top three or four each year will actually take to our senior leadership team. And they get to present to them and get exposure to them and those type of things. So I think that's where just allowing people to, you know, be creative, come in with different ideas. There's, you know, like I like to say, there's no stupid idea. All right? No dumb idea. Bring it. You know, we'll put all these things on the wall, um, you know, throw things against the wall and then see, see what sticks and see what makes sense. And you know, I can name a number of different programs that have come out of that, um, that have been very, uh, successful for the corporation.

Speaker A: What I love about that is you're using the breadth and the width of this team to say, like, it could be in one of the Smallest areas we could come up one of the best ideas. And they're not just out there having little hidden pockets of greatness. You're finding ways to let that have people like say, I'm confident in bringing that to the table. I'm not afraid to bring that. And so I, uh, I think that's a cultural thing that stands out to me. When you say we' afraid of change, we want to attract change. Well, yeah, you're also like watering it and cultivating and say, hey, we want you to bring that to us. Am I, am I saying that? Is that safe for me to say it that way?

Speaker B: Yeah, no, no, exactly. I think that's, that's a good way to say the other part of it too. I think when you're dealing with any, with, with change and looking at different things is I'm a big, big, big, um, you know, uh, I support like having a change management team. It's something that over the years you talk to different leaders. Everyone says they have a change management team. We had a change management team, you know, eight years ago, right, where someone, someone would basically put together, say, hey, here are the things we're going to do. And it's about, you know, getting, basically you got to get the support of your leadership team. So you got to have the right communication plan. So we'll have a whole communication plan from our leadership team all the way down to the front line. Um, that's a big part of it. And then just, you know, what are, you know, what's going to come out of that? What are the expectations? So there are no surprises. Right. Um, so I think communication is also a big part of, you know, being successful with, uh, different things that we do.

Speaker A: So I want to keep moving because you got a couple of things that we'd identified that we might talk about on how you stay in growth mode. And so it's not just you're not afraid of change. You actually are actively trying to create an environment where change is just part

Speaker B: of who we are.

Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, so I love that. Part of that though is you're in a pretty competitive industry too. Like, it's, it's, it's one where you guys, you fight for every deal, you go earn every relationship. And uh, and I think that one of the things I've noticed you guys do really, really well is be very intentional about creating better reps, more skilled reps. We're not just like low cost leader that we're just gonna, like, you're gonna stick with us because whatever we're gonna go earn your business. We're gonna have a relationship where you can count on us, and we're gonna give you an experience that you appreciate. And I've watched, and it seems to me like that's not a happy accident either. You, it appears to me, Steve, like you want to have the best sales team in your industry. Is that fair for me to say?

Speaker B: Yeah, no, absolutely. So I think a big part of that is just, you know, how you. How you train and the different programs that you offer to your, uh, to your reps, your managers, all those type of things. And then also these different. I'll call these leadership, uh, groups for the ones that were, you know, we look at. At the hypos, right. High potentials, uh, that are going to move on as future leaders of the company and those type of things. But I will tell you, so one of the things we. We actually, if you. If I go back, like four, three, four years ago, we got away from that training, um, and we saw a dip in results. Right. So really? Yeah, that's where I think, you know, spending the times making sure you have the right training for your reps, those type of things. And especially now with this inside team, uh, you can do virtual all. You know, you can do these different virtual trainings all the time. Right. So it's a matter of just staying on top of it. Um, the key to that is also having good trainers, um, to make sure that they're, you know, um, spending time with the reps in the field, those type of things, and then also through these virtual trainings. But the other thing that we really, over the last year, we really focus on is this guided selling approach, which.

Speaker A: Talk about that for a second, would you?

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. So it's pretty cool. So, um, when a customer calls in or, um, either whether we're being proactive or reactive. Right. Um, based off of the situation, um, we'll actually have a guided selling approach for the reps. So just an example, someone called in and they wanted to increase service, or we got a call to, uh, for a new location or if you got to call for a cancellation, um, basically it gives a guided selling approach to the rep and pretty much tells them what to do, how to talk to the customer. What are the questions you would want to ask all those type of things. Um, you know, as they go through the process. So it's really kind of looking at that sales process and doing more of a guided selling approach versus a rep having, you know, 10 different reps approach it differently. Right. Now you can have those 10 reps all get the same kind of selling approach, process. Um, and if you have a good process, you're going to have a good outcome. Right? Uh, m. Um, that's, you know, that's the way we kind of, uh, ah, look at it. And there are some of the things we put in place over the last, uh, over the last year and a half.

Speaker A: But what I've noticed also, as I listen to you first, I want to point out to our leaders that are listening to you right now. You said you kind of backed off the ongoing training. It wasn't just onboarding. You backed off the ongoing. You said, oh, I noticed a little dip. And so this goes into this idea of change. Like we always want to have the best team. We want to have reps that create a different experience. We want to. I don't care if you're our, our award winning rep or our newest rep, we're going to keep training. Am I, am I also hearing that right?

Speaker B: Yeah, no, absolutely. I mean, um, so there's, you can sign up for different training. Your, your managers, let's go and assign you training. Um, but it's really. I also think that the reps should be a little bit responsible for themselves too, right? They should be going to their managers asking for these type of things. If you want to be a good rep, um, we're going to help you get there. But I also think you got to take a little bit of that ownership on yourself. Um, and I think that's also how we look at it when we're hiring people, right? We want those people who are always going to be looking to get better and those type of things.

Speaker A: So how do you find those people, Steve? Like, I know that you're really good at finding the right people and that's why you have such good longevity when you get people. Anything that you would like hiring, since you went there, you brought it up, hiring good reps. Is there something you've learned? Like, is something that would be an indicator of someone who likes to be in growth mode? Because I, I just connected that dot. Like, if we want to say, how does the company stay in growth mode? Well, you better make sure you've got people that stay in growth mode.

Speaker B: Fair. Yeah. So I think, I think a part of that is also, if you look at all of our different sales channels, right, Most of the people, when we have openings, a lot of those openings will be filled by referrals from, um, our current reps. Right. And that, that's where you can get the best people, right? So, um, if people are happy with what they're doing, they have a good compensation program. Um, you know, uh, they're getting the training they need, all those type of things. It's what you kind of started the podcast about, right? Hey, we want someone who's going to be here for life. Yeah, well, if you're here for life, right, you're going to want to bring your friends, your families, or, you know, uh, people from other companies that you get where you left all those type of things, um, because it's a great place to work. Right? Our culture is second to none. And I think it's unreal.

Speaker A: It is unreal. Yeah. I have.

Speaker B: When you. When you come to our meetings and you meet the people, um, that's what. So it's. It's kind of funny. Uh, I was at a meeting, um, probably mid this year, and we had a new hire come, come aboard. And one of the things that, that he talked about was just the culture of the people. I mean, when. When the people join wm, it gets in your blood. And I mean, you, You. It's family, right? You want, I mean, you. You want to do everything you can to, uh, you know, to make, uh, to be successful, right? And make people proud of what you're doing and those types.

Speaker A: I was in Dallas yesterday giving a sales kickoff for a different company. And. And, uh, I see a, uh, WM truck and I just get that smile. I'm. I'm not even an employee. I'm just a, Like a decade partner with you. I just smile every time I'm looking, I'm like, you know, you're right. That culture thing is second to none, but also not acc. Like, in fact, a dear friend of both of ours, Jeff Spencer's one who taught me that phrase. For you guys, not a happy accident, right?

Speaker B: So, yeah, no, and I was. I would think. I mean, I would say that, um, that's. That's from the top down. You look at our CEO, Jim Fish, and then even our senior leadership team, you look at John Morris, who's our coo, um, Mike Watson, who's our chief customer officer. Every one of those people, um, uh, are approachable. Right? Um, and when they go out to the areas, I mean, we're out, they're out in the front line employees, those type of. I mean, Jim Fish goes to an area, he jumps in a safety meeting, uh, you know, jumps out on trucks with the drivers, all those type of things. So I think that that really resonates, um, And I think people really, um, enjoy that. And that's, that's where you get that culture. And he talks about that all the time. That, the culture.

Speaker A: We got like 20 minutes left in this conversation. And since you went there, I want to, like, shift to that and skip over a couple of other things because I think this is a big. Like, you talked about change, you talked about tech, you talked about training. Those are good things. And I like how you, you brought that up. But Steve, you, you strike me. And like, again, I have the benefit of working with a lot of the people that work in your team. Okay. And across the board, when I mentioned to a few that you're going to be joining me on the show, and they were all really excited, one's going to go live. I want to hear it. Um, they all said something very similar. Like, Steve's a guy that makes the job fun. Steve's a guy that, like, I feel is approachable. Steve's a guy that I feel like I can talk to. How do you balance having that we have to win? Like, we were talking about a leader that's like, was in second place is like, what are we going to do to get back in first place? We're talking about that guy. But, but how do you do that without creating this high stress environment that has people saying, as soon as I find a better job, I'm out of here. And you know what I'm talking about, because that's not what your world is, is we are committed to growth, but we enjoy the ride. Like, how do you do that, Steve? Uh, because I know that's not accidental. That's not like, well, I'm just wired that way. No, you, you deal with more than your share of stuff. I know, I don't even know what it is, but I know you must. Okay, how do you stay being the guy that people can still talk to, but I also am going to make sure we win. Is there any tips you would share with leaders around the world on how you balance that?

Speaker B: I think, I think, you know, just myself, I always had that, hey, work hard, you know, um, play hard, have fun. Right? So, yeah, that's kind of how you do that.

Speaker A: You are the fun dude, but you also don't let people off the hook, right?

Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. So it's kind of funny. A lot of people will say, like, when I come out to a meeting, those type of things. Um, they'll be like, hey, I got this from you, or I got that from you. Um, and, uh, I'm just like, A regular guy. Right. Just like they are. And I. And I think that's one of the things that when I'm at a meeting or, you know, I go out, I make sure that I talk to all the reps. Um, you know, and it's. It's one of the things that I can. I can relate to them because I pretty much have done every sales channel right along the way. So they're not sitting here talking to someone that just came in as a, you know, a director or a senior, senior leader, those type of things. I was there. I was. I was an inside sales rep. I was an outside sales rep. You know, I was on the, uh, public sector team, you know, um, all those type of things. So I think some of that is just, you know, I can relate to the people when I'm talking to them. I can jump down, you know, with an inside rep, you know, jump on the phone, talk to the customer, um, those type of things. So I think when they see that, um, they can relate to it. Um, and I also think people can look at it and say, hey, here's a guy that started at the very bottom and he worked his way up. Right? And that's something that's pretty much everyone's dream, right? I. I tell, you know, it's kind of funny. Um, like my family, my daughters and, you know, my wife, you know, I would say to them every day, you know, they talk. You get people to talk about, oh, hey, I gotta go to work on Monday. Right. I don't even think about it. Right. Because I love what I do every day. Yeah. And it's not a job, Right. So I think people can kind of. They feel that. I also think people, um, can see that. Hey, I could do that too, right? I could start as an insider rep and work my way up and have that same type of success. Uh, one of your.

Speaker A: Your company building points. I got the wrong. It's principles. Company principles. First one, People first. And I was at this sko for a different company that also happens to be one of their principles. People first. But Steve, a lot of times I've seen people first turn into a buzzword. All it is is something on a poster. And for people that are watching on the YouTube, Steve's, like, ready to talk. He's like, shut up, Rob. I want to talk about this. You're. You're shaking your head like you. You like, I'm glad that I went here. I wasn't planning on it, but, like, how. I think that's part of how you Create not just success and not just change, but also a place they don't want to leave. How do you make People first not a buzzword, an actual, like, condition that we have that's real for being here?

Speaker B: Yeah, it's again, I think that comes from the top down. So I would say our senior leadership team does a fantastic job with that. Um, and it's not a bullshit thing. Like, it's not people first, where it's. Hey, like you said, it's a buzzword. Um, it's in our HR or anything like that. I mean it is truly, uh, people first, um, you know, company where, you know, every day it's like working with your family. Right. People, um, care about other people and make sure they take care of people. And everybody just wants everyone to succeed. Right. And yeah, every, you know, every. Everyone working in the right direction. We're all in the same way, all those type of things. Um, you know, so I think it's definitely is a, you know, people first company and I think a big part of that is it gets driven down from the top, our senior leadership team, all the way down. So if you talk to every level within the company, they would tell you that that is definitely, uh, part of our core values.

Speaker A: Let's talk a little bit about how that trickles to your frontline managers then, because you got a lot of them. And, uh, I don't feel like it's out of line for me to say you guys work hard to help your frontline managers. Just like you want to have the best reps, you work hard to make sure your frontline managers are changing, evolving, getting better. They're equipped with the right tools. You're changing out the tools every now and then. You're. But what would you say, the role of a frontline manager at wms, if you were to try to boil it

Speaker B: down, I'd say the role of our front, frontline managers is that most of those, I mean, they're going to have a team of people, right? Yeah. Is to really make that team as successful as possible.

Speaker A: I love it.

Speaker B: And you know, and I think a part of that, when it's driven down that way. Right. People first, um, I think their commitment to their people helping them succeed. What, you know, and again, it's going to be different for everybody. Right? You're going to have some people that are going to need some, um, additional training. You're going to have some people. It's like, hey, I want to be a manager. What I need to do for my career path, um, you're going to have other people that are just going to need, um, more time as far as, you know, closing, um, helping them save accounts, all those type of things. So I think being a manager of the front of the, I'll call it the frontline sales side is making sure that you're in the field. If it's an outside rep, um, or if it's an inside, um, rep being available, uh, to those people to talk to them on the phone, or, you know, we have someone that are in office, those type of things. But I think it's really just being available. And I would say, you know, having that trust factor. I think trust is like the number one thing. Right. Especially when I look at it, even with my direct reports, you gotta have that trust with all your employees and then just, it's kind of trickled down to that front line.

Speaker A: So since you brought that up and since you went there and I like your role because you know me, I always start with role. Like roll will drive how you use time and what tools you use. So if my role is to help my team be successful, which I love that you didn't boil it down to just hit a freaking number. That's not what you said. Which I love. We do. Part of me got to hear your number. But it's more than that. But it's more than that.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: Um, any thoughts for our lead? Like, I love that you want to trust trust as a currency. Any, any advice or insights you'd give on what you've seen. Create trust. Because when you're in this world where the pressure of hitting a number is so high, sometimes people don't feel like anything other than a means to an end. But I don't think that happens as much like that may happen sometimes because you had so many people you're working with. But I don't think it's pervasive. Like you said, I've. I've seen firsthand, like, that's not your culture. And if it was, you wouldn't have people stay for their whole career like I see happen. Okay, so any thoughts around how leaders can actually be hitting numbers but also be building trust? Any thoughts around that?

Speaker B: I think so. I think a big part of it is, um, when you're spending time with your team, right. Um, building that, you know, building that trust, since we're, since we're down there, is again, making sure you're there for them. But the other thing too is that they're not always going to be successful. Right. You're going to have some failures too. Right. So whether it's, um, you know, they, they didn't win this particular account. Right. Well, being there for them, what could we have done different? Don't, don't look at like point blame or this is what you did wrong, you know, those type of things. Look at it more as like, hey, what are the opportunities that we could have, could have taken or what are the opportunities that we could have, um, done differently here? Right. To be successful. Those type of things. So I think, um, that that's a part of it.

Speaker A: Well, I, I'm gonna go back to when you first, like 10 years ish ago, you got made in this role and one of your early moves you made was let's double down on coaching. For example. You made that decision early. It was one of your early decisions was to double down on coaching. And I like you, you were kind of innovative that way because coaching was emerging as something that now you hear it all the time. But, uh, back then, why was that something that you kind of knew early on? We want our leaders to be really great coaches. Why was that so important to you?

Speaker B: I, I guess I would go back to like sports. Right. Okay. You think about, uh, which we both love.

Speaker A: We both get like told, yeah, we did too much of that. But yeah, I love that.

Speaker B: Being an old high school coach here for 10 years or whatever.

Speaker A: Let's go.

Speaker B: I guess I would say I think coaching is probably one of the most important things. Like you said when we doubled down that like 10 years ago, um, when I first took this position, I didn't think we had the right mindset with the, with the management team. Right. So matter of really kind of spending time with them. If you have, your managers have those coaching skills and they can build that trust with their reps and those type of things, you're going to get better results.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: So I just. And I think that's, that's the key.

Speaker A: Well, I love that you said that because now, like, coaching is a key, crucial part of the DNA. All of your leaders are talking about coaching. And uh, you have coaching rhythm and you have coaching tools and you have coaching skills. It's not just something you talk about. Like again, coaching is a word that became a buzzword a long time ago. But just like people first, not a buzzword. Coaching is something you guys are really precise about. Is that fair for me to say?

Speaker B: Yeah, no, absolutely. It's something. If I go back 10 years ago, we, uh, got involved with a few outside companies, um, that helped us get There. Uh, but I think now one of the things that we've done is we're doing it in house, right? Over the years, it's evolved and we're doing it more in house. Um, and I also think a big part of that is, is when I look at the, um, I look at the hypos, right? We spend a lot of time with our hypos giving them every opportunity. Once, once they're identified, um, you know, we put them in different programs. But the other thing that we'll do with them, um, is develop, hey, what's your career path? Ah, what are some of the things you need to work on? All those type of things. And, um, not just work in house, Right. Also, you know, work with people outside the company, those type of things. So one of the things that I do for my direct. Every one of my direct reports has an individual development plan. Um, and half of.

Speaker A: Wait a minute, I want you to say that again. What percentage of your direct reports has a hasn't.

Speaker B: Every one of my direct reports has an individual development.

Speaker A: And those are senior people.

Speaker B: They're senior people. Yeah, yeah.

Speaker A: And the reason I'm slowing down, Steve, is I got 60, 000 listeners right now. Sometimes IDPs are treated almost as a punitive thing, but not for, not for a member of, uh. Every member of WM should have a development plan because we want you to grow and change. Because if your leaders don't grow and change, how can we expect the company to. Is that, Am I, am I saying that right?

Speaker B: Yeah, that, that's fair. And that's. It's something that I personally like, I make sure that, hey, if you're a part of my team, and then even next level down, uh, it does, it trickles down, right? So everyone on my team has an individual development, uh, program. Also, half of those people have, uh, individual coaches. Right? So they have executive coaches.

Speaker A: I know I've got to work, I've got to be that for some of them.

Speaker B: Yeah. So you're. That we also have, you know, a few other people that, you know, that we use for those executive coach. I have an executive coach myself. I've been doing this for 37 years. Um, it's just good to be able to look at your. Like one of the things I do here at the end of the year is we look at what's our, uh, strategy for 26, right? What's our, our three and five year strategy. And the strategy won't change that much. Right? It's really continuation of building on what we've done over the last X amount of years with some of the changes that we're going to put in place. Right. Um, but a big part of that is looking at what's the strategy and priorities. And I take my team well, you know, we develop what that is for 26. We spend time a day or you know, go away for like the two or three days and do nothing but work on that. So that going into 26, each one. So I have what's my strategy, my priorities. Each one of them had what their same thing we all use. It's a one page form, basically lays everything out. Some of it is numbers. A lot of it is, you know, is not numbers though. Right. What are you doing as far as, um, you know, about tools, technology, sales, process and optimization. And then the last thing is people. Right. We kind of look at it in those three buckets. Um, and every year we develop that plan and we do a check in every quarter or every quarter to really kind of see where we're at. And you know, what if we need to change it a little bit midstream here or you know, midway through the year? We'll do that.

Speaker A: Well, I'm glad you went there because the last thing I did want to talk about was one of the things I admire about you and one of the things that I've learned from you as I've watched you lead and be in meetings and the impact you've had on people because they share it with me. It's like these people that I get to work with sometimes will say I was told X or I've been asked to do this. And one of the things I think you're really great at is being a strategic leader, not just a tactical leader. The numbers are usually tactical.

Speaker B: Right.

Speaker A: But that's strategic. That's something that I've noticed about you. That's one of your superpowers. So I would want to. I wanted to have, uh, just a couple of minutes here at the end on what's your approach to strategic leadership? How do you make sure you're continuing to stay your strategy? Because you said earlier we were already doing this and then Covid helped us get, you know, it was like we were going the right direction. It was like evidence that you were strategically oriented the right way. Yeah. Any thoughts around how you approach strategic leadership? Be strategic, reevaluate your strategy. Because too many people only change the strategy when the hits the fan and you're doing that in advance. I would love to get like a, um, nugget or two from you on that.

Speaker B: So part of that is really kind of looking at what, again, our senior leadership team gets together, uh, you know, called Q3, and look at what's the strategy of the company in 26, right? Then what I'll do is I take time to get my team together. We look at, hey, here's the company strategy. How can we help the company be successful? What are some of the things we need to do strategically to position us to achieve the. Ultimately to achieve the numbers. Right. Um, to do that. So. And what we'll do is we'll spend, like I said, two, three, you know, we'll have the overall arching things that we need to work. You know, here's the overall strategy. But what are the things that are going to impact that spend some time as a group, right? It's just. It's not me putting together the strategy, it's our team putting together a strategy. And it's kind of, you know, what I said earlier, there's no, there's, um, there's nothing but opportunities here, right, that we can look at. And there's, There's. We would throw stuff against the wall, look at everything that's there, and then say, all right, hey, what's going to have the biggest impact? We can't do everything, right, but we'll look at what are the same things that, that are going to make the biggest impact. And then as a team, we put that together and then that'll be my overall arching strategy. Kind of like in those three buckets. Um, you know, uh, I talked about a little bit earlier, and what I

Speaker A: think you've told me before is you're looking for leverage points, not effort points.

Speaker B: Right?

Speaker A: Like, yeah, it's not like.

Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. And we'll look at. Yeah, we've had some discussions around, like, all right, what's. What's going to be easy to achieve, right, with little effort, or what's going to be something that we, you know, it's going to be tough to achieve, but, you know, a really big effort. So we'll look at those and we'll. We'll kind of plot them out, right, and say, all right, well, here are the things we can get done pretty easily, like, thorough the goal line, we'll get those done. But here are some of the things that are going to have, you know, be hard to. Or, uh, basically what we have to put in place. It will be tough, right? But what's going to give us the bigger impact? And we just had to evaluate, you know, what we're gonna, which ones we're gonna pick and have the biggest impact on the company.

Speaker A: All right, so really quick, if people want to learn more about wm, like, where would you point them? Like, uh, there's going to be a lot of people that are going to say this was a really cool conversation. If you want to, we'll put a couple things in our show notes. Where would you point if they wanted to learn a little more about wm,

Speaker B: uh, if they want to learn more about wm, I mean, uh, I mean, obviously they could go online or website, those type of things, but I mean, they could reach out to myself or even anybody on my leadership team. Um, you know, we can make that available to, uh, to your people, uh, if they'd like to talk about it.

Speaker A: Be careful what you offer, man. I got 60, 000 people. If I put your email in that show notes, they'll use it. So. But my listeners are active listeners. Yeah. So, um, we'll, we'll figure that out. We'll put a few links in there because there's like, I'm telling you, like, your company is remarkable. The things you do are incredible. Your senior leaders are people I admire. You're up and coming leaders are just going to raise the bar. That's all they're going to do because you've built it and groomed it for that. So we're down to our last three minutes, and I want to have like an old, like MTV Unplugged moment, Eric Clapton on the stage.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: I want to have Steve Urian unplugged for three minutes. I'm going to hand you the mic. Like, you got 60,000 people that are going to be listening to you, and they're in every industry.

Speaker B: Okay.

Speaker A: And every one of them has something they can learn from you. If you were going to take like two, maybe three minutes and just give them like Steve Urian's thoughts about staying in growth mode, not grind. I got my growth over grind shirt on for you, Steve, right now. So we don't just want to work harder, we want to get better. Maybe it's how do I stay in growth mode? Or maybe it's how I approach change. Or maybe it's something that you thought was most satisfying in your leadership journey. And I know you've had some things you've shared with me there too. Any thoughts about creating a growth mindset and an, uh, ongoing growth organization? And we never grow out of growth mode and get into maintenance mode. Like, any thoughts on that that you'd Share with people for two or three minutes.

Speaker B: Yeah. So one of the things we come up with every year is like, our. Kind of our sales tagline, um, like, for my. For my team. Anyway, so this year, it was kind of. It was, um, think what's possible. M. Right. So think what's outside the box, what's possible, those type of things. And I think what I. I'm most proud of. Right. Is, uh, if I look back over the last, you know, 37 years, is, um, I make sure that I surround myself with top talent.

Speaker A: Right.

Speaker B: And I talked about that a little. You've done it. You've done it. Yeah. You know, you're hiring people who are going to take your. You have your position or two, three levels up, those type of things. Um, just don't hire for that position. Um, and don't be afraid that, you know, don't be afraid to change. Right. We talked that. Talked about that a lot. And, um, I guess what I'm most proud of, when I look back and I look at the people that I've been able to help, um, you know, with their career paths and those type of things, um, over the last, like, eight years, I have five people. So we have 60 vice presidents within our. Our company. Right. Um, and we have 65,000 employees. Wow. Well, I was able to help five people advance to a VP role just over the last.

Speaker A: Let's go.

Speaker B: Eight, nine years. Eight, nine years. When I go back. And it's kind of funny because we talked about this and I didn't really think about that. So, um, I went back and kind of said, all right, yeah, it was this person, that person. And then, you know, multiple, you know, numerous directors. Right. Helping them. Um, but I. I think the biggest thing that I would say to people listening is that, um, you know, just help people with their career paths and, you know, help them achieve what they want to achieve. And you surround yourself with those type of people, you're going to be successful.

Speaker A: Steve, that's awesome. We're out of time, man. And so I want to thank you on behalf of 60,000 listeners all around the world, I want to thank you for an hour of your time today. To our listeners, my advice is connect to Steve, uh, find ways to learn more about what's happening in that organization. WM is not successful because they've just stayed in the game and worked hard. It's been wildly intentional. It's been incredibly strategic. And this, uh, right now you have a chance to learn from a person who hasn't just created on growing growth stories year after year. They've done it in a way where people stick around and it's an organization where they don't want to leave. And so if there's one thing I would echo to you, don't be afraid to change, because change doesn't mean something's broke. Change means you got an opportunity to create an advantage that will have other people stay in catch up mode. If there's one thing I've learned from Steve, he not only hits numbers and grows, he does it in a way that's fun. Like if you get a chance to watch the YouTube of it, you'll see Steve's got this great smile going all this conversation along. It ought to be fun, it ought to be successful. It ought to be fun. And if you do it right, the people will stick around for a good chunk of their career. So, Steve, thanks, brother. I appreciate your friendship. I appreciate you finally joining me after three years of asking you, man. And you were better than I thought. And so, uh, so I want to wish you nothing but success. Thank you for everything you've done for the sales world and, uh, and for 60, 000 leaders today. I wish you only wild success. Thanks, brother.

Speaker B: Thanks, man. I appreciate it.

Speaker A: Hey, everyone. Welcome to another so what portion of the sales leadership podcast where we break down that interview and we ask ourselves, why did that conversation even matter? But first, we are smack dab in the middle of kickoff season. I am in the middle of 16 SKOs, and I'm having a blast working with some of the best sales and sales leadership teams in the world. But this, just this morning, I had another company reach out look for for my availability to speak. So my message is, if you're still planning your event and you still want to figure out a way to make sure it's elite, maybe now's a good time for us to talk. I make sure three things happen when I'm part of your SKO team. Number one, we entertain. It's got to be fun. I, uh, want to be somebody who helps be a highlight of that entire event. Number two, we educate. We'll challenge how people think. We'll help them see opportunities through a brand new lens so they can do what Steve talked about and make change their advantage and then motivate. I want every person in the room saying that makes sense. I can do that. I want to do that. And I will listen. I don't just show up to speak. I show up to ignite. Together, we create a custom experience that challenges thinking, shifts leadership and accelerates performance. Every single SKO should build momentum that powers the best year in company history. So let's make that happen. Reach out. I'd love to help your team launch in a way that they've never launched before. Now let's get back to this killer combo with Steve. Man, I love this conversation. This is one that I have been wanting to record for a long time. And frankly, I've been sitting on this recording for a little over a month. Uh, specifically wanting to release at the week of the waste management, the WM Phoenix Open WMC signature event. WM is the name sponsor of the WM Phoenix Open. And if you watch the YouTube version of this episode, and if you haven't tried out the YouTube channel or our episodes on video, you ought to try it out. Um, especially on this one, you'll see the famous 16th hole behind Steve on his background screen. And Steve and his amazing team that I have had the honor of working closely with for a long time, man, they're going to be in Phoenix all week hosting what is one of the greatest events that golf has. That's really consistent with who Steve is and the team that he has helped develop. Elite, first class, top of the table, best there is. And again, I've had the opportunity to work with Steve and, uh, members of his team for 13 years now. I've seen a lot of them. They're consistently really, really good. And they create this environment where people don't just have to succeed. They're equipped and able to succeed and supported to succeed. So I want to start this one by saying I have a different relationship with Steve than I do most of our other guests because I've seen his work up, uh, close and personal. That's why I'm so passionate about this topic with him, because I've seen his impact. I've seen his work up, uh, close. I've seen how he builds leadership teams that continue to keep their foot on the gas even when they're already the dominant player in their space. In fact, one of the members of Steve's team is the one who said something I've never forgotten. I was at a meeting, I don't know, 10 years ago with him, and this is one of his area leaders was standing up in front of the team and said, when we take someone to wm, we're bringing them to the last company they'll ever join. That's the mindset of the leadership team at wm. When you come here, this is where you stay.

Speaker B: Ah.

Speaker A: And that shows up in Every single thing they do. I remember when I heard that leader say that I was, I was newer with the organization. I was like, I wonder if they got the chops to back it up. And, and they do. And if you look at their success, if you look at their stock, um, price, they continue to have the best year in company history every single year. But the story here isn't that Steve and his team have become the dominant player and that they keep their foot on the gas. The story today is how they've done it. And this. If I had Steve back on, Steve would be very quick to defer the credit to the rest of this amazing leadership team that they've so intentionally assembled, so intentionally continue to change, so intentionally continue to adapt and grow. But that's why I wanted Steve on the show so bad. Because our job as leaders is to help our organizations have the very best year in company history every single year. And since the 70s, that's who WM, formerly known as Waste Management has become. Don't believe me? Go check out the stock price. They are not the beneficiary of some happy accident. Listen, my company works with companies who are market leaders in most of the significant industries. Tech, finance, industrial, you name it. Okay? Manufacturing. We're in a lot of them. And if you're a market leader, it's very likely we've worked with, with you. So we have this fairly unique perspective, okay? And we found that market leaders, they just act a little differently than those who chase them do. There's a lot of truths. I've actually have a number of elite leadership observations that if you ever want them, you should hit me up because I've documented them, I've shared them in sales, Leadership United. I'd be happy to share them with you. I want to share three of them with you right now. Number one, it is easier to get in front of than it is to stay in front. This is a fact. Okay? Getting in front is one thing. Staying there is something altogether different. And this leads to my second observation. Getting in front takes efforts. Staying in front takes obsession. So this creates a different kind of urgency. So when I talk to leaders about urgency, I will ask them what that means. In fact, one of my skills I did a couple weeks ago. We did a leadership session one one afternoon, and then we had the main SKO event the next day. And with the leaders, um, the CEO asked me to work on urgency and accountability, which sounded boring, but we made it fun. I introduced a couple of, uh, new definitions. I asked everybody to give me Their definition of accountability, and usually it was ownership of results. So what we said is, is let's flip that around. Let's have accountability be taking ownership before there are results. Because if we only do it with results, what we're talking about is punishment or blame or credit or punishment. We don't want to be talking about rewards or blames or credit or who gets the blame. We want to be talking about just results. So taking ownership before there's results. Which leads to the new definition of speed. I'm sorry, of urgency. When I asked these people in the workshop to define urgency, I found that the number one word that I get is something related to speed. Here's what I found. Leads to urgency. That keeps you in growth mode. It's a new definition. Here it is. Urgency is learning to pay attention to the right signals, but do it early enough where you can do something about it. Market leaders don't try to make massive runs at the end of quarters or years and hope that it's, that's going to get there. They obsess over the indicators and then over the right indicators, I guess I should say. And they make decisions while there's still plenty of time to be intentional. That's what Steve and the WM team does. Listen, your team's performance, I guess that takes me to the third one. The third observation is your team's performance is a, is a product of the patterns they repeat. So if you want new levels of performance, you need new patterns. And that's why this episode with Steve is so important. Steve and his leadership team at wm, um, embody these three principles. Urgency, accountability, patterns. Okay, staying in front. Today you were introduced to some of the ways Steve does this, and all of it is centered in his approach to change. They don't change because someone's forced their hand. They don't change because the market demands it. They don't change so they can keep up with someone. They don't change. They can keep leading or keep growing. Okay, I'm sorry. They do change so they can keep leading. They do change so they can keep growing. What do they do? They build and equip the best reps in their industry. You heard them, we want to build the best rep in our business. They provide the most value to their customers of any provider in their industry. They introduce new and better ways to service clients before other competitors can. So other competitors are not just trying to catch up to their, uh, results. They're trying to catch up to their offerings. They're always changing and they do that so they can always be growing. And it isn't just talk. I know. It's how this company works. I've been able to be on the inside. I've actually got to participate in some of it, um, in so many ways. Here's one. I'm working with a leadership development cohort right now inside the company with some of their emerging leaders that have kind of been identified as next next people that are coming up and they're being given the opportunity to work on, uh, several strategic projects. We picked three of them. We, we have several, you know, five people on each of these teams. And these leaders are being asked to find new ways to address important strategic revenue initiatives. What they are, are not that important. It's the fact that they've been identified and changes the advantage. Okay, they're not doing it because something's broke. They're not doing it because they got passed up. They're doing it because they want to make sure they're using the most modern, most impactful m, most successful ways possible. So as you start this year in 2026, I hope you channel a little Steve Urian into your leadership approach. I hope you tune in and you catch the WM Phoenix Open on TV, especially that famous 16th hole, and you see that iconic WM logo everywhere, uh, on the broadcast. And, uh, as you see it, I hope that you think, how am I using change? Is change something you respond to? Is it something you manage? Is it something you deal with when you have to? Or are you like Steve and so many other market leaders I get to work with? You heard it from Steve. He said first, don't fear change. But it ended with change is the advantage. Listen, getting to be the best is one thing. Staying the best is something altogether different. And staying the best for a long time, like half a century, well, that requires you deciding to make change your advantage. So this week, sit down and identify how are you going to change how you sell? How are you going to change how you retain? How do you change the experiences you create? How do you change the tools you use and how you use them? How do you change how you motivate? How do you change how you connect? How do you change how you coach? How do you change how you think? And then just maybe the most important one, how do you change what you believe is possible? Don't do it because you have to do it because you want to have 2026 approach for 2026 goals and objectives. Most of all, do it because my guy Steve Urian's Right. Change is the advantage. Otherwise your only choice is to work your guts out, cross your fingers and Hope, as a mentor of mine wrote entitled on that famous sales book, hope is not a strategy. Instead, that's called luck. And for elite leaders and market leaders, luck's got nothing to do with it. Steve, thank you so much for joining me. I appreciate you, I appreciate your friendship, I appreciate the opportunity I've had to work with you. Thank you for joining me here. Thank you for your insights and your fantastic approach to leadership. Congrats on your wild success you've had in that amazing run at WM. And on behalf of nearly 60,000 and sales leaders worldwide, I appreciate you sharing an hour of your time and some incredible insights. I love your approach to change. The idea that change is not something to be feared or avoided. That you are on the hunt for change in the right places and done thoughtfully and strategically in order to create advantages that keep you in growth mode. We released this episode the week of the WM Phoenix Open on purpose and I hope you have a super, super successful week there with your team and your clients. And then I can't wait to see where we go with WM next. And I can't wait to show you off in Sales Leadership United. Your insights will help a lot of great sales leaders become even better. Finally, thanks to each of you, our listeners, the greatest compliment you can give us is to share the show with those you work with. Introduce them to the Sales Leadership Podcast. Leave us a review on itunes and you can support the show by checking out Sales Leadership United states. Head to salesleadershipunited.com and check it out. You'll be glad you did. Thank you for your support of the Sales Leadership Podcast. Our job as sales leaders is to create life changing years for the people we lead. If you like this message, please please share it with someone who needs to hear it and then get after it. Because life is short. We got no guarantee of what comes tomorrow. Maximize your today, be elite lives strong, chase your passions and do your best work so you can live your best life. And don't ever forget, you got this and I got you. Here's to a triffin. Thank you so much for joining the Sales Leadership Podcast, the award winning Sales Leadership Podcast for those sales leaders looking to create legendary impact to those they lead. The greatest compliment you can give is to share this show and any of your favorite episodes with your fellow sales leaders, social media followers or other communities you're part of. The Sales Leadership Podcast is brought to you by the Jepson Performance Group. If you want to discuss any of the topics discussed on the show, want to level up your leadership impact, discuss executive coaching services or even include me at an upcoming event, hit me up@, uh, robetpg.com that's rob pg.com and to those of you working to become a legendary sales leader, I salute you and wish you much success on your journey. Whenever you need someone in your corner, you know where to find me.