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Episode with guest: Jason Hynson
Executive Director of Victory Mission
(This episode was recorded in August of 2022.)
Key Episode Take-Aways:
1. Work ready Boot Camp is a way to teach the basics to getting and keeping a job.(click to jump to this topic below) Work ready Boot Camp really came out of a conversation with Jack Stack, I was looking for some advice and wisdom. He just said, if you guys could get people ready to work, then SRC, and other entities would be happy to keep them employed. And he said, they just need like a boot camp. We looked at the things that they were doing on a nationwide level and how can we compact that to the men in our emergency shelter? So they come in for free, 30 days worth of stay. In that 30 days, we can help you with your IDs, your birth certificates, we can support you through housing, but then we quickly want to get you in one of these twice a month boot camps where they learn job resume skills, they learn anger management, they learn conversational skills and tools. They learned to not sell themselves short in an interview. We just sort downplay ourselves because we don't want to be prideful, but in a job interview, you need to show up, and this is your time to shine. And I think people don't know that. We feel like if they can get those tools, then they can take those tools to the job place, they get that job, they work on building their house, not just their real house, but their kind of emotional house and all these other things that we have going on with us.
2. With the 'heavy stuff' that staff members often deal with, it is important to take care of their mental health. (click to jump to this topic below) There are two layers of people, the people you serve, and the people on your staff that serve those people. We have a licensed professional counselor, and then we also have interns from time to time that come in. One of their jobs is in our regular staff meetings, our huddles. They'll give tips over trauma informed care, like you don't know the situation of the person that's in front of you. So making sure to treat them with great kindness and compassion. And I think even just like being present, is a really powerful tool. I'm not going to be distracted on the six other things I gotta do when I get back to my office, I'm going to be right here with this person in the hallway. So what we do with our staff is we just give them space, and in our huddle, we're a faith motivated group. So we take some time in the beginning, just to have silent prayer and some quiet re-centering. I think you could do that with whatever your space is, if you felt like that was appropriate. You could have some mindfulness activities or different things to disconnect. We also do the no phone zone, at our huddle, if you can't be present for one hour a week, to talk about and celebrate what we've done, then you're not really present in your life. I think even just that human experience of like,"Hey, are you taking good care of yourself? Like, are you turning off your phone at nine o'clock? Are you turning off Facebook? Like, don't do the comparison trap?" I think those little healthy tips can sometimes be useful and we do that as a staff team, too.
3. "We need to feel trust to be vulnerable and we need to be vulnerable in order to trust." - Brené Brown. (click to jump to this topic below) Leaders are bleeders. You're either bleeding because you're stressed out at night trying to figure out how you're going to make this happen. Or you're bleeding because you're honest, open, vulnerable and transparent with your team, and then they're with you. That sounds like you're either alone, and you're freaked out or you're together and you're a little bit vulnerable. I think vulnerability breeds vulnerability. As the leader, manager or supervisor, the more open and honest you are, the more other people are open, honest. And then if you're kind, they're kind, like you know, we're gonna go to the amygdala response. Your staff will ask, is this a safe place? Can I be here? And It starts with the leader. So the culture you have is the culture you've created as a leader.
Continue scrolling to read the full episode transcription.
Announcer 00:00
Welcome to the change the game podcast, where we share stories of open book management and highlight capitalism at its best.
Kylie Jackson 00:08
Hello, great game community. Welcome to Community chats. We're piggybacking off our conference theme this this month, we're really talking about revolutionising the role of HR. But we want to talk about one of the most important roles that HR has, and it's really taking care of people. And it's, you know, now more than ever we are, I think it's always been there. But mental health has always been a crisis. But now more than ever, is it just glaring and staring us in the face, and we need to stop ignoring it, especially when we're having, you know, a lot of people, people issues that we're working with right now. And we need to figure out how to take care of the people that we have, and get people to participate more in the workforce. And that that's that talks about taking care of their heart and their head. So we wanted to bring on someone who we truly admire. He's one of our All Star practitioners from Victory Mission just works with people on such a high level of this mental health issue we're talking about. And we have our dear friend Jason Hynson from Victory Mission joining us. Welcome to the Community chat, Jason.
Jason Hynson 01:16
Hey, thank you. Thanks so much for having me. I'm excited to share what little little bit of knowledge we have right here. Sorry, yeah,
Kylie Jackson 01:25
you have a lot of bit of knowledge.
Lauren Haley 01:29
Let's go ahead and start with a little bit of backstory about Victory Mission, what you guys do and what you guys offer to the people in our in our community?
Jason Hynson 01:39
Yeah, so Victory Mission is, is, is that place where when you've lost your way, and your family has given up on you, we're the place we want you to find your own victory again. And so we got to look at that in three different holistic areas. So like outreach, workforce development, and restoration, which is really just like a year long program to help people walk through the situations in their life, and then hopefully find that a level of victory we like, we like to say you can call us victory if if we're friends. Because that's really what, that's what we want to be we want to we want to be victory, we want people to know that but you know, on on kind of a simple level. If you're homeless on the street, we got a place for you. If if you need some food, or like for their mobile pantry, we've got some food for you if you need clothing, so kind of that that bare bones, basic social service entity, for everybody kind of watching around the community, like, hey, like that, that's where we are. But it's so much more than that. Because if we give people food, clothing and shelter today, and we they'll need us forever, but if we can teach them how to walk out that change, and how to find their level of victory, then we feel like we solved the problem with them, and then they don't come back. And so that's really the goal for all of us. And I think that's the goal for employers, right? Like, let's find that person who wants to be here and work hard, and be dedicated to the same things we're dedicated to. And I think as a as a community, like, that's really what we're trying to do at Victory. Same for other social service agencies, we want to help people help themselves to get get better.
Lauren Haley 03:27
Yeah, and one of the things you guys offer is a work ready boot camp. And give us a little insight to what that tool is. I think that speaks to giving people tools to help themselves later, I guess.
Jason Hynson 03:41
Yeah, so the work ready Boot Camp really came out of a, I was in a conversation with Jack Stack, you know, and, and I was just asking him probably for money, let's just be honest, as a nonprofit, I was proud. But But I was looking for some advice and wisdom. And he just said, you know, if, if you guys could get people ready to work, then SRC, and other entities would be happy to keep them employed. And he said, they just need like a boot camp. That was his his words to use. And so so he took that and we basically took a nationwide program. And we tried to look at the things that they were doing on a nationwide level and like how can we compact that to the men in our emergency shelter? So we've got, they come in for free, 30 days worth of stay. And in that 30 days, you know, you could we can help you with your IDs, your birth certificates, we can support you through housing, but then we quickly want to get you in one of these twice a month boot camps where they learn job resume skills, they learn anger management, they learned conversational skills and tools and they learned to not sell themselves short in an interview. I mean, here been into an interview and they're like, well tell me about something you did great. And I'm like, well Uh, you know, I'm not really that great. Or even like, the beginning of this, I was like, what little bit of knowledge I have, like, what, you know, like, we serve this group for five years. We just sort of we downplay ourselves because we don't want to be like prideful, but in a job interview, it's like, Hey, show up, and this is your chance to, or the next guy is gonna get it because or gal, because they're, they're the ones kind of selling themselves, it's your time to shine. And I think people don't know that. So like, that's where that work ready. Bootcamp is like, and and also answer the tough question, hey, well, why don't you have six months of working history here? Whoa, I was in prison, you know, like being ready up front with, Hey, I do have a record. But it's this and that, because they're gonna find it regardless. So background checks are gonna find it, you might as well be straightforward. Hey, this is what happened. Here's the story. So like, we just kind of feel like if they can get those tools, then they can take those tools to the job place, they get that job, they work on building, you know, their, their house, their their home house, not just their real house, but their kind of emotional house and all these other things that we have going on with us. So.
Lauren Haley 06:15
Absolutely. And why do you guys provide something like anger management? In this training? Why do you put that in there?
Jason Hynson 06:22
Yeah, so that the anger management piece was something that kind of evolved, I don't think we had that in there originally. And I think it was really just about, it's that mental health piece, you know, that we're talking about, like, if you get frustrated, because your supervisor comes over and gives you some feedback, and, and you flip everybody off and drop F bombs and run out, you probably don't have a job. So you've got to be
Kylie Jackson 06:51
like, you're out here, Jason.
Jason Hynson 06:54
You can do that. Not not to be able to get away with that once. But anyway. But like, what we're trying to do is just teach them like, Hey, y'all, like, you've got to be able to self regulate, you know, and I think that's key in not like, self regulate to, like stamp everything down. And, and not ever share your emotions. But like, maybe when you're frustrated, like, Hey, I gotta walk off the job real quick, like, I gotta walk, you know, I gotta make a lap around the building, you know, and things like that. I can see people, you know, we're kind of on a cool Commercial Street area in Springfield, and I watch people kind of walk up and down the street sometimes. There's a guy that, like a business developer, and I watch him kind of make these laps from time to time. So I think even that, like just being outdoors, you can get on a phone call depend on your job. But like, those are things that we understand, we may understand. But if you come from poverty, or you come from a situation where there's been trauma in your family, if everybody's yelled and your whole life, and that's how you communicate. Maybe somebody's giving you that awareness, like hey, people don't yell on the job force. Like you're, you're not doing it just helping have that conversation to open the doors of communication. It's really, it's been important for them. And it's probably important for some of the, you know, different occupations and people that you're hiring right off the street to Yeah,
Kylie Jackson 08:21
yeah. Well, that goes right into our next question, but I do want to say this, I don't know if you know this story, but I think Rhonda was telling me this, that she found a guy looking at your guys's poster in our hallway, because you guys are all stars. And this is gonna make me a little emotional. But he got all teary eyed. And he was just looking at y'alls poster with an SRC logo, saying thank you, just saying like giving thanks to your to your that just makes me like It's so touching. Because I just gave him something. And he's taking it and he's cherishing it. And I just think that's so beautiful. But with that being said, it's just so emotional. But you're just doing such meaningful work and you're doing the tough work you're doing, you're getting people from ground zero from where they call rock bottom. I've seen a lot of your videos where they said, You know, I thought I'd hit rock bottom, and I didn't even know what it was until I really hit it. And you're doing such hard work pulling them up from that. But when they do enter the workforce, how do we take what you've done and and build upon it and as businesses and build upon it. And I think this goes for everybody, not just people who have hit rock bottom because we're all human right? You just said we all downplay who we are. We all we all kind of have impostor syndrome we all need to take a break and take a step out even if your executive level or or somebody who doesn't know how to eat, handle their emotions. How do we take with care what you've done, build upon it and kind of keep fostering that that type of relationship?
Jason Hynson 10:02
Yeah, I think that's a fantastic question. Because really what that comes from is a heart of compassion. You know, so what we like to say this, and I'm quoting somebody I get to work with every day, who's our Associate Executive Director, and he, he says, everybody has a name. Everybody has a story. And we want to get to know that. And I, and I think almost taking that same mantra. Yeah, I know, you're paying these people. Yes, you are expecting a level of performance. Yes, you care. But like, the small talk, and, you know, like I have, you're saying tears kind of highlight to one of our staff persons that, you know, I noticed, like, she didn't look okay. And I just kind of said, Hey, you, okay? And I was like, oh, yeah, yeah, everything's fine. And she came back like 15 minutes later and said, No, I mean, I was in the middle of this thing. I'm going through this thing with my, with my family. And she went into more of the details, you know, and that's unbelievable place to share on a podcast. But like, she shared that because, but if I don't see that moment, if we, if you don't watch for those moments, that they have a story that's not just about, like, we're not robots, like, we know that. But we also like, we forget that because we're like, Man line, this line has got to go out. And we've got to hit this number. And, you know, where are you and where's your car, you know, you're a cog in the wheel just jump in and get to work. And it's like, but they're not like, they're, they're human.
Kylie Jackson 11:31
People are leaving.
Jason Hynson 11:34
That's so good. Yeah, they're not there, they can't do anything. In it, and it happens with but I'll say this about I'll toot the SRC horn for you guys too too. You know, they're you, some of your HR professionals, they are some of the best that we've worked with, you know, and there are headaches, getting background checks in and sometimes those can take weeks. And, and those are a challenge for for people we serve, because they're, you know, now, you know, Walmart, not Walmart, McDonald's and other fast food places. They're doing wages on demand. So you're getting like paid the next day, in these cards that are coming through. And so, so they're getting immediate gratification from work that they did yesterday. So you've got to be able to provide that same kind of like reward based system in other ways, if you're paying him every two weeks. So this is like, we need that data boys. And we need the feedback. And we want that. And so I think all those things are really important to that, you know, get to know their story. And, and figure out ways that they can do that, because we were talking to a huge nationwide retailer locally. And they have people living in there, they're paying good wages, but they got people live in their cars in their parking lot. And just because they they either don't have affordable housing or, or they're looking for that, or they're trying to come back from something. So we just like, you might want to know, are they sleeping in their car in the parking lot, and they're not going to just come out and tell you that unless they feel safe to do that. So
Kylie Jackson 13:11
Right? That psychological safety is it's a hot word right now, but it's there for a reason.
Jason Hynson 13:18
Yeah, yeah, you're exactly right. I think that's, that's what we're dealing with on a kind of day by day basis. And, and these individuals that we serve, you know, so many of them will get on some nation nationwide statewide databases on where they've been and what other places, they're very transient, you know, we have very transient population. And so they've been at the St. Louis, homeless shelter, they've been at the Kansas City rescue mission, they've been down in Arkansas. And so you can kind of see this path that if you if you don't let them feel belonging, and kind of like love and compassion, they'll just leave, they don't have any, there's no loyalty anymore. I mean, I think even the pandemic reset all that for us, you know, the great resignation of ever is like, Man, I'm just gonna find a job. I'll go work for California online and just, you know, phone it in or whatever.
Kylie Jackson 14:12
With Missouri.
Jason Hynson 14:16
Well, I only say that because we hired somebody who was who was working online for the state of California. And so she was like, Well, how often you need show I gotta put in my, you know, two weeks resignation record, what are you working? Well, we already knew, I was like, So tell me about California, you're working in California. But it was all online because they couldn't they can't afford to hire anybody. So you just kind of log into this portal and you do your processes and check it out. So, so like, no one even has to show up to your job. So if you have a manufacturing place or you have some more you need that person there. Gosh, you you really need to be a person person. You know, be be caring about the person, you know, because you need
Kylie Jackson 14:57
Right.
Lauren Haley 15:00
Well, I want to touch on, there's kind of two layers of people, the people you serve, and the people, on your staff that serve those people. And I imagine they have, you know, a lot of heavy stuff that they deal with day to day as you guys are serving those people. So how do you guys take care of your staff make their their mental health, with all this heavy stuff is in check as well.
Jason Hynson 15:23
Yeah, I. So we have a counselor, we have a licensed professional counselor. And then we also have interns from time to time that come in. And so one of his jobs that he started helping us do in our regular staff meetings, our huddles, when we gather and huddle. Is he'll just kind of give tips to, you know, just trauma informed care. And in in basically, like, I think a lot of those, and I'm going to be really like on bare bones, like a real practical, it's just like, kindness, like what happened to kindness, you know, and it's funny when, when he was sharing this about traumatic, you know, like, just trauma informed carry is like, you don't know the situation of the person that's in front of you. So treating them with great kindness and compassion. But we've lost that. I mean, we're like all about our agenda. And we're all about our, you know, mode of thinking and our political persuasion, or whatever we're trying to do, that we're advocating for. And I think even just like being present, is a really powerful tool of like, okay, I'm not going to be distracted on on the six other things I gotta do, when I get back to my office, I'm going to be right here with this person in the hallway, where they're kind of sharing about, they just lost their dog, you know, they just, you know, and those are the things that are going on in people's lives. So what we do with our staff is we just give them space, we get a lot of space, and in our huddle, you know, we're, we're a faith motivated group. So we take some time in the beginning, just to have silent prayer and some quiet recentering. You know, and I think you could do that, with whatever your space is, if you felt like that was appropriate, you know, you could have some mindfulness activities or different things where you just kind of help be okay to like, disconnect, you know, and we also do the no phone zone, at our huddle, I have a little slide and I'm like, no phone zone, and I cross it out, you know, because I'm like, Look, if you can't be present for one hour a week, to talk about, to celebrate what we've done and kind of look forward, then you're not really present in your life. Like it's, we're too chaotic. So I think even just that human experience of like, Hey, are you taking good care of yourself? Like, are you turning off your phone at nine o'clock? Are you doing your blue light filter? So that all those things, you know, with your glasses? Yeah. So like, Are you turning off Facebook? Like, don't do the comparison trap? Like we just, I think those little healthy tips can sometimes be useful. So we do that as a staff team, too.
Lauren Haley 18:08
I think it's a good point. It doesn't have to be complex. It can be as simple as kindness and being intentional. You know, you're in your huddle. I remember you mentioning huddle brag time. Where tell us about that.
Jason Hynson 18:22
Yeah. So I like any good leader. Right? I love Andy Stanley says this vision leaks. So you got to just keep casting vision, you know, you you're sick to death of it, because you've been in strategic, you know, high level planning and all the directors and the staff and the executive team, you're really talking about, hey, this out, we're gonna roll it out. And then by the time you get to your team around you, or you're sharing it in your huddles, you got to just keep sharing, so we do our, our core values every, every week, I go through our core values, we share love, we build relationships, we want restoration for people that were walking with life, long term change, and we want to do it with excellence. And I say Where have you seen that in the last week like brag on somebody that's sitting at a table around you are in this room or not in this room, and then we'll The other cool thing we do is everybody that gets a brag, we put them in like a pot. And you know, from time to time, we will have leftover like gifts and kinds or something like that. So we might have an auction item that somebody gave and are random stuff that we find and we'll give those away like somebody's got to some reason we had a little mini drone. I think somebody brought it in from like a gift that they want but you know, we gave that away. I've suddenly got a little mini drone with a like just to having that opportunity where where you get celebrated for for the things that you do like one of them I'll share real quick as our office manager when you call Victory Mission, you get a real life person that answers the phone. And her name is Mallanna. And she does so much like just triage on the phone. And one of the gals across the hall from her was just like, listen, I get to hear her with compassion. I hear her listening to people, and so many people are calling in with their, with their crisis, you know, they're like, oh, my gosh, you know, my house just burned down. Now I'm gonna get evicted, I, you know, I need rent assistance I need my utilities just got turned off. And so even though we may not help with all those areas, she's a resource to say, hey, you need to call here you need to call here. And so much of that is just have a voice somebody that hears you because because so much has become automated. And I think even in business, so much has become automated, that like that personal touch is really key, I think so we'd like to have a person answer the phone. That's really, really nice. I was trying to call BestBuy the other day, and it was like, I just need to know if you have this gift certificate. And they're like, Can I get your name and number I was like, no, just tell me if you have the gift certificate. and not even that, like you get the main number, but you call the local number, then you get like the corporate thing. And then they're like, Well, what, what Springfield Are you trying to call from and you're like, oh, my gosh, I'm just driving over there. I'm just trying
Kylie Jackson 21:28
to do too many Springfields.
Jason Hynson 21:34
Were the one from The Simpsons.
Kylie Jackson 21:38
I think you're so right, though. It's like we were talking the other day about the stake in the outcome isn't necessarily just financial rewards, but it is the people. And you know, even with SRC, we have a lot of we have a lot of like, manufacturing work can be daunting. You know, it's not like, Whoa, this is fun every day. But if you ask everyone at SRC, well not everyone, but a lot of people at SRC the reason why they're there are the people. And I think that's so important. You know, when you're saying you're taking care of your staff, it's just simply simply just being good people to one another.
Jason Hynson 22:15
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I, I've been able to share a lot of the Gatherings, you know, the Conferences, and one of the things I always get, sort of encouraged to talk about is culture. And part of that is, is because that's really the differentiating factor for so many things. And now they're, they're finding even our United Way. And these other entities are talking about placemaking. Right, you know, Springfield's on this big thing about placemaking. You know, we want to have trails in this. And, you know, everybody's trying to be weird, like Austin, Texas, you know, like, the branding of all that. So, it's all like,
Kylie Jackson 22:54
weird, you're not weird.
Jason Hynson 22:57
We're like, we're trying not to be weird, because like, they're trying to keep Austin weird, which that means. But like, I think all those things is brand like cities are trying to brand themselves. I mean, there's branding. And this, because there's this competitive edge for, you know, Amazon just moved in down here in Springfield, and they're trying to get these big corporate giants, and they're trying to have jobs, but they're also like, trying to have affordable housing, but they're also supposed to have, they want to have these unique pockets of neighborhoods, and, you know, places you can walk to, because people want to feel connected. But, but also, you know, like, have all the bells and whistles of the big corporate life and city, you know, thing is, so it's like, it's like, that's so confusing, like, how are we supposed to do it. And so I think for us as a culture, and even a nonprofit because we, you know, so many nonprofits get chastised for paying people, fair market wages. And it's like, well, they're supposed to be doing that, because they care. And it's like, well, I have seven children, and my wife stays at home. And so like, I really like to be compensated as, like, as an executive level. And our board does a great job.
Kylie Jackson 24:07
And I can put food on my table.
Jason Hynson 24:10
Like we, we where does that disconnect happen? And so like culture is key for I think nonprofits, but it's, it's becoming key for businesses because I think the pandemic like reset us and said, you know, if that if they don't appreciate me, then I'll find somewhere that is, and it's really that it's the employees market, if that's like a thing, I'm stealing that from residential, but like, I feel like it's the employees market. Like, I had an employee who was gonna go share with this marketing company, and and I was like, I was like, go, go connect with them and learn from them. But don't take the job when they offer it to you. And I was kind of joking with her. And she was like, so should I not go meet with him? And I was like, no, no, I'm just saying, I'm just saying like, you're very talented like you you're extremely talented. And being right now. Yeah, cool. I am not like letting you grow and develop as a person. But like I kind of in my head, I'm like, yeah, they can pay her probably $20,000 more a year than Victory Mission can like just straight up, and they're gonna have better benefits and but the strain of life might be a lot different, like the Go, go go the fast pace, like, let's get this out production numbers. So it is different. And I'm not saying we don't have that, but like, we're trying to connect with people on a workforce level. And we got to get to know their story there. That takes time. So it's it's like slower here. And maybe that's better sometimes I don't know, then maybe it's not slower. Because it feels like, oh my gosh, this person like, you know, their, their, their life is just falling apart. And I don't even know where to start. And so the emotional drain is more. But maybe the production drain is not better. Yeah. I hope that makes sense. Yeah.
Kylie Jackson 26:04
For sure does. You know, we were I think we were talking about this too, is like, now, especially with that it's the employees market, there's a lot that comes with this little bit of entitlement. Honestly, it's like you're gonna get out of you. And you know, sometimes you see companies touting this new, like, take care of your people take care of the mental health, because it's a bandwagon thing. But how, you know, how do we get everybody in the organization, because I think I mentioned this to you, she's sitting right here, but I love coming to work because Lolos here, you know, I love it's not just the work that we get to do. And we do have a purpose based based mission here too. So it's like we get to change business and through doing good. But, you know, it's up to all of us to make sure that we are making sure people are happy, you know, especially if not for the selfish motivation of like, remember how spread thin you were when we were understaffed. The kind of people. But what tips do you have for us all to be a little more, I don't know, taking care of one another?
Jason Hynson 27:13
Yeah, well, I just want to add real quick, awesome, Great Game of Business, love you all, love what you're doing. Because you're really, like you're talking about purpose mission. Like you're changing the way business operates, because you're giving people like the power to influence it and empowerment. And so it's, it's really, it's really key if you if if practitioners do it, right, right, they can they can really empower their people. And that alone is is a differentiating factor, like, hey, we care about you enough to like, hey last month was terrible. You all like, I'm kind of nervous, like, what would that look like? If you had your boss say that, like, you know, I think that vulnerability stuff is key in the right way. Not like, hey, the doors are on fire. But like a, you're gonna help me. You know, I think even that alone is really empowering to staff to say, as a manager as a leader to say I don't have all the answers
Kylie Jackson 28:13
or ability that's trust are always says vulnerability first trust.
Jason Hynson 28:18
Yeah, we love Yeah. Brene Brown is, she's great in it. But like that, first, that trust comes after you share what you're nervous about sharing. Like, and that's, that's where it takes that, that hard that, you know, leaders, I had a friend of mine was telling me I was gonna share, early on, there were some early struggles in staff and knew, you know, I was the new corporate leader. And we had to make some moves and stuff. And I was like, it's so hard. And he looked at me he's like, look, bro, leaders are bleeders. I mean, that's just that's just it, right? You've, you're either bleeding because you're stressed out at night trying to figure out how you're going to make this happen. Or you're bleeding because you're honest, open, vulnerable and transparent with your team, and then they're with you. And they're like, What are you know, it's like the Braveheart speech is all over. That sounds like you're either alone, and you're freaked out or you're together and you're like, a little bit vulnerable, you know, like, but I think vulnerability breeds vulnerability. So if you share, I think the culture as the leader, manager or supervisor that you create on your team, the more open and honest you are, the more other people are open, honest. And then if you're kind, they're kind, like, you know, that we're gonna go to the amygdala response. You know, it's like the baby who's you know, when you smile at the baby, the baby smiles back like the you're teaching those those responses. And I think we're still really kind of infants like, is this a safe place? Can I be here, and it starts with the leader. So your, the culture you have is the culture you've created. Hate to break it to you. So if you hate your business
Kylie Jackson 30:08
look at the mirror.
Jason Hynson 30:11
Yeah, the old Michael Jackson song, this is the man in the mirror.
Kylie Jackson 30:15
We, we had to do the higher laws training bytes. And you know, we you know, the one that's changed starts at the top and then you know, okay, as we say, in Missouri, shit rolls downhill. And following that, it's like, if you want to find the person who we're looking for to make the change, it's in the book, look in the mirror. So the next one was I heard this somwhere named Michael Jackson.
Jason Hynson 30:40
That's right, man. Yeah, it's so funny that I think that's so hard, though, for a lot of people who want to, like live in denial. And, and they think they can, you know, sort of be sarcastic all the time and talk down to people and, and that somehow, like, that's a fun environment. And it's like, Well, I think it kind of is, but if they don't know you, and they're your boss, then they basically you're their boss, they just feel like they don't aren't appreciated, you know, and I think I think that is that's really key. And they're not your kids. Like they're not, they don't need your $20 on Friday night in the card keycard, you know, so they'll just find another place where they feel appreciated. So yeah, they got real real Oh. Yeah, like, Ouch, that hurts sometimes to hear that, that you're, you're the reason the culture is the way it is. If you're the leader, for sure.
Kylie Jackson 31:44
Change starts at the top. Um, do you have any, like, tips for people just to Yeah, to take care of one another? You know, I know you kind of just said the vulnerability. But you know, I think some people lack the quality of just really in sometimes it's harder for everyone to do that. So what's a simple thing people can do, just to make sure people are feeling you know, welcome and warm.
Jason Hynson 32:13
I think like the we talked about the name like knowing their name, remembering their name, I actually I'm gonna I'm gonna I went on a tour of one of the SRC buildings with Jack stack. And he knew all his people's name over it,
Kylie Jackson 32:33
man. Oh, my gosh, Rhonda, already remember her? Like how many years she was married?
Jason Hynson 32:39
But yes. Names. The crazy thing is I was I was just watching that. And I just thought, that's why he's where he is in. So it's not you can't fake that stuff. Right? You can't fake the compassion
Kylie Jackson 32:54
Get caught really easily.
Jason Hynson 32:56
Yeah, you will, you'll get you'll get busted in it. And I remember. And this is like a weird movie reference. But like the Ocean's 11 group or like that, that high power casino guy who was played by Andy Garcia. Yeah, but he was like studying Japanese. And he knew everybody's name and he wanted the daily totals. And you're like, gosh, that guy's a machine. But But like, either you're doing it because you're a corporate monster. Are you doing it because you care? And the people will know the difference, you know? So that's, that's kind of key. So
Lauren Haley 33:32
I would love your comment in our previous conversation. Be voted in high school most likely to say hi, like a yearbook. Most of us are high. So I think it's something simple like that sometimes. But definitely knowing someone's name is like one of the most precious things is what I've heard before. Your name is the most precious thing you can hear.
Kylie Jackson 33:52
I went back to a workout class because the girls yelled My name on my first try. And I knew, like normally like, but I was like dang, that was nice.
Lauren Haley 34:02
The random, people is that, you know, everybody wants is kind of naturally focused on themselves. So their name their own personal name is really meaningful. Yeah. Being the first to say hi, we love that.
Kylie Jackson 34:16
Oh, is the first one to say good morning every morning. So she's high school most likely to say, Hi.
Jason Hynson 34:21
Yeah, I think that's key, like just saying hi. And I'd make a point to do that. And sometimes I don't want to because I got some online. And I've also I've left man, I don't know how many times I've left my office and like literally texted my wife and be like, Hey, I'm on my way home. And I get caught up in a 15 minute conversation on, because my doors you know, like I'm in the corner office and so I have to walk by everybody else's office on the way out. And I started leaving like 10 to 15 minutes early because that's when they need Hey, you got that quick second like and I get all the like, I've read all the books like the leadership books on setting boundaries and You know, if your doors open, and here's the thing, like, we're dealing with people, and you can train all that, but if they need you, they need you like, and sometimes that openness is, is key. And so being able to say hi, initiating that conversation and also being able to walk, walk slowly, walk slowly to your car, maybe that's another one.
Kylie Jackson 35:22
But the time, I'm like leaving now, and two hours later, I get home, it's like I, I'm just like, just tack on an hour to every time I say I'm on my way home.
Jason Hynson 35:31
Because your guess you got people, like there's people that make it. And if that wasn't happening, you might not like your job. Right?
Kylie Jackson 35:38
Or you might not be into that people don't want to talk to you.
Jason Hynson 35:43
And then I, we kind of hit on this before, but like just being curious about like differences. And if you are the leader, like try to make mental snapshots of people's hairs, glasses, new clothes, you know, things like that, that makes people feel I learned that from my sisters early on. I have two older sisters. And so if I would notice those things, they were like, Oh, my gosh, yeah, I did do it different. I use this different products. And I was like, Well, you know, and sometimes you just walk backwards into it. And they say, Well, I finally washed my hair and I came to work for the first time. My bad, maybe they're not the one that, that's a bad day.
Kylie Jackson 36:27
Usually my answer
Jason Hynson 36:33
but at least you're noticing those things. Yeah. You notice.
Kylie Jackson 36:37
You always can tell a man who has sisters? Yes, there's just that thing that you know, they've always taught you.
Jason Hynson 36:45
Yeah, that is for sure. Yeah.
Lauren Haley 36:50
I think we could go on forever and ever. Do you have anything else you'd like to add? Before we close?
Jason Hynson 36:55
Uh, no. I mean, really, I think we hit a lot of really cool stuff and things that we like, but you know, I was, I know, we were kind of frame this up before but just self awareness, you know, with with the leadership, if you don't know how you affect others, or what your influences when you walk into the room, or how people perceive you, you might ask, you know, start with your executive assistant, or somebody that's close to you and be like, how do I how do people see me in the workplace, because that, I think that would be really eye opening. But hey, be ready for like, you want to hear the truth. Like, you know, people are, you know, they can be scared of you or they can, like I I got my feelings I got my feelings sort of hurt. But I was also aware of it. But, you know, I was talking to a staff person, I was asking her about something. And later I hear back through the kind of the chain of command. It was like, Hey, she really didn't, like agree to what you were wanting to do. And it was like, just kind of an idea I had, and I was just sharing it out loud. And she was like, I don't think she was, like, ready for that idea was something we were going to do programmatically and, and I was like, Why didn't she say it? And he was like, Jason, you're the boss. Right? And like, all of a sudden, it was like, and I don't even know if it was the it really wasn't me it was the position. But just being aware, like, your position brings authority. So though you may want feedback, people already give that to you. Because you are the boss, like what are you saying like, well, you're overbearing, and you're kind of an egomaniac? Like, is that what you want to hear? You know, like, I think, I think that's just an issue, even in HR. Like having that person who's a little bit more open, you know, they're just not the Benefits Administrator anymore. They're, they're the high school guidance counselor. They're the, you know, they could be case manager for housing, they all of those things are happening to your team on a regular basis, whether you realize it or not. So
Kylie Jackson 38:57
that's, that's our whole theme. And you just wrapped it up like a yearly theme. We want to keep this conversation going in our community. We you know, we have our discussion board going on. But also,
Lauren Haley 39:09
we want to give you a chance Jason, he has his own podcast, it's called Brighter Stories. Would you like to share about that in a moment?
Jason Hynson 39:16
Yeah, so you can check out our Brighter Stories podcast that just is in season one. So it just started out. But you can hear a story of a victory on that with one of our participants who's walked out complete life change in our five holistic areas. And also hear from our licensed professional counselor. That was a couple of weeks ago, or any of our staff team about compassion, just really meeting people where they are so that might be helpful for you. So Brighter Stories, and it's Victory Mission. Yeah.
Kylie Jackson 39:45
Thank you so much. And we would always want to hear you talk way more. So we're gonna get out the podcast. You just you walk the talk, and it's just really cool. It's really inspiring and you make it sound easy, you know, and we just got to take care of one another. So, thank you so much for joining our community chats and we will see you very soon. But if anyone has any questions you can check out Victory Mission. What's your website again? Victorymission.com
Jason Hynson 40:12
Yep, victorymission.com You can check us out or shoot me an email. It's just Jason@victorymission.com So, that would be great.
Kylie Jackson 40:19
Thank you so much.
Jason Hynson 40:21
Talk to you later, bye bye.
Kylie Jackson 40:22
See you in the community,
Announcer 40:24
The change the game podcast is produced by the Great Game of Business. To learn more, visit greatgame.com
