The Runway Decade

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to My Mid 50s

In today’s episode of the “The Runway Decade Podcast”, hosts Bill Bush and Pete Bush, advisors at Horizon Financial Group talk with guest Gloria McConnell about the new things she is embracing in her 50s

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Episode Highlights

02:28 – Bill introduces the guest.
04:30 – Gloria shares a story behind her nickname, and how her nickname was born.
06:12 – Gloria tells a little bit about her upbringing.
08:35 – Baton Rouge was close to the family so when she moved back to Baton Rouge, she got a job as the HR Director for Tony seafood, says Gloria.
10:10 – Gloria always wanted to be a teacher and now she gets to teach in a classroom and talk to people meet people and then do one-on-one coaching as well on leadership.
12:30 – They discuss the shift from management to leadership growth.
14:13 - Gloria talks about her mindset when she turns 50.
16:44 – Bill enquires from Gloria about how she became a Stand-up Comedian.
18:45 – Gloria wonders if she could do this and so, she looked up, she Googled open mics, and she found one. She sent a note and somebody said, yeah, just show up at this time.
20:35 - It's a skill that just like any other skill we practice, and if everything we do works, then we need to try harder. We must get better, says Gloria.
22:00 – Gloria says, the pandemic put the stuff on pause because they were not doing open mics.
24:15 - If everything works, we are not trying hard enough.
26:12 – Gloria in her 50s decides that she is going to be in a play. So, she shares that.
28:10 – Gloria says, the best leaders find out what energizes their people to the extent we can give them work that where they use their strengths, where they're having fun, where they feel like they're real, and really in their A game.
31:00 - Gloria loves what she does in her work and it's flexible. So, retirement does not look that different, because she does enjoy her work.
32:50 – Bill asks a rapid-fire question, what does she consider to be the greatest invention in her lifetime?
34:23 – If someone were to play Gloria in a movie, who would she want it to be, asks Bill.

Three Key Points

Gloria highlights - when one starts thinking about who is next, that drives all the rest of it, we have bodies to put in these positions, but are they ready? So that is where they come in, and it is like, are they taking a strategic approach to developing their work, if their employees are they happy, do they want to be there, or do they know what they are doing? They know what they're doing technically, and they know how to do their jobs, but in terms of the people’s skills, businesses do not tend to promote people based on their people skills, they promote them based on their technical skills, and then they wonder why they struggle to lead teams. So that is where they come in, teach them and coach them.
When Gloria takes leadership classes, or first-line supervisor classes, her message to them is, that there are no perfect people, therefore, there aren't any perfect leaders. You're going to make mistakes, you're going to say the wrong thing, you are going to make a wrong decision and if you are not, you need to try harder.
Gloria shares what she thinks when she hears the word retirement, she is thinking just more time to do those things that are fun. Whether it is spending time with her girls wherever they happen to be, comedy, theater, etc. Those are the things that most appeal to her, and spending time with friends in a relationship.

Tweetable Quotes

“I got my foot in the door working for Intel Corporation, which pretty much launched me professionally.” - Gloria McConnell
“I teach a lot of first-line supervisor classes, that's kind of my specialty and my favorite thing.” - Gloria McConnell
“Whatever your business strategy is, we'll help you line up your people strategy to match it and help you be successful.” - Gloria McConnell
“I began to see there's going to be a life after my kids are grown.” - Gloria McConnell
“It’s exciting to think If I've lived a lifetime at 50, I have a whole another lifetime I can live ahead.” - Gloria McConnell
“I always liked to laugh. But I think I always, also would try to amuse people against their will.” - Gloria McConnell
“One comedian told me just because somebody doesn't laugh doesn't mean it's not funny.” - Gloria McConnell
“We want to stage with people, who buy a ticket to come and laugh.” - Gloria McConnell
“I enjoy what I'm doing in a lot of cases.” - Gloria McConnell

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Resources Mentioned

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Horizon Financial Group Website
‍Contact Information Bill Bush Pete Bush
‍Gloria McConnell: Website Facebook Instagram
Email: gmcconnell@successlabs.com
‍Podcast Editing‍

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