Episode 89 – Achieving Preeminence with Glen Jackson
Too often in business circles, the word Christian can be an adjective for “subpar.” One of the Marks of a Faith Driven Entrepreneur is a realization that excellence matters and it earns us a right to be heard in our industry and the world around us.
Today’s guest is Glen Jackson, author of Preeminence—a book based on 30+ years of working with brands like Chick-fil-a, Delta, Coca-Cola, Interstate, Toyota, Lexus, and others. He uses his experience to share what it means to be the preeminent brand that others look to emulate.
In this episode, we’ll look at what preeminence means, how to get there, and why this matters to Faith Driven Entrepreneurs looking to impact the world around them.
Useful Links:
Preeminence: What It Means and How to Sustain It
Control Your Destiny or Someone Else Will
EPISODE TRANSCRIPT
*Some listeners have found it helpful to have a transcription of the podcast. Transcription is done by an AI software. While technology is an incredible tool to automate this process, there will be misspellings and typos that might accompany it. Please keep that in mind as you work through it. The FDI movement is a volunteer-led movement, and if you’d like to contribute by editing future transcripts, please email us.
Rusty [00:01:48] Welcome back, everyone, to the Faith Driven Entrepreneur podcast. Thanks for downloading us another week, tragically. And that’s the right word. Too often in business circles, the word Christian can be an adjective for sub par. Now we know one of the most important marks of being a faith driven entrepreneur is a realization that excellence matters. And it’s that excellence that earns us a right to be heard in our industry and the world around us. Henry, William and I are going to spend a few minutes just talking about that concept and the importance of excellence in what God expects out of us in our work. And then we’re going to hear from the guests. And our guest is Glen Jackson, who wrote a book based on 30 plus years of working with some of the most respected brands like Chick-Fil-A, Delta Airlines, Coca-Cola, Interstate Batteries, the Atlanta Braves, the Toyota and Lexus Brands. In the book, he dives into what it means to be the preeminent brand that others look to emulate. But today, what we’re gonna do is we’re going to look at what it means, how do we get there and why this matters to faith driven entrepreneurs, entrepreneurs who are looking to impact the world around them. So let’s just jump right in.
Glenn [00:03:15] You know, when I look at the journey of my life and some of the adversity that I’d face and all of us have faced adversity. One of the things that I obviously go back to is my dad. My dad was part of the greatest generation, a phrase that Tom Brokaw penned in his book, The Greatest Generation. My father was when he was at Emory University. He signed up to join the United States Army. This was during World War Two. And he joined an elite tank battalion, the 70th Tank Battalion. And this battalion landed in D-Day, June 6, 1944. We celebrated the seventy fifth anniversary of D-Day. Earlier this year, 2019. But Dad’s tank division planted on Utah Beach and there were casualties. And if he’s seen Saving Private Ryan and Band of Brothers, you know, a little bit of the hell everybody went through. But my father’s tank landed successfully.
[00:04:10] But three days later, on June 9th, in the hedgerows of France, his tank was hit by an 88 millimeter shell. And my father was wounded and he was taken as a prisoner and he was a P.O.W. for the rest of the war and Germany style like 7a and escaped and was recaptured when he was in the prison camp. And General Patton liberated the camp at the end of the war with the 3rd Army. And my father came back and finished up at the University of Georgia and never really talked about it, never talked about his word serious so much with many folks. And in 1983, when my father was 60 years old, he took his life. And that was a very catastrophic day in August of 1983 and a devastating loss for our family. So there’s a powerful inertia of PTSD and depression, which my dad struggled with just was too strong, overcome. And, you know, we have a real problem in our country right now with military veterans who are committing suicide. The latest numbers I saw is that we’re losing 6000 veterans a year. That’s about 20. That’s a day to their suicide. And as a suicide survivor, took me a while to heal as a man. And one of the steps that I realized I needed to do was to go to Normandy in honor of my dad there and think about him and pray about some things I needed to pray about. And our family went over there to Normandy and had an amazing experience. And we rode my father’s name in the sand on the beaches of those candidates beaches in France and reflected on him. And I believe my children, about their grandfather for the first time when they were on that beach. And it really helped me heal and kind of step into my pain to receive gain. And one of the things I’ve realized in the course of my healing journey is that your healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. You know, healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It does mean, though, that the damage no longer controls our lives. So I’m really reflecting as I’ve gotten older on that terrible day in August of 1983. But instead, all the many memories, all the incredible things my dad taught me in my life in the 19 years I had him. I’m so thankful for that. And that’s how I’ve focused on my father going for the start of our agency in 1995. Certainly one of the things that propelled me was to co-found an agency that would be something my dad would be proud of. And to honor my dad every day through the work we do. Communications skills we exhibit here for the clients we’re proud to serve. So his life is certainly influenced me in so many positive ways and deep down. It was a major factor in my decision to help star Jackson Spalding almost 25 years ago.
Rusty [00:07:04] And you ended up going the entrepreneurial route. Why that? Instead of sort of following into the big company corporate route?
Glenn [00:07:13] You know, I felt called to do it. I was with a New York based agency for almost eight years helping them run their Atlanta office. And my entrepreneurial instincts were always keen and the entrepreneurial flames were burning bright on the inside. And I felt called to leave this agency. And along with both falling and several others start our agency in 1995 and just the best thing I could have ever done. We’ve been very blessed and very fortunate to have the opportunity to help our clients advance their brand the right way.
Rusty [00:07:48] You know, I’m a little curious about that because I love the idea. When a small group of co-founders left a place together. Right. And kept the team together, the band together and went and did it. What was the catalyst for that and what made it work that you all stayed together?
Glenn [00:08:06] Well, we believed in each other. There was a tremendous confidence in the team. And I had read a book in 1994 by Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric. And he wrote a book called Control Your Own Destiny or Someone Else. Well, it was a business book, and that really piqued my curiosity. And I just decided, along with Beau Spalding, who co-founded Jack’s is following that. Let’s give this a shot and control our own destiny and see where it goes. And we began with very humble beginnings and had to start literally building our agency brick by brick. And actually, in retrospect, I think that’s been a very good thing because, you know, success is sweaty. It’s not sexy. And we had to sweat a lot, particularly in those early years. And I’m grateful for that sweat because it’s made us stronger over the years.
Rusty [00:09:03] And give our listeners a little bit of the stature of the company. I mean, you work with some pretty big brands.
Glenn [00:09:09] We are really fortunate to represent the Coca-Cola Company and Chick-Fil-A, where they’re National Public Relations Agency. We represent on the marketing side Delta Airlines. We represent public supermarkets, interstate batteries, mattress firm, the University of Georgia in Athens. We do a lot of work for them and we have about one hundred and fifteen hundred sixty team members here. And we have fun and we work hard. You can do both.
Rusty [00:09:40] It just struck me that the public relations field, being a faith driven entrepreneur, being a believer, also can tend to leave you in times where you become the voice of crisis management. And as I listened to some of the brands there that you mentioned, you know, all the times are not always good, right? There’s always something that has to be dealt with. How is your faith informed? Maybe sometimes that messaging that as you bring people through crisis?
Glenn [00:10:11] Well, biblically, certainly there is an emphasis on telling the truth. And, you know, God’s favorite color is transparency and not hiding from something you may have done wrong or you need to work on. So the Bible’s help may kind of be a rudder in these situations, because you look at the book, you look at proverbs and you look at the Psalms and you look at Jesus’s teachings to be attitude. There’s such a wellspring of wisdom there that you can lean on in the business marketplace to help guide organizations through some difficult times and get them through that with the right steps haven’t been taken. That leads to trust.
Rusty [00:10:57] I hope our listeners heard that quote, because I’m going to say it again. What you just said, God’s favorite color is transparency. That’s that’s profound because, you know, if we’re going to live out our faith as entrepreneurs or business people, we’ve got to be transparent. If we’re not, then we run the risk of our witness being hurt or even worse, being thought of as hypocrites. So that’s a great creating a bond that people really gravitate to that.
[00:11:25] And we’re 72 percent millennial at our agency. So this generation in particular really appreciates authenticity and transparency and clarity. You know, the job of the leader is to foster clarity. And all those things relate to not only how we advise our clients, but also how we run our business each day with precision and humility.
Rusty [00:11:53] You have an interesting twist that many of us have heard share about what it means to be an entrepreneur. That twist that you have in some of the ways you view Parnell’s and details about the business may be a little different than others. Can you just riff on that for a little bit?
Glenn [00:12:10] I sure can. Thanks. You know, I think at its core, true entrepreneurial spirit involves about 10 things. You’ve got to obviously bravely start something and keep it moving in the right direction. But also, in addition to that, I think the entrepreneurial spirit involves unconventional thinking, assuming financial risk, persevering, growing and scaling a business is certainly important, impacting an industry or creating a brand new one.
[00:12:44] Generating jobs, I think is critical to the entrepreneurial adventure. You’ve got to generate jobs. You’ve got to also make the world a better place. You need to stay energized, curious and opportunistic. Embrace innovation, boys, and finally remain a success. You know, it’s easier to become a success than it is to remain a success. And this is an important point because entrepreneurs, we can start something, but we’ve got to remain and grow something. And that really matters. And for me, PNL, we obviously associate that with profits and losses.
[00:13:24] But I also think there’s another PNL that I think actually is more important and that’s people and lives. When we pour into the people within our organization and lean into their lives, then I think that’s where a lot of power and tospend for your business comes from, that it can in turn impact the profit and loss area directly.
William [00:13:52] That’s great. Thanks. William here. Glenn, so great to have you on my way. I’m going to take this opportunity to switch gears slightly. You’ve Rangi you’ve written a book on a concept called Preeminence and Blending. Dig into that a little bit and maybe take our listener from scratch and introduce the idea, maybe how you would define it for our listeners. And let us walk through this topic for a little bit.
Glenn [00:14:15] Well, preeminence is a beautiful word. It’s a pretty word to say. Preeminent tried to figure out how to spell it. William first. Is it two R’s or two E’s?
William [00:14:23] Yeah. It might be a word, you know, that could be associated with the University of Alabama instead of Georgia. I’m not sure we’re going to get into that. So I’ll give you a judgment here and a little better.
Glenn [00:14:34] Yeah. Yeah. But it’s a Greek word. It means in Greek first in rank and first influence. And as I dug into the word after hearing the word mentioned in a variety of client meetings, I realized there was not a business definition for the word. So I first started with the definition of preeminence. Is it extraordinary? Excellence, once reached and sustained, creates a competitive advantage. So unpack this briefly. Extraordinary excellence is truly extraordinary. It’s first rate thinking. First rate execution is the kind of excellence the ceiling was and never plateaus. And once this preeminence is reached, which I believe takes 10 to 15 years, this preeminence is sustained. There’s this unflinching, unswerving commitment to sustaining your commitment to being better today than yesterday. And that organically creates a very formidable, imposing creative advantage so much that your competition fears the very mention of your name if they’re ever competing against you. So to me, that’s what the definition is. It’s extraordinary. Excellence, once reached and sustained, creates a competitive advantage.
William [00:15:50] That’s good. Those aspirational for most of us anyway. Not for all of us. I get that. Maybe walk me through a potentially a few companies that you believe are preeminent. And what are some of the signs that you see associated with getting to that level?
Glenn [00:16:04] You know, I think there is a litmus test. And I think the litmus test is whether others aspire to achieve what you’ve sustained when you have other companies in your industry or even outside wanting to see you tap into your insights, observe your office space, learn from your core leadership philosophies, and soak it all up like a sponge. Then who does? You’ve reached to sustain something deeply powerful. So to me, the litmus test is or others aspire to achieve what you sustain.
[00:16:35] And in Atlanta, we’ve been very blessed to have myriad number of preeminent organizations, Chick-Fil-A, Delta and Coke certainly stand out for me here in our city. I mentioned Publix earlier. They are preeminent. And then there are companies like Salesforce, an apple, of course, in 3M to me has a lot of preeminent leadership in this organization. They do a lot of entrepreneurial doodling within their organization as powerful. So those are some companies that jump out to me, and that’s the litmus test.
William [00:17:09] It’s good. I have a couple of different questions. OK. I guess hear me a little bit. So is this something? Two different questions. One, is this something that every company should aspire to and to see you names, rather large organizations? Is there a size component as well? Or can a smaller company, I mean, sort of aspire to be preeminent as well? Do you think that could happen? Yes. Walk me through that a little bit.
Glenn [00:17:33] That’s a superb question of the size. Question. There is no size category to this. You can be large or small and be preeminent. And I believe that is something that everyone should strive aspirationally to try to attain. Because deep down, what you’re doing is you’re treating every day, as if it’s the first day you opened your doors and you’re wanting to be about excellent. Perpetual excellence. And that’s something I think biblically you read about, which I can elaborate on later this in the word. But I think it should also, of course, also be in the free enterprise system.
William [00:18:13] Now, I go there now, if you would mind. Feel free to jump off.
Glenn [00:18:17] You know, God’s been kind of showing me something lately that relates, I think, to this topic and that as he. He wants all, not some. What I mean by that, if you look at Proverbs 3 5, it says Trust in the Lord with all your heart, not some of your heart. So trust in the Lord with all your heart and not lean on your own understanding in all your ways. There’s the word again. Submit to him, and he will make your past right. So God wants all of us, and he wants all of our excellence. He’s not interested enough being shot. As a Christian, he wants us to be about being the best, being preeminent. And if you flip to the New Testament, the all word comes again. And Kalash and 3, which is a great chapter about whatever you do work, whatever, there’s this whatever phrase in this chapter. But Paul talks about that, you know, whatever you do do with all your heart. There’s the same phrase again. And I think Pramit organizations do things with all their heart and all their mind and all their soul, which connects back to the Bible in so many ways.
William [00:19:25] That’s good. And sometimes it’s it’s helpful to play the counter. So a lot of our listeners run companies or are influential in companies. What’s potentially a way to diagnose the opposite? Right. What are maybe some some signs that you’re not running towards that preeminent institution and things that you can notice to realize? You know, that’s one of the hardest things for a leader. You know, sometimes they sit in a white tower and don’t get a lot of feedback. And it’s really hard to see around you if you don’t have a council of advisors. What are some of those signs? Maybe if you were looking at them, if you were hired to consult with them, that you would be able to notice that maybe they need to change some things.
Glenn [00:20:05] You know, a lot of it relates to these pillars that I want to share on the podcast that are inextricably linked and critical to being preeminent. If the organization doesn’t have a lot of these pillars or is not working towards and I think that’s a sign of concern that the organization has lost touch with his values, the fundamental cornerstone of your business. That is a problem. We haven’t changed one word of our aid values since we started it when I was 32 in 1995. These values are on our wall literally here. We have offices in Dallas and Athens, Georgia and Atlanta, and people work around the country. And I think one thing you’ve got to really watch out for is the danger of mediocrity. To me, mediocrity is the opposite of preeminence. You know, mediocre is a Latin word that means combination of two line words, rugged mountain and middle. It means going up a steep incline and quitting in the middle and raising the proverbial white flag and going down the mountain, never getting to the mountaintop. So if an organization is just kind of go into the motions in a mediocre kind of way resting on its laurels, then that’s a concern. There’s a phrase that the fish stinks at the head. And I think that’s true. The leadership is not leading in a preeminent way, and that is a major problem. They’re not doing some things. I’m have you talk about that? I think preeminent leaders do. I’m watching for that. If I don’t see a lot of that and that’s a concern because leadership dictates so much.
Rusty [00:21:33] What about the without mentioning a company? What about the learnings that you might. Bring to our listeners these entrepreneurs that, look, they want to get there someday. I mean, you know, and you said early in the episode you said takes time to get there. So they’re like looking at it going, well, I might not have 20 years. I’m just trying to get preeminent where I am today, but I gotta hold my footing right now. I think I’ve made good steps, but I don’t want to slip. What can you do to help them think about not slipping one of the pillars of preeminence as focus?
Glenn [00:22:07] And you’ve got to really know your swim lines and your business. You don’t want to be swimming around the pool trying to figure that out. So be narrow and deep in a couple areas and build your business from there. Most companies that don’t make it don’t die of starvation. They die of indigestion. They’re trying to take on too much too soon. So that’s what fanatical focus, which is one of our pillars in preeminence is so important. You look at a Steve Jobs. He said no, a lot to a lot of the ideas at Apple and said yes to a few. And that was one of the keys to their success early on, is that he had laser like slingshot accuracy focus. So I would say to these budding growing entrepreneurs, know what you’re focused on and keep those swim lines clear. Watch out for the indigestion.
Rusty [00:22:58] Glenn, you talk about preeminence and you say that there are pillars there, strong of distinction around preeminence. Can you take us through those pillars?
Glenn [00:23:07] Sure. I’d be happy to have focused on seven in my book. And these are the seven for me. One is trust. Nothing moves faster than the speed of trust, it’s the glue of life. As Stephen Covey writes about. The second one is relationship building for me. Relationship building is about a commitment to establishing and investing in relationships that genuinely matter to you. It’s the opposite of networking. Networking is about meeting people in relation to buildings, about investing in people relationship building as a commitment. Networking is a task. 3 is marketing communications. The whole brand bank account that every business has. You’ve got to make deposits into that brand bank account and be the best brand polisher you can be for your organization and polish that brown brand just a little bit every day. So first is trust. Second is relationship building. Third is marketing communications. The fourth is assessment.
[00:24:08] It’s assessing your business well, not just being in the business, but on the business, as has been said many times. There’s seven questions I’ve identified in this assessment section that I think preeminent organizations ask themselves. One of those questions, for example, is why do we need to anticipate they’re constantly anticipating about where they’re heading and what’s around the Riverbend for their business. Questions are the language of strategy. An assessment is a keystone in the arch for preeminence. And there’s a lot of questions that are asked there. The fifth is cultural torture of servant leadership is combining servant leadership, which we see in Christ with the torch that you shine literally around all the time. If you’re around Chick-Fil-A like I am all the time, it’s like they’re carrying around a beautiful torch this warm and attractive, and they’re combining it with servant leadership. So the cultural torch servant leadership is key. Then fanatical focus being narrow and deep on what you need to focus on, on a business. Knowing your swim lines, not being afraid to say no. Sleeping on decisions. Having a really good laser like focus. And then finally is remarkable resiliency, which to me is about never giving up, never getting out, never giving and striving, stretching and straining in the arena of competition and having buoyancy. You may be pushed down one day and it’s a tough day in your business, but you pop back up the next day, you’re buoyant and you get back at it. You’re resilient. There’s a wonderful poem called Invictus, which is about resiliency. I recommend to your listeners it’s a beautiful poem that Nelson Mandela recited when he was in prison many, many years. So those are the seven trust relationship, building, marketing, communications assessment, cultural torture of servant leadership, fanatical focus and remarkable resiliency.
Rusty [00:26:00] What I love about those, Glenn, is it doesn’t matter what size or age your company is. You can be working on those all the time.
Glenn [00:26:11] That’s a great point. So true. I love that.
Rusty [00:26:15] It’s really it’s really helpful for our entrepreneurs that are out there trying to build, you know, preeminence of better, working towards a day when, you know, others in themselves can look at it and say, you know, you really have built something that’s preeminent landing and.
William [00:26:31] Yeah, ain’t it? Right, right. Right.
Rusty [00:26:34] I’m not going to let you get away, though, without giving another little piece of advice on keeping a communication message fresh for a company, especially small entrepreneurs. They don’t have a lot of resources, but they do have a marketing communication message to customers, to partners, to employees, to their shareholders. Any nugget there on just how to keep it fresh?
Glenn [00:26:59] Well, first of all, we’re all in the freshness business. You may be in the food business. And of course, it’s about serving fresh food every day. You may be in a steel business or in the professional services business listening in. You’re in the freshness business, too. You’ve got to serve fresh thinking and execution and implementation. We’re all in the freshness business. So let’s remember that the lights come on every day in our respective businesses. It’s kind of the freshness. Why, for me, when I see those lights come on, it’s just. Here we go again. It’s a new day. Let’s be fresh serve fresh thinking and in execution and implementation of the best messages for me. As you know, you need to really find a simple message. Don’t complicated and find that rinse and repeat message that you can say a lot. A good friend of mine, Jeff Henderson. And when that church part of North Point says know leaders are repeaters, they repeat messages a lot. They’re not afraid to do that.
[00:28:03] So find a good, simple, clear message and repeat it often and do it with freshness. If you’re singing that song for the first time, imagine how many times James Taylor has sung. You’ve got a friend, but if you hear for a baby, sing it the 10000 time at your concert you’re attending. But you want that to be fresh, right? And good. And we’ve got to do the same thing.
William [00:28:26] Speaking of things right along that as we come to a close, one of our favorite things to go back to is the living word of God, which is fresh every day. God displays new mercy to us every day. And we would love to if you wouldn’t mind letting our listeners in to a little more, maybe where God has you and his word. This could be somebody he talks to this morning. You mentioned a season he’s edging in earlier. So maybe I’m just expounding on that a little bit more. But just maybe a passage or a topic that he’s been taking you through? Well, we always find it fun to see how God weaves our guests and our listeners together after a scripture.
Glenn [00:29:03] Well, thanks for asking me. One of my favorite psalms, and I think it’s a great song for business. And I read it almost every day is Psalm 112. It’s really for the person who wants to strive to finish well and lead a life of integrity. And I was reading this morning from Eugene Peterson the message, someone 12. And it really struck me, if you don’t mind, I’ll I’ll read a few verses from it.
William [00:29:30] Absolutely.
Glenn [00:29:31] It says a blessed man, blessed woman who fear God to cherish and relish his commandments. Their children will be robust on the earth and their homes or the uprise, how blessed their house is brand with wealth and a generosity that never runs dry. Sunrise breaks through the darkness for good people. God’s grace and mercy and justice. The good person is generous and lends lavishly. No shuffling or stumbling around for this one. But I love this phrase, but a sterling and solid and lasting reputation, unfazed by rumor, heart ready, trusting and God, spirit, firm, unperturbed, ever blessed, relaxed among their enemies. They lavish gifts on the poor. A generosity that goes on and on and on and honored life. A beautiful life. I pray that your listeners will have an honored and beautiful life and their generosity will go on and on and their spirit will be firm and unperturbed, and they will, as they build their business, have a sterling and solid and lasting reputation. Heart ready, trusting in God.
Rusty [00:30:43] Amen, amen. Thank you so much. There’s so much here to spend time with. And thank you for sharing your experience and your wisdom and your heart with us today means a lot.
Glenn [00:30:55] Thank you for having me. Been a real blessing.
William [00:30:58] And we’ll put a link to your book if people want to go deeper into the pillars level, link to that. I want to release the podcast. Thank you so much for joining us, been a true pleasure.
Glenn [00:31:07] Well, it’s been an honor and a privilege. And you guys fight on straight for the journey.
