Wade Bales

Jeremie Kubicek is the founder of the GiANT Companies (GiANT Worldwide, GiANT Impact, GiANT Partners, GiANT Capital and GiANT Experiences) and the author of Making Your Leadership Come Alive (a Wall Street Journal and INC. Magazine bestseller). They own and operate the global brands and events, Catalyst and the Leadercast.

My Definition Of Success | My definition of success was achievement. Now it is fulfillment – the fulfilling of who I am and what I am called to do. I honestly believe there are millions more successful people in the world than we see because it has to do with a person fulfilling their mission more than being on TV or something shallow.

I Am Driven By | My drive comes from a deep desire of being a man after God’s own heart, advancing his Kingdom; helping people along the way and being able to encourage and inspire people on towards something deeper and better than the norm.

My Highlights | I have three amazing teenagers and a lovely wife. In 2002 I had the opportunity to face my death bed. I stopped breathing for 4 minutes while in a traffic accident. I got to see the end of my life and the three questions I asked God were, “Was I your man? Was I a good husband and was I a good daddy?” I didn’t think of my awards or businesses or possessions. They didn’t even come to mind. That is my highlight. I got to the end of life and saw the priorities and now get to finish strong.

The Difference Between Good And Great | Years of consistency. I think the great people have persevered over decades and stayed the course and then became an overnight “success”. Consistency + perseverance + faith lead to successful people.

A Key Talent | Connectivity. One of the hardest things to do well consistently is connecting w people via emotional intelligence. For me that means that I need to know myself well and learn to know others well so that I can connect on their level in the right way in the right time and hopefully for the right reason.

Critical Skills I Develop | Learning how to build up people – to learn how to support and challenge them. It is critical. I know a great number of good leaders who have not given themselves away to others. They are selfish and don’t know it. I was this for almost two decades of business. You must learn to raise up the people around you to be successful long term.

How I Use My Mind | Our minds create patterns like computer programs that are amazing consistent. I have been working to renew my mind and observe the patterns that I set in order to change the patterns via a renewed mind. I can’t do this on my own so I ask God to help me. So, I am constantly judging my motives and observing my tendencies of when I get mad or upset or sad or envious…I am observing my natural actions to those tendencies and looking to see if I have created a pattern or habit here that does the same things the same ways consistently. When I observe those patterns I then play out the consequences and try to adjust to see if my consequences change and thus my reality.
For instance, when you are mad, what do you tend to do? Sulk? Fight? Slander? When you observe it you will see your actions and then find the pattern that normally occurs because of years of doing the same things. Each action then leads to a consequence. If you change your action or reaction to your tendency then you will change the trajectory of the consequence and see a new reality around you. That is just one example. Observe your tendencies and you will find your patterns.

Dealing With Doubt | Every leader I know struggles with this all of the time. A great story comes from the American folk hero, Daniel Boone. When he was out pioneering in Kentucky looking for a new site for a town, he got weary and sat by a tree. The gnats overwhelmed him as he sat there. He then wrote, “gnats are like worry. They surround and bother the leader who has something big to do.” He went on to say, “The only swatter I know of is vision. Vision swats the gnats of worry away.”

The Best Advice I’ve Received | In your 20’s it is not what you do, but who you work for that makes all the difference. If you focus on being apprenticed rather than making money you will be in a better position in your 40’s to have the impact you desire.

Advice On Building Wealth | There is no money or time in heaven. These are man’s standards. When you find the things that are important to God then you will become important to those seeking to become wise. When you gain the world as your goal, you lose your soul and become worthless.

The Legacy I Would Like To Leave | That I was a man who fought for the highest possible good of those around me. That I loved them well.