What do you think about when you hear the word integrity? Do you think about other people lacking integrity? Or maybe people who have displayed excellent integrity? Our guest today is Jeffrey Klubeck, who shares with us how he defines integrity and how it applies to your business and personal life.
TODAY’S WIN-WIN:
Holding steadfast to your integrity is comparable to the structural integrity of a building.
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ABOUT OUR GUEST:
Jeff recently released his book, The Integrity Game, weaves his 10 points of integration into a thought provoking and actionable parable. An upbeat and charismatic coach and consultant. He focuses on how to make businesses and entrepreneurs thrive while not losing a sense of what makes a company outstanding: Leadership. Jeffrey is a successful author that has worked with small and big businesses, including State Farm, Brian Tracy International, and Biogen.
ABOUT BIG SKY FRANCHISE TEAM:
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TRANSCRIPTION:
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:01):
Welcome to the Multiply Your Success podcast, where each week we help growth-minded entrepreneurs and franchise leaders take the next step in their expansion journey. I’m your host, Tom DuFore, CEO of Big Sky Franchise Team. And as we open today, I’m wondering what you think about when you hear the word integrity? And do you think about other people lacking integrity or maybe people have displayed excellent integrity? And our guest today is Jeffrey Klubeck, who shares with us how he defines integrity and how it applies to your business and personal life.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (00:39):
Now, Jeff recently released his book The Integrity Game, which weaves his 10 points of integration into a thought-provoking and actionable parable. As an upbeat and charismatic coach and consultant, he focuses on how to make businesses and entrepreneurs thrive while not losing a sense of what makes a company outstanding, which is leadership. Jeff is a successful author that has worked with small and big businesses, including companies like State Farm, Brian Tracy International, and Biogen. So let’s go ahead and jump right into my interview with Jeffrey Klubeck.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (01:14):
My name is Jeff Klubeck and I’m the founder, author, speaker, head coach of a new brand called The Integrity Game, but it’s owned by my parent company, Get a Klu Incorporated. So I’m marketing myself, branding myself. But we’re growing with this new brand Integrity Game.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:27):
Great. I love it. And I love the Get a Klu because it’s K-L-U, like your last name. I thought that was very clever, very well played.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (01:35):
Yeah, it’s interesting. There’s mixed feelings about it. I’m really glad that you appreciate it. But it’s so attached to my name. That’s why I like The Integrity Game better as a brand because it’s more scalable in that regard. But it is boutiquey and tongue in cheeky, and that’s jovial and that’s a lot about my personality. So thank you for that, Tom.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (01:52):
And with this new brand, the Integrity Game, that’s the name of your new book as well. And that’s really what I was hoping to talk through. So for our audience, chances are they haven’t read it yet, hopefully after this interview they will. Give us a summary here. Talk about The Integrity Game.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (02:08):
Yeah, there’s a lot of things that I could say about it. Try to simplify it. It’s a parable, so it’s a made up story. There’s a rich tradition of parables being effective in the personal professional growth space like Move My Cheese or One Minute Manager or the E-Myth Revisited. The parable format makes a lot of difficult or complex or deep diving concepts more digestible. Quick read. So it’s very much a quick read. But that acts as Trojan Horse to get a 10 point model introduced into our world. And when most people use the word integrity, they’re using it from a place of judgment to judge somebody else for not being their word or judge somebody else for not doing the same thing when somebody’s watching as when nobody’s watching. So what I’m trying to do in the integrity game is make it easy and fun to look within to create a 10 point framework, which can be a system or a process or a mechanism for increasing one zone or teams or organization’s integrity.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (03:04):
A lot of people could say, “That person’s out of integrity or that person has no integrity or that person needs more integrity,” and I’d say, “Well, okay, if we were going to increase that person’s integrity, how would we do that?” Is there a step-wise or a systematic approach to increasing our own or another’s integrity? If I’m a leader and want more integrity or if I’m a leader and want my direct reports to have more integrity, what’s step one? What’s step two? What’s step three? Or what doors do I knock on to get into that room? I’m trying to making it easy and fun to look within when we’re playing this integrity game.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (03:37):
Really, really interesting. And in the opening part of your book, you talked about focusing on the word integration when you talk about the word integrity. Love for you, just to talk a little bit about that and what you mean there.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (03:52):
By the way, props to you, Tom, because it’s a great question. Normally I have to introduce this concept, but for you to bring it out is really exciting for me. So I really mean what I’m saying when I say thank you right there. So imagine I’m doing public speaking on the integrity game as a keynote. And I’ll ask everybody, “By show of hands, how many of you believe you have integrity?” You can imagine 100% of the room raises their hand. And I say, “Keep your hands up and repeat after me, ‘I do solemnly swear, swear not to shoot the messenger in 45 minutes’” as an attention getter, but I want good ratings. I want to be invited back as the speaker. So, “Hang on, before I offend anybody, let’s make sure we’re talking about the same thing.” And to your question, that’s [inaudible 00:04:31], “Well, what is it?”
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (04:32):
And I’ll let the audience tell me. This is the interactive part of the keynote. What is integrity? And I always get two answers. I alluded to them a second ago, I’ll repeat them now in the context of this question. One answer I always get is be your word. Do what you say you’re going to do. And then people nod like you just did. Okay, and then we pin that on the board. And then I’ll say, “Does anybody else have an answer?” And then somebody will say, “Do the same thing when nobody’s watching that you would when somebody is watching. Or do the right thing regardless of who’s watching.” And then I see your face again, light up. So we’ll pin those two answers on the board. Do the right thing regardless of who’s watching and be your word. Anybody else, anybody else? And usually even if somebody who says the same answer in a flowery way or a different language pattern, it’s still the same thing. And those are judgment-based interpretations. Judgment-based understandings.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (05:18):
So here’s interesting when you talk about integration. Over here, when we be our word, we’re integrating. There is a coming together with word and behavior. And over here, when we do the right thing, when regardless of who’s watching, there’s an integration, a coming together of behavior with values, morals, or ethics. So in both of the examples that I pull from audiences or that is at the tip of our tongue or the forefront of our mind when we think about integrity, if we were asked to define it, we would say, “Be your word or do the right thing.” So in both of those cases, there’s a coming together of one thing with another.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (05:51):
And here’s what’s cool, Tom. In both cases, it’s behavior. That’s the evidence of our integrity. It’s not what I thought I was going to do, not what I meant to do, not how I would describe myself [inaudible 00:06:00] in public, not the peer pressure to raise my hands. So I’m not seeing like … But what did you do? Did the behavior integrate with your word? And did the behavior integrate with your values, morals, and ethics? So I like these two answers because it allows us to introduce the notion of integration.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (06:19):
Now, where it falls apart though is if I said I was going to drink 18 beers before this podcast interview and then I drink 18 beers before the podcast interview, I will have done what I said I was going to do. But could I claim integrity? And we both know the answer is no.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (06:35):
And then on the other side over here, sometimes time is money. Sometimes patience is a virtue. Sometimes if you never quit, you never lose. And sometimes you better know when to cut your losses. So is its what’s right a moving target and doesn’t it shift from culture to context to sit you? The example that I give a lot lately, even coming out of the holidays, four months removed, five months removed from the holidays, is that we would all agree, you should never lie. But there’s this thing called El on a shelf that has us lying to our children for 26 days every year. So don’t lie, except when … but okay, but if it’s convenient and if I’m going to avoid … So what’s right or wrong is a moving target. And most people are sitting here in judgment of others. And I want to put an end to all of that.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (07:17):
So we like the idea of integregation, coming together of two or more things, but word and behavior and behavior and values isn’t enough. I believe there are 10 things that we want to bring together, that if we work towards bringing 10 things together, if we have answers to 10 question sets and we make sure those answers integrate, we’re going to have more focus, more resilience, more success, we’re going to attract the right people, we’re going to have to be better time managers. On and on and on and on and on. So the coming together. And it’s embarrassing. It’s embarrassing Tom, because they start with the same six letters, integrity and integration. But not one person I’ve ever asked what is integrity will use the word integration in their answer because most of us were ready to judge others instead of look within.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (08:02):
I think that’s very well said. That’s really what stood out to me. Integration and integrity, I’ve never heard it described in such way. But it’s that combination, the integration I should say of what you say and what you do. And do they match, right? Are they aligned or not to create that integrity? You mention a couple times this 10 step or these 10 questions. Let’s talk through those.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (08:26):
It starts at the top. And by the way, part of this, my genius isn’t that I created these 10 things, I just integrated them. I fit it in one model. So anyway, so first of all, the very first question that we want to ask is purpose. Purpose. And like Simon Sinek who’s popularizing, “Start With Why.” And it’s been proven throughout time. What’s the purpose of the meeting? What’s the purpose of this speech? What’s the purpose of this business? So I’m not making anything up here, but I’m just putting it in a [inaudible 00:08:51] position in my model.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (08:52):
The very first thing you want to ask is, first of all, questions like what’s the meaning of life? If you don’t have an answer to that, how will you value life? How will you optimize life? How will you invest it? How will you get every second out of it? You know what I’m saying? You don’t want to take it for granted. So first of all, what’s the meaning of life? Do you have any sort of thought leadership around that grounds you in any sort of humility or grace or whatever your theology or whatever? But then … Ready? What’s the meaning of your life? Forget why does life exist, but why does my life exist? Why am I on the planet?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (09:23):
And what the integrity game teaches that it’s okay if your answer to that question changes tomorrow. What’s not okay is every day without an answer because you’re building a mansion on top of quicksand if you don’t have answers to purpose, you don’t have answers to why. So it starts there. And most people never get asked that. Most people are never held to account, to declaring a why for their life. Why does my life exist? What’s my purpose on this planet?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (09:44):
Now, I can tell you two and a half years ago, my purpose was to help my parents reach mortality and grace in COVID when they were failing and they passed three weeks apart. My number one purpose in life was to be the best son I could be and help my parents reach mortality and grace. Two and a half years later, my purpose is to make accountability non-threatening and I’m using The Integrity Game to do it.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (10:02):
So I have an answer to this, you follow? And at the worst times in my life, I didn’t have an answer and I was wondering what my answer was. The best times of my life, I absolutely know what my purpose is. So we want to start there. And maybe you don’t have answers to that and you move on to the second point in the model and see if you can answer that question and then go back and revisit.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (10:19):
So the second point on the model would be [inaudible 00:10:22] in one word. And for when you talk about multiplying success, you better know what your competitive advantages are, you better know what your unique selling proposition is, you better know what your differentiation is. So why do people want to buy from you instead of the competition? Why do people want to hire you instead of the competition? Why do people want to raise, promote and invest in you, do business with you, do deals with you instead of the competition? What are your manmade gifts that some other human being has given to you? Are we willing to receive? What are your self-generated gifts? What are you willing to do for yourself? And what would you consider a God-given gift or a spiritual or genetic or a behavioral style that you were born into the world? With whatever your theology or source of spirituality is.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (11:03):
So I like to integrate, play the integrity game. I think I’ve got some God-given communication skills. I had some people that let me money to stay in school and I was struggling as a young college student. That was manmade gifts that I had to be open to receiving and get away from foolish pride. But then I did self-generate and got a master’s degree in communication and have built this career as a adjunct professor and world-class coach. So I’ve integrated manmade, God-given, and self-generated gifts, but I know what my differentiation is. I know what I’m good at, I know what I’m not good at. I know why people would want to hire me. I know why they wouldn’t. But if we don’t have answers to that, we’re waiting for the rest of the world to define us rather than on and on. So these are two key points on the model. But transformational points. Just doing what you say you’re going to do is transactional. But why did you say you’re going to do that is transformational.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (11:48):
So without over elaborating. The third point is potential. If I know my purpose, I know my gifts, I can imagine a potential. And when I’m working with CEOs or C-suite or executive teams or leadership teams, get them out of the environment and say, “All right, vision is the farthest out we could possibly see. What do we see?” Mission is still a ways away, but it’s a destination, an arrival, an accomplishment that proves we’re on our way to that vision. And then objectives are annual. What are our annual objectives? So all of that is a three point breakdown on potential.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (12:18):
And then it breaks down even further. Less than a year, the fourth point on the model is goals. And I’m sure that you and your listeners know about smart goal setting. I added an A to that model and I changed the R to infuse it with more motivation and accountability.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (12:31):
And then strategies, tactics, and resources. Once we set a goal, what strategies, tactics, and resources are we going to choose or select from? Hopefully the ones match to our gifts and our advantages.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (12:41):
And then among all of our choices, what do we commit to? What’s our relationship with our word? What action do we take? Is our learning intentional or the hard way? Learning is the other point. If you don’t have purpose, you don’t have gifts, you don’t have potential declared, you’re going to learn a lot the hard way. It’s okay. Learning is good. Any learning is good learning. But if you have answers to purpose, gifts, potential, and goals, now you’re going to learn intentionally. You’re going to know exactly what you’re wanting to learn, why you want to learn it, how quickly you want to learn it, by when you want to be certified in it, and you’re going to integrate it with the rest of your game.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (13:14):
And then action and learning. So the next point on the model is accomplishment, accumulation of accomplishments. And so when our cup fill up, it could spill over into the final point of the model, which is service. Being clear about who we’re serving, what communities do we serve? Right now I’m serving students, young professionals, challenged athletes, youth baseball. I know where my money goes when I spill it over, I know who wins when I win, I know who benefits. So I have answers to all these 10 questions and I check in every now and then to retrofit my structural integrity.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (13:44):
But when we have answers to these 10 questions … I’ll just stop talking after I say this, Tom. A building, a bridge, or a tunnel has structural integrity. If what? If it keeps standing despite outside forces. So the integrity game tries to teach us that we’re no different. Individuals, teams, and organizations; we will have structural integrity if we withstand outside forces, keep doing what we’re meant to do. But without answers to these 10 questions, we will be susceptible to pressure tests. We will be vulnerable to outside forces if we don’t have the resilience and the structural integrity that answers to these 10 questions gives us.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (14:19):
Really fascinating. And when I hear you describe and go through all of these, like you said, they’re things we’ve probably all heard in bits and pieces, right? We’ve heard set your goals, start with why, plan, get a place and direction where you’re going. I like how you’ve accumulated and put them all together in a very clear, simple list.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (14:40):
Digestible. Because what I say, Tom, is the integrity game is as easy to understand as it is difficult to play.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (14:47):
And as I’ve been thinking about you talking about this integration, I’m going back to the very beginning, kind of this simple way of describing these 10 steps of that integration between what you say and what you do and coupling those together and certainly doing what’s right or good. What it leads me to think about is really the end result that this delivers in my mind at least, is it creates trust with those people that you are doing life with, business with, what have you. When those things are all together and in sync, there’s a trust factor there that we may not all be able to articulate quite as well. As we’re going through it, we’re like, “Why do I just trust this person? What? Am I crazy? What’s wrong here?” But no, you’re not. You might not. Intuitively you know. There’s an intuitive sense without clearly describing. I really just like this integration piece and these 10 steps you shared.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (15:46):
Without going to it visually, when I’m doing keynote on this, I ask the audiences to imagine tennis shoes and the laces. So what are the laces doing? If you imagine going into a hole and diagonal when you’re … and you … I love making that noise when you got the lace and you cinch them up. So the laces are not tying the shoe. We tie the laces. What the laces are doing is integrating the left side with the right side, bringing the left side and the right side closer. Why? So the shoe can do what it was made to do. The shoe can do what is built to do. The shoe can reach its potential, serve its purpose, which to stay on and protect our foot.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (16:26):
Now, if there’s no laces or the laces are untied, anything out of integrity invites everything else to be out of integrity. So now the shoe could give you a flat tire, it could come off your foot, you could step on a rock, then you’re delayed. You’re two minutes behind because you got a put a new sock on or get a band-aid. And so there’s a ripple effect in the negative way if we give into anything, if we allow anything to be out of integrity , it invites everything else.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (16:48):
So as a visual, imagine 10 holes on a sneaker. Purpose, gifts, potential, goals. So it’s a beautiful visual to see the laces that bring these 10 points together and it helps a learner, whether it’s a professional learner in a corporation or a college level senior at San Diego State where I’m teaching classes this semester, it helps a learner see the integrity game as a function of structural integrity. That it’s our effort to answer these questions that gives our life, our teams, our careers, our businesses, structural integrity to withstand outside forces.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (17:25):
Somebody comes along right now and says, “Hey, Jeff, here’s an opportunity,” or “Can you help me with this?” Or, “I need you to do that.” It either fits or it doesn’t fit my current set of answers. It makes it very easy to say, “Yes, that fits. I’m a yes to that.” Or, “You know what? Thank you for asking me, but right now I’m working on my game. And so ask me again in six months after I achieved these goals I’m working on.” And it’s totally polite and it’s not a conflict. And most people are blown around like a feather in the wind not knowing which opportunity is going to lead them to success. But we have to look within and have our answers to these questions, in my opinion.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (17:57):
Well, Jeff, this is a great time in the show for us to make a transition where we ask every guest the same four questions before they go. And the first question we always ask every guest is, have you had a miss or two in your career? And something you learned from it?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (18:10):
Yeah. Oh, well, I mean, if I can expand from career to life, when I think about misses, I go back to high school. I was a freshman. I made the junior varsity basketball team. But at the end of my freshman year, before sophomore year, I developed bursitis in my left leg and I couldn’t run for a period of months and I had to go to doctors and they didn’t figure it out in CAT scans and CT scans, et cetera. But the miss was that I didn’t continue to show up when my team, my high school basketball team was playing in spring league and playing in summer league in between 9th and 10th grade, I thought, “Well, I’m hurt. I can’t play,” so I didn’t go to the practices, I didn’t go to the games. I didn’t sit on the bench and cheer on my teammates. I was dumb. I was ignorant. And I didn’t have the leadership and the mentoring in my life that said, “Hey, look, hurt or not hurt, you’re a member of the team. You go and you contribute any way you can.”
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (19:02):
That was a big miss for me at that time. My career on the basketball team was short-lived because when I came back I’m like, “Hey, where do I go?” I was not well received because I didn’t get it. And so that was a big miss that served me the rest of my life. And my son is a division one athlete. He’s heading to San Diego State on a baseball scholarship. So we made sure that he showed up every time that he was never amiss. Even though it was a miss for me, the only mistake you regret is the one you don’t learn from. And so I’m happy that we figured it out with my kids. We want them to have a better life than us.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (19:35):
And let’s look at the other side. We talk about a make or two you’d like to share. And to your point, it can be personal, professional at any time here.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (19:43):
Yeah. Well, first of all, Mary Anne, my wife, she said yes. Are you kidding me? Oh, man. That’s like number one, I wake up every day and I figure out how I’m going to deserve my wife and kids. I have done a good job with kids. I did choose well in who I wanted to raise children with. And I proved that I’m a good salesperson because she said yes. Can’t believe it. All these years later, I fell in love with her when I was 19. She was 18, and we’ve been together essentially ever since. And that’s what everything’s all about.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (20:09):
But in addition to that, staying in school. Like I mentioned it earlier, when I thought I had to drop out of school and I didn’t have the money to stay in college, my boss at campus, he took me to lunch and with his boss, and they said, “Jeff, we don’t want to lose you. And if we lent you money to be a part-time student, would you pay us back a hundred dollars a month? We want to keep you on campus as an employee, but if you drop out of school, chances are low that you’re going to get back. And so you’ve got too bright of a future.”
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (20:33):
So like pride and foolish pride. I had to call my parents that night and say, “Hey, guess what? You can’t do it. Don’t worry about that. But you raised a kid that these people want to invest in. Can I receive this loan? Do I have your blessing to receive this loan?” No foolish pride. And I don’t know how I was mature enough to have that conversation with my parents at 19 years old. But that’s what happened. And that was to make sure my parents knew that instead of being sad that they didn’t have the money, that they should be proud that they raised a kid that other human beings wanted to invest in. And then I wanted that permission to be an adult and say yes to this, put myself in debt to other people, but to stay in school.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (21:07):
And so I ended up getting a master’s I taught for 20 years before retiring, and now I’m back in the classroom and I’ve written books and I’ve been around the world as a coach, consultant, trainer, et cetera. One of my biggest makes right now is getting back on campus at San Diego State. And the difference I’m making for college level seniors in the School of Communication at San Diego State University. Tons and tons of pride there. So I can keep going. Lots of makes, lots of makes, but it all comes down to my desire to make my parents proud.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (21:31):
Really, I would say the maturity of having that conversation with your parents and being able to see it the way you did, I think whether you are college student or goodness, I know plenty of 50 and 60 year olds that do not have the ability to have that kind of maturity and understanding and recognize that. So that’s really, really impressive there.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (21:51):
Don’t ask me to explain how I was aware of those things. I’m not sure, honestly, I’m not sure. Some things are as undeniable as they are unexplainable. We had the conversation, but I don’t know how it happened.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (22:02):
Well, let’s talk about a multiplier that you’ve used to grow yourself, your companies, personally, professionally.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (22:10):
Yeah, you can ask me to elaborate on any of these if you want to. But the ones that come to mind, first of all, public speaking. I don’t know if there’s any greater way to … talk about multiplier. Do you want to sell one-to-one or one to many? I mean, it’s just simple math. I could sell one at a time or I can speak to a hundred people. So there’s no greater way to build your business, build your brand, make an influence, make impact in public speaking. It’s one of the reasons I love doing podcasts. It’s public speaking. So it’s a multiplier.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (22:34):
Another multiplier that I love is white labeling. Solopreneurs, service providers, they think it needs to be them. John Doe and Associates, John Doe, Inc. Doe Re Mi. They’ll use their name. And I even did this, Get a Klu. But really the multiplier is white labeling. When I strip my own name off of my services so that anybody can sell me for a markup and then I can get assignments, I don’t mind being Coach Jeffrey for somebody else’s brand. You want to market, you want to sell it, you want a customer service, you want to write the contract, you want to get the venue, you want to just call me and tell me where to be, I show up, I do my thing, and I split. That’s a multiplier. Why labeling our services. But you got to be willing to take your ego out of it. And you can’t play the, “Well they’re paying you this. How come I’m only getting that?” Stop that. Because the cost of client acquisition is worth a lot. Anyway, so public speaking and white labeling are two from a business perspective and a solo entrepreneurial and on and on.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (23:35):
The other thing is read. Read, read, read, read, read. Read the books that you need to read. Get mentoring. Beyond learning. Or the best way to learn, teach something. Make a decision that you’re going to learn something so well that you’re going to teach it. And guess what’s going to happen as soon as you start to teach it? You’re going to learn it even better. So you want to multiply your knowledge? Endeavor to teach. You want to multiply your skills, your ability, your contacts, the doors that could be open for you, the favors that you can do, and the favors that you can call in? Read books, get mentoring, put yourself out there. You want to multiply your business, your prospects, your spirit influence? Do some public speaking, have your messaging down, and white label. Be willing to white label your services. Leave your ego at the door if other people want to get you gigs, then let that happen.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (24:21):
The final question we ask every guest before they go is, what does success mean to you?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (24:26):
Woo. Success. I mean, what a tough question. And first of all, I’d want to say that I love the way you asked the question, what does it mean to you? You didn’t say, “What is success,” as if I’m responsible for the universal answer. I really believe that it’s an inside job. It’s an individual game. It’s an autobiographical relationship. Do you feel fulfilled or empty? Energetically, spiritually, emotionally? Achievements. There’s a difference between fame. A lot of people know you and achievement where you accomplished something. So I’m a big fan of mind the gap. What’s the difference between success and achievement? Fame and achievement? Popularity and accomplishment? So what are tangible achievements? Whether it’s my youngest son, my 10-year-old, he took in the trash cans from the curb without being asked. It was an achievement. All the way up to writing a book, or producing a master’s thesis, or winning an award, making a sale, hitting a quota, paying dividends, paying back a loan. It was an achievement to pay back by college loans. That was an achievement. So success involves fulfillment, achievement.
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (25:28):
The third thing I would add, it can’t be scarcity. It can’t be sustenance. And it can’t be scarcity. It’s got to be abundant. There’s got to be an element of abundance more than enough of what? Well, what are our most precious resources, Tom? Time, money, health, and space. Do I have the space? Do I have the health and the energy and the vitality? Do I have the money? Do I have time for others, myself, my kids, et cetera? So if I have an abundance of time, money, health and space, I am successful.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (26:08):
I love it. Before we go here, Jeff, is there anything you were maybe hoping to share or get across that you haven’t had a chance to yet?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (26:15):
I don’t think so. I’d like to reemphasize what I think I mentioned early on is just my gratitude. For the way that this works and the way people come to be guests on podcasts and the amount of work that a podcast host does, not just to conceive it, conceptualize it, but then the technical and the editing, the production and the booking of guests and the instructions. I have a lot of respect and admiration for what you’re doing as the host. I think my job as a guest is the easy part; show up and answer questions. But for you to realize, “Hey, this guy is going to be valuable to my audience, I’m interested in the integrity game,” I would like to just re-articulate my gratitude. Thank you so much for having me on. I really appreciate it, Tom.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (26:56):
Well, thank you for your time as well. And while we’re talking about The Integrity game, how can someone get a copy of your book?
Jeffrey Klubeck, Get A Klu, Inc. (27:03):
Yeah, well, it’s easy to find. The Integrity Game on Amazon. It’s like 13, 14 bucks or whatever. That’s the best way. 13, $14. I think the Kindle version is $5. I’m easy to find. Even though things are growing and hopefully one day I’ve got some assistant that screens all of my emails and stuff, right now I still respond to my own personal messaging. So you can find me on LinkedIn and send me a message. And if you send me a message and your address, I’ll sign a copy and send it out to you. It’s very casual, very conversational, very accessible, very personable. I’m very easy to find. The Integrity Game is easy to find. And I’m grateful in advance for anybody that makes the effort.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (27:41):
Jeff, thank you so much for a fantastic interview. And let’s go ahead and jump into today’s three key takeaways. So takeaway number one is when Jeff described how he defines integrity, and he said in all of his sessions and seminars, “It always comes down to two things, and it says, one is to be your word and two to do the right thing.” So essentially, do what you say and say what you do and to do the right thing. And he said in each answer, “It’s a behavior that matters, not what you say, but what you do.”
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (28:15):
Take away number two is when Jeff described integration of what you say and what you do create alignment, which ultimately creates integrity. And he gave the illustration of imagining a pair of tennis shoes and think about the laces of the shoes. The laces are integrating the left and right side of the shoe. And so when the laces are not tied or put together, well, the integrity of that shoe is not there anymore. So you have to have that integration.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (28:46):
And takeaway number three is when he shared a miss that he had. And I thought this was great. He shared how he had made the junior varsity team in high school, had an injury, and decided that he was not going to show up for any practices or for any games or anything like that. And then the next season ended up, as I recall, he didn’t make the team. And the lesson there is that you still need to show up because he was part of the team. Even though he wasn’t actively playing, he was still a part of the team and needed to be there. I thought that was just a great lesson learned and takeaway.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (29:21):
And now it’s time for today’s win-win. So today’s win-win is when Jeff shared with us the analogy about a building and having structural integrity. And he said, “The building has structural integrity if it remains standing and its foundation and all the parts that make structural integrity sound.” And he said, “That type of structural integrity applies to you and me and everyone in our organization, that when we have personal integrity and we keep that structure sound, we keep that alignment or that integration there to withstand outside pressures that are coming at us. We maintain and keep our personal integrity.”
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (30:13):
I thought that was a great takeaway from our conversation today, and that’s going to be a win for you and for me and for anyone else that applies and implements that. So really appreciate that interview today.
Dr. Tom DuFore, Big Sky Franchise Team (30:25):
And that’s the episode today, folks. Please make sure you subscribe to the podcast. Make sure you give us a review. And remember, if you or anyone might be ready to franchise your business or take their franchise company to the next level, please connect with us at bigskyfranchiseteam.com. Thanks for tuning in, and we look forward to having you back next week.