SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Ask for the Skinny Podcast with a guest. I'm proud to present William Todman. Please tell us what is your story?

SPEAKER_01 0:14

So it's uh yeah, so Wilfred Todman. Um I am the uh author of the Uncorporate Leader. I am a military veteran, uh, a father, uh husband. Um yeah, I work with uh unified communications. I have a bit of a heavy background. Uh so I work with Unified Communications at the moment. I come from a project project engineering project management background, along with um uh heavy in logistics and supply chain management uh for the military. Uh and yeah, that's uh that that wraps me up.

SPEAKER_00 0:52

Uh what is the project that you're currently working on? What is the most important thing? What uh what what what is the the thing that occupies uh your mind and uh what is the story about that?

SPEAKER_01 1:06

Uh the so I would say the thing that occupies my mind the most in my current role, um I have the perfect role right now, as in I do a bit of uh technic, a bit of technical things, and I do a lot of mingling. So uh whereas some people in the IT field prefer to work uh you know remotely, uh I have the perfect job where I can work remotely, but I can also go out and I can be customer-facing as well. So uh working with my team since I'm not alone and working with customers, one of the things that's always on my mind is just you know, people and people-centric stuff like managing personalities, of course, because we are providing a service. So you have customers that want things, and because of the inter-environment that we're in, uh everything is now now now. So working with customers and working with people in general is something that gets me uh really excited, whether it be in a management role or just in an interpersonal role.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Okay, uh, you're talking about excitement. How do you take care of yourself that you don't get uh burned out and that you can continue working with people every day and giving them all your uh great vibes? Um, how do you take care of yourself? How do you avoid burnout in your role? Because you have to travel a lot, you're yeah on the field all the time. Uh please tell us a bit more about your routine, how how you transfer that?

SPEAKER_01 2:41

So I I am an avid gym goer. So one of the things that I like to say uh to the people that I mentor and to some of the individuals that I work with, one of the things I always say is when you're a dad or a husband or you know you have more than one job, well, the things that you do on a daily basis are really uh for others, right? Because when we're in management positions, we work for our employees and when we're fathers, we work for to take care of our families. So one of the things I believe is out of the 24 hours in a day, I I try to seize the time that belongs to me. So I control when I go to the gym and I control what I eat. And for the most part, those are the things that are 100% in uh in my control. So I'm an avid gym goer, and that usually gets my first win out of the day because I've won the part of the day that belongs to me. So it kind of makes everything else attainable, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 3:43

Amazing. Um is just part of the occasion, and yeah, uh what what's your how do you say positive? Because you're an extremely positive person, and uh you just when you come into the room, everything starts shining. You have such a good life.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

I appreciate that. I appreciate that. Um, one of the things I would blame it, well, not blame, right? I would give the credit to my mother. So one of the things that my my mom would always say, no matter what situation she finds herself in, if I asked her, like, how are you doing, she would always say, Thank God for life. Even if um, even when in her later years, uh, you know, when she was sick before she passed, I could physically see that she wasn't in the best of shape. But when I asked her, hey mom, how you doing? She would always smile and say, you know, thank God for life. And so I kind of adapted that. And it I just feel like everybody is going through something. It's very hard for us to come up with something that somebody else isn't going through. So I try to keep that at the forefront of my mind when I communicate with people. I usually say when you communicate with people, you communicate with what's happening in their lives too. So sometimes when you when you are uh in the times when you feel invisible, sometimes it helps to see other people because then in return you're seen as well, you know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 5:08

Yes. So basically, you're what what you give is what you get.

SPEAKER_01 5:14

Perfect. That's the perfect way to say it. Yeah, what you give is what you get. I like that.

SPEAKER_00 5:18

Yeah, so how important is mentorship in your life?

SPEAKER_01 5:25

Mentorship to me, mentorship is very it's it's it's at the forefront, but I feel like uh sometimes when we say mentorship, uh we forget that sometimes mentorship comes in the form of people showing you what not to do. So I feel like uh I feel like uh life is a compilation of taking what works and acknowledging what doesn't work and making those your standards for rules that you just refuse to break, if that makes sense. And so mentorship is important in the fact that mentors are great, and it's great to be in it's great to have individuals, especially in the in the line of work that you're you're that you find yourself in. But I believe that everybody is a mentor because some people show you what not to do as well. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:15

Amazing. I would like to have your take. Uh as far as mentorship is uh yeah concerned, how important or which would you say it's more important and you can only choose one? Okay, is it more important that your mentor is the one that motivates you, or as you have hinted a bit, or is it more important that uh your mentor is your accountability partner and makes you accountable?

SPEAKER_01 6:50

I'm a pretty motivated individual, so I would go with the accountability partner. Like, um, I don't I I tend to not have issues, uh not have issues being motivated. I always say, like, even the people at work, they're like, How you doing today? I say, hey, people like to say we all uh we all humans and we put our pants on one leg at a time the same way. And I always say, nah, not me. I hang my pants at the end of the bed and I do a round off and then I backflip into it and then I go about my business. So I'm pretty motivated. So I would say the accountability is definitely uh is more what I would lean into, having somebody to not necessarily be accountable, but like a fact check. Sometimes we think that we write, and you would swear up and down that you write, but it's good to have that unbiased uh opinion to run it by your mentors and be able to have that unbiased opinion that kind of guide you back to conversations that may not have gone the way we wanted to, that we could go back and reevaluate and you know, and probably pick up those conversations and see if we have a different outcome. So I think that's more important than motivation, as far as I go.

SPEAKER_00 8:02

Thank you. And that brings me to my evergreen question What can people do with books? How important are books in uh our lives? Uh what can we achieve with YouTube videos like this? What can we learn from them? Can we change our life just by watching them? Uh how important are workshops? You mentioned that you like being uh in front of the people and uh working with the people on the the the last part of how important is uh the mentorship could you could you pick which one is the most important and just uh and then go further from most to the least important uh in the process of transformation? Um we are we are looking at someone that says, okay, I don't like or I don't uh I don't live the life I I I would like to, I don't like how my life is now. Uh where should they start and how important is uh books, revidos, um paid workshops, and mentors.

SPEAKER_01 9:15

Okay. My first my my first and foremost thing that I would like to put out is uh realizing real I I I always start with myself first, right? Because sometimes as as as individuals that we're when we're not happy with where we are and we're trying to get somewhere, right? Uh life is not easy and it's not supposed to be, right? We make a lot of decisions on a daily basis and things like this. So I like to say you have to be able, you have to be able to identify, you know what? The best way to say it is sometimes we make happiness everywhere that we aren't. And we we look at the guy that has the big job, the big car, and we're like, if I was only over there, I would be happy. And then you get there and you're like, well, now that I'm here, if I only had a job where I sit behind my desk and I wasn't outside so much, then I'd be happy. And then you get there, and you know the list goes on and on. So I would say my first thing is stop making happiness everywhere you aren't, right? And then after that, I would say it starts with your work ethic, right? So books and information would be my next thing, but along with the books and the information, you have to be able to apply it, and that takes discipline, that takes you know, sacrifice and understanding that pain is a necessary experience for progress, right? And so, in that in that grand scheme of things, you have a caterpillar and it turns into a butterfly, but that takes its own metamorphosis on. And so when we process in this information, it's important to realize that books are good, but books without dedication and sacrifice and being willing to put into the put in the work to make you a better individual are important as well. And I believe once those two align and you are you are pushing your you're you've realized that you have to stop making happiness everywhere you are and bloom where you planted, and you take the information which is readily available because now we have YouTube, we have books, we have Amazon. You could get some, you could think of an idea in the daytime, and Amazon will have it in front of your door in the nighttime. And YouTube makes it even more readily available. So once those two align, it's all about taking that and and the determination and the sacrifice is what takes you forward. And once you find yourself on the right path, you're gonna come across mentors and individuals who have more experience than you and that are willing to that are willing to open the door for you and show you the roads that you need to walk down once you show that you're willing, you know what I mean? So it's like I tell my son, don't worry about the people that don't like the things that you like. You just worry about liking yourself and focus on the things that you want to be into, and you're gonna align with other individuals. The world is a big place filled with people that do many different things. So once you find yourself on your path and you concentrate, you're gonna come across people. So the mentoring falls into place, in short, is what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 12:36

Amazing. Uh, thank you for bringing that uh up, all all the details. I really like how you um how you classify each thing and how you put it in place, and everything is just uh uh another break in the wall of our uh yeah, building blocks, yeah. Yeah, so um Will, where can our listeners and uh our viewers get in touch with you?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

So the professionally, I am uh I'm on LinkedIn. So you can look up my name on LinkedIn, Wilfred Todman. Uh, and I'm on LinkedIn. You'll see my uh you'll see my logo is Todman Leadership Group. So that's where I conduct most of my advising and uh mentoring programs and things like this. And also on Facebook is my my name, Wilfred Todman. I try to keep it simple, right? That's my name. So I'm like, it's probably the easiest way for uh for people to find me. And uh yeah, that's the best way. I have flies around, I'm sorry, but that's the best way to get in touch with me. Uh Wilfred Todman on LinkedIn and uh also on Facebook.

SPEAKER_00 13:50

Will thank you very much for all these insights, and thank you for being my guest tonight.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Oh, no problem. I really appreciate it, and thank you for your time, and I hope you have a great day as well.