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Episode Summary
Your calendar has zero hours blocked for thinking this week, and that’s the exact thing keeping your vision fuzzy. You’re “someday” people. Someday I’ll get clear. Someday I’ll write it down. Someday I’ll align my team. Warren Rustand has spent 60 years watching what separates the leader who actually arrives at their vision from the one still saying someday at 70. He’s been CEO of ten companies (including a $2.1B company with 17,000 employees), served as Appointments Secretary to President Ford at 29, and chaired the World Presidents Organization. We got into the three principles he’s distilled across thousands of CEOs (clarity of vision, certainty of intent, the power of values), the morning routine he’s run for decades (10/10/10, workout, eat well, manage your time), and the family vision statement he and his wife designed 35 years ago that’s still framed by their front door. Warren also told the story of getting a call from his wife two miles from the airport, en route to close a $75M deal, and turning the car around. The deal blew up. Six months later they got it back. The principle didn’t bend.
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## Top 10 Takeaways- Without clarity of vision, every operating decision is made in a vacuum.
- Your calendar shows your strategy. If there’s no strategic thinking time blocked, you’re a “someday” person.
- Certainty of intent means you act on the vision every day, not when motivation shows up.
- Your values are the guideposts on the highway, not nice-to-haves on the wall.
- Humility comes first. Listening, communication, EQ, and IQ stack on top, in that order.
- Inquiry beats advocacy. The best leaders ask the best questions instead of talking the most.
- How you wake up sets the day. 10 minutes purpose, 10 gratitude, 10 inspiration, before anything else.
- Work-life integration, not balance. The four buckets (self, family, business, community) run one rhythm.
- Break the long-term vision into bite-sized pieces your newest hire can see in their daily work.
- Leaders create other leaders. If your assistants stay assistants forever, you’re building employees, not a bench.
Sound Bites
“The biggest mistake, Ryan, that a lot of people make is not taking the time to think.” (@TBD) — Warren Rustand
“There’s this day and someday. And most people are someday people. I’m going to get to that marathon someday. I’m going to lose those 10 pounds someday. I’m going to be a CEO someday. And it’s always kicking the can down the road.” (@TBD) — Warren Rustand
“Unless you’re prepared to get ready to play, you lose the first step of leadership.” (@TBD) — Warren Rustand
“If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others. If you can’t discipline yourself, if you can’t achieve yourself, if you can’t do things for yourself, you can’t lead other people because you don’t have credibility.” (@TBD) — Warren Rustand
“One’s creating leaders, one’s creating employees. That’s a big difference.” (@TBD) — Warren Rustand
About This Episode
Warren Rustand is a longtime CEO, board director, and public servant whose career spans the White House and the C-suite. He served as Appointments Secretary and Cabinet Secretary to President Gerald Ford, then went on to be CEO of ten companies including Providence Service Corp. ($2.1B), Rural Metro ($600M), and TLC Vision ($400M). He has sat on 40 for-profit and not-for-profit boards, chaired the World Presidents Organization, and currently serves as Dean of Learning at the EO Global Leadership Academy. His book The Leader Within Us distills the principles he’s watched the best leaders practice across decades of operating, governing, and building.
Resources Mentioned
- The Leader Within Us by Warren Rustand — The book this conversation is built around. — warrenrustand.com
- WarrenRustand.com — Videos, Facebook Live episodes, contact. — warrenrustand.com
- Jamie Clark — Mountain climber referenced for clarity of vision (climbed Everest at 21, 23, and 25)
- Jordan Peterson — Referenced for the four pillars (sleep, eat, exercise, purpose)
- David Horsager — The Trust Edge — Referenced earlier on the show as a related leadership conversation
- EO Global Leadership Academy — Where Warren serves as Dean of Learning
- World Presidents Organization — Warren is past Global Chair
- Public Policy in the Private Sector — 30-year program Warren led for 6,000+ CEOs in Washington, D.C.
Connections
Phase + Module:
- Module 1 — Ownership Goals — Where clarity of vision and certainty of intent get written down before they ripple anywhere else
- Module 7 — Leadership Team — The seat where alignment from owner to newest hire lives or dies
Milestones:
- Milestone 19 — Functional Leaders — Leaders creating leaders, not employees
- Milestone 20 — Leadership Roadmap — Translating the long-term vision into bite-sized steps the team can execute against
Concepts referenced:
- iBD North Star™ — The clarity of vision Warren keeps pointing to
- Owner’s Roadmap™ — Walking backward from the future to today
- The Owner-Operator Trap™ — What happens when the owner never takes the strategic thinking hour
- Quarterly Boardroom Rhythm™ — The accountability cadence Warren runs at every level of the org