How to Overcome Complacency and Lead with Purpose in Todays Workplace

Chris Robinson: Oh, yeah, absolutely, Tim. Thank you so much for having me here. I’m excited, always, to get the opportunity to talk about personal growth, development, and leadership. I love this stuff. My life has been shaped and built around it, so I can talk about this stuff all day long. I won’t keep you here all day, but man, I can do it, Tim! You know, I find there’s a joy with people who are leadership nerds like we are. There’s an inner joy you just don’t find everywhere, right?

Tim Carroll: Right, indeed, indeed. Let’s start today like we normally do. I’m gonna ask this very simple, but sometimes difficult, question: How do you define culture?

Chris Robinson: Oh, how do I define culture? You know, I think it really boils down to—John Maxwell wrote the book The 17 Qualities of a Team Player, and inside that book, he talks about teams that collaborate together. When I think about culture, how he defines collaboration is that competitive teams work together separately, but collaborative teams work together aggressively. When I think about culture, I think about an organization or a group that works together aggressively towards their goal, dream, or vision—whatever it is that they have. So, not working in silos, not working beside one another and just happening to coexist, but really coming together and working together aggressively. That’s really how I like to define a culture and the heartbeat of organizations. Can we find that common ground? Can we find that common goal? And can we work together aggressively towards that goal? That’s what I like to see inside of a culture, inside of a company—working together aggressively.

Tim Carroll: That is a phenomenal phrase. I may have to use that again! I really like that a lot. In that, you talked about being a team player just then, which is one of our values at Working Spaces, by the way. We truly believe we don’t want to rage at the darkness—we want to turn up the light, right? That’s the goal here. But that just made me start thinking about this idea of entitlement that is permeating the culture of the world today. How have you seen entitlement in the organizations you’ve worked with, and how detrimental is that to the idea of working together aggressively when it comes to entitlement?

Chris Robinson: You know, it comes to this mantra: If you want to grow inside an organization, you have to drop the “I deserve” mentality. We’re told that whenever you find a person that’s growing inside an organization, if they have this mindset—it’s gonna make some people’s stomachs sick when I share this with you—but I promise you, if you have this mindset, you’re gonna see yourself growing inside an organization. The mindset is this: I deserve nothing, and I owe the company everything. Now, this is a major shift that you have to take because you put in your blood, your sweat, and your tears. But if you can make this shift to I deserve nothing, and I owe the company everything, I think that keeps you in a proper place of balance and prevents falling into that entitlement trap.

When you think about the word “deserve”—because that’s really what entitlement is, it’s “I deserve”—what happens to leaders and organizations when we begin to take on that “I deserve” mentality? Let’s just look at the word: when you “deserve,” you “de-serve” your people around you, your team. Now, come on, somebody! You “de-serve” your customers, you “de-serve” your team members, you “de-serve” your employees when you have that “deserve” mentality. So, if we can get over ourselves, clean the plate every single day, and say, “Hey, look, I’m fortunate,”—because I know many of you in your organizations may be looking at your life, where you grew up, and what you have now today—and start from a place of gratitude, but if you don’t clean that slate every day and you fall into that “deserve” mentality, you’re gonna find frustration. You’re gonna find yourself not aspiring to the levels that you truly want to. So, we’ve got to drop this entitlement mentality—I deserve nothing, and I owe the company everything.

Tim Carroll: You know, there’s this idea—and I love that “deserve” mantra—that there’s a mutual responsibility that I think we’ve lost. This idea of reciprocal responsibility between the employee and employer. Now it’s more like, “What are you gonna give me to make my life better?” instead of, “What do I need to bring to the table?” I find that to be challenging at times. I mean, I feel like I’m of an age where the idea that “I owe the company everything” is just how I was raised. It’s a challenge to shift that mindset, right?

Chris Robinson: That’s correct. That’s correct.

Tim Carroll: We’re gonna talk a little bit about shifting today. That idea of shifting towards serving within the organization. I’ve heard a lot of stories about your hustle—and I love hustle, it’s kind of my love language! You have a lot of those stories, but how has that hustle affected your perspective on culture within an organization?

Chris Robinson: You know, when you think about hustle, it’s really been about making the shift from being an entrepreneur to an “intrapreneur.” You can hustle inside the organization as an intrapreneur or outside of it as an entrepreneur. But I think a lot of people misconstrue the hustle mentality. I’m known for my propensity for action and getting things done, but my hustle comes from a place of efficiency, not grinding for the sake of it. I’ve built my business around my family, not my family around my business. My hustle is about getting done what you need to get done so that you can do what you want to do.

People often think hustle is about working from sunup to sundown, but I don’t do that. I work hard during the day to get it done, so I can go do things like Little League games, gymnastics, track meets, and cross-country. I’ve got six kids, and if my life was built purely on hustle to get the next thing, I wouldn’t have the opportunity to impact people the way I do today.

Tim Carroll: We talk a lot about running during the money hours, right? If you run during the money hours, you earn the right to unplug and spend time with the people who matter most. What I was hearing in that, and you can correct me if I’m wrong, is that purpose plays a big part in what you do. Can you speak to that a little bit?

Chris Robinson: Yeah, purpose is everything. I love this phrase I heard from Garrett Gunderson at one of my very first speaking events in 2009. He said, Without clarity of purpose, you cannot tell an opportunity from a distraction. That has stuck with me ever since. Your purpose is critical. It helps you filter out distractions and stay focused on what truly matters.

Tim Carroll: I love that you’ve quantified that and decided to filter everything through that lens. For most of us, we don’t have that clarity—we rely on gut feelings to figure out if something is a distraction or an opportunity.

Chris Robinson: Exactly. I used to ask myself five questions every day to help shape my day: What do I need to read? What do I need to listen to? What do I need to do? Who do I need to call? And, what am I looking for today? That last one is key. If you can ask yourself “What am I looking for today?” it shifts your focus. Without knowing that, any email, ad, or notification can pull you in a hundred directions.

Tim Carroll: That’s such a powerful discipline. Speaking of reading, let’s talk about John Maxwell’s new book The High Road to Leadership. What do you think leaders need to bring to the table today that they may not have in the past?

Chris Robinson: I really love the chapter about putting other people’s agendas ahead of your own. We’re in a time where me-first leadership is rampant. If leaders can make the shift to putting other people’s agendas first, they will see themselves attracting more followers. Zig Ziglar said it best: If you help enough people get what they want, you’ll eventually get what you want.

Tim Carroll: That’s a great way to lead. I also find The High Road to Leadership to be another layer on top of Maxwell’s Leadershift—it’s like a companion book that teaches leaders how to navigate changing times and maintain moral authority. Would you agree?

Chris Robinson: Absolutely. It’s a shift and a layering. If you take The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership as the foundation, Leadershift as the guide to dealing with changing times, and The High Road to Leadership as a moral compass, you’ve got a perfect game plan for becoming a great leader today.

Tim Carroll: So, top three Maxwell books? What would you recommend to any leader?

Chris Robinson: The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership is a must. It gives tangible language to things you might not even realize you’re doing as a leader. Next, The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth is all about personal development. And finally, The High Road to Leadership, though new, is quickly becoming a staple. If you had just those three books, you could build a solid leader or a great team player.

Tim Carroll: I had a feeling The 15 Laws of Growth would be on your list! Can you speak to the law of modeling and the importance of mentorship?

Chris Robinson: Mentorship and coaching are absolutely critical to accelerating growth. I wouldn’t be where I am today without mentorship. Whether you’re seeking a mentor or becoming one, it’s essential to have someone in your life guiding you. To find a mentor, either seek to serve them or pay to learn from them. Those two avenues—service or investment—are the best ways to get mentorship.

Tim Carroll: We talk a lot at Working Spaces about adding value. How can leaders add value not just internally but to clients and partners as well?

Chris Robinson: The most important question any leader can ask is, “How can I help you?” People are drawn to those who add value to their lives. It doesn’t matter if you’re asking a client, a follower, or a team member, as long as you have something of value to offer. People gravitate toward those who make things better for them.

Tim Carroll: On the topic of personal growth, how important is it to an individual’s success?

Chris Robinson: Personal growth is everything. A lot of people think they have 10 years of experience when really they’ve just repeated the same year 10 times. Personal growth helps us avoid complacency. Complacency isn’t laziness; it’s a secret place of seemingly success. My upcoming book, Overcoming Complacency: How to Turn What You Know Into What You Do, dives into this idea. Personal growth keeps you from falling into that secret place of satisfactory success.

Tim Carroll: Wow, Chris, that is powerful stuff. Thank you so much for spending time with us today. We’re excited to have you as the keynote speaker for our kickoff event in February in St. Louis!

Chris Robinson: I can’t wait! It’s going to be a great time. Thank you, Tim.

Tim Carroll: Thank you! We look forward to more conversations in the future.