Nic and Tarina explore the ups, downs, dos, and don’ts of life and leadership. Each conversation gives a peak on life lessons they learned, some the hard way. This podcast is different because it's the story behind the stories Nic shares in his leadership keynotes and workshops, revealing many of his own missteps as well as the power of faith, family, love, and commitment along the way. Together, Nic and Tarina talk candidly about how to communicate with authority and empathy, the practice o ...
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SPECIAL GUEST: Nic’s Mentor Mark LeBlanc
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In the flesh at the Nic Bittle Workplace Pro studio in Corn, Oklahoma, is Mark LeBlanc, Nic’s long-time friend, mentor, and business coach. Mark LeBlanc, CSP, CPAE has been on his own virtually his entire adult life. He once had a job for six months and was inspired by the two words, “You’re fired!” At the ripe, young age of 21, he vowed he would d…
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Know This: Make Something Great – Do That: Take Pride in Your Work
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Leaders have a responsibility to connect a task to a purpose. Every job worth doing is worth doing well. Nic and Tarina, in this episode, talk about Chapter 17 from Know This. Do That. They point out how even the menial and mundane tasks demand excellence. No job is too small, or insignificant, for someone to be good at it. As Nic says, the foreman…
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The Fear of Failure and Making “Pizza” with String Cheese
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John Wayne once said, “Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyways.” In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk more about fear and the fear of failure. They take a break from discussing Nic’s book, Know This. Do That. A question they ask is: Are you one of those whose tombstone should read, “Died at 30 - Buried at 60”? Failure is not the e…
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Don’t Be Afraid to Take the Shot; Traveling Together to San Diego for a National Conference; Tarina Orders Two Salads; Visiting Elle at College; Being Not “Busy” on Purpose; Nic Ate His Weight in Churros ...
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Nic and Tarina talk about the benefits of not being busy. They ask the question, “What are we doing for the sake of being busy?” And how we wear our calendar on our sleeve—puffing up our importance. In San Diego, they took a pedal taxi to a Ralph’s grocery store so they didn’t pay $7 for a bottle of water at their hotel. The punch line was how much…
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Nic Talks About His Corner Post Project and Procrastination; Tarina Has Nic Try On Shoes That Make Him Look Fat; “Eat the Frog”; Make Money Matter; Learn Something New Every Day; First Order of Nic’s Life ...
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Nic takes a moment to talk about how easy it was to remove the corner post at The Bittle Ranch. Much easier than he imagined it would be—even had four batteries charged and ready for the job. And at Dick’s Sporting Goods, Tarina tells him he looks fat in a pair of shoes. But don’t worry, they didn’t buy them. The corner post project—and Nic’s procr…
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DRIP Stands for Direction, Responsibility, Integrity, and Productivity; How Not to Write a Book; Kids Need to Learn How to Do Hard Things; Listening to Clients on What to Write Next
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In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about his journey of writing multiple books, the challenges he faced, and the lessons learned along the way. As you will hear, it wasn’t all puppies and rainbows. He shares how people need micro-learning to help reinforce what they read or what they learn in a workshop, which explains the origins of his Leadersh…
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Curiosity is More Important Than Knowing; Find a Good Mentor or Be Open to be Found by One; Keep Kicking and Don’t Give Up; Align on Values Not Interests
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It’s autumn and football season and Tarina is happy with the change of season. This means making sliders for the Crusaders football team. Nic and Tarina continue their discussion on his book, Know This Do That. First up to bat is the need for apprentices to eliminate the phrase, “I know.” Why? It’s important to demonstrate humility and coachability…
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It’s Not About Building “Margarine” in Your Life; The Right Self-Talk; Even a Bad Oil Company Owner Would Have a Small Jet; Your Job is to Solve Problems
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Nic shares the quote: “Margin is the space between your load and your limits.” And Tarina illustrates it with the two-lane highway and the space along the side of the road. It’s a buffer in your schedule, your heart, and your capacity. It’s room for error. In this episode, they talk about Chapters 8-11 of Nic’s book, Know This Do That. The negative…
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Helping to Put a Man on the Moon, The W-Model for Parents of College Freshmen, Take Pride in the “Little Things” Reflects Who You Are, and Pick What Pond to Fish In
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In this episode, Tarina and Nic talk about dropping off their daughter at college. As Tarina says, “Elle is now far, far away.” Nic describes his own moment when it really started to hurt as he watched Elle, during orientation, being too nervous to admit she was nervous. During the orientation session for parents, they explained the “W” model and t…
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Can I Tell You Something You’re Not Gonna Want to Hear?
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In this episode, Tarina shares a big announcement and Nic talks about how his dad used to drag him out of church when he’d misbehave. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the in’s and out’s, do’s and don’ts of constructive criticism. First, on the punch list knowing that for criticism to be constructive it has to be information that someone c…
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Chanel or "Flan-nel" | Guest Interview with Elise Hartfiel, HR Director at Egan Company
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In this podcast Nic and Elise discuss the role Human Resources and the part Elise plays in helping to create a culture of safety, mental and emotional health, and Egan's focus on people development. You will hear the passion she has for serving others and how executing key strategies looks a lot like building relationships across the enterprise. Th…
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Nic opens with a story about a recent float trip with his son and other boys. When their small flotilla passes a group of attractive teenage girls with a wet cat, Nic shows his motley crew how to talk to them. Then he and Tarina discuss chapters 4 and 5 from Know This Do That. Your career and life are about taking initiative and getting people to l…
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Chapter 2 + 3 | Conversations on Nic’s Book, “Know This. Do That.”
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Men and women working in the construction and trades industry get paid to build things. As Nic and Tarina discuss, it’s important for everyone, and especially those just starting out, to see they are also building relationships. Chapter 2 of Nic’s book, Know This. Do That, is about being on time. Someone building a career (see Chapter 1) aims to bu…
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Chapter 1: Build a Career | Conversations on Nic's book, "Know This. Do That."
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Nic and Tarina jump into Nic’s book, Know This. Do That. Over three years, Nic collected written answers to three key questions from foremen and supervisors. He asked what they would like apprentices to know to be successful in their work. In this episode, they discuss the first chapter about building a career. Nic shares how it’s important to know…
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In this episode, Nic and Tarina explore how you to see yourself from moment to moment as a Struggler, Thinker, Doer, or Achiever and then give yourself what you need. They talk about Nic’s recent week of air travel and how after multiple delays (way more than normal) he identified his own Struggler Mindset. Tarina shares how she managed home and he…
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What The Achiever wants is teamwork. What The Achiever needs is a resource. Even if you cannot be a contributing member of their team, you might be able to provide them a resource. As Nic and Tarina discuss, how you talk with The Achiever matters—just like how you talk with the other mindsets. In this episode they also tie together the four mindset…
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What The Doer wants is action. What The Doer needs is a sense of urgency. Perhaps you’ve seen the sign: “A lack of planning on your part does not constitute an emergency on my part.” While that’s one way to handle The Doer, Nic and Tarina discuss the importance of managing the relationship with The Doer, rather than putting too much stock in the th…
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“The Thinker” is anyone who struggles to make a decision. A confused mind says, “No.” When someone can’t make up their mind, a lot of foremen and parents make the mistake of making the decision for them. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about how when an individual is stuck or says “No,” it’s really a call for help. Nic tells the story about hi…
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A Framework for Being Good with People
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The hard part about being good with people is there’s no widely used framework. We are out doing our own thing or just winging it. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the first of four mindsets that people exhibit when they receive new information or presented with a novel situation. The mindsets are not permanent or a personality types. The…
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What role does emotion have in conversations? How important is communicating details? In this episode, Nic and Tarina resume their discussion about how to communicate and the challenges in doing it well. Nic shares his own best practices for reducing the heat in the moment, which might help avoid miscommunication. They echo the value of not making …
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It’s a cliché to say that communication takes two to tango. As a leader, you can do better. In this episode, Nic and Tarina dive into what good communicators do that poor communicators tend to skip. One thing that sets good communicators apart is they ask good questions. And asking good questions is a practice. Only from a practice can the right sk…
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In this episode, Nic interviews Clint Bailey, an electrician and 43-year member of the IBEW, "extremely supportive partner" to Heather, father of two adult children, and grandfather to four. This was the first interview Nic did as he was launching the podcast. It took place about eight months ago and Clint has since retired. Their conversation is c…
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People will never forget how you make them feel. Nic share’s a time in his life when McDonald’s was his office. He’d get his coffee and start the day’s work building his speaking business. On one occasion he got to watch an older couple show what it means to love and be loved. Today’s me-centric world with all its hustle and drive seems to have for…
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LAKE EPISODE | “Swirl It. Swi-i-i-r-r-r-l-l It!”
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Timely and precise constructive criticism may only be timely to the one giving it. Nic and Tarina tell a story about Nic’s ice cream business and how their drive home from a catering job was colder than the ice cream in the three scoop sundaes. From this experience, they draw out many lessons learned. And Nic, true to form, shares his best practice…
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Bad Outcomes Don’t Always Mean Bad Planning
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Eisenhower once said, “In planning for battle, I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.” So, while planning may be indispensable, even the best plans don’t work out. Nic leads with a story about a fiasco in a movie theatre. Then he and Tarina talk about how COVID-19 derailed their plans to build a house. While they…
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SUPER SPECIAL GUEST: A Profile in Courage & Leadership
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Nic and Tarina are joined by their daughter, Elle. She shares how she got started making the Encouragement Cards and how this experience over the past 9 years has given her confidence in her gift of encouragement. It’s a special episode profiling Elle’s leadership as well as her courage to do what others may consider weird. Her example is living pr…
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People Stop for the Cookies. What They Need is Encouragement.
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In a world starved for appreciation, showing people you care makes a big difference. And it doesn’t take much. To give people encouragement means being aware and committing to a wholehearted courage to speak into their life. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about their daughter, Elle, and her Encouragement Cards. At 9 years old, Elle had a lemo…
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Everyone at some point in their life faces challenges. Part of the job as leaders and parents is watching those we manage or care for struggle. Success is sweeter, though, when it is earned. We need to let people earn their success and not try to fix everything that’s painful. In this episode, Nic and Tarina discuss how owning anything starts with …
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The Job Is to Be Curious, Not Judgmental
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What’s needed in the industry is for more men and women to become problem solvers. This is a learned mindset—which a lot of foremen believe they were born with. In this episode, Nic and Tarina share what they learned growing up, whether chopping cotton, babysitting, or waxing tractors. Hustle, drive, and work ethic were taught, and encouraged, from…
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Good foremen are good communicators. And good communicators are good listeners. As Nic and Tarina discuss, to listen well is both active and purposeful. We listen with our ears for what’s being said and with our eyes for what’s not being said. While empathy is a dirty word in construction and trades, the pressure we all feel from time to time does …
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Trade and construction leaders are in the people business. Part of the job of the foreman, like a nurse, is to pay attention and care. It’s not simply about being the boss. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about how empathy and listening are skills everyone can learn—whether you’re on a job site, with your family, or helping someone feel beauti…
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When things aren’t going according to plan, change is necessary. But change can be scary and hard. So we may resist it because we get stuck in thinking of only the big kinds of changes, which Nic talks about. Or we open ourselves to possibility and begin to see how a small shift is all it takes to achieve real results. In this episode, Nic and Tari…
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Muhammed Ali once said he didn’t start counting pushups until they started to hurt. The fact is we all face hard things in life and actively avoid pain—but it’s in doing the hard things where we grow the most. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the importance of taking on the challenge of doing hard things as professionals, as parents, and …
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Leadership Moments When You Least Expect It
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Nic and Tarina discuss an experience Nic had one morning in a Las Vegas Spa. It’s not what you may think but revealing all the same. From his experience Nic discovered a life lesson about making assumptions and having courage. This light-hearted conversation shows the importance of paying attention for these self-leadership moments life unexpectedl…
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No one enjoys having tough conversations. Most of us would you rather avoid them. Life and leadership will forever give us situations where we must address really hard stuff. Whether with a family member or a member of the team, it’s part of being human. In this episode, Nic and Tarina explore the art and heart of how to have a tough conversation. …
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Only once in a great while do we get an opportunity that can change our life forever. In this episode, Nic and Tarina talk about the time when Nic was asked to speak on the National Speakers Association (NSA) Main Stage in San Francisco. As one of the greatest honors in the industry, and a true once in lifetime opportunity, it can make or break a p…
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Almost everyone has a turning point in their life: a defining story which forces one to make a choice or choose a path. In this episode, Nic and Tarina unwrap a major turning point in their life. A simple accident with their one-year-old son leads them to make a tough, life-changing decision. These become the line in the sand for Nic, his career, a…
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Don’t Give Up When Things Get Hard
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Nic and Tarina tell the the story of how Nic got his start as a professional speaker in the construction industry. They discuss the ups and downs of breaking into a new career, how many times they wanted to give up, and how life and leadership proved harder than they imagined. Nic also shares a story of how two men gave him the greatest gift possib…
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