Genuine Authenticity & Competitive Kindness; Guest - Dr. Chuck Welch AASCU President & CEO

This episode focuses one of the three foundations of Competitive Kindness, Genuine Authenticity. Dr. Clark hosts guest Dr. Chuck Welch, President and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities.  Dr. Welch is a national voice  for university presidents and working with over 500 colleges and universities regarding higher education policy in the United States. 

Dr. Welch offers incredible insights on the perspective of university presidents, how to be a genuinely authentic leader when the pressure is high, the importance of family and how to lead the right way.  He even has a brief shout out to Bruno Mars. The inspiring thoughts he shares are timeless and demonstrate why he is so highly revered as a national leader in higher education.

The movement continues…

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:06

Welcome to the Competitive Kindness Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Clark. What if the way you lead could change lives, not just results? We're building a movement, proving you can compete relentlessly for championships while elevating everyone around you. This is your competitive edge. Each episode will share stories and strategies to help you make an impact that lasts. So, if you're ready to win the right way, you're in the right place. Now let's get rolling.

Genuine Authenticity Intro

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Have you ever heard anyone say, hey, just be yourself? But then it's quickly followed with, but don't be that real. In fairness, leadership does require us to calibrate our authenticity. But genuine authenticity isn't about changing who you are to fit every room. It's about consistency and how you show up, aligned with your standards and values. Because at some point you realize something fairly simple. When you stop trying to manage every perception in the room, you start to see more clearly where you actually fit. Not every environment is designed for every leadership style. And that's not a critique, it's an organizational reality. Strong cultures aren't built on identical personalities, they're built on shared values, aligned standards, and mutual trust. When that alignment exists, you don't spend energy on translating yourself, you spend it on executing, building, and improving the work. And that's where competitive kindness comes in. Competitive kindness is the discipline of holding high standards while maintaining high regard for who people really are. That's clarity with care, accountability with respect, and yes, sometimes it's being the only person in the room who gets fired up about certain standards. With this in mind, legendary football coach Nick Sabin said, Mediocre people don't like high achievers, and high achievers don't like mediocre people. So if everybody doesn't buy into the same principles and values of the organization at the same high standard, you're never going to be successful. That's not about division. It's about alignment of expectations and people. And genuine authenticity is one of the fastest ways to create that clarity. There are three practical ways to be a genuinely authentic leader. First, be consistent in your values, attitude, and effort. People shouldn't have to guess what version of you is showing up today. Consistency builds lasting trust faster than charisma ever will. Second, say what you mean and mean what you say with respect. Authenticity doesn't require volume, it requires clarity. You can be direct without being dismissive, and honest without being harmful. Uphold human dignity with kind clarity. Third, don't over-edit your strengths to make others more comfortable. Your intensity, your passion, your curiosity, your standards. Those are features, not flaws. The goal isn't to mute them, it's to channel them into accomplishing the mission. Honestly, trying to be someone you're not in leadership is only a recipe for disaster, and it's inefficient. Eventually, the real operating system shows up anyway. Your integrity or lack thereof will show up whether you like it or not. So the better approach is simple. Be clear, be consistent, be aligned, be yourself. Because the goal is not to be universally accepted. That's a full-time job with no upside. The goal is to be in environments where alignment exists, where your values, your standards, your leadership style are not just tolerated, but celebrated and harnessed for success. And that's when alignment's present. The leader, the organization, and its people will elevate. And that's the real power of genuine authenticity, not self-expression for its own sake, but alignment that creates a better outcome for everyone involved.

Dr. Welch Introduction

SPEAKER_00 4:49

Joining us today is Dr. Charles L. Welch, the seventh president and CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, which represents nearly 500 public colleges, universities, and systems, drives educational policy and is committed to student success, access, and regional economic impact across the United States. Dr. Welch is a first-generation college graduate and nationally respected leader in higher education. He previously led the Arkansas State University System, served as president of Henderson State University, and Chancellor at the University of Arkansas Community College at Hope. Throughout his career, he's been a passionate advocate for access, student success, and the transformational power of public higher education.

Dr. Welch Interview

SPEAKER_00 5:44

Dr. Welch, welcome to the Competitive Kindness Podcast. Thanks, Rob. I'm glad to be with you. Everyone has a story and would love to hear yours. What's a moment or an experience that shaped who you are today?

SPEAKER_01 5:59

So when I really think about my career, this is certainly not something that I planned or intended on working in higher education. When we have groups of higher education administrators together, I will ask for a show of hands of how many people went to college planning to become a college administrator. And I've never yet had a hand go up. I mean, I think it just sort of happened naturally and organically. And that certainly was the case for me. I was I always had these dreams of going to law school and then entering the political arena and running for public office. And I had been president of the student body in high school, and then I was president of the student body at the University of Arkansas, and so I was really getting everything exactly where I wanted it to be. I was a first generation college student, and so it really was a very impactful and transformative experience for me, but still never really thought about this career until I went in my junior year to meet with my academic advisor and chart out my course schedule. And I'll never forget she uh her name was Diane Blair, she's deceased now. She was actually Hillary and Bill Clinton's, um she was actually Hillary's maid of honor or matron of honor at at their wedding. And her husband was the general counsel of Titans and incredibly bright and accomplished and just very strong individual. And so we sat down there and we're going through the classroom and she said, So what comes next? What are you gonna do after you graduate? And I said, Well, I'm gonna go to law school. And she just stopped and she looked at me and she said, Do you want to be a lawyer? And Rob, nobody had ever really asked me that question. And I never really thought about, do you want to practice law? And so I looked at her and I said, Well, you know, I want to, I'm thinking about maybe doing politics. And she said, No, I asked you, do you want to practice law? And I struggled, obviously, trying to answer the question. And she said, I tell you what, I don't think you're a lawyer. I don't think you would be happy practicing law. She said, I want you to go home and let's meet again in a week or so, and I want you to think about something else you might possibly do. So I went home and I'm thinking, man, that is the meanest woman I have ever met in my life. I can't believe she said that to me. I mean, she's so off base. And I thought about it. And the more I thought about it, I realized, yeah, she was mean. She was tearing me up. But then I also realized she was exactly right. That I didn't want to be an attorney. I didn't want to practice law. I saw it as a means to an end of running for office. So I went back in and met with her and she said, Well, what'd you come up with? And and I said, having been president of the student body, I had the opportunity to work very closely with administrators on campus. And the chancellor at that time was one of my mentors and remains one of my mentors to the day. And I said, maybe higher education administration might be something because obviously you get to impact and influence lives. I'm a first generation. It combines some of those political elements and things that I said, that's what you need to do. And it was really from that day forward that I really never thought about anything else. And I'm so incredibly thankful and grateful for someone like her who was just brutally honest with me, who saw in me what I couldn't see or wasn't considering, and really helped determine my life's passion and mission and direction. And it certainly completely changed the course of my life, and I'm very grateful for it.

SPEAKER_00 9:32

Incredible. The role of the university president is a 24-7 constant demand and a lot of emotional weight. What has kept you centered when the role gets heavy?

SPEAKER_01 9:45

First of all, you have to have a sense of humor. You have to be able to laugh at yourself. You have to be able to let things slide off your back. One of the things that I tell incoming presidents or new presidents is you've got to really develop a thick skin. And the other thing that I tell them is typically people are criticizing the position, not the person. You really have to remind yourself of that. But what really grounds me is my family. I have three daughters. I have two in college and one who's in high school. And to me, that is the one thing. Number one, they can be brutally honest. They love to remind me of how my hair has fallen out or my waistline has expanded or any of those kinds of things that it brings you back to reality because these positions you get a lot of people telling you how great you are sometimes or kind of trying to build you up and they can bring you down really quickly. But it also helps you to remain centered on realizing what is really the most important in your life. Because as you say, this could consume you. I I think back to when I got my second presidency at Henderson State University, I was 34 years old. So I was a very non-traditional in a number of respects, but certainly from an age standpoint. And I got a call from a man named Dino Curris. Dino had been the president of Murray State University, and then he had gone on and was the president of Clemson University. And then at that time, ironically, he was president of Act, the organization I'm president of now. And he called me just out of the blue one day. I did not know Dino, but he called me and he said, Chuck, I promise I'm not some kind of creeper, but he said, I read about your appointment, and it struck me because of your age. He said, I was actually 35 when I became president of Murray State. And he said, I realized that there's not a lot of us out there that have to deal with that or that age thing. And he said, I want to give you a piece of unsolicited advice. And he said, That piece of advice is this. He said, I'm 65 now. So it's been 30 years since I was the president of Murray State. And he said, I now realize that nobody at Murray State knows who the hell Dino Curris is anymore. But my kids remember every dance recital and baseball game that I missed. And he said, Chuck, don't get it backwards. And it really was a slap in the face for me because especially when you're young, I mean, you're going to go slay the world and you're so aggressive and you want to just be and do everything. But it really helped me to remember what's important. And so when I have a horrible day, when I have a day that I'm just feeling I'm beaten up or things are going poor to me, just to go home and take your daughter out for pizza or watch a TV show with her or scroll TikTok videos with them or something like that. It just brings you back to realizing, you know what? I can have a bad day at work, but my number one job on the third is to be their dad, not to be a president. And so it keeps me grounded. It helps me to put things in perspective. And it also helps me to get back to that center of what is the most important in my life.

SPEAKER_00 12:49

I love that. Family first. Absolutely. The role of the university president's multifaceted. What's part of the presidency that people don't see but quietly shapes how you lead daily?

SPEAKER_01 13:02

It's the personal story and the journey. What you yourself, those lived experiences that you've had that really drive who you are and how you lead. It's really been interesting to me through the years that the way people perceive presidents, we're almost seen as like these mythical figures that we're never 18 years old, that never made mistakes in our life, that don't have personal issues, that don't sleep and eat and those kinds of things. I've had so many people say to me through the years, you don't look like a university president. What does that look like, right? There's there's sort of this predetermined you're gonna have on a tweed suit and be older and that sort of thing. And I'll never forget one time I have a really good friend of mine who was leading a program at a community college for young African-American males to try to increase the college graduation rate. He called me one day and he said, Hey, I want you to come tell your story to my cohort. And I said, Why? And he said, Because Chuck, they look at you and they don't see your reality. And I said, I don't understand what you mean. And he said, Well, they look at you and they think, this guy's the president. He got his first presidency at 31 years old, he's had three presidents now and he's 37 years old, or whatever I was. And he said, they think your daddy must have been best friends with the governor, or you were born extremely wealthy, or whatever the case may be. They don't realize that you had an illiterate grandfather, that your father didn't graduate from high school. They don't realize that your dad is a truck driver, your mom's a stay-at-home mom. They don't realize that you had student loans and they don't see that. It really taught me a lesson about telling your story and making sure people understand your journey was also complicated and messy, just like so many of our students are. And that it really helped define who you are. I had somebody say to me one time, I don't understand how you're so comfortable in a room full of faculty, but you're also comfortable in a room full of individuals that aren't formally educated. And I think that comes from my upbringing because I was surrounded by a diverse society. And I remember my dad saying to me one time, if I ever catch you treating the mayor any differently than you do the person that picked up our trash, I'm gonna whip your ear in, kind of thing. And that personal story and journey, and that's something people miss out on, and they develop these preconceived notions about who you are or who you aren't and what you haven't done. And if they really do that story and what went into decisions and that sort of thing, I think it might give people a little bit different perspective of the person.

SPEAKER_00 15:43

Yeah, and let's get a little bit deeper into that too, here.

Dr. Welch - Real Connection

SPEAKER_00 15:46

As Vlad is a university president now as the CEO of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities. What does meaningful connection actually look like for a university president in today's environment?

SPEAKER_01 15:58

To me, it's about a real connection, a real deep connection that that isn't just a surface level, good morning, Rob, how are you? And keep on walking. But rather knowing your family story, knowing your children, knowing about you and what you're going through, and being sensitive to that. When people feel like you care about them, when people feel like you really truly do have a relatability and a connection, I feel like they'll go through a fire for you. And so I really try to make sure that it develops. And when I run into one of my employees, I ask about their spouse or I ask about their kids, or if I found out their dog just passed away, or whatever the case may be. I think social media is making this even harder and email and things of that nature. Sometimes the connections are just very surface level. And the truth of the matter is it needs to be really deep. And you need to be able to show them your warts. You need to be able to show them I'm having a bad day, or admit when you're wrong, or apologize, or really help to relate to, hey, I get what you're going through. I had to deal with this once and that sort of thing. And so it's a really important part of who I try to be as a leader. Now, I certainly fail at it sometimes, and it is not as good as I want to be, but it's something that it's something that just happened in the last two weeks. We have uh an employee that is working for us on a temporary basis, although we're planning to transition them to full-time. And I was introduced to the individual. They work in our finance division. And our vice president for finance came in and said, Thank you for what you did yesterday. And I said, What did I do yesterday? And she said that the employee came in and said, Dr. Welch walked by my desk and called me by name and wished me a good rest of the day. And she was blown away by that. And I said to my vice president, I was like, I don't understand, right? I mean, that's just what I do. And she said, you know, it meant something to her that you not only said, have a great day, but you called her by name. And so it just reinforced to me that stuff's important. It's that attention, it's that real connection, and it's that ability to not take yourself too seriously and joke and have fun, and that I think really creates a much, much better work environment. I don't want people to be afraid of me. Now, if I need to make a tough decision and be a supervisor and do the things that need to be done, I can do that. But at the same time, I also want them to feel like it's a familial and collegial environment. And I just think that creates those connections that are real and meaningful.

Dr. Welch - Humanity & Accountability

SPEAKER_00 18:29

That's great. And and furthermore, how does a president model that humanity and accountability simultaneously? It's through communication.

SPEAKER_01 18:37

You have to talk to your employees, you have to get out of your office and not just talk work, right? We had a long conversation yesterday about cooking and what people like to eat. There was a big deal about who likes doubled eggs and who doesn't, right? I mean, pretty lowbrow kinds of things, but it's stuff that you get out and you communicate if they feel like, hey, there's a realness here. And so that helps with that humanity piece of it. And then transparency is so important. I'll never forget in one of my presidencies, I got the budget book. And when I went through the budget book, it had everything listed line by line: travel budget, salaries, of course, the public institution, supplies and services. The only budget lines that were empty were in the office of the president. And when I questioned it, the response I got was, oh, well, you can't put that out there. If people saw how much your travel budget is, or people saw how much your supplies budget is, whatever the case may be, and honestly, they weren't crazy numbers. And I said to the person, I said, Look, the first of all, the numbers aren't that bad. And secondly, if we don't put it out there, then they'll create in their own minds what they think it is, which will be far worse than reality, and will make this much worse. If you just put it out there, yeah, there might be two or three people that complain, but you know what? They'll be over it tomorrow. And so I've always been in the mindset of share more, even if it's even if it's bad. I had an employee say one time to me, I want to apologize. I've been really critical of some decisions you've made, and I realized that I didn't even understand the full context of the decision. So I think transparency, I think that communication, empathy, you have to realize what's happening to people and try to think about that. Humility, you have to be very genuine and authentic. And you have to be able to admit you're wrong. I think that's part of the accountability thing. Look, folks, I screwed this up. I'm not perfect, and I'm sorry, and I'm gonna try to do better. And I think when you do that, people realize hey, we're all in that boat together. You can't be afraid to fail. Right behind my desk, I have a picture with a Wayne Gretzky quote, but the quote is, you know, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take. And uh so I'm a big believer, you've got to take the shot to score. And since it's athletics here, Michael Jordan missed more shots than he made. And he's still considered the at least I still consider him the GOAT. And I try to do that here too. You gotta take shots, and then when it's wrong, you've got to admit it and be transparent and communicate with your folks.

SPEAKER_00 21:03

And when you do that, I feel like they'll run through fire for you. Incredible. You just listed every foundational principle of competitive kindness. There you go. It's so the load is heavy that presidents carry. How have you learned about managing not just your time but your energy to be your best?

SPEAKER_01 21:22

One of the things that I say to presidents a lot, um, of course, when I was a system president, I had multiple campus chancellors that that I worked with. And certainly now in this role, I visit with presidents a lot, particularly newer presidents who are still cutting their teeth in the position. And I constantly say to them, this is a marathon, not a sprint. You cannot complete everything you want to complete in your first year. You should not do that, right? You've got to play the long game, you've got to pace yourself. Don't burn yourself out. Find time for you, find time for your relationship with your spouse or partner, find time for that. Family connection. And you also have to listen to those around you and see it. My wife will frequently say, Why don't you go drink beer with your friends tomorrow after work? And the first time she did it, I was like, What the heck is this about? Right. I mean, she's encouraging me to go out to happy hour and that kind of thing. But then what I understood is she could see I was wearing down. She could see that the stress was getting to me, the energy. And she knew that one of the things that filled my bucket is hanging out with my friend and laughing and joking and talking about sport and having a beer. And so she could see what I couldn't, right? It's really about just taking your time, pacing yourself, not being too hard on yourself. But then also, what are those things that restore you? For some people, it's working out. It that should be for me, but it's not. For some people, it's hanging out with friends. For some people, it's sleeping. For some people, it's traveling, reading, whatever it is. Just make sure you bake that in. My assistant is really good of having times on my calendar that are non-negotiable. They're just, she is not scheduling something. It's time for me to think, it's time for me to take a nap. It's time for me to do whatever. And I think that you have to be very intentional about it, because if you're not, then yes, it can overwhelm you, you'll burn yourself out, and you certainly won't be the best leader that you can be.

unknown 23:23

Great.

SPEAKER_00 23:23

Dr. Welch, we're going to shift gears here to college

Dr. Welch - Future of College Athletics

SPEAKER_00 23:26

athletics. College athletics is redefining its identity right now. What are some of your greatest concerns and what recommendations do you have for the future of college athletics? I'm very concerned.

SPEAKER_01 23:40

I I think we've lost sight of what intercollegiate athletics is supposed to be. I think that the term student athlete has 100% gotten reversed. It was always petered in some areas, but we've professionalized intercollegiate athletics so much that the lines are so blurred between college basketball and the NBA, for example. And I think that the sustainability is a great concern to me. There are 10 or 20 programs that are not as concerned about sustainability, although I would submit everybody has some concern about it and should have some concern about it. But there are far more institutions out there that aren't even anywhere close to that 10 or 20. People talk about the P4. In many respects, it's the P2. I mean, it's the you know the FCC, the Big Ten. You think about the group of five, you think about FCS, you think about Division II, you think about Division III. Those are sports and programs that have provided opportunities to go to college for students who otherwise may not have been able to go. They have provided much higher rates of return in terms of student success and graduation rates through the years than the normal student populations have. They provided that beautiful competitive spirit that college athletics always had that the pros could never replicate. They provided that greatest connection with the alumni base and with the advancement offices, that front door to the university. And I think it's all at risk right now. When we start to hear about SEC programs announcing, hey, we're going to begin canceling Olympic sports because it's all based on a win-loss revenue model, and it's all based on how much NIL can we get for the biggest revenue generating sports. Is that really what intercollegiate athletics is supposed to be? Is that really providing that benefit that was there? I'm a huge sports fan. I'm a huge college athletics fan, but I'm really worried that it's already becoming something that is not recognizable and that's getting worse every day. So I certainly don't have uh a magic wand where I can just wave it and say, here's the answer. But I think the advice is let's get back to the why. And I think the why of college athletics is providing access, it's providing opportunities, it's enhancing the ability to be successful and earn a college degree. Because the other thing is we realize the vast majority of student athletes are not going to play at the professional level. And it's about having that connector with alumni and the student body. And until I think we're able to recalibrate, it may be too far gone, but to me, it's a great concern. It's a constant conversation. The score act from a federal policy issue is the one that we've talked about here in great detail. Many of our campuses are very concerned about it because, again, those campuses out there that athletics is really a lifeblood of access and affordability and school spirit and connection, they're not going to be able to keep up in the NIL arms race. And what does that mean ultimately, not only for their programs, but for those student athletes? And so it's one of the things that keeps me awake at night.

SPEAKER_00 26:59

You say go back to our why. How can athletic directors and coaches better align with university presidents?

SPEAKER_01 27:08

Those relationships have to be intentional, they have to be consistent, and they have to be very transparent and frank. One of the things that I loved in my most recent position course, I was president of a system, and then our campuses had a chancellor, and then, of course, had the athletic director, and then let's say the football coach. So for the football coach, I would have been their boss's boss's boss, right? So I was several steps away. But that's not the way we treated it. And in every search process that we did, it was the athletic director, it was the chancellor, and it was me. Now, the chancellor and I both agreed the athletic director was the one taking the lead on this, but our role was to give him very strong and frank and direct feedback about candidates or direction. And we certainly did not always agree. We certainly looked at it through different lens. But what I found is once we were able to develop those relationships that then extended onto the actual coaches that we hired, I still maintain relationship with some of our former coaches at our institution. It helped when you needed to make tough decisions about, hey, we got to cut this budget, or hey, we're gonna allocate you an extra amount of money, or we can't give you that extra on-field coach that you want right now, or whatever that case might be. So if it helped us to make sure that although we might not agree on every single point that we understood, we met monthly and went over the budget and looked at expenditures. They pulled me into that too. It's always felt like that was very healthy. And we had multiple coaches during the interview processes say to us, well, we see a system head, a campus chancellor, and the AD all on the same page and with a genuine relationship. That's the kind of environment we want to work in. Sometimes there's too much distance between those different players, and that can sometimes lead to some of the real challenges that exist on an individual campus.

SPEAKER_00 29:10

Dr. Welch, we're gonna shift gears one more time here. One of our favorite segments called the Fast and Friendly Five. So I'm gonna ask you five quick questions, no long pauses, just got answers. You ready? Okay. All right, hit me. All right, number one, go to

The Fast & Friendly Five

SPEAKER_00 29:26

hype music, artist or song when you need a boost.

SPEAKER_01 29:30

I'm a country music fan, but I don't know that that would be hype. One of my all-time favorite songs is Uptown Funk by Bruno Mars because it's just that beat. But I like some Eminem or some pit bull or things like that. So that kind of gives you an idea of that uh heavy rhythm and and real fast movie. That's what kind of gives me a jolt because country can be a little crying your beer sometimes. So uh probably have to play one of those.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

There you go. Tim McGraw can get you going sometimes, though.

SPEAKER_01 29:56

I don't know if he can. That's I'm a McGraw fan, too.

SPEAKER_00 30:00

All right, number two, go to movie when you need inspiration. Oh, that was easy.

SPEAKER_01 30:07

Movie I've seen more times than any other one in my life is Boys in the Hood. I just think it is such a beautiful movie that tells such a moving story about the importance of parenting, about the importance of education, and what can happen. And I've watched that movie so many times. There's so much symbolism in it, and I just it's an all-time favorite. And I watch it frequently.

SPEAKER_00 30:31

Great. Number three, one or two books that have impacted who you are.

SPEAKER_01 30:38

So I'm a biography reader or autobiography reader. I like to read real authentic human stories and what drove people that were successful or unsuccessful as the case may be. One summer I read the biographies of Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. And while they were two very different individuals, very different eras, the one thing I took from both of their stories were they were not interested in doing what other people were doing and doing it better. They were interested in doing what nobody else was doing. So that's helped drive me. I've read a lot of political books. Lyndon Johnson is someone that I've read a lot of biographies about and am fascinated with. He had lots of warpers. There's lots of things I didn't like about him, but he was a white southerner who got civil rights tax bills passed in the 60s. That's not an easy lift, right? And I try to read those biographies and learn from those people that maybe can help me with my own decision making and thought processing.

SPEAKER_00 31:35

Number four, best leadership advice you've received.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

It's always about people. Everything comes down to people. Taking care of your people, understanding your people, making decisions on what's going to be best for your people. That does not always mean it's the most popular thing. It does not mean it's going to be universally good for every single person, but really trying to make decisions on what's the best for the most. Always trying to make a decision through the lens of how will this affect our students, how will this affect our staff, how will this affect our alumni and our community, and bringing it back to that. If you make decisions that you believe are in the best interest of the most people, rarely are you going to make the worst decisions.

SPEAKER_00 32:17

Number five, who's a leader who shaped you and why?

SPEAKER_01 32:23

I had a lot of great mentors, but the one person who had the biggest impact on my life from a mentorship and leadership standpoint was Alan Sugg. Dr. Sugg was the longtime president of the University of Arkansas system. And he's someone who saw something in me very early on that really, I think, helped propel me to where I am. He's the one that called me when I was 31 years old and said, I want to make you a chance for it. And he had no business doing that. I was as green as a gourd, right? But he trusted that I could do it. And I saw in him that humanity, that humility, that genuineness that I wanted to replicate and that kindness.

SPEAKER_00 33:04

And he's somebody that has really played a huge role in my life, and I'm so grateful for. You survived the fast and friendly five. Congratulations. Thank you. That was nerve-wracking. You did great.

Dr. Welch - How to Lead the Right Way

SPEAKER_00 33:30

Be you.

SPEAKER_01 33:32

Be who you are. Don't try to be something that you think you're supposed to be or that others think that you're supposed to be. Folks will see through that very quickly. I think a genuineness and an authenticity is so important. I don't like to wear ties, Rob. And I tell people if you see me in a tie, I'm either testifying before Congress or I'm in a casket. Because that's just not that's not who I am. And I've had people be critical before. Well, don't you think as a president you should be wearing a tie? Well, that that's not Chuck. And I think about my own family experiences. My dad wasn't somebody that wore a tie. And I consider him one of the brightest people I've ever known. So I've always really tried to just be who I am, be approachable, be relatable. I tell new president, you define the position. The position doesn't define you. And one of my all-time favorite stories is when I was a president, and that is non-Southerners may not understand this terminology here, but we lived in a dry county, which uh obviously meant that there weren't alcohol sales in that county. And while I was president of this institution, the voters changed it so that you could buy alcohol. And I had an employee say to me, Have you purchased any alcohol since it since that happened? And I said, Yeah. And they said, You didn't go in the store and buy it on your own, did you, yourself? And my response was, would it have been better for my eight-month pregnant wife to go in and buy it? I mean, uh, right. I mean, you know, that's who I am. I I like to have a glass of wine or I like to have a beer. I'm not going to be falling down in the street. I'm not that, but I'm not ashamed by that. And I want to be real and authentic. So I think the best way that you can lead is by showing who you are, being willing to admit mistakes, being humble, being genuine. People will respond to that. People will see that. Hey, you know what? He's not trying to put on airs or live in an ivory tower or whatever the case may be. And they respond, and it's worked very well for me. It's something that if everybody did it, we would have some better leadership stories.

SPEAKER_00 35:39

Dr. Wells, this has been inspiring, uh authentic, and just a fantastic time together. Thank you so much for being on the Competitive Kindness Podcast.

SPEAKER_01 35:49

Hey, Rob, I appreciate the opportunity, appreciate what you do, and wish you all the best.

SPEAKER_00 35:59

Thanks for tuning in. If today's episode got you fired up, please check out the book Competitive Kindness: Winning the Right Way. Available on Amazon. Join the competitive kindness movement by sharing this with your friends, family, and colleagues. Also, I would love to connect with you, so please share your thoughts or stories with me on LinkedIn or on X. My handle there is at Rob Clark10. Remember, dare to lead differently. Dare to be kind.