The Klimb with Adrian Branch
Inspirational podcast hosted by former pro athlete turned high-performance consultant, interviewing a broad range of guests sharing their stories of resilience and encouragement.
The Klimb with Adrian Branch
Breaking the Jar: How a Former Dope-Smoking Hippie Became a Leader
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When Dr. Joel Freeman left home at 17 with just $24 in his pocket, nobody could have predicted his extraordinary journey from self-described "long-haired, hippie, dope-smoking fool" to becoming a respected NBA chaplain, author of 24 books, historian, and mentor to countless individuals including Klimb host Adrian Branch.
This powerful conversation reveals the pivotal moments that transformed Freeman's life, beginning with his spiritual conversion in 1972 and the crucial lesson he learned about finishing what you start while painting a farmer's tractor. With disarming honesty, he shares a moment of profound temptation during his time as a school principal that could have derailed everything he'd built—and the clarity that helped him overcome it.
Freeman's insights on blind spots prove particularly illuminating. "When you're in a jar, you can't read the label," he explains, emphasizing why we need trusted people to help us see what we can't recognize in ourselves. This wisdom has shaped his approach to mentorship and his understanding that most personal conflicts stem from personality differences rather than demographic factors.
Now the creator of Black History 365—a comprehensive curriculum used in over 15,000 schools—and the innovative Rosetta Universe project, Freeman continues pushing boundaries at every stage of life. His remarkable ability to communicate complex concepts simply allows him to "talk to the street and talk to the elite," making profound wisdom accessible to all.
The conversation culminates with Dr. Freeman's research-backed observation stressing the importance interpersonal skills can factor in a person's success—a perspective that explains his extraordinary impact across multiple fields and diverse audiences.
Be sure to follow Adrian Branch Speaks on social media and download The Klimb wherever podcasts are available. Remember, everything worthwhile is uphill—so be encouraged and keep klimbing.
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Introduction to The Climb
Speaker 1Hi , I'm Adrian Branch , former pro-athlete turned motivational speaker and certified life coach , and welcome to the Climb , a show where we celebrate the stories of resilient people sharing how they turned adversity into success , From the business sector to athletes and beyond . Be inspired and learn what it takes to climb .
Speaker 2Hey , hey , everybody , how you doing ? Welcome to another episode of the Climb . I'm your host , adrian Branch , and this show is intentional about bringing you stories of people and their resilience , how they've overcome , what's their mindset . If they can do it , I can do it too . We want you to take these lessons because we believe there's some great lessons that you can take . And think about it . Everything worthwhile is uphill . It takes climbing , it takes being intentional , it takes being consistent . Well , this guest today is a friend , a mentor , so decorated . I've known him for the last 30 years , half of my adult life , and he's made such great deposits . His name is Dr Joel Freeman . He's an author of over 20 books , he's a dad , a granddad , he's a philanthropist , an entrepreneur , and he is someone who's a before the term was popular influencer . He's a true influencer . So the accolades are so long . You'll hear some of his story , but we want you to come in here and hear what he has to say . So , dr Joel Freeman , welcome to the show , sir .
Speaker 3It's good to be here , Adrian .
Speaker 2Well , in your own words , I'll get started and say you're also a very bad dancer , so I'm going to start some music and let's get a big laugh out of how you can't dance .
Speaker 3It's true , it's true . Every wedding , every wedding , they try to get my wife and I , to you know , to dance , and I'm just all painful all over . It is painful painful .
Speaker 2Doc , there's so much to you . I want to jump right in because I want our listeners to really hear and get the spirit of who you are . You were born in Maine . You had most of your young adult life in Alberta , canada , and then , at 17 , you struck out on your own . But take it from there . Tell us about how you got your start before you became a character coach for so many rich and famous pro athletes .
Speaker 3Well , you know , growing up in Alberta , canada was pretty incredible A little town of 2000 people , nine ice hockey rinks . I was on the ice minimum two , three hours a day from end of October to about the beginning of April , and we always had a rink in the backyard . It was just a most incredible experience . At 17 , I got a I don't know , just something , just a wild horse , just want to leave home , had $24 in my pocket , my best buddy at the time . He and I left . We looked like mutton Jeff , he was 6'5" and I was barely breaking 5'5" at the time and it just was an incredible experience .
Speaker 3Hitchhiking thousands of miles all around North America , long-haired , hippie , dope-smoking fool . And then I had a conversion experience to the Jesus of the Bible on September 10 , 1972 . Turn turned my whole life around , Because you can imagine seeing me at that time hair down the middle of my back and just a new hippie Jesus freak . And then about seven years later I became one of the first chaplains in the history of the NBA . So I had to really attack a lot of juvenile thinking , juvenile behavior and in order during those seven years , to play or to work , to talk at that level .
Speaker 2Go back to this real quick , because I can't imagine you being anyone's foo or being a dope or smoking dope . So I never get tired of hearing that one where you say , man , that's who I was . But there's also a story where you talk about around that same time and it was profound and you learned the lesson from it where you were painting a farmer or a neighbor's tractor and then you cut out in the middle of the summer and that was a teachable moment . Tell our audience about that and what you learned .
Speaker 3Yeah , during the summer months , while I was still in high school , I worked one summer at a pig farm . I had about 400 pigs and that's a whole nother story . It's quite an interesting experience . And then two other summers I was in Litchfield , maine , and working with Freddie and Flora Weeks , and so , you know , we did a lot of haying and just lumber , did a lot of lumbering .
Speaker 3He had a huge , huge farm and so he had a horse and you know all just kind of stuff that farmers do , and so I had a lot of responsibility at that time on the farm . Well , he had a red tractor . It was an old farm all tractor where you had the two wheels close to each other on the front and then , of course , the big old wheels in the back . And I looked at the cowl , I looked at the you know the wheels , spokes and all that , and I thought , man , I could do this fire engine red . And so we went to the store . I still remember going to the store picking out the right kind of paint , and and then I went to , I came back and started working on the sanding . You know , wax on , wax off . I was , I did that before . That was cool , and , and so what happened was I did the cowl first , because that was the easiest part , and so that looked really cool , cool , I mean , it did the whole thing sanding it .
Speaker 3And then I started looking at all the manure and all the crap and all the stuff on the spokes of the wheels and other parts of the tractor and I thought , I think that I think we got uh , you know , we're just going to stick with this . Well , next day , two days go by and freddie , you know , we kind of look at the tractor together and he says , oh , you know , what are you going to do ? You know what's happening here . I says , well , I think I've taken as far as I can take it . And then he just he asked me a few more questions and I never saw Freddie get mad . I think he even used a cuss word and he was a good Christian , you know , church-going guy , and he got really fired up and he says when you start something , joel , you got to finish it . Now finish that tractor .
Speaker 3And that taught me an awful lot , because in my early years I'd get distracted , you know , like oh there's a squirrel , oh that's another bright , shiny object , and I get all excited about projects , and then I wouldn't finish them . And so then I determined I am going to finish what I start , and then I would start projects I shouldn't have started , but then I'd finish them . And I began to learn later on in life to make sure that if I'm going to start something it's worth finishing . And that's that's kind of the the genesis of how I grew in that area and have grown .
Speaker 2I never forget that story because you finished it and look about seven years later . How did you become a character coach , a chaplain , one of the first ones who's now called the Washington Wizards , but they were the Washington Bullets at the time , and that's before you were 30 years old .
Speaker 3Yeah , there's a guy by the name of Bill Alexson . He and I knew each other from way back and he was starting to work with the Celtics . And so what happened is the Bullets were playing the Celtics and Elvin Hayes and Kevin Porter came out to the pregame chapel and I was you know , this is all pre digital , no cell phones or anything . So he had their home number and gave them my home number and , uh , I ended up , uh , calling uh , kevin Porter , who , uh , who just became a dear friend , and he , we went out to lunch and uh , he , he really , uh , we really connected . And then what happened is I started as as a chaplain , had no tickets , no , parking pass , no , no , no thing around my neck , you know , around on my chest here that says I'm chaplain and in fact that that was for seven years . I had none of that . I just made friends with the parking people . I made friends with the guy at the door where the athletes come in . You know where that is , you know .
Speaker 2Back tunnel and a back tunnel .
Speaker 3Yeah , and so I made friends with them . They let me in early on and then I'd find seat . Back then the bullets , you know , weren't doing so well , they just won the championship . But there's some post-championship excitement . But you know , it was a situation where I would find a seat If someone came and says , hey , that's my seat , oh , I'm so sorry , and I'd move over a couple of seats and finally , seven years later , there's a guy that came in who was a believer and he was very high up in the organization . I think he lasted only one year there and he was talking to me . He says so where do you sit ? And I said wherever . He says you mean , you don't have tickets , you don't have season tickets for this . I said no , and within the next day I got two season tickets
Joel Freeman's Early Life Journey
Speaker 3and he put me in a very nice seat . And then , of course , you know it just was incredible . I didn't . I was like whoa , I got a parking pass . Now I got two season tickets . Oh , my goodness , this is , I've died and gone to heaven .
Speaker 2Man . So that's interesting . I'm hearing the fabric . I'm hearing the fabric of you making the adjustments from being a young minded person striking out at 17 , going around that teachable moment that you never forget with the red tractor . Then you experience Christ coming into your heart as a young person 1972 , you went to Bible college and then also you came out and you started to be an influencer and a leader of young people . I want to move the story along a little bit and say there was a time in your life , if you're talking about Bible stories , that's almost like David and Bathsheba . From what I mean , it's temptation , and this is where I'm going . I don't even know if you remember this one . You were a principal , You're at the top of your game , You're respected , You're a chaplain and you tell this story about a young guy that got busted in your school for drugs . Instead of disposing the marijuana , you say you're getting ready to go out in the field and smoke it when no one is around . Like the temptation , like David . Tell us about that story .
Speaker 3Yeah , this young kid , I think he was in ninth grade . He had a nickel bag and so I you know he was all cool about it . Like you know , that's not mine or whatever . So I thought this guy this trouble here . So what I did is I kept the nickel bag , I put it down . I remember I had three drawers on the left side of my desk at my office . I put it way in the back of the third drawer , the lowest drawer , and I forgot about it because I thought if he starts lying , at least I've got the evidence drawer . And I forgot about it because I thought if he starts lying , at least I've got the evidence here . And I forgot all about it .
Speaker 3I think probably two years went by , maybe three years , I don't know and I was going through a real time of discouragement and I was just kind of looking through my desk I don't know , maybe I was cleaning my desk out or something . I pulled that out and , boom , I saw that nickel bag of dope and it was like , oh my goodness . So I grabbed it , put it in my pocket and told my secretary says I'll be gone for the rest of the day , just hold my calls , you know , and I'll get back to them and I went to the 7-Eleven , got some zigzag papers and I went to a place that I normally went , uh , uh , you know , uh , hunting , deer hunting . It's kind of a remote wood set of woods . And so I sat there in my car I still remember it was a Ford Granada , silver color , and uh , I was , I had the door on a propped open and I I just rolled myself a big old doobie , you know , and and I was about ready to strike the match , and it was .
Speaker 3I've never heard the Lord talk , but I got this very , very strong impression that what I was doing was I was at a nexus , I was at a crossroads and it would open up the door to something probably very bad . Open up the door to something probably very bad . And so I just kind of held it , looked at it and just then I started laughing at the ludicrousy of the whole thing . Like you said , all that resume , obituary type stuff happening , radio talk show , tv show , bullets , chaplain , pastor , and all this kind of stuff . Father , husband and I , just I , just I started laughing and then I just tore that thing up and dumped the whole nickel bag out on the grass and I just went back in the car and I just started praising God and just a whole revival began to happen in my life after that .
Speaker 2Let's park it there for a second , because this is exactly why we're so excited about the show called the Climb . You're at the top of your game , like you say obituary , resume , kind of things . You're celebrated , you have a great reputation . But , like David in the Bible , when he was at the top of his game , when he should have been at war , on post he saw Bathsheba and the rest of the story was his household was never the same again . You could have gone so many different ways . Tell the listener out there you just said one thing before you even reached for the nickel bag you were going through a tough time . And that's a lot of times when people are vulnerable , when they're going through a tough time or they're at the top of their game . Tell the listener how you overcame that temptation where you eventually could laugh at it .
Speaker 3Well , it's just like in the scripture when it talks about King David . It says just prior to that , it says when kings were in battle or should have been in battle , he wasn't in battle , he was taking it easy R&R while everyone else was fighting on behalf of the kingdom . And so I think that you know sin and temptation doesn't just happen . It all starts by leaning , leaning , leaning in a direction and then leaning back and then leaning over here . And that's why , in the book of Psalms David talks about . He says I inclined my ear to the Lord . In other words , I leaned in toward the Lord restaurant and there's a cacophony of noises around one or a couple or two or three people . You have someone leaning in to listen better to the person that's trying to talk in a low , hushed voice , and so leaning and inclining .
Speaker 3We're not called to perfection , we're called to be leaners . We incline in the direction of righteousness and truth and peace and quietness and all the rest that comes along with it . And so many times what happens is that , you know , the devil can transform himself into as a minister of righteousness , the devil can become a roaring lion . There's different tactics that the devil can use and sometimes , like in the book of Solomon it says that there are lions and there are things on the mountaintops , and so when we're hit the mountaintops it seems as though there are specialized temptations . It's not like the same old , same old type temptations , but it's at a whole nother level of temptation . And I don't think the
Becoming an NBA Chaplain
Speaker 3devil is creative at all . He has like one , two , three , four . Okay , forgotten about number one , let's go back to number one again . And so I don't know . It's just the whole idea of remaining vigilant in the word and filled with the Holy Spirit in the Word and filled with the Holy Spirit , with that point for the public out there .
Speaker 2Dr Joel trained me up 30 years ago , so he was our character coach and I became a motivational speaker . He taught us about tone , tact and timing . Taught us about spacing like a space like this . Make intimate small gestures If you're on a football field , make super large gestures .
Speaker 2I want to talk about this because I never forgot this as well . I know you probably remember this and I take it as it's my own . You talk about blind spots . Blind spots to that point where you just talked about King David and on the mountaintop and the adversary coming . One , two , three . You told the story that blind spots on a 360 degree radius . So in front of us , typically , what you see is 150 degrees 75 degrees to the right , 75 degrees to the left , so 150 degrees on a peripheral , from earlobe to earlobe is 210 degrees . My point is out of a 360 degree radius , there's more things in life that we don't see than what we do see . My question to you is I've studied this as you taught me this blind spots . I think the blind spots that most people fall into and our listeners could identify with is the blind spot of pride . I got this Pride fear , rejection and a lack of knowledge . I'd love to know your thoughts on something that you created .
Speaker 3Yes , I think that you know . One of the things is that when you're in a jar , you can't read the label , and so it's important you know , in anyone , in any type of situation , when you're in a marriage , you're in a jar , and sometimes we need people on the outside to read the label for us . When we're in a neighborhood association , we're in a jar . When we're in a particular job , we're in a jar . And that's why , when I was on the board of a nonprofit one time they said , oh , let's do a weekend or a Saturday , let's get together and learn about each other and understand . And then they all looked at me and said , joel , this is what you do , don't you ? And I said , yeah , but I'm in the jar with you . We need to bring someone from the outside .
Speaker 3So my point is is to be aware , and sometimes it's having people that we invite into our lives and then we deputize them and say will you be a label reader for me , for my jar , because I can't see everything . And that's not the end all , because then it's also the whole idea of being in the word . I find that most that every change in my life , minor or major , has come because of being in the Word . It's not going to a seminar necessarily . I'm not an anti-seminar person , I do seminars . It's not from reading a book . I've written enough books 24 of them .
Speaker 2I believe 24 .
Speaker 3It's not coming from someone telling us what it's all about . I find that the Word of God is what really speaks to our hearts and brings the correction along with it .
Speaker 2Let me ask you this one . So you're moving along , the train is on the tracks , you're just everyday people , but you give a darn and you're really trying to make something of your life . Give a darn and you're really trying to make something of your life . So you've gone from being a chaplain along with being a chaplain , a dad , a character coach , a mentor , to an Adrian Branch and a lot of former pro athletes . Then you got into almost the second half of your working life and you've been writing phenomenal books , like you have one BH 365 , black History 365 , and that's created its own weather pattern . Tell us about that and the genesis of writing that phenomenal book .
Speaker 3I'll just show it to you right here . It's a book that weighs five and a half pounds , about three inches thick , has about 1200 QR codes and about I'd say well , well over 2,500 images throughout . It's like a museum in a book . And the response that Dr Milton , Walter Milton and I we spent two and a half years , 12 , 16 hour days , putting this together , and we're just grateful and humbled at the impact it seems to be having us now in , I think , around 500 school districts around the country , and so we're just really amazed at how something so small could then become what it is today and perhaps where it will go in the future .
Speaker 2Yeah , and then also , so you're not stopping there . So that's a curriculum that a lot is in a Texas school system . You've got over 15,000 schools that are using that in the curriculum , but then you're also heading out the Rosetta stone replica project . Tell us about that .
Speaker 3Yeah , that's something here . It's called the Rosetta Universe and it's just basically thanks for asking about this . It's a very exciting thing that I developed many years ago , or I've started developing many years ago , maybe 20 years ago prior or more , and
Overcoming Personal Temptation
Speaker 3so it all started when I had a crisis of faith and I kept bumping into the Rosetta Stone when I was looking at the spade of archaeology in terms of reliability of scripture , and then it kind of put its claws in me and next thing , you know , little by little , this whole idea began to emerge of developing a 5,000 square foot traveling exhibit , began to emerge of developing a 5,000 square foot traveling exhibit . The first zone would be about the Rosetta Stone , the history , hieroglyphics , opening of ancient Egyptian secrets , napoleon War , so it's such an epic drama .
Speaker 3And then moving into the second phase aspect , about code cracking . You get a third base coach in baseball going like this and what is that the other team is saying is that right ? Is you got the Navajo code talkers ? You have all kinds of different things that involve codes . The third zone is about language and culture , how the two interact and sometimes collide . And then the fourth zone . I've taken the word Rosetta and I've developed seven steps for solving pretty much any problem in about 10 categories of problems . So it's all transforming this ancient artifact into a modern metaphor for problem solving and critical thinking .
Speaker 2Well , tell us why . While you're right there on the Rosetta Stone , tell us what it is for those who don't know , and why is it significant ? It was like one of the top five greatest finds in the last 500 years . So what is the Rosetta Stone and what is its significance ?
Speaker 3I'll do this in 90 seconds . It was found in 1799 , I should say , on Earth , by Napoleonic soldiers . They found that , for instance , in with the Rosetta Stone . The top part was hieroglyphics , the second part was a hieratic , cursive form of hieroglyphics . So that's exactly the same language , but it's different formats . This top language is reaching the religious class , the middle is reaching the common people , and then , because it comes from the word demis , we get the word democracy from it , and then Greek , that's reaching the business and government class , and the messaging on it is fascinating , but it's not the key thing .
Speaker 3The last sentence in the Greek was the same thing will be written in all three inscriptions , and so , for the first time in history , people are saying whoa , wait a minute , this should be easy peasy , lemon squeezy . We know what the Greek says . What do the other two inscriptions say ? Well , it wasn't that easy . It took 23 years to crack the code . They didn't know if it was alphabetic , phonetic , you know , symbolic , do you read ? Left to right , right to left ? They didn't know . And so what happened is that it took Thomas Young from England , all these different people involved . And then what happened ? In 1822 , the code was cracked , which then unlocked the secrets . And so it becomes like a metaphor hey , that's the Rosetta Stone of genomics , hey , that's the Rosetta Stone of space exploration , oh , that's the Rosetta Stone of medicine . And so now it's become its own . It developed its own weather pattern .
Speaker 2And I'm just very excited about now transforming it into a modern metaphor for problem solving . And tell us about it . Was the top under top 20 , significant right behind the Bible ? Or something on the most significant find in the last 500 years , something that was profound ?
Speaker 3500 years , something that was profound . Yeah , I launched the project in 2009 at the Library of Congress with experts in hieroglyphics and Egyptology . There , they were quivering with excitement and seeing the replica that I'd created , because I'm the only one in the world that's created a full-size 3D replica . There are museums all around the world and so what happened is that in 2013 , I was watching TV and the History Channel and they had 101 objects that changed the world , and , of course , they started with 101 all the way up to number one . Well , they got to number three , number one . We'll start reverse . Number one was the Bible , number two , coin money and number three , rosetta Stone . I thought , wait a minute , that beat out the wheel . The Gutenberg press , a cup of coffee , what's going on here ? And so that's when I began to look at things far more seriously . I said I must be missing something .
Speaker 2Foundationally . I want to go back real quick because this is right around when you talked about blind spots . We can hear and I'm going to use your term we can hear the music that you're making with someone and the excitement and the passion that really has your attention , but go back to that time when you thought it was a big failure . One of the biggest failures in your life was when you were going to write a free magazine over 25,000 copies and it flopped in your mind . So take us back before there was big success . No-transcript .
Speaker 3I developed a magazine called Everyday Matters and I thought , you know , because my heart is real evangelism , and I thought , what if I create a magazine that has a couple layers to it , but it's all about felt needs . So I identified about 50 felt needs and in terms of marriage , living a single life , depression , men and their emotions , all these different topics that people think about , and I thought these are great conversation starters and I thought , you know , this woman's not going to have four spiritual laws , it's not going to share with people how to accept Christ . It's going to be designed so that people in a congregation can take five or 10 of these with them to the grocery store . Because my philosophy in life is that , hey , I went to the grocery store to get a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread and while I was there I shared Jesus . Or , flip it around , I went to the grocery store to share Jesus and while I was there , I got a gallon of milk and a loaf of bread . That's the way I live , it is that way .
Speaker 3And so I'm on the plane , you know , I'm there to share Jesus and while I'm there I'm going from point A to point B , and so what happens is that what happened with this magazine is , I thought , what if we create an entrepreneurial side ? Well , youth groups that are constantly playing out and they're doing all kinds of car washes and selling candy bars and everything else , and they come away after working hard , hard , hard , and they come up with $0.27 . And so what happened is that I began to figure well , this is not going to work . And you know , I went to church after church after church around the country and no one seemed to get it . Only one church , church after church around the country , and no one seemed to get it . Only one church . After two years , I mean , I put a huge amount of hours every day , every week , workday , you know , reaching out .
Speaker 2How did you overcome that failure ? How did you overcome that flop where it could have been a real bruise to your ego and creativity ?
Speaker 3Well , it's just like this is a magazine size . So I created now a booklet , a whole new , and it came out . This whole idea came out .
Speaker 2Hurricane bigotry .
Speaker 3Jack Johnson the boxer .
Speaker 2Explain that one real quick . That's his voice .
Speaker 3Yeah , the voice of Jack Johnson . I own in my Black History Collection a record with his voice on it , the only one in the world and so what I've done is I've just , instead of doing the magazine , I just figured I got music and if you put music on Spotify , it just goes down a dark hole and you might get royalties of $3 every year . And so I thought the thing I love about songs is hearing the story behind the song . So I thought you know this book has already moved 2000 copies and how many people now have heard the song through a QR code or watched the music video and seen the lyrics and then read the story behind it ? So it's called Hybrid Lit and four words start print , finish digital , because most books are read on the toilet and if you hand it to someone , Thanks .
Speaker 2I was getting ready to get something to eat after this , dr Joel , thank you .
Speaker 3So you hand it to someone 160 page book and they're thinking , oh , this is too much , because there's never a one to one ratio on books bought or given and books read on books bought or given and books read . But this is unintimidating and people start it . And then there's a QR code that takes them on to a whole nother realm where they can now take a look at the bonus material , which is generally three to four times the size of the booklet itself .
Speaker 2Now we've got about five more minutes left and time is flying so fast I've got to bring you back . We hadn't even scratched the shell of who Dr Joel is . I've got some quotes here and one thing I've always admired about you is your ability to talk to the street and talk to the elite . So in other words , the practicality of a conversation , or breaking down something . Rosetta Stone , that's really difficult , difficult , but you can break it down to practical applications . Some of these quotes that you have , I wrote down and I want to ask you about them . I love this one , doc . You said 15% of success and happiness depends on technical , technical strength technical 85% , interpersonal skill . Tell us about that one .
Speaker 3Yeah , back in the early 1900s there was a group called the Carnegie Foundation and they wanted to find out what is success . How do you import success and how do you export it in one's personal life and an organization ? So they started with a group of engineers . Now you know the difference between an extrovert and introvert engineer .
The Rosetta Stone Project
Speaker 3An introvert engineer looks at his or her own shoes . An extrovert engineer looks at someone else's shoes , and so they look at them and they're trying to figure out Say that one again , say that one again .
Speaker 2That's me . Say that one again . An intro one again , that's me . Say that one again .
Speaker 3An introvert engineer looks at their own shoes . They're looking like this . And then an extrovert engineer is looking at your shoes .
Speaker 2That's close to home . Ouch , ouch , go ahead Proceed .
Speaker 3So they're trying to figure out OK , how are these individuals wired and what comprises success in this organization , and that's where they came up with . 15% of success is based on technical competence . In other words , most audiences I stand before around the world they're profoundly competent , whether it's doctors , scientists , educators , whoever it might be , musicians , whoever it is . They're profoundly competent , or they wouldn't be in the room and I acknowledge that with them . But I let them know that 15% of their success is based on maybe the 10,000 hours they spent trying to be becoming competent and experts in whatever field it is . Now you have scientists who are profoundly competent who can't work together and they're at odds with each other for whatever reason . And so to help them unpack the way they're wired individually and then to be able to look at how another person they're working with on the team is wired personality-wise , to take a look at the built-in natural conflicts there's no cosmic conspiracy out there . We got on each other's nerves just by being ourselves . I mean just like marriage , you know , opposites attract , then they attack , and it's just the way it is . And so what happens is that when people begin to understand this now , it becomes an aha experience happens perhaps both individually and collectively within an organization , and profound things can begin to happen in terms of creativity , productivity , flexibility .
Speaker 3And I worked with one organization I won't name it , but it's a government agency . They brought me in because they were getting EEO complaints and , just like a huge number of EEO complaints , and I asked , I told him I says , if you let me come in and do what I do , I said I will begin , I will hopefully help in this situation some way , give some skills and tools , and what happened is that within seven months , we reduced the EEO complaints by 70% . How do we do that ? First , I got people to understand how they're wired and that conflicts might not be about age , might not be about sex , gender
Learning From Failure
Speaker 3, it might not be about race issues , it might not be about all these different things . It might be just about personality .
Speaker 3In fact that's a high measure of it .
Speaker 3So once I understand that , and then I unpacked five different types of values that we hold dear that end up sponsoring anger and rage . For instance , a person has a wonderful value of order I want order , I want order everywhere but then it's like an addictive cycle . Then there's disorder and then they use their anger to bring the order back . Stop Clean that up , stop doing this , start doing that , and then what happens is you get the order comes in , and then comes the kick , just like the addictive cycle , and now greater disorder emerges because of the using anger as a tool to get the order back .
Speaker 2We're going to stop right there . It is so profound For my listeners out there . I told you you were going to be in for a treat Just in 34 minutes . Doc has told so much about him being a dope smoking fool as a teenager , then a character coach chaplain , then wrote books and then that , that big temptation . I know that his story is connecting with some folks . So , doc , wow , thank you . Tell the listeners where they can follow you and where they can keep up with what you're doing .
Speaker 3Probably the main website is four words JoelSpeaksRealGoodcom . Joelspeaksrealgoodcom .
Speaker 2Wow . Thank you so much , doc . You have been amazing . Thank you for listening and sending your some time today . And also , if you want to know about us , you want to know about us . Head on over to adrienbranchspeakscom . Follow us on Adrienne Branch Speaks on social media and download the Climb wherever podcasts are available . Again , thank you to Dr Joel Freeman . He is amazing . Thank you to you , the listeners , and we want you to remember , be encouraged and keep climbing . Thank you to you , the listeners , and we want you to remember , be encouraged and keep climbing . Thank you .